Yesterday, fitness guru Jack LaLanne passed away at the age of 96. He was noted not only for his early recognition of the importance of exercise and proper diet, but for the way he turned to mass media to spread the word. His TV fitness program The Jack LaLanne Show debuted in 1951 on local [...]
Dionne Warwick Sings in French
[EDITORIAL NOTE: At one time, I regularly posted music on this blog. I was informed that I was in danger of having this turn into a music blog, instead of one broadly focusing on pop culture. Having lately browsed through my massive record collection and recognized that I have a lot of rare and obscure [...]
Ring in the New Year
Each year, I complete my holiday music offerings with a few songs for the new year. Invariably, these songs are accompanied by bittersweet recriminations, wistful longing and timid hopes for the coming year. This year is no different. I’ve said some version of this before, but here we go… Time is an artificial construct. Sure, [...]
Sounds of the Season 2010
As usual, here’s a recap of all the songs I posted for this year. As mentioned previously, I tended to go for the obscure this time. See previous posts for the background on each selection. Divide & Kreate — Jingle Jane Divide & Kreate — Velvet Santa Dan Türell & Halfdan E – Jul Igen [...]
“Santa Claus, please listen to my pleas…”
I guess it’s time to wrap it up for Christmas 2010. I thought I’d go out with a couple R&B/soul songs – one of my favorite varieties of Christmas tunes. Gatemouth Moore, backed by the Tiny Grimes Swingtet, offers a classic plea directed at santa Claus. The final lines are one of my favorite set [...]
Twisting Songs to Reveal the Truth
It’s about time I threw another couple mash-ups into the mix. From Christina Aguilera’s 2000 album My Kind of Christmas, the track “Christmas Time” represents a particularly crass kind of expression of the Yuletide. It’s hip, it’s commercial, it pretends to celebrate an innocent time. It’s not hugely sappy, employing minor chords and evoking carol [...]
Have a Super Merry Christmas
Continuing on in the pop vein of the last pair of songs, here are a couple of peppy Christmas songs from Redd Kross. In 1980, at the height of the L.A. punk scene, teenagers Jeff and Steve McDonald started the band Red Cross (spelling later changed to avoid legal trouble). They were as much influenced [...]
A Wistful View of Christmas
If you’ve been paying attention, I hope I’ve made it clear that anyone claiming the existence of a “one true meaning of Christmas” is not supported by historical facts. If you like to celebrate Christmas as being primarily (or entirely) as celebration of the birth of Jesus, then good for you. Bookending Christmas & Easter [...]
Christmas on the Keys
Following up on yesterday’s post, I’ll continue in a traditionalist vein today. Oh, the 1950s! Awkward period of transition! In post-War America, it seems like the most interesting developments were on the edges, such as rock and jazz. Mainstream popular music was pretty bland. You must recall that what we think of as Fifties culture [...]
Christmas on Strings
This year, I consciously have tried to post less familiar Christmas music, leaning more on originals. Disregarding the Hanukkah songs, there have been 7 songs of a traditional nature, versus 13 more modern songs. Today, however, I wanted to throw in some time-honored classics. Not only are they old hymns and carols, they are played [...]