29 December 2023 - Joywave - Obsession

I lived in Rochester, NY from 1996 until 2022.  In all my years there, I wasn't really someone that listened to the biggest hit band of the last twenty years to hail from the 585, Joywave. I was clearly aware of them, and heard them - but I wouldn't have called myself a fan, per se.  

Then, one day in the summer of 2023, I was pooping in a Target bathroom in State College, PA.  And I heard "Dangerous", which was a song I knew, but hadn't really resonated with me until that moment.  

So, yeah, I am a fan now that I've left Rochester.  

This song is from their third album, Possession, but, like most of the singles from that album, it was released before the album was.  It is one of their biggest alternative radio hits to date.  Recorded entirely at the band's studio in Rochester, I cannot help but feel a little adopted hometown pride.  I find the song to be catchy as well. 

The video is a bunch of fake movie titles and previews, and is cool as hell.   

We really appreciate the band's attention to safety when performing.  This live performance is from Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania.

28 December 2023 - Juliana Hatfield - Universal Heart-Beat

So I was on a bit of a Juliana Hatfield binge last week, as I am wont to do from time to time.

It surprised me that this, one of my favorite Juliana Hatfield songs, was missing from this blog.

Let's remedy that.

From her 3rd album, Only Everything, this was the album that she toured in support of that led to The Story.  Juliana, you were right.  The sound was more agressive and fuzzy than her prior work, both solo and with the Blake Babies - but it was still poppy and accessible.  

Juliana still relentlessly tours and records - because that's how she puts food on her table and supports herself.  

Here she is in support of another recent album (Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John) released, singing this classic.

27 December 2023 - The Ting Tings - Great DJ

It's been a while since we posted The Ting Tings.  

We actually wrote that first line in 2021.  Mostly because, in 2021, it had been a while since we posted the Ting Tings.  In fact, it's now been more than ten years.  And, frankly, every post about the Ting Tings have been about songs from their debut albim, 2008's We Started Nothing.  

Which is a shame, because they're still making music, all these years later.  The duo are a talented pair.

This song, which was a UK minor hit and a US club hit, was written by the band, with Katie White writing that guitar riff you hear throughout (despite not being terribly proficient on the guitar at the time).  It's a simple, sparse song (like a lot of theirs) but also a rich banger.

Anyway, just because we aren't posting about them incessantly doesn't mean we don't still love the Ting Tings.

If you are wondering where some of the synthesized sounds are coming from when there's only two people in the band (even live!), watch Katie's feet during this live performance.

26 December 2023 - The Smithereens - Top of the Pops

From their fourth album, Blow Up, this song was a mainstream and alternative rock hit song.  Written entirely by Pat DiNizio, it's a straight-forward rock song, off what is arguably their most accessible album.  

The video was directed by John Lloyd Miller (who directed several of their videos) and filmed in Atlantic City, NJ.  

We think the best tribute to the band is that they live on, years after Pat DiNizio has passed.  Here is the best underrated rock band on the planet, with Robin Wilson as a guest vocalist, still crushing it more than 30 years later.  

Of course, we miss Pat, and nothing beats their live performances with him, like this one from 1991.

25 December 2023 - Lights - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Why exactly are you reading my blog on Christmas morning?!

Well, since you're here, Merry Christmas!  Here's Lights, one of our #MapleLeafMarch highlights, with her take on a Christmas classic.

And yes, we did say this once before, exactly.  This was part of a double A side with another Christmas song.  

24 December 2023 - Cœur de Pirate, Pierre Lapointe, Garou, Marc Dupré - Noël des enfants / Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

This is starting to become an annual tradition, isn't it? 

I mean, it's Christmas Eve, and here I am with the œ on my clipboard again.  

La Voix is the French Canadian version of The Voice, a singing competition show I'm sure most of you have heard of.  These were the four judges in the 2020 version of the show - right around the beginning of the pandemic.  Do you remember the pandemic?  

(I'm writing this in 2021.   I really hope the pandemic is something we are remembering and not still living) (2023 update: yes)

This song was released in late 2019, ahead of the 2020 season as something of an announcement.  It is, of course, a cover of a John Lennon classic.

22 December 2023 - Olivia Newton-John - Hopelessly Devoted To You

Let's talk about Grease.  An adaptation of a stage musical of the same name, it starred Olvia Newton-John and John Travolta.   The soundtrack was the second biggest selling album of 1978 - second only to the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever.    

By the way, both movies were definitely in theaters at the same time, because I remember going to see Grease in 1979 with my mother and literal one-month old sister and seeing posters for both.

Written by longtime ONJ collaborator John Farrar, this song did not appear in the original stage musical (the movie, to be fair, took several liberties with the source material), but was accepted into the movie immediately.  It ended up being one of Olivia's biggest hits, reaching #3 on the Billboard charts and earning Farrar an Academy Award nomination (he also earned a Golden Globe nom for a different original song for the movie, "You're The One That I Want").

Because it was an Academy Award nominated song, Olivia performed the song at the 1979 Oscar ceremony.  The backing was by the Oscar ceremony orchestra - and, if it's possible, she sang it bigger on that stage.

Olivia performed this song at least through 2017, as it was one of her favorites (mine, too).  Here is one of her last performances (she retired from live performance soon after, and passed in 2022).