I figured I could make a pretty awesome playlist for parties and such, since I’ve got such great (read: weird) taste and all. Anyways, here are 30 party songs.

These aren’t in order of importance, but in an order that would make some kind of sense to play straight through.  This is by no means comprehensive. I don’t know what that means exactly, but I like the sound of it.

1. “Just Dance” – Lady Gaga feat. Colby O’Donis and Akon
2. “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” – Daft Punk
3. “She Wolf” – Shakira
4. “Gold Digger” – Kanye West
5. “I’m Not Your Toy” – La Roux
6. “Boom Boom Pow” – Black Eyed Peas
7. “LoveGame” – Lady Gaga
8. “Blue” – Eiffel 65
9. “Punkb*tch” – 3OH!3
10. “Chillin’” – Wale feat. Lady Gaga
11. “Startrukk” – 3OH!3 feat. Katy Perry
12. “In for the Kill” – La Roux
13. “I Kissed A Girl” – Katy Perry
14. “U Can’t Touch This” – MC Hammer
15. “Bulletproof” – La Roux
16. “Poker Face” – Lady Gaga
17. “The New Workout Plan” – Kanye West
18. “Here (In Your Arms)” – Hellogoodbye
19. “Don’t Trust Me” – 3OH!3
20. “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” – Eurythmics
21. “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga
22. “All Time Lows” – Hellogoodbye
23. “Stronger” – Kanye West
24. “Tubthumping” – Chumbawamba
25. “1901″ – Phoenix
26. “Touchdown Turnaround (Don’t Give Up on Me)” – Hellogoodbye
27. “Hot N Cold” – Katy Perry
28. “School Spirit” – Kanye West
29. “I Like It Rough” – Lady Gaga
30. “One More Time” – Daft Punk

Eiffel 65 fue un grupo de música electrónica italiano que se hizo mundialmente conocido a partir de su hit “Blue (Da Ba Dee)”, incluido en su disco debut, Europop, del año 1999. Antes de su disolución, el trío editó otros dos discos, aunque sin repercusión mediática.

Los dejamos entonces con Eiffel 65 y sus cinco minutos de fama.

There will be a lot of blue on display in this game.  If Kenan Stadium could sing a song on Saturday, it might sound like this:

I’m blue da ba dee da ba di da ba dee da ba di da ba dee da ba di…

That’s right, an Eiffel 65 reference.  What other game preview gives you that?

—

The Citadel begins another football season this Saturday.  Doesn’t it seem like the anticipation increases every year?  Of course, this year part of the reason Bulldog fans want the season to hurry up and get here is so the team doesn’t lose any more running backs before the first game.

Some fast facts:

–Series:  UNC leads 3-0 (all three games played in Chapel Hill)
–Scores:  14-7 UNC (1915), 50-0 UNC (1939), 45-14 UNC (1986)
–The Citadel alltime against current ACC schools:  6-63-2
–The Citadel alltime against ACC schools (when those schools were actually members of the ACC):  0-24

The last time the Bulldogs beat a current ACC school was in 1931, when The Citadel edged Clemson, 6-0 (in a game played in Florence, of all places).  The Citadel also tied Florida State in 1960, 0-0.  The Bulldogs haven’t seriously threatened an ACC opponent on the gridiron since 1976, when Clemson slipped past a solid Bobby Ross squad, 10-7.

—

The 1939 UNC team that thrashed the Bulldogs 50-0 was pretty good, going 8-1-1 that season.  Alas, the loss was to Duke.  The coach of the Tar Heels at the time was Raymond “Bear” Wolf.  Yes, “Bear” Wolf.  Years before, Wolf had been a baseball player; he played in one game in the majors, for Cincinnati, getting one more at bat than Moonlight Graham did (speaking of UNC alums).  Wolf had a good run in Chapel Hill until 1941, when he went 3-7.

The new coach was Jim Tatum, who is in the College Football Hall of Fame, but mostly for his work at Maryland.  Tatum only coached at UNC (his alma mater) for one year before enlisting in the Navy; he would later have enormous success in College Park, winning a national title with the Terrapins in 1953, before returning to North Carolina in 1956.  Tatum coached three more seasons in Chapel Hill before dying suddenly of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in 1959.  He was only 46.

