music Archives - Page 35 of 264 - Ramblin' with Roger

Mixed CD- Heart

SPAC

heartbreak It’s time for Mixed CD – Heart, it being Valentine’s Day. Some are happy love spongs, some not so much. And since I love music, I’m noting if I saw the artist perform.

You Really Got Me – the Kinks. I didn’t pay that much attention to the group until a few years after they broke through.

Caught Up In The Rapture – Anita Baker. My friend KD recently reminded me that when we saw her at the Palace Theatre in Albany on March 25, 1986, I met her, and she got us backstage where we saw Jack Nicholson, in town to film the movie Ironweed, and boxer Mike Tyson, who trained around the area.

Love Is Everywhere I Go – Sam Phillips. I first heard her during the TV show Gilmore Girls.

How Sweet It Is – Marvin Gaye

Passionate Kisses – Mary Chapin Carpenter. I have several of her albums. This is a Lucinda Williams song; her I saw at the Newport Folk Festival at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) in Saratoga Springs, NY, on Aug 9, 1998, and at least once in Washington Park in Albany in the mid-1990s.

Stepping Out With My Baby – Tony Bennett. I saw him at Tanglewood on September 5, 1998, with Diana Krall opening. A great show.

I Do It For Your Love – Paul Simon. I saw him perform in Albany at the Knick Arena in March 1991.

My favorite song from Tapestry

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow – Carole King. With James Taylor and Joni Mitchell.The only time I ever saw JT was at the anti-nuke demonstration on June 12, 1982. Joni I saw on August 22, 1974 at SPAC, then in Philadelphia in 1981.

Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby – Diana Krall. I saw her on 8/8/2023 at a disappointing show.

Tempted – Squeeze. One of the finest groans in all of pop music.

Good – Better Than Ezra

Someone To Lay Down Beside Me – Linda Ronstadt. She was also at the 12 June 82 demonstration.

For No One – the Beatles. I saw Paul McCartney on July 5, 2014 at the Knick Arena (or whatever they were calling then) in Albany.

Season Of Hollow Soul – k.d. lang

Time and Tide – Basia

I Believe – Stevie Wonder

I Love Everybody – Lyle Lovett. He was the headline artist at the Newport Folk Festival at SPAC in 1998.

Can’t Nothing Be Love But Love – the Temptations. This was from the Norman Whitfield wah-wah era. I saw the Temptations twice, once during the Reunion tour at the Colonie Colesium in 1982, and a couple of years later at Heritage Park in Colonie near Albany.

February rambling: obituary pirates

strong men always fall

**Posted by Jessica Wilson to Star Trek Wholesome Posting**

He Died in a Tragic Accident. Why Did the Internet Say He Was Murdered? Within a day of the death of Matthew Sachman, 19, on New York City subway tracks, so-called obituary pirates had flooded search results with false information.

Judge clears names of 2 men convicted in Times Square murder after they spent years in prison and The Juror Who Found Herself Guilty. I’m always pained by these stories of innocent people being in jail for decades before being exonerated.

Gazan Lives Matter

Cory Doctorow: How I Got Scammed

Sam Waterston to Leave ‘Law and Order’ After 20 Seasons

50 Best ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Guest Stars, Ranked

Anti-Racism Resources

I gave blood at the Albany High School on January 31. It was my 178th time. My time: 5 minutes, 17 seconds. Booyah!

Kelly goes marbles

Mel-O-Toons: Cheap cartoons for weekday enjoyment

Now I Know: When New York Choked the Artichoke Trade and When Milwaukee Went to War Over Bridges and Math and the Missing Planet and Why Did This Rabbit Drive a Car?

NOT ME: A SCOTTISH commercial cleaning firm has announced its acquisition of an English rival, adding a further 100 staff to its growing UK team. Founded in 1988 by its Chairman Roger Green, Spotless now operates over 1,700 contracts across the UK, providing a full range of cleaning services for blue chip companies, retail outlets, industrial leaders, and premier commercial premises.

Health

Chuck Miller: The surgeries aren’t done yet; Panic at the hospital; Waiting on an NPO; This blog post was almost written from beyond the grave. Get better, Chuck!

About Biden’s Age and Memory

King Charles Diagnosed With Cancer, Buckingham Palace Say. The Royal Line of British Succession

Seiji Ozawa, Captivating Conductor, Is Dead at 88. He led the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 29 years, toured widely, and helped dispel prejudices about East Asian classical musicians. I saw him on television several times, at least once in person, probably at Tanglewood.

