19 December 2023 - AleXa - Wonderland

How does a K-Pop star win American Song Contest?

Well, AleXa may live in South Korea now, but she was raised in Oklahoma and is an American citizen.  She was born in Tulsa.  And, when it was announced that a K-Pop star was going to participate in this show, she became the odds-on favorite to win what was essentially American Eurovision.

This was the winning song, and remains her only US chart hit to date, reaching #38 in 2022.  

The song is still a fan favorite, even in her adopted home country of South Korea. The focus is on dance performance here - and it matches what she actually did on the NBC show, and not the video above.

To compare, here is her week 1 performance from the show.  To be clear, this is the song and performance that won the show for her.  And the win was NOT close.  She beat Michael Bolton, y'all!

18 December 2023 - Rolling Quartz - Fearless

K-Rock?  It ain't pop, for sure.

In any language, this is real rock music.  Jayoung is a charismatic lead vocalist with a hell of a stage pressence.  The entire band is full of talented musicians who know how to play.

Watch at the 0:55 point of the video.  It's clear the video director told the band to each individulally give a deep, serious, sultry look to the camera.  Iree - the guitarist, who is a damn virtuoso - is way too happy to be there at 1:00.  It becomes her song at 1:59, when she goes into what is arguably the sickest guitar solo in Korean music history.  

I know there's a tendency to believe that a lot of Korean music is manufactured and built in a studio, with limited reliance on live talent.  Yes, sometimes, that's true.  It is NOT true with Rolling Quartz. Three things of note in this live performance.

1) It's not perfect.  Live performances shouldn't be.

2) Yeonguen's feet are going a mile a minute on those drums.

3) There are actually TWO guitar solos in order.  Rhythm guitarist Hyunjung gets a solo, too - and she's pretty damned solid herself.

15 December 2023 - Heart - Barracuda

One of my best friends in high school was a woman named Heather.  We don't talk as much as we used to (and in fact, I really should check and see how she's doing because it's been a couple of years), but I still think of our friendship.

A lot of it was rooted in music.  Her favorite artist back then was Heart, a group I didn't fully appreciate becuase, well, I first heard them with "What About Love", which wasn't really classic Heart.  Because of her, I know now of older Heart.

This song, which peaked at #11 on the pop charts, was from Heart's 3rd album, Little Queen, and was written by the band.  The song was produced by Mike Flicker, who is best known for his work with Heart.  It also happens to be one of my favorite songs of theirs.  

Heart is still together, a half century after they started - with the Wilson sisters as the only original members. In 2013, the whole band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and played with a band that included other Seattle legends, like Chris Cornell (who gave the induction speech) and Jerry Cantrell.  This was the first time in three decades that the original lineup was all together on one stage.  

14 December 2023 - Madonna - Hollywood

This song is being posted not because it is one of my favorite Madonna songs.

I mean, it is.  Absolutely.  Co-written by Madonna and Mirwais, it is a minimalist masterpiece.  Released in 2003, it was a bigger hit outside of the US than inside - but it was a minor hit here, too.... and a huge club hit.  It was her first single in 20 years to NOT make the Billboard Hot 100, though.

It's not because the video is iconic.

I mean, it is.  Madonna being Madonna all throughout this video makes this an even larger experience.  

It's not because Madonna is a WGP Hall of Famer

She's likely to be our next inductee.  Let's be honest.  

No, no, there's another reason.

Before we get to that reason, let's hear "Hollywood" live.

Oh, wait. Maybe "Hollywood" was part of an infamous VMAs performance in 2003 when Madonna famously kissed both Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera on the mouth.... literally right as they finish the song.  

13 December 2023 - Rita Ora ft. Fatboy Slim - Praising You

Wow, did we have the debate behind the scenes where to put this worldwide hit song.  

There is ABSOLUTELY no doubt that this song leans very heavily on the Fatboy Slim hit "Praise You". The question is, does it cross the threshold of being a cover.

Well, Rita Ora is credited as a songwriter here - and adds a LOT of lyrics.  That's why it's here and not there.  Absolutely, Norman Cook - who we know better as Fatboy Slim - is also listed as a songwriter, because it leans SO heavily on his song.  However, Ora took his creation and made something new and different, that brings a completely different feel and a lot more lyrics.

  

For reasons we don't understand, Ora made two different videos for this song.  We like the first one (directed by her husband, Thor:Ragnarok director Taika Waititi) better (because it pays homage to the "Praise You" video), but the second (directed by Joseph Kahn) is also pretty entertaining.

Lest you think Fatboy Slim isn't on board, here they are together performing THIS song at the Glastonbury Festival.

11 December 2023 - Green Day - Brain Stew/Jaded

I wasn't initially a fan of Green Day.  I'm not really sure why - they don't make bad music.  

And, really, this is the first time in my life that I was aware at the time that this was a band that was made up of people my age - or younger.  That's right.  This hip bastard is an old man now.  

This single - which is really two songs released together - changed that for me somewhat.  It was minimalist ("Brain Stew", anyway), it was well-crafted, and it was catchy.    It was also an alternative radio hit, like most of their singles before this one - in fact, this seems like LESS of a hit than their others.  It wasn't, really - it just seemed that way at the time.  

Anyway, "Brain Stew" remains to this day my favorite Green Day song, and you can't truly appreciate it until you also listen to it with "Jaded".  

You know this is a live favorite.  Just listen to the crowd.   They know the words.  

Green Day is one of those bands that formed in the late 1980s and never, ever broke up.  They're still back in the club they performed at in Berkeley, CA in the late 1980s - still bringing that energy now.

8 December 2023 - MC 900 Ft. Jesus - If I Only Had A Brain

It's hard to believe that this song is nearly 30 years old.   The song came from Mark Griffin's - that's his real name - 3rd album, Looney Toons.One Step Ahead of the Spider.  His first two albums were dark, and this one was bright and cheery.... and self-effacing.   

At any rate, this ended up being the biggest hit of his career.  This charming song about being stupid reached #25 on the Modern Rock charts.  

I will always remember this song from this clip from Beavis and Butthead, where Beavis annoyed the living hell out of Butthead.

MC 900 Ft. Jesus is a classically trained musician, which shines through in this clip from MTV's 120 Minutes.  That is what that is, right?