The Sounds of Our Lives (formerly General Music Discussion)

[WendyCR72]

No mention of Beyonce's "Halo" and Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone"? I guess Clarkson was even against releasing "Already Gone" as a single and, come to find out, I think one of the same people responsible for "Halo" had Clarkson use the same music for her song which, if I recall reading, was given to her by this guy with no mention of the other song, as she was initially unaware of. "Halo".

Here's an article about it.

[Princess Sparkle]

Just saw this- the verdict is in for the Blurred Lines copyright infringement case, and Robin Thicke and Pharell lost. They will have to pay 7.4 million in damages to Marvin Gaye's family

http://www.refinery29.com/2015/03/83620/robin-thicke-pharrell-williams-marvin-gaye-blurred-settlement

[Sandman87]

I just noticed recently that the melody for the first few lines of Cheap Trick's "Little Sister" sounds like "Cold, Cold Heart" by Hank Williams.

[BetterButter]

[VCRTracking]

I was seven years old when the song and video came out in 1985 I wasn't hip to music at that age but I knew who Michael Jackson was, Cyndi Lauper, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner and even Kenny Rogers was. It still pretty impressive to watch:

 

 

Jane Fonda hosted a "Making of" special at the time:

 

 

Rolling Stone has a minute by minute breakdown of the recording:

 

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/we-are-the-world-a-minute-by-minute-breakdown-30th-anniversary-20150306

Edited March 13, 2015 by BizBuzz
Helped with formatting and changed title

[DeLurker]

I love this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/tvshowbiz/video-1166807/Anonymous-gives-Kanye-West-tongue-lashing.html

[magicdog]

I think Mariah and Whitney could have done so much more than what they did during their hay days. It's like they tried too hard to be relevant to the times. They could have become real song stylists. They succumbed to the theatricality of singing....big voice, high notes, vocal gymnastics. I'm not saying they weren't/aren't gifted singers, just that they could have been more.

 

 

 

I agree.  I blame it mostly on the record industry more than anything.  Of course from what I'd heard in some circles, it's breaking apart thanks to the internet.  More and more artists can thrive by creating their own CDs/downloads and even music videos without crawling to the big corporate companies.  They may have less promotion compared to those we hear on the current Top 40, but at least they have more control.  I remember hearing a music producer on the radio a few months back who said he and other producers are struggling to find work these days. 

 

 

I grew up in the 60's/70's on suburban Long Island

 

 

Fellow Islander here!  Although, I grew up a generation later than you. 

 

 

Top 40 radio back then was all different kinds of genres, not segregated like today. O'Jays played side by side with Elton John, for instance.

 

 

 

I remember heavy segmentation of music beginning in the early 80s;  there were crossover hits, but many times there were songs and artists I couldn't hear because you had to tune in to completely different stations and never hear anything like it top 40 on the Rock/Pop charts. 

Edited March 13, 2015 by magicdog

[aradia22]

Does anyone know what the sample is at the beginning of Little Mix's Stand Down?

[GaT]

Does anybody else feel like Cody Simpson is trying to rebrand himself from teen dream into a John Mayer a-like?

 

[prican58]

GaT, I had to look this kid up as I have no idea who he is. His older videos show me a guy who is style with little substance. I do think he can play guitar well. So yeah, he def seems to be going for a Mayer vibe. But that's ok because he probably sensed that his teen-ish stuff had no staying power. Maybe this is the kind of stuff he likes to listen to.

 

He's older now and he seems morw suited to it. But I still think he is a bit too concerned with looks/style or what have you. LIke he doesn't know if he should ne Mayer, Hunter Hayes or Stevie Ray Vaughan (please, son , do not even try to be like SRV as you can not compete).

 

There is talent there.

[GaT]

There is talent there.

That's what I think he's trying to prove now. The 2 videos I posted are for songs from his newest album, & they are completely different than the stuff he's done before. 

[DeLurker]

Hmmmm...need some help.  I heard Bob Seger's We've got Tonight about a (hopeful) hookup with an ex before anyone  heard the term booty call.  And that got me wondering about booty call/hook up songs in general and what the first one was?

 

I got "Are You Lonesome Tonight" by Elvis and now I am trying to dig in the cranial recesses for a Patsy Cline song that qualifies, but coming up short so far. 

 

Anyway, what's the earliest song that any of you can remember?

Edited March 24, 2015 by DeLurker

[magicdog]

"Kiss Me Goodbye" by Lulu.

[UYI]

Zayn Malik leaves One Direction. And with that, legions of pre-teen girls commence to weep into their My Little Pony pillowcases:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/32057401?SThisFB&fb_ref=Default

[Ankai]

I was listening to some old school music on Pandora and heard Zapp's Mega Medley.  It sounds an awful lot like Uptown Funk You Up by Mark Ronson, f. Bruno Mars. I Googled both songs and nothing came up.

 

Mega Medley - www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZdSFnes4n0

Uptown Funk You Up - www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPf0YbXqDm0

 

(I can't embed videos for some reason.)

It probably was based on stuff like that. The vocals and lyrics were based on "All God Everything" by Trinidad James, which amazes me, since that song is terrible. Also, the vocal bass got me thinking of "Fuel" by Metallica. I even made a little mashup of the two songs about a month ago.

[funkopop]

Anyone have any thoughts, preference regarding this?

 

The new Tidal streaming service was rolled out 2 days ago. Social media seems to be giving that whole presentation a thumbs down.    I personally subscribe to Spotify for my music and occasionally will purchase a physical copy if the mood hits.  I rarely download music from Itunes anymore.

Edited April 2, 2015 by funkopop

[CaughtOnTape]

Spotify so far is what I use.  I had no idea what Tidal was LOL

[AntiBeeSpray]

Not a huge fan of it tbh. Tried Pandora, but it kept on trying to get me to listen to stuff that I had NO interest in listening to. And Spotify I use occasionally. I'd use it more if it were compatible with ipod classics. Not everyone gets an ipod touch. I have NO need for all of that extra stuff on it. I just want to listen to my music.

[AntiBeeSpray]

Came across one recently. Regulate sounded really familiar to me for the longest time, but I couldn't think of why. Now I do. I Keep Forgettin by Michael McDonald. That's the song it reminded me of. I just remembered the song today.

 

 

Warren G -- Regulate

 

 

Michael McDonald -- I Keep Forgettin

 

The base line sounds really, really similar.

 

Michael McDonald was ok with it though, since he'd sampled from an old 60's song.

 

Here's the link to the article about it, it's kind of interesting.

 

Source: billboard.com

[UYI]

Taylor Swift's mom, Andrea, has been diagnosed with cancer:

 

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6531049/taylor-swift-mom-cancer-tumblr

[potatoradio]

 

Anyway, what's the earliest [hookup/booty call] song that any of you can remember?

 

"Angel of the Morning" -- late 60s, maybe?

 

 

Wait a minute. Whachu talkin' 'bout, Willis?? I thought AOTM was about a housewife who felt unappreciated. But now that I've read the lyrics....man, I guess it just goes to show that some things will indeed go right over a kid's head.

 

Speaking of that, "Afternoon Delight" was my first intro to a booty call song, but again, I was too young and naive to have the foggiest idea what the lyrics meant. I just liked to sing it with my friends -- as a number in a talent show for our parents. Noooothing to see here, folks, just a bunch of kids singing along to a perfectly appropriate song. The seventies were just awesome.

 

Speaking of misunderstood lyrics - this may be a bit obscure, but I remember listening to ABBA's "The Day Before You Came" and being freaked out because I was sure it was a ghost singing about her murder. Well, no, come to find out most people think it's about a woman singing about her boring life before a torrid love affair. It is SO about a murder...it must be...anyone else happen to listen to this song that has an opinion?

 

 

[DeLurker]

Oh man, "Afternoon Delight" at the talent show is a hoot!  And as a kid, I would have been right there with you not realizing what it was about.

[Vixenstud]

(smiles shyly)....I always pictured Afternoon Delight as an ice cream treat.

[BatmanBeatles]

I remember a Kid's Inc. episode where they sang The Cars' "Tonight She Comes". Oh my...

[Sandman87]

Anyway, what's the earliest [hookup/booty call] song that any of you can remember?

The first that I can remember being aware of is a song from one of my parents' old blues records: Ella Fitzgerald and some other singer doing "Baby, It's Cold Outside".

[magicdog]

The first that I can remember being aware of is a song from one of my parents' old blues records: Ella Fitzgerald and some other singer doing "Baby, It's Cold Outside".

 

 

Louis Jordan?    I never really thought of that one as a booty call tune so much as a song of opportunity.  Funnier still how it's often played at Christmas time no less!

[PrincessLuceval]

We always refer to it as "The Date Rape Song."

[Rick Kitchen]

The first performance was Betty Garrett and Red Skelton, with Betty being the aggressor.  Though it actually played off Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalban in the "traditional" roles.

 

[DkNNy79]

Just found out Josh Groban is doing an album of broadway songs.  Phantom of the Opera is my favorite broadway show, I've seen it 3 times. 

 

Pretty good rendition of "All I Ask of You" with Kelly Clarkson.

[loriro]

I can't figure out if it's a specific song, the singer's voice, or both, but the song "No Good in Goodbye" by the Script sounds so much like Robbie Williams it's disconcerting.  The voice sounds similar but the melody, particularly of the chorus, also sounds like Robbie Williams music. 

[27bored]

Well, there ya go! Apparently she's on Nashville for a few episodes. I like the song alright. Christina's vocals work in this setting -- she sounds warm and vulnerable. She kind of recalls some of Leeann Rimes' better material, even if she is kinda sleepwalking through the song. And the song sounds like a cutting room floor tune they just decided to get her to sing on the show. "Love means taking turns riding shotgun"? Yeah, okay.

[Kromm]

I find the whole situation equal parts sad, frustrating and hilarious.  Many people probably heard this song for the first time on The Voice recently, since the Blue States generally only get Country Music that way.  And it's a GREAT song--very cross-genre in it's appeal because the sound is straight out of the 60s version of Country Music, led by people like Patsy Cline, (early) Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and even Ray Charles that's gritty, sincere, and aurally magnificent compared to the current shit in the genre.  Patsy Cline could be SINGING this song and you'd believe it came from the 60s, it's so in that groove.

 

What most of us in those Blue states probably don't realize (yet) is that the homophobic super-conservative backbone of the red states are in a furious homophobic frenzy over the song--calling up their local radio stations to have it yanked off the air.  Mind you, the song isn't ACTUALLY about a homosexual attraction--just listen to the actual lyrics--but it's (I'd argue DELIBERATELY) suggestive along those lines by forcing a parallel between female-on-female jealousy and female-to-female attraction.  The group, Little Big Town, is acting all shocked that the wackos are misintepreting the song, but my gut says that's a combo of ass-covering on their part (not that they should NEED to ass cover for this) and that they're probably laughing into their hands a bit too when the cameras are off at the antics of the crazy homophobic backbone of their own genre's backbone.

 

The Video For the Song:

 

 

 

The cover of it on The Voice some may have seen:

 

 

 

The group, Little Big Town "defending" themselves (honestly they seem more disgusted at the whole "controversy" than disgusted--although they could be playing EVERYBODY to get press):

 

http://youtu.be/jkDHuToKo8E

[Rick Kitchen]

Well, according to Entertainment Weekly, it's currently the number 7 song and the only country song in the top ten.

[Kromm]

Well, according to Entertainment Weekly, it's currently the number 7 song and the only country song in the top ten.

Yes, it's interesting that the song is a big hit, at the same time that the Country Core is outraged that "gay agenda stuff" (their phrase) is creeping into their sacred music...

[Mayonegg]

Replace any song lyrics that are heart with arse/ass. Hilarity ensues.

Example: "Shot through the arse and your to blame"

[Kromm]

Completely unrelated to "Girl Crush", but closely related to the raging fires of intolerance that define Country Music's core fandom...

 

Tim McGraw has to go on the defense against his own fanbase for the heinous crime of... performing at a Sandy Hook related charity benefit.

[DkNNy79]

So ridiculous that he has to defend himself for performing at a charity benefit.  God some of these gun folks make my blood boil.

[DeLurker]

Wow.  That is effed up.

[bluwater]

People are real good at knee-jerk reactions without reading lyrics. They see the title and go "OMG!!" Ridiculous. The song is about being jealous of the girl that is with a guy that you like. It's one of the oldest country themes in the book. It's just a different twist on it.

[Shannon L.]

I just started looking through this thread (I didn't before because I'm usually hopelessly stuck in the past with my musical tastes and figured this would be about modern music) and came across the misunderstood lyrics and booty call song discussions. 

 

Booty call songs:  Gloria by Van Morrison was released in 1964.  I wasn't born yet, but I remember hearing the song when I was younger and enjoying it even though I didn't know what it was about.

 

Misunderstood songs lyrics:  I read on a message board once a post by someone who was in her school choir when she was in middle school and the director had them sing She Bop for a performance not having a clue what it was about. Yikes.  Also, kind of misunderstood in the opposite way (maybe):  People claiming that the song Brand New Key by Melanie was about sex.  She didn't completely deny it, but did say that there was no serious expression in the song and once one is written, people are going to hear what they want to hear.

 

Oh man, "Afternoon Delight" at the talent show is a hoot!  And as a kid, I would have been right there with you not realizing what it was about.

lol!  I can only imagine what was going through the parents heads  :)  Every time I hear that song, I remember an episode of Arrested Development where Michael decided to sing a karaoke song with his teenage niece. Instead of picking one, he said "just put on the first song on the list". They got about 2 versus into Afternoon Delight before awkwardly putting down their mikes and walking off, Michael muttering "The song didn't sound that dirty."  hee!

 

On another topic:  I checked this thread out because the song Purple Rain was mentioned quite a bit in an American Idol thread a few weeks ago.  The love for that song!  Unpopular opinion time:  I hate it. With a passion.  Words cannot express how much I hate that song.  I like Prince, I love him, actually, but I don't get the appeal of that song.  Yes, I can hear the passion in his voice when he sings it--his musicianship is always outstanding, but why that song?  What am I missing?

[spaceytraci1208]

Found myself on a George Michael kick at work the last few days. Such a great voice...talented dude.

[magicdog]

I checked this thread out because the song Purple Rain was mentioned quite a bit in an American Idol thread a few weeks ago.  The love for that song!  Unpopular opinion time:  I hate it. With a passion.  Words cannot express how much I hate that song.  I like Prince, I love him, actually, but I don't get the appeal of that song.

 

 

 

Don't feel bad.  I'm not much a fan of this song either even when it was first released!  In fact, I've found myself not liking a lot of songs I listened to on the radio when I was a teen.   I may have liked them at the time since they often had great music videos on MTV and were played to death on the radio and seeing Casey Kasem on TV to recite the Top Ten that week on TV (or the Top 40 on the radio).  Then a local station plays the song and I find myself thinking, "How could have I ever listened to this?".  Luckily I didn't buy all those songs at the time, or else I'd have a ton of tunes I can't play!  Nowadays, I trust my ears and personal taste when it comes to deciding what music I like, and not the marketing shills.

[BetterButter]

“Uptown Funk” gon’ give The Gap Band songwriting credits

[27bored]

. Am I crazy to think this sounds like a deep album cut from a Miley Cyrus album? K. Michelle even kinda sounds like Miley towards the end of the song.

[methodwriter85]

So, music videos usually cast hot eye candy. Who have been your favorites? For me..

 

Wentworth Miller in We Belong Together, Brandon Stoughton in Womanizer, Ryan McPartlin in Stuck Like Glue, Sean O'Pry in Blank Space. Those are my top four.

[Nibbio]

. Am I crazy to think this sounds like a deep album cut from a Miley Cyrus album? K. Michelle even kinda sounds like Miley towards the end of the song.

Yea, maybe just a little.

[UYI]

Today would have been Ricky Nelson's 75th birthday. This performance of the song "Garden Party" took place in August of 1985, just a few months before his fatal plane crash. This upcoming New Year's Eve marks the 30th anniversary of his passing.

 

[magicdog]

Where does the time go?

 

I liked his earlier songs, and Garden Party isn't bad either.  A friend of mine grew up in the same neighborhood as Nelson and his family.  She used to tell me funny stories about his twins Matthew and Gunnar.  Last I heard those two were taking their dad's act on the road performing his greatest hits.

[BatmanBeatles]

My sister and I had a mad crush on Matthew and Gunner. Too bad their career got bulldozed by grunge.

[methodwriter85]

If they had held out just a couple more years, cut their hair up to about their shoulders and darkened it, and worn flannel, they probably could have done very well. They were pretty talented with acoustic guitars, if I remember right.

 

Tracey Nelson appeared on Celebrity Ghost Stories with a tale about Ricky and the haunted house they lived in.

 

 

Anyway, what's the earliest song that any of you can remember?

 

I'm going to change this question a little: what's the first contemporary pop song/music video you remember hearing as a child and loving? (Not a song that came out before you were born that you loved later on, but a song that you actually remember listening to as it was climbing the charts.)

 

For me, it's We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel, She Drives Me Crazy by Fine Young Cannibals, and Like A Prayer by Madonna. I was 3 in 1989 and those videos are some of my earliest vague memories.

 

The first definite, very vivid memory is Anything I Do (I Do It For You) by Bryan Adams...I remember being 5 years old and singing it to my sister. Also, Rush Rush by Paula Abdul and Deeper and Deeper by Madonna. I remember there being all this talk about how Madonna was going to unveil her new look in the video. You gotta hand it to her- she was ahead of the 70's revival of the 90's. There's a reason why Madonna was one of the few 80's pop stars that crossed over into the 90's.

Edited May 9, 2015 by methodwriter85