MetaFilter posts tagged with popMusic

I just want your extra time, and your... Mix.

Eideteker — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:21:11 -0800

Classic tracks: Can't seem to face up to the facts? Searching for the heart of Heart of Gold? Mix Online delves deep into your favorite jams, to find out what was in the air when they were conceived. Know what I mean? via

Radiodiffusion Internasionaal -- popular world music of the 60's and 70's

cog_nate — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:51:05 -0800

"Radiodiffusion Internasionaal is devoted to the evolution of popular music from Africa, the Middle East, India and Asia and the proliferation of Western influences on these non-Western cultures. The focus is primarily the music from the mid 60's to the mid 70's." (Description from the front page of the site.) Slightly differently formatted version of the website here. Nice set of links, too (scroll down to the Words and Pictures section).

"Of course, neither Simon nor Garfunkle has been identified as a Nautical Expert"

Navelgazer — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:57:15 -0800

Chief Justice Roberts (mis)quotes Bob Dylan* in his dissent on Sprint Communications Co. v. APCC Services, Inc., making this the first known time that a Supreme Court Opinion has used a "rock song to buttress legal opinion," according to Alex B. Long of the University of Tennessee. Mr. Long knows a thing or two about this**, having authored [Insert Song Lyrics Here]***, a Washington & Lee Law review Article on the subject of Pop Music in legal writing. The article is funny†, insightful, comprehensive in its musical background††, and surprisingly knowledgeable about good taste in writing.††† *To be fair, Alex Long misquotes the line as well. For a full performance, see here. ** The Top Ten Most Cited Musicians (according to Long's admittedly flawed study) are: 1. Bob Dylan 2. The Beatles 3. Bruce Springsteen 4. Paul Simon 5. Woody Guthrie 6. The Rolling Stones 7. The Grateful Dead 8. Simon & Garfunkle 9. Joni Mitchell 10. R.E.M. *** This is a link to a site where you may download the pdf. Also, I should mention that this is the priority link, See † Pro Tip: In legal writing, the footnotes are used not only to exhaustively cite one's sources, but also to provide humor, irreverence, and "off-the-record" personal opinions where they would otherwise not be appropriate. This article is full of both. †† A fun "mix tape" of a small few of the cited songs: Cracker, Teen Angst The New Pornographers, The Laws Have Changed Ludacris, You's a Ho Violent Femmes, Add It Up Elvis Costello, Less Than Zero Tupac Shakur, Holla if You Hear Me Elvis Presley, Mystery Train Chuck Berry, Nadine The Beatles, Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and my Monkey The Kinks, Lola The Undertones, Teenage Kicks R.E.M., It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine) ††† If anyone knows how to do proper footnotes on MeFi, please let me know. Bonus: The "Hum a Few Bar Exam," from Prof. Eugene Volokh of Volokh Conspiracy

The New Yorker: The Gerbil's Revenge

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:09:30 -0800

Tourists black out reflective retinas in snapshots before printing them, and millions of people refer to strangers they’ve never spoken to as friends, because they’ve connected through a social-networking platform. [...] It should come as no surprise, then, that singers sometimes choose to correct recorded flaws in pitch with modern software, like Antares’s Auto-Tune.

Sasha Frere-Jones on auto-tuning, in The New Yorker. Non-print version

Via Antares's own site, interestingly enough.

Previously: 1, 2

Sasha Frere Jones's personal site, New Yorker blog.

