Ted Nugent

Bartonella henselae is a proteobacterium that can cause bacteremia, endocarditis, bacillary angiomatosis, and peliosis hepatis. It is also the causative agent of cat-scratch disease (Bartonellosis) which, as the name suggests, occurs after a cat bite or scratch. The disease is characterized by lymphadenopathy (swelling of the lymph nodes) and fever.

Styx

The River Styx (Greek: Στύξ, Stux, also meaning "hate" and "detestation") was a river in Greek mythology which formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld, Hades. It circles the Underworld nine times. The rivers Styx, Phlegethon, Acheron, and Cocytus all converge at the center of the underworld on a great marsh. If happen to have a few cents when you visit, you could even get a ride from Charon The ferryman.

Styx is also a band from Chicago.

Thumbs up!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styx_%28band%29

Ram Jam

If you didn't look like a pedophile in the 70s, you weren't cool.

Queen

Freddie Mercury was a vocal legend during his time. His voice is said to have covered a four-octave range. According to Wikipedia, the "four or five-octave range" voice claim is a technically a misnomer. I've since edited this statement and flagged it is band geek nonsense. A much better word for Freedie's vocal range is "prepubescent."

PHISH

From 2004 to 2009 PHISH was broken up. It was the only time in my life when I had the free time and was old enough to go to their shows. I did however manage to get to one of their "last" shows while I was in high school and it was amazing. If you haven't been to a phish show or at least smelled a hippie you don't know what you are missing. Going to a phish concert is like going to a all you can eat/ free love fest/ day long tail gate / pre game for an even bigger party. Aside from the rank smell of petrulli oil and a few "college know-it-all" hippies, it was by far one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life. I highly recommend you find your way to a show.

Offspring

If this song doesn't remind you of sitting in your parents basement and playing Magic The Gather on a Saturday night, then you were probably not very cool in high school...

Two weeks till finals...

Dear reader,
I know how much you enjoy reading about musicians and their drug addictions but its time for me to take a short hiatus so I can cram from my pathology final. If you get bored you can always revisit some of the older videos, play balloon monkey, surf the Grilled Cheese Academy, or perfect a new dish.  If you really miss my blatant plagiarism of wikipedia, you could even visit the site directly and read about your favorite artists.  
Sincerly,
Jimmy

N.W.A.

The original lineup consisted of Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, Arabian Prince, Ice Cube, and MC Ren. Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and MC Ren would all become platinum-selling stars as solo artists.

Dr. Dre and DJ Yella composed the beats for each song, with Dre making occasional rapping appearances. Ice Cube and MC Ren wrote most of the group's lyrics, including "Fuck tha Police," perhaps the group's most notorious song, which brought them into conflict with various law enforcement agencies.

Under pressure from Focus on the Family, Milt Ahlerich, an assistant director of the FBI, sent a letter to Ruthless Records and its distributing company Priority Records, advising the rappers that "advocating violence and assault is wrong and we in the law enforcement community take exception to such action." This letter can still be seen at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Policemen refused to provide security for the group's concerts, hurting their plans to tour. Nonetheless, the FBI's letter only served to draw more publicity to the group.

Straight Outta Compton was also one of the first albums to adhere to the new Parental Advisory label scheme, then still in its early stages: the label at the time consisted of "WARNING: Moderate impact coarse language and/or themes" only. However, the taboo nature of N.W.A's music was the most important factor of its mass appeal. Media coverage compensated for N.W.A's lack of airplay and their album eventually went double platinum.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.W.A

Mighty Mighty Bosstones

The third wave of ska came over my middle school like The Great Wave off Kanagawa destroying everything in its path. There was little left but my friends, our skateboards, and 10,000 Magic the Gathering cards. Riding the wave (among others) was The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

For those of you who managed to escape the third wave you are probably unfamiliar with what a bosstone is. A bosstone, or more specifically Ben the Bosstone was a band member who did not have a instrument, nor did he sing or play a body orifice in a music manor. He just danced on stage the whole time.

L is for Lonely Island

The Lonely Island is an American comedy troupe composed of Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, and Andy Samberg, best known for its musical parodies. The group is from Berkeley, CA, and is currently based in New York City. The group began creating live comedy skits in junior high school and continued to do so, expanding its repertoire to comedic shorts, music parody (both songs and videos), and one full-length television pilot, before coming to the attention of Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live (SNL). Once on the show, they wrote "Lazy Sunday," a better-produced music parody video much like the group's previous work. It became an instant internet success, and led to the creation of similar digital shorts that also aired on Saturday Night Live. The Emmy-winning "Dick in a Box", "Jizz in My Pants", "Like a Boss" and the Grammy-nominated "I'm on a Boat" have subsequently had huge success both on the show and on the internet and prompted the recording and release of an album, Incredibad, in which the group moves in a more musical direction.

