Bands and Songs
5 Songs on the Music Radar
Train – Drive By
Walk the Moon- – Anna Sun
Friends – Friend Crush
The Naked and Famous – Girls Like You
Gotye – Eyes Wide Open
Cady Groves – This Little Girl
While trying to find some info on Cady Groves I came up with a fascinating discovery, there is hardly any information about her. This was a decent interview but she didn’t even have a Wikipedia page. From the few sources I read, she seems to be a 21 year old from Oklahoma who is a newcomer to the pop scene. She has a few songs on her myspace page with about a hundred thousand views and her popular duet in the song “Oh Darling” by Plug in Stereo. She completely makes that song though and this new song by her is called “This Little Girl.” With about 279,000 views I wouldn’t be surprised if it catches steam.
Problem being is that this song’s lyrics can’t be taken any other way than a little girl who is contemplating murder on her boyfriend who has “hurt her”. This bothers me. Now “hurt her” can of course be taken to various degrees but it’s hard to imagine most types of hurt can warrant murder. I think this is the wrong message and I could understand if parent groups are outraged if their children listen to this. I guess I just wonder where this type of lyrics come from. Is this Cady Groves, a 21 year old bad girl, sitting in a room thinking of these lyrics? Did you listen to “Oh Darling?” We are talking polar opposites here and it’s really messing with an image. Is this intentional? Does this much thought go into this from the producers end? This song just struck me as odd because of the theme and even I thought this went a little “over the edge” as Cady puts it.
Stevie Nicks – Wild Heart
I came across this clip and fell in love with young Stevie Nicks. She looks angelic and beautiful, not to mention how good she sounds. A girl like this falls into my ideal category.
Guest Blog – Anonymous
“What song can you absolutely own in the shower or in the car if nobody else is listening”?
It’s nice when someone else does the thinking for you. I’ve been suffering from a lack of creativity lately so I’m happy to give credit to anonymous.
My song would be Jackson Browne – The Load Out / Stay. The slow piano part in the beginning is really fun to sing along to and it gives me goosebumps. When the high pitched part of “Stay” comes on you just have to try to hit the high notes.
(Days)(Daze) of my youth
Daze – Noun
a dazed condition; state of bemusement: After meeting the author, I was in a daze for a week.
The opening lyric to Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times”. This is what I consider to be a smart lyric created by a thinking bad (assuming they created it). Not only is it a double meaning but it actually makes sense. In the days of my youth, a time the singer is remembering, and the daze being the part of not having the same understanding at his current age. I think lyrics like these are what separate the mediocre with the great.
Here’s an example. Mac Miller’s song “Knock Knock” contains the lyric New Kicks Give Me Cushion Like Whoopie. The lyric is referring to a whoopie cushion. A whoopie cushion is an item that makes it sound like your farting. This is still good lyric though because it’s a thinking lyric but it doesn’t have the same effect as the Led Zeppelin lyric. This is the reason the Led Zeppelin is better than Mac Miller.
Who should perform at Superbowl 2012?
I have the best answer. With around 100+ million people tuning in on Superbowl Sunday, there is some major pressure to put on a good show that appeals to multiple demographics. It has to be edgy but not out of line. It’s impossible to please everyone so it becomes the goal to make as many people as possible happy. Let’s look at the past performers of the millennium and then I’ll give who should be performing.
2011 – The Black Eyed Peas, Usher, Slash – This was just bad. An odd combination with no real superstars. I find the Black Eyed Peas music to be weak to begin with. Usher is nice but he’s just not mass appeal. Slash plays guitar and isn’t going to steal the show.
2010 – The Who – No Keith Moon and too old for the venue.
2009 – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – I don’t think Bruce could ever put on a bad show. A safe pick for practically any venue ever.
2008 – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – I just get the feeling Tom Petty is like “who me?”
2007 – Prince, Florida A&M University Marching 100 Band – A risky pick with a Superbowl performance by Prince but it paid off. The Foo Fighters “Best of You” was covered nicely.
2006 – The Rolling Stones – Rock and Roll legends but just a bit past their prime.
2005 – Paul McCartney – I’m sure Paul puts on a great show but he’s just a bit too soft for this event.
2004 – Janet Jackson, P. Diddy, Nelly, Kid Rock, and Justin Timberlake – No one can forget Janet’s wardrobe malfunction.
2003 – Shania Twain, No Doubt, Sting – Sting is awesome. Gwen singing the second verse of Message in a Bottle is neat.
2002 – U2 – Killer band and an awesome performance. Great choice.
2001 – Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Aerosmith, ‘N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Nelly – What I suspect is a decent performance by N-Sync and the fact that they were totally current made them a good choice. Aerosmith plays to the audience and sing one of my top 5 Aerosmith songs in Jaded. Nelly and Mary J are just sort of out of the way.
So it’s easy to see that after the wardrobe malfunction they went with old and boring with mostly classic rockers from the 70’s. I guess they tried to be fresh with the Black Eyed Peas when the Who were ridiculed for putting on a poor show. This year they’ve gone with Madonna, Cirque du Soleil, and Nicki Minaj. A fine line up but I don’t think will blow the doors in. Madonna inspires tons of females around the world but this is a MANLY event. This line up just isn’t going to work.
Let’s go through some options:
Katy Perry – Fan appeal but songs are a little too ditzy and teenage. Same man event idea.
Rihanna – I feel like the whole Chris Brown thing gets her black listed from these events.
Bon Jovi – Probably not a bad idea because he appeals to the 40+’s audience.
