Music Category
Music news and reviews, music videos and tittle tattle, with a lingering look at the past from Anorak. A source for rock, pop, album and live music, new releases, artist interviews and features.
One Direction learn a foreign language (video)
ONE Direction has been dubbed into a foreign language. It’s brilliant, gurning lip-synching glory. Who knew the boys could act?
1977: when Droids made cosmic Star Wars music
IN 1977, the world was going batty for Star Wars. Over in France, Yves Hayat, Jean-Paul Bataille and Richard Lornac formed Droids. In ’77, two of the trio (whish we can’t say) dressed as robots and shook the room with the song (Do You Have) The Force, with R2D2-styled bleeps and burrs.
Cosmic:
1969: Pink Floyd play live at the BBC as Neil Armstrong sets foot on the moon
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Plagiarism is nothing new in this brave new digital world
THE Washington DC-based website Brightest Young Things has removed all of its content for an audit. Why? Because Logan Donaldson, the site’s managing editor “plagiarized whole sections of a 13,000-word music guide from other publications.” The article, “BYT Music Guide Spring/Summer Season 2013”, has been updated. It now reads:
All original words by: Svetlana Legetic, Shauna Alexander, Ross Bonaime, Logan Donaldson Marcus Dowling, Bryce Rudow, Alyssa Moody, Bri Younger & Shelly Bell
Ed Note: This post has been updated to include only original content produced by BYT writers. Thank you for reading and your patience.
BYT founder Svetlana Legetic is aghast and agog:
“There’s absolutely no excuses, for this. It’s a ginormous article. He was the one saddled with the music guide. We obviously don’t copy and paste from press releases. But you run out of ways to describe a new band and it gets to be 2 a.m. I’m not going to let him [Donaldson] go. He produces a lot of great original content. I’m not going to have him resign.”
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The Beach Boys sing without autotune
SO. How did the Beach Boys sound without autotune?
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Man singing for Christ makes nature run backwards
WE join Singer/Songwriter Daniel Songer in a field by some trees. He is singing a song for Jesus Christ. If you look closely you can see the tress moving towards him. The ground is staring to open up. The skies above are turning dark and tumultuous. And then he ends. And nature faces forward and carries on:
Robbie Williams versus Britpop
REMEMBER when Robbie Williams left Take That and promptly went all ‘indie’ in a bid to be taken seriously while he stuck all manner of drugs up his conk? Well, The Fat Dancer From Take That has decided he doesn’t like indie anymore and gone mental telling everyone about it.
In a CAPScentric blog rant, Robbie lashed out at Suede’s Brett Anderson who took a swipe at pop music.
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Posted: 22nd, March 2013 | In: Music, Reviews | Comment (1)
Depeche Mode: That Was Then…This Is Now
DEPECHE Mode were “The most popular electronic band the world has ever known”. They might still be. In 1988, the band’s Dave Gahan and Andy Fletcher appeared on the BBC2 TV show That Was Then…This Is Now.
The band are back with a new album, Delta Machine. They’ve been talking to The Times:
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Posted: 22nd, March 2013 | In: Music | Comment (1)
Elvis Costello might marvel at the irony overload in the Mail and Telegraph
THE BBC has censored Elvis Costello’s lyrics to Oliver’s Army. The word “nigger” has been erased. The media is up arms. How very dare the BBC mess about with the music:
The Daily Telegraph:
BBC 6 Music criticised for not understanding the meaning of Elvis Costello’s Oliver’s Army after removing a line featuring the word ‘n—-r’.
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Notorious B.I.G. to return to our TV as a cartoon ghost
NINETIES hip-hop is having a huge renaissance currently, mainly because it lends faux-credibility to horribly middle-class people, much like rock ‘n’ roll did in the ’70s. With that, comes a lot of opportunities for weird cash-ins. Tupac appeared as a hologram with Snoop and Dre on-stage and now, Notorious B.I.G. is to appear on our televisions as a cartoon ghost, like he’s Casper with an AK.
Biggie’s kids, CJ and T’yanna Wallace, have announced the plans, saying:
“It’s been 16 years since our dad was murdered and we miss him dearly.”
“This project is a great opportunity for us to bridge the gap between our parents, who loved his music, and the kids and young adults our ages, that were not around to really appreciate it.”
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Waltz of the Two Lips (Trombone Silliness)
WALTZ of the Two Lips (Trombone Silliness) features the lips of Peter Ellefson, Professor at Indiana University. It is, is it not, putting the bone in trombone:
Spotter: Ann Althouse
Alvin Lee goes home (RIP)
LAST week, Alvin Lee of Ten Years After died. He was just 68. On Lee’s website we read:
With great sadness we have to announce that Alvin unexpectedly passed away early this morning after unforseen complications following a routine surgical procedure. We have lost a wonderful much-loved father and companion, the world has lost a truly great and gifted musician. Jasmin, Evi and Suzanne.”
Lee left Ten Years After in 1973. He then recorded 14 solo albums.
Ten Years After were popular in their native UK, but it in 1969, when they wowed Woodstock, that things went big. That was Lee’s defining moment. Not every musician gets one.
Lester Bangs said Lee was a “…crude sonic Model T, who could not only reproduce Chuck Berry licks by the bushel, but play them at 78 rpm as well:
Justin Bieber’s 02 gig in photos: The Michael Jackson Ronseal tour
JUSTIN Bieber kept fans waiting two hours before he appeared on the stage at London’s O2 Arena last night. He then cut his show half an hour short. There are stories of his young fans falling asleep, making full use of the commemorative pull-ups and being bit with Michael Jackson songs whilst they waited in their seats (cost: £56 ty £330 each). Bieber went on Twitter to explain: “It’s my prostate…” No:
“Since I have been here it hasn’t been easy with the press at times but I have loved it. So let me say this… Last night i was scheduled after 3 opening acts to go on stage at 935 not 830 but because of some technical issues I got on at 10:10. So… i was 40 min late to stage. there is no excuse for that and I apologize for anyone we upset. However it was great show (sic) and Im proud of that”
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Peter Wyngarde: when ‘Rape ‘ was King and gross indecency wore vinyl and velvet
THE Daily Mail is never slow to point out, in merciless detail, the physical and sartorial shortcomings of any celebrity, be they great or small.
“When Seventies television star Peter Wyngarde was spotted out shopping near his West London home last week it was clear his fashion sense had deserted him a long time ago” ran the caption to a picture of a well-preserved gentleman in his late seventies, dressed in fashionable casual clothes.
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Posted: 5th, March 2013 | In: Celebrities, Flashback, Key Posts, Music, TV & Radio | Comment
Why Eric Burden became an Animal: blame the girls and the Black African-American royalty
ERIC Burdon used to be an Animals (but he’s alright now). The lead singer with the Animals – a man remembered as John Lennon’s “eggman” – explains why he got into music:
To pull chicks! Whenever we got together in the garage to play with doors open, the next thing there’d be a bunch of girls standing around..
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Posted: 4th, March 2013 | In: Music | Comment (1)
Euro pop songs – five of the worst
IT occurred to us that Eurovison might be a rich tablet of talent, but it comes round only once a year. Time to look five forgotten European gems:
Armi Ja Danny – I Want To Love You Tender
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Posted: 28th, February 2013 | In: Flashback, Music | Comment (1)
Harry Styles: Not the first popstar to be hit with something on stage (video round-up)
RECENTLY, Harry Styles of One Direction, was pelted in the wang by a stray shoe, thrown from his beloved audience. This writer himself has thrown an errant trainer at The Prodigy, missing the target (Keef) by some distance and hitting the drummer’s cymbal at Reading ’96 (if you have a recording of the show, listen out for it during Poison).
Of course, this kind of behaviour is not to be cheered at… mostly. It is wilfully stupid behaviour, but alas, is all part of the rock ‘n’ roll circus.
Some musicians get bras and drugs thrown at them, which is very nice. Most however, aren’t too pleased with what comes their way.
With that, let us look at some of the most brutal bottlings and weirdest missiles aimed toward people just trying to earn a living.
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Posted: 28th, February 2013 | In: Key Posts, Music | Comment (1)
So, Whodini, what is a rap attack?
WHAT’S A Rap Attack. Mr Whodini? With their Magic’s Wand, Jalil Hutchins, Ecstasy (John Fletcher) and Grandmaster Dee (Drew Carter) will show you:
Posted: 27th, February 2013 | In: Flashback, Music | Comment
Rihanna isn’t ‘authentic’ according to thunderously drab indie band
YOU’VE heard the same arguments against pop music time and time again, never once getting any more original, witty or incisive – ‘pop music isn’t real music’. Usually, these gripes come from crashingly dull indie bands who think they’re part of something more ‘real’ or ‘better’ because they’re stupid enough to believe that picking up a guitar and playing the same 4 chords every other indie band is playing, is somehow more valuable than anything else.
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Bee Gees And Michael Jackson Collaboration Caught On Video
FACE it – The Bee Gees are one of the greatest groups to ever cut a record ever. Their back catalogue is simply astonishing, running through psychedelia, concept albums, disco, pop and not to mention all the great songs they wrote for other.
Now, mix that with the breathtaking body of work made by Michael Jackson and you have something that is quite giddifying.
Okay, Dangerous was the last time Jackson did anything of note and the Bee Gees haven’t made a decent record since You Win Again, but y’know, before that, they were unstoppable. Right?
The two camps got their weird faces together and recorded a song called ‘All In Your Name’, and the video (which you can watch below) shows them in the studio together, writing and recording the track.
Gibb says:
“Michael Jackson and I were the dearest of friends, that’s simply what it was. We gravitated towards the same kind of music and we loved collaborating and he was the easiest person to write with.”
“The more we got to know each other the more those ideas entwined and it all came to this song ‘All In Your Name’. “All in Your Name” is in fact the message that Michael wanted to send out to all of his fans all over the world that he did it all for them and for the pure love of music. I hope and pray that we all get to hear it in its entirety. This experience I will treasure forever.”
So have a listen. It isn’t very good, but still.
Posted: 26th, February 2013 | In: Music | Comment (1)
Proof: Bon Jovi DID plagiarise the sound of goats on Livin’ On A Prayer
DID Bon Jovi plagiarise the sond of goats on their massive hit Livin’ On A Prayer? Surel;y they did. Also note the aping of the goats’ hair, coats and groupie techniques:
Spotter: @HasteGehoert
David Bowie’s 1967 letter to his first American fan
IN 1967, Sandra Dodd, a 14-year-old fan living in the USA wrote to David Bowie. Would Bowie be interested in endorsing her efforts to start a USA fanclub? The 20-year-old Bowie took the time to reply.
I hope one day to get to America. My manager tells me lots about it as he has been there many times with other acts he manages. I was watching an old film on TV the other night called “No Down Payment” a great film, but rather depressing if it is a true reflection of The American Way Of Life. However, shortly after that they showed a documentary about Robert Frost the American poet, filmed mainly at his home in Vermont, and that evened the score. I am sure that that is nearer the real America.
When David Bowie committed Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide live
12 obscure David Bowie gems today’s artists would kill for
<ahref=”http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/12/my-real-name-is-david-jones.html”>Letters of Note
Posted: 25th, February 2013 | In: Flashback, Music | Comment
Jorge Pérez spanks women’s bottoms and says it’s music (video)
JORGE Pérez of patáx slaps woman on the bottoms for his art. Born in Boston in 1979, Pérez was raised in Madrid where he studied percussion at the Creative Music School in Madrid. He returned to Boston to study at the Berklee College of Music. There he pulled together this ensemble. The woman’s names are not known, and are thought to be Jeremy Irons’ former secretaries picking up stray paperclips:
