Any fans of "feelin good" music out there?

[ThatGuy]

4 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Here's something completely different.

It's Christopher Walker dancing.

You know, the guy who plays mobsters and psychos and did the famous "I need more cowbell" skit on SNL.

Here he's dancing solo like Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire. Granted, more modern, but still like them.

I remember this when it was new, I got a kick out of it. I've  seen a few parodies since then, too. (I think there's a trope about Christopher Walken dancing in his movies, too.) This recent commercial from TD bank is kind of a throwback to the Walken video...made me chuckle.
 

 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

TG,

I agree. That's probably what the YouTuber was riffing off of. (The movie, not the commercial.)

Kat and I took Sean to see that movie back when it came out and I remember liking this effect back then. The song didn't impress me as anything more than an average pop song that sounds like that, though, so I honestly didn't remember it was the same song as the CW video until I saw the movie clip just now.

But back then when I saw the movie, everything was cool. I felt good vibes whenever I thought of the it. Then the James Gunn pedo tweets scandal erupted and I put that movie out of my mind.

As to stumbling across the CW video with this same song, I don't think I can recreate the context for others of my frame of mind when I saw it. This was something so completely unexpected I was mesmerized and, at that moment, I believed this was done the way it was done with CW's intention. 

I was charmed. 

Even with all the correct history and contexts and so on, I'm going to hang onto that feeling.

 

Incidentally, this is a hell of a good study into putting disparate things together for a superior effect none of them produces on their own. When choosing music for, or scoring, a video, this elevation effect is something I will be shooting for as part of my aesthetic toolkit. The process is to find (or create) elements that don't really belong together, but have the same underlying mood. When you put them together, this seems to intensify the mood by a lot.

This is what I don't find in the original CW video. The song gives one mood to me, CW's dancing gives another, and they are connected by the Mickey Mousing. I prefer the connecting by same mood method.

I suppose the other has its uses, though. And people seem to like it. So I'm not going to put on the cloak of snobbery and dismiss it outright. Frankly, I can see where three or four Mickey-Moused moments would have been good in the CW-Redbone video. But for the predominant effect, I know what I prefer and I now have words for it.

Michael

[Peter]

I have mentioned this before but if you want a pick-me-up, watch the opening credits form the movie “Popeye” with Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall. The chorus sings “Sweethaven.”

[Peter]

I watched a reshowing of the Saturday Night Live skit “The Californians.” I have been wracking my brain about the Spanish sounding theme music and I think I have finally figured it out. It is from the various “The Californians” skits using the song “Ventura Highway” by the group America. Am I right?   

[Peter]

There are several versions of “I Don’t Have a Wooden Heart," notably by Elvis (singing to a puppet portraying the time he was a GI in Germany with children singing in the background) and Bobby Vinton’s version which was a big hit in America.

Yet I think the completely German version from 2001 by Helmut Lotti "Muss I Den" which is live and with an orchestra is better. But the very best is a English version which also has some lines in German by Joe Dowell. So please treat yourself to “Wooden Heart (Muss I Denn)" by Joe Dowell and maybe watch some of the Elvis video, and listen to that nearly operettic voice of Helmut Lotti!

[Peter]

This thread is the best place to go for a pick me up. Take a stroll through its songs.

Here’s a fine suggestion. “Feeling Good.” I like Nina Simone’s original version but I like Michael Buble’s version even better. It reminds me of some of Frank Sinatra’s musical accompaniments. Love that brass!

[Peter]

That thar, Jewish fella named Irving Berlin, he just had to make fun of us mountain and southern folk who are the salt of the earth. And who do he get to sing it? Dinah Shore, and she was born Fannye Rose Shore to Russian Jewish,  immigrant shopkeepers. Now get this Hillbilly, from Wikipedia. Shore was married to actor George Montgomery from 1943 to 1962. She gave birth to daughter Melissa Ann "Missy" Montgomery, in January 1948. Later the couple adopted a son, John David "Jody" Montgomery. Missy Montgomery also became an actress.

George Jacobs, in his memoir Mr. S about Frank Sinatra, for whom he worked as a longtime valet, claimed Shore and Sinatra had a long-standing affair in the 1950s. After her divorce in 1963 from Montgomery, she briefly married Maurice F. Smith. Her romances of the later 1960s involved comedian Dick Martin, singer Eddie Fisher, and actor Rod Taylor. In the early 1970s, Shore had a happy four-year public romance with actor Burt Reynolds, who was 20 years her junior. After the relationship cooled, the tabloids linked Shore with other younger men, including Wayne Rogers, Andy Williams, and Ron Ely. end quote

Burt Reynolds. I do declare, he was twenty years younger. How many beaus did she have that we know about? 13 or so. And the darn song seems to go on forever.

