Music News

[Sason]

I only know of one bad bunny

[Front-Ranger]

  That was an evil rabbit!

[Sason]

"that's the most foul, crruel and bad temperred rrodent you everr set eyes on!"

[southendmd]

"It's just a harmless lit'l bunny."

[CellarDweller]

Composer Burt Freeman Bacharach has died at age 94

Burt Freeman Bacharach was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Grammy Award winner and three-time Academy Award winner, Bacharach's songs have been recorded by more than 1,000 different artists.  As of 2014, he had written 73 US and 52 UK Top 40 hits.  He was one of the most important composers of 20th-century popular music.

Bacharach's music is characterized by unusual chord progressions, influenced by his background in jazz harmony, and uncommon selections of instruments for small orchestras. Most of Bacharach and David's hits were written specifically for and performed by Dionne Warwick, but earlier associations (from 1957 to 1963) saw the composing duo work with Marty Robbins, Perry Como, Gene McDaniels, and Jerry Butler. Following the initial success of these collaborations, Bacharach went on to write hits for Gene Pitney, Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield, Jackie DeShannon, Bobbie Gentry, Tom Jones, Herb Alpert, B. J. Thomas, and the Carpenters, among numerous other artists. He arranged, conducted, and produced much of his recorded output.

Songs that he co-wrote which have topped the Billboard Hot 100 include "This Guy's in Love with You" (1968), "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (1969), "(They Long to Be) Close to You" (1970), "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (1981), and "That's What Friends Are For" (1986).

I was going to list the songs he's written, but there are just too many.

Here is a link to his discography on wikipedia, to say it's impressive is an understatement.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_written_by_Burt_Bacharach

[Front-Ranger]

Before the group became famous, Nena went to a concert in their homeland of West Berlin, to see the Rolling Stones.   At one point in the show, helium balloons were released.   Nena member Carlo Karges imagined the balloons going over the Berlin wall into East Germany, and being picked up on radar, and mistaken as an attack, and the result is World War III.

The original German "99 Luftballons" translates to English as 99 Balloons.  The record company hired someone to write a "poetic English" version of the song, and the title became "99 Red Balloons".

Only 95 to go...how will you survive, Chuck?

[CellarDweller]

King of Calypso Harry Belafonte Dies at 96

Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 ? April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor and activist, who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s. Belafonte is one of the few performers to have received an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT), although he won the Oscar in a non-competitive category. He earned his career breakthrough with the album Calypso (1956), which was the first million-selling LP by a single artist.

Belafonte was best known for his recordings of "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)", "Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)", "Jamaica Farewell", and "Mary's Boy Child". He recorded and performed in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. He also starred in films such as Carmen Jones (1954), Island in the Sun (1957), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), Buck and the Preacher (1972), and Uptown Saturday Night (1974). He made his final screen appearance in Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman (2018).

Belafonte considered the actor, singer, and activist Paul Robeson a mentor, and he was a close confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. He was a vocal critic of the policies of the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations. Belafonte acted as the American Civil Liberties Union celebrity ambassador for juvenile justice issues.

Belafonte won three Grammy Awards (including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award), an Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. In 1989, he received the Kennedy Center Honors. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994. In 2014, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy's 6th Annual Governors Awards[4] and in 2022 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Early Influence category.

Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 singles of Harry Belafonte.



Year              Song Title                       Peak Position on Billboard Top 40 Chart

1953  -                "Gomen Nasai (Forgive Me)"                              #19
1956  -                "Jamaica Farewell"                                            #14
1956  -                "Mary's Boy Child"                                            #12
1956  -                "Banana Boat (Day-O)"                                     #5
1957 -                 "Mama Look A Boo Boo"                                    #11
1957 -                 "Coconut Woman"                                             #25
1957 -                 "Island In the Sun"                                           #30

[CellarDweller]

Gordon Lightfoot Dies at 84

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. CC OOnt (November 17, 1938 ? May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s.  He has been referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and was known internationally as a folk-rock legend.  Lightfoot's biographer Nicholas Jennings said, "His name is synonymous with timeless songs about trains and shipwrecks, rivers and highways, lovers and loneliness."

Several of Lightfoot's albums achieved gold and multi-platinum status internationally. His songs have been recorded by artists such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr., Jerry Lee Lewis, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Harry Belafonte, the Grateful Dead, Olivia Newton-John, and Jim Croce.  The Guess Who recorded a song called "Lightfoot" on their 1968 album Wheatfield Soul; the lyrics contain many Lightfoot song titles.



Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 singles of Gordon Lightfoot.



Year              Song Title                       Peak Position on Billboard Top 40 Chart

1970  -                "If You Could Read My Mind"                              #5
1974  -                "Sundown"                                                       #1
1974  -                "Carefree Highway"                                           #10
1975  -                "Rainy Day People"                                           #26
1976 -                 "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"                #2
1977 -                 "The Circle Is Small"                                         #33

[CellarDweller]

So, on April 22nd, it was record store day.  My friend Juan went to his local record store, and saw that there was a special release by Nena for that day, celebrating the 40th anniversary of "99 Luftballons".  It's a picture disc with lead singer Nena Kerner on the front, and the full band on the back.  The track listing on the EP is:

99 Luftballons
Nur Getraumt
Leuchttrum
Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime (duet with Kim Wilde)
You Don't Know What Love Is


The disc arrived today!

[southendmd]

Enjoy your lead balloon song.