30 August 2022 - Cœur De Pirate - Off To Sleep

"So, it's been almost two weeks since we posted anything about Cœur de Pirate here.  Aren't we due?"

"Are you talking about that Arkells song with the iZombie chick and her sister?"

"We get it.  You watched iZombie.  Can we move on, please?"

"(sigh) Fine.  No, we're not due.  What else could you possibly post about that French lady?"

"She's French Canadian.  And she owns her own record label, so perhaps French-Canadian businesswoman would be more appropriate?"

"Wow.  I didn't know that!"

"How could you not know that?  Do you not read my blog?"

"My computer doesn't know what to do with the weird o-e thing and just drops it.  So the links just say Pirate Stray Dog or something."

"(facepalm) OK, well, she did a video game soundtrack.  The song you hear when you finish the game is really beautiful and quite possibly the most epic video game song ever written."

"What game was it?"

"Child of Light. By Ubisoft.  Critics loved it and it's been released for just about every major gaming platform."

"Wait - that's an old game and it's all childhood stories."

"I mean... 2014, but it's still being released for new platforms."

"OK, that's cool.  I suppose you're going to want to say something about the soundtrack and how Béatrice Martin wrote the whole soundtrack, not just for piano, but for symphony, and worked with the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra to record a good portion of these tracks?"

"Um... yeah.  That's pretty much exactly what I was going to say."

"You know, I do pay attention.  Just don't post the whole album like you did with that other instrumental album she did."   

"How about I just post that finishing song?  Maybe a live version?"

"OK, that works."

29 August 2022 - Dua Lipa - Levitating

The old people reading this are wondering who Dua Lipa is.  So, let's set that up.  

Dua Lipa started her professional life as an alt-pop artist a la Charli XCX.  Somewhere along the way, she dropped the 'alt".  

There.  You know enough.

"Levitating" was a worldwide hit in 2021, peaking at #2 in the US and topping the charts elsewhere.  Despite peaking at #2, it spent a LONG time at #2 - long enough to end up being the year end #1 single, according to Billboard - onyl the fourth song to ever accomplish that and the first in two decades.   

It's also a damn catchy song, and a great disco throwback.  It was time.  This is version #3 of the song, a remix featuring DaBaby.

The first (original) and second (a remix by Missy Elliott and Madonna) were released on the same day, and they each got different official videos (as did that third version with DaBaby). Here is that original:

 

....and here is the Blessed Madonna remix. Yes, that's Missy Elliott in the video as well.  

26 August 2022 - that dog - He's Kissing Christian

For me, this song about a woman in love with a gay man was my first introduction to the Hayden Triplets.  

Even though the Haydens are widely associated with that dog, this song, as well as every other one from their 2nd album, Totally Crushed Out (which is amazing), was written by Anna Waronker, lead vocalist and frequent Beck backing band member.  

Why this band isn't as big as Weezer is a question that is often asked.  And I agree.  They should be.

that dog is a band that is still together.  Here they are, performing this song in 2019.

23 August 2022 - Hoodoo Gurus - Bittersweet

Hoodoo Gurus were one of my favorite bands growing up.  They never got super well-known in the States, but in their native Australia, this song, written by vocalist Dave Faulkner, was a Top 20 hit.

The travesty about this video is that it only has 157 views on YouTube as I write this.  I'm hoping to at least triple that and get this classic band some attention!

The great thing about this band is that they're still performing.  Here they are in 2008, playing for a crowd that knows all the words.

22 August 2022 - Tones and I - Dance Monkey

Sometimes, a song so absolutely ridiculous comes that captures the entire world.  That's not a negative - those songs are usually remembered fondly.

This is not a post about a song like that. 

Take "Dance Monkey", the 2019 single by Austrailian singer Toni Watson, who goes by the stage name Tones and I.  This song hit #1 in over 30 counties, and was a top 5 hit in the US - despite being called "Dance Monkey" and having what one could say were absurd lyrics.  The reality of the lyrics is that the inspiration came from Watson's time as a street dancer - where she would literally have to dance for money.  So, the absurity is actually rooted in reality.

And here I am, talking about it three years later, because it's a darned catchy song.  

I have to be honest - I thought this was going to be a quick little post with a viral video, given the song's short but strong chart showing.  

But no.  Tones and I absolutely performs this live.  And it's kind of spectacular.

It's also a song that predates its fame.  This performance is from four months before the single's release - before the record deal, before the hugeness, before everythung.

17 August 2022 - Aly & AJ - Potential Breakup Song

"So, I guess you're gonna want to post another song with that funny o-e combo woman today?  I mean, gotta keep a streak going or something?"

"Nah, But you make a point.  I should tie yesterday into today.  Didn't Aly & AJ have some huge autotuned hit breakup song a few years back?"

"Oh, that's right! They did!  Acutally, now that you mention it, they kinda disappeared after that."

"Well, as we said yesterday, iZombie and all that."  

"You know AJ is on The Goldbergs, right?"

"Oh, really?"

"Sorry that didn't fit into your Aly fetish, but yeah, AJ Michalka is at least as accomplished an actress as her sister."

"To be fair, I didn't mention Hellcats. They both appeared on there."

"That really wouldn't have helped your case."

"Can we PLEASE get back to the music."

"Sure, I guess so."

"I need to write something actually pertaining to this song."

"I suppose you're gonna want to say something technical about the song, like how their other stuff was actually guitar-based rock and this was synth-filled Radio Disney-targeted pop stuff, right?"

"Yeah, that sounds like me."

"Hey, I know you love posting live stuff in a second video.  Might I make a recommendation?"

"Sure, fire away."

"I seem to recall that Aly & AJ rerecorded the song with dirty words on some live performance on New Year's Eve in 2020.  That would be cool, right?"

"Actually, yes.  That would be cool."

16 August 2022 - Arkells ft. Cœur de Pirate & Aly & AJ - Dance With You

"Hey, WGP has been on kind of a long hiatus.   Don't you think it's time for a new post?"

"OK, but we've got to do something different and unusual that we don't usually post."

"Well, Arkells did a collaboration with Peyton from iZombie and her sister."

"Oh, I remember her from that Disney show - Phil of the Future, maybe?"

"Yeah, that's her!!!"

"Well, this sounds different.  There's nothing we typically post there!  Is there anything else I need to know about this?"

"Yeah, one of the verses is in French!"

"Wait, are you sure Cœur de Pirate isn't involved?"

"Oh, yeah, I think I saw that funny o-e thing in the title!  Who are they?"

"Not a "they" - a she, and we've posted about her once or twice."

"Well, the song still slaps!"

"Yeah, yeah it does.  OK, we'll do it."