I grew up, small for my age, constantly afraid of the big tough Sicilian kids I’d see hanging out on my way to school. My fear was overblown – the worst that ever happened was some kids threw me in a snow bank. What scared me worse than the kids downtown were bikers, namely the…
Ick Factor – 10 Worst Songs of the ’60s
Creepy, psychotic, and just plain terrible. 60’s music at its best (see previous post) expresses the boundless optimism of that time, people’s hopes for freedom from oppression and repression. But that decade was also dark, with heroes assassinated, endless killing in Vietnam, cities burning….and some very, very bad songs. image by laurakgibbs via flickr 1….
Fishin’ Blues Part 3: Ear Worms
“Nobody likes me, Everybody hates me, Guess I’ll go eat worms” –Children’s song The earworm is a special sub category of the hook. While a good hook makes you long to hear the song again, an earworm compels it, crawling into your ear and making the song play all by itself…
Fishin’ Blues Part 2: Ear Candy
Part 2: Ear Candy “Hand me my old guitar Pass the whiskey round Won’t you tell everybody you meet that the Candyman’s in town Look out, look out, the Candyman Here he come and he’s gone again” – Hunter, Garcia At the beginning of the ‘80s, I began hearing a new term: Ear Candy…
Fishin’ Blues Part 1: Musical Hooks
“I’m a going fishin’, all the time, you can go fishin’ too You bet your life, sweet lovin’ wife I can catch more fish than you Many fishes bite if you got good bait Now here’s a little something I would like to relate Many fishes bite if ya got good bait…” Attributed to Taj…
Penny Wise, Pound Foolish
A couple of times a week Thomas Friedman has a brilliant idea that explains everything in the world economy! Or the world political situation! Or both! That’s convenient, because he also has a column in the New York Times a couple of times a week in which to disseminate these gems. While the Times has…
Unfashionable Music – Classical
Classical Music on Life Support For years music critics have bemoaned the decline of classical music – with good reason. CD sales keep falling, along with concert attendance. Orchestras and opera companies face life and death struggles. Radio stations with exclusively classical formats are a dying breed. You don’t have to be a music critic…
Ten ’60s albums that changed everything
1.Blonde on Blonde (Bob Dylan) It’s soaked in what the master himself called “that wild mercury sound.” Reasons it’s stupendously great? “Visions of Johanna,” “Sad Eyed Lady,” “Just Like a Woman” – enough right there. Oh yeah, and “Memphis Blues Again,” “I Want You,” “Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat”… 2. Blue (Joni Mitchell)* OK, it came…
What is a Music Library?
Music libraries, more accurately described as production music libraries, supply music for productions. Why do you need one? Can’t you just use whatever might sound good from your CD/iTunes collection? No….
Avatar
I saw Avatar twice – loved the 3-D, iridescent flora and fauna, floating mountains, and of course the flying. A lot of critics complained about the story. It didn’t bother me, it even hung together better the second time around. What bothered me was the music. Now James Horner is no slouch. His breakthrough score…
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