Tag: music

Sunday Stealing — Complete the Thought

McKinley Green

“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley recounts the crumbling legacy of a once-proud king. 

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. “A blogger named Elisha shared 10 things about herself. By turning her revelations into prompts, we hope to learn more about you.”

Complete the Thought

1. I wish someone would …

Stop being a purblind Nero, a Herod, a Heliogabalus, an Ozymandias.

2. When I order Chinese food …

I like to order a variety of different items so that I can enjoy them over several days. Hmm. It’s been a while. 

3. I know it’s not everyone’s favorite activity, but I actually enjoy …

Handwashing dishes. I like the soapy water. It reminds me of my childhood when I used to wash the dishes. One thing they did at my elementary school was to check your fingernails to ensure they were clean. My fingernails were never clean because I was a kid who played in the dirt unless I had just recently washed dishes.

5. A major pet peeve of mine is …

This happened on Thursday: my wife was driving, stopped at a red light. The light turned green, so she started moving when a bicycle from the sidewalk coming from her left suddenly pulled right in front of her. If she hadn’t had rapid reflexes, she could have easily pancaked him. In general, bicycles and, especially, these motorized vehicles often show a lack of respect for the rules of the road. It’s scary for other people, but it’s, frankly, dangerous for them as well.

Pop

6. I remember when my grandfather …

McKinley Green took me hunting one time when I was about seven years old. I fired his rifle and I landed on my butt. Mostly, I remember watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, boxing, and Wide World of Sports with him, as well as playing gin rummy. 

7. I am not fazed at all by …

No, I am hard-pressed to answer this question. I engage in a variety of activities, including donating blood, speaking publicly, and writing this blog. Am I unfazed by doing these things? I don’t think so. 

8. Long car rides … 

Since I’m not driving, I’m usually the navigator. Between those times when we have to change roads, I read a lot of newspapers and magazines that have accumulated.

9. I don’t understand the fuss over …

Answering this question would involve me being aware of things that I don’t care about. If there’s a music, television program, or fashion trend that I’m not familiar with, and other people think it’s terrific, then good for them. It doesn’t have any real effect on me. This is a corollary to  Arthur’s Law. 

10. When I’m home alone …

I spent the first hour playing a CD and probably writing a blog post. With the second CD, I need to change positions, so I’ll empty the dishwasher, reload it, and maybe vacuum. With the third CD, I would sort my mail, pay my bills, and read the newspapers. The length of CDs can range anywhere from 35 to 75 minutes, so this is an approximate agenda. 

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week!

Eclipsed (theater); ASO

Art at APL

Even though we complain about being too busy, my wife and I had three events in three evenings.

Thursday, June 5: Eclipsed is the third program this season from the Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate NY, after Berta, Berta, and Once On This Island. 

The description: “‘Eclipsed’ tells the story of five Liberian women and their tale of survival near the end of the Second Liberian Civil War.

“Their lives set on a nightmarish detour by civil war, the captive wives of a Liberian rebel officer form a hardscrabble sisterhood. With the arrival of a new girl who can read—and the return of an old one who can kill—their possibilities are quickly transformed.” It was excellent, but very intense, and occasionally quite funny. Here is a review from the Berkshire Edge.

I was unfamiliar with the Danai Gurira play, which played on Broadway about a decade ago. Here’s a New York Times review from  a 2016 production featuring Lupita Nyong’o.

From here: “Danai got the idea for Eclipsed from a 2003 magazine article featuring a female rebel solider named Black Diamond. The influence from that article, Danai’s own African upbringing, and her research in Liberia helped her to shed a light on enormities that are still issues today.”

I’m looking forward to next season from BTTUNY at the Cap Rep building.

Art

Friday, June 6: The Albany Public Library and Opalka Gallery celebrate the latest Art at APL exhibition, “Sight Specific.” The opening that night at the Pine Hills branch of the APL featured The Pine Hills Band.

“The artists in ‘Sight Specific’ are not directly mapping a place, but employing memory, direct observation, documentation, comparison, or abstraction, to tell stories of familiar places like gas stations, rest areas, basketball courts, backyards, living rooms, landscapes, industrial sites, or neighborhood streets… 

“The exhibition features Michael Bach, Seth Butler, Matt Chinian, Sean Hemmerle, Susan Hoffer, Maeve McCool, Rob O’Neil, Andrew Pellettieri, and Laura Von Rosk.” It’ll be in place through November 8. 

I went by myself because my wife had a work thing.

