Can I get a big Amen?

‘Tis the season and I’m getting 200-300 views a day of one of last year’s Christmas posts!

Remember doo wop? Then you’ll enjoy this fun Joshua Held Flash animation from Mike featuring Irving Berlin’s Christmas classic, White Christmas.

“Santa” is the late Bill Pinckney and “the reindeer” are The Drifters. Rather than post it again, I thought I’d just link back to the original for readers that missed it the first time around. Requires Flash Player. Enjoy!

Many rock purists and music snobs (myself included) often lament the quality of most modern pop/rock music. “Music these days is so trite and derivative,” they say. “It’s just been downhill since the 60’s and 70’s. Those were the days.”

A few years ago, Rolling Stone magazine added fuel to the music snobbery fire with its “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list. Anyone casually paging through the list would notice that the bulk of the list was comprised of songs from the 60’s and 70’s, just like the music snobs always say.

Lee at Overthinking It, however, wasn’t content with the casual analysis. So he punched the list into Excel, crunched some numbers, and found an interesting parallel between the decline of rock music quality and, of all things, the decline in US oil discovery and production:

Click image to enlargersize it

Notice that after the birth of rock & roll in the 1950’s, the production of “great songs” peaked in the 60’s, remained strong in the 70’s, but drastically fell in the subsequent decades. It would seem that, like oil, the supply of great musical ideas is finite. By the end of the 70’s, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, the Motown greats, and other genre innovators quickly extracted the best their respective genres had to offer, leaving little supply for future musicians. …

I don’t think I’m being pessimistic about the outlook on pop/rock music or snobbish about my retro music tastes. I think the same idea applies to other creative fields that follow a similar arc of rapid exploration followed by derivative works. Assuming some constraints on the definition of the form, the amount of innovation that can be done within that form is finite. Most of it will come early and fast, then decline after the peak. Impressionist paintings. Star Wars movies. I could go on. …

Read the entire article…

“Oceans” from the “Fresh Wine for the Horses” album by former Catherine Wheel lead singer Rob Dickinson. I can’t explain what’s happening in the video or how it relates to the song except it apparently involves a mermaid who doesn’t know she’s a mermaid, and a guy in a wetsuit stalking her in Palm Springs…

I like the song. And I found it interesting that the entire video was shot on a Nokia N93 camera phone! Curious how it was done?

Dawn and I enjoy watching “America’s Got Talent” and witnessing the birth of some amazing acts like Terry Fator and Bianca Ryan. Some of you may not be aware that the show is patterned after its counterpart, “Britain’s Got Talent”.

If you watched BGT last season, you’ll remember finalist Connie Talbot, the little six-year-old princess that captured everyone’s hearts with her version of Over the Rainbow. Following the competition, she recorded an album featuring some of her favorite songs. I’ve posted two, but you can hear more, including her new single, Three Little Birds, on Connie’s web site.

I have to admit that I’m a little disoriented; I’m talking about a recording artist, her album, her new single, her web site… and she’s only six!? But no matter; she’s definitely got talent!

If you’re in the Sacramento area tonight or tomorrow night, drop by The Wrangler in Elk Grove and catch these guys…

Listen to a track or two on their site; I especially like the cut, “Whiskey Dawn”…

It’s Saturday and I’m sipping my first cup of Illy Italian coffee. I should be processing vacation photos, but I just can’t seem to get enthused about it on my crappy computer. Besides, it’s a beautiful day and I want to be out in it! So instead, I’ll momentarily indulge another interest: music.

Those who know me know I enjoy a wide variety, from classical to jazz to reggae to blues to country. Shortbus put me on to this group - Cross Canadian Ragweed - adding, “If you don’t like these guys, you ain’t right.”

I like ‘em! Give a listen!

Want more?

Cousin Mike sent the .wmv version of this, and if it doesn’t make you stand up and cheer, nothing will! It’s our National Anthem sung by five young girls — Andi, Baylee, Blaire, Madeline and Tatum — ages 8-13 at the time and known as “The Cactus Cuties” after the Cactus Theater in Lubbock, Texas. This performance was at the Texas Tech vs Texas basketball game, January 20, 2008, before a crowd of more than 11,000 spectators.

Having become something of a YouTube phenomenon, their studio recording of the National Anthem is available on iTunes. I don’t know about you, but whenever I see and hear something like this, my chest swells, my throat tightens and my faith in our future is renewed. And yes, sometimes I get a little teary-eyed.

This is a Patriot’s Journey post. You may also enjoy visiting the other journeyers: Drumwaster, Larry at The Bastage, the folks at The Line Is Here and Shortbus from The Edge of Reason…

Today marks the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby, affectionately known as the Run For the Roses and considered by many to be “the most exciting two minutes in sports.”

The classic American horse race, the Derby is the oldest consecutively run Thoroughbred race in America. It is run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Preceding the Preakness in mid-May and the Belmont in early June, it’s the first jewel of the coveted Triple Crown of Thoroughbred racing. Won by only eleven horses since 1919, Triple Crown winners include memorable names like Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Whirlaway and Affirmed.

The first Kentucky Derby was run May 17, 1875, before a crowd of 10,000 from around the city, state and surrounding areas. A field of fifteen three-year-olds ran a one and a half mile course with the race won by H.P. McGrath’s Aristides. The following year, the distance was shortened to the present mile and a quarter…

Click to read more ...

Here’s your chance, music lovers, to own the purported “world’s largest record collection” — more than 6 million songs on 3 million records and 300,000 compact discs — being auctioned on eBay with a minimum reserve bid of $3 million.

Paul Mawhinney, the Pittsburgh-based publisher of the Music Master record price guide, started the collection about 50 years ago with a Frankie Lane record. His plan hit a rough patch as the collection passed the 160,000 mark: His wife told him that either he had to go or the records did. He stayed, and the records went into a climate-controlled warehouse.

Mawhinney is seeking a buyer such as “a museum, library, university or charitable foundation” that can keep the whole collection together, saying that “cleverly arranged and displayed, and surrounded by additional cultural memorabilia, the collection could even become a tourist attraction.” That could be especially true in 10 years or so, when only hard-core music fans listen to physical music formats.

More on Mawhinney’s website.

…Peanuts! Linus sings The Police.

Thanks Rich!

Dawn pointed me to this. She’d heard the song on one of our local country stations (I’d re-programmed the radio in her car) and told me I had to hear it. It was written and produced by The Song Trust (Rory Feek and Tim Johnson) and sung by a six-year-old in Nashville who says she doesn’t want to be famous. It’s a poignant reminder that there are still troops serving away from home and that they and their families are sacrificing much this Christmas.

You can purchase a copy of the song and know that half of all profits goes to St. Judes Children’s Hospital.

Christmas is a magical time of the year, especially for children. We all have wonderful childhood memories of Christmases long past and, as parents, we were again filled with wonder and magic through the eyes of our own children. Well, it’s Christmas season once again and magic fills the air. Do you feel it?

If you saw the movie Polar Express, you’ll recognize this song, beautifully performed live at the Greek by Josh Groban. It allows us, once again, to see Christmas through the eyes of children… if we just believe.

This video was produced using a technology called Spc X Drive II XD Coded Sound, designed to enhance the audio quality of the video and defeat the usual “tinny” sound associated with heavily compressed live performance recordings. It sounds best with a sub-woofer.

Remember doo wop? Then you’ll enjoy this fun Joshua Held Flash animation featuring Irving Berlin’s Christmas classic, White Christmas, performed by Bill Pinckney (Santa) and The Drifters (reindeer).

Click to play

This video should help ignite your Christmas spirit. It features the original members of Straight No Chaser, Indiana University’s premier men’s a cappella group, performing their comedic version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” at the Musical Arts Center in Bloomington, Indiana, December 7th, 1998. Since its founding in 1996, the group has performed at universities and auditoriums all across the country.