In August 2007, the group premiered its first feature film, Hot Rod.

Kansas

The band Kansas started humbly in a city known best for its rock and roll, loose women, and out of control parties, Topeka Kansas.

Kansas became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Dust in the Wind". With an origin as wild and untamed as a bowl of mild farina it only made sense for the young rockers to take a step back and all become born again Christians. After their brief forte as rock entrepreneurs they settled in to a long uneventful career as classic rock legends. They continue to tour North America and Europe today as a nostalgic reminder of what once was. Today, outside of guitar hero, Kansas is sadly nothing more then dust in the wind.

James Taylor

Not to be confused with JTT (Johnathon Taylor Thomas)

At the age of 17 James Taylor committed himself to the McLean Mental Institution in Massachusetts to undergo treatment for his severe depression. During his nine-month stay he was treated with electroconvulsive therapy. For Taylor the electrocutions became “fire” while the cold showers which followed were “rain.” His stay in the mental institution laid down the frame work for the lyrics to “Fire and Rain” which recaps three major aspects to James’s life.

The first part is about Taylor's friend Suzanne Schnerr who he meet while institutionalized. Suzanna took her own life while Taylor was in London working on his first album after being signed to Apple Records. His friends at home kept the tragic news from him, concerned that it might distract Taylor from his big break. He found out upon his return. The lyric “I thought I’d see you one more time again” reflects his surprise and sadness.

The second part details Taylor's struggle to overcome his heroin addiction and depression.

The third part deals with coming to grips with fame and fortune, looking back at the road that got him there. It includes a reference to James Taylor and The Flying Machine, a band he briefly worked with before his big break with Paul McCartney, Peter Asher, and Apple Records.

Iggy Pop and The Stooges

"Not to be confused with The Three Stooges" - wikipedia

Iggy Pop and The Stooges is an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003. Although they sold few records in their original incarnation and often performed for indifferent or hostile audiences, the Stooges are widely regarded as instrumental in the rise of punk rock, as well as influential to alternative rock, heavy metal and rock music at large. The Stooges were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

Iggy Pop is often credited with inventing or popularizing stage diving in popular rock music. Stage diving can cause serious injuries. One hilarious example is when Peter Gabriel of Genesis stage dived during the end of their song "The Knife", landing on his foot and breaking his ankle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stooges

Hall & Oats

Daryl Hall and John Oates (often shortened to Hall & Oates) are an American pop music duo who achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Recently their success has received a boost after being featured in the sound track for the Movie Step Brothers.

Aside from being devilishly handsome, both John and Daryl sing and are multi-instrumentalists. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."

Thus far in their carrers they have had six #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: "Rich Girl", "Kiss on My List", "Private Eyes", "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)", "Maneater", and "Out of Touch", as well as many other songs which charted in the Top 40. They have continued to record and tour with some success. In total, the act had 34 singles chart hits on the US Billboard Hot 100. Hall and Oates have seven RIAA platinum albums, along with six RIAA gold albums.

A greatest hits compilation was released in 2001 by RCA/BMG. The BMG collection was expanded in 2004 and reissued the following year, after BMG merged with Sony Music Entertainment. In 2003, Daryl Hall and John Oates were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_%26_Oates

G is for Troyal Brooks

Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962), best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon.

Brooks has enjoyed one of the most successful careers in popular music history, breaking records for both sales and concert attendance throughout the 1990s. Garth Brooks still continues to sell well. His album sales through the end of 2009 are at 68,363,000, which makes him the best-selling albums artist in the United States, well over 7 million ahead of his nearest rival, The Beatles. Furthermore, according to RIAA he is the best-selling solo albums artist in the United States of all time with 128 million units sold. Brooks has released six albums that achieved diamond status in the United States, those being: Garth Brooks (10× platinum), No Fences (17× platinum), Ropin' the Wind (14× platinum), The Hits (10× platinum), Sevens (10× platinum) and Double Live (21× platinum). Since 1989, Brooks has released 19 records in all, which include; 9 studio albums, 1 live album, 4 compilation albums, 3 Christmas albums and 2 box sets, along with 77 singles. He won several important awards in his career as 2 Grammy Awards, 16 American Music Awards (not including the poll of "Artist of the '90s") and the RIAA Award as Best selling solo albums artist of the Century in the United States. As of 2010, Brooks' world-wide sales now exceed 200 million.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Brooks

Fleetwood Mac

Writing about Fleetwood Mac is like writing about the Kennedys. Their history is rifled with breakups, re-connections, affairs, drugs, and general drama. I imagine I'll write about them many more times so this is just a jumping off point.

