As you will no doubt notice from the festive adornment above, it is now December 1st and therefore time to begin getting into the Christmas spirit! I usually try and hold out until December so as not to overdo the holidays but I have already pretty much finished my Christmas shopping and I may have switched my iPod to festive mode a few days early. I simply can’t help myself. I FUCKING LOVE CHRISTMAS!

The above video, as I mentioned last year, is a newer Christmas song by The Hives and Cyndi Lauper that has quickly become a festive favourite of mine. [A quick sidenote here friends. Festive is my new favourite word and you will find it peppered throughout my speech this festive season, as well as liberally applied to my - now fantastically festive - blog.]

As you can see The Pet Shop Boys are also getting in on the Chrimbo excitement with a festive EP this year. How amazing is this? Well-played Neil and Chris, well-played. I want one.

Finally, I have attached below another Christmas classic by Boney M, Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord. Fantastic!

Christmas is coming! Hurrah!

I like this time of year; the winding down towards Christmas and a well-earned break for those of us who work for a living. The chance to spend time with family and friends far away; mostly family.

Everything seems to slow down gradually, much to the indignation of demanding bosses who have projects to complete; but they gradually get into the spirit as well. Not so for retail businessmen; they become busy little bees, and will sting you with their prices if you’re too much in the spirit, or if you’re too much into the spirits, as the case may be. And except around shopping malls, even traffic becomes easier. What a joy to drive to work and back, this time of year.

However, even crass commercialization has some appeal; a visual feast for the senses with christmas decorations nearly everywhere, feel-good christmassy music coming from shops and malls, fake fir trees in windows and aisles, multi-coloured lights flashing, and most importantly, people seeming more cheerful than at any other time of year. And what about the kids? They tend to become more manageable, although a slightly heavier burden on the wallet.

For us non-believers, all this hoo-ha over what was once a pagan festival, is supposed to be exasperating, but I find it all rather charming; amusing perhaps. I really enjoy the christmas carols, even if the words have no appeal or meaning for me. However, like most normal people, I do find Boney M slightly annoying, but Andrea Bocelli or Frank Sinatra singing carols, is a real delight for the senses.

And somehow, people become more generous too at this time of year. Those beggars standing at the traffic intersections usually get something extra, and even other less fortunate adults and children from miscellaneous charitable organizations, benefit. A real pity that Christmas doesn’t come at least once a month. Imagine how different the world could be, if Christmas was about people, rather than gods.

It’s really convenient for us all that the early Christians chose to commemorate Christmas around the time of the winter solstice, incorporating it with pagan festivals such as the Celtic Yule, the Roman Saturnalia and the solstice feast of Mithras, the Roman god of light which falls on 25 December,  just before New Year’s Eve, a traditional celebration for the Roman god, Janus. And not forgetting New Years Day, the traditional day for hang-overs. Yes, a wise decision to fit it in with happy, festive times.

"Does this even need a witty caption?"

Lady Gaga is a confusing artist. I’ll say this right now; her songs are cringe-worthy, and incredibly pretentious at times. However, she creeps up on you, and before you know it you are singing along to every chorus, and trying to join in on the absurd dance moves in her videos. Lady Gaga is the both the worst of pop, and the best of it all at once, and I don’t know if I’ll ever wrap my head around her fully. If her first album wasn’t confusing enough, this special edition bonus tracks-cum-EP-cum-new album that she calls ‘The Fame Monster’ just adds to the Gaga enigma.

Just let me take on the Lady as a whole, first off. She’s incredibly odd, in terms of look, costume, public persona, music, and especially her music videos. By rights, she should have gone the way of Bjork in the public perception, a one hit wonder that drops out of the mainstream but still has hardcore fans who can accept her strange aesthetic and unique musical style. Lady Gaga, on the other hand, endures. I think this is because she isn’t unique. Whether this is pure lack of creativity, or as I like to see her, a big postmodernist comment on the world of pop and celebrity, is still up for debate. What Gaga does well is take on the wide range of what we call pop, smash it all together through massive layers of production and create something decidedly weird, but catchy as hell and so bombastically unoriginal that it comes full circle and feels fresh and new.