Doin’ What Comes Naturally by Irving Berlin

Folks are dumb where I come from
They ain't had any learnin'
Still they're happy as can be

Doin' what comes naturally
Doin' what comes naturally

Folks like us could never fuss
With schools and books and learnin'
Still we've gone from A to Z

Doin' what comes naturally
Doin' what comes naturally

You don't have to know how to read or write
When you're out with a feller in the pale moonlight
You don't have to look in a book to find

What he thinks of the moon or what is on his mind

That comes naturally
That comes naturally

My uncle out in Texas
Can't even write his name
He signs his checks with X's
But they cash 'em just the same

If you saw my pa and ma
You'd no they had no learnin'
Still they raised a family

Doin' what comes naturally
Doin' what comes naturally

Uncle Jed has never read
An almanac on drinkin'
Still he's always on a spree

Doin' what comes naturally
Doin' what comes naturally

Sister Sal who's mus-i-cal
Has never had a lesson
Still she's learned to sing off-key

Doin' what comes naturally
Doin' what comes naturally

You don't have to go to a private school
Not to pick up a penny by a stubborn mule
You don't have to have a professor's dome
Not to go for the honey when the bee's at home

That comes naturally
That comes naturally

My tiny baby brother
Who's never read a book
Knows one sex from the other
All he had to do was look

Grandpa Bill lives on the hill
With someone he just married
There he is at ninety-three

Doin' what comes naturally
Doin' what comes naturally

Sister Lou ain't got a sou
Although she goes out shoppin'
She gets all her stockings free

Doin' what comes naturally
Doin' what comes naturally

Cousin Nell can't add or spell
But she left school with honors
She got every known degree
 

For doin' what comes naturally
Doin' what comes naturally

You don't have to come from a great big town
Not to clean out a stable in an evening gown
You don't have to mix with the Vanderbilt's
Not to take off your panties when you're wearing kilts

That comes naturally
That comes naturally

My mother's cousin Carrie
Won't ever change her name
She doesn't want to marry
And her children feel the same

Sister Rose has lots of beaus
Although we have no parlor
She does fine behind a tree

Doin' what comes naturally
Doin' what comes naturally

[william.scherk]

Youtube threw this up at me -- Kyu Sakamoto with a world-wide best-seller first released in 1961. It was one of the first songs I found myself attached to around age 5, joined later by Petula Clark's struts and love marches from the AM hit parade.

Sakamoto seems to smile through a lonely situation. That's showbiz!

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by william.scherk
Tightened tendons

[Peter]

5 hours ago, william.scherk said:

Kyu Sakamoto

I have not thought of that song in a half century and I am only jiggly bob years old. I think he was doing his own whistling too. 

[Peter]

5 hours ago, william.scherk said:

Sakamoto seems to smile through a lonely situation. That's showbiz!

That brought back memories. It is sad, to lose the love of your life.

I love Michael’s stories about living in Brazil. I spent three years in Hawaii, with a mainly Japanese American population. But to be fair my high school was Radford with a large military family population and I lived in Naval housing, and then I lived in Sasebo Japan for around 9 months. And later I spent 13 months in South Korea. I have mentioned this before but IMHO South Koreans are most like Americans and have some sterling qualities. Peter        

The words to what we call Sukiaki are sad. Peter

Sukiaki [English translation:]

I look up while I walk
So the tears won't fall
Remembering those spring days
But tonight I'm all alone
I look up while I walk
Counting the stars with teary eyes
Remembering those summer days
But tonight I'm all alone
Happiness lies beyond the clouds
Happiness lies above the sky
I look up while I walk
So the tears won't fall
I cry while I walk
For I am alone tonight
Remembering those autumn days
But tonight I'm all alone
Sadness hides in the shadow of the stars
Sadness hides in the shadow of the moon
I look up while I walk
So the tears won't fall
My heart is filled with sorrow
For tonight I am alone
For tonight I am alone

[turkeyfoot]

I was down in ole Cozemel having a drink and 2 guitarists made their way towards my table, being the only gringo in the crowd they may have figured I'd pay to hear them. Right they were.  "Do you know Guantanemera", I asked.? Si Senor. I asked them to play and sing it 3 times. Love the song as one of those I latched on to in my youth. Same with Sukyaki.