Fleetwood Mac is named for two original band members. The only original member present in the band is its namesake drummer, Mick Fleetwood. Band founder Peter Green named the group by combining the surnames of two of his former bandmates (Drummer Mick Fleetwood, Bassist John McVie). John McVie played neither on their first single nor at their first concerts. The keyboardist, Christine McVie, has, to date, appeared on all but two albums, either as a member or as a session musician. Stevie Nicks came much later.

During the 10 or so years that Stevie was addicted to cocaine, Fleetwood Mac’s album credits would include a "thanks" to their dealer. In one interview Stevie estimated that she must have spent more than $1 million on cocaine. With the streets rates ranging between $20 to $100 a pop (a gram), she and the band likely purchased between 50,000 to 10,000 grams. Stevie, of course, did not single-handedly ingest 50 kilos of the white stuff; the band would buy massive amounts of coke for themselves as well as their friends.

Her 10 year addiction came to end in 1986, when a plastic surgeon advised her that if she wanted her nose to remain on her face she should stop snorting coke immediately. So it was off to the Betty Ford Clinic in Palm Springs. To this day there remains a legend of a hole in her septum the size of a nickle..

D is for Darkness

In the year 2000 The Darkness descended upon the music world in a space ship sent straight from 1983. The return of a hair band and bad English teeth made everyone remember how much they loved and hated the 80s. 80s rock music is typically best served loud in a crowded bar full of drunken college students. Regardless of the time of day you may be watching this video you should probably start drinking and listening to Journey.

C is for Cake

Have you ever wished they would play some rocking tunes under the soothing voice of your favorite talk radio host? Like if they combined the melodic ranting of Rush Limbaugh with the 1980's Canadian rock sensation Rush. Well, if a such a fusion were attempted it would probably sound something like Cake - but with a lot more anger directed towards immigrants. Cake essentially invented their own genre in the early 1990's, "Talk Rock." I've been a fan of them since I first heard "The Distance" played on the radio. They currently have 5 albums out and have another coming in 2011.

Blind Melon

Against the advice of lead vocalist Shannon Hoon's drug counselor, Blind Melon went on tour in support of their 1994 album "Soup." Hoon was found dead on the band's tour bus of a heart attack, caused by a cocaine overdose, on October 21, 1995 in New Orleans.

The remaining members released Nico (named for Hoon's daughter, only thirteen weeks old when her father died) in 1996, with the profits going to a program that helps musicians with drug and alcohol addiction. Nico contained unreleased songs from the Soup recording sessions, as well as other songs often recorded with only partial instrumentation. The closing track, "Letters from a Porcupine", was recorded as a telephone message left by Hoon on Thorn's answering machine. Nico included covers of Steppenwolf and John Lennon songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYlAwvz8uwc&ob=av2e

AC/DC

Thought to stand for Anti Christ / Devil Child by many concerned parents the name AC/DC actually comes from the back of a television set mean Alternating Current/ Direct Current.

Alphabet Aerobics

Blackalicious is an American hip hop duo from Sacramento, California made up of rapper Gift of Gab (who, despite his name, does not appear to be Irish) and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's "classic" beats. This song has inspried me to prusue my next music venture which is posting about an artist each day starting from A and ending with Z.

Ray Charles

Ray Charles started to lose his sight at the age of five. He went completely blind by the age of seven. Although some sources suggest his blindness was due to glaucoma, most suggest that Ray began to lose his sight from an infection caused by soapy water to his eyes which was left untreated. He attended school at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine from 1937 to 1945, where he developed his musical talent. During this time he performed on WFOY radio in St. Augustine. His mother died when he was 15, and his father died three years later.

Art Tatum

Art Tatum was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso. He was not totally blind, but blind enough to make it into this weeks selection. From infancy he suffered from cataracts which left him blind in one eye and with only very limited vision in the other. A number of surgical procedures improved his eye condition to a degree but the benefits of the operations were swiftly reversed when he was assaulted in 1930.

Art was a considered to be child prodigy with perfect pitch. He learned to play the piano by ear, a task of both ability (due to his perfect pitch) and disability (due to his limited vision). From the age of three he was was able to pick out church hymns, learn songs he heard on the radio, and copy piano-roll recordings his mother owned. While playing piano was the best known of his talents, he also possessed an encyclopedic memory for Major League Baseball statistics.

Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. Critic Scott Yanow wrote, "Tatum's quick reflexes and boundless imagination kept his improvisations filled with fresh (and sometimes futuristic) ideas that put him way ahead of his contemporaries ... Art Tatum's recordings still have the ability to scare modern pianists."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Tatum

Andrea Bocelli

The image of the blind musician is an important touchstone in many cultures, even where the influence of the blind on music has been limited. The idea of Homer, the blind poet, for example, has had a long existence in Western tradition, even though its basis in truth is uncertain. The influence of blind musicians is often lost on people these days since so much of our music industry is based on our visual senses - this blog is no exception.

