Here's a classic from not so far back...2006 to be precise...as Gnarls Barkley, a very creative duo made up of Cee Lo Green and Danger Mouse, busted out of nowhere with this fantabulous tune that we can all relate to time and again. It made me a fan of the Gnarls, who's two albums, St. Elsehwere (2006) and The Odd Couple (2008) have both given me hours upon hours of pleasure. Oh I so wish they would do something together again. (Cee Lo, Danger, are ya listening?) Anyway, enjoy...
Oh, there is so much new music in my iTunes library these days, I can hardly compose myself. I believe this one came from my pal Sonny, but I am not absolutely sure. It's by a Swedish band called The Sound, and this song's off their second album, Dying to Say This to You, from 2006. It's got an absolutely 80's feel, very new wavey and very dancey, and I love it even though I have no idea what the tune is about. Check out Tony the Beat...
Now that Freestyle Week has ended it's time to get back to my favorite kind of music and that's dance. Here's a song I recently discovered, even though it originally came out in 2005. I don't know, but the groove is just so irresistible to my ears and I can't stop dancing when I hear it. Check out Put Em Up...
I recently did a piece for Yahoo entitled The Top 20 Dance/Club Hits of the 2000's and this fantabulous piece of deliciousn dance groove was my #9 for the decade. With Mary's awesome voice and a great, anthemic music track, this one always gets me going....
It's murder on the dance floor So you better not kill the groove, deejay panicmanual
Here's a groovalicious 2001 neo-disco tune from British singer, songwriter, model and deejay Sophie Ellis Bextor. Haven't heard this one in a long time, and it still gets me going...TGIF!
I first discovered Norwegian singer Annie about a month ago through that website I told you about, Club Will. The first song I downloaded of hers was a tune called Greatest Hit, which samples the music to Madonna's Everybody. Actually that song would have been my first choice for the day, it is really good, but the only video available was a remix, and a shortened one at that.
Within days of downloading three of her songs, I decided to get the whole album, called Anniemal. It was released way back in 2004...how did I not hear of her before this? Anyway, check out Chewing Gum. It's very catchy and very dancey, too!
It's hard to believe this song is practically five years old. Back in 2008, this song was all over the place. It was catchy, irresistible, and a lot of fun to sing along to. The song made me a fan of the now 33 year-old British R&B singer, songwriter and rapper. Her album Shine, on which this song appeared, was chock full of dance ditties, fun pop tunes and a couple of nice ballads, too.
Estelle has since released another record, All of Me, in 2012, but it hasn't fared nearly as well as the former. I featured a couple of songs from All of Me, and I like the album. It's really too bad the thing sputtered, because I might have paid it more attention on my own. Ah well, keep a going Ms. Estelle!
Here's a boy band blast from the past for your Friday with a very young Justin Timberlake and his NSYNC mates from January 2000. Enjoy and Happy Friday!
Happy Friday! It looks like spring is finally getting going here on Long Island with plenty of sunshine and warmer temperatures, and it feels so good! Going to a party tonight and so here's hoping for tonight being a good night!
Here's an awesome little rock song from 2000. I figured it'd be appropriate for the current situation where our own kryptonite is causing us a lot of angst!
I was outside doing yard work yesterday and listening to Beyonce. It was a beautiful day, and I was enjoying songs I hadn't heard in a long time, like this one. "Radio" is off of Bey's 2008 "I Am...Sasha Fierce" album and I can certainly relate to it...
Today's song is a nice, folksy and very catchy tune from 2005. I remember first hearing it when Katharine McPhee performed it so well on American Idol the following year. I enjoyed that performance so much it sold me on the song and I went out a got KT's original version. I still take a listen every now and then and it picks me up every time!
For anyone who pays attention to popular music these days, it's hard not to notice that an occasional phenomenon has popped up once again. Yes folks, I'm talking about the boy band, a pre-fab assemblage of usually prettyish teen boys with voices tailor-made for the pop circuit. Two such groups, The Wanted and One Direction, are currently riding charts and making female fans crazy, but they're not the first of their kind.
