Still more lazy thoughts from this one…

Posts tagged ‘song’

Reprise » “It Is Believing”

Back to the vital things in life. Besides movie-watching and reading, it’s music for me. A shared facet that my colleague Kevin highlighted last week. Though I’ve put a turntable back into my life (thereby forcing me to re-collect those LPs I thoughtlessly let go more than two decades ago, to my wife’s consternation), listening to my Compact Disc collection has taken up much of my non-work-movie-book listening time.

Guest Post » Story Telling in Music

Being a child of the 1960s and The Cold War offered a unique opportunity to be on the periphery of being in the right place and the right time for music. A bit too young to catch the allure of The Beatles. Though something of a prodigy to follow the raw, early, up and coming, cover days of The Rolling Stones. I quickly developed an appreciation for lyrics.

Same Song, Different Movie: (Don’t Fear) The Reaper by Buck Dharma

Built almost entirely around Roeser’s stellar guitar riff — it being the one song I taught my children how to air guitar as toddlers (much to their mother’s chagrin) — the track has gathered fans from each subsequent decade thereafter. Certainly, enough to collect movie acclaim over the years. If you listened to the lyrics carefully, that is. Two of which utilized the driving barre chords and the poetry of the lyrics to great effect from two distinct and contrary decades. The tune reverberated best in a pair of films from the 70s and 90s in striking backdrops by two wholly different directors dealing with death in their films.

Reprise – Friday Forgotten Song: Theme From “St. Elsewhere”

Written by the underrated composer, arranger, and pianist Dave Grusin, the theme song, a seemingly lost art these days, had a distinctly melodious and infectious 80s mood to it. It has proven to be Mr. Grusin’s, another of Jazz Fusion’s durable players from the 70s, most recognizable of arrangements. If Dave Grusin’s name doesn’t mean much at first glance, you’ve most likely heard a few of his movie scores.

Reblogged » Musings of a Sci-Fi Fanatic: Lana Del Rey: Born To Die: The Paradise Edition

Not only is the blogger from Musings of a Sci-Fi Fanatic one of my favorite writers on the genre that is part of his sobriquet, but his compositions on music are nonpareil. He puts so much thought and depth into to it that I cannot help but be drawn. And he did it again to me this week with his look at an artist that only caught me this year (better late than never, I say).

Friday Forgotten Song: Summer Madness by Kool & the Gang

Sampled years later by Will Smith for the background in his ‘Summertime’ ditty, among others, Summer Madness had to be one of the unforeseen strains to come out of the Light of World LP on its release in ’74. I think I flattened every groove on my copy of the album back then before the year was out, the deepest for this track. Likely one of the most successful B-side numbers from the days where the 45 was still king, it did make quite a mark on radio air. An instrumental that played across R&B, jazz, and pop stations, at least around SoCal for sure.

A Friday Shout-out & Song: Missing You by Dan Fogelberg

It was one of the two new songs assembled onto his Dan Fogelberg – Greatest Hits LP out that year. BTW, that’d be one of the very few platinum albums ever with a cover originally printed on the diagonal. The song has made every compilation, ‘best of’ album released since, and remains a favorite of mine (even over those already mentioned).

Reprise – Friday Forgotten Song: Stoned Love by The Supremes

Way back when, I had friends who’d argue endlessly about the quality and achievements of their favorite music groups in comparison with others. None more so than with those groups that transitioned with new members over the years. The music labels were not about to let go of a popular (read money-making) group name just because the lead singer would head out on a solo career (which they also managed).