When I first came up with the idea of writing about blind musicians for a week, I got a few sour faces. It is not my intent to make fun of these musicians for being blind, but rather show their talents to a potentially new audience - even if I only have three readers. Besides, if I do decide to make fun of them, it's not like they are ever going to read it...

Andrea Bocelli was born 22 September 1958 with congenital glaucoma. He became totally blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident. He is best know as being an Italian tenor but is also a multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist.

In 1994 he won the Newcomers section of the Sanremo Music Festival. Since that time he has recorded thirteen solo studio albums (pop and classical music), two greatest hits albums, and eight complete operas. His albums have sold over 70 million copies worldwide making him the best-selling solo artist in the history of classical music.

In 1998, he was named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People.

I often say "This is one of my favorite ____" on this blog. But Andrea Bocelli is by far one of the most impressive persons I have ever read about. His voice is simply beyond description.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Bocelli

A week of blind dudes

I am done with exam and now have time to indulge my craziest of writing whims. This week I am doing a short series on blind musicians.

Starting the series off is one of my favorite musicians and by far one of the blindest. Stevie Wonder was born in Saginaw, Michigan in 1950. He was the third of six children to Calvin Judkins and Lula Mae Hardaway. His birth was six weeks premature. As a result of his prematurity, the blood vessels at the back of his eyes had not yet reached the front. The aborted vessel growth caused the retinas to detach. The medical term for this condition is retinopathy of prematurity, or ROP.

OK GO vs. Hollerado

OK GO has become famous for their single cut music videos. A new band (new to me at least) Hollerado has upped the ante for single cut* music videos.







*I suspect that the Hollerado video is not single cut, but a clever use of persistence of vision (like a cartoon) as well as some forced perspective (like when some posses for a photo holding the Eiffel tower in their hand).

Long Black Veil

Murder Ballads

Murder ballads are a sub-genre of ballad which I had no idea I was familiar with until doing some research online. Essentially a murder ballad is a song that depicts a murder with a strong focus on the consequences of the murderer. Typically my aim is to be humerus on the blog but its tough with a subject like "Murder Ballads." For more info on this ominous subset of music check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_ballad

We Are Your Friends

Videos like this make me miss college and loath my friends. I imagine we have all had our occasion incidence of being over served and awoke to a situation similar to the ones demonstrated in the video.

One of my least favorites was the night before Father's Day 2009. Some trickster had switch my non-alcoholic O'Douls with Jägermeister. As the night dragged on, I grew increasingly fatigued so I decided to take a nap on the nearest arm chair. I awoke fresh as a daisy and shuffled off to the bathroom to freshen up. Upon opening the door I immediately noticed something off about my typically fair and glowing complexion. It appeared that my "friends" decided to "Joker Face" (color my face like The Joker from the comic Batman) me in permanent marker. I had a family function with my extended family in three hours.

Meat Loaf Elucidated

There is a great deal of confusion around Meat Loaf's song "I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)."
First, what the hell is Meat Loaf supposed to be in this video? Clearly not a delicious entree as his name may lead you to believe. If I were to guess (and believe me I will), I would say a vampire or a pedophile. More likely a pedophile since he has the police chasing him, hides out in the woods and has unkempt finger nails.

As for the more significant ambiguity in the song, "What is it that meat loaf will not do for love?" Throughout the song he repeats the lines "I would do anything for love but I wont do that." What "that" is has been the subject of speculation by scholars for centuries. Luckily for you, I (and wikipedia), happen to know the answer. I placed it under the video link to give you a chance to figure it out before revealing the truth of all truths.



Each verse mentions two things that he would do for love, followed by one thing that he will not do. The title phrase repetition reasserts that he "won't do that" previously stated one thing. Each mention of "that" is a reference to the particular promise that he made earlier in the same verse. For example, one such line is "But I'll never forget the way you feel right now ..." In addition, at the song's conclusion, the female vocalist predicts two other things that he will do: "You'll see that it's time to move on" and "You'll be screwing around". To both of these, he emphatically responds, "I won't do that!"

Situations such as this give us a rare peak into each others psyches by observing how we interpret ambiguity by projection our thoughts or values. Here is some delightful arm chair psychology I just made up:

1. If you thought "that" was intercourse then your probably grew up in sexually repressive religious household.
2. If you thought "that" was murder or Meat Loaf assisted suicide, you are depressed.
3. If you thought "that" was commitment or marriage you have commitment issues.
4. If you thought "that" was leaving the person to whom meat loaf is singing, you have abandonment issues.
5. If you thought "that" was watching the first season of Glee with the perspective lover, you are as sane as they come (possibly a genius). You should call MENSA.