While Tatum was building a championship team at Maryland (he also coached Oklahoma for one season), UNC was having a very good run of its own, thanks in large part to the exploits of the great Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice.  Justice is surely one of the best college football players not to win the Heisman Trophy (he was the runner-up twice).  North Carolina played in three major bowl games during this period, the only three times the Heels have ever played in a major bowl.  UNC lost all three games.

After some good (and bad) seasons through the 1960s, UNC would have another outstanding streak of success in the early 1970s under Bill Dooley, including an 11-1 season in 1972, marred only by a loss to Ohio State.  Interestingly, North Carolina did not finish the year in the top 10 of either poll.  Dooley would move on to Virginia Tech (and later Wake Forest).

Dick Crum took over the program from Dooley, and had some excellent seasons of his own, including 1980, when the Tar Heels (featuring Lawrence Taylor) would again go 11-1, again go undefeated in ACC play — and again struggle against a big-name non-conference opponent, this time Oklahoma (losing 41-7).  That 1980 season marks the last time UNC won the ACC title.

The next year could arguably serve as a microcosm of North Carolina’s football history.  UNC, led by tailback Kelvin Bryant, scored 161 points in its first three games in 1981.  Bryant scored an amazing 15 touchdowns in those three matchups.  Then, against Georgia Tech, Bryant injured his knee.  He would miss the next four games.  UNC hung on for two games, but after improving its record to 6-0, the Tar Heels were soundly beaten at home by a mediocre South Carolina team, 31-13.

North Carolina rebounded to beat Maryland, and then played Clemson in a game that was essentially for the ACC title.  The Heels had won 11 straight ACC contests, and the Tigers were undefeated (and had beaten Herschel Walker and Georgia).  It was the first time two ACC schools had met in football when both were ranked in the AP top 10, and it would be a memorable encounter.  Clemson prevailed, 10-8, in a game where the intensity was palpable, even to TV viewers.

North Carolina would not lose again that season, buoyed to an extent by the return of Bryant for the final two regular-season games and the Gator Bowl (where the Tar Heels would defeat Arkansas).  There was, however, one final twist of the knife.  From the “Scorecard” section of Sports Illustrated (January 11, 1982):

They say you can prove anything with statistics, and in the case of North Carolina running back Kelvin Bryant, official NCAA figures would appear to show that he didn’t exist in 1981. NCAA rules specify that to qualify as a season statistical leader a football player must appear in at least 75% of his team’s regular-season games; for the Tar Heels, who played an 11-game schedule, that meant a minimum of eight games. Because of knee surgery, Bryant played in only seven games, but he made the most of his limited participation, to put it mildly, scoring 108 points. The NCAA determines scoring leaders on a per-game basis, and it awarded the scoring title to USC’s Marcus Allen, who averaged 12.5 points a game. Because he played too few games, Bryant, with a 15.4 average, didn’t qualify to be the scoring champion, which may be fair enough. But Bryant also was excluded from the list of 25 top scorers even though—surely there’s an injustice here—he ranked fifth in total points behind Allen (138 points), Georgia’s Herschel Walker (120), SMU’s Eric Dickerson (114) and McNeese State’s Buford Johnson (l10). Absurdly, Iowa State’s Dwayne Crutchfield, who scored just 104 points, is listed in fifth place, while Bryant and his 108 points are nowhere to be seen.

This little blurb came in the same edition of the magazine  that featured Clemson wide receiver Perry Tuttle on the cover, as the Tigers had just won the national championship by defeating Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.  Talk about a double whammy of what might have beens…

Crum never had a team that good again, and by the late 1980s the program was beginning to fade.  Mack Brown then arrived and basically decided to start over.  After consecutive 1-10 seasons, that may have looked like a mistake, but Brown gradually built things back up, and in his last two seasons in Chapel Hill the team went 10-2 and 11-1 .  He couldn’t quite get that one big win to push the program to the next level, though, as the Heels could not beat Florida State.  After that 11-1 season (in 1997), Brown left for a program that he felt he could push over the top — Texas.