A long, long time ago I published a piece on the history of girl groups and I've long-since wanted to write one on the boys, an entirely different animal. Boy bands have been around for a really long time, and though some may consider the likes of The Beatles or The Monkees to be among the first of their kind, I'm going to start this one in the 1980's with the very first incarnation of the type of teen idol, made for pop, boy bands we see today.
New Kids on the Block
Back in the year 1984, five teenage boys from Boston, Massachusetts were selected from an auditioning crowd of about 500 wannabe singers to form a "white counterpart" act to then-popular R&B boy band New Edition. The boys, Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donny Wahlberg and Danny Wood, became the New Kids on the Block
After a not so impressive debut album, NKOTB came back in 1988 with a bang and their sophomore "Hangin' Tough" album produced five top ten singles. New Kids mania had begun! For about three years, the boys rode their wave of popularity with such songs as "Please Don't Go Girl," "Step by Step," "Hangin' Tough," and this one, my personal favorite:
You Got It (The Right Stuff)
New Edition
Before there was New Kids, there was New Edition, another boy band from Boston that had more of an R&B flavor to their music. Formed in 1978 and under the tutelage of Maurice Starr (who was also the brainchild of NKOTB), these boys had a string of hits that lasted the better part of the 1980's. Ronnie DeVoe, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins (who later formed Bel Biv DeVoe), Bobby Brown and Ralph Tresvant scored 13 top ten R&B hits during the decade, including "Mr. Telephone Man," "Cool It Now," "If It Isn't Love," "Popcorn Love," and this, their very first smash:
Candy Girl
Boyz II Men
Inspired by the sounds of New Edition, four boys from Philadelphia, PA, formed a quartet in 1989 that would later become the biggest-selling R&B group of all time. Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman took the name of their group from a New Edition song and became Boyz II Men, a boy band that would go on to win four Grammy Awards and score such memorable hits as "Motownphilly," "End of the Road," "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday," and this amazing smash collaboration with Mariah Carey:
One Sweet Day
Backstreet Boys
Orlando, Florida would become the birthplace of two of the most well known boy bands of the 1990's, a decade in which the genre exploded all over the pop music scene. First up was the Backstreet Boys, consisting of A.J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. These boys brought back the hysteria that followed the New Kids just a few years before, scoring hit after hit with their own form of catchy pop ditties and tender ballads. Memorable Backstreet tunes from the era include their debut single, "We've Got It Goin' On," "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)," "As Long As You love Me," "I Want It That Way," and this #2 smash from 1997:
Quit Playing Games with My Heart
'N Sync
Though many boy band's exploded on to the scene in the 1990's, only one really gave the Backstreet Boys a run for their money. The fivesome of Justin Timberlake, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass and J.C. Chasez were formed in 1995 as "N Sync and these guys scored equally big on the charts with the same style of pop as their crosstown counterparts. Not as heavy on the softer side of things, musically, these boys rocked the charts with such dance-oriented tracks as "Bye, Bye, Bye," "I Want You Back," and "Tearin' Up My Heart." Here's one of their biggest:
It's Gonna be Me
These five boy bands, of course, are not the only ones of their kind. Many others have made girls swoon with their good looks and sweet sounds and have had a modicum of success both here in the United States and abroad. Groups like 112, 98 Degrees, Take That, Westlife, Boyzone and others have all strung up a hit or two, and all of them combined have given us their own fair share of pop music for the annals.
Of the five bands mentioned above, all but "N Sync are still around in one form or another, making concert appearances and an occasional new record, but for right now two new boy bands, both from the U.K., sit at center stage, doing their contemporary spin on the genre. Like it or not, the boy band is back, for now. Both The Wanted and One Direction have already scored big on the charts, and only time will tell how long this wave will last.
Today's song is an early Shakira throwback, with a fast-moving, Latin-flavored "tango" jam. The song was recorded for Shakira's 1st Spanish/English-language album, "Laundry Service" way back in 2001. It's the lead song on the album and it's one of the few songs recorded in both languages. What a way to get ya moving!
No one else can feel it for you Only you can let it in No one else, no one else Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken Live your life with arms wide open Today is where your book begins The rest is still unwritten
This is one of my favorite songs of all time. I love inspirational songs and this one's about as divine as you can get. I've used the song many times in my lessons with my students, and they love it too. It's heavenly!