OK GO

The band notorious for single cut music videos has done it again. This time making one of the most unique videos I have ever seen. I know from experience how difficult it is to get a single dog to do a trick, it must have been a massive amount of work to get all of these animals to perform so well. 

Young Vs. Skynyrd

Neil wrote the songs Southern Man and Alabama for his After the Goldrush and Harvest albums, respectively. Each of the songs indicted the stereotypical southern racist attitudes that were somewhat prevelant in The South in the 60s & early 70s. Check the lyrics to see just what the songs have to say on the issue.

A few years later (in 1974) Lynyrd Skynyrd decided to answer those songs from the "Southern Rock" point of view, and so was born the song Sweet Home Alabama.   The song, which espouses some of the good things about Southern culture, includes the lines:

"I hope Neil Young will remember,
A southern man don't need him around anyhow"

As a result of these songs, a lot of people assumed that there was a feud between Neil and Lynyrd Skynyrd. But the fact is that they were mutual fans! Ronnie Van Zant often wore Neil Young T-shirts while performing (check out Freebird -- the Movie) and it has always been rumored that he was wearing one when the plane went down.

Neil had actually offered a couple of his songs (including one that later became one of his most popular - Powderfinger) to Skynyrd, but the plane crashed before they got around to doing anything with them.

A couple of weeks after the plane crash, Neil performed his song Alabama at a concert in Miami -- and changed the chorus of the song to sing "Sweet Home Alabama" several times.

Despite Ronnie Van Zant's respect for Neil, Ronnie's younger brother Johnny, who fronts the current version of Lynyrd Skynyrd, chooses to play to the crowd by taunting Neil when they play Sweet Home Alabama these days... :-(   That's about as close to a "feud" as exists, because even while this taunting goes on at their shows, lead guitarist Gary Rossington has told Guitar World (in the April 2000 issue):

"Like the Beatles, Neil Young was another guy who helped us get started writing real songs. It was because of his unique style, his chord changes and what his songs expressed - all the shit he did back then. As much as we loved his songs, when he wrote about 'Alabama and bullwhips crackin' ' we had to answer with Seet Home Alabama. We toured all through Alabama for years, and it's pretty country, with plenty of great people. We weren't hanging out in the cities or with the politicians. So, we were just kidding him when we wrote that we didn't need him cuttin' down Alabama. We loved him so it was meant kind of tongue-in-cheek. He immediately sent a telegram to our manager saying he liked the song, which we thought was pretty cool. Then he came onstage in California and actually played the song with us. That was VERY cool."

According to the August 14, 2000 issue of the Boston Globe, who interviewed Neil after his 8/12 show at Tweeter Center, there's some dispute about Gary's last statement there...

Sitting in a dark, candlelit room sipping tea, Young said it almost happened, but never did. In 1970, Young penned Southern Man, taking the American South to task about racism. Skynyrd's Ronnie Van Zant retaliated with Sweet Home Alabama, featuring the line "I hope Neil Young will remember / A Southern man don't need him around anyhow!" The story runs that Young joined Skynyrd, at their behest, onstage and sang that very song. Nope. Young says they had plans to do exactly that, but fate intervened. Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane went down on Oct. 20, 1977, killing Van Zant and two others. Young did reveal this: Van Zant was wearing a Neil Young T-shirt when he perished.

Since Neil sometimes has his "senior moments" maybe he forgot about playing with them. Or since Rossington did his fair share of mind-meddling substances over the years, perhaps his memory of it was really a dream. I guess unless somebody comes up with a good tape of the show where this supposedly happened, we'll have to take Neil's word that it didn't really happen.

Taken from http://hyperrust.org/General/Skynyrd.html

The Superbowl Shuffle

By far the finest piece of music ever produced by The Chicago Bears. Here are a few points should commit to memory:

1. The song sold more than a half-million singles and reached No. 41 on the music charts.
2. It was recorded slightly before The Bears played and won the Super Bowl.
3. “The Super Bowl Shuffle” raised the media profile of the Bears as they completed their one-loss regular season. The Bears backed up their musical strutting by dominating their playoff opponents and hammering the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, 46-10, in one of the greatest seasons in NFL history.
4. “The Super Bowl Shuffle” was a huge success from the minute it aired on radios and televisions across the country.
5. The 1985 Chicago Bears were the first sports team to have their own rap video.
6. The song was nominated for a Grammy in 1985, but due to an mathematical error, The Bears did not win. A similar error was responsible for why The Bears did not receive "Best New Group or Artist" as well as the "Life Time Achievement" award.
7. The song had an strong humanitarian impact on the community - over $300,000 was donated to the Chicago Community Trust to help needy families in the area with clothing, shelter, and food.
8. I have listened to this song over 4,000 times.
9. The 1985 Bears were the greatest single season team in NFL history.
10. The 1985 Bears were not the first pro football team with a group song. The 1984 San Francisco 49ers put out a record during that season, one in which they also went on to become Super Bowl champs. The song, "We Are the 49ers," was in the vein of post-disco/80's dance-pop music. Later in the 1980s, the 49ers would put out another team song titled "49ers Rap." No one has ever been reported to have cared about the 49ers or their music.