As the above paragraphs illustrate, UNC has had an occasionally-close-but-no-cigar kind of history in football — sometimes good, sometimes very good, but never quite getting over the hump (at least nationally) for various reasons, and thus always remaining in the large shadow cast by the school’s basketball program.  As the years have gone by, the degree of difficulty in trying to escape that shadow seems to have increased.

—

After ten seasons of around .500 ball under two coaches, the folks at UNC decided to shake things up and bring in Butch Davis, who is known as somebody who can really recruit (proof:  the 2001 Miami Hurricanes, which had 16 future NFL first-round draft picks on its roster).  Whether Davis can put it all together at North Carolina is the big question.  There are high hopes in Chapel Hill this season, however, as he returns 38 lettermen (including 15 starters) from a team that won eight games last season and is ranked #20 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll.

One of those returning starters is quarterback T.J. Yates, who presumably will have fully recovered from an injury suffered this past spring while playing Ultimate Frisbee.  I’m guessing that summer activities for the Tar Heels were restricted to checkers and backgammon in an attempt to keep everyone healthy.

Speaking of UNC quarterbacks, one of the curious things about the Heels’ football history is the lack of success of any North Carolina quarterback in the NFL (at least as a QB).  There have been 182 UNC football players who went on to the NFL (as of the conclusion of the 2008-09 season), but only two of them have been quarterbacks — and one of them, Jim Camp, never threw a pass in the league.  The other, Scott Stankavich, played in only four career games (no starts); two of those games came as a “replacement player” during the 1987 players’ strike.

Ronald Curry has had a decent career in the NFL, but as a wide receiver.  Curry has attempted four passes in the league, completing none of them.  There have actually been fifteen former Tar Heels who have attempted at least one NFL pass.  Only six of them, however, have actually completed one.  Stankavage is one of those six, but the Heel with the most yards passing in the NFL is halfback Ed Sutton, who threw for 146 yards in his career, with one TD.  Don McCauley is the only other UNC player to throw a TD pass in the NFL.

I totalled all the NFL passing statistics for former UNC players.  I also totalled the passing statistics for The Citadel’s Stump Mitchell (who threw nine passes during his career, including a TD toss to Roy Green) and Paul Maguire (who threw one pass during his career, completing it for 19 yards).  Check out the cumulative stats comparison:

UNC:  19-70, 315 yards, 2 TDs, 6 INTs, QB rating of 19.6
The Citadel:  5-10, 102 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, QB rating of 119.6

A 100-point difference in QB rating?!  Advantage, Bulldogs.  Of course, that won’t mean anything on Saturday.

—

Last season, the Bulldogs were 4-8.  This followed a 7-4 campaign in 2007 that had fans thinking a return to the FCS playoffs was not far away.  Instead, the Bulldogs lost six straight games during the course of the 2008 season, narrowly avoided a seventh straight defeat to a poor UT-Chattanooga squad, and then got pummeled by Tim Tebow and eventual BCS champion Florida in the season finale.

Some of those games were close (The Citadel lost three Southern Conference games by a total of 12 points), but on the whole the 4-8 record was a fair reflection of the Bulldogs’ play.  Comparing some league-only statistics from the 2007 and 2008 seasons is illuminating.  Ignoring the raw totals, which are a touch misleading (scoring was down in the SoCon last season as compared to 2007), and looking at league rankings:

-Scoring defense:  4th (2007), 8th (2008)
-Pass efficiency defense:  3rd (2007), 9th (2008)
-Red Zone defense:  2nd (2007), 9th (2008)
-Turnover margin:  2nd (2007), 5th (2008)
-3rd down conversion offense:  2nd (2007), 5th (2008)
-3rd down conversion defense:  2nd (2007, 5th (2008)

That’s basically the story of the 2008 season right there.  The defense had trouble getting off the field (SoCon opponents completed over 64% of their passes against The Citadel, and the Bulldogs only intercepted two passes all season in league play).  Inside the 20, The Citadel’s defense had no answers (allowing 23 touchdowns in 31 red zone situations).