Symphony

Saturday, June 6: Last year, my wife and I attended almost the entire American Music Festival of the Albany Symphony Orchestra at EMPAC. Indeed, on Thursday night, we were invited to attend the open rehearsal, but we chose to attend the play instead. 

This year, we only attended the American Music Festival, which had the theme of Water Music. It started with What do flowers do at night? by Sophia Jani. A cactus species called the Selenicereus grandiflorus blooms only once a year for one night.

Then  Play: A Concerto For Percussion Quartet, Vocalist & Orchestra by Clarice Assad, which was just wack. The percussionists played glockenspiel, marimba, xylophone, toy drums, bells, rubber chickens, and many other instruments. It was excellent, lots of fun, and semi-autobiographical.   

From here: “Indigo Heaven is a clarinet concerto in all but name, laid out in three movements running 27 minutes. The work is inspired by the open Western vistas described in Mark Warren’s novel of the same title.” It premiered with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, composed by Christopher Theofanidis, commissioned for the CSO’s principal clarinet, Stephen Williamson, who also played it at the ASO.  

Bobby Ge’s Beyond Anthropocene was commissioned, premiered, and recorded by David Alan Miller and the ASO. The final movement is solastalgia, which is defined as “the distress that is produced by environmental change impacting on people while they are directly connected to their home environment.” It was a workout, especially for the horns.

Concert: No Doubt, 10 July 1997

MxPx, The Selecter

Reading the book 60 Songs That Explain The ’90s by Rob Harvilla reminded me of a concert by the group No Doubt on 10 July 1997 at the arena in downtown Albany. It used to be the Knickerbocker Arena, and now it’s the MVP Arena, but I believe that it was the Pepsi Arena at the time.

I had a friend who was widowed shortly after her first child was born, her husband dying of Agent Orange in the early ’80s. So I occasionally babysat the girl. When the teen wanted to see No Doubt, her mother suggested that I accompany her and four of her friends. I was familiar with the group. My friend dropped us off.

The first group was called MxPx. The sheer constant audio assault was unnerving to me, but the audience seemed to enjoy it.

Then came an English 2-tone ska revival band, The Selecter – I misremembered that it was The Specials, but they had similar roots. I thought they were excellent. Still, a goodly number of the audience literally turned their back on them; they did not like this music. (Here’s Too Much Pressure.)

Not only did I think it was disrespectful, but they were also oblivious to the fact that the roots of the music that No Doubt was playing came from ska. It would be like if, in the 1960s, a white Blues musician such as Eric Clapton in Cream or Keith Richards in The Rolling Stones were the headliners, with the opening act being B.B. King or Albert King, and the audience turned their backs on them. This ticked me off greatly.

Stefani and company

The main act came out, and they were entertaining enough. I remember very distinctly that Gwen Stefani, the lead singer, wanted the boys to sing the line, “I’m just a girl.” Some were uncomfortable, but most did so.

Harvilla says in his book regarding the group, “…which brings us to the sell-out adjacent song that’s only.005 ska… No Doubt is a great many things: zippy new wave monolith worthy of Cyndi Lauper, the Go-Go’s, or the B-52s. [It’s] a delivery system for lead singer Gwen Stefani, the blindingly sunny pop star and wildly out-of-pocket cultural appropriator who combines the appeal of Jessica Rabbit, Olive Oyl, Cher from Clueless…

“It’s not entirely that the band abandoned its roots on this record, but the roots are no longer a focal point. Maybe with Just A Girl, it’s best to imagine No Doubt as a space shuttle with the rocket boosters’ burnout detachment. She’s a true superstar orbit, and in this case, those abandoned rocket boosters just happen to be labeled ska, and everyone in the band, other than Gwen. “

All that said, I’ve never been all that fussy about selling out or “authenticity,” having seen the movie A Complete Unknown about Bob Dylan. The notion of selling out can be pretty darn fuzzy.

BTW, here’s the likely No Doubt playlist of the concert:

  1. Tragic Kingdom
  2. Excuse Me, Mr.
  3. Different People
  4. Happy Now?
  5. Just a Girl
  6. The Climb
  7. End It on This
  8. Total Hate ’95
  9. Hey You
  10. The Imperial March
  11. Move On / Ghost Town
  12. Don’t Speak
  13. Sunday Morning
  14. Spiderwebs
  15. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
  16. Oi to the World

Pop hits of 1955

“I owe my soul to the company store”

The pop hits of 1955 were pretty conventional compared to what the following years would show. Yes, it was the year of Rock Around The Clock hitting the top of the charts, but it wouldn’t be until the following year when Elvis and others took over that you see the real change. Incidentally, there are 73 weeks of hits because of the conflicting charts.

Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White – Perez “Prez” Prado and his orchestra, the King of the Mambo (RCA Victor), 10 weeks at #1, gold record, instrumental. Trumpet solo by Billy Regis. From the film Under Water! This  was released on both 45 and 78 rpm

Sincerely (Harvey Fuqua-Allen Freed) – The McGuire Sisters, orchestra conducted by Dick Jacobs (Coral),  10 weeks at #1, gold record. Original R&B release by The Moonglows. Fuqua became a top Motown songwriter.

(We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock (De Knight-Freedman) – Bill Haley and his Comets (Decca), eight weeks at #1, gold record. First recorded by Sonny Dae & His Knights. In the spring of ’55, once people heard it played over the titles of the hit movie “Blackboard Jungle,” Haley’s version exploded.

Sixteen Tons (Merle Travis) – “Tennessee” Ernie Ford,  orchestra conducted by Jack Fascinato (Capitol),  eight weeks at #1, gold record.

Love Is A Many Splendored Thing (Sammy Fain-Francis Webster)- Four Aces featuring Al Alberts, orchestra and chorus conducted by Jack Pleis (Decca), six weeks at #1, gold record. From the 20th Century Fox CinemaScope production Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing.

The Yellow Rose Of Texas (D. George) – Mitch Miller with his Orchestra and Chorus (Columbia), six weeks at #1, gold record. Recorded for his 1955 LP “The Confederacy.”

Disney

The Ballad of Davy Crockett (T. Blackburn-G. Bruns- Bill Hayes, orchestra conducted by Archie Bleyer (Cadence), five weeks at #1, gold record. “The song originated with Walt Disney’s wildly popular ‘Davy Crockett’ dramatization, a three-episode Frontier Land segment starring Fess Parker that aired on the new ABC television series ‘Disneyland’ between December 1954 and February 1955.”

Autumn Leaves/Les Feuilles Mortes (Joseph Kosma-Johnny Mercer-Jacques Prevert)- Roger Williams (Kapp), four weeks at #1, gold record, instrumental

Let Me Go Lover – Joan Weber (Hill-J. L. Carson), orchestra and chorus conducted by Jimmy Carroll (Columbia ), four weeks at #1, gold record, from the Studio One TV production. 

Dance With Me, Henry (Wallflower) (James-Otis-Hank Ballard)- Georgia Gibbs, orchestra and chorus conducted by Hugo Peretti (Mercury), 3 weeks at #1, gold record

Hearts Of Stone (Ray-Jackson) – The Fontane Sisters, orchestra and chorus conducted by Billy Vaughn (Dot), three weeks at #1, gold record

Unchained Melody (Alex North-Hy Zaret) – Les Baxter, his Orchestra and Chorus (Capitol), two weeks at #1. From the Hall VBartlett production Unchained.

Learnin’ the Blues (Dolores Vicki Silvers) – Frank Sinatra, orchestra conducted by Nelson Riddle (Capitol), two weeks at #1

Ain’t That A Shame  (Antoine “Fats” Domino- Dave Bartholomew)- Pat Boone, orchestra and chorus conducted by Billy Vaughn(Dot), two weeks at #1, gold record

May rambling: To Secure These Rights

Charles Strouse

To Secure These Rights: The Report of the President’s Committee on Civil Rights. HARRY S. TRUMAN, The White House, December 5, 1946.

How Civil Rights Were Made—and Remade—By Black Communities In the Jim Crow South

In HR 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed by the House of Representatives, Sec. 70302: “This section limits the ability of U.S. courts to enforce a citation for contempt for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order. Specifically, if no security was given when the injection or order was issued, the citation of contempt may not be enforced using appropriated funds. This limitation applies to injunctions or orders issued before, on, or after the date of enactment.”

The AKG Museum exhibit honoring the people killed in the shootings at Tops Market in Buffalo, 5-14-2022, including the poem Mourning Until Morning by Jillian Hanesworth

The ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Uncensored Oral History of a Revolution

My Father Prosecuted History’s Crimes. Then He Died in One. He was a Nazi hunter — and was killed in the Lockerbie bombing. What does it mean to seek justice for his death?

