Thursday, March 10, 2011

Thursday, March 10, 2011: Dean Martin - Mambo Italiano



I really wish I could do Cool Song Of The Week as a full time.

This would be my dream job: choosing cool songs and writing about them.

I have so many plans for this blog, too. Because of time restrictions, I haven't had nearly as many "theme" weeks as I would have liked, only two so far. I've got 10 solid ideas ready to go, about a hundred more just bouncing around.

One of those ten will come to fruition next week, I promise. Its been too long.

I can't tell you what it will be, you'll just have to wait on that. I can tell you, however, what it won't be: The Rat Pack Week.



In my second post at the very beginning of this blog, I said this: "If someone wanted me to define cool, I would first point them to Miles Davis."

I then said a close second would be Otis Redding. Probably rounding out the holy trinity of cool, then, would be this assemblage of artists, musicians, actors, swordsmen and ne'er-do-well's.

What a week: a song a day from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop and to round out the week, Shirley Maclaine, the "honorary mascot and Girl Friday", though she had just a good chops, acting AND singing, as any of those blokes.

Killer, killer week.  Maybe it will happen someday.

But, the longer I procrastinate, the longer you go, gentle reader, without hearing any of the World Class, Epoch Defining coolness that is from The Pack. Let's remedy that then, shall we?

So, let's drink: to times gone by, times that will never return, and possibly to times that never really were in the first place.

Let's drink - then let's dance.

If you're gonna be a square you ain't-a gonna go anywhere!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Wednesday, March 9, 2011: Cherry Ghost - We Sleep On Stones



Cherry Ghost are an indie rock band from Bolton, England.

I wouldn't want to guess how many of the artists are from Great Britain, or even the United Kingdom.

Click HERE for the difference between Great Britain, the United Kingdom and the British Isles.

Bet you didn't know that?

Yes, kids, Cool Song Of The Day: meeting all your educational needs!

However, let's not let all this fancy book-learnin' take away from how absolutely ice-cube cool Cherry Ghost are.  This track is from their 2010 release Beneath This Burning Shoreline, and I wish them all the best, I think they're outstanding

Enjoy

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Tuesday, March 8, 2011: TWOfer Tuesday - The "Gunter Glieben Glauchen Globen" Edition



I had a serious love/hate relationship with the band The Offspring for a lot of years.

See, whenever I heard a song start up with the words "Gunter glieben glauchen globen" I automatically assumed it was Def Leppard's Rock Of Ages.

I'm of a certain age, so that song means a lot to me, and had a huge impact on me. In fact, their whole Pyromania album was one of my favourite records growing up.

But, after 1994, all those hollowed lyrics did was trip me up. You see, after The Offspring got their filthy little mits on them, the only time I ever heard those words was to introduce "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)"

Which, I admit, is an amazing record, don't get me wrong. Trust me, our world is in dire, desperate needs of the inspired mockery and sarcasm like The Offspring dishes out on this track. One can only wonder what their take on today's Lady Gaga's and Justin Bieber's would be.

But, at the end of the day, that into, those four words, which mean absolutely nothing by the way*, belongs only to one song. I love you Offspring, but I hate that you still trip me up.





*From this VH1 interview with Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott:

VH1: What is "Gunter glieben glauchen globen"?

Elliott: That's the intro to "Rock Of Ages." It's Mutt Lange [the producer of Pyromania]. There were no guitars in the verses, just drums. So instead of counting off one, two, three, four, he'd say these ridiculous things to make everybody laugh. One of them was "chapatti puppadum something something," all about Indian food. The other one was "Gunter glieben glauchen globen." Some German guy sent a letter to our Artist Pages and said that it's German for "running through the forest silently." I'm assured it isn't. This guy must have just escaped from the happy house or something.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Monday, March 7, 2011: The Allman Brothers Band - Ain't Wasting Time No More



On October 29, 1971, Duane Allman, guitarist and co-founder of the southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band, was killed in a motorcycle accident.

The the relatively newly formed Allman Brothers had only recently released the instant classic album Live at Filmore East.

After Allman's funeral and some weeks of mourning, the five surviving members of the Allman Brothers Band decided to carry on, resumed live performances and finished the recording work interrupted by Duane's death. That album was Eat A Peach, which became one of the defining albums of Southern Rock. And it kicked off with this track.

Though written before Duane's death, it is a timeless reminder of the fragility of this life, and the absolute insistence that each moment needs to be lived as if it is your last.

Because, gentle readers, one moment will be. And we will never know when that one moment will knock on our doors.

Yes, heavy thoughts for a Monday, but be joyful gentle reader, because if you are reading this, and listening to this wonderfully cool music then, chances are, you still have moments left.

Don't waste them.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Saturday, March 5, 2011: Jessie J - Price Tag Ft. B.o.B



It's Saturday.

Toss those cares aside. Take a break from the serious.

And make the world dance.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Friday, March 4, 2011: Frankie Smith - Double Dutch Bus



After a long week, sometimes you want to sing along to a song

But sometimes you can't even be bothered to remember the words

Well, for you, your bus is waiting

Next stop, memory lane.

Give me a HO! if you've got your funky bus fare...

HOoooo!