Chita Rivera, revered and pioneering Tony-winning dancer and singer, dies at 91

Carl Weathers, Apollo Creed in “Rocky,” dies at 76

Amelia Earhart’s long-lost plane was possibly spotted in the Pacific by an exploration team

The retribution presidency

2024: What Kind of Society Will America Be?

***

djt Calls for ‘All Willing States’ to Deploy National Guard Troops to Texas. Kareem: “This is not a drill: Donald Trump has become the most destructive force to American democracy. To support him after all that’s happened, after all he’s said and done, is to denounce America and everything it stands for. That’s not hyperbole or liberal posturing. It’s merely acknowledging the facts.”

***

From Maggie Haberman, New York Times: “A vindictive Trump second term is now a frequent point of discussion. But [John] Bolton already got a close-up look at Trump’s nature — and how his anger can boil over. He spent 17 months in the administration and left in 2019.

“The new edition of Bolton’s book focuses on several examples, especially the case of Ellen Knight, a National Security Council official who cleared Bolton’s original edition for publication and was then dismissed from the [National Security Council].

“Knight told a federal judge that senior White House lawyers pressured her to falsely claim that Bolton’s book contained classified information. She was reinstated under President Biden.”

***

djt says he’d let Russia do ‘whatever the hell they want’ to NATO countries that don’t pay enough. Republicans say it was just fine.

Heather Cox Richardson: “What I’m saying is… if former president Donald Trump or a Trump-like figure… is elected president or takes the presidency in 2024, we will lose American democracy for our lifetimes. Not forever, because strong men always fall. It’s the nature of authoritarian movements.”[She’s more optimistic than I.]

***

Federal Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Claim of Absolute Immunity. The ruling answered a question that an appeals court had never addressed: Can former presidents escape being held accountable by the criminal justice system for things they did while in office?

MUSIC

Where has Tracy Chapman been? Tracy Chapman – Fast Car

The Genius Of Stevie Wonder

The War and Treaty: Lover’s Game

1712 Overture – PDQ Bach

Karma Chameleon – Culture Club

Victoria Monét: On My Mama

Coverville 1475: The Harry Styles Cover Story

Jelly Roll: Son Of A Sinner

J. Eric Smith’s Favorite Songs by Favorite Artists: Buggy Jive and D.O.A.

Laufey – From The Start

Gracie Abrams: Difficult

WTIT: Sunday Stealing

Sabor a Campo

Sunday Stealing is per WTIT again.

1. What is a big dream you have for the future?

To go to several Major League Baseball stadiums in the same season. I know some people have gone to ALL the stadiums in one season, but I’ve given up on that. Maybe one year, I will do the Northeast (Toronto, Boston, New York (2), Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Then, another year, tackle the Midwest et al, preferably by train.

2. What are your favorite hobbies?

Genealogy. Do I HAVE other hobbies?

3. If you could change the world, what would you do?

Have news, especially quasi-news, Twitteresque “information” poured through a truth filter.

4. What places have you traveled to? What was your favorite?

Thirty-two states in the US, Mexico, Canada, France and Barbados. The latter was my favorite, partly because I didn’t have to pay for it; I won it on JEOPARDY!

5. What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?

I don’t eat weird things. Well, not by my definition. My daughter thinks eating cottage cheese and maple syrup together is weird. Nah.

6. What are your favorite places to eat?

The truth is that several eateries have come and gone. It’s challenging to narrow down places. The last place my wife and I ate was Sabor a Campo, 485 Delaware Avenue, Albany, NY, in a half-filled strip mall at Whitehall Road. The name, “which translates to ‘Taste of Country,’ is an eat-in buffet, carry-out style restaurant, specializing in value-driven multicultural foods, and set in a relaxed, homey, and familial environment.” A couple at church recommended it, and the food was excellent.

A friend calls me “Mister Music” – seriously.

7. What kind of music do you like? Talk about a favorite artist or songs.

I can’t do that. Too many choices. Pop music from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s. A bunch of classical music. Jazz. Search the blog; I write about music almost weekly.