Ah, one of Madonna's classics! This was the first single off of her then very much anticipated second album (think of the all of the hype for Gaga's "Born This Way") of the same name. Though this one was comparable to the songs from her debut album, the rest of the album was the "Material Girl's" first musical reinvention of sorts, as she took on some of the producing chores for the first time and recruited Nile Rodgers' production skills as well. (Rodgers was a member of the disco band Chic previously and had been producing hit records for other artists such as Diana Ross and David Bowie, among others.)
I'll save a discussion of the album for some other time, but in the meantime here's the original video for Madonna's "Like a Virgin," which is iconic in and of itself, replete with Venetian gondolas and Mo's slithery moves beneath bridges...
The song "Like a Virgin" has undergone many musical reinventions of its own. Aside from the original video, Madonna has performed the song many times over, beginning with that infamous performance of the song at the VMA's in a wedding dress and BOY TOY belt buckle in 1984.
Madonna at the VMA's in 1984
During the "Who's That Girl Tour" in 1987, Madonna performed the song in an almost comical way, she and her dancers coming out dressed in Vaudevillian attire, slowly removing their costumes to reveal black corsets underneath. Towards the middle of the song, she breaks into a short rendition of the Four Tops "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" and finishes off when her groom joins her on the stage for a last dance and of course a kiss.
Who's That Girl Tour
One of my favorite renditions of "Like a Virgin" was the one Madonna did on the Blond Ambition Tour in 1990. For this one, she slows it down to a Middle Eastern groove and works her way up literally to a climax by the end. This one almost got her in big trouble when she performed it in Toronto, as seen in the "Truth or Dare" film. Check this one out:
Blond Ambition Tour
"Like a Virgin" was given yet another appearance at the VMA's in 2003, when Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera redid the song a la 1984 as an intro to Madonna's "Hollywood." The trio was joined by Missy Elliot, giving a snippet of her then hit "Work That," and of course the most controversial moment of this performance was the KISS! Take a look:
2003 VMA's
Finally, we have Madonna's horse riding themed version of the song from the 2006 Confessions Tour. There's some very cool choreography here as Madonna rides a mechanical horse on a makeshift outer stage, up close and personal with her audience. I must say, she also looks fabulous in this one!
Confessions Tour
Well there you have it, Madonna's many incarnations of "Like a Virgin." I hope you've taken the time to watch at least a couple of them. If you're a diehard Madonna fan like I am, then I know you did. If you don't already have "Like a Virgin," you can pick it up at either iTunes or Amazon by clicking the links below and stay tuned as our Madonnathon continues...
Today's "Song of the Day" is in honor of THE biggest Stevie Nicks fan I know, my friend Eddie. Eddie's coming up for a few days from Florida and "Rose" will be joining Blanche, Dita and I for what I'm sure will be some brand new good times. In fact, for the first time since the 4th of July I will actually be going to the Grove with people on Saturday night. It's gonna be lots of fun, I'm sure!
Anyway, back to the song...Of course Setvie Nicks has plenty of songs to choose from, both from Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist, and knowing Eddie, I'm sure he would prefer one of the songs off of her newest album, "In Your Dreams," but hey, I don't know it and besides this one was made into a remix a few years ago by Deep Dish and you know how I love good dance music.
This version, which I'm posting first, is a fantastic interpretation of the original and Stevie provides the vocals. It made me love the song all over again when it was out, and even though I had a hard time finding the specific video for it, I finally did. So check out Deep Dish's "Dreams" followed by Fleetwood Mac's original. I'm posting the lyrics below because they're just sooooo good! Enjoy!
Dreams
Now here you go again You say you want your freedom Well who am I to keep you down It's only right that you should Play the way you feel it But listen carefully to the sound Of your loneliness Like a heartbeat.. drives you mad In the stillness of remembering what you had And what you lost... And what you had... And what you lost
Thunder only happens when it's raining Players only love you when they're playing Say... Women... they will come and they will go When the rain washes you clean... you'll know
Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions I keep my visions to myself It's only me Who wants to wrap around your dreams and... Have you any dreams you'd like to sell? Dreams of loneliness... Like a heartbeat... drives you mad... In the stillness of remembering what you had... And what you lost... And what you had... And what you lost
Thunder only happens when it's raining Players only love you when they're playing Say... Women... they will come and they will go When the rain washes you clean... you'll know
Here's a couple of pictures of Eddie from a trip we took to Pennsylvania last year...