Offensively, the running game struggled, as rushing yardage per game dropped by one-third.  Perhaps more ominously, the number of third downs converted via the rush fell substantially.  This also affected the offense’s red zone success rate, as the team scored only 18 touchdowns in 34 opportunities inside the 20 (the worst ratio in the league), and led to over-reliance on an erratic (I’m being kind here) placekicking game.  The Bulldogs only made 7 of 12 field goals attempted in red zone possessions.  No other conference team missed more than one such attempt all season.

After a season like that, it’s not surprising changes were made.  The Bulldogs are going to return to a 4-3 defense after last year’s attempt at a 3-4 resulted in the D getting pushed all over the gridiron.  That rather obvious lack of physicality was also addressed by an aggressive offseason conditioning program.  There are a couple of new defensive coaches, too.

There has been a good pre-season buzz about the defensive line, which is nice, but there also needs to be more playmaking from the linebackers and secondary.  In other words:  get stops and force turnovers.  The key is to corral more interceptions (fumble recoveries tend to be somewhat random).  Scoring touchdowns on defense would be a plus, too, but you have to get the turnovers first before you can think six.  The Bulldogs have recorded 13 sacks in conference play each of the last two seasons; a few more this year certainly couldn’t hurt.

The offensive line should be strong, although illness has been a problem in fall practice, what with one lineman suffering from an acid-reflux problem and another battling mononucleosis.  That’s still much better than the Bulldogs’ running back situation.  The starter for UNC may be walk-on freshman Bucky Kennedy, walk-on freshman Remi Biakabutuka, or one of the backup bagpipers.  Biakabutuka would definitely be the choice if the opening-game opponent were Ohio State rather than North Carolina, as just the name “Biakabutuka” on his jersey would be enough to unnerve the Buckeyes, thanks to his older brother Tim.

Another potential threat as a runner is backup quarterback Miguel Starks, who last year impressed many observers just by standing on the sideline during games.  However, he’s never played a down of college football.  It will be interesting to see what he can do once he gets on the field.

I’m of the opinion that the incumbent starting quarterback, Bart Blanchard, didn’t have that bad a season last year, as I don’t think he got much help from the rest of the backfield (and the offensive line seemed to lack consistency).  He is a bit limited as a runner, which is not ideal in Kevin Higgins’ offense, but that was true the year before as well and the Bulldogs managed just fine when he stepped in for Duran Lawson.  Higgins wants him to have a better completion percentage, but part of the problem Blanchard had last season trying to avoid incompletions was a limited number of passing targets — basically, his options were the tight ends and Andre Roberts.

Of course, Roberts is a nice target to have.  It would really help Roberts (and Blanchard) if a second receiver emerged this season (Kevin Hardy?), which never happened last year.  If another Bulldog wideout does develop into a threat, Roberts could wind up with fewer catches but more yards per reception.  Roberts in space is a big play waiting to happen, as anyone who has watched him return punts can attest.  I’m glad he’s not going to be returning kickoffs this year, though.  I worry about him wearing down over the course of the season.

The placekicking needs to be much improved.  Last year was just not acceptable.  The Bulldogs also must replace Mark Kasper, who was a solid punter for four seasons (second in the league in net punting last year).  The Citadel needs to improve its kickoff coverage (next-to-last in the conference in 2008).  Basically, the special teams must get better across the board (with the exception of the punt return team, which thanks to Roberts was the nation’s best unit).

—

As for Saturday’s game, a lot depends on whether Blanchard and Roberts have fully recovered from sprained ankles each suffered during fall practice.  If they are both good to go, I would expect the Bulldogs to be reasonably competitive against North Carolina.

While the Heels return 15 starters, they must replace some excellent wide receivers (including Hakeem Nicks) and two starters on their offensive line.  UNC’s o-line has taken a bit of a hit in the pre-season with some injuries and attrition (nothing like The Citadel’s running back situation, though).  The starting group should still be solid, however.

