Too much music, too little time! :D

 Hi everyone, thanks to yesterday’s Ellen show, I just heard the latest Fitz & the Tantrums  song called “Hand clap”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPAcsrJcVQk

It’s as energetic as their 2^nd album and I guess it’s from their upcoming self-titled album coming out June 10. Pre-order here on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Fitz-Tantrums/dp/B01DEMEVDM/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=m...

Their music is just all around feel-good music and I just can’t wait to hear their new album! That’s it for now folks, thanks for reading and listening, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Hi everyone, my find today was a nice surprise I took a chance on. Browsing through a used music store, I found a “Best of Three Dog Night” LP and bought it. Since  I only knew their songs from the radio, I was pleasantly surprised with this little gem called “Pieces of April”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zutvUaAeQJs

There’s a beautiful live version on my LP and I’m really glad I took a chance on it. They were pretty popular on my local CKGM radio station, which was the coolest throughout my childhood and teen years: wonderful memories. Anyway, hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading and listening, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Hi everyone, here comes another dusty, long-forgotten under a pile of memories, even scrunched up behind a heavy box find, from a really old mixed tape. It’s an unusual paring, musically graduating from the “songwriting 101” class, but somehow, I like it. :D It’s a duet of Jermaine Jackson and Pia Zadora of all people. The song is called “When the rain begins to fall”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1E2A4eNsKQ

Wow, I’m sorry if my assessment sounds a little harsh, but I stand  my ground on this one. Anyway, I did a little research on Wiki and found that  the 1984 song  was from the movie “Voyage of the Rock Aliens”. A minor hit in the United States, the song reached No. 1 in some European countries. So there you go folks, I hope you enjoy it despite the cheese factor. :D Oh, speaking of which, while I’m at it, let me share my favorite duet containing Jermaine Jackson: the one he shared with Whitney houston. If I remember correctly, it was popularized on the soap opera “Another world” and it was called “If you say my eyes are beautiful”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVgSoWYzt0Y

Oh, I don’t care that it’s cheesy, it is pretty and be sure that this one wasn’t dusty or under a pile. I think it was on Jermaine’s “Precious moments” album and I bought it just for this song... :D   Whitney's voice was just so perfect back then: gorgeous and effortless. All right, that’s it for now. Thanks for reading and listening, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Oh my Gosh, do I have a terrific find from my mixed tapes library today! I usually let the DJ mention the title and performer/band before I stop taping songs, but this time, my tape ended before the end and that’s why I’m so glad to have such a great memory! :D All right, let me get to this long lost treasure, the song “Tender years” by John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhWqOSMDNUM

Ah man, it’s weird, the sound on my tape was horrid, as if I’d taped it from a far away radio station, but I just might have taped it from outside the TV... XD  This song was from the soundtrack of the movie “Eddie & the Cruisers”, from I believe 1985. I think what attracted me to this song was the Springsteen sound/influence. I looked it up and the band got started in 1972 and the original members were from Rhode Island. They’re apparently still performing today, though with a diferent line-up. In any case, this is a very cool, old school pop rock song with John’s delicious tone and I was so glad to find it again, hope you enjoy it at least half as much as I did. Thanks for reading and listening, sincerely, Sylvie :D

Hi everyone, this week, I had an unusual blast from my teenage years, strangely, through a newly found song.   I was able to listen to Adele’s “25” CD, which I finally got from the library. The one song I want to focus on is called “All I ask”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aKteL3vMvU

Her CD is wonderful, by the way. I’ll probably need to check how many songs are originals, but she sings the one I know to be a cover as if noone else ever sang it. Back to the song, at first, I thought it was just the chosen chords that sounded familiar, but listening to the lyrics, I found there was just enough drama to turn on the unexperienced teenage waterworks. Don’t get me wrong, I adore the song, but coming from the narrator’s point of view, she’s much too young to think she’ll never love again... Good Lord, what business do I have analyzing lyrics? :D I’m sorry, but it really struck a chord and felt like a blast from my teenage past, so it was kind of fun to revisit with adult eyes. I do hope you enjoy the song and this is a truly beautiful performance. Thanks for reading and listening, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Hi everyone, today, I’m posting an old forgotten 80’s favorite, courtesy of my vintage mixed tape library.  It’s Bryan Ferry with “don’t stop the dance” from 1985:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjhTHQhJLxs

Doing a little Wiki search, I found that this was from his 6^th solo album, instead of the first, as I thought. I did enjoy some of his and Roxy Music’s music from the early to mid 80’s, because it was a nice melodic break in the radio listening day, but I felt “Don’t stop the dance” had a bit more groove and simply more “umph”. Now that song got me to thinkinghow many songs have that title and I had a field day on Wiki! Going through the list of possibilities, I’ve gathered a few, very different interpretations on the theme. First, on the theme of using music to unwind, Rihanna “Don’t stop the music” 2007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd8jh9QYfEs

Then, on the theme of simply enjoying music for the way it makes you feel to “inhale” it, Yarbrough and Peoples “Don’t stop the music” 1980

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tbS73I1N-I

Here’s an interesting one, on the theme of self-expression through music, Sweedish singer Robyn - Don't Stop the Music  2002

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd1Fko_r-8U

The next one, on the theme of living in the moment, not wanting it to end, because the narrator is sharing a moment with the object of his affection, my favorite song of theirs, Scottish band the Bay City Rollers “Don’t stop the music” 1976

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygX8NbP7Cbk

Wow, that’s the 6 minute version, keeping with the not stopping the music thread... XD All right, as long as I’m exploring various themes, how about one on the theme of needing music for healing sympathy,here’s another discovery I wouldn’t buy personally, but I thought  it brought an interesting point to this entry, George Jones-Don't Stop The Music  1957

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHPfXqFN7GE

Okay now, time for my periodic indulgence and no, the Bay City Rollers didn’t count! lol This one is a guilty pleasure, corny as anything, but fun and similar enough to the feel of this post, good old Village People with the title song to their less than memorable movie “Can’t stop the music”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFX4hItUQIA

Oh my gosh, who wrote those lyrics? lol Somehow, not all music ages well, but it was fun to listen to. All right friends, I hope you will have enjoyed some of this, I personally had a blast putting it together. Thanks for reading and listening, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Hi everyone, well it seems 2016 has  been pretty rough on the music community so far and we’ve lost another star: Sir George Martin. Anyone who knows anything about the Beatles knows that he was their music producer and mentor and although he has produced many other artists, his contribution to the Beatles phenomenon just can’t be denied and since obviously, it was his most widely known accomplishment, I suppose it will always be what he was most closely associated with. I found this wonderful article with lovely tribute on the BBC site:

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35761464

There are a few videos on this page, all part of a truly nice tribute. I’ve been a Beatles fan as long as I can remember and passed it on to my kids too. I was too young to experience Beatlemania first hand, but I have to say I got a really nice taste of it through a little-known   1978 movie called “I wanna hold your hand”, co-written and directed by Robert Zemeckis. I just loved that movie that I saw for the first time on cable, which was miraculously done before John Lennon’s passing and again, miraculously contained all this fabulous original early Beatles music soundtrack. There are many scenes in the movie that thrilled this little fan girl, but aside from the mind-boggling, heart-stopping  surprise ending, my favorite scene from it is at the end of this clip:

scene from “I wanna hold your hand”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV0mfhLFk6U

In this scene, Pam, (Nancy Allen) is inadvertently sneeked in to the Beatles hotel room. When you hear the first strands of the harmonica from "Love me do" orbing in as the camera pans up one of the guitars, oh man, you just want to cry out of disbelief this is really happening to her... :D I should watch that... Well anyway, hats off and rest in peace Sir George and thanks very much for the music. Thanks all for reading, watching and listening, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Hi everyone, I have a terrific find today, if I do say so myself. This is a song I started hearing on, of all places, my French pop radio station, about a month ago or so. This has been one of the most surprising songs I’ve ever heard on there. First of all, it’s not really pop and I’d expect it more on an AC station, or a country station, if I’d listen to any. As I’ve said, I started hearing this song on the radio about a month ago, shortly before the Grammy Awards. The curious thing is that the album it came from has been out since 2014 and the special quality of this song is that it blends pop, country and even a bit of rap, not in the “gangsta” realm, but still. So, here it is, Sam Hunt with “Take your time”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXi6IHFHeIA

Sam’s voice is nice, the bit of rap/talk in rhythm is surprising, but the premise is fabulous. Ray Charles once said that what he loved about country songs was the stories and this is a perfect example of it. Funny how when I started paying attention to the lyrics, it reminded me of this scene from the movie “Tootsie”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66pNob-uqcQ

:D All this to say that on paper, the idea is great. Well anyway, I do hope you enjoy the song: it’s one of my favorite discoveries this year. Thanks for reading and listening, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Hi everyone, today I’ll be posting an unusual choice for my taste. I heard this in the supermarket a couple of days ago and from the far, all I could pick up were this mind-bogglingly beautiful arrangement and the miraculous voice of Stevie Wonder. So far, so good. I did some on-line research to find out whether he’d released a new CD with symphonic arrangements or something and founda surprise. Now I’m not sure if this is what I actually heard, in the distance, in the middle of the supermarket, but the arrangement is so beautiful and luxurious, I just had to share it. This is to me an unlikely duet, but here it is, Stevie Wonder with Céline Dion with “overjoyed”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP9Zu_Z_2iQ

I adore this song, though unfortunately maybe, it’s no secret that I don’t have the ear to appreciate Céline’s voice. However, here’s another duet that’s a bit more in my wheelhouse. I did post this one on another blog and it resurfaced in my mind last week, when I revisited a vintage mixed tape. This is one of the sweetest, smoothest, melt-in-your ear chocolaty delicious songs and definitely, one of my all-time favorite male duets. Here’s Mr Smokey Robinson and Rick James with “Ebony eyes”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bZSzS8h0Dg

Ooh baby baby, I can’t tell you how much I love this song! I was really surprised to find out it wasn’t written by Smokey, because stylishly, I think it totally belongs on his “Being with you” album. For the record, according to Wiki, it was written by James Johnson. In any case, I do hope you enjoy both of these. Thanks for reading and listening, sincerely, Sylvie <3