Times change, don't they?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/09/pink-floyd-emi-battle-gro_n_491696.html

It's fair to say that the band Pink Floyd is one of the all time best selling musical acts ever.  But even they have to deal with the new reality of the music industry.  As convenient and great as it is to have your entire music library on a rectangular device not much bigger than a wallet, it also presents those pesky unintended consequences.

Music is far too easy to post online and "share" illegally.  ITunes and Amazon have made it possible for people to simply buy one or two songs and ignore the rest of an artist's album (sometimes, I'll readily acknowledge, this can be for the best.  There have been plenty of albums I've bought that, in the end, only featured one or two songs I've liked.  Red Ryder's As Far As Siam is perhaps one of the more prominent examples, at least to me, of this).

And these problems are spilling to other artistic endeavors.  Films are showing up online for illegal download even as they first hit (or before they first hit!) the theaters.  Books are also showing up (I've mentioned before the heartbreak of finding that my own novel, Mechanic, showed up at one of those file sharing services and has been downloaded a criminally large amount of times...potential earnings for a work I sweated plenty on creating that I've subsequently lost out on).

I don't know where we'll eventually wind up regarding earnings artists should be making off their works.  The cat, as they say, is out of the bag now and its almost impossible to police all the file sharing services out there, just as it is also difficult for artists, even well known artists such as Pink Floyd, to deal with the company they work for.

As for that Red Ryder song?  Find it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp9852hq0W0

Not a download, rather a free (and legal) way of perusing the soundtrack album, should you be interested in purchasing it when it is released:

http://www.spinner.com/new-releases#/2

(I'm certain this will be available only for a limited time).

You know, its been a while since presenting someone's "Top 10" list.  Here, Time magazine offers their list of Top 10 Musical Supergroups, and it isn't quite what you're thinking...

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1970620_1970637,00.html

I have to give them credit for thinking outside the box with this list.  I figured for sure we'd see some of the standards (The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, etc.).

Instead, we're presented with a list of bands that featured already big names coming into this mileu.  The list is certainly interesting!

If you're curious, a review from CNN of the coming Rolling Stone an interview with Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, and some of the juicier details found within:

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/05/billy-corgan-on-pumpkins-split-jessica-simpson/?hpt=Sbin

What is curious about this comes later, with the reader comments, some of which are strongly for and others very stongly against.  Same goes for the preview article at Rolling Stone (which was, I'm assuming, the basis for the CNN article):

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/03/03/billy-corgan-on-pumpkins-split-loving-jessica-simpson-preview-the-story/

I find the comments curious, to say the least.

Does Billy Corgan have an ego?  Is it out of control?  Perhaps.  But many of my favorite creative works, be they in film or literature or music, were created by people who had...quirks, and just because the person behind the work of art may be someone you have issues with doesn't mean the work they create isn't worth enjoying.

I think Billy Corgan's is a tremendously talented individual and he has made some truly great works of music (count me among those who thinks Adore was a great album, although I'd probably say their "best" album was Melon Collie...but that's just me) and I'm still interested in hearing his new stuff.

Further, I enjoyed the Zwan album quite a bit.  I thought, however, Billy Corgan's solo album wasn't all that interesting and Zeitgeist, while a decent enough return for the band, erred in releasing all those variant albums with one or two alternate tracks.  In the end, I thought the best song from that album was Ma Belle, but that song can only be found on one of the variant albums, a pretty bad deal for anyone interested in picking this up.  Mr. Corgan's latest effort after the American Gothic mini-LP, the song a month (for free!) Teargarden by Kaleidyscope has been, after three songs, interesting, but I'm holding back hearing it fully until I have several songs (well, at least 4-5) to sample.  I just don't want to burn myself out with one song, then do the same with the next, etc.

I guess for me, the bottom line is this: what difference does it really make whether Mr. Corgan has an ego or not?  Ultimately, no one is forcing you to listen to his music, whether he's a great guy or not.

If listening to his music is disagreeable, you can always turn off the stereo/radio/iPod/etc. off.

I genuinely thought Billy Corgan and company (whoever the rest of the band is at this point) had given up on presenting free copies of their songs on a monthly basis (it has been more, I believe, than a month since the second song appeared).

The third song is called "A Stitch In Time" and is available, along with the other two songs, for free (legally!) at:

http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/

...which this post is.

And being in a good mood and all, a couple of pretty hilarious bits.

First up, 30 unintentionally hilarious political signs...

http://www.urlesque.com/2010/02/10/misspelled-political-signs/

Next up, some pretty funny (and disturbing) newspaper classified ads...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/18/creepy-classifieds-the-fu_n_466433.html

At least according to the Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/25/the-stupidest-song-lyrics_n_434824.html

Man, I just can't argue with some of the choices...

"Me who? Please boo. Landin' in that G2 same color as beef stew, pure blue, hebrew"

Ouch.

...at least according to Switched.com:

http://www.switched.com/2010/01/19/music-is-the-future-22-of-the-greatest-high-tech-vids/?icid=main|main|dl7|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.switched.com%2F2010%2F01%2F19%2Fmusic-is-the-future-22-of-the-greatest-high-tech-vids%2F

Every time I see some kind of music "best of" list I recognize the fact that I'm drifting further and further away from modern music.  Of the 22 presented, I recognized perhaps five or so songs/videos.

The Police's Synchronicity II is an odd choice, IMHO, for a "futuristic" video.  Love the song (and the album it came from, the Police truly went out on a very high note), but to state this is some kind of great original futuristic video...I just don't know.  The look of the video, to me, is taken from The Road Warrior (aka Mad Max 2), which was released some two years before the video and arguably set up the look most post-apocalyptic fare (including the Police's video) emulated well into the 1990's and beyond.

Missing from the list may be the eerie David Bowie video Ashes to Ashes (come on, you just knew I'd reach for a Bowie video, right?) and Queen's Radio Ga Ga, which may be a bit of a cheat as it featured images from 1927's Metropolis.  However, if you're going to use futuristic images from a film in your video, why not go for one of the best?!

Ashes to Ashes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyMm4rJemtI

Radio Ga Ga:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBUr1pSWTVI

A pretty...odd...list, if you ask me:

http://www.noisecreep.com/2010/01/18/top-10-best-80s-metal-songs/

When I think of 80's metal, I just don't think about bands like Poison or Def Leopard or Motley Crew or Guns N' Roses.  Yeah, their songs may have been "heavier" than some of the popular music playing on the radio at the time, but for the most part their stuff wasn't what I'd call "metal".

Apparently, some of the posters agreed.  A trio of songs I'd put way up there on a list of 80's metal are included below (although the third choice I love not only because of its heavy metal sound, but also because of its hilarious -to me!- lyrics)...

I am very curious to see the British version of Life on Mars, and not just because I'm a fan of David Bowie's music.

No, I've heard good things about the show but only managed to record its second season (I didn't watch it as I wanted to start from the beginning...maybe one day I'll get to).  I also gave the American version of the show a try, but found it very boring.

So too, apparently, does Slate Magazine's Seth Stevenson, who presents a review of both the British and American version of the shows and how the American version failed in so many ways compared to the original British version.  And the American version's conclusion, Mr. Stevenson argues, may well have "the dumbest finale in TV history":

http://www.slate.com/id/2240845/pagenum/all/#p2

Having just posted a note about the fact that Fox may be developing an American version of Torchwood, a British show I have seen and really enjoy, I'm suddenly wondering even more if an American version of Torchwood need be made.  Oh well, we'll always have the originals.

...of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope is available for free, and legal, download:

http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/

The first song was "A Song for a Son", still available also for download, and the new one is "Widow Wake My Mind".

Not bad, and the price is certainly right, even though the cynic in me knows that if the band was still doing as well as it was in the 1990's, this album would have been released in a more conventional (paying) way.

Still, how can one not appreciate Billy Corgan's generosity in giving us, effectively, a new Smashing Pumpkins album free, albeit on a month to month (or thereabouts) and song by song basis.

I know I'll be around to pick it up.

A long time back I posted my belief that U2's first single from their latest album, Get On Your Boots, sounded an awful lot like Elvis Costello's Pump It Up.  Looks like both U2 and Mr. Costello felt the same, as they concluded the season 2 premier of the very watchable Spectacle with an amusing mash up of both songs.

Although, from the sound of it, the memoir was more intended to focus on the poet/rocker's relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe:

http://www.salon.com/books/patti_smith/index.html?story=/books/laura_miller/2010/01/10/just_kids

Of the people in the music business, she remains one of the more curious to me.  Her music is at times brilliant, at times corrosive, almost always very enjoyable (can you ask for more?).  The review of her book is intriguing, to say the least.

I suppose it was only a matter of time...

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/01/ebook.piracy/index.html

In many ways, its a terribly depressing time to be someone trying to make a living via creative endeavors such as music, art, or writing.  While the internet and the technology related to it has afforded authors/musicians/artists a means of getting the word out about their works in a way that was impossible before (check out my very own ertorre.com for information about my books or art or whathaveyou!), the fact is that internet piracy and file sharing have also cost the same creative individuals plenty of residuals they should be making but are not.

I recall back in the stone age, ie at the dawn of the CD, when people noted how Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side of the Moon was a regular heavy hitting seller via records.  Why?  Because records eventually got scratched or developed hisses and pops and those who loved the album had no choice but to buy it over and over again to hear it as it was intended to be.  When the CDs took over, word of continuing sales of that album all but ended, I suspect because now people were able to buy the beloved album once and not have to return to their local music store (remember those?!) to pick up a new, "clean" copy.

But with the internet and piracy, you don't even have to buy that album, or any album, should you be of the mind to simply "get it" free.

Movies have been appearing online, even before they reached the theaters (see the Wolverine film) and it comes as little surprise, given the rising popularity of e-books, that now novels are starting to show up.

My own novel Mechanic is available as an e-book via Kindle, but I've been reluctant to make my other novels available as well.  And I've been debating whether to go that route with my new novel, which should be ready in the next couple of months.

The world changes quickly, and I suspect that this problem will only get bigger with time.  The only real solution is for the authors/artists/musicians to find alternative ways to make up for the lost revenue...or hope for some future, better protection of their copyright material.

It gets tiresome, at times, to stumble upon article after article "looking back" at the past year or decade (we have a two-fer this time around), but some articles, like the one below, are fascinating in that they don't just list off the "best of" or "worst of" the past decade, in this case regarding music, but instead look at general trends of the industry as a whole:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2009-12-29-musicdecade29_CV_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

There is plenty in this article to digest, from the effects of piracy to the fragmentation of music in general.  It's fascinating to note, as the article does, that the Beatles had the biggest selling album of the decade, despite the fact that they haven't been a band since 1970.

CNN gives you a list of some CD and DVD box sets worth a look or listen:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/18/cd.dvd.boxed.sets/index.html

They were rock GODS in the 1990's, only to be pummeled, in the end, by the Britney avalanche.  Yet their music, to me, remains quite good, although I can certainly forgive those who can't get past Billy Corgan's voice.

The band, which features Corgan and no one else of the original lineup, nonetheless remains out there, and are now releasing 44 songs online one month at a time.  Originally, they were releasing them free to anyone who wanted to download the songs (legal and free, that's fine by me!).

For now, the first of the songs can be heard here:

http://www.spinner.com/2009/12/07/smashing-pumpkins-a-song-for-a-sun-song-premiere/

Not bad, although I suspect that maybe the songs won't be available for free as originally planned (despite what the article states...they need to earn some money in the end, don't they?!).  UPDATE:  Oh ye of little faith...the song, as of 12/8, is now available for download.  Click on this link:

http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/

This is the live version of the song:

You know you're curious.  In the days to come, I expect to find plenty of "best of" the decade lists.

This one, however, is rather unique:  Billboard presents its list of top "one-hit" wonders of the decade.  As with many of them, if I never hear some of those songs again...

http://www.billboard.com/#/features/one-hit-wonders-of-the-2000s-page-1-1004051216.story

Still don't know what to buy for the family, for your friends, for your co-workers...

...for yourself?!

Here's a list of some fascinating music box sets available for the holiday season:

http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/Box-sets/G1349

I find the Beatles USB stick particularly fascinating, although I already have the albums (not the mono ones, alas).

Fascinating article by Bob Sullivan:

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/12/laptop-computers-examined-by-border-guards-looking-for-pirated-software-ipods-seized-at-airport-security-lines-on-mere-suspi.html

On the one hand, I can understand the need to do something about copyright piracy.  The fact is that right now, to many there is no reason at all to bother legally buying any music, and movie piracy is certainly on the rise.  The amount of money both music and movie companies lose as a result of this is astronomical and, worse, may lead to less investment in future products and, thus, less for consumers to enjoy.  I think I've said this before: Imagine if a new band with the potential to be, as the cliche goes, the "next" Beatles comes around, but because their initial album sells poorly, perhaps in part because of illegal downloading, the company supporting them decides to release them.

Similarly, why would a movie company invest millions of dollars into a film when profits diminish because people can illegally download the film often on the very day it is released into theaters?  Worse, some films (Wolverine or the Ang Lee Hulk film) found their way online even before their official release!

HOWEVER, having said all that, some of the proposals being floated in the article linked above are, frankly, scary.  I worry when agencies that are not in law enforcement are granted law enforcement privileges.  While I doubt that there will be a "laptop and iPod" check at the borders (there are simply too many people with said items traveling each day), some of the other possibilities are no less chilling.

Then again, one is reminded of the myth of Pandora's Box.  Once opened, its so very hard to close it again...

Often while watching the History Channel and/or assorted history specials, I wonder how much the producers of the show (and, indeed, the scientists and historians) have right versus how much is guesswork and speculation.  History, without clear written/recorded accounts (preferably from multiple sources), can be dodgy.

Which is why this clip is so amusing.  It imagines what a documentary about the Beatles might be like 1000 years in the future, provided many of the historical notes were lost in the mists of time...

Fascinating look at some well known celebrities...and their original names:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/27/celebrities-who-changed-t_n_368097.html

My favorite celebrity changed name, and it is not included on this particular list, has to be Archibald Alexander Leach.

Now, granted, the decade isn't quite over yet, but here's what they thought:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/17/britain.nme.strokes.album/index.html

You know you're getting old when not only do you not know the album/band that's given the number one spot, but similarly can't recognize the album/bands that were runners up!

On the other hand, the band with the best album of the decade has a sound that is supposedly inspired by The Velvet Underground.  That's a band I do know!

Johann Hari at Slate.com offers a review and blistering comments regarding the philosophy of Ayn Rand, perhaps the far right's philosophical darling:

http://www.slate.com/id/2233966/

I've always been intrigued by Ms. Rand, and Mr. Hari's comments offer a scathing look at what may lie behind her philosophies, as well as the paradoxes, self-loathing, etc..  While reading the article, I couldn't help but find comparisons between Ms. Rand and another pretty well known author turned philosopher, who himself has brought about what many consider a cult.

In the last paragraph of this article, Mr. Hari himself makes that very same comparison, so at the very least his essay was successful in bringing about his ultimate point.

