Thursday, November 10, 2011: The "Here's Just Two Songs About Green" Edition

Ok, so maybe Color Week wasn't such a hot idea. I don't think I thought this through nearly enough.

I mean, it probably should have been just Red Week. Or Blue Week.

Or even Green Week.

Do you know how many songs there are with the word Green in the title? Here's a hint.

So, I'm just choosing two very cool songs sung by two sub-zero cool chicks.

Yes, I called them chicks. Deal with it.

And if you want to know why I didn't include the absolute standard It's Not Easy Being Green by Kermit The Frog, there that is as well.

Enjoy.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011: The Blue Elvis Edition

See, that's the think about Elvis Presley, you can't just blog one song. You just can't.

The one time I've posted about Elvis before, I went wild. As I will also do here.

Here's a bunch of songs Elvis sang with Blue in the title.

Please note that, even with this many, we've left out Blueberry Hill, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, Blue Hawaii, Blue Moon, Blue River, Blue Suede Shoes, Beach Boy Blues, G.I. Blues and probably about enough songs to keep me posting until the Blue Christmas.

Speaking of which....

Tuesday, November 8: TWOfer Tuesday - The Colorful Cars Edition

Let's keep Color Week rolling (see what I did there).

I was originally going to pair up Rush's Red Barchetta with Prince's Little Red Corvette - it seemed like a no brainer until I remembered that Little Red Corvette isn't actually about a car. Funny that.

So, that left me with a dilemma. Should I try to still blog about two red cars? After some research, focusing on some good choices (Red Ragtop by Tim McGraw was a close contender), some ok choices (Red Camaro by Rascal Flatts, while the title fit the theme, I doubt Rascal Flats could write a cool song if their life depended on it), ending up with the downright absurd (Big Red Car by The Wiggles is one of the children's songs that will stay in your head for days, DAYS I tell you!)

So I abandoned the red, and settled with songs about colorful cars in general.  And that's when it all came together, with Springsteen's Pink Cadillac being an excellent companion piece to Rush's Red Barchetta.

These are two different songs about two entirely different forms of transportation. One is a Prog Rock classic, the other is an echo from the birth of Rock & Roll. One takes place in a dystopian future, one has it's feet firmly in the past.  One is about a shiny sports car, the other is about a huge land yacht more suited for cruising main street than racing mountain roads.  They are different, but I think they compliment each other wonderfully.

And, lastly, there is no denying, however, that both are very, very cool.

Enjoy

Monday, November 7, 2011: Prince - Raspberry Beret

It's COLOR Week!

All week long we'll be posting songs with colors in the title!




We are in an incredibly colorful time of the year, gentle reader. The leaves have recently been turning from green to a thousand Autumnal colors. We have just come out of the blood reds and pumpkin oranges of Halloween into the Festive Holiday Seasons where colorful decorations run throughout the stores, the trees, the houses. The skies may becoming grey with the onset of Winter (I mean, for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, mind), but the world around us is becoming bright and full of light and magic.

So, as a companion to the season, CSOTD will be doing a full week of music about color.

Just so we're clear: songs with colors in the title.

Not the actual word "color". Therefore, songs like Colors by Ice-T or Color Him Father by The Winstons do not count.

Also, we won't have any songs with Black or White in the title.

Since White is the presence of all color, and Black is the absence of all color (in general, depending on which color theory you're using) those songs will have to be put aside for yet another theme week.

So, without further ado, here is one of the coolest cats around. Yes, he could have started our engines with his Little Red Corvette, or had us dancing in the Purple Rain, but I've always loved the easy, groovy vibe of this colorful song.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Artist Formally Known As The Artist Formally Known As Prince.

Kick us off, oh Purple One!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

No blogging on a Sunday.

See you Monday!

Saturday, November 5, 2011: The "Songs My Mother Liked" Edition

Gentle reader, I hope you will indulge me for a little bit here.

I try not to interject too much of my own personal life here on this humble blog, but I feel I must make an exception for just today. See, my mother passed away last week.

I won't bore you with any of the details, just know that she had been in much pain for a very long time, and now she is at peace.

There are a lot of ways a child can remember their parents - I will use today's blog to share some of my mother's favorite music.

First up - Earl Bostic was an Alto Sax player extraordinaire, who can claim influence over a generation of Jazz and Rhythm & Blues players, including one certain John Coltrane. Mom had this 45 from her youth, and claimed that it was one of her favorite tracks ever. One of Bostic's biggest hits, here is his rendition of the jazz classic "Sleep"



My mother did not have exceptionally diverse taste in music, but she did have exceptional taste in music. This is best illustrated by her love for The Chairman Of The Board, Mr Frank Sinatra. And, out of that vast songbook, one selection stands out, 1955's In The Wee Small Hours. The first concept album, this towering achievement has been called "the finest vocal album of American popular songs ever recorded."

All I know is that all you young kids wearing your black clothes and thinking you are depressed - man, you have no idea.  I've heard pop songs, gothic songs, heavy metal and blues songs all thinking they are singing about loneliness and loss, and I'm here to tell you, they haven't any clue. If you want to know about heartache and heartbreak, In The Wee Small Hours, I guarantee you, is one of the saddest, most moving and most elegant albums ever made.



And, lastly, Mom loved Welsh Choirs. She loved all of the old hymns, but there was something about big Welsh Choirs that really made her misty.

So, this last one is for you, Mom. While I know you are now hearing a Heavenly choir that transcends any sounds we have down here, we'll look upwards towards the Heavenly sounds of The Fron Male Voice Choir.

I hope you found your peace.

Friday, November 4, 2011: The Beach Boys - I Get Around

It's the Weekend, boys!

Don't get bugged driving up and down the same old street, it's time to get around.

Make it count.