Meanwhile, listen to the William Tell Overture by Rossini. Here are people who have birthdays in February, so I’ve listened to them all recently: Funkier Than A Mosquito’s Tweeter – Nina Simone. I Don’t Remember – Peter Gabriel. Shut Up and Kiss Me – Mary Chapin Carpenter. The Mercy Seat – Johnny Cash. Lay Down (Candles In the Rain) – Melanie (with the Edwin Hawkins Singers).

8. What was the last book you read?

Prequel by Rachel Maddow

9. If you could meet a character from a book, who would it be?

Bartholomew Cubbins, who spoke truth to power in Bartholemew and the Oobleck

10. Do you prefer books or movies? Why?

Movies because I can commit to them more easily. I started reading many books, both paper and audiobooks, but I didn’t finish them. I also like to GO to the movies because watching at home tends to be too hard to focus on.

Fear, and lack of the same

11. What is something you used to be scared of but aren’t anymore?

Embarrassing myself publicly. I may still do it, but it doesn’t fuel anxiety as it used to.

12. What is something you were never afraid of but are now?

The end of democracy is not just in the United States but in several other countries. Global warming.

13. What item is your most cherished possession? Why?

I have a metal box with all my important papers, including genealogy notes. If there were a fire, it’d be the single thing I would grab.

14. What awards or contests have you won?

I won a racquetball tournament in 1989, I think.

15. Do you like working jigsaw puzzles?

Not really. I have no patience for them. And I don’t “see” the connecting parts well.

The Beatles in ’64

4 Apr was record-breaking

In honor of their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show 60 years ago, here are some links to The Beatles in ’64. Particularly in the first half of the year, they dominated the charts like no artist had before. The dates below reflect the top ten of the Billboard charts. All of the songs were on Capitol Records unless otherwise indicated.

25 Jan: I Want To Hold Your Hand, #3, up from #45 the previous week

1 Feb: I Want To Hold Your Hand, #1: it would top the Billboard (BB) charts for 7 weeks, Cash Box (CB: 1950-1996) for 8 weeks, and Music Vendor (MV: 1954-1964) for 9 weeks. The book The Billboard Book of Number One Hits by Fred Bronson reads: “It is the most significant single in the rock era.” The group wouldn’t perform in America until they appeared at the top of the US charts.

8 Feb: I Want To Hold Your Hand, #1. She Loves You, on the Swan label, #7, up from #21.

15 Feb: I Want To Hold Your Hand, #1. She Loves You, #3.

22 Feb: I Want To Hold Your Hand, #1. She Loves You, #2.

29 Feb: I Want To Hold Your Hand, #1. She Loves You, #2. Please Please Me, #6, up from #29, on the Vee-Jay label.

The week I turned 11

7 Mar: I Want To Hold Your Hand, #1. She Loves You, #2. Please Please Me #4.

14 Mar: I Want To Hold Your Hand, #1. She Loves You #2. Please Please Me #3, where it peaked on the CB and MV charts as well.

21 Mar: She Loves You, #1. I Want To Hold Your Hand, #2. Please Please Me #3. Twist And Shout, #7, up from #55, on the Tollie label affiliated with Vee-Jay. This week was the first time an artist had consective chart toppers since Elvis in 1956. The song was #1 on CB for two weeks and MV for 1.

28 Mar: She Loves You, #1. I Want To Hold Your Hand, #2. Twist and Shout, #3. Please Please Me, #4.

The top five

4 Apr: Can’t Buy Me Love, #1, from #27, at the time, the biggest leap to the top of the charts in Billboard history. Besides being #1 for five weeks on BB, it was #1 on CB for five weeks and #1 on MV for four weeks. Twist and Shout, #2, where it peaked on BB, but it got to #1 on both CB and MV. She Loves You, #3. I Want To Hold Your Hand, #4. Please Please Me #5.

11 Apr: Can’t Buy Me Love, #1. Twist and Shout, #2. She Loves You, #4. I Want To Hold Your Hand, #7. Please Please Me #9. The Beatles had 14 songs on the BB Top 100. Do You Want To Know A Secret, #14. I Saw Her Standing There, #38. You Can’t Do That, #48. All My Loving, #50. From Me To You, #52. Thank You Girl, #61. There’s A Place, #74. Roll Over Beethoven, #78. Love Me Do, #81.