Still, the only thing I've ever really been exposed to, at least concerning Ayn Rand, are reviews of her philosophy (and articles both pro and con) and seeing the Gary Cooper starring The Fountainhead movie (which was, of course, based on Ayn Rand's novel).  The movie was decent enough, although the philosophy was spread rather thick, which is evident even in this trailer for that movie.

Interesting article from UK's The Independent:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/illegal-downloaders-spend-the-most-on-music-says-poll-1812776.html

Interesting article regarding U2 and their latest self-introspection, particularly after the somewhat "disappointing" sales of their latest album, No Line on the Horizon.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33447167/ns/entertainment-music/

I think that like many musical acts, U2 may be stuck in something of a rut.  They still create great music (there were some exceptional songs in NLOTH), but their direction, at least in my opinion, remains roughly the same.  They built on and on with each album from their beginning, taking mild steps back here and there (your opinion may be different, but I felt both October, Rattle and Hum, and Pop were only OK albums...but what came before and after each was incredible).

To me U2 reached their apex with albums such as Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree, and the one-two punch of Achtung Baby and Zooropa (a delightful experimental album).

The problem is, they perfected their particular technique, and suddenly you realize you've pretty much seen/heard their act.  NLOTH is a good album, as I said before, but musically it doesn't, at least to my ears, give us anything we haven't heard before (and better) with U2.  And that's the essence of the problem: U2 may be stuck in a rut (I'll grant you that with Pop they tried to go in another direction, but the results weren't all that good, alas).

In considering U2, I think back to the reason David Bowie is my favorite artist.  He tended to constantly reinventing himself.  Early on, the heavy metal sounding The Man Who Sold the World was followed by an folksy, introspective Hunky Dory which was followed by the more straight ahead rock n' roll/concept album Ziggy Stardust.  David Bowie would eventually do soul, alternative rock, pop, electronica, etc. etc.  U2 has created some absolutely terrific music, and I'll be around for their subsequent albums.

Maybe they'll surprise me still.

Ah, the Eddie Murphy hit...I never could stand it much.  The article itself isn't necessarily a slam against all celebrity albums, although some certainly deserve their critical (negative) reactions:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1931795_1931794,00.html

I've forgotten a few of those on the list (an album by Cassius Clay?!), and find the first choice, Bob Dylan's recently released album of Christmas songs, an oddball curiosity.  As the article states: "Also, isn't he Jewish?"

The one not included on the list, curiously, is William Shatner's infamous 1968 album The Transformed Man, which included his...uh...interpretations of "Mr. Tamborine Man", "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds", and "It Was A Very Good Year".  When you're talking celebrity albums, how can you forget that one?!

A list of 20 musicians who quit their respective bands...

http://www.spinner.com/2009/09/17/rocks-biggest-quitters-20-musicians-who-walked-away-from-fame/

I think the biggest missing example is Roger Waters and Pink Floyd.  I'll be the first to admit I don't know all the details regarding the situation (and the "creative differences" that lead to Mr. Waters leaving the band) but given their status, it's odd that he wasn't mentioned in this grouping.

However, still an interesting list!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6267873/David-Bowie-immortalised-in-Lego-Rock-Band.html

Yes, David Bowie has been made into a...Lego.

Just an assortment, old and (relatively) new...

Iggy Pop - Candy

Fascinating mini-interview with Stewart Copeland, drummer of The Police.  I've always liked his work, and felt without him The Police might have become too self-indulgent (which is what I think Sting's solo work suffers from).

Now, I may be waaaay off there, but the interview is fascinating...

It's a sad story, the (then) girl who inspired John Lennon's famous song has died:

http://my.att.net/s/editorial.dll?pnum=1&bfromind=7404&eeid=6841711&_sitecat=1479&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=-2&ck=&ch=en&rg=blsadstrgt&_lid=332&_lnm=tg+en+topnews&ck=&l=hm

Funny, if a little too brief, article from the Onion:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/newly_discovered_recordings?utm_source=a-section

I suppose all that hype (some of which I readily admit to being a part of!) a couple of weeks ago merits such an article!

At least according to Gigwise.  They offer some intriguing comments regarding each choice:

http://www.gigwise.com/photos/52402/The-50-Worst-Albums-Of-The-2000s

Plenty of humorous (and highly venomous) comments about the acts/artists/albums picked.  The funniest (at least to me) was their #4 selection (you have to go to #47 on the listings as they do a reverse order from 50 to 1):

brokeNCYDE: 'I'm Not A Fan... But The Kids Like It' (2009) – Easily the worst band to emerge this decade, the New Mexico crunk outfit are the aural equivalent of rubbing a cheese grater on your manhood. Or sandpaper even. Honestly, there are barely words in the dictionary to describe how horrible this record is. How any kids like these is truly beyond us.

Makes me curious to hear it...

...seem to be doing quite well, thank you.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2009-09-10-remastered-beatles_N.htm

The collector in me broke down and purchased the final 4 CDs available (what the hell, I bought the other 10, why not get the remaining 4?).

My own personal take: The CDs sound soooo smooth.  Great care was obviously taken in the remastering process, and I admit to being very curious about the mono version, but considering the very high price for that boxed set, not to mention the fact that it's pretty much sold out everywhere...

Regardless, as much as I love the Beatles music from roughly Help! up, listening to the albums that came before that album verified some of my previous feelings about the "early" Beatles music.  There are some really, really good songs from the early era (All My Loving, Money, I Saw Her Standing There, A Hard Day's Night, If I Fell, etc. etc.), but there are many others that, to my ears at least, sound a little too grounded in the music of the 1950's (The members of The Beatles, obviously, were influenced greatly by that music, but my own particular musical preferences tend to run from about the mid-1960's up).

Still, having listened to the cleaned up material, I'm reminded of the following quote:

There's The Beatles and then there's everyone else.

Even though I may not like all the earliest work, count me in as one who feels The Beatles may well have been the greatest rock and roll act ever.

By the way, Entertainment Weekly has released via the web the top 25 of their Top 50 list of Beatles songs.  Want to hear and see them?  Then click on the link below:

http://music-mix.ew.com/2009/09/11/the-best-beatles-songs-25-1/

If you're interested in buying the Beatles CDs today, you may want to go to your local shop as quickly as possible.

I don't know if my experience this morning was typical, but when I got there the clerks didn't know that the albums were supposed to be made available today.  I pointed out the upcoming CDs billboard and noted the picture of Abbey Road with the 09/09 release date.  They knew about the Rock Band game, but not the albums.  Regardless, they were friendly and helpful and quickly went to the backroom to check.

Unfortunately, and given that there were 14 albums to find, it was taking them too long to find all the CDs for me and I had other things I needed to do.  I told them I'd be back in a half hour or so to collect the albums I wanted.

When I got back a half hour later (I'm pretty punctual), they were apologetic.  Only minutes after I left the store, the clerk brought the CDs I requested but another client showed up, saw what he was carrying, and picked the whole thing up.

Then another.

When I returned to the store, the clerks were once again forced to go to the backroom to get the CDs.  They noted that they were already almost out of all their copies.  Luckily, all the albums I wanted were there (As I said before, I'm a fan of the later Beatles moreso than the earlier.  But I decided in advance to buy all the remastered albums from Hard Day's Night up (except for Yellow Submarine...the only song I'd want from that album is "Hey Bulldog".  Otherwise, I have all the other worthwhile songs on other albums).  As luck would have it, all those albums were available.  However, they were already sold out of Beatles For Sale (the irony!) and Please Please Me.

