music Archives - Page 44 of 261 - Ramblin' with Roger

22 gallons, and bad air

SCOTUS surprises

blood Here’s a day in the life, in this case, Wednesday, June 7, 2023. Among other things, it was the second day of bad air.

My computer has been wonky. I would click on Google Chrome. Then, unexpectedly, it would shut down. I used Microsoft Bing; the same thing. My computer’s too full. I have no photos or music. I don’t know what to change, except I could offload some downloads. So I did, a tedious process that I attacked throughout the day.

I had signed up to donate blood at Albany High School. According to the American Red Cross, this would be my 176th donation, making it 22 gallons.

I walked to the school. Donations are now collected in the new library, which is much better than getting lost leaving the gymnasium. Something I don’t think I admitted to in this blog: I’m a competitive donor.

When it took me 14 minutes to donate the time before last, I was unsurprised because I had a relatively novice phlebotomist who likely hit the scar tissue. The last time, it was about seven minutes. This time, five minutes and thirteen seconds, which was in my usual range, was a sign of a quality technician. I beat a teacher and a high school student who started before I did.

The opposite of buenos aires

While the 1.2 km walk to the school was fine, the return trip was arduous. I heard the air quality would be better than the previous day; not so. It was bad enough for the New York Yankees to postpone a game, some Broadway shows to be affected, and Governor Hochul recommended school children avoid outdoor activities. Orange skies at noon, indeed.

The air quality index in much of the Northeast surpassed official “hazardous” levels on that date; New York City’s reached 413, the highest in the world. This is nasty stuff for the human body.

If it’s this bad now, what will it be like after we breach 1.5°C?

We received a lovely thank-you note from newlyweds Deborah and Cyrille, not an email but an interactive message on their magical website.

That night on the news, NBC was plugging their coverage of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Later, on a Law and Order: SVU rerun, which my daughter was watching, the villain escapes to Paris. We’ve been there!

Some links

Supreme Court unexpectedly upheld the provision prohibiting racial gerrymandering and voted not to make federal Medicaid law virtually unenforceable. Miraculous.

2022 edition of The Year in Hate and Extremism

Neglected political issues: Life expectancy

If the Police Can Decide Who Qualifies as a Journalist, There Is No Free Press

The sportswashing of professional golf

Construction of US manufacturing plants is undergoing an immense boom

djt Has Been Indicted Again

Nearly a Third Reporting Two or More Races Were Under 18 in 2020

State-to-State Migration Flows

‘Burn It Down’ Explores SNL and Its “Culture of Impunity”

Tony Awards: A Victory for Theater in America; Winners

TV Ratings 2022-23: Final Seven-Day Averages for Every Network Series

Amid Writers Strike, Hollywood’s Next Big Question May Be: Is SAG-AFTRA Next?

Treat Williams, Star of ‘Everwood’ and ‘Prince of the City,’ Dies in Motorcycle Accident in Southern Vermont at 71. He was airlifted to Albany Medical Center before passing away.

John Romita Sr., Legendary Marvel Artist, Dies at 93. He was the Marvel art director when I first started reading comics in 1972.

Pat Cooper, Stand-Up Comedian, Dies at 93

Barry Newman, Star of ‘Petrocelli,’ Dies at 92

The Artichoke Parm, the Most Mysterious Sandwich in Brooklyn

14-year-old got to animate a scene in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Now I Know: Why a Pair of British Officials Watched Paint Dry and Why Bermuda’s Roofs All Look The Same and Cookie Monster and The Hand with the Mind of Its Own

MUSIC

Hekla by Jón Leifs

Coverville 1445: Prince Cover Story VI

Capriccio Italien by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Better Together Song Around The World, featuring Jack Johnson, Paula Fuga, Lee Oskar

In The Steppes of Central Asia by Borodin

Loan Me A Dime – Boz Scaggs

Pique Dame by Franz Von Suppe.

The Angel City Choir medley of memorable TV theme songs

Better – Shannon Dooks

Paul McCartney says AI tools helped rescue John Lennon vocals for ‘last Beatles record’

Most awarded songs #11

“unable to interpret any of the wording”

Creedence-Clearwater-Revival — Stu, John, Doug, Tom

Now the countdown begins in earnest. With the list of some of the most awarded songs #11, we’re talking about the songs pop music aficionados of the 20th century surely know. So do Grammy and Oscar voters, as well as those folks who create those lists for Rolling Stone magazine, RIAA, ASCAP, CMA, NPR, and more.

50. Like A Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan. “Rolling Stone listed it at No. 1 on their 2004 and 2010 ‘500 Greatest Songs of All Time’ lists.”