18 Apr: Can’t Buy Me Love, #1. Twist and Shout, #2, Do You Want To Know A Secret, #5 on Vee-Jay. She Loves You, #8.

25 Apr: Can’t Buy Me Love, #1. Twist and Shout, #2. Do You Want To Know A Secret, #3.

2 May: Can’t Buy Me Love, #1, Do You Want To Know A Secret, #3, Twist and Shout, #7

9 May: Do You Want To Know A Secret, #2, also went #3 on BB and MV for three and two weeks, respectively. Can’t Buy Me Love, #5. The Beatles were finally supplanted from the #1 slot by Hello, Dolly by Louis Armstrong.

16 May: Love Me Do, #3 from #12 on Tollie. Do You Want To Know A Secret, #5

Jane Asher’s brother

23 May: Love Me Do, #2. Also, A World Without Love by Peter and Gordon, #10, up from #30, a song attributed to Lennon/McCartney.

30 May: Love Me Do, #1, also #1 on CB and MW, A World Without Love, #7.

6 June: Love Me Do, #2, A World Without Love, #6.

13 June: A World Without Love, #2 Love Me Do, #4.

20 June: A World Without Love, #2 Love Me Do, #7.

27 June: A World Without Love, #1, also #1 on CB, and #2 for two weeks on RW. Bad To Me by Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas, #9 from #16, also #10 on CB. Brian Epstein managed Kramer, and the song was attributed to Lennon/McCartney.

4 July 4: A World Without Love, #6. Bad To Me, #9.

11 July: A World Without Love, #8.

18 July: nothing in the Top 10

25 July: A Hard Day’s Night, #2, up from #21

1 Aug: A Hard Day’s Night, #1. It was also #1 for three weeks on both CB and RW.

8, 15, 22, 29 of Aug; 5, 12 of Sept, A Hard Day’s Night, #1, #3, #3, #4, #8, #8.

Inside the violent threat against the Beatles’ only Colorado concert: Beatlemania took over Red Rocks on Aug. 26, 1964, during the band’s first North American tour

12 Dec: I Feel Fine, #5, up from #22.

19 Dec: I Feel Fine, #2

26 Dec: I Feel Fine #1; also #1 for four weeks CB, #1 for three weeks RW. In Jan 1965 (2, 9, 16, 23), it went #1, #1, #2. #4 before it fell out of the Top Ten.

The #1 hits of 1914

By The Beautiful Sea

Sheet music. It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary. 1982.0736.05.

Here are the #1 hits of 1914. Joel Whitburn’s A Century of Pop Music notes: “Ballroom dancing…became a nationwide phenomenon, with 1913 as its peak year.”

Also, “six new companies became talking-machine competitors to the Big Three [Edison, Columbia, and Victor] in 1914.” Of course, World War I began that year, though the US didn’t enter the fray until three years later.

I tried to find the best recording. The first one is subpar. In general, the ones from the78prof are quite good.

The Song That Stole My Heart Away – Henry Burr (Columbia), seven weeks at #1

It’s A Long Way To Tipperary – American Quartet (Victor), seven weeks at #1. In 1915, this became a big hit for John McCormack (#1) and the Prince’s Orchestra (#2). This is a very familiar song, and I’m not even 110.

Rebecca of Sunny-brook Farm – American Quartet (Victor), six weeks at #1

I’m On My Way To Mandalay – Henry Burr, Albert Campbell, and Will Oakland (Victor) , six weeks at #1. Written by Al Bryan and Fred Fisher, the writers of Peg O’ My Heart, which I know well.

By The Beautiful Sea – Heidelberg Quintet (Victor), six weeks at #1. Or Quintette, per the label. I know this song, at least the chorus.

Comedy is so subjective

Cohen On The Telephone – Joe Hayman (Columbia), five weeks at #1, a gold record of spoken-word comedy

Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That’s An Irish Lullabye) – Chauncey Olcott (Columbia), four weelks at #1. I knew it was familiar! Bing Crosby covered it and it went to #4 in 1944.

Ballin’ The Jack – Prince’s Orchestra (Columbia), three weeks at #1. An instrumental.

I Love The Ladies– Arthur Collins and Byron Harlan (Columbia), three weeks at #1. A comedy record.

The Aba Daba Honeymoon – Arthur Collins and Byron Harlan (Victor), two weeks at #1, listed as a comedy record. This was a gold record for Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter as it went to #3 in 1951. This has nothing to do with Fred Flintstone.

By The Beautiful Sea– Ada Jones and Billy Watkins