Allman Brothers

The Allman Brothers: (n) a jazz band in rocker garb with their own brand of blues music.

Mark David Chapman is a total jerk

"Mark David Chapman (born May 10, 1955) is an American prison inmate who shot to death former Beatle John Lennon on December 8, 1980. He committed the murder as Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono were outside their apartment in New York City. Chapman shot Lennon four times in the back, outside the Dakota apartment building. He remained at the scene until arrested by police, and pleaded guilty to the crime. He was sentenced to a prison term of 20 years to life and has been imprisoned at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York since 1981, having been denied parole six times.^[1][2] Each of Chapman's applications for parole have been opposed by Ono."
Taken from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_David_Chapman

Simon sans Garfunkel

Paul Simon may only be 5 feet tall, but the music he makes is huge. After splitting up with long time friend and band mate Art Garfunkel, he began on a endless pursuit of new sounds. Paul Simon literally searched around the globe for influences. He is often over looked as an artists that "reinvented" himself, but Paul Simon has released album after album in unique new directions.
His post Garfunkel career started (more or less) with his 1972 album Still Crazy After All These Years, which was much like his earlier work as a folk singer-songwriter. In 1986 he fused the rhythms of traditional African music into the album Graceland. He then moved west, fusing Brazilian and South American influences with his own style for the production of 1990 album Rythm Of The Saints. Next he went north, hitting the Spanish ghettos of New York with Song From The Capeman in 1997. His most recent move was to a more modern sound - incorporating a unique blend of techno, folk, and rock in the 2006 album Surprise. All of these albums are exceptional and I highly recommend all of them.









http://www.artistdirect.com/video/the-obvious-child/52563





"Music is forever; music should grow and mature with you, following you right on up until you die."  ~Paul Simon

Simon and Garfunkle

Simon and Garfunkel (originally called Tom and Jerry) started their career together playing for spare change throughout Europe. They remained struggling musicians until their music was featured in the film The Graduate. After rapidly achieving fame the duo split in 1964 due to the pressure of their success, a few year later they reformed only to break up again in 1969. Despite their struggles, they have left an enduring print on the music world.

Celtics

Van Morrion is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best have been heralded as "transcendental and inspired;" while some of his recordings, such as the Astral Weeks, Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely viewed as among the greatest albums ever made. Not since William Butler Yeats has such inspired and moderately sober words graced the lips of an Irishman. Here is some Morrison followed by some Yeats. 






Love Poem / A Drinking Song by William Butler Yeats
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.

Seu Jorge

Seu Jorge is a fairly famous artist from Brazil who made his mark on American culture when he performed a large number of David Bowie covers for the movie "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou." As a fan of David Bowie, Bill Murray, and the uncle of a half Brazilian fetus; I feel obligated to share some of his tunes.

More Gregory Brothers

I still think these guys are brilliant.

The Boss was as displeased as any when his hit song "I'm on fire" transformed from a song about extra martial lust into an alleged anthem for pedophiles.

Steven Tyler

Few people know that Aerosmith was a band before Guitar Hero came into popularity. In fact, their hit, "Dream On" which was first released in 1973 was sung by Steven Tyler when he was only 17. Watching Aerosmith play makes me think that in the great UK vs. US battle of rock bands (that is constantly raging in my head), the US stands a chance.

Auto Tune the News

Creating music today is a far easier process then it was back in the day when you needed instruments - all you need is an autotuner and a midi keyboard. If you don't have these things just make an ass of your self on National TV and the Gregory Brothers will take care of the rest.

The ease with which The Gregory Brothers seem to make these tunes should not be used to belittle the music in anyways. It requires a great deal of originality and talent to do this, particularly in such a unique way. In doing so The Gregory Brothers introduced a double threat of satire that I adore. First, they edit already absurd news stories to poke fun of our 24/7 conglomerate news corps. Second, autotuning these stories and making them sound impressively good. Showing everyone just how much talent you need to sing these days, you don't even need to know you are singing. In some of these clips there seem to be additional levels of satire, but when its not actors but actual politicians making me laugh - it's not satirical, its real life. And then I get sad...

More classic / rock: "Show Down "

The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) lead by singer, guitarist, producers, song writer, and composer Jeff Lynn was a giant success of the 70s and 80s. ELO began right as the Beatles fell off, picking up from the walrus. During their tenure, ELO accumulated 27 Top 40 hit singles in both the UK and the US despite reviewing dismal reviews. You may remember this song from the movie King Pin.