Music to Watch Lady Marmalade's Silhouette By

Herodios — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:56:42 -0800

Songwriter and producer Bob Crewe is one of those behind the scenes guys who was seemingly everywhere during the rock era. Records written and/or produced by Crewe charted over a twenty year period, including My Eyes Adored You and Lady Marmalade, both in 1975. Bob Crewe at Wikipedia Bob Crewe at Songwriters Hall of Fame Bob Crewe at IMDB He wrote or co-wrote: For The Rays Silhouettes (1957) As covered by Herman's Hermits (1965) For Freddy Cannon Talahasee Lassie (1959) For The Four Seasons Bob Crewe wrote a ton of tunes with Bob Gaudio for the Four Seasons, one of the few American groups that consistently placed high in the charts during the British Invasion. Sherry (1962) Big Girls Don't Cry (1962) Walk Like a Man (1963) Rag Doll (1964) Ronnie (1964) Let's Hang On (1965) For Frankie Valli Solo Can't Take My Eyes Off You (1967) My Eyes Adored You (1975) For Patti Labelle Lady Marmalade (1975) With The Bob Crewe Generation Anna (1967) Miniskirts in Moscow (1967) As an 'artist' he's best known for a song he didn't write: Music to Watch Girls By (1967), which was also used in a sodapop commercial (Diet Pepsi, I think). Andy Williams recorded a version with lyrics. Crewe also 'discovered' and produced Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels Jenny Takes a Ride (1965) Devil with a Blue Dress (1966) Here's a bar-band cover of Sock It To Me Baby (1967) Crewe was also the music supervisor on the Roger Vadim/Jane Fonda film Barbarella (1968). This song about Barbarella , with Morrisey and Albert Lee was not in the film.

Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:49:11 -0800

Here is an alphabetical list of the most popular music stars real names.

Otters in Lithuania

meech — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:41:48 -0800

The best/worst in Lithuanian music: the catchy Otter in Love, DJ Dago's rave music, Suopis ir Rambynas' folk music and Mr Valdas Karklelis and his creepy and [NSFW] pervy writhing . All these videos are linked by one company (who had something to do with Karkelis' new website). I think maybe this is parody except maybe it's not. I can't tell. Valdas Karklelis seems real - his Geocities page and odd TV appearance make me believe in him. Can any Lithuanians explain what is going on?

Famous First Words

wendell — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 19:30:00 -0800

The 25 Best Pop Song Opening Lyrics, like EVER - a spinner.com 'hit list', complete with wry commentary and abruptly cut-off audio clips. Bonus: 25 more, suggested by people who don't work for the webside. If you are as annoyed by the one-item-per-page format as I am (and if you don't have AdBlock, the video ads are extra annoying), here they all are sorted by artist name: 50 Cent #22, Fiona Apple #24, The Beatles #4 R11, Beck #7, Bon Jovi #10, Johnny Cash R13, The Carpenters #6, Elvis Costello #11, The Doors R8, The Eagles R14, Erik B and Rakim R12, Merle Haggard #18, Jimi Hendrix #14, Human League #25, Michael Jackson #15, Joe Jackson R5, Rick James #1, Jefferson Airplane R18, Led Zeppelin R10, Jerry Lee Lewis R24, LL Cool J #5, Lynyrd Skynyrd R6, Madonna R21, George Michael #19, Nirvana R19, Roy Orbison #12, Ozzy Osbourne R23, Pavement #16, Carl Perkins #8, Tom Petty R20, Prince #17 R25, The Ramones #3, Otis Redding R15, The Righteous Brothers #23, The Rolling Stones #2 R1, Bob Seger R17, The Sex Pistols #20, Simon & Garfunkel #21, Paul Simon R22, Sir Mix-A-Lot (!?!) R2, The Smiths R16, Patti Smith #9, Bruce Springsteen R4, Rod Stewart R7, Three Dog Night (?)R3,Weezer #13, Warren Zevon R9.

What Kind of World do You Want?

snsranch — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 17:54:22 -0800

Five For Fighting (John Ondrasik) is pretty cool and has some good music (enbedded audio). This video, created by school kids, really rocks. You can watch and submit your own home vids for in support of some good charitable causes.

Faking It: the quest for authenticity in popular music

jason's_planet — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 07:58:34 -0800

“We consider the 'primitive' music of blues singers such as Leadbelly to be more authentic than that of the Monkees. But all pop musicians are fakes . . . Hugh Barker and Yuval Taylor . . . have turned out their personal record collections to produce a persuasive defence of inauthenticity as the defining characteristic of great popular music[.]” (via)