If I Had Words

Scott Fitzgerald & Yvonne Keeley released this song in 1977. It was a big hit in lots of places, including Australia, just not the U.S. The melody is based on the Symphony #3 in C minor by Camille Saint-Saens. However, you can find my favorite version of it below: Farmer Hoggett, played by James Cromwell, sings it to his pig in the movie Babe. I saw this movie in the theaters when I had just started college and this has always been my favorite scene. It is so compelling in its expression of love and sheer joy that I want to dance for someone myself. Enjoy!

Here We Go, Go, Go, Go....

My chatty toddler just started putting words together into phrases and short sentences. She's been able to request certain songs for awhile though. Itsy Bitsy Spider was her first request--she'd put her forefingers together to imitate the spider. Now, however, its more often than not "go, go, go" which translates to the song from the show The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! that premiered on PBS last fall. Random fact: Martin Short provides the Cat's voice. The song is about 3 lines long, but wouldn't you know it, it gets stuck in my head every time. Sometimes I think my little girl is an evil genius.

Skip to My Lou

I remember my 1st grade teacher singing this song while wearing her "field day" hat: it had A&W rootbeer cans crocheted into it with pink yarn. The version you are listening to is from a 1974 album entitled Pete Seeger & Brother Kirk Visit Sesame Street. The folksy sound appeals to me as reminiscent of what the song might have sounded like in the days when settlers tried to tame the wild American frontier.

Rosanna

Just a quick apology for the lengthy hiatus. The holidays kind of took over. Now we'll get back to business.

Toto released this #2 hit in 1982. The single won a Grammy for record of the year. I love how upbeat it is, even though the subject matter, lamenting a lost love, is basically depressing. You've got to love the 80's for that. Wikipedia also provided an interesting tidbit about this song: it is frequently used by drummers as a perfect example of a half-time or triplet shuffle. That basically means that the beat doesn't come at you straight, there's a little swing to it with a lot of other difficult stuff thrown in.

Every Rose Has Its Thorn

When I was a "tween" there was no such thing. You were just a kid then. I was a kid into music, but didn't know what I liked yet and so listened to whatever was on the radio. Back then, hair bands were big on the radio: Guns n' Roses, Van Halen, and Bon Jovi. This power ballad topped the charts at the end of 1988. It was written while Poison was playing at a country bar in Dallas. Can you hear it?

Something's Coming

From the film version of West Side Story (1961). I knew the music was written by Leonard Bernstein, but I didn't realize that Stephen Sondheim provided the lyrics. I guess they don't seem quite as tongue-in-cheek as some of his other works. You have to admit he is a little weird. Again, this is another song not on the playlist, but luckily YouTube had it, though it does have subtitles in some language I'm not sure of. Go figure.

The Lady is a Tramp

Sing it Frankie. My favorite quote about Frank Sinatra comes from the movie Return to Me. The old guys are playing poker and jacking their jaws. Here is part of their conversation about abusive singers: "Sinatra beat up everybody" and the reply "Frank did not. His people did, he did not." Anyway, here he is singing a 1937 Rodgers and Hart tune from their musical Babes in Arms. By the way, for my friend GinaBean: apparently Alice Cooper has done a cover of this song. Just thought you'd like to know. ;)

Music Box Dancer

In college, I took a group piano class because I have dreams of being able to sit down and play beautiful pieces of music--hasn't happened yet. I've got to buy a piano and then maybe I'll get there. My performance piece for the year was a vastly simplified version of this song. I got an A. I feel a little bad, because someone else did it as well, but they didn't notice the 8va notation and so played it an octave too low. It made me feel like a showoff when it was my turn. Anyway, the piece is a product of disco, bubblegum pop, and the Canadian musician Frank Mills. Recorded in 1974, it made it big in 1979 hitting #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Maintenance Note

A few things have kept me from blogging recently: vacation, work, child... One of the biggest things has been frustration with playlist.com. It's not really their fault. It's just that I don't always get the most current or popular music in my head. For instance, finding Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof is relatively easy, but try finding Tevye's Dream of the same production. Erg. Even worse, there's no way I could find A Sleep and a Forgetting performed by the mainly instrumental group Enoch Train (the song is based on lines from a Wordsworth poem). I didn't want to leave these songs out, since I try not to "edit" what goes into the blog. So I mention them here and we'll continue on.

Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat

Nope, it's not what you're listening to. The only version I could find on playlist.com was a cover done by Don Henley. Yeah, Don Henley. His introspective, laid back style so does not capture the spirit of this song as originally performed by Stubby Kaye who played Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the original Broadway, London, and film versions of Guys and Dolls. It is one of my favorites! Kaye also performs in Fugue for Tinhorns which is what you are listening to and is one of the opening numbers of the show.

Shenandoah

I love this song. I loved it even before I lived in the Shenandoah Valley and saw the north fork of the Shenandoah River. From the top of the Woodstock tower you can see where the river bends 7 times in a row in a slow, rhythmic dance. What longing there is in this song, and who could help but want to see Shenandoah again. it's beautiful.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Such a great song for head banging in the car... ok, cautious jerking of the head while carefully scanning for traffic, lights, and pedestrians (really). Even my toddler was dancing to it while I played it to make sure it was a full recording before adding it to the playlist. I read through all the commentary on Wikipedia about it. It was pretty in depth. My take: fun song. One interesting item I found was that there are 180 overdubs in the opera section to make 3 voices sound like a full choir.

It's All Coming Back

In 1996, I was living in the dorms with my Scottish roommate (what a great year!). I am not the type to be late for class...if I thought I'd be more than 2 minutes late, I just wouldn't go. For us that year, this was the song. I remember it coming on the radio right before I needed to leave for class. It was such a long song, but you had to stay to the very last chord. It was dynamic emotion mixed with potent chords and Celine Dion's soaring, put-it-all-out-there vocals. It was a good year...it's all coming back to me now.

Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey

I'm sure it's just an era thing, but this song feels fairly trippy to me. Paul McCartney included it on his 1971 album Ram. Before looking into it, I just assumed it was another Beatles piece with random lyrics. I will say that I only remembered the second 2 sections of it, and not the Uncle Albert part, probably because that is the more upbeat portion of the song. It being the 70's, the song did hit the Billboard Hot 100 #1 spot.

Axel F

Harold Faltermeyer wrote this Beverly Hills Cop (1984) theme song using 3 synthesizers and a drum machine. It hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985 and was the #1 song in Ireland, Holland, and New Zealand. I pretty much love this version of it found on Youtube. Enjoy.

Kiss Me Deadly

Aren't brains just random. 80's rock takes over from 50's musical. Lita Ford has recorded with Ozzy Osbourne and toured with Queensryche. I didn't even know her name until I looked up the song running through my head. She began her career in a band with Joan Jett that broke up at the end of the 70's. Again, random.

Singin' in the Rain

Apparently, I must need some upbeat songs right now (see last post). And you can't get much more upbeat than Gene Kelly's rendition of Singin' in the Rain from the 1952 musical of the same name. Something I didn't know until doing some research for this song, is that a good majority of the songs in the movie, were reused from earlier shows and films...something that Broadway musicals used to do all the time, but you don't find it so much any more. So, in keeping with that spirit, I have included this clip from Shanghai Knights. You have to wait for it...but, Jackie Chan takes some of his moves from Kelly's puddle dance. I love it.

High Hopes

Frank Sinatra. That about sums it up. High Hopes won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1959 for the movie A Hole in the Head. I love it's optimism and cheese. Definitely good for a pick-me-up.

Rhiannon

I like Fleetwood Mac. They're kind of random. Every song or album doesn't sound just like the one before with different words. I was recently listening to a greatest hits type of album. There were a few songs where I thought, "Oh, this is by them?" So of course after listening to that, I got their 1976 hit Rhiannon stuck in my head.

9 to 5

Dolly Parton has said, "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap." She certainly has a singular image. Her first recording was released in 1967, her latest just last year (2009). I love her more bluegrass sounds. Of course, I like 9 to 5 because of the full, jazzy orchestration that backs up her lively vocals. You can just hear how much fun she's having performing it.