Songs You Can't Get out of your Head

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Stephen,

I love the remix.

It took out some of the dullness in the background mid frequencies of the original and allowed the pounding keyboard (which I am not fond of) to be just a bit less aggressive, a little bit less of a contrast to the world of the rest of the sounds. I can probably find other stuff if I go into it (I sense a slight more presence in Sheena's voice, for instance, maybe due to manipulating the frequencies, not increasing the volume), but just those two changes, which are subtle, not in your face, are great.

This, to me, enhanced the sense of wonder present in that song and arrangement.

Michael

[Peter]

I woke up with “Steam Boat Annie’ in my head, but weirdly I was remembering “Steamboat Willy” as the lyrics. Feeling a wee bit nostalgic? Listen to Heart doing “Steam Boat Annie,” “These Dreams,” “What about Love” or “All I want to do is make love to you.”

Feel like rocking? Listen to Heart doing, “Magic Man,” “Crazy on you,” or “Barracuda.”  

[Peter]

Heart’s “Dreamboat Annie.” I just listened to it again. What wonderful harmonies. 

[Marc]

4 hours ago, Peter said:

Heart’s “Dreamboat Annie.” I just listened to it again. What wonderful harmonies. 

Great song!!!!!

How about Fleetwood Mac, Sara, Dreams and Rhiannon 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Here is a medley of songs you can't get out of your head performed by Anthony Newly and Sammy Davis Jr. 

These guys were huge friends and you can see it in their demeanor on stage--live by the way. No autotune of overdubbing here. And all of it rehearsed to perfection.

The songs are all written by Newly and his co-author, Leslie Bricusse.

 

I came across this because I played in a musical in high-school called "The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd" by Newly and Bricusse. I loved the experience. And the songs.

Now that I have revisited Newly, I have to get more. I'm going to do it, too. Thank God for YouTube (even though Google is still evil  ). 

 

The lyrics to Newly and Bricusse's songs are studies in squeezing the most out of each main word. He reuses a word over and over, sometimes adding new meaning to it where most songwriters would put a new line. Look at the first verse of "The Candyman":

Who can take a sunrise
Sprinkle it with dew?
Cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two?
The Candy Man.
The Candy Man can.
The Candy Man can 'cause he mixes it with love 
And makes the world taste good.

If you like poetic technique, economy of technique doesn't get better than that. When they do the call and response in most sung versions on the words, "the candy man," the impact doubles.

Or look at the first verse of "Feeling Good":

Birds flying high,
You know how I feel.
Sun in the sky,
You know how I feel.
Breeze drifting on by,
You know how I feel.
It's a new dawn,
It's a new day,
It's a new life,
For me.
And I'm feeling good.

Damn, that's good. Hell, that's great.  And believe it nor not, the poetic techniques themselves are more Biblical than standard lyric-writing. (I've been studying how to do this and where it comes from.)

 

The story of "The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd" can rival anything being performed on Broadway that I know of in creativity. And it is so relevant to today's world, it's painful that this has fallen out of the public's eye.

But there's a worm in the apple. A secondary character who's role is important is called The Negro and he doesn't address racism. In fact, he wins the game while no one is looking. That's a nice slap in the face to all the woke bullshit happening these days. However, because of today's woke crap, I think it is going to be near impossible to resurrect this musical to a mainstream production again. At least until the woke crap passes into the toilet of history and flushed.

The story is about two main characters, one called Cocky who is poor and one called Sir who is rich. There is a game they play (this is an abstract parable kind of story, not realism). Every time Sir plays it, he wins. Every time Cocky plays it, whether for love or business, they change the rules on him and he loses. 

Doesn't that sound like today's world? Banking and finance? Helloooo...  

Famous songs from this musical: "On a Wonderful Day Like Today," "The Joker," "Feeling Good," "Who Can I Turn To When Nobody Needs Me?" and others.

Dayaamm was this guy talented.

And his songs stick in your head. They breed earworms.

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I recently got turned onto Enya.

I watched a bunch of her YouTube videos.

They are pretty, but there is only one song by her so far that got me, "Only Time."

I go into a trance every time I hear it.

And in the visual production of this clip, she is just gorgeous, with something slightly off that I can't put my finger on. Something dangerous.

