Ocassional Thoughts of an Independent Progressive Atheistic Humanist
One of my favorite songs is the classic Grazing in the Grass performed by South African Hugh Masekela. One reason is because it was a hit the year I was born – so it has to be good…. right? When I heard the cowbell start it also reminds me of the classic Saturday Night Live – More Cowbell sketch, so I get a nice chuckle.
Grazing in the Grass – Hugh Masekela
I always tell this story of my history with music. I was raised on AM radio back in the 1970’s. In fact, it wasn’t until high school that I found out there was such a thing as FM radio that played rock music. By I did know about Punk Rock and New Wave through TV like what use to be on MTV, but my every day radio listening was pure sugar.
So my early tastes were of the “easy listening” variety offered up by WFIN in Findlay. Some of my favorite songs today were fused into my head then and include songs from America, Barry Manilow, and today’s Weekend Ear Candy band The Carpenters.
The Carpenters were a brother/sister duo that enjoyed huge success in the early 1970’s. Their music has influenced many artists that came after them including Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Shania Twain, Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Leann Rimes, and Madonna.
Quite frankly lead singer Karen Carpenter’s voice could melt the coldest heart and I shiver every time I hear it in the albums I own.
I really tried to narrow today’s candy to the my favorite but I couldn’t really choose. I like the rocking middle section of “We’ve Only Just Begun” but I think “Close to You” is one of most beautiful songs ever made. A somewhat unknown fact is “Close to You” got me through my first unrequited crush in high school. Of course my family got sick of me constantly playing the record for the several weeks I was depressed.
Carpenters -We’ve Only Just Begun
Carpenters – Close to you
Back in 8th grade I was elected homeroom representative to our Junior High School student council at Glenwood in a contentious vote. I was up against the smartest girl in the class. Her name was Jill B. She had been on Student Council in 7th grade and fully expected to be re-elected.
I should note we were put in homerooms based on the first letter of our last names. So during my 3 years in Junior High all the A’s to J’s (I believe) were in the same homeroom.
I didn’t like the fact that no one stepped forward to run against her and she seemed a bit smug about it all – like she deserved it. So I raised my hand to volunteer.
We each had to give a speech to say why we should be elected and although Jill was smart, she wasn’t good in off the cuff speaking. I found out I was. The teacher had us stand out in the hall while the vote was taken then shortly were called back in.
To my surprise I won. I think it might have had something to do with her smugness and the fact there were more boys than girls in the class.
Student Council’s main job was to host school events like dances and movie nights. I got to run the popcorn machine which was fun and I had to clean it up at the end of the night – which wasn’t fun.
We would hire a DJ to come in for the dances. Being a school there were some songs he wasn’t allowed to play like “Cocaine” by Eric Clapton, “The Stroke” by Billy Squire, and “Don’t Try Suicide” by Queen but other songs were fine.
One song I remember that got a lot of play that year was “Urgent” by Foreigner. So whenever I hear the song it takes me back to those dances at Glenwood and the smell of popcorn.
Here is a live version of the song:
Foreigner – Urgent (live)
Back in my college days, a friend of mine remarked, after seeing my music cassette collection, that I had a thing for chick singers. I looked at him funny and said “What?” and he said that most of my tapes were of female singers. I looked them over and sure enough most of them were. My favorite chick singers back then, and still are, Blondie, Pat Benatar, the Go-Go’s and Madonna.
Why female singers? I really don’t know. I just seem to like a woman’s voice singing.
My first recollection of Blondie was seeing them on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve in 1978 or 79. It was at that time I learned they had come up from the Punk scene of New York performing at CBGB’s along with the Talking Heads and other soon to be stars of the 80’s New Wave scene. Of course Debbie Harry was easy on the eyes but the music is what made me a fan.
Although I love “Heart of Glass” my favorite Blondie song is “Dreaming” with the staggering drum line by Clem Burke leading the charge.
The first female singer I fell in love with was Pat Benatar and who wouldn’t. She was hot. I owned every single album through “Seven the Hard Way:. Her music was so popular it garnered a mention in the cult classic “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”. Her voice was so powerful – having trained awhile in classical music – and the music rocked. She also had a great drummer – Myron Grombacher who added flair to the music.
My favorite song is “Heartbreaker”
A whole band of chick singers who came up through the punk and club scene in LA. Their music had a dash of Surf music in it and that’s probably why I liked it so much. It is ironic that their videos showed them as wholesome while in real life they partied hard – very hard.
My favorite song has to be “Head Over Heels” from the album “Talk Show”
Seeing Madonna vamp around on the gondola in the video for “Like a Virgin”, I knew she would be a star. I just didn’t think she would still be popular some 20 years later. She was fierce, independent, and not afraid to reinvent herself from time to time. She came up through the disco and club scene in New York so most of her early music is dance music. I am still a fan of the early albums even after she moved on to more “adult” tones and content.
My favorite song is “Holiday” off the album before “Like a Virgin” called simply “Madonna” issued in 1983.
I still like women singers but only if they are similar to the women mentioned above. That is they have real talent and aren’t just eye candy who “sing”.
I updated my Tribute to Swing Out Sister page on my website. Check out the changes and here is some ear candy from one of my favorite SOS song – Notgonnachange
Notgonnachange from The Millennium Collection: The Best of Swing Out Sister (2001)