Knights in White Satin

The Moody Blues actually make the term "classic rock" makes sense. Their fusion of classical and rock music is often attempted but rarely pulled off. Other artists try to overtly combine the two but fall short of a full incorporation of the two. For example ELO's "Roll of Beethoven" which sounds more like Chuckberry then a symphony.

Eminem

It was brought to my attention that I have little rap on my blog. I began my pursuit by typing the artist Eminem into my youtube search bar when the auto complete suggest Emerson, Lake and Palmer, the British super group from the 70s. I was stuck with a very difficult decision: either finish misspelling Eminem's name or go with what fate has offered...

Aqualung

Jethro Tull forever changed rock and roll by incorporating the single most bad ass instrument known to man. Prior to their ingenuity this instrument was rarely seen out side of conciertos and recitals but, thanks to Jethro Tull, the flute took its rightful place amongst the electric guitar, massive drum sets, and other mildly demonic instruments of rock.

Florence and The Machine

Florence and the Machine is a relatively new band whose live performances have really impressed me. You are probably familiar with their recent performance at the VMAs... unless you were still out cold from when you fainted during Justin Bieber's performance.


This is "Howl" and "Drumming Song" off of their album Lung, not to be confused with Aqualung

Three Dog Night

The name Three Dog Night originates from a story about indigenous Australians who would bring wild dogs (dingos) into their dug out dens into order to provide heat during particularly cold night. The number of dogs they would bring in would go up as the temperature went down. So a "three dog night" was a very cold evening.

The sunshine bores the daylights out of me

Some of the best lyric writing I have ever heard....

Exams

I have a few exams coming up so I won't be posting until after them. So in the mean time: http://grilledcheeseacademy.com/

King of Spain

Elvis Presley is an artist that has undeservingly been left out of much of the rock conversion. Most people under the age of 30 don't realize just how influential he was. We spend our days rocking out to Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and a handful of other artists that have managed to transcend the generations, but not Elvis. I blame this, largely, on the legends surrounding his death. Even the most naive music fan would tell you he died on the toilet trying to pass a couple hundred deep fried Twinkies. That same person may not be able to tell you a single song he song or movie he starred in. The incredible rumors that have surrounded his death and late life seem to have turned a large portion of the population away. Much in the same way we see people shy away from Micheal Jackson.

In the end he was just as, if not more, important then any of the artists named above and he has a discography that would impress some of the more prolific artists - except maybe Bob Dylan.

Try dedicating your some of your slacking off time to listening to Elvis today. I think you will be surprised at just how hard he rocks.

When The Saints Go Marching In

I've always enjoyed religious songs, primarily outside the confines of a church. Something about being repeatedly damned to hell prevented me from relaxing and enjoying the music. This is a song from Bruce's trip to Dublin with The Sessions band, an excellent show. If you ever see the DVD, I highly recommend you buy it. You are probably familiar with the song if you have ever been to a christian church.

Let there be drums

Here are a few of my favorite drummers. They are in no particular order, I think ranking them is a bit tough since they have such different styles...

More Than A Petty Face

Tom Petty may look like a thin lipped Appalachian but he can sure rock some mean tunes. It's hard to find a Tom Petty song that you don't know all the lyrics too. Tom Petty wasn't always with the heart breakers. His first band was The Epics, followed by Mudcrutch (possibly the best band name ever). Mudcrutch eventually ended and Tom Petty joined up with The Drunks - After that they where Tom Petty and NIGHTRO, then Tom Petty and The King Bees, followed by Tom Petty and Heart Breakers. Thankfully they stopped there.

"American Girl" was one of the Tom Petty songs I covered in college and it was always a crowd favorite. I think everyone liked it so much because it offered something to each listener. The girls had a relatable character and the brief fantasy of being the American girl in the song. The boys had that same character to remind them about the girl next door to accompany a different fantasy of theirs. And the inbreed Appalachians had the sweet eye candy that is the mildly androgynous Tom Petty.

"Chips Ahoy" The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady is often cited as being a lyrically heavy version of Bruce Springsteen and the E-street Band.
The first time I heard them I thought they sounded a bit sloppy, but after a few more listens they quickly grew on me and became a favorite of mine. Their songs are shockingly honest recounts of experiences they had growing up. They can be a bit gritty but very relate-able, especially if you know any one who never made it out of their hometown.

The Beatles

"Rocky Raccoon" is one of my favorite Beatles songs, particularly because of Rocky's interaction with the doctor:

"The doctor came in stinking of gin
And proceeded to lie on the table
He said Rocky you met your match
And Rocky said, Doc it's only a scratch
And I'll be better I'll be better doc as soon as I am able."

