Category: Music

Let’s Play Muzak DJ!

The cable TV service Music Choice has a channel with the genre that, as a kid, made my skin crawl, but now I’m coming to appreciate. Easy listening! It’s called Elevator Music, but for me the reason it made my skin crawl is that I always heard it at the dentist office, while having my teeth drilled!

The video has 12 minutes of the Music Choice Easy Listening channel, started at a totally random point. I’ll use that as the springboard for the rest of the post.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/JUL07/EZListening.flv 400 300]

Well, let’s see what’s in there. A bit of “Something,” followed by Zamfir doing the love theme to Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western, “Once Upon A Time In The West.” Then Acker Bilk did “Jean” — nice coincidence for my sister there — and blind pianist George Shearing had Petula Clark’s “Call Me,” which is a nice coincidence for me! Lastly is a portion of the old standard “Dream.”

Acker Bilk is best remembered for “Stranger On The Shore,” so let’s hear that.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/JUL07/AckerBilk.mp3]

And “Jean,” from the movie The Prime of Miss Jean Brody, was originally a single for Oliver. I have that, too.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/JUL07/Jean.mp3]

I’ve been woefully lax in posting all of the Petula Clark material that I have. I’ll get back to that at some point, with a vengeance. For the moment, I’ll give you the studio recording of “Call Me”…

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/JUL07/CallMe.mp3]

… and here’s Pet’s 1970 appearance on Dean Martin’s show, after she stopped being so stiff and stagy, and was truer to herself — smooth and sexy. But yikes, those corny guest cameos are too much to take! Who wrote this stuff? I can see why variety shows didn’t survive the next generational shift. But having Dom Deluise, Paul Lynde, and Alan Sues, and Charles Nelson Reilly all appearing in the same bit …? The times were certainly changing!

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/JUL07/CallMe.flv 400 300]

Sorry about the video quality. It isn’t one of my own transfers. I had to fix the aspect ratio, and that resulted in the jagginess of the image.

Finally, here’s “Dream” from Frankie’s album Nice ‘n’ Easy.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/JUL07/Dreams.mp3]

Fantastic FiOS

The shortest FiOS TV review is “GET IT IF YOU CAN!” The only weakness is the free video on demand selection. Here’s a bit of FiOS TV SD (Standard Definition) video from last night’s Red Sox game (reduced to 400×300, of course, with lossy compression). They lost to the Padres 6-1. Last time I made some screen caps and the Sox lost then, too. Most of my friends are Sox fans, and they’re a superstitious lot, so I promise to stop watching the games and jinxing them.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/JUN07/RedSoxSanDiego.flv 400 300]

For myself, not having XM or Sirius, Music Choice adds significantly to the value of FiOS TV. The selection is great (although a Folk station would be welcome) and the Dolby Digital sound quality is faultless. I’ve just hooked up my CCrane FM transmitter, so the audio from FiOS TV is being broadcast throughout the house, and the Music Choice channel of the moment is anywhere I want, including the bedroom clock radio.

Music Choice

The Many Moods of Mad Murry Wilson

Here is an exquisitely painful audio experience. It’s from the Beach Boys recording session for “Help Me Rhonda.” Also present in the studio was the insufferable one-eyed Wilson father, Murry. Listen to this and you’ll know why one-eared son Brian fired his father as manager of the band.

Murry Wilson

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/JUN07/MurryWilson.mp3]

Thanks to WFMU for making this timeless recording available.

Toby Keith is a Big, Fat Idiot

I only vaguely have an awareness of country music singer Toby Keith. About all I can recall is the feud he had with the Dixie Chicks — who turned out to be right, of course, about George Bush. Stephen Colbert had Toby Keith on his show tonight. If Keith isn’t putting on a front, this guy is a total moron. The song Keith sings is the usual sort of unoriginal, by-the-numbers crap that guys like him do. Hey, talent like that goes only so far, y’know? Steve Earle he ain’t, musically or politically.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/JUN07/ColbertJUN19.flv 400 300]

Summer of Love in Monterey

There’s a lot of coverage about the 40th anniversary of the Monterey Pop Festival. NPR has a nice segment on it with Michelle Phillips and record producer Lou Adler, who was one of the organizers of the show. [Link] Although it’s funny, because there was almost nothing about the festival that was Pop music. It was, I would say, the moment that Pop music for AM radio lost its dominance. FM alternative radio would appear in cities across the U.S. in a matter of months.

Janis Joplin singing “Ball and Chain” is amazing. One highlight among many, from the Monterey Pop Festival. I checked out the offerings of “Ball and Chain” on YouTube and found all of them lacking, so I’ve made my own video transfer.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/JUN07/Monterey.flv 400 300]

Oh my goodness, look how young she was! Unbelievable. So long ago.

Something I find interesting are the parallels and differences between Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Jefferson Airplane. Both were fronted by a forceful and neurotic woman, although Janis was much more bluesy than Grace Slick, of course. The Jefferson Airplane turned political, and Joplin left her psychedelic backup band behind, which I must admit was when I lost interest in her. Play the video again. Now listen to this.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/JUN07/IPutASpellOnYou.mp3]

Hmm… what do you think?