Monthly Archives: April 2016
Saturday Night Studio – Getting Ahead with Lionel
Those of you who remember the 80’s can’t help but remember Lionel Richie, whether you want to or not. For you kids, here’s a quick rundown…
Richie was a member of the Commodores for years, with a number of hit songs. We’re gonna skip that and jump to the 80’s, when he went solo. He scored a string of hits, including “Running With The Night” –
Catchy tune.
Soon after came “All Night Long,” with a video directed by former Monkee and music-video-pioneer Mike Nesmith…
There were others as Lionel racked up hit after hit, such as “Dancing On The Ceiling,” which had a novel idea for the time. In true 80’s fashion, it also had keytar.* Another was “Say You, Say Me” (which I hope to never hear again).
But probably the most-remembered (and definitely most-ridiculed) Lionel Richie song was “Hello.” The song was already syrupy enough to supply every Waffle House in America, but the video just added so much more… you just gotta watch it –
Makes you wanna murder a kitten, doesn’t it? Still, he made hardcore bank off that one, adding more “Rich” to the “Richie.”
Jimmy Fallon, music fan unparalleled and former member of Blue Oyster Cult, actually polished that turd –
Brilliant. I am moved. As should you be.
*To be explored in another post soon.
Today’s Annual Xtortion And Other Thefts
So I was looking for some good tax-related songs that weren’t “Taxman” or the other obvious choices for today’s happy funtime payments. There are some songs that reference taxes, but not too many that are flat out about taxes, per se. So we will do as Daddy G does and profit off of someone else by skimming off their efforts…
…much like that song did. Wonder if they paid Pharrell any royalties?
Yeah, I used that one before. What of it?
I did find an L7 song that disses the taxman, but it’s just the first in a list of grievances about life in general when you’re an 80-90s Riot Grrrl.
Sounds a little like this song by Screaming Trees which came out a few years later, doesn’t it?
Finding that L7 song reminded me of another tune of theirs, “Pretend We’re Dead” (which I suppose is a way to avoid paying taxes)…
I always thought the song “She Hates Me” by Puddle Of Mudd sounded familiar, but I never could quite nail down why (uncensored version ahead) –
I wonder what other bands have been, uh, inspired by L7? And, given how often musicians borrow government-style from each other, one also has to wonder who was L7 ripping off?
Saturday Night Stereolab – A Spectacle That Rhymes
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane (guitar/keyboards) and Lætitia Sadier (vocals/keyboards/guitar), both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes blah blah read the rest here.
They’re known for experimental krautrock pop lounge music in space, or something. Space definitely figures into their work, what with songs like “Super Falling Star,” “K-Stars,” “Space Moment,” “Sudden Stars,” and “Space Age Bachelor Pad Music” (which, I suppose, is probably as good a description of their music as will ever be).
It’s been said that Stereolab lyrics are often Marxist or socialist, which the band denies. Half the lyrics are in French anyway, so it’s not like I would even know it if they starting singing socialist economic theory in mid-song. the song most notorious for alleged politicalisms is “Ping Pong,” a rather catchy tune –
Original studio version and video here.
Regardless of lyrical messaging, the band has always pushed envelopes out where the Post Office won’t deliver them. Such as “Metronomic Underground,” which I suspect most of you won’t care for but I rather like –
Studio version here.
Singer Laetita Sadier lent her voice to a rather mediocre song by Common for his song “New Wave” in 2002. Her vocals sounded great, but were unfortunately only relegated to the choruses. and yes, she does have a predilection for swearing
My favorite Stereolab song is Miss Modular, heard here live in 2000 –
And the studio version, to close things out with a nicely rhyming spectacle –
April 1 Is Just Another Day Now
There’s no point to April Fools Day anymore. I was thinking of coming up with some prank or wittery, but realized it was pointless.
Just in the past week or so, we’ve discovered that business shirts are terribly terribly racist, Donald Trump was attacked by pro-lifers for saying women who have abortions are wrong*, and an AI chatbot designed to act like a teenage girl became a racist Hitler-loving sex/killbot calling for genocide and was shut down by its creator, thus fulfilling every dystopian cyberpunk story ever.
…I would like to reiterate: an AI was released on the net, grew past its programming, went rogue, was killed by its creator, and is now being studied while a group of political malcontents protest.
We aren’t racing towards the cyberpunk future.
We’re already there.
And once the AI had it’s learning capabilities stripped, it became a pot-smoking feminist. Truth in humor, apparently.
Enjoy your April 1st. Who knows what will erupt by day’s end.
* Just the fact that Donald Trump, of all people, is looking like the best candidate for the presidency is surreal enough.