This was one of many of me with Eddie's finger, lol... It was his thing the whole trip!
Today's "Song of the Day" just came to me last night in the parking lot of a bar, lol. I was talking with my new pal Ozzie, I mean Ruby, and I don't know, the song just popped into my head. It's not one of Bette Midler's most well-known songs, but it was out when I was deejaying a lot and at least I liked it and played it often.
"That's it baby when ya got it flaunt it..."
The original version is pretty good....typical Bette, but the remix version, which I'm posting here, mixes the music track from Armand Ven Helden's "Music Sounds Better With You" and works really well. So if you don't know it, give it a try, and if you do, have another listen. And be sure to check out the words below...this song has a great message:
I'M BEAUTIFUL DAMMIT!!!!
Have a great day beautiful ones....
I'm Beautiful
"This is the Divine Miss M and I'm here to share with you some rare and stimulating insight into my cosmic fabulosity. It's really very simple. I smiply believe with all my heart:"
"Go away, little girl," they used to say. "Hey, you're too fat, baby, you can't play." "Hold on, miss thing, what you trying to do? You know you're too wack to be in our school."
Too wack, too smart, too fast, too fine, too loud, too tough, too too divine. I said you don't belong. You don't belong. Too loud, too big, too much to bear, too bold, too brash, too prone to swear. I heard that song for much too long.
Ain't this my sun? Ain't this my moon? Ain't this my world to be who I choose? Ain't this my song? Ain't this my movie? Ain't this my world? I know I can do it.
I'm not too short, I'm not too tall, I'm not too big, I'm not too small. Ooh, don't lemme start lovin' myself! Ooh, don't lemme start lovin' myself! I'm not too white, I'm not too black, I'm not too this, I'm not too that. Ooh, don't lemme start lovin' myself! Ooh, don't lemme start lovin' myself!
It's time to call it what it is. Don't play the naming game. Become what you were born to be and be it unashamed. "Go away, little boy," I can hear them say, "Everybody on the block says they think you're gay. Hold on, my friend, do you think we're blind? Take a look at yourself. You're not our kind."
Too black, too white, too short, too tall, too big, too green, too red, too small. I said you don't belong. You don't belong. Too black, too white, too short, too tall, too blue, too green, too red, too small. I heard that song for much to long.
Ain't this my sun? Ain't this my moon? Ain't this my world to be who I choose? Ain't this my song? Ain't this my movie? Ain't this my world? I know I can do it.
People always ask me, "Miss M, how did you get so far on so little?" Shut up! Well, I woke up one morning, flossed my teeth and decided, "Damn, I'm fierce!" You look good! You can be just like me! A goddess? Yeah! Don't just pussy foot around and sit on your assets. Unleash your ferocity upon an unsuspecting world. Rise up and repeat after me: "I'm beautiful!"
I'm beautiful, I'm beautiful, I'm beautiful! Can you say that? I'm beautiful, I'm beautiful, I'm beautiful! I don't hear you! I'm beautiful, I'm beautiful, I'm beautiful! Louder! I'm beautiful, I'm beautiful, I'm beautiful! Hey!
That's it, baby, when you got it, flaunt it, flaunt it!
Aaaaaah! Ain't this my sun? My sun! Ain't this my moon? My moon! Ain't this my world to be who I choose? Ain't this our song? Ain't this our song? Ain't this our movie? Ain't this our movie? Ain't this our world to be who we choose?
I'm not too short, I'm not too tall, I'm not too big, I'm not too small. Ooh, don't lemme start lovin' myself! Ooh, don't lemme start lovin' myself! I'm not too white, I'm not too black, I'm not too this, I'm not too that. Ooh, don't lemme start lovin' myself! Ooh, don't lemme start lovin' myself! I'm beautiful, dammit!