This is one of those songs with images I can't get out of my head. In fact, I am thinking of using what I see in this clip as a general model for a character in one of the novels I am working on.

Oddly enough, the character is a villain.  

But the song is perfection.

 

 

Here's a glimpse of what I see for my character. It's a screenshot from the video.

Enya would probably kill me for saying this since her aesthetic (based on her other songs) has nothing to do with what I see.

There is an other-worldly feel to her as her eyes are set on a vision that burns inside her. She is lovely, yet there is an undertone of a dangerous animal predator, like a cross between an eagle and a leopard. You miss it unless you are looking for it.

You are drawn to her like a wasp to a flame, but you know inside you do not want to piss her off.

She will grind you up in slow motion if you get in her way.

I am using these thoughts for a guru.

Michael

[Peter]

I like "Only Time." Thanks for recommending it.

[turkeyfoot]

Thats the only song I know that starts like this and I figured it out in 2 measures as it went on it was the sound I heard in my head. But until I heard her voice I hadnt known I heard her (Enya) before. It was probably a movie or commercial and it turns out it was Sweet November.

Its sound is along the lines of Hallelujah (hypnotic and laborious) and Im fine hearing it once every 10 yrs or so but glad it inspires you. The web said Leonard Cohen said the song represented absolute surrender in a situation you cannot fix or dominate.

 

[Peter]

Do you like songs with excellent music? Is it time for another listen? Oh, yeah. Jerry Rafferty: “Baker Street.”

[Peter]

Wow, America's mom and pop culture goes "way back." Feeling nostalgic for a song from the 1920’s simply for a little background music?  Listen to “Stardust” on You Tube as sung by Nat King Cole.

[Peter]

bim bom bay song youtube videos - Search Videos

WWW.BING.COM

What a simple but nice song.

 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Peter,

I embedded your video for you.

I don't know why, but that Bimbombey song reminded me of Shirley Elis in "The Name Game" back in the day.

Here are two versions, one with good sound but over a still image, and other with dancing, but the sound is so-so. At least you get to see what Shirley looked like performing.

 

 

and

And yes, you can't get this sucker out of your mind once it gets in.

 

Michael

[Peter]

 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Peter,

I used to be a big fan of Barbara Streisand.

To me, her greatest work was when she was young and hungry, not later when she was too polished and too preachy.

After I realized that, I also realized her initials were BS.

 

Michael

[Peter]

There are a lot of versions of this song. Here is one version that might give you goose bumps.

Ghost Riders In The Sky - sung by Marty Robbins

 

 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Peter,

I have a soft spot for that song, which has to be one of the most covered songs in the world.

Marty Robbins gets the raw energy going. It's a wonderful version.

btw - I embedded the video of song in your post.

 

Here are a few fun facts about the "Ghost Riders in the Sky."

The melody was based on "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." I think the familiarity of that song frame along with the dream-like images in the lyrics made it a hit right from the start.

 

Stan Jones, the songwriter, did a lot of music for Westerns, including the theme song for Cheyenne, the first super-popular Western TV series. It's hard to find these days, but I found some full episodes on YouTube. I think showing Confederates in a good light (even if it was in the West) has been targeted by "muh racism," but I also remember growing up watching reruns of that show. 

 

Burl Ives did the first version of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" to hit the charts. His style is not a form of singing popular these days, but I find it beautiful in its own way. He actually made this song wistful.

 

And here is Johnny Cash doing the song with The Muppets. He almost loses it a few times. It was hard for him to keep a straight face.

 

 

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I was not into rock when I was younger. When I started producing pop music in Brazil, I produced all sorts of genres and produced some rock, too.

So I developed an appreciation for it.

But I had no knowledge of most of the repertoire.

Even today, once in a while, I get a delight from the past as something new.

 

I just came across “Take It To The Limit” by the Eagles.

Now I know I will not get the refrain "Take it to the limit one more time" out of my mind for a long time.  

 

Actually, it might be a good idea I did not come across this song during my alcohol and drug years.

 

Also, this just crossed my mind. There is a constant mantra about alcohol: "drink responsibly."

Sometimes it's a good idea to "dream responsibly," too.

Not always, but sometimes.

Take it to the limit. Don't take it past the limit and kill yourself.

 

Michael