T.J. Yates should be okay after his frisbee ordeal.  This will be his third year starting games at QB for UNC.  Yates is good at taking care of the ball (only four interceptions last season).  UNC has a nice corps of running backs, led by Shaun Draughn, who rushed for 866 yards in 2008.  The Tar Heels will definitely need to find some new wideouts, as no returning receiver caught more than 11 passes last year.

UNC rotates a number of defensive linemen, and almost all of them are very good athletes (and most of them are huge).  Marvin Austin has first-round pick potential, Cam Thomas has all the makings of a future NFL nosetackle, and Ladson native Robert Quinn won the ACC’s Piccolo Award after recovering from a brain tumor to have an outstanding freshman campaign.

Despite this embarrassment of riches, the Tar Heels didn’t do a particularly good job creating sacks last season (only 22 all season; the d-line only had 5.5 of those).  Still, this group will be a formidable challenge for The Citadel’s offensive line.

North Carolina has a really good trio of starting linebackers, led by Bruce Carter, who doubles as a great kick-blocker (five last year).  The defensive backfield should be excellent, with several ball hawks ready to repeat last year’s success in intercepting passes (the Heels had 20 picks).

UNC did struggle defensively on third down conversions, ranking last in the ACC in that category.

North Carolina’s special teams were okay last year, although its net punting was mediocre.  The Heels will be breaking in a new punter this season, which might be good news for Andre Roberts (and Mel Capers), although first The Citadel’s defense has to actually force a punt.

—

Last season UNC opened with McNeese State, and struggled before finally winning the game 35-27.  It should be pointed out that the Cowboys were a solid FCS club (finishing 7-4, and featuring a quality offense), and that the game was affected by a lightning delay.  If anything, that relatively close call may make the North Carolina players more wary of FCS opposition.

The goals for this game, from The Citadel’s point of view, are for the team to be as competitive as possible, and to avoid major injuries.  It isn’t realistic to expect a victory, particularly against a pre-season Top 20 team.  The Bulldogs just want to make UNC work for a win.

To do that, avoiding turnovers on offense is a must.  I suspect that The Citadel is not going to have much of a rushing attack in this game, which is going to be a problem.  It’s also going to be a tough game to break in a new punter.  I think the Bulldog defense has a chance to establish itself to a certain extent.  However, the UNC offense is not turnover-prone and is more than capable of grinding out drives (although this may not be a bad thing for The Citadel; the fewer big plays, the better).

Obviously, the players won’t be thinking the way I’m thinking.  They’re traveling to Chapel Hill looking for a victory, which is a good thing.  That’s how they should approach this game.  Besides, you never know what might happen.  After all, my fantasy football team is called The Jack Crowes.

I’m just ready for kickoff.

I don’t remember who suggested this video, but I think it’s funny.  I don’t play MMOs, but I can appreciate some of the humor.  The song reminds me of several others; some of it’s just the ‘geek’ factor, but the gaming and dating aspects of them, respectively, made them come to mind.  I could connect other songs on the CD, but the connection would be less direct.

Dedicated to Chase Ferrell, my workout buddy and motivator .

I recently tested a new workout songlist full of random songs I continuously played while at the gym. It was time to make a list…

1. “Sin Wagon” – Dixie Chicks
2. “Love Game” – Lady Gaga
3. “Hey Beautiful” – The Solids
4. “Minimal” – Pet Shop Boys
5. “Sweet Dreams” – Eurythmics
6. “I Ran” – Flock of Seagulls
7. “Dumpweed” – Blink 182
8. “Disturbia” – Rihanna
9. “This Modern Love” – Bloc Party
10. “Move Your Body” – Eiffel 65
11. “Hey Baby” – 4-2-4
12. “Workin’ Day And Night” – Michael Jackson
13. “Teenage Suicide” – Unwritten Law

The list goes on and on. Anything with a disco or techno beat works wonders for the mind while exercising and in return helps the  body. I honestly felt more motivated than usual as I walked into the weight room with headphones in my ