MetaFilter posts tagged with popmusic

To put right what once went wrong

danhon — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:25:12 -0800

Christopher Bird at Mighty God King has written some corkers in the past - from his ejection from Livejournal owing to his review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to his frequent conversations with Flapjacks and Photoshopping of Final Fantasy Covers (previously). He's really outdone himself this time, with Scenes From An Alternate Universe Where The Beatles Accepted Lorne Michaels’ Generous Offer. Read it, and, quite possibly, weep. Bonus points to the first person who constructs a Primer-level explanation of what happened.

Right Here, Right Now, etc etc

sleevener — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:55:16 -0800

Poet and poetry/film/music/culture critic Joshua Clover has been posting excerpts from his upcoming book 1989: Bob Dylan Didn't Have This to Sing About over at his blog. These are short, articulate lyric essays on the entwined fates of the pop music and history of (and around) the year 1989. To find the excerpts on the blog, look for the book's black, white, and yellow cover image as you scroll down (although all of his posts are worth a read). Here are a few of my favorites, if you're looking for a place to start: Jesus Jones, from the book's intro, which poses this question: "Having turned its 200-second attentions on a fairly regular basis to politics, to social change, to revolution, what does pop music do when confronted with an overwhelming surfeit of same?" Sinead O'Connor and "Nothing Compares 2 U" Public Enemy's multi-faceted approach Grunge, shame, and the word "creep"

WTF Heather Parisi's "Crilù" OMG WTF

cgc373 — Sun, 31 May 2009 08:59:15 -0800

Gyrations atop a giant Rubik’s cube? Check. Uber groiny, hardbodied ballet dancers in metallic bowler shoes? Check. Intimated BJ three-way with male Moschino models? Check. Glittering Mickey Mouse butt cleavage? OKAY NOW THAT’S JUST GOING TOO FAR. Coilhouse is awesome.

Ziggy really sang, screwed up eyes and screwed down hairdo

fire&wings — Sun, 03 May 2009 12:53:06 -0800

Of all the pretenders to the throne of "British Elvis" in the pre-Beatles UK music scene, none had the swagger or moves quite like Vince Taylor. His stylings, pitched halfway between Gene Vincent and Pressley, found success in the early 60's, especially in France. The man who Joe Strummer described as "the beginning of British rock'n'roll," was on the verge of stardom in 1963, but already hooked on a cocktail of Preludin, speed, LSD and alcohol, he instead fell apart. Believing himself to be the apostle Matthew or the son of God, he gave sermons on stage while wrapped in a white sheet, ate only eggs, and carried around a map of Europe, trying to point out to people where the UFO's would land. David Bowie, living in London in 1966, met and was transfixed by this already burnt out, drug addled heartthrob who had "fallen into a chasm too deep to ever climb out of." Inspired by the rock star who "thought he was some composite between the Son of God and an alien," he put pen to paper. The song? Ziggy Stardust. From the late 1960's it was all downhill, and although Taylor emerged sporadically for various comebacks, a few albums (including 1972's "Vince is alive, well and rocking in Paris") his later years were for the most part a blur of incoherent performances on small scale tours and periods spent in religious communes and psychiatric wards. He died in 1991 after a short period working as an aircraft mechanic in Switzerland. --- Vince Taylor: * There's a Whole Lotta Twistin' goin' on * Shakin' All Over * Peppermint Twist * Too Much * 20 Flight Rock * What I'd Say * Brand New Cadillac (audio only)

Something about the honesty being too something, sometimes

grounded — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:22:09 -0800

"It did feel a little isolating at the time, having atheist parents who thought skiing was a pretentious extravagance, believed America should stay out of Vietnam and regarded Valentine's Day and Mother's Day as 'meretricious, capitalist flim-flam.' " Daniel Grafton Hill IV (better known as this guy) remembers growing up with Daniel Grafton Hill III in a progressive, over-achieving, mixed-raced family. Meanwhile, the Hill father-son saga takes an ominous turn in the next generation.

For A Good Time, Call (Or Bid)

sjuhawk31 — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:17:22 -0800

Tommy Tutone's famous number is for sale on eBay. Who here hasn't called, or considered 867-5309 in their area code to see if a girl named Jenny answered? One NY DJ used the number for his business and started getting calls immediately, though not always for new business. Now he's moving away and selling the number for more than $5,000. Previously, on Metaflter: what happens when you call Jenny from your area code.

Long live the the Village Green - and the Mellotron

joseph conrad is fully awesome — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:55:25 -0800

The Mellotron features prominently on the 1968 album, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, more commonly referred to as The Village Green Preservation Society. The weird, eerie quality of this electronic keyboard, which uses pre-recorded tapes of individual sounds such as strings and woodwind instruments, worked well with singer/songwriter Ray Davies' nostalgic, backwards looking sensibility. For Kinks Mellotron goodness, try Sitting By The Riverside, Phenomenal Cat, All Of My Friends Were There, Animal Farm, Starstruck, and Days, the last of which was originally intended for Village Green but dropped from the final playlist. Bonus Mellotron, not on Village Green: Autumn Almanac, which "relies heavily on the MkII trombones and mixed brass". Nicky Hopkins and Ray Davies played the Mellotron on Village Green. Upon its release, reviews were favorable but the public ignored it, in no small part because it was so at odds with the cultural and rock/pop climate at the time. Village Green is now considered a godlike album and a cult favorite, prompting Ray Davies to state in the 2004 re-issue liner notes, "It's the most successful failure of all time." Previously

The "Near Future Technopop Unit"

Unicorn on the cob — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:03:25 -0800

Perfume, a three-girl Japanese technopop sensation formed in 2001 now consisting of Nocchi, Kashikuya and A~chan, is about to release their ninth single, "Dream Fighter". Perfume's July 2008 single "Love the World" was the first technopop song ever to debut at #1 on the Oricon sales chart. The previous highest debut for techno was Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Kimi ni, Munekyun" 25 years ago in 1983. (original article citing #1 record translated via Google translator) You may know them for their Japanese recycling campaign ads or annoyingly catchy single version of the song (complete with dance routine), "Polyrhythm".

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)

Pure, perfect pop music for the early 90's popkid in all of us

Kattullus — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 16:46:53 -0800

Waaaaaah! was an early 90's indie label of with an ever-changing number of a's in it's name. The owner of the label has put the entire catalog onto his site for download in mp3 format. He indicates which songs he likes the best by putting a very, very tiny picture of a kitten next to the songs. Artists include The Field Mice, White Town, They Go Boom, BMX Bandits, Dufflecoats, The Bedfloweres and Strawberry Story. You can see pictures of the bands on the site. If you spent your youth saying things like "this is pure, perfect pop music, why isn't this on the radio" then you've probably already clicked the link.

Salegy

pwedza — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 21:43:42 -0800

Salegy is Malagasy pop music. Upbeat and lively. Sometimes dramatic. Jaojoby is the legend and Wawa are the young guns!

Her home is a factory.

jmhodges — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 07:36:50 -0800

The limits of pop music, and Marxist critical theory, by way of the Gang of Four.

1) Buy webcam. 2) Put something you found around the house in your hair. 3) ????????? 4) Profit!

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 17:09:40 -0800

One of the great virtues of the internet is the manifold ways in which it has revolutionised the arts. The postmodern works of contemporary artists Pomme & Kelly (Google Video), when viewed together in context, form a striking example of a well-placed critique of popular culture, and modern living at large. The zeitgeisty meta-irony of their seemingly content-free interpretations of popular songs are only enhanced by the fact that, in a clever keeping with style, they blog about it as well.

Long John Baldry, 1941-2005

docgonzo — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 15:21:19 -0800

He was the patriarch of the British Invasion. In 1962, he released Britain's first blues album. Before they hit it big, the Rolling Stones opened for him. He was on the Beatles first television special. Later, he was in the memorably-named band The Hoochie Coochie Men with Rod Stewart on lead vocals. His next band, Bluesology, featured one Reginald Dwight, who later changed his name to honour his mentor. Moving to Canada in the 1970s he eventually settled in Vancouver, where he died today after suffering from a chest infection. Ladies and gentlemen: "Long John" Baldry has passed.

Ashlee Simpson

etaoin — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 06:48:52 -0800

Can Ashlee Simpson get any worse? Who knows? But it appears that at least one critic has had it with her lack of talent. Because this is America, we have dueling petitions seeking to encourage her to continue or push her off the stage for good.

Pop Vultures, R.I.P.

donovan — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 20:13:40 -0800

Pop Vultures, perhaps the freshest show to grace our radio airwaves in recent years has been cancelled. Host Kate Sullivan and a collection of friends mused on pop music and associated pop culture with passion, a strong does of "um" and "uh, like" and an always great soundtrack. You can listen (for the moment anyway) to the archives . R.I.P.