49. Louie Louie – The Kingsmen. Richard Berry wrote this in 1955 and released a recording in 1957. But it’s the Kingsmen version in 1963 that made its mark. It’s chaotic, raw, and sloppy, with the singer coming in too early after an instrumental break. “The FBI started a 31-month investigation into the matter and concluded they were ‘unable to interpret any of the wording in the record.'” That actually added to the song’s allure.

48. When A Man Loves A Woman – Percy Sledge. Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright were members of the Esquires, which Percy Sledge fronted. The two are credited with writing the song, but Sledge thought that his changes warranted a co-writing designation.

47. I Heard It Through The Grapevine – Marvin Gaye. The third version of the song from Motown. Berry Gordy nixed The Miracles’version. Gladys Knight and the Pips had a hit. But Marvin’s version became the monster. It became overplayed when the movie The Big Chill came out.

This is NOT a good wedding song

46. Every Breath You Take – The Police. This is a song about stalking and the breakup of Sting’s marriage. So the songwriter is bemused when people tell him they had the song played at their weddings.

45. Don’t Be Cruel – Elvis Presley. It was written by Otis Blackwell in 1956. A two-sided hit with Hound Dog.

44. In The Midnight Hour – Wilson Pickett. “The song was composed by Pickett and Steve Cropper at the historic Lorraine Motel in Memphis, later (April 1968) the site of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.” It might have been a bigger pop hit except that the powers that be thought it was too suggestive.

43. Earth Angel – The Penguins. “The original demo version became an unexpected hit.” Songwriting credits were in dispute for years. A vocal group from Canada named the Crew-Cuts did a cover and actually had the bigger pop hit.

42. Peggy Sue – Buddy Holly. The song was written by Jerry Allison and Norman Petty, although they insisted Holly receive a credit after he had died in 1959.

41. Proud Mary – Creedence Clearwater Revival. This was the first of five singles by the band to peak at Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1953: #1 hits the year I was born

Stalin died

Les.Roger.backporch — Les and Roger Green, back porch of 5 Gaines St, 2nd floor, 1953

It’s time for the #1 hits the year I was born, 1953, when I arranged the armistice which ended the Korean conflict and ordered Stalin to go away.

I’ve noticed that many of my friends who were born in the mid-1960s and later know the sensations of their natal year. I suppose a lot of that was them hearing the songs on oldies stations.

But the early 1950s was a bit of a neverland, neither the big band tunes of the 1930s and 1940s nor the rock and roll era that started c. 1955.

As it turned out, someone gave me a CD of the hits of that fateful annum. It came out in 2006 from SONY/BMG. Not all were #1s, but it did give me a more profound background about that year of music. The ones marked with an asterisk (*)were on the album.

All these #1s below, except No Other Love, were certified gold records. You will note there are 72 weeks represented because there were multiple charts involving sales, radio airplay, and jukebox play.

Songs

Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You) – Les Paul and Mary Ford, eleven weeks at #1

The Song From Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart) – Percy Faith with Fecilia Sanders on vocals, ten weeks at #1

*You You You – The Ames Brothers, eight weeks at #1 . I most remember Ed Ames from a hatchet demonstration he performed on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson

*RagsTo Riches – Tony Bennett with the Percy Faith Orchestra, eight weeks at #1

The Doggie In The Window – Patti Page, eight weeks at #1. My mother sang this novelty song around the house when I was growing up.

Till I Waltz With You Again – Teresa Brewer, seven weeks at #1

I’m Walking Behind You – Eddie Fisher, seven weeks at #1. That’s Sally Sweetland on harmony vocals

*Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes -Perry Como, five weeks at #1

No Other Love – Perry Como, four weeks at #1. From the musical Me and Juliet by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

St. George and the Dragonet – Stan Freburg, four weeks at #1, novelty

There were lower-charting songs I know quite well: Dean Martin’s That’s Amore (#2), Eh, Cumpare by Julius LaRosa (#2), and Eartha Kitt’s version of Santa Baby (#3).

Familiar songs from the album include Satin Doll by Duke Ellington, Venezuela by Harry Belafonte, and The Four Lads’ version of Istanbul.

For all you 1953 enthusiasts, 161 songs.

May rambling: potential dangers

Demographic Profiles for the New York Counties

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory on the potential dangers of social media for children, highlighting its negative impact on mental health and overall well-being.

Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has been fined a record $1.3B by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission for violating EU privacy regulations and was ordered to stop transferring user data to US servers.

The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

Imagine a Renters’ Utopia. It Might Look Like Vienna

Demographic Profiles for the New York Counties from the Cornell Program on Applied Demographics. Highlights: The median age in New York State was 39.0 in 2020, up 1 year from 2010 (38.0). Between 2010 and 2020, the median age in New York State rose 1.3 years for men (36.3 to 37.6) and 1.0 years for women (39.4 to 40.4).

Visualized: The Decline of Affordable Housing in the U.S.

