Tag: music

April rambling: No irony

Clarence Thomas

The Party of “Family Values” Sees No Irony in Axing Child Labor Protections

In an extraordinary act of political retaliation, Tennessee Republicans expelled two Democratic lawmakers,  Reps. Pearson and Jones, from the state Legislature for “breaching decorum” in their role in a protest that called for more gun control after a school shooting in Nashville.  This move has occurred twice in the state since the aftermath of the Civil War. Rep. Johnson maintained her seat. Outrageous, even though they were both reinstated,

Related: Education Week’s 2023 School Shooting Tracker. One Nation, under gun violence: America tops 100 mass shootings in 2023. Also, radicalizing against guns

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has reportedly spent decades accepting exorbitant gifts, luxury vacations, and yacht rides from a major GOP power player—none disclosed to the American public. It may be legal, though unethical,  bribery. Ought he be impeached?

The djt indictment, annotated

Candace Owens—Friend of Kanye, Power Troll, Parler “Trad Wife” – Owens was the source of a bizarre family debate.

Debunking the myths and dangers of qualified immunity

From 1440: The Maryland attorney general has accused officials of covering up and failing to act in the sexual abuse of at least 600 children in the Archdiocese of Baltimore since the 1940s. The 463-page report named 156 former clergy, deacons, teachers, and other employees and revealed some children were subject to abuse by multiple abusers. Church officials were also accused of silencing victims and dismissing or ignoring abuse claims.

‘Poverty, By America’ shows how the rest of us benefit by keeping others poor

High Unemployment Continues for Young Minority Men 

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Solitary Confinement and  TANF and Timeshares

A Government Witch Hunt — Masood Haque’s Film Witness. This was a terrible miscarriage of justice in Albany, NY.

‘Hopeless’: Parole denial for 71-year-old Alabama woman with terminal illness highlights ‘tremendous injustice’

More links
He Wanted to Unclog Cities. Now He’s ‘Public Enemy No. 1.’ Researchers like Carlos Moreno, the professor behind a popular urban planning concept, struggle with conspiracy theories and death threats.

Russian defector sheds light on Putin paranoia and his secret train network

If Family or Friend is Arrested

How Generative AI Will Transform the Worlds of TV, Film, Music, and Gaming versus Hollywood’s AI Anxiety Is Showing

A Scammer Who Tricks Instagram Into Banning Influencers Has Never Been Identified. We May Have Found Him.

Hollywood Reporter Critics Pick the 50 Best Films of the 21st Century (So Far)

DNA Stories | Storytelling Tips and Examples. DNA Day is April 25

Seymour Stein, Sire Records Co-Founder Who Signed Madonna, The Ramones and More, Dies at 80

Mark Russell, Piano-Playing Political Satirist, Dies at 90

Louisiana Army base to be renamed for Albany’s Henry Johnson. Currently known as Fort Polk, the base in June will bear the name of the World War I Medal of Honor winner

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Best Fiction Sports Movies Ever Made, Part 1 and  Part 2

“You Must Have Learned Something in 20 Years”: reflections on two decades of blogging by Doug Muder

Kelly’s Tabular Resolution

Speedway math strikes again

Now I Know: The $1 Hotel Where Privacy Isn’t Included and The “I Don’t Care” Collect Call Scam and The Man Who Didn’t Work For a Living and When Make Up Boxed Out Makeup

MUSIC

Grumpy Trumpy Felon from Jamaica in Queens!- Randy Rainbow

Gordon Lustig‘s Randy Rainbow (You’re Annoying to Me) A PARODY PARODY! and Help Me, Randy (Rainbow)

Prelude in C-sharp minor and The Crag by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Naive Melody (This Must Be The Place) – The Choir & The Chorus

The Place Where Dreams Come True/End Titles from Field of Dreams by James Horner

A World Without Love – Peter Asher ft. Lyle Lovett, 3-14-23 City Winery, NYC

Put on a Happy Face  – Dick Van Dyke, from the then-running Broadway show, Bye Bye Birdie

