Today is Election Day in the United States. Suzanne Vega's song from the Pretty in Pink soundtrack perfectly reflects a widely held political philosophy not held by either of the two major parties.
Seriously, this was one of Suzanne Vega's first hits, reaching charts overseas but not in the US. The piano in the background is brought to you courtesy of Joe Jackson.
Every day, it gets harder and harder to come up with new material for this blog.
Thank God we have a lot of pop culture to digest. Take the Season 9 episode of the popular NBC sitcom The Office - titled "The Farm" - where the Schrute family siblings inherit a farm. In one poignant scene, they perform a song together as a family.
So that got me thinking - is this some sort of traditional folk song I should know?
It was not. It was the 2006 song "Sons and Daughters" by The Decembrists, closing their fourth album, The Crane Wife. It is a live favorite. Which really shouldn't be a surprise - it's a beautiful song and it was on The Office.
The song may not have been a traditional folk song, but it sure as hell is now. The Decembrists are still bringing folk music to new and great places, and, all these years later, the Portand, Oregon band is still blazing new trails.
That doesn't mean audiences don't want to hear this song, though.....
fIREHOSE, which grew out of the ashes of The Minutemen after d.boon's tragic death, was never a huge band commercially, but they made a lot of great music. This song, from their 3rd album fROMOHIO, was recorded in Ohio, which is where vocalist/guitarist Ed Crawford is from (the rest of the band is famously from San Pedro, California).
The song is something of a love song - a simple, sweet love song. You don't expect that out of fIREHOSE, who are usually all about the boom stick, but here we are.
The band, which helped to bust Mike Watt out a deep depression over the death of his best friend, never really broke up - they just went into mothballs at times while everyone was doing other stuff. In 2012, they toured and of course played this song.
Ed Crawford still looks like he's living his dream.
It's a little known fact that I have a lot of draft posts already written. However, I have many MORE that are completely unwritten except for a video. There exist a subset of those posts that have a date attached to them.
This one was in that subset. It had "2024" attached to it. It was slated for next March.
And I've been staring at this post, at the top of my draft queue, thinking about busting it out early.
Over the past two weeks, I have gotten repeated notifications that Flower Face - real name Ruby McKinnon - is recording the followup to her brilliant 2022 album The Shark In Your Water - released on Nettwork Records, her first experience with a record label
This song, which reminds me slightly of my old Magnus Chord Organ, is beautiful and melancholy and deeply layered. This song, which came out of a long writer's block and a depressed period for the singer/songwriter, makes me think of Mazzy Star, or even a little bit of a Cocteau Twins influence. It's haunting, and fitting for today..
Also, the sharp tone shift at about 1:36 will wake you up.
The Shark In Your Water has made me a pretty big fan of what Flower Face is doing in music, and I find myself listening to her music a lot lately. This is why I uncorked this one for post #1500. It took me more than eight years to get to 1000. It took me a little over two to get to 1500 - and I wanted to feature a great artist I had discovered in that time frame.
So, I guess I need a new Flower Face post for next March.
Anyway, here she is, performing the song live. You can see the emotion she brings to the song a lot more clearly here on her face, even as you hear it in her voice.
Released in 1997, Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean, ex of the Fugees, crafted a laid-back top 10 hit for himself.
More impressive is the video, which features a cameo from Destiny's Child (who provide backing vocals). The best part? Bob Dylan showing up at the very moment he's mentioned in the lyrics - at about 2:27 of the video.
Of course, it being so laid-back and mellow, the song sounds great live and stripped down, with just Wyclef singing and playing guitar like Bob Dylan.
If you know me, you know how much I love Halloween.
Not in the slightest.
But I do love Cliff Richard, and this song, one of his biggest hits - and absolutely his biggest US hit - was a top 10 hit all over the world. It sold two million copies worldwide, which was a staggering amount even when album and single sales mattered.
The song is quite literally about a guy bewitched by a cat who goes to a medium - who, as it turns out, was the devil woman responsible for the bewitching in the first place. There's no metaphor here. It tells a story.
You might have, but more likely, you have danced to it at a wedding at some point.
Wikipedia says it best. "As a line dance song, "Cha-Cha Slide" is often played at dance clubs, school dances, prom nights, birthday parties, ice-skating rinks and roller rinks, B’nai mitzvahs, Quinceañeras, weddings, and sporting events....."
Let's face it. It's a song with a group dance you don't need to think about much. Mr. C tells you what to do. Slide to the left. Slide to the right. Everybody, clap your hands. Even your Aunt Tillie can do that one.
The song ended up being a legitimate chart hit in the early 2000s, all around the world. It is, however, better known for making your grandma cha cha at your cousin's wedding.
Sometimes, this song is billed to DJ Casper, and sometimes to Mr. C The Slide Man. It's the same guy. Either way, he passed away earlier this year, but his big hit lives on.
It's such an enduring cultural phenomenon, it was featured on Orange Is The New Black. Don't worry - Mr. C was there and he was safe.
