You might find this useful: "Christmas Music From Another Room - Relaxing Christmas Ambience with Muffled Christmas Music." I suggest putting it on in the background as you wrap gifts or cook or generally go about your day. I'm loving it.
Obviously this AI, but Radiohead did perform "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" which you can find here. This was part of a livestream before there were livestreams. I was listening live, which is to say, I was in a buffering loop and getting 1 second of video every minute or so.
In considering posting "King Harvest" (the alternate version) for this day, I thought, "Can I really post that video again?" I thought I had reposted it a million times, I felt I had. But a cursory search shows I've somehow never posted it. I don't get it.
It surely deserved to be posted every Fall.
What sets the alternate version apart is the guitar solo. The high note goes up to the line that separates music and noise and possibly crosses it. The puncturing ringing in the ears underscores the feeling of the song: pain, suffering, hopelessness. The playing is on the edge just as the man in the song is on the edge.
Polyphonic guides you through a full history of music videos. I find the research, knowledge and editing to be so impressive.
Above you will find the series from the beginning and going to near the end of the MTV era. It is at that point - the early 2000s - where I personally lose interest. If you're interested in watching the full history/series, you can find that here.
Warren Zevon has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and David Letterman was chosen to be the ... what's the term for this - inductor? He was inducted by David Letterman.
Aside from the fact that this is a great Summer-to-Fall transition song, I just noticed recently that one of the guys in the band is wearing a Penn State shirt. I did some research to try to figure out what the connection is between a British band member and Penn State and I found absolutely nothing.
Last known photo of this guy
Plus, at 2:44, Joe Strummer narrowly avoids getting run over.
On August 29, 1997, Radiohead played "Karma Police" to promote their new album "Ok Computer" - their first appearance on Letterman.
Big deal for me since Radiohead were my favorite band and the "Late Show" was my favorite TV show. That's why it always pained me that Radiohead hated either Letterman or his show, at least that's the impression I got.
Then we move forward to the day of the appearance. At the soundcheck on the Late Show, documented in the film "Meeting People is Easy." Thom tells the sound booth, "Twenty minutes to rehearse spinning a wheel and we don't get five minutes to play the fucking guitar?" Later, offstage he complains, "There [was] a guy on stage giving us shit." What he says after that has never been clear to me and the exact nature of the conflict is not explained to any degree that I can discern.
Fast-forward to 2003 and it's time to promote "Hail to the Thief." Radiohead go on the "Late Show" again to perform "2+2=5." The song ends and no handshake or communication of any kind.
Ah, but let's rewind to just before that... we gain more context by remembering the "Late Show" era we're in. This is during the period where Paul Shaffer is doing his James Brown bit. If you don't know, there was a running bit from 2002-2004 where Paul Shaffer would sing "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" in the style of James Brown, even to the point of falling to his knees, getting covered in a cape, ushered away from the microphone, before throwing off the cape and returning to sing. The bit was made more elaborate by having guest cape operators who were celebrities. The apex of the bit was the time when James Brown himself came out to do the cape. The full song was only for the theater audience (played during commercial) but the TV broadcast would come back in time for the cape part.
So Radiohead are on stage waiting to perform "2+2=5" and are confronted by this bizarre ritual. And it probably didn't help that the cape person that night was CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer. I doubt they know who that is. I don't believe they appreciated the joke. I seem to recall someone saying so in an interview later but I have not been able to find the source so it may be my own hallucination. Nevertheless, I challenge you to look at the expressions and body language of the band and decide for yourself . And, again, after the performance they avoid shaking hands with Dave or even acknowledging him. Significant? Coincidence? Thom's a big Michael Stipe fan, perhaps he's doing an impression.
Apparently someone agreed with my assessment that something was going on and thought to submit a question about it to BBC Radio 1 in an interview a few months later:
Mark: Right, James in South Korea, says: I saw Radiohead perform on David Letterman a few weeks ago, and they seemed a little annoyed by the whole thing, was there a reason?
Thom: (laughs) I'll tell you why, man
Mark: What was going on there?
Thom: I'll tell you
Mark: Well do, yeah
Thom: In order for Mr. Letterman not to break into a sweat, he has the studio at sub-zero temperatures
Mark: Does he?
Thom: Yeah
Ed: Yeah
Thom: So our hands went numb (laughs)
Lard: Ahhhhhh!
Thom: So there you go
So maybe it's that innocent, laughed off as a joke. Radiohead are a very tough band to figure out, it remains a possibility that I may be overthinking everything.
1997 and 2003 are the only two times Radiohead performed on the "Late Show."
But ever since 1997 (or 1998), when I discovered the Hammerstein ballroom quote, I've been wondering "why the hatred?" One might look at "Meeting People is Easy" and just assume they hated the show because they had a bad experience there. But the key here is Thom was complaining about having to go on the show before he was ever on the show. Another possibility, then, it may be just a matter of: they hated doing television appearances in general and Letterman just happened to be in the way. I'm certainly open to that possibility, they probably don't like TV. But then, they've also done Conan's show, Leno, Jool's Holland, Stephen Colbert and "Saturday Night Live" and I've never heard them complain about those, show disdain or avoiding shaking hands with the host. In fact, on Leno and SNL, they seemed delighted.