I hate to go track by track, but I’m going to party have to for ‘The Fame Monster’ as it is not really a coherent album. Oh sure, it’s being sold as that now, but it was originally planned as a bonus disc for her debut release ‘The Fame’, filled with tracks that were either new or left off that release, depending on which articles you read. The only thing that seems to pull the album together is the repetition of the words “free bitch” in a few of the songs. The reason for highlighting certain tracks will just give you an idea of what to expect, and an idea of how eclectic an album ‘The Fame Monster’ is:

Bad Romance is the closest to what I’ve come to expect of Gaga thus far, with a similar sound to previous songs like Paparazzi, though with a vocal hook that reminds me of Boney M’s Rasputin, and a verse in French for no other reason than it’s a Lady Gaga song. Alejandro opens with a spoken intro in a bad, pan-European accent, and carries on in that vein, sounding like Shakira taken to the Europop extreme. Monster is booming R&B and features the line “he ate my heart and then he ate my brain.” ‘nuff said. Speechless would sound like Abbey Road/Let It Be era Beatles mixed with Christina Aguilera, if it weren’t for the strange accent Lady Gaga puts on to sing it. Try to imagine a country drawl mixed with Dick Van Dyke quality cockney and you’ll be about half way there. Dance In The Dark sounds a little like a darker version of her earlier song ‘Just Dance’, funnily enough. Telephone (feat. Beyonce) opens with a harp, and then breaks out into a thumping club track. If you like random vocal effects and hearing Beyonce for a verse, then you’ll probably enjoy it, there’s not much else to it really. So Happy I Could Die is what Rhianna would sound like if she’d been around in the 90s, pop R&B scene. Finally we have Teeth, which to my ears is the love child of Fanz Ferdinand’s ‘Ulysses’ and everything Scissor Sisters ever released. Though sadly, unlike those bands, Lady Gaga’s tongue is nowhere near her cheek in this one.

So where does that leave us? The Fame Monster is an eclectic mix of songs, which while possibly enjoyable on their own, don’t totally work together. Actually even on their own, just as you start to get into a song something, be it the lyrics, or an odd sound effect Gaga decided to add, will make you cringe. The subject matter is a little more mainstream than her main her first album, with each track seeming more about relationships than celebrity. Here’s the rub. Nothing I or any other reviewer says about this album will matter. This album will sell. It will pump out single after single, and Lady Gaga will make video after absurd video to promote it. I still can’t work out whether Lady Gaga is a genius or just very lucky to hit on some untouched artery of the market, but it doesn’t really matter. She’s cemented in pop culture now, and this album is doing nothing to endanger that.

5/10

Standout Tracks:

Bad Romance

Speechless

Telephone (feat. Beyonce)

Yesterday I drove past a middle-aged fat man, sitting in a bakkie, wearing no shirt and a Santa’s hat.

Today I arrived at work and Boney M was blaring from the office.

Christmas is upon us…. you’ve been warned.

I’ve made a list of songs from our all best Tv-channel, Youtube, to give you back the songs you’ve forgotten.

Top ten? Okay, I guess that’s how it works in this world. Everything made in tens, except of course babies.

Here goes!

Number 10

Cher – The Shoop Shoop Shoop Song (It’s in His Kiss). Forgotten though fairly easily retrieved from memory.

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Number 9

Alphaville – Big In Japan. Maybe never even a hit, so very easily forgotten.

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Number 8

Blue Oyster Cult: Don’t Fear the Reaper

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Number 7

Roy Orbinson: You Got It. Old love bird with huge glasses, a classic to some, but not me.

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Number 6

French Affair – My Heart Goes Boom (LaDiDaDa). More recent, but nonetheless. FORGOTTEN!:-)

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Number 5

ABBA: Summer Night City. Okay, sure, you all know ABBA, the release of Mamma Mia helped a lot too, but are you thinking of this disco hit when you think of ABBA? I bet you forgot!

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Number 4

Culture Club: Karma Chameleon

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Number 3

Boney M: Rasputin. Boney M still rules in my world, I just haven’t listened to them the past 15 years.

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Number 2

Adam and the Ants: Stand and Deliver. If it wasn’t for number 1 I wanted to put this first, a classic I didn’t knew I liked so much. In my Bookmarks and now easily retrieved from memory.

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Number 1

Genghis khan: Genghis khan. This is so random, yet so cool, I myself forgot I knew it. It caught me by surprise when I found it on Youtube, a song I instantly forget after I’ve heard it.

Músicas da minha semana, sem muita enrolação.

Robert Palmer – Addicted To Love

The Saturdays – Forever Is Over

Cheryl Cole – Fight For This Love

Dizzee Rascal – Holiday

Nelly – Ride Wit Me

Boney M – Daddy Cool

Alexandra Burke – Bad Boys (feat. Flo Rida)

Banda Black Rio – Dança do Figueiredo

Ce mult imi place si mi-a placut mie piesa asta….

Dar putini stiu ca e compusa de un ROMAN!!…Misu Cretu.Care a mai fost si sotul Sandrei…cea din clip..ja ja ja…

Michael Creţu s-a căsătorit, în anul 1988, cu Sandra, care era atunci un star internaţional, iar în noiembrie 2007 au divorţat, după aproape 20 de ani de căsnicie. Michael Creţu este văr primar cu Mădălin Voicu pe linie maternă (mama lui Mădălin este sora tatălui lui Michael).

Mihai Creţu, cunoscut ca Michael Cretu şi Mihai Cretu (n. 18 mai, 1957, Bucureşti, România), este un muzician şi producător muzical român, activ muzical în Germania şi Europa de Vest, domiciliat în insula spaniolă Ibiza, cunoscut mai ales ca fiind creatorul proiectului muzical Enigma.

Mihai Creţu a studiat muzica clasică la liceul numărul 2 din Bucureşti în anii târzii 1960, precum şi în Franţa, la Paris începând cu anul 1968. În perioada 1975 – 1978, a urmat cursurile Academiei de muzică din Frankfurt obţinând licenţa în muzică. De formaţie pianist Creţu a lucrat ca producător şi interpret la instrumente cu clape pentru Frank Farian, germanul care s-a aflat în perioada anilor 1970 – 1980, în spatele marilor succese comerciale numite Boney M şi Milli Vanilli.

Mihai Creţu, cunoscut sub pseudonimul artistic de Curly M.C., a lucrat înaintea proiectului său muzical Enigma cu numeroşi producători, muzicieni şi artişti, printre care se numără Sandra Creţu, Frank Farian, Boney M, Goombay Dance Band, Peter Cornelius, Manfred “Tissy” Thiers şi Mike Oldfield. În timpul rulării proiectului Enigma a colaborat cu alţi muzicieni precum sunt Jens Gad, Frank Peterson, David Fairstein, ATB, Jam & Spoon, Peter Ries, Ruth-Ann Boyle şi Andru Donalds.

Axat pe producere şi aranjament muzical, Creţu lucrează în propriul său studio muzical, numit Studioul A.R.T., situat chiar la reşedinţa personală a cuplului Michael şi Sandra Cretu, din insulele Baleare, pe insula Ibiza.

Wczoraj o poranku, po raz pierwszy w tym sezonie, skrobałem szyby samochodu, bo były pokryte sporą warstwą lodu, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Dzisiaj dla odmiany za oknami szaruga i słota, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Zapowiadają szybkie nadejście zimy, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

A może by do ciepłych krajów?

It had to be done  - really – following my previous post………just couldn’t resist!

I remember my parents going completely ape spastic to Boney M at parties with friends at our home when I was a kid. However – somehow they always picked all the commercial hits, and thought “Nightflight To Venus” a little too advanced – or even too underground – for their taste!

Alas – my sister and I were sonically tortured to “Daddy Cool” on repeat in our beds!

This is producer Frank Farian at his spaciest, and even today it still sounds cool. If you can ignore the fact it’s Boney M.

In fact – it’s so cool even Erol Alkan has used it as a set-opener several times over the years.

“Ladies & Gentlemen – welcome on board this starship – Boney M………” !

Love it!

MP3: Boney M – Nightflight To Venus

If you’ve listened to poker face I’m sure you noticed the distinctive ma, ma, ma, ma.   Boney M’s song Ma Baker has this distinctive sound too.  Coincidence?  I don’t think so, but does ma baker have anything to do with poker face?   I’m sure Ma Baker would have one mean poker face. 

Anyways Boney m was big in Germany in the 70s.  The disco era.  The fact that it was sampled in poker face shows an appreciation for diverse music. And some of their kooky outfits match Gaga’s style.

Kagehime

Är helt i klorna på den tyska gruppen Boney M. Lite mer Boney M-mania på min blogg går ju inte att undvika.

Så här ska en video göras. Betänk att det är över 30 år sedan. En av favoriterna Ma Baker:

Stråkarna gör mig sjuk av glädje i Sunny:

I förmiddags upptäckte jag åter denna glömda pärla Let all be music. Slutminuten är så underbar att mina gamla ben vägrar att sitta still.

Vilken power och vilket tryck:

Har du Spotify så kan du lyssna på min egen Boney M-lista. Det är 12 inte så kända, men ack så underbara, nostalgiska och roliga spår från den tyska gruppen: http://open.spotify.com/user/jerbaz/playlist/1jhxtLn2z8Xs10c2gFEfa4

Helt plötsligt så fick jag för mig att jag skulle spisa lite Boney M.

This is a story of Ma Baker… obetalbart!

Vilken nostalgitripp! Sunny, Daddy Cool, Ma Baker, Belfast, Gotta go home, My friend Jack, Rasputin och jag vet inte vad alla discopärlor heter.

Denna tyska popgrupp som slog igenom 1975 har aldrig riktigt dött. Det kommer ut mixar, samlingar och olika versioner av hitlåtarna och senast kom albumet The magic of Boney M 2006.

Nostalgi i discons tecken även med Baccara, Amii Stewart och några till.

Uppdatering: Spotify är ju bara för uppiggande. Donna Summer, underbara Donna Summer som jag älskade då det begav sig är inte att förglömma en discoafton som denna… Bad Girls, Hot Stuff och Sunset People och underbara No more tears! Oj, oj… nu är infarkten nära!

Este post faz parte do Top 1000 Songs Of The Last 30 Years

Particularmente, eu gosto muito dessa idéia de listas sobre a música de vários aspectos. Quando o Chico propôs a idéia de escrevermos sobre essa lista de músicas e quando vi essa música não podia deixar de escrever logo sobre ela.

Essa música já foi motivo de muita zoação minha e de parte de meus amigos, por algumas características peculiares do vídeo que escreverei logo abaixo deste. Assistam antes e tirem suas próprias conclusões.

Download

Características especiais do vídeo:

• Rebolado: A primeira coisa que me lembro quando vejo este vídeo é daqueles filmes de comédia quando um rato ou algum animal pequeno do gênero entra na roupa do cara engraçado e aí ele começa a se chacoalhar todo.
• Cabelo Black Power: Cabelos blackpower são sempre muito estilosos, nesse vídeo temos a visão de um blackpower clássico, uma franja power e três quartos de um blackpower.
• Back Vocals: O que eu gosto muito nesse tipo de música é a presença das back vocals, geralmente eles ganham de lavada do cantor. Mas alguém explica que raios de simulação de orgasmo foi aquela? Reparem na cara da platéia.

Esqueci de alguma?

Este post faz parte do Top 1000 Songs Of The Last 30 Years

A disco era o que predominava na década de 70 e tudo era mensclado com ela, até música gospel

Às margens dos rios da Babilônia, nós estávamos sentados lá
nós choramos, quando nós lembramos do Sião

Rivers of Babylonfoi a segunda música mais ouvida em 78.

E não só a música, mas o clipe também é muito temporal

Researching a show where all the songs referenced famous people was actually quite enlightening. Who knew that so many famous people felt compelled to record songs about other famous people? I suppose there’s a little bit of the fan in all of us. It was a shame that I had used up some very good songs that would have fitted the theme during my Men’s Names and Women’s Names shows, but there were still plenty of tracks left over to fit the bill. I did try and stay away from the more mawkish tribute songs, so no Candle in the Wind amongst this lot I’m afraid.

We opened the show with the Beloved’s HELLO. The song mentions a number of famous people chosen to loosely fit a “saints and sinners” theme. Those that get a nod include Jeffery Archer, Fred Astaire, Little Richard, Barry Humphries and Charlie Parker. I like the way the Supremes are simply called “Mary Wilson, Di and Flo”. Even Fred Flintstone gets a mention.

Next it was another song with a list. Eminem recently won the MTV award for Best Hip Hip Video for WE MADE YOU. The song spoofs, among others, Sarah Palin, Amy Winehouse and Jessica Simpson. Hopefully it hasn’t reached viewer saturation point yet, ’cause here it is again:

Allanah Myles’ #1 hit, BLACK VELVET is about Elvis Presley. It can refer to either his likeness frequently being painted on black velvet or his voice. Here’s a bit of trivia for you: Black Velvet was the name of the hair dye that Elvis used to give his naturally brown hair its distinctive black sheen. 

SWEET GENE VINCENT remained in Ian Dury’s set list for almost his entire career, even after other songs had been dropped because of the singer’s worsening health. It was played at his very last concert at the London Palladium in February 2000 and is still performed by The Blockheads. Ian Dury was arguably Gene Vincent’s biggest fan and he claims to have bought every single that Vincent ever produced. Dury’s stage clothes also reflected Vincent’s influence, notably black leather gloves. Dury constantly denied that his identification with the singer, who was also crippled and forced to wear a leg brace, was in any way an attraction. He claimed that he didn’t even know Vincent was crippled when he first became a fan. According to Dury, it was all about the voice and his look. That’s Gene Vincent on the left and here is a clip of Ian Dury and the Blockheads performing at the Concert for the People of Kampuchea in 1979. The big bonus is the addition of Mick Jones from the Clash. Brilliant. 

BETTE DAVIS EYES was a huge hit for Kim Carnes. Even Bette Davis herself was a fan. The actress admitted to loving the song and approached Carnes and the songwriters to thank them. She said that it made her seem very up-to-date with her grandson. She had Carnes sing the song live for her at a tribute held just before her death.

I included a  couple more songs about actors: Bree Sharp’s song about DAVID DUCHOVNY proves that she is also an adoring fan of the actor from X-Files and, more recently, Californication. Billy Bragg & Wilco gave us a song dedicated to INGRID BERGMAN, with lyrics by Woodie Guthrie.

David Bowie played the song ANDY WARHOL to the artist, who reportedly disliked it as he thought the lyrics made fun of his physical appearance. When the song had finished playing, Warhol and Bowie supposedly just stared at each other for a while until Warhol said “I like your shoes” and the pair then had a conversation about shoes. As you do.

The Modern Lovers sang about another artist, PABLO PICASSO and Simon & Garfunkle contributed a song about the great American architect FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT. 

The ever-cheerful ska star, Prince buster, was more concerned with spelling the name of his subject in AL CAPONE. A guilty pleasure followed: Boney M with RASPUTIN. Who knew that this Russian baddie was a raging love machine? Here’s the clip, just to remind you of how much fun disco actually was:

Although David Bowie admits that JEAN GENIE is a clumsy pun on the name of the author Jean Genet, he claims that the real subject of the song is his friend Iggy Pop. The line “He’s so simple minded, he can’t drive his module” would later give the band Simple Minds their name. There are several clips of this song available but take a look at this one. I chose it just because of the outfit. Oh, and the band rocks too.

Morphine gave us a song not just about, but in the style of, the American beat poet and author Jack KEROUAC. And then it was Bob Dylan with his protest song HURRICANE about the boxer Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter. The song compiles alleged acts of racism and profiling against Carter, which Dylan describes as leading to a false trail and conviction. The song is credited with helping to overturn the conviction.

We lightened the mood somewhat with a bit of Pop from Bananarama: ROBERT DE NIRO’S WAITING. And then it was The Clash with their song about the another actor, Montgomery Clift, who, after a serious accident, could only be shot from THE RIGHT PROFILE (see left).

U2 paid homage to singer Billie Holiday with their song ANGEL OF HARLEM and then The Barenaked Ladies told the story of a man whose life parallels that of the Beach Boys’ BRIAN WILSON, particularly during his time spent with a psychologist.

Two tracks followed that are quite critical of their subjects. Carly Simon with a song supposedly about Warren Beatty – YOU’RE SO VAIN and then it was Modest Mouse with BUKOWSKI. “Yeah, I know he’s a pretty good read, but God, who’d want to be such an a….hole.” True.

Next was a wonderful song from George Harrison, dedicated to John Lennon: ALL THOSE YEARS AGO. Here, in tribute to both of them, is the clip. 

We closed the show with one of my favourite new artists, Julian Velard, with JIMMY DEAN & STEVE McQEEN.  

Here’s the complete playlist. If the title doesn’t tell the story, I’ve bracketed the person who the song is about.

Hello (various) - The Beloved

We Made You (various) - Eminem

Black Velvet (Elvis Presley) - Alannah Myles

Sweet Gene Vincent - Ian Dury

Sir Duke (Duke Ellington) - Stevie Wonder

Bette Davis Eyes -  Carnes

Michael Caine - Madness

David Duchovny  - Bree Sharp

Ingrid Bergman - Billy Bragg & Wilco

Andy Warhol - David Bowie

Pablo Picasso - The Modern Lovers

So Long Frank Lloyd Wright - Simon & Garfunkel

Marvin Gaye - Josh Rouse

Al Capone - Prince Buster

Rasputin - Boney M.

The Jean Genie - David Bowie

Kerouac  - Morphine

Hurricane (Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter) - Bob Dylan

Robert De Niro’s Waiting - Bananarama

The Right Profile  (Montgomery Clift) - The Clash

Angel Of Harlem (Billie Holiday) - U2

Brian Wilson - Barenaked Ladies

You’re So Vain (Warren Beatty) - Carly Simon

Bukowski - Modest Mouse

All Those Years Ago (John Lennon) - George Harrison

Jimmy Dean & Steve McQueen – Julian Velard

Next week: COVERS THAT ARE BETTER THAN THE ORIGINALS

Listen to Lyn McCarthy at the Theme Park on BayFM, Tuesdays 2-4pm, Sydney time.

Also streaming on http://www.bayfm.org

Tragically also on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/maccalyn

No longer on Twitter! I’m not that tragic after all.