I want everyone to know while I originally was writing this post my answer was going to be Lady GaGa for best pick. However after making the statement that Madonna wasn’t manly enough I immediately found myself in a predicament. How can I call Madonna too soft and then be an advocate for Gaga. Nevertheless, I think Lady Gaga would be a great Superbowl performer. She’d put on a show guaranteed and you’d remember her. Her music isn’t really that bad. I know people probably rag on it but she’s a talented artist with a good head on her shoulders and makes really good music. She sells millions of records and I honestly don’t know how these board members think that Madonna would bring in a better show / rating than Gaga. I feel like I deserve the big bucks for making this selection. Any takers on whether she will be for 2013?
Music Monday – Top 5 REM Songs
I decided to choose the band R.E.M because they have spanned a few decades and have made a lot of good music that I think people just aren’t aware of. Automatic for the People was released in 1992 and is probably in the top 250 albums of all time. Here are my 5 favorite songs by the band.
5. Strange Currencies – Off of the Monster album which was more rock oriented than Automatic but this song brings back the soft feel. Sort of sounds like the song I have as number 1 but I still like the sound.
4. Nightswimming – A song about skinny dipping at night. Just a nice paced song that is good listening.
3. Man on the Moon – Any references to Twister and Risk are good by me. The chorus of “Andy are you goofing on Elvis, Hey Baby” is legit.
2. The Great Beyond – Off of the Man on the Moon soundtrack in 1999. This song was also covered by the Fray. The chorus lifts the song.
1. Everybody Hurts – Great song when your feeling down. The lyrics are moving and I can’t think of a better song when life sucks. Easy #1.
Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead by Neil Strauss
This was a 500 page book that I finished in 4 days because I was extremely absorbed throughout its entirety. The book is a series of 200+ interviews with high profile actors, musicians or other times fascinating people for one reason or another. After reading a few of these interviews you start to understand that Strauss is extremely good at what he does. He as the ability to get these characters to open up to him in a way you wouldn’t think possible. From Lady Gaga, Britney, Chuck Berry, Kenny G, Hanson, Zac Efron… the list goes on and on. Reading about all these big stars who struck it rich and other talented people whose life went awry was one of my favorite reads in a long time. It also gives a perspective on life and death because so many of these interviews are of people who have since died way to early in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s. It makes you realize life isn’t guaranteed and reading about what other people find important and how they go about and what’s important in their life is intriguing. I intend to read other works by Strauss (who works for the NY Times and Rolling Stone) because I tend to stick with what I like and understand an entire authors works. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:
Strauss: Do you believe in any kind of spirituality?
Liam Gallagher (Oasis): God’s within yourself. You’re your own God and you’re your own devil. You do your fucking thing, you get in you own little vibe, you settle your own shit, be nice to everyone, and if anyone gives you shit, you don’t eve speak to them again”
Strauss: But is being content something one should necessarily strive for?
Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails): It’s not about being content. It’s about: What if everything you ever wished for in your life and never thought you’d get, you got – and it still sucked? That’s the thing. I look at Oasis: dumb idiots just living life. Not to be shitty to them, but I guess the lowest strive for being an asshole and stupid. You know, ignorance is bliss and there’s a truth to that that. I guess I don’t want it, but at the same time I always wished I could fucking fit in and just escape.
Strauss: Maybe the reason is because early on you set up an image for yourself that people are holding on to?
Britney Spears: See, that’s such an irony. People are like, “You were so innocent, da da da da,” and all that. And I’m like, “No, I wasn’t. You guys said I was too sexual when I first came out with ‘… Baby One More Time.'” You can’t win, man. You know what I mean?
Hands Clean
Maybe more people know about this than I think but this was the first time I found out. The song Hands Clean is about 14 year old Alanis Morrisette and her relationship with then 29 year old Dave Coulier from Full House. I actually heard of this before but had no idea that there was a song about it. This is considered statutory rape and this is what she has to say about it (From Neil Strauss’s Interview):
“Basically it could be categorized as that, but at the same time, I’m not one to really categorize. I’m the kind of person that will say “a person that I’ve been spending time with in a romantic way” rather than saying my boyfriend. So I’ll say “someone that I was romantically linked to at a time when I was emotionally not necessarily prepared for it” as opposed to qualifying it as, like, statutory rape.”
The song is really interesting as well. The soft, narrative voice is Dave Coulier talking to her and Alanis speaking is the chorus. This song was done in 2002 on the album Under Rug Swept. Old news I know but interesting none the less. How many people knew this before reading this post?
When Giants Walked the Earth
I finished my Led Zeppelin biography, When Giants Walked the Earth by Mick Wall, and I promise this will be the last time any post focuses on Led Zeppelin. I can’t guarantee that I don’t reference them in the future but I’m sure there are people who find these posts “boring”. Compared to the Beatles biography I read a few months ago, this one blew me away. These guys were wilder, had bigger personalities, and just rocked harder. The story of how their music started, their immediate success, how big they got and then their eventual downfall was really an awesome read. Reading how the music was created on various albums in various years is just so fascinating when you are listening to it. You learn how Jimmy was the integral part to Led Zeppelin and how his attention to detail and tremendous talent created some of the best music ever created in the early years. Here’s an interesting quote by Chuck Klosterman about what people think about after listening to Zeppelin:
“Wow. I just realized something: This shit is perfect. In fact, this record is vastly superior to all other forms of music on the entire planet, so this is all I will ever listen to, all the time.”
He adds “And you do this for six days or six weeks or six years. This is your Zeppelin phase, and it has as much to do with your own personal psychology as it does with the way John Paul Jones played the organ on “Trampled Under Foot.” I’d say I’m going through my Zeppelin phase and he is 100% correct that I compare every other thing I’m listening to various Zeppelin songs. And you know what, hardly anything compares in sheer talent and rock and roll to Zeppelin. I will regret when this phase of my life ends.