Andy Warhol Ruling Limits Fair Use for Copyrighted Images, With Far-Reaching Hollywood Implications

These words made it into the African American English Dictionary

At 81, Martha Stewart is the oldest person to be featured in Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue

Unprepared Republicans Are Flooding Into the Presidential Race

Life and Death

Wait But Why: 10 Thoughts From the Fourth Trimester

Re: Hank Green’s Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Diagnosis: his announcement; his brother John’s response, Hank’s Press Tier List

Tina Turner by THR, the New York Times, Gloria Reuben, Variety, CBS Sunday Morning profile (2018)

Kareem: Jim Brown and me.

JC Glindmyer of Earthworld Comics in Albany died on May 8 at 65. I had just seen him at Free Comic Book Day on May 6. He was always good to me. Here’s a 2004 profile by Alan David Doane

You can preorder J. Eric Smith’s new book Ubulembu and Other Stories

Ed Ames, Singer and ‘Daniel Boone’ Sidekick, Dies at 95

CBS and Fox Share 2022-23 Ratings Title as On-Air Viewing Continues to Slip

The State of Video Streaming in 2023:

Notes from North of the Border: A Travelogue

Badge #1305, from a . Ford Motor Company radiator manufacturing plant

Thoughts on Grease at 45

Behold the Ritual Clearing of the Tabs

Now I Know: The Convict Who Pulled an Inside Job and Mr. Never Shower and The Cleaner Who Accidentally Became a Russian Mayor and The Fake Town That Became Real (Briefly) and The Worst Way to Target a Lower Stock Price?

MUSIC

Coverville 1442: Adele Cover Story and Coverville 1443: The Paul Weller (The Jam & Style Council) Cover Story and Coverville 1444: The Tina Turner Tribute

We Don’t Need Another HeroWe Don’t Need Another Hero – Tina Turner

Sentimental Me – Ames Brothers

Try To Remember (from “The Fantasticks”) – Ed Ames

The Stable Song by Gregory Alan Isakoff.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Josh Groban, and the current casts of Hamilton and Sweeney Todd get together outside the Richard Rodgers Theater on W. 46th Street in New York to merge their musicals

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2

The Best TV Theme Songs of the Past 25 Years

Mtzyri – Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov,

DISNEY PRINCESS CELL BLOCK TANGO, a Disney princess parody

The Music Man excerpt in Japanese

Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna – Franz von Suppe

Most awarded songs #10

mondegreen of long duration

More fun with tunes that are among the most awarded songs #10. I own every one of them in some form. Here are some of your Grammy and Oscar winners. They’ve been touted by Rolling Stone magazine, RIAA, ASCAP, CMA, NPR, and others.

60. A Change Is Going To Come – Sam Cooke. If you saw the biopic One Night in Miami, you get a sense of the importance of this song on society at that point. He was inspired by Bob Dylan’s Blowing In The Wind. Cooke chose to share feelings he had from dealing with discrimination, at hotels, e.g., that he experienced. Unfortunately, he was killed on December 12, 1964, two weeks before the song was released as a single.

59. I Only Have Eyes For You – The Flamingoes. Quoting me: “I hear those first three or four chords and I am always surprised how it leads to such a lush tune. My first favorite song, probably for 30 years.”

58. Layla – Derek and the Dominoes. I loved this song when I was in college. My neighbors Howie and Debi had a cat named Layla, who was a sister to our cat Doris. It is, of course, about Clapton’s longing for his friend George Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd. Rita Coolidge has claimed credit for co-creating the piano part, a segment that her then-boyfriend Jim Gordon was playing the tune during the album sessions.

57. Losing My Religion – R.E.M. I could always relate to this song.

56. Imagine – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. I’m on record of having overdosed on this recording and especially all of the covers. Still, I’m glad that John had a signature song by which he’ll be remembered. His son Julian sang it to support the Ukrainians recently.

“Picket lines and picket signs”

55. What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye. Berry Gordy famously wasn’t a fan at first.

54. You Send Me – Sam Cooke. Cooke took a lot of grief for abandoning the gospel music with the Soul Stirrers. Still, this song is pretty tame for such outrage.

53. I Walk The Line – Johnny Cash. as his first big hit – #1 country, #17 pop in 1957 – it is the song I most associate with him. A biopic about him and June Carter was titled Walk The Line.

52. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison. Apparently, because of signing a bad contract with Bang Records, Morrison never made a cent on his first, and signature hit.

51. California Dreamin’ – The Mamas and The Papas. They were listed as The Mama’s and the Papa’s on their first big single. Here is was one of the mondegreens I lived with for the longest time:
Stopped into a church
I passed along the way
Well, I got down on my knees (got down on my knees)
And I pretend to pray (I pretend to pray)
but I heard
And I began to pray
Moreover, I’ve heard a number of cover versions that made the same mistake.