Bits from You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown and Guys and Dolls and Jersey Boys and Grease, and Little Shop Of Horrors, all in Japanese

Find Your People – Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors

Overture to The Mandarin’s Son by Cesar Cui

Coverville 1436: Cover Stories for Poison and Sugar Ray and 1437: The 60th Anniversary of Please Please Me, and 1438: Cover Stories for Pharrell Williams, The Eels, and Vangelis

Tell Me Why -MonaLisa Twins

Oh, Noah– The Jubalaires

Hi Lilli, Hi Lo – Jimmy Durante

Worthy is the Lamb

Hallelujah!

In 2020, our church choir planned to sing the last piece from the Handel Messiah, Worthy Is The Lamb That Was Slain, with the Amen on Easter Sunday. The text is from Revelation 5:12-13. While I had heard it many times and loved it, I had never sung the piece.

Then COVID happened. What a killjoy. It literally killed my joy of singing. 

In 2023, our church choir will sing Worthy Is The Lamb That Was Slain with several instrumentalists on Easter Sunday. The trickiest part for me is the melisma in the Amen, especially starting at measure 110 when the four parts interweave. What has been helpful is a video at Chord Perfect. I’ve been studying the bass part, but here are the soprano, alto, and tenor. CyberBass is a similar service. 

Then at the end of the service, as we did every year I’ve been a member, except for 2020 and 2021, the choir will finish with the Hallelujah chorus. And once again, members of the congregation who know the piece will come forward and join in. It is a joyous celebration. 

Speaking of which…

Every week at 8 pm ET, someone in the choir looks at the community level in Albany County. In 2022, to the best of my recollection, it was green (low) for only one week, just before Easter.

In 2023, it’s been green (low) for THREE weeks, which may be meaningless for all unconcerned about the virus.  For those of us who still care, it’s excellent news. I should note that one choir tested positive for COVID this week, so I took my first test this week in a few months. It’s negative, just the seasonal allergies.

By the way, Rensselaer County (Troy) has been in lockstep with Albany County, COVID-wise, since I began tracking the results weekly in late 2021.

So it will be a very happy Easter for this group of singers and the community.

Worthy Is The Lamb That Was Slain – VOCES8 & Academy of Ancient Music

Worthy Is The Lamb That Was Slain -| The Tabernacle Choir

(Grammarly wants me to change it to The Slain Lamb)

Hallelujah – with vocal score

Hallelujah – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge 

And what the heck

Hallelujah – A Soulful Celebration

1933 #1s: Stormy Weather

Forty-Second Street

stormy weatherThere was stormy weather politically in 1933. From A Century of Pop by Joel Whitburn: “Adolph Hitler’s rise to power as Chancellor of Germany coincided with FDR’s inauguration.”

Meanwhile, the Great Depression raged on. “Mirroring the national  economy, the record industry underwent an almost total collapse.” It sold only “six million discs in 1932 – compared to the peak of 140 million just five years earlier. The opportunity to hear all popular songs on the radio for free… also contributed to the desperate slump.”

The Last Round-Up – George Olsen with Joe Morrison on vocals (Columbia), nine weeks at #1

Stormy Weather – Leo Reisman with Harold Arlen on vocals (Victor), eight weeks at #1, from Cotton Club Parade. Arlen co-wrote it with Ted Kohler.

Love Is The Sweetest Thing– Ray Noble with Al Bowlly, vocals (Victor), five weeks at #1. From the film Say It With Music 

Lazybones – Ted Lewis (Columbia), four weeks at #1. Purportedly written in only 20 minutes by Hoagy Carmichael and young Johnny Mercer.

You’re Getting To Be A Habit With Me– Guy Lombardo with Bing Crosby, vocals (Brunswick), four weeks at #1. From the movie musical Forty-Second Street

Forty-Second Street – Don Bestor with Dudley Mecum, vocals (Victor), three weeks at #1.  From the movie musical of the same name.

