11 September 2013 - Tasmin Archer - Sleeping Satellite

You were thisclose to forgetting this song, right?

Not to worry - this #1 UK single - top 40 in the US - wasn't forgotten by us.  It's a simple song - starts with a jangly guitar, builds with drums, keyboards and Fairlight - with strong references to the moon landing.  The titular satellite, in fact, is the Moon.

So, remember.  And enjoy.

10 August 2013 - Sheryl Crow - All I Wanna Do

Sheryl Crow's eighth album Feels Like Home came out today. I'm looking forward to playing it on a long sunny walk this afternoon that will no doubt end up with me visiting my favorite tavern for what I like to call "Office Hours." (*I've since listened to it, and it's up there with her finest albums).

But let's go back to where it all began. The first time I heard her remarkable debut Tuesday Night Music Club I became an instant fan. It's such a perfect summer album that I still play often. I finally got to see her perform about five or six years ago and it was a blast singing along to all of her hits. Well, I'm happy to say I'm going to see Sheryl again next month as I just got tickets to see her in Baltimore for WPOC's annual Girls With Guitars benefit show along with Jennifer Nettles, Kellie Pickler and Cassadee Pope. I'm thinking there's a pretty good chance that Sheryl will play this classic.

 

You can see the first video from Feels Like Home right here.

9 September 2013 - The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name

Katie.  Her name is Katie.

And this song by 2 people is a lot of fun.  I love two piece bands, and maybe the Ting Tings most of all.  They keep the energy high, the beat strong, and the names unknown.  In fact, even though there is a little musical accompaniment, the song is mostly bass drum and vocal, with Katie harmonizing with herself at points.

6 September 2013 - Ashlee Simpson - L.O.V.E.

It's been a good week.  You've been very good to this blog.  You've earned yourself some Ashlee Simpson.

You know, for someone who lived in the shadow of her supposedly prettier (whatever), more talented (not true), bigger hitmaker (who actually had exactly as many top 10 hits as her), reality show (who had exactly as many MTV reality shows as her sister (we aren't counting Fashion Star)) acting superstar (Big deal. Jessica did "The Dukes of Hazzard" terrible piece of crap movie. Ashlee was on "Melrose Place" and "7th Heaven"!), we think Ashlee's done pretty well for herself.   Besides, we aren't putting any Jessica Simpson on here..... yet.

So let's listen to the slightly funky Gwen Stefani influence in this song, a minor hit in 2005, and celebrate the great talent that is Ashlee Simpson.



Trust me.  This isn't the last time we're featuring Ms. Simpson on here.

5 September 2013 - 808 State (featuring Bjork) - Oops

Believe it or not I used to actually like electronic music in the 90s and Manchester's 808 State were one of my favorites. I saw them live twice when they toured for their fourth album Gorgeous in 1993 (one show they opened for New Order and the other they opened for Meat Beat Manifesto). Sadly, I never saw them play my favorite song Oops, which featured vocals by Bjork, but I'm equally relieved that bands back in the day had the sense not to play a tacky video of the not present vocalist which is all the rage these days . . . well that and holograms. OK, maybe a Bjork hologram would be cool. Or not. I really don't know. Just watch the video.

4 September 2013 - Nu Shooz - I Can't Wait

This remix was a hit for one hit wonders Nu Shooz in 1986, and a boon for Casio keyboards everywhere.

And now the song is stuck in your head, too.  You're welcome.

Seriously, this is a song that has always made me smile, and I hope it does the same for you.


Did you know that Nu Shooz were actually a husband and wife team?  And that they're still together? Here they are, performing the song live, and still sounding great and happy and upbeat.

3 September 2013 - One Direction - Best Song Ever

The 2013 VMA Award Winner for Song of the Summer.  And this angered a lot of people.  I don't understand why.  And so, I am going to embark upon my defense of One Direction.

When I was a kid, we had boy bands.  Specifically, we had a singing group named New Kids on The Block.  Those five kids from Boston made boy bands a little cool.  The next generation of kids had N*Sync and the Backstreet Boys and 98 Degrees and Take That and a whole bunch of boy bands that will probably all be featured on this blog sometime.

These boy bands all had two things in common.  First of all, they were made up of a bunch of mates who harmonized well together, VOCALLY, but were primarily vocal groups.  Second, they sang nice, quiet, sanitized pop songs, with little variation.

These five guys who just barely beat Cher Lloyd on X Factor (she came in 4th, they came in 3rd) have become a huge worldwide sensation, for real.  But they did it a little differently than boy bands that came before.  There's a pop sensibility -sure - but these guys clearly have a stronger rock influence than the boy bands that came before them. I'm not saying they're AC/DC here, but there is more of an edge than we've seen before.

More to the point, though - these guys are five very powerful vocalists who advanced on X Factor as soloists in their own right.  And some of them even played and play instruments.  They aren't just a vocal group.  They've got musical talent.

I mean, there's no doubt they were a little manufactured by Simon Cowell.  But they've grown much better than that.



And if you doubt my claim on them playing instruments.... well, here they are, some of them with instruments.  That they are actually playing.


Now that you've seen this, go over to Totally Covered and check out a cover by these guys.