Reddit had a thought that could connect the dots. In a thread speculating on who the song "Talk Show Host" was based on, a redditor points out that Radiohead were big fans of "comedian" Bill Hicks, even dedicating their second album to him and Bill Hicks was famously censored in his last "Late Show" performance before dying of cancer in 1994. If this is the cause, it would completely explain why they hated Letterman and resented having to do the show sight unseen. I personally don't think it's likely. Remember: this is in the days where the different sides of the Atlantic had completely separate spheres of entertainment and the internet was still very nascent. I doubt they even knew who Letterman was, let alone knowing about the behind-the-scenes censorship controversy. [Footnote: years later, Letterman would air the performance in full and apologize to Hicks' mother.]
Another possibility: it may be a matter of timing; the band was in a bad place at this point and things were only getting worse. According to Yorke in a Rolling Stone interview, the band's all-time low point would come only two months after their 1997 appearance. Bad timing, bad mood... maybe.
But that's the history of my favorite band "feuding" (perhaps) with my favorite talk show host. It's always bothered me and the "feud" is made all the more irksome because it seemed to arise without a cause. My best guess is that their disdain for doing the show was a combination of being a famously temperamental band, resenting having to do TV appearances and the particular timing of August 1997. But that's only a best guess, and not very satisfying.
This performance, officially released today by the Pinkpop channel, is from 1996. From this time, it would be another 21 years before this song would be officially released. But the official release would be a disappointment, in my opinion, because the studio version can't compare to this one perfect live version from 1996.
Of course, I wasn't a fan of any of the long-awaited releases ("I Promise", "Man of War") so maybe it's just me.
In 1990 Bobby Brooks, a talent agent, died in a helicopter crash along with Stevie Ray Vaughan. To honor him, MCA Records released a Nintendo-themed CD ("White Knuckle Scorin'") that included a whole host of songs and artists that had absolutely nothing to do with Nintendo or video games in general.
The first song, "Ignorance is Bliss" by Jellyfish is the only Nintendo-related track. It's set within the Super Mario World... world. Sung by Bowser, he tells the kids not to read. It's a clever case of that reverse psychology - the kids ARE encouraged to read, you see! I'm not sure how successful that was, considering that the kids are already into video games - that's time not spend reading - and all the time spent listening to a song on a CD is just more time not spent reading. So...
From there on, not only does it have no connection to Nintendo games, check out the hot artists that the kids love: Crosby, Stills and Nash; Dire Straits; Roy Orbison; Britny Fox; Sheena Easton among others.
The Roy Orbison track deserves a drill-down. "I Drove All Night" is a previously unreleased track and was also released posthumously, as Orbison had died in 1988. Releasing his music on Nintendo CDs is probably what he would have wanted, I guess. The music video features black and white footage of Jason Priestly making out with Jennifer Connelly, which makes it all-time peak 1991, as far as I'm concerned. The video also features old footage of Orbison and "subtle background references to the Mario series and the album's title" according to Wikipedia.
But does it contain subtle references? I see a sign that says "Princess" and a sign flashes on screen that says "White Knuckle Scorin.'" It's up there for about a tenth of a second, so I guess the claim is technically true. I guess. There's also a "Dino Dogs" sign that could be construed as referring to Yoshi. Seems pointless.
Having listened to the full album (time I could have spent reading, by the way), it just makes no sense. The artists are pretty stellar, the songs are generally good, it's just they don't belong together and the fact that they're released within a Nintendo context is just crazy.
Hey, I have an idea how you could make a CD with a collection of unrelated pop artists which would have a Nintendo/Mario connection AND it just so happens that my plan ALSO involves Roy Orbison.
As you probably remember, almost all of the Koopalings in Super Mario Bros 3 (and Super Mario World), were named and styled after some musician:
So there's your lineup. You've got your album right there. You're coming straight outta the gate with U2, then on to The Plasmatics, then some Iggy Pop, then Roy Orbison, then Motorhead and finally Beethoven. Then, since Bowser is the final boss, you can tack on the "Ignorance is Bliss" track. Going out on a bang. That's your absolutely absurd collection of bands/artists all on one compact disc that has the Nintendo label on the front. Sure, it'll appeal to no one but at least this one has a tenuous connection to Nintendo.
Strange times. "Psycho Killer" was a song by the Talking Heads released in 1977. The official music video was just released today.
I'm a big Talking Heads fan and a big fan of "Psycho Killer." In the abstract, I'm not opposed to making a modern music video for it - I don't see the point, really, but not opposed. But I don't get this. The contrast in era between the music and video is too great, it's jarring. I think maybe it could be helped if you go for a 70s aesthetic, but I don't know. Certainly a better concept/story is called for, for such a classic song.
Does the vaporwave version improve upon Robbie Robb's "In Time?" Well, I think it's a lateral move but it's pretty cool and you can decide for yourself.
I don't have any real opinions on Jamiroquai one way or the other but it's a nice trip back to the late 90's.
Oh, I do have one opinion, actually. It's amazing to me how all the elements of this video came together perfectly. You don't just have the concept but the "slipperiness" of the floor is combined with a great dancer who can make it amazing. And they didn't just combine the concept and the dancing and say "we'll improvise" - this is meticulously planned and choreographed. And how are we going to hide the edits? It's just in time for early CGI. Everything just comes together perfectly to make a hit video.
