Pop songs Ayn would have loved


mikelee999

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You guys over hyeah are missing one. No doubt.

Hey, It Beats Listening to Lanza.

I've never understood why anyone likes Lanza.

I 'm reproducing here one of my posts from an earlier discussion of romantic music on OL

Jonathan had written, "Btw, does obsessively listening to Mario Lanza turn one into self-important twit, or are self-important twits obsessively attracted to Mario Lanza? Either way, there appears to be a lot of evidence that connects obsessing over Lanza with being a self-important twit."

Please find it in your heart to forgive Lanza for numbering Perigo among his fans. Lanza (of whom I am a passionate admirer) had and has many more respectable fans.

When conductor Serge Koussevitzky heard the young Lanza sing, "his response was shocked, sincere, and immediate. Repeating the words 'Caruso redivivus', the maestro made immediate plans for Lanza to sing at Tanglewood. "Yours is a voice such as is heard only once in a hundred years," he said.

Enrico Rosati, formerly coach to Gigli, said that Mario Lanza had one of the most beautiful voices he had ever heard.

Lanza has been a major influence on the generation of tenors who came after him. Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, Josep Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, and Jerry Hadley all credit Lanza as an inspiration to them in pursuing their chosen careers.

Most of the music critics of his day agreed that Lanza's vocal range and quality were at least on a par with Caruso.

Maria Callas (not known for her praise of contemporary singers) called Lanza "Caruso's successor," and in a 1973 interview said of him: "My biggest regret is not to have had the opportunity of singing with the greatest tenor voice I have ever heard."

"You have the greatest given throat ever heard in a young man." - Tito Schipa

"Mario Lanza has the greatest singing instrument ever bestowed on a human being." - George London

"We were both surprised by the size of the voice--we were also impressed by Lanza’s innate musicality. No doubt he could have had an outstanding operatic career." - Richard Bonynge and Joan Sutherland

"Mario could have sung in any opera house in the world and his career would have been sensational." - Dorothy Kirsten

"He had a voice of enormous dramatic impact." - Placido Domingo

"His magnificent voice enriched our lives and introduced us to a wide spectrum of classical and popular music." - José Carreras

"He had a fantastic voice--not just wonderful--a fantastic voice." - Luciano Pavarotti

Barbara

I

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Subject: Dumb, Musically Illiterate Phil

Barbara,

I am a Lanza Virgin.

Plus I don't like opera (loud shrill screaming in a foreign language.) When I like Jazz it is dumbed down or 'pop' like Al Hirt - that's it. I like pop music, Elvis Presley, etc. Simple but rhythmic stuff. Rock 'n roll. The Beatles. Bob Dylan. Paul Simon. My tastes are very middle America and pretty lowbrow in music. Nothing flaky or highbrow or esoteric.

In classical music, my tastes run to the Baroque (Handel, Purcell, Vivaldi, Telemann, some Bach) and not too much else.

Two Questions:

1. Is there any hope for me? Or am I simply condemned to be an uncultured slob, musically speaking?

2. Is there anything simple, basic, bourgeois by Lanza that I might like? You know, more pop and uncultured than opera.

PS, I'm thinking of becoming adventurous and experimenting with that dark, edgy, beatnik composer Lawrence Welk.

Edited by Philip Coates
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Phil, if you can find a CD of Friml's operetta, Vagabond King with Lanza in the lead, get it. It's the most fantastic thing ever. Based on a french legend, vagabond and thief Villon becomes King For A Day when Louis XI gets fed up. The songs are heartbreaking, the fighting song when Villon a king stirs up the soldiers against the hated Burgondians will double your heart rate, the love song Only A Rose will make you cry, as you will when prostitute Villette (sp) sings Love For Sale. As for The Drinking Song - funny as hell.

The whole operetta is filled with the best songs ever. Try it. But it has to be Lanza. No other singer has done Villon justice.

Edited by ginny
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You're missing the point. It was not the singer of a song she responded to as embodying her sense of life. .It was the melody.

That's actually what I am referring to, Barbara. This especially applies to Mariah's early stuff, before she divorced Tommy Mottola. There was a very happy and positive vibe to her music. Another guy I know described her as "syrupy sweet." I really prefer the Mariah Carey of those days.

Edited by Chris Baker
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2. Is there anything simple, basic, bourgeois by Lanza that I might like? You know, more pop and uncultured than opera.

Give these a shot, and report back:

You say "by Lanza", but he was a performer, not a writer. He came and went before rock n roll was around, and maybe he's just not for you. I, for one, can only take him in small doses.

PS, I'm thinking of becoming adventurous and experimenting with that dark, edgy, beatnik composer Lawrence Welk.

My Grandmother lives for the reruns. Every Sunday, 5pm, don't even try to call then.

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If it didn't come from her or her husband she wouldn't have liked it.

She reportedly explored Deems Taylor’s work, guided by the composer. She wanted him to create an opera based on Anthem, using atonality to depict the bad guys. I believe you’ll find this in the Heller bio. It would be worth bringing up the next time Perigo goes on one of his rants…I mean assuming any conversation with that entity would ever be worth having.

Your comment implies that she wasn’t open to being introduced to new music, depending on who was doing the introducing. That would be rather second handed, don’t you think? She made the request about not sending her records because strangers had such a bad batting average in picking music she’d like, I don’t read anything more into it than that.

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Here's a song I am sure Ayn would have enjoyed very much!!!! It's a great song!!!!!!!! Too bad it falls outside the ortho box of what is acceptable. To me, it's definitely not!!!!! But hey, that's ME and don't care!!!!!!

"Just Fine"

You know I love music

And every time I hear something hot

It makes me wanna move

It makes me wanna have fun

But it’s something about this joint right here

This joint right here

Its makes me wanna…Woooh

Let it go……

Can’t let this thing called love get away from you

Feel free right now, go do what you want to do

Can’t let nobody take it away, from you, from me, from we

No time for mopping around, are you kidding?

And no time for negative vibes, cause I’m winning

It’s been a long week, I put in my hardest

Gonna live my life, feels so good to get it right

So I like what I see when I’m looking at me

When I’m walking past the mirror

No stress through the night, at a time in my life

Ain’t worried about if you feel it

Got my head on straight, I got my mind right

I aint gonna let you kill it

You see I wouldn’t change my life, my life’s just…

Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh

Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh

Just fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh

You see I wouldn’t change my life, my life’s just fine

Feels so good, when you’re doing all the things that you want to do

Get the best out of life, treat yourself to something new

Keep your head up high

In yourself, believe in you, believe in me

Having a really good time, I’m not complaining

And I’m gonna still wear a smile if it's raining

I got to enjoy myself regardless

I appreciate life, I’m so glad I got mine

So I like what I see when I’m looking at me

When I’m walking past the mirror

Aint worried about you and what you gonna do

I’m a lady so I must stay classy

Got to keep it hot, keep it together

If I want to get better

You see I wouldn’t change my life, my life’s just

Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh

Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh

Just fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh

You see I won’t change my life, my life’s just fine

I aint gon’ let nothing get in my way

(I ain't gone let nobody bring me down, no, no, no)

No matter what nobody has to say

(No way, no way, no way)

I ain’t gon’ let nothing get in my way

No matter what nobody has to say

Feels so good, when you’re doing all the things that you want to do

Get the best out of life, treat yourself to something new

It’s a really good thing to say

That I won’t change my life, my life’s just fine

Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh

Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh

Just fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh

You see I won’t change my life, my life’s just fine

So I like what I see when I’m looking at me

When I’m walking past the mirror

No stress through the night, at a time in my life

Ain’t worried about if you feel it

Got my head on straight, I got my mind right

I ain’t gonna let you kill it

You see I wouldn’t change my life, my life’s just

Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh

Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh

Just fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh

You see I wouldn’t change my life, my life’s just fine

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  • 3 years later...

I am sure she either liked or would have liked the Sinatra Standard: I did it my way...

Ba'al Chatzaf

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Ran across this forum looking for music that had objectivist ideas in it. Not so easy to find I see. Even though this is an older thread it is a timeless quest probably. Anyway, this song isn't quite that but it is a song called 'Wyatt's Torch', about 'Wyatt's Torch"from Atlas Shrugged.

http://www.juliekovich.com/DISCOGRAPHY.html

Anna,

Welcome to OL.

That is a cool song. I don't know if Ayn Rand would have liked it, but I sure do. Nice hook.

I listened to several at that link and I also liked "Dr. of Destruction."

It was a pleasant surprise to come across Julie Kovich. I don't generally listen to that kind of pop.

Here's the most popular song of hers on Amazon (which is not bad): What Is It About You?

According to what I dug up, "Wyatt's Torch" is from 1996 and her latest album is from 2002.

Whatever happened to her?

Michael

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I just re-listened to Julie Kovich's song "Wyatt's Torch."

I really like it. Whew! It wasn't just me being sleepy last night. :smile:

So how do you hear it? Well, it's kind of convoluted. There is nowhere I can find it in an embeddable form, so here is a walkthrough from the link Ms. Anna was so kind to provide.

First go to the link below.

You will probably have to have Quicktime to hear the songs on that page (not all are available), but I'm not sure. In any case, you can get Quicktime from Apple here (it's free).

But before you do all that, try to see if your browser will play the tune as it is. If not, jump through the Quicktime hoops.

So... after you land on Julie Kovich's Discography page, go to the left column and look at the third song starting from the top. That is "Wyatt's Torch."

Then just listen.

Like I said, I think it is pretty cool.

If you want to hear it, I suggest you do it soon. That page looks in disrepair so it might be taken down before too long. Also, at the time of this post, the song is not for sale on Amazon or another site that seems to be hers, JK7 Music.

I kind of feel sorry for this singer because she obviously has talent (pop singer talent, but talent). Alas, she is nowhere to be found in the current culture.

Michael

EDIT: You can buy the full CD (without audio preview) on Amazon here: Wyatt's Torch. It's only three and a half bucks or so used. (About seven dollars or so with shipping.) Incidentally, the name of the album is the same as the name of the song. I just bought a copy to have in my archives.

Also, it seems Julie Kovich uses another name at times, Julie Genevis. But it's hard to find stuff on her, too.

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Let me make an addition to my liking Kovich. I don't like the canned-sounding arrangements of her production, nor do I like the emotional distance in her lyrics.

However, I do like the hook (imagery and music) of "Wyatt's Torch" and she sings pretty decently. It sticks in memory in a very pleasant manner, at least in mine.

Michael

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't think Rand would have liked pop music.

If you weren't her husband she likely would have disliked any suggestions.

Dagny must have been driving herself crazy only listening to the music of one man. Even someone crazy about Bach wouldn't have been that nuts unless literally insane.

--Brant

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  • 5 years later...

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