 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

19 hours ago, turkeyfoot said:

"Do you know Guantanemera", I asked.? Si Senor.

Turkeyfoot,

Man, did that take me back.

In Brazil, I once produced a trio (Maria, Barret and Sergio) who sung Guantanamera with a plaintiveness I have not heard in any other version. They kept the plaintiveness all throughout the song and did not emphasize the climaxes. The result was an enormously satisfying emotional trance of deep longing.

First, they sang it slower than most people do. Second, they only used two acoustic guitars and, although they set a groove, it was soft, subtle and focused on little motives (kernels of background melody) coming out of the rhythm.

Also, in almost all versions I have heard, there comes a moment when the singer opens up on volume and the accompaniment starts pounding.

Maria did not do that. She kept it understated as did Barret and Sergio on the guitars.

And third, they had the most delicious vocal harmonies (sort of like the Bee Gees form of vocals, but theirs, not imitative).

I swear, you could feel the tropical breeze under a palm tree by the beach on a lazy afternoon.

Often, there would be a lot of people in the audience choked up with tears after they sang.

I don't know what happened to them. I know that Sergio became an evangelical Christian and stopped being a professional musician. Maria and Barret were married and I have not heard from them for years. They were all beautiful people. I miss them...

Thanks for reminding me of that song.

Michael

[turkeyfoot]

1 hour ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Turkeyfoot,

Man, did that take me back.

In Brazil, I once produced a trio (Maria, Barret and Sergio) who sung Guantanamera with a plaintiveness I have not heard in any other version. They kept the plaintiveness all throughout the song and did not emphasize the climaxes. The result was an enormously satisfying emotional trance of deep longing.

First, they sang it slower than most people do. Second, they only used two acoustic guitars and, although they set a groove, it was soft, subtle and focused on little motives (kernels of background melody) coming out of the rhythm.

Also, in almost all versions I have heard, there comes a moment when the singer opens up on volume and the accompaniment starts pounding.

Maria did not do that. She kept it understated as did Barret and Sergio on the guitars.

And third, they had the most delicious vocal harmonies (sort of like the Bee Gees form of vocals, but theirs, not imitative).

I swear, you could feel the tropical breeze under a palm tree by the beach on a lazy afternoon.

Often, there would be a lot of people in the audience choked up with tears after they sang.

I don't know what happened to them. I know that Sergio became an evangelical Christian and stopped being a professional musician. Maria and Barret were married and I have not heard from them for years. They were all beautiful people. I miss them...

Thanks for reminding me of that song.

Michael

Yes, its the melody not the lyric that is so evocative.   

Exactly. Plaintive....heart rending lamentation. You've listened to a lot of music to describe this so well.

Though Guantanemera sounds like the aching of one persons heart I'm beginning to recognize what is known as "call and response" ie; a questioning phrase and its answer. I suppose the give and take in it is between the listener and the song. It's in the pocket.

  

[turkeyfoot]

Here's an obviously beautiful song. Notice the octave change. It had been so long since I last heard this I didn't recall it. It's a Franklin Glider capo. It makes the song.

 

[Peter]

If you have a channel called MSG, give it a look. The initials stand for Madison Square Garden. Last night they had a concert with The Eagles and Vince Gill was performing with them. We heard some wonderful hits from the 80’s. Hotel California. Desperado. Take It Easy. Peaceful Easy Feeling. Take It To The Limit. Lying Eyes. Tequila Sunrise. One of These Nights. New Kid In Town. How Long.  

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

This is more dance than music. 

In fact, when I see this thing, I'm not crazy about the music. But the dance with skip ropes makes me feel great.

 

Mind-blowing Double Dutch dance routine is simply amazing

RUMBLE.COM

---

Check out how smooth and easy this dancer makes it looks while performing Double Dutch. So cool!

Rand talked about tap dancing being her favorite form of dance. I think this thing hits the same kind of aesthetic.

Michael

[william.scherk]

This is a bizarre, unattractive video of a lively 2004 European 'summer hit' Dragostea Din Tei by a band from Moldova called O-Zone. Originally sang in Romanian. Bizarre and unattractive may be wrong, since this garnered almost fifty-five millions views. Will i figure out why?

 

This is a straight version remastered with English Lyrics. There is something about the falsetto refrain that perches on the edge of hideous or sublime. 

 

I hadn't looked up the song before, but it gets use as a fun-poking tool in certain quarters. Here's Wendy Rogers made just a touch more zany than she is in real life.

 

 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

16 hours ago, william.scherk said:

Here's Wendy Rogers made just a touch more zany than she is in real life.

For people who want to see what Wendy Rogers is like in real life, here is a recent interview she did with Mel K.

Mel K Welcomes Hero Veteran & Fierce Arizona Senator Wendy Rogers on Saving Our Union 12-22-21

WWW.BITCHUTE.COM

---

Arizona Senator Wendy Rogers joins Mel to breakdown the overwhelming evidence of election fraud, what the people can do about it, and why it's critical to insure 2022 is not stolen by the same...

I question the judgement of anyone who thinks that down-to-earth middle class woman with a military background is zany.

How on earth is that woman zany? Just listen to her talk. Skip around in the video and stop at any point where she is talking and just watch for a bit.

Wendy Rogers is perfectly normal and even a bit ordinary. There is nothing zany about her.

Calling her zany is like calling Mika Brzezinski zany.

Mika is an asshole, but she's a totally ordinary woman in her behavior and demeanor--dress, vocabulary, manners, gestures, etc. etc. etc.

I don't understand the relevance of "zany" when applied to Wendy Rogers, or to Mika Brzezinski for that matter.

Michael

[william.scherk]

"Hi there, handsome."

 

On 12/22/2021 at 1:47 PM, william.scherk said:

Here's Wendy Rogers made just a touch more zany than she is in real life.

Wendy Rogers was just censured by the Arizona state senate ... in part for her speech to the AFPAC hoedown, which speech contained her all-but-endorsement of Nick Fuentes ... she had been lately in the Kook-watch zone upon her oddly-hostile remarks about the Ukrainian president.

In the recorded speech played to AFPAC attendees, she does not make clear which  communist traitors will be mounting the gallows first.  

Wendy Rogers Full AFPAC Speech

WENDYROGERS.ORG

---

Watch AZ Sen. Wendy Rogers' full speech from the America First Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, where...

I wonder if anyone will call for Wendy Rogers to be decertified.

Spoiler

"So today is the day where we find out if the Communists in the GOP throw the sweet grandma under the bus for being white," she wrote early Tuesday on her Telegram channel. Telegram is a messaging app favored by conservatives."

 

 

Edited March 1, 2022 by william.scherk
Added Rogers quote from her Telegram channel

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

William.

You are in full prejudice feather today.

Did something ruffle them?

Michael

[ThatGuy]

Hmmm...these last few, uh, "songs" don't have me "feelin' good"...
Now this one, on the other hand...
 

Ah...that's the stuff.
"Feels so good..."

[ThatGuy]

7 minutes ago, ThatGuy said:

Hmmm...these last few "songs" don't have me "feelin' good"...
Now this one, on the other hand...
 

Ah...that's the stuff.
"Feels so good..."

(Also known as "Morning's Here" from that feel-good tv show, Friends...)
"Morn-ings here, the morning's heeere..."
 

[Peter]

Some years ago, I sat about five feet away at our dinner table from Brenda Lee as she performed in Fenwick Delaware. She asked me to take my glasses off because the lights were reflecting into her eyes, so of course I did.

Then on Friday’s TV, a local performer with a band performed a Brenda Lee song which has prompted me to write here. How can such simplicity sound so goooood? I had this one on a 45.   

Brenda Lee’s “Sweet Nothin’s.”

[whispering] Uh huh, Honey
[whispering] Alright

My baby whispers in my ear (pst pst pst)
Mmmm sweet nothin's
He knows the things I like to hear (pst pst pst)
Mmmm sweet nothin's
Things he wouldn't tell
Nobody else
Secret baby
I keep 'em to myself
Sweet nothin's
Mmmm sweet nothin's

We walk along hand in hand
Mmmm sweet nothin's
Yeah, we both understand
Mmmm sweet nothin's
Sittin' in the classroom trying to read my book
My baby give me that special look
Sweet nothin's
Mmmm sweet nothin's

Ah, sittin on my front porch (pst pst pst)
Mmmm sweet nothin's
Well, do I love you? Of course (pst pst pst)
Mmmm sweet nothin's
Mama turned on the front porch light
Sayin', "Come in darlin', that's enough for tonight"
Sweet nothins
Mmmm sweet nothin's
Sweet nothins
Mmmm sweet nothin's

Sweet nothins

[Backlighting]

 

[John King 2112]

Here's two sung by Steve Winwood, one with his band Traffic, the other solo. Odd choice in one respect: Winwood most often worked with a lyricist, not that he couldn't write them, just that in his own words, he had to 'work on them'.