Wendy McMahon Resigns as Head of CBS News: “Company and I Do Not Agree on the Path Forward”

This Channel Is Biased
A business owner tested whether customers would pay more for American-made products. The results were ‘sobering.’
Revisiting Biden’s Decline
The Long, Strange Trip of the Titanic Victims Whose Remains Surfaced Hundreds of Miles Away, Weeks After the Ship Sank
And…
Baby Is Healed With the World’s First Personalized Gene-Editing Treatment. The technique used on a 9½-month-old boy with a rare condition has the potential to help people with thousands of other uncommon genetic diseases.
John shares some extremely good news six years into Nerdfighteria’s effort to improve maternal and child health in Sierra Leone.
No One Knows When They Don’t Die
Legendary comic book writer Peter David dies at age 68
James McEachin, Star of ‘Tenafly’ and Perry Mason Telefilms, Dies at 94
George Wendt, the Beer-Loving Norm on ‘Cheers,’ Dies at 77
Discover® is now part of Capital One as of May 18, 2025
June Squibb on Her Nonagenarian Career High
Why Teacher Jamal Roberts is the New American Idol

Autocephality is a fancy word for self-governance. It’s mainly used in the context of Eastern Orthodox Churches that independently govern their spiritual affairs without a higher ecclesiastical authority.

Now I Know: It’s Not Easy Being Clean and Why Purple is the Royal Color and The Secret Code of Central Park’s Lamp Post and It’s Not Easy Driving Green

On and on…

Yes, this is Project 2025 (ft. Liz Dye)

The Greatness Paradox: His notion of national greatness is stuck in the Napoleonic Era, which is causing him to destroy everything that makes America great today.

Harvard Derangement Syndrome

Him & The Press: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

His CFPB kills the data broker rule

When He Was the One Taking Land From Farmers and How His Embrace of Afrikaner “Refugees” Became a Joke in South Africa

She Devoted Her Life to Serving the U.S. Then DOGE Targeted Her. A veteran who returned from Iraq injured and transformed, Joy Marver is now facing a crisis at home.

We’re Experts in Fascism. We’re Leaving the U.S.

Why Eliminating the NEA Would Be a Disaster For Our Country

The New DEI — Discrimination, Exclusion, and Inequity

All Hail Our Rococo President!

Strange Bedfellows and Long Knives, about the secret engine of sweeping political upheavals (like Trumpism) and their inherent fragility

 

“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.” -Harry S. Truman, 33rd US president (8 May 1884-26 December 1972)
Heather Cox Richardson, May 23 (in part)

After S.V. Date of HuffPost noted last week that the White House had published fewer than 20% of [his] speeches, the White House has stopped publishing a database of official transcripts of [his] announcements, appearances, and speeches altogether and has taken down those it had published. Instead, it will just post videos. And yet it is publishing just a few of the videos of the president’s term: so far, fewer than 50 videos of the first 120 days of his term, according to Brian Stelter of CNN.

A presidential administration traditionally publishes the president’s words promptly to establish a record. The White House, in contrast, says removing the transcripts will enable people to get a better sense of him by watching his videos. But it’s likely closer to the truth that his appearances since he took office have been erratic, and removing the transcripts will make it harder for people to read his nonsensical rambles.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “The [FOTUS] White House is the most transparent in history,” but of course, it’s objectively not. White House officials have made it impossible to tell who is making decisions at the Department of Government Efficiency, for example, or who gave the order to render migrants to El Salvador. Now the president’s words, too, will be hidden.

MUSIC
Charles Strouse, Tony-winning composer of Annie, Applause, and Bye Bye Birdie, dies at 96. He’s known for such songs as “Tomorrow,” “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” “Put on a Happy Face,” and the ‘All in the Family’ theme song, “Those Were the Days.” He also wrote scores for motion pictures, including The Night They Raided Minsky’s
That’s Trump Derangement! – A Randy Rainbow Song Parody
Pamela Bondi – Marsh Family parody of The One and Only sung by Chesney Hawkes (by Nik Kershaw)

New Day Will Rise  – Yuval Raphael

Rick Derringer, a Zelig-like rocker, the guitarist, singer, and songwriter, dies at 77. Hang On Sloopy – The McCoys. Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo – Rick Derringer. Eat It – Weird Al Yankovic (Rick plays lead guitar; he produced six of Al’s albums)

Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In)-The New Edition, featuring Kenny Rogers

Somewhere Over Laredo – Lainey Wilson 

On an American Spiritual  by David R. Holsinger
Leucadia Uncompromised – Peter Sprague
The Firebird suite by Igor Stravinsky

Coverville 1534: Brothers in Arms Album Cover and Devo Cover Story

Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version)‎ ‎- Taylor Swift ‎ ‎
Don’t You (Forget About Me) – Simple Minds
Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck covering Curtis Mayfield’s People Get Ready
Crazy For You –  Madonna
Harry Truman – Chicago
Ramblin' with Roger
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