Stormy Weather (Keeps Rain’ All The Time) – Ethel Waters (Brunswick), three weeks at #1

The Last Round-Up – Guy Lombardo with Carmen Lombardo, vocals (Brunswick), three weeks at #1. From The New Ziegfeld Follies. 

Did You Ever See A Dream Walking? – Eddy Duchin with Lew Sherwood, vocals.  (Victor), three weeks at #1. From the film Sitting Pretty.

Shadow Waltz– Bing Crosby (Brunswick), two weeks at #1. From the movie Gold Diggers of 1933.

Repeating Top 3 hits

The charts showed a lot of repeating songs. Stormy Weather also got to #2 by Guy and Carmen Lombardo and #4 as an instrumental by Duke Ellington. The Last Round-Up reached #2 by Don Bestor/Neal Buckley and separately by Bing Crosby. Did You Ever See A Dream Walking? reached #2 with the Lombardos.

Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf made it to #2 by Don Bestor with Florence Case, Frank Sherry, and Charles Yontz, vocals. It got to #3 by Victor Young. Yes, the song from the 1933 Disney cartoon The Three Little Pigs was reused often.

Finally, Shuffle Off To Buffalo reached #2 with two different recordings: Hal Kemp/Skinny Ennis and Don Bestor/Maurice Cross. It was also from Forty-Second Street

Some fool songs

Plato

It being April 1st, I thought I’d play some fool songs. There are a LOT of fool songs if you Google lists of them. I’ve heard and mostly own these, but it’s hardly complete even by those criteria.

Fools in Love – Joe Jackson (1979). “Are there any creatures more pathetic?” I related to this a lot last century.

Why Do Fools Fall In Love – Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers (#6 pop, #5 RB in 1956). Joni Mitchell covered this live.

Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool – Connie Francis #1 for two weeks pop in 1960)

The Fool – Sanford Clark  (#7 pop in 1956)- I couldn’t remember the artist’s name, but I indeed remembered the song. The guitar riff by Al Casey was based on Howlin’ Wolf’s song Smoke Stack Lightnin, released the same year.
1962
What Kind Of Fool Am I – Sammy Davis, Jr.  This song charted four times in 1962, which must have been a foolish year. Davis (#17 pop, #6 adult contemporary), Anthony Newley (#85 pop), Robert Goulet (#89 pop), and Vic Damone (#131 pop)

Fool for You – the Impressions (#22 pop, #3 RB in 1968)

Fool on the Hill – Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 (#6 pop, #1 for six weeks AC in 1968). Of course, this was originally in the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour  movie

Fooled Around And Fell In Love– Elvin Bishop (#3 for two weeks pop in 1976. Mickey Thomas, later of Jefferson Starship/Starship, was on lead vocals

What A Fool Believes – Doobie Brothers (#1 pop, #22 AC, #72 RB in 1979)

Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who (#15 pop in 1971). Of course, its chart action doesn’t begin to cover the song’s significance.

Chain Of Fools – Aretha Franklin (#2 pop for two weeks, #1 for four weeks RB in 1968); this is the album version

Everybody Plays The Fool – The Main Ingredient (#3 pop, #25 AC, #2 for three weeks RB in 1972). I’ve heard the Aaron Neville version a lot in the Hannaford supermarket
Ship of Fools
There are a lot of items in popular culture using the title Ship of Fools, including some gaming devices. A 1965  movie features Janet Leigh. The eponymous website is “‘for people who prefer their religion disorganized,’ says the Ship’s editor and designer, Simon Jenkins. ‘Our aim is to help Christians be self-critical and honest about the failings of Christianity, as we believe honesty can only strengthen faith.'” Then there’s a book by someone who I think IS a fool.

The Wikipedia page describes the term: The ship of fools “is an allegory, originating from Book VI of Plato‘s Republic, about a ship with a dysfunctional crew. The allegory is intended to represent the problems of governance prevailing in a political system not based on expert knowledge.”

