Patricia - Mes Reves De Satin

In other words, there is a cover of The Moody Blues' song "Nights in White Satin" sung by a woman in the French language. I found it interesting.

Michael McDonald on Soul Train

For no particular reason, other than that this popped up on my feed and it's smooth, here's Michael McDonald playing "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)" on Soul Train.

My impression of Soul Train is that the "performances" were lip-syncs, which would make this post mostly pointless. I think this is the record track, but I'm not totally sure. I got nothin'.

Born Under Punches in the Grocery Store

I'm at the grocery store and they have the store music playing on the loudspeaker - it's not a local radio station, it's clearly just in the store -  and "Born Under Punches" by Talking Heads comes on. I recognize it immediately and I'm somewhat befuddled - is "Born Under Punches" grocery store music?

I'm not complaining - I love the song, I love the album, it was a big influence for Radiohead making "Kid A" - but it just seems like the opposite of the kind of music you'd play at a grocery store.

Decide for yourself above.

Don't you miss it, don't you miss it! Some of you people just about missed it.

Radiohead - Worrywort

To me, "Worrywort" belongs in Spring, right when things are really starting to get warm.

An Album for Plants

It's a tale as old as time. In the mid-70's, a man with access to a Moog synthesizer made an album for plants and didn't actually sell it, but rather gave it away with the purchase of plants. But then 40 years later it was rediscovered and released for sale. The above video tells that story, the story of Plantasia.

Here's the link to the album on youtube.

And, man, don't sleep on "Swingin' Spathiphyllums," it's a trip.

A History of A Day in the Life

A youtuber, David Hartley, tells the tale of how The Beatles' "A Day in the Life" came to be.

You can see more footage of the night of the orchestral recording in the official music video:

Mick Jagger was there but that's not as interesting as the fact that Mike Nesmith was too (2:34, 3:33). The Monkees were a huge influence on The Beatles.

One thing I've heard that isn't covered is that at the end of the song, while the piano is vibrating, you can hear the air conditioning of the Abbey Road Studios kick in. But that may be a myth, I don't know.

The Hu - This is the Mongol

I was quite sure that I posted this in 2020 and I was quite sure that the video was taken down and that the link on my blog needed to be corrected, once a substitute was found. So here is the substitute, even though I now see no evidence that I ever posted it in the first place. Having memories of false posts is an annoying problem.

This is The Hu, a Mongolian metal band who are no longer new but put your mind back to 2020 and they were pretty new. The mixture of Mongolian throat singing with metal rhythms, plus the utilization of the Morin Khuur (horsehead fiddle) within a rock context is, if nothing else, extremely unique, you have to admit. What a tremendous and unexpected East-meets-West mash-up.

Of the songs of theirs that I've heard this is the only one that really hit me hard. It rocks.

Now let's all agree this post is real and definitely exists now.

One Armed Drummer Plays Tom Sawyer

Like the drummer from Def Leppard's only got one arm.

The drummer from Def Leppard's only got one arm!

The drummer from Def Leppard's only got one arm!

The drummer from Def Leppard's only got one arm!

The drummer from Def Leppard's only got one arm!

Polyphonic - When Artists Don't Write Their Own Songs

 

An artist that performs songs written by others is just as talented as an artist that writes their own songs.

This is an impossible argument. It is an argument that I would never agree to. There is no way that Beyonce is on the same artistic level as Billy Joel.

And yet, Polyphonic probably makes as good an argument in the affirmative as anyone can make. It's  actually impressive... and certainly worth considering.

The Shoji Tabuchi Christmas Rap

From the description: "Rap may have been born in the Bronx but it was perfected in Branson."

A few notes. I believe the backing melody is "Humpin' Around." That's Christmasey.

Secondly, the shaking dance at 1:25 seems to be a reference to Dane Parker, a break dancer who appeared in the "Beat It" music video. See Andy Richter Spends a Day with Dane Parker.

An Incomplete History of the Concert Film

Another great one from Polyphonic if you're into the topic.

My review of "Woodstock". 

My review of "The Last Waltz".

I should have made a review of "Stop Making Sense" by now.

Christmas Music From Another Room

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.

The Charismatic Voice - Don't Let Me Down

 

"Don't Let Me Down" has the peculiar property that I feel I could listen to it on loop forever and not get tired of it.

Radiohead Sings Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Yeah, I don't know.

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.

The Band - King Harvest (Has Surely Come)

 

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.

The History of Music Videos

 

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. 

David Letterman Inducting Warren Zevon at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

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.

You know we're all familiar with the Foo Fighters playing "Everlong" for the last episode of the Late Show. This was certainly appropriate. When Dave came back from heart surgery, he introduced them as "My favorite band playing my favorite song." But I've always been inclined to think that if Warren Zevon had lived, he would have been in that spot.

Dave Meets the Professor of Rock

 

I didn't have this on my Bingo Card. Dave talks to the Professor of Rock, of Youtube fame.

Nothing crazy important here, just a fun, casual discussion about Rock and Motown and popular music, generally.

I think this is mainly a test of Youtube's collaboration feature where two people can do a show and the show will be added to both of their feeds.

To learn more about the Bob Dylan performance they mention, see this.

Meanwhile I'm SURE I have a post about the Future Islands performance but can't find it. The performance is here.

Barry White Performing with Luciano Pavarotti

Barry White performs "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" with Luciano Pavarotti.

While it's not the worst thing ever (it's not the Christmas version of "The Macarena") it's still... it doesn't work; it's bizarre.

Radiohead on Conan 1995

The official Conan channel posted this today. Radiohead play "Fake Plastic Trees" promoting their new album The Bends, 6/12/95.

Another data point where they seem perfectly happy to be there and are friendly to the host.