The River

The first time I heard "The River" it was playing on the radio and the negligent DJ failed to mention the name of the song and the artist. I was much younger and unfamiliar with Bruce Springsteen so I was unable to associate his unique voice with his name. I tried tirelessly to find the song so that I may commit copyright infringement and have it forever. It took nearly a year of searching before I found it. I bought the album and was hooked on The Boss ever since then. "The River" is still one of my favorite songs.

Johnny Cash "Hurt"

In 2003 someone at MTV was sober enough to nominate this spectacular video for the coveted "Video of The Year" award. I certainly did not except the video to get nominated but I was thrilled none-the-less. For awhile it even seemed like it could even win, but it had some "stiff" competition. Also nominated were: 
50 Cent "In Da Club"
Missy Elliot "Work It"
Eminem "Lose Yourself'"
Justin Timberlake "Cry Me a River"

Johnny Cash was clearly the odd man out in the group.

I remember the night vividly. I sat down to watch the VMAs for the first and last time. As they announced that "Work It" was winner, my stomach dropped and I lost all faith in MTV. Missy Elliot accepted the trophy and Madonna kissed Brittney all while a weathered Johnny Cash and his wife sat in horror next to Cortney Love. It was a sad moment for the music industry and it only got worse when Johnny Cash passed away later that year.

My faith in MTV was eventually reaffirmed when I saw snookie get sucker punched in the face on the show "Jersey Shore." I like to think Johnny Cash is watching "Jersey Shore" right now in heaven, appreciating more and more his defeat at the VMAs.

Symphanthy for the Devil

A rolling stone gathers no moss. Similarly you can avoid moss, death, and achieve world wide fame by making a deal with the devil. 

Glory Days

If you love rock music and living in the past, this is the song for you! “Glory Days” epitomizes what we all choose to remember about high school. It has been estimated that by the age of 40 most working-class males have spent more time reminiscing about high school then attending.(Jimmy, et al. 2010)

If that ain't country

David Allen Coe is a moderately well known country artist from the era of "Outlaw Country." Being an outlaw artist in the 70s and 80s was much like being a gangster rapper of the 90s in that you got more respect by committing more egregious crimes. This mentality incentivises artists to exaggerate the number and severity of the crimes they committed. Like many of our current "outlaw" artists, David Allen Coe was eventually questioned about the legitimacy of his claims. He was never able to corroborate his claim of being on death row or to the number of prisons he had been in. The concept of lying to get famous in nothing new. So the next time a musician tell you his face is scared due to a fully automatic rifle, see if the bullet holes look like acne scars.

Regardless of his actual criminal background David Allen Coe is a great singer and song writer.

Body Language

Through most of my youth I was very anti-pop music. I have matured a bit and now listen to any music that I enjoy regardless of how it may reflect on my masculinity - or lack their of. This song by Jesse McCartney (who I suspect to be the biological father of Justin Bieber) will make you want to stand up and dance or, at the very least, lean forward, maintain eye contact, and act interested.

Dire Wolf

The Grateful Dead was a band that never reached stardom in the traditional sense. Their only hit was "Touch of Grey" off of their album In The Dark. They were pioneers of the jam band genre and paved the way for bands like Phish and Dave Mathews Band. Their style of music is often likened to the taste of black licorice - you either love it or hate it. Well, I hate black licorice but I love this band. I suggest you all give them a try.

Eric Clapton

"Motherless Child" is a song title that reeks with impossibility. The only example I can think of is Mithra, an Egyptian God who was born from a rock. Eric Clapton is clearly a pagan.

YouTube - Eric Clapton - Motherless Child (Live) (Video)

Dazed and Confused

Led Zepplin is a band every suburban male must worship at some point in their life. The band dominated most of my late high school and early college life. Being an adolescent male and not knowing about Led Zepplin was a faux pas rivaled only by being a holocaust denier or openly emo.




Drums - John Bonham
Guitar - Jimmy Page 
Vocals - Robert Plant
Bass - John Paul Jones

Short People and Rednecks

Randy Newman has a unique brand of irony that is often construed as racism and intolerance. I don't know why...

Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters

The Mona Lisa is allegedly a self portrait of Leonardo DeVinci e.g. a man in woman's clothing. This may be while Elton John was so smitten with the painting.

This is a great Elton John song that doesn't get it's fair share of radio play. Pay attention to the rocking mandelin.

More Cocker

This song has always been a favorite one for me to air drum to. The crashing symbols in the transitions are great but can be dangerous if you air drum while driving. 

A steady regiment of tunes, Joe Cocker

This is one of my favorite Joe Cocker songs. I had never seen him perform before I searched for this. I was elated to see he has the same movement disorder I have when I try to dance. All the more reason to love him.

Joe Cocker "She Came in Through The Bathroom Window"