Ship Of Fools (Save Me From Tomorrow)- World Party (#27 in 1987)

Ship of Fools – Robert Plant (#84 in 1988)

Ship Of Fools– Erasure (1988)

Ship Of Fools– Grateful Dead (1974)

March rambling: something dumb

1099-K

“Good morning, friends. That awful feeling of shame and panic when you remember saying something dumb years ago is your nervous system trying to protect you from perceived danger. Try telling your body, ‘Thank you for wanting to protect me. We’re safe now. It’s okay to let it go.'” from Good Morning, Friends: Gentle Suggestions for the Start of Your Day. I have been there!

US Secretary of State Denounces Uganda’s New ‘Kill the Gays’ Bill

‘Legal Lynching’: ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws reflect legacy of white supremacist vigilantism in Deep South

“A right-wing judge takes aim at medication abortions“

Book ban attempts hit a record high in 2022, the American Library Association says

Teaching on Eggshells

Devin Stone, the “Legal Eagle,” explains the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege and how it applies to djt’s lawyers 

Ten True Stories of Dutch Colonial Slavery

Can the anti-woke mob define ‘woke’?

4-year-old girl shot dead by 3-year-old sister with semi-automatic pistol

CULCHA

Can Movie Theaters Survive? It’s the Most Enduring Question In Hollywood

Stephen Sondheim’s Final Musical to Premiere Off-Broadway This Fall

Aaron Sorkin Reveals He Had a Stroke Last November: “A Loud Wake-Up Call”

How Toy Companies Bribe YouTube Channels

Artificial Intelligence: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

These Are the World’s Happiest Countries in 2023. Finland is #1, and the US is #15.

An 85-year Harvard study on happiness found the No. 1 retirement challenge

Connection Between Alcohol and Sleep

How Loneliness Reshapes the Brain

What Does Blue Light Do to Your Eyes?

Why green might be the most important color for humans. But of course!

Understanding Your Form 1099-K. “The law is not intended to track personal transactions such as sharing the cost of a car ride or meal, birthday or holiday gifts, or paying a family member for a household bill.”

Mark Evanier’s Tales From The DMV

Former Colorado Rep. Pat Schroeder, a pioneer for women’s rights, dies at 82

The indomitable spirit of Willis Reed. I watched that Game 7 NBA Finals game in 1970 on TV. It was remarkable. He died at the age of 80.

‘Fosbury Flop’ high jumper Dick Fosbury dies at 76

John Jakes, Author of the Miniseries-Spawning ‘North and South’ Trilogy, Dies at 90

The attempts to make a modern Little Nemoin Slumberland film

Now I Know: The Slave Who Shipped Himself to Freedom and A Cute Way to Prevent Traffic Deaths and Why Movie Theaters Have Red Seats and The Problem With Living in the Center of America and I Guess You Could Say They… Excel and The Little Bit of P-Word in the Coke and This Cupcake Recipe Isn’t The Bomb

MUSIC

Please keep voting for the niece Rebecca Jade at the San Diego Music Awards in categories 20, 21, 25, 26, and 27. Also for Peter Sprague in category 4 for an album that features Rebecca.

Dry Bones – Delta Rhythm Boys.  A recent Old Testament scripture was Ezekiel 37:1-14. By coincidence, I was playing that week the soundtrack of the movie Rain Man, which included a version of Dry Bones by the Delta Rhythm Boys, though not precisely that take.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture

Let It Burn from Paradise Square the Musical, featuring Tony Award Winner Joaquina Kalukango

Tchaikovsky’s Symphonic Fantasia, The Tempest

Life’s a F***ing Fantasy for Santos – Randy Rainbow

Coverville 1436: Cover Stories for Poison and Sugar Ray

Woody Woodpecker theme

Music from the Emerald Isle

What’s The Name of That Song from Sesame Street

Franz Von Suppe’s Light Calvary

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