After paying for my selection of albums (I wound up with 10(!!!!) of the 14 releases), I smiled and told the clerk that the shelves he was preparing for the Beatles albums were likely to remain as they were now...Empty.

The clerk smiled and said he agreed.

The insanity continues!

From Time magazine, their list of Top 10 things you may not know about the Beatles:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1921062_1921061,00.html

Ok, I've delved enough into the release of the remastered Beatles albums tomorrow.  I will be there, buying certain albums, and one thing I did know going in was that included with the albums (for a limited time, alas) are mini-documentaries regarding the albums themselves.

Curious about those mini-documentaries?  Here is some information about them:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/08/beatles.rockband.bobsmeaton.transcript/index.html

And, finally, Entertainment Weekly offers this brief review of the remastered albums (both mono and stereo).  I'm thinking they like them:

http://music-mix.ew.com/2009/09/08/beatles-remasters-review/

So I got the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, which featured the full "Top 50" Beatles songs and I'm not terribly surprised to find my top 10 landed here and there in their list.  Here's my list (presented in no particular order) followed by where the song landed on their "Top 50"

Hey Jude (EW #14)
Revolution (single version) (EW #21)
Helter Skelter (EW #47)
She Said She Said (EW #37)
Tomorrow Never Knows (EW #8)
Here Comes the Sun (EW #48)
Yesterday (EW #3)
Let It Be (EW #7)
A Day In the Life (EW #2)

Even the two songs I didn't feel got enough love, Golden Slumbers and Rain, made EW's list (#19 for the Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End medley, #28 for Rain).

The one that didn't make it?  Michelle.  I have to admit, as others have mentioned before, the best Beatles song could well be the last one you heard, and as much as I love Michelle, I could easily have substituted the bouncy Back in the U.S.S.R. (didn't chart on EW's list either) or Something (EW#5) or Norwegian Wood (EW #9) or While My Guitar Gently Sleeps (EW #16) in its place.

You can find the rest of EW's top 50 list in the magazine.  What was intriguing is they also listed their Top 5 Worst Beatles songs.  Curiously, #1 in their worst list was All You Need Is Love, which also ranked #50 in their top 50 list!

My least favorite Beatles Song?  Revolution #9.  Sorry, I know its meant to be experimental and all, but...blah.

Finally, let me note a trio of songs EW felt were strong enough to be Top 50 material which I don't think belong that high:  I'm Only Sleeping (EW #24), I'm A Loser (EW #25), and I'm So Tired (Ew #49).  Decent songs all (and, curiously, they all begin with "I'm"...hmmmm), but to me they weren't among the Beatles' strongest, nor would they have made my Top 50.

Anyway, onward to other things...I suspect its enough of Beatles lists and look backs!

Yesterday Entertainment Weekly offered a teaser article noting that they examined all the Beatles songs and, after much debate, would reveal today what they considered the Beatles' all time best song.

Here is what they came up with:

http://music-mix.ew.com/2009/09/04/beatles-remasters-best-song/

I think their choice is a decent, historically significant song.  The song, along with the movie, were probably what more than anything else cemented The Beatles in pop culture legend.

However, as fun as the song and movie were, it belongs to the "early" Beatles years, when they were mostly updating the 50's rock and roll.  To me, the Beatles really started cooking around the time of Rubber Soul/Revolver.  That was when they broadened their horizons and became a band that went into so many different and fascinating directions, exploring, expanding, and making at times daring experiments with their music.  Incredibly, their experiments were almost always incredibly successful (Magical Mystery Tour is considered The Beatles one "disappointing" album, as it was released after the incredibly successful Sgt. Peppers album and felt like that album's leftovers.  I suspect there are many, many bands who only wish they could have an album as "disappointing" as that one!).

So if you go back to my top 10 Beatles songs in the list from yesterday, you'll notice most of the songs I list are from the later Beatles era (the one exception is the exceptional Yesterday, found on the album Help!).

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the earlier Beatles works.  On the contrary, they're quite good.  However, those songs aren't as good, in my opinion, to what came later on.

With the imminent arrival of the remastered Beatles catalogue (I've seen the mono-set, which is pretty much a rarity to find now, being sold for upwards of $700!!) and the Rock Band game, Entertainment Weekly devotes their next issue to the lads from Liverpool and offers their choices for best Beatles song ever...but the link is more an advertisement for this upcoming list:

http://music-mix.ew.com/2009/09/03/beatles-remasters-top-50/

It got me to thinking...Do I have a favorite all time Beatles song?

The short answer is no.  To me, they had so many great songs that to pick out just one is an impossibility.  Among my top ten favorites, and in no particular order:

Hey Jude
Revolution (single version)
Helter Skelter
She Said She Said
Tomorrow Never Knows
Michelle
Here Comes the Sun
Yesterday
Let It Be
A Day In the Life

Not a particularly surprising list, I'm sure.  I doubt there's anyone out there who wouldn't find at least a couple of those songs above on their "best of the Beatles" list.

But there are two songs that I absolutely love but I've never heard of them refered to as among the Beatles' best: Abbey Road's Golden Slumbers (I love love love that song...the emotion of Paul's voice, the almost fairy tale lyrics) and John Lennon's single Rain (another terrific piece of work, which featured some stunning drums by Ringo).

I'm sure every Beatles fan, however, has their idea of what's best!

As I said before, I love lists, and the folks at dvdfile.com have provided a great list of rock n' roll music available on the formats.

Seems someone other than me really loves the music of David Bowie...

http://www.dvdfile.com/views/article/rock-n-roll-on-dvdbd-84315

By the way, if you're curious about David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust "last show we'll ever do" moment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-G1Uy0OkCw

A couple of days ago I offered a link to an article regarding the new Beatles remastered albums.  Looks like they've already sold out on Amazon:

http://music-mix.ew.com/2009/09/01/beatles-sold-out-amazon/

The one I'm most curious about is the mono versions, as those were originally the versions the Beatles worked on the hardest (stereo was not as widely used until shortly before the band broke up).

On the other hand, I've listened to these albums and songs an awful lot of times, and I don't know if I want to spend the money on them again.  Make no mistake, their work is great (although I tend to like the Beatles material from Rubber Soul to their breakup), but, as I said, I don't know if these new mixes will somehow reinvent the songs completely for me.

We'll see.

Interesting article from CNN regarding an apparent new look by police of the death forty years ago of Brian Jones, founder of the Rolling Stones (at the time of his death, he had left the band).

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/31/brian.jones.death/index.html

While I know way too little about the case to offer any sort of comments (other than lazy guesses), its intriguing to hear about this.  For years Mr. Jones cause of death (drowning in his pool) was questioned, and now perhaps a fresh look at the facts of the case might provide some clarity.

On the other hand, it has been 40 years, and while the evidence that was accumulated back then can be looked at with fresh eyes, personal memories of people in and around Mr. Jones' circles may be hazy.

I'll be curious to read the results.

For those interested in The Beatles, you must know that soon their every one of their albums will be re-released, cleaned up and remastered, both in stereo and mono mixes.  I'm curious as to the quality of the cleaned up material, and based on this report, it might prove to be quite special:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2009-08-27-beatles-remastered_N.htm

Switching from Criterion movies we have a list from Entertainment Weekly of 10 very bad album covers, apparently chosen by readers.

They're pretty much on target with their choices.  Until I saw them on the list, there were several I hadn't seen before, but they do all share the same problem: They're pretty bad.

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20300004,00.html

I've tried to come up with an album cover that never appealed to me, but I'm stumped.  There are bad ones out there, of course, but none that I've found rising to the level of being truly terrible.

Of the ones listed, I particularly agree with the inclusion of Foreigner's Head Games.  Very, very strange (and ugly) cover.

A friend posted this, and I just had to share.  Some very clever people have taken music videos and changed the lyrics of the songs presented within so that the videos are more "literal".

Huh?  You ask.  Don't ask...just watch.  (BTW, there are several other "literal" videos on YouTube.  IMHO, this is the best of the lot).

I'm finding this bit of news all over the place, a tribute to Kiss' (and Wal-Mart's) PR machine.  It's been a while, at least to me, since Kiss mattered all that much (I have at least one friend who will cry "heresy!" to that!)

However, in the interests of informing those who do appreciate (and are eager to get) new works from Kiss, here's the information on their latest release:

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1916844,00.html

If I were a fan of their work, I'd admit the package they're selling certainly sounds attractive.  A CD of new material, a CD of old material re-done, and a live CD to boot?  Good stuff.

If you're a fan!

Two interesting articles, one (IMO) more fact based and neutral, another far more hostile regarding not only Woodstock, but the 60's generation in general.

First, the more even handed fact-based one by Tony Sclafani, for MSNBC:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32322892/ns/entertainment-music/

What sets this article apart is that you have several first hand recollections of the event, and it explores both the "good" and "bad" rumor/speculation/actual facts involved with Woodstock.

On the other hand, here's "What's not being celebrated", by Miami Herald writer Glenn Garvin...

http://www.miamiherald.com/columnists/garvin/story/1180403.html

First, a couple of words about Mr. Garvin: I first became aware of him with his reviews of television shows.  His comments were often hilarious, and I was eager to read his articles.  At some point, however, he was promoted to editorial/opinion author, and he became, like Michael Medved (who was himself hilarious as a co-author of the "Golden Turkey Award" books, which focused on truly terrible movies), another generally humorless conservative.

Based on this article and Mr. Garvin's "take" on not only Woodstock but Altamont and the 1960's in general show that he is no fan of the times or the movement.

Contrast the first article and its take on what happened (both good and bad) with Mr. Garvin's take on the subject:

The three-day rock festival at Woodstock was, by any reasonable measure, a disaster: Hundreds of thousands of narcotized kids wallowing around in the mud, leaving behind so much sodden debris that more than one festival organizer compared the place to a Civil War battlefield.

Their idea of preparation for a three-day campout was to load up on drugs rather than food, water or medical supplies, and if military choppers hadn't bailed them out, Woodstock might have ended in the hippie apocalypse that a lot of people feared. The festival's real lesson was one already well known to America's parents: Kids, left without adult supervision, will make a mess.

But the crux of Mr. Garvin's article is that while everyone is celebrating the anniversary of Woodstock, the far darker Rolling Stones concert at Altamont is a "forgotten" event and that it (an arbitrary choice on his part) is a better example of what the 1960's were truly about.

Unfortunately, instead of offering a clear review of events, he instead displays plenty of biases:

Altamont is the rock festival that self-congratulatory children of the 1960s don't want to remember, the one where Jagger and the rest of the Rolling Stones watched the Hell's Angels they'd hired as security guards beat, stab and kill audience members (emphasis mine) right in front of the stage.

"Self-congratulatory children"?  An event where security guards "beat, stab, and kill audience members"?  I can only take that to mean that the Hell's Angels security beat, stabbed, and killed several people during the course of the concert, right?

Well...not really.  At the end of the article Mr. Garvin clarifies the "members" line:

Jagger just went on with his set, and as he broke into Under My Thumb, the Angels stabbed and clubbed a teenager named Meredith Hunter to death.

So, one person (not audience members) was "stabbed and clubbed" to death.

Granted, one person killed in the course of a concert is way, way too many, but in reading up on the event on Wikipedia, I found that Mr. Hunter was attacked after he drew a revolver (his girlfriend noted he was agitated and high before the fatality occurred), and that the Hell's Angels members who killed him were ultimately acquitted of their actions by reason of self-defense.  The video footage showed Mr. Hunter carrying the weapon.

Now, I'm not trying to soft-peddle this.  I've always read that the Altamont experience was bad, the polar opposite of what happened at Woodstock.

However, one must question how Mr. Garvin can view the events at one venue as an "aberration" while perceiving the events at another as being more representative of the truth.

Ultimately, both events happened.  One was "good" and one was "bad".  I think it stretches thing to either beautify or condemn a generation solely on that basis.

Two interesting articles.

The first, features Susanne Klatten, Germany's richest woman (according to the article, she's worth 13.2 Billion dollars.  She owns a chunk of BMW and half of a pharmaceutical giant).  This fabulously wealthy...and married...lady had a lover on the side and together they made a tape of a sexual escapade.  The lover then tried to blackmail her and she admitted her affair and had him arrested.  But other blackmailers came along afterwards, trying (and failing) to do the same thing!

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/08/04/germanys-richest-woman-fights-back-against-sex-video-blackmaile/?icid=main|htmlws-main|dl3|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walletpop.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F08%2F04%2Fgermanys-richest-woman-fights-back-against-sex-video-blackmaile%2F

The second article is even stranger, if true.  A few years ago, Grease star Olivia Newton-John's lover went on a fishing trip, and never returned.  It was thought he fell overboard and died.  Then came other theories, specifically that he faked his death to get away from some serious debts.  There is reason to believe the later might be the case:

http://www.popeater.com/2009/08/10/olivia-newton-johns-ex-found/?icid=main|htmlws-main|dl2|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popeater.com%2F2009%2F08%2F10%2Folivia-newton-johns-ex-found%2F

I know, I know...this is becoming like my Dollhouse posts.  Trust me, it was never my intention to write so much about him!

Yet this story is just too juicy not to pass along:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32313514/ns/entertainment-music/

The key line of this article, to me, follows:

Hours after (Michael Jackson died), the family descended on (his rented) house to claim all its contents, and LaToya (Michael's sister) grabbed the (computer hard) drives, Rolling Stone said, quoting the late singer's manager, Frank DiLeo.

What was on those hard drives?  How about up to 100 or so unreleased Michael Jackson songs!?  Gotta give it to LaToya, great forward thinking.  Of all the family members that were present there (and it's unclear exactly which relatives showed up), she probably got her hands on the potentially most valuable material.

Still, its a distasteful image, the family "descending" on the house, looking to grab everything in sight.

...I hope I die before I get old... (My Generation, The Who)

It's a sad reality: Time marches on.  And on.  People who were once party hard youths who then took to the stage in concerts and displayed incredible levels of energy are becoming, slowly and surely, older individuals who just aren't quite able to pull that act off anymore.

Witness Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, 61, who had an accident in his most recent concert:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/08/06/steven.tyler.hospitalized/index.html

I suppose this could have been "one of those things" that was likely to happen to old or young singers alike.  Regardless, as the years go by it becomes difficult to wrap my mind around the concept of a man his age up on stage singing the types of energetic songs his group is rightly famous for.

It's always intriguing to hear about the discovery of "lost" works by famous names, in this case Mozart.  Based on the article, it appears these compositions were transcribed by Mozart's father as he was playing the works (he was too young at the time to know how to transcribe himself).

One of the more fascinating lines in the article is this one:

"When parents go to a piano recital of an early student, a young student, who's playing for the first time, they get a video tape, they get a DVD, that's a way of recording it," Kimpton said. "I think what's exciting is that Mozart's father wanted to preserve this incredible genius. The young boy at this time didn't know how to write music, but he sure could play it. It's like a family photo or video album."

Despite the technological changes over time, people remain remarkably similar over time.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/08/02/new.mozart/index.html

The sad reality of being an individual who creates (be it music, books, stories, films, etc.) is that if you're not careful, there are literally millions of ways you can lose the rights, and more importantly, the royalties for whatever it is you've done.  Recall the sad fate of Bill Finger, the co-creator and writer of Batman (and the man who came up with much of this famous character's lore), who died poor while Bob Kane, the artist of the strip (and most certainly the character's co-creator), received all the credit and fame for Batman's creation.

Robert Heinlein, certainly a famous enough author in his own rights, created many wonderful science fictional concepts, many of which were "borrowed" and showed up in other works and movies, without Henlein being recognized for his contributions (ever read Heinlein's The Puppet Masters?  Curious about its similarities to Invasion of the Body Snatchers?  Heinlein's book was first published in 1951.  Invasion of the Body Snatchers (the book by Jack Finney) was first serialized in 1954 and the first film version was released in 1956.  By the time The Puppet Masters was made into a feature film in 1994, I recall at least one critic mistakingly feeling this film was a pale "imitation" of Invasion of the Body Snatchers!)

Similar things happen in music, but in this case, organist Matthew Fisher is getting his due (credit and cash):

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/30/procol.harum.royalties/index.html

An interesting article regarding Apple's attempts to boost their ITunes music sales.  Something about a new computer focusing on this, perhaps like the Amazon Kindle?

For those curious:

http://247wallst.com/2009/07/27/apples-aapl-plan-to-pump-up-itune-sales/

In the wake of Michael Jackson's death, a fascinating article focusing on music released posthumously, and whether these releases honor, or desecrate, the original musician's intentions:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31968870/ns/entertainment-music/

I'm of two minds here.  The example of John Lennon songs getting beefed up and "officially" released as Beatles music (in the Anthology collections) seems (to me anyway) coldly calculated to increase interest in the release of those Anthology works.  Nothing can get fans of the Beatles more revved up than to hear that a "new" Beatles song is included.  However, was it really that?  Yes, Lennon had songs in the studio he never completed.  But maybe Lennon viewed the songs as weak and ultimately didn't release them because the didn't think they were worth the bother.

But having said that, and granted that the two songs (Free as a Bird and Real Love) weren't all that great IMHO (even in the beefed up Anthology versions), I'm glad that an effort was made to release them.  Even with a group of powerhouse musicians like the Beatles, not all of their songs, even when they were together, were winners, and I appreciate the effort to allow the public to hear more songs.

Like a moth drawn to a flame, I enjoy these "top-whatever" lists.  In this case, we're presented with five artists that the article's author, Tony Sclafani, feels "ruined" pop music.

And its not because these artists were necessarily "bad" at what they did (Mr. Scalfani considers only one of the four people in this group a weak artist: Paula Abdul), but because they were so good they influenced other, weaker artists to emulate them:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32011060/ns/entertainment-5top/

The first singer mentioned is David Bowie, perhaps my personal favorite (if you've read these posts) musician.  I've long thought that most of the pop music of the late 70's and '80s (much of it the so-called "New Wave") was directly influenced by David Bowie, and it appears that Mr. Sclafani thinks along these same lines.  The problem, as he states:

Sadly, others copped (David Bowie's) affectations without his intelligent approach. For a while in the 1980s, it seemed as if nearly every singer drew more from Bowie’s European theater tradition of singing than the tradition of rock singing itself.

I also found his comments regarding Jim Morrison (another favorite of mine) and Steve Marriott quite intriguing.

It's called Spotify and, as noted in the article below, is only available in England.  It sounds really, really good, and may lead to a decline in illegal downloading of music.

Maybe.

http://www.slate.com/id/2223018/

I've used Pandora Radio (http://www.pandora.com) and found it a fun streaming service.  I'm curious about Spotify.  But, until it shows up in the U.S...

I wrote a bit ago and linked to an article about the possibility that Michael Jackson left behind quite a bit of unreleased music.  (That post can be found here)  This article, a companion to the other linked, offers some more information for those interested:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/16/jackson.music.unreleased/index.html

I'm sure there are many people out there, like me, who are probably more than a little tired of the continuing Michael Jackson media assault.

As I've said a few times before: I was never a big fan of his music.  I'm as shocked as anyone of his death at such a young age (but, given the stories regarding his abuse of prescription drugs, I suppose it was coming).  And, finally, I'm leery about the man behind the music.  Michael Jackson was one strange dude.

However, one aspect that has begun to percolate up into the media is this one: What unreleased songs did Michael Jackson leave behind?  Here's a link to a story about that very issue:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2009-07-08-unreleased-jackson-music_N.htm

Perhaps the most fascinating line in the article, at least to me, was this:

Tommy Mottola, formerly head of Sony Music, Jackson's record company, says the singer accumulated a lot of material that never left the studio. And Queen guitarist Brian May revealed on his website after the superstar's death that he and Freddie Mercury had recorded tracks at Jackson's home.

I enjoyed Queen, and to hear a posthumous duet by them fills me with curiosity.

Also, Tommy Mottola stating that there is "a lot" of material that never left the studio must be intriguing as hell to a Michael Jackson fan.  Is it possible there are songs Mr. Jackson made during the Off the Wall or Thriller era that were never released?  And now, with his death, will they finally see the light of day?

Only time will tell.

While stumbling around various websites, I came across this fascinating article that features five albums by artists (all of whom are very well known) and the albums they don't want out there in circulation, and why...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31715852/ns/entertainment-5top/

The one that really blew my mind was the Velvet Underground album Squeeze.  I'm a fan of the group, and up until the moment I read this article, I didn't even know such an album existed!

The only album I can think of that isn't widely available (except for bootlegs and expensive original LPs) to this day is Buckingham Nicks, the pre-Fleetwood Mac album featuring Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks ("Frozen Love" a song from the album, supposedly got them into Fleetwood Mac.  The rest, as they say, is history).

The following link from Wikipedia offers some interesting information regarding the album.  Note that at least two of the ten songs from that album have been made available.  However, the album itself has yet to be officially released either as a CD or for (legal) download:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckingham_Nicks

New York Representative Peter King offered some very harsh words regarding Michael Jackson:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/06/rep-king-on-jackson-theres-nothing-good-about-this-guy/#more-59260

I imagine he'll be getting major hell for saying the things he did, but I can't help but agree with him...to an extent.  I've said it before: Michael Jackson's music did nothing for me.  It was the essence of "pop" music, not very controversial, pleasant to listen to, and, ultimately to me, not terribly exciting.

To me.

To others, of course, it wasn't just good, it was magnificent.  But even allowing for that, one has to divorce the person from his work.

I've found that many of the people whose work I admire are far from "perfect".  Raymond Chandler was probably my all time favorite writer...I could read his Phillip Marlowe novels over and over and over again, but the reality was that he was a hard drinking, hard to work with man who gave directors Billy Wilder and Alfred Hitchcock headaches when he was called upon to write screenplays.  Similarly, I love the music of the Doors, but, let's face it, singer Jim Morrison was a pretty out of control individual who, had it not been for his extraordinary talent, would probably be out on the streets.

Even David Bowie, my all time favorite musician, has had several unkind words directed his way, primarily regarding what others consider his very big ego.

Michael Jackson's success cannot be ignored, but, I would argue, neither can the weirdness surrounding him.  He was a very, very strange individual who did very, very strange things, and an alarming amount of those strange things involved kids.  Was he a pedophile?  The accusation is devastating, and I honestly don't know if he was as I wasn't there.  However, if the stories I've read about his sleepovers and other activities are truthful, then one can't be blamed for thinking the worst.

I suppose Rep. King is angered by all the glory Jackson is receiving following his death.  But he shouldn't feel all that bad.  After all, that's what tends to happen when a famous person dies.

The good works will live on, but so too will the stories about the person behind the works.

While I'm tired of most of stories regarding Michael Jackson (as I said before, I was never a terribly big fan of his music and, while his death was indeed shocking, it doesn't affect me as much as it does others who, obviously, were very big fans), there remains one area that is intriguing: What will happen with his musical properties, specifically the copyrights to 251 Beatles songs he owns.  This acquisition, done in 1986, estranged Jackson from Paul McCartney, and I recall that shortly before he died Michael Jackson lamented the fall out between them and had planned to will the copyrights back to McCartney (or the remaining Beatles/Beatles surrogates as a whole) in the event of his death.

I'm guessing, based on this article, that this might be one of the things he planned to do but possibly didn't get around to doing...we'll just have to wait and see.  Still, an intriguing question...

http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2009-07-01-jackson-sony-beatles-estate_N.htm

Elijah Wald offers the provocatively titled book, in stores soon, and here we have a little interview with him:

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1906602,00.html

I think its fascinating, but I'm not sure I'm buying parts of his argument.  For example, he notes that The Beatles were the first band to exist off their records entirely:

As late as the 1940s, pop music was what bands played when people went out dancing. The records were just what you listened to at home. The Beatles were the first group to realize that pop had become records, and that they never needed to step on a stage again in their lives. That's a huge shift, and [although] I think it would have happened without them, they were the catalysts.

I'm not sure if that's the way things worked themselves.  If memory serves (and I could be very wrong here, I admit), The Beatles stopped touring because the tours became pointless.  The Beatles were a true phenomena, but why do a concert when your music is drowned out by screaming fans?  I can't help but think the members of the band grew disenchanted with the concerts for that very reason.

Why bother?

Anyway, still an interesting article.

It occurs to me most of the music related postings have focused on older music.  Here's a couple of more recent songs I find enjoyable.  First up is Metric and "Help I'm Alive", followed by Silversun Pickups and their very Smashing Pumpkins-esq "Panic Switch."

Since I just mentioned below the news that The Prisoner is being released to Blu Ray, I figured I'd repost this amusing video by Siouxie and The Banshees.  The song is "The Passenger", a terrific remake of the Iggy Pop/David Bowie tune.

The video features a sly, amusing take on The Prisoner (the closing five or so seconds, in particular, had me laughing):

The world is a cold, sometimes terribly unfair place...and then there are occasions when something precious is rediscovered and finally, finally appreciated:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/arts/music/15rubi.html?_r=1

Too bad that in the interval one of the founding members of the band has passed away.  But at least those who like this music (proto-punk) can now appreciate it.

From ew.com comes this list of what they consider the 21 "most rockin'" documentaries available on video...

You mileage may vary...

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20188745,00.html

I'm surprised by how many I've not seen.  I have Ziggy Stardust on DVD and loved loved loved Stop Making Sense.

EW.com has a pretty fun list of famous, well known songs that are subsequently covered (and, in the readers' opinion) destroyed by other artists:

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20219751,00.html

I have to agree with many of their choices, and my personal least favorite is the Madonna version of "American Pie".  Just baffling.  On the other hand, I enjoyed No Doubt's version of "It's My Life" and Tori Amos' version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit".  The former wasn't all that great of a song to begin with, so I didn't really mind the remake.  As for Amos, I suspect it was dangerous (creatively anyway) to take on such a popular song.  But she did a decent enough job, in my opinion.

Not included in the list is my least favorite remake: David Bowie doing The Rolling Stone's "Let's Spend the Night Together".  Bowie's version is...well...crazy.  I actually like the way the song begins, but by the time it gets to that middle section...ouch.  I suppose its not the worst thing he's ever done (in a career as long as his, there were bound to be ups and downs), but still...

Anyway, I've included it and his cover of The Velvet Underground's "Waiting For the Man", which I think is one of his best covers.  IMHO, of course.

Pretty funny stuff.  Shaun Micallef is an Australian comedian, and at the end of this show, does his impression of Christopher Walken singing David Bowie's Fashion.

The mind boggles....

It seems Walmart doesn't want to carry Green Day's latest album because they refuse to make a "clean" version (ie, one without swear words, I suppose...I haven't heard the album).

Pretty ironic, considering they stock plenty of "R" rated films and don't seem to have any problem selling them.

Sometimes I wonder about big stores and their policy to serve the masses...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/21/green-day-vs-walmart_n_206225.html

As with many artists who've been around a long time, there are plenty of songs David Bowie has recorded that were either abandoned or never formally included on any album.  Some of them eventually bubbled up on "special editions" of his CDs, and these are two of my favorites.

First up, cut out of Diamond Dogs is an alternate version of the song "Candidate".  This is my all time favorite "never formally released on an album" David Bowie song.  I honestly have no clue why this one was left off of Diamond Dogs, although I suppose there is some sexual connotation that might have caused the suits some nervousness.  Regardless, it's a fantastic track.  After that, we get "Velvet Goldmine", a song cut from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, arguably David Bowie's all time best album.  Like "Candidate", I suspect this song was cut because of the strong, very strong sexual innuendo.  Perhaps a little too much for something scheduled for release way back in 1972...

So I head to the mp3 download section of Amazon.com and I'm not too terribly surprised to find that Depeche Mode is listed as the #1 entry of Today's Top 10 MP3 Artists.  Makes perfect sense.  After all, their new album was just released and they are a big band and all...

But what surprised me is that, listed at #7 on this list is David Bowie!

Curious, I press the link but find that there's no new material out from him, yet there he is, way, way up there.  Higher than U2, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, and Flo Rida (with all due respect, is that the silliest rapper name or what?).

Then again, he's below Bob Marley (#3) and...Creedence Clearwater Revival (#5)?

Curious.

If you're new to the idea of purchasing mp3 music downloads from Amazon, then you should check out new releases available through them.  When U2's No Line on the Horizon and Morrissey's Years of Refusal were first made available, downloading the entire mp3 albums was priced at a ridiculously low $3.99.

As of today, you can purchase the new Depeche Mode album, Sounds of the Universe, for the same $3.99.  I don't know how long Amazon maintains this price, so if you're interested, hurry!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_1_4?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=depeche+mode+sounds+of+the+universe&sprefix=depe

Ok, so a little downthread I listed some David Bowie songs that I liked but that weren't among his best known.  Here are some songs from David Bowie's early years that I like and are at least reasonably well known.

Space Oddity - David Bowie's first hit, and for a while it looked like he might be a one hit wonder.  Turned out not to be the case - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhSYbRiYwTY

The Man Who Sold The World - The title track to what is perhaps David Bowie's first "real" album, although it was all but forgotten by the general public (but not me!) until Nirvana covered it.  This is a live version of the song from the Reality tour.  One of my all time favorites - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSnXjE66tvQ

Is There Life on Mars? - My favorite song from Hunky Dory, which others consider David Bowie's first "real" album.  The album also featured "Changes" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueUOTImKp0k

Five Years - From The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, David Bowie's breakthrough album.  Many (including myself) consider his best album from first to last song.  It's hard to pick one great song from that album, but I love love love this one.  Live version - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=louXPUW7tHU

Panic In Detroit - After Ziggy Stardust came Aladdin Sane, and this is my favorite song from that album, which also features its fair share of great tracks - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXxmIcsmpnQ

Rebel Rebel - The Spiders of Mars were gone and David Bowie was in the last days of the Ziggy "look" when he released the excellent album Diamong Dogs.  This is THE biggest song from that album - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa6bI_95G9I&feature=related

Writing about music that has interested me of late gets me in the mind of pointing out David Bowie, perhaps my favorite musician and one who's been around forever (and is still, still releasing some pretty damn good music).

His heyday was the 1970's, with his best selling album being (I believe) the early 1980's Let's Dance.  Many fans don't like it and seem to really not like the three or so albums that immediately followed.  I tend to agree with them.  After Let's Dance Mr. Bowie release Tonight (not bad, but a critic at the time hit the nail on the head by noting the album felt like a weak Let's Dance wannabe) and the ironically titled Never Let Me Down which, despite a couple of good tunes, was the closest to a "bad" Bowie album, IMHO of course.  I was also not terribly impressed with Black Tie White Noise, but afterwards Mr. Bowie seemed to get serious again.

The Tin Machine experiment, at least the first album, to me wasn't as bad as some critics felt it was, although I'd agree the second album was mediocre.  However, starting with The Buddha of Suburbia, Mr. Bowie's individual albums have been quite strong (My favorite of his most recent albums also received critical drubbing: The ambitious 1. Outside.  I consider this one of the best albums released during the 1990's).

Here are six great, but lesser known, David Bowie songs.  Some are actual videos, some are just the songs married to a still image.  As I said, I've picked songs that may not be so well known.

Lady Grinning Soul (from Aladdin Sane, one of David Bowie's best albums) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jlOPW9zesY

Teenage Wildlife (From Scary Monsters and Super Creeps, not David Live) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqVPilhdPXI

Cat People (love the version from the film, also love this version, the one found on Let's Dance) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRbuxshYvtg&feature=related

Loving the Alien (the best song from Tonight, although a rather goofy music video) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkd1uGonwG0&feature=related

Strangers When We Meet (a version of this song first appeared on The Buddha of Suburbia, then on 1. Outside.  This is live and, despite dodgy video, the song sounds quite good) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws3hJ_q-Q-Q&feature=related

New Killer Star (live version, song appeared on Reality, David Bowie's most recent album) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT6zpj7iMsE

Depeche Mode is one of those groups that I always knew about, enjoyed what music I heard of theirs on the radio, but was never curious enough to actually go out there and buy it.

Damn you XM!

Like Siouxie and the Banshees, I'm finding plenty of good stuff, both "new" to me and stuff I had heard before, to like.

Here are some of my favorites:

It's No Good - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne1EOVrdNxA&feature=related

Enjoy the Silence - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p59L5eY51Jw

Personal Jesus - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyJGRCpNsTk&feature=related

and finally, their cover of "Route 66":

Route 66 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqrKxBhKdFM

I've found myself listening to Neko Case's Middle Cyclone quite a bit.  As I said before, I-Tunes identifies the album as country, which certainly was the prominent sound of some of Ms. Case's earlier albums, but I think this album is more "alternative".  Which means its hard to qualify, in my opinion (although I would grant there is a country sound here and there).

All I know is I like it!

Below are some interesting links:

Neko Case - Middle Cyclone EPK - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbjnS_RTj_o

And this video, which isn't really much of a video, but at least you get to hear the feature song from Middle Cyclone: This Tornado Loves You.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoJku72_6HE&feature=related

If you like this song, you should enjoy the album.

A while back I pointed out how U2's first single from No Line In The Horizon sounded suspiciously like an Elvis Costello song from 1978.

Well, there's also been some controversy regarding Joe Satriani and Coldplay.  I think this website effectively points out the various songs that share the melody...But the end result, to me, is rather depressing.

So many variations on a musical theme...is nothing original anymore?!

http://theopenend.com/2009/01/31/coldplay-vs-joe-satriani-who-owns-the-descending-melody/

I'm not a fan of country music, but I really like Neko Case's new album (having said that, I think her music on that album isn't really "country", but that's the category my I-Tunes seems to feel it belongs in).

Anyway, interesting article on her album by Kevin Berger in Salon.com:

Neko Case Is An Animal - http://www.salon.com/ent/music/review/2009/04/07/neko_case/

I'm sorta into the new U2 album, No Line on the Horizon.  The first four-five songs of the album, in particular, are quite good.

The one that has me a little perplexed, however, is their first single release: "Get on Your Boots".  Is it me or does the song borrow (and that's putting it kindly) parts of Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up"?

A comparison from You Tube:

U2's Get on Your Boots http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOwH6IqwRqM

Elvis Costello's Pump It Up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpprOGsLWUo

Of course, I'm not the first person to notice this as someone has posted the Elvis Costello video and noted the similarity to the U2 single.

Bear in mind, I don't think the entirety of the songs are the same.  However, there are sections that are awfully familiar!

Maybe I'm a masochist, but while stumbling around Amazon.com, I hit Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music listing, and I couldn't help but read the reviews.

For those who aren't familiar with the album, let me just say that it's one of a kind (and I don't necessarily mean this in a good way).  However, I urge anyone who wants a good laugh to wade through some of the reviews.  I could probably do so all evening if I didn't have to wake up early tomorrow...

http://www.amazon.com/Metal-Machine-Music-Lou-Reed/dp/B00004VXF2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1237773312&sr=1-1

A trio of more great songs by Siouxie and the Banshees:

Hong Kong Garden
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3vFwPeo0zA&feature=related

A cover of the Beatles "Helter Skelter"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szPQCvJ8MPg&feature=related

Killing Jar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVzJ3maL5JY&feature=related

Oh, and I posted a video to their version of The Passenger.  Here's an alternate version of the video, with a tie in to the classic TV series "The Prisoner" (one of my favorites!)

The Passenger (with Prisoner)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0i6zkXSjlI&feature=related

I heard (don't know if it's true) that when U2 first came to the US to perform, they were the opening act for Siouxie and the Banshees.  Of course, U2 continues while most people seem to (sadly) have forgotten about Siouxie and the Banshees.

A real shame (and, no, I'm not knocking U2...their success is well deserved!).

Anyway, here's a sampling of three of my favorite songs by Siouxie:

Siouxie and the Banshees-Cities in Dust http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hMagNuhLkk&feature=related

Siouxie and the Banshees-Dazzle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94wZxJBbv3g&feature=related

The two above are original compositions.  Below is their cover of the Iggy Pop/David Bowie song "The Passenger".  Great version!

Siouxie and the Banshees-The Passenger http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHs9NBxH7F8&feature=related

Though these are my three favorites, they have many more songs worthy of checking out.

I hate you, XM.

You play music from so long ago...music I had forgot all about.

And now that you've played it, I have to -have to!- buy it.

The latest?

Crash - The Primitives ('95 Mix, from the movie Dumb and Dumber, but there are other versions available) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9P9RU2AcZk&feature=related

One of the joys of having XM or Sirius radio is the because of the vast amount of music channels you inevitably stumble upon songs you haven't heard in years.

My only memory for years of Thomas Dolby was the somewhat goofy 80's hit "She Blinded Me With Science". Then, while listening to 1st Wave on XM, the radio announcer stated that Thomas Dolby was up next.

"She Blinded Me With Science," my wife and I figured.  Instead, "Europa and the Pirate Twins" comes along.  I had completely forgotten about that song.  Next up, I searched Amazon and found that both "She Blinded Me With Science" and "Europa" were both on Dolby's first album, The Golden Age of Wireless.

Even more intriguing was the fact that the album featured a third song I hadn't heard in decades: "One of My Submarines".

Now, thanks to YouTube, the old videos of these songs are readily available.  Click the links to see the video to both "Europa" and "Submarines".  I'll let you find "She Blinded Me With Science" on your own!

Europa and the Pirate Twins:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUbNzxifJTU

One of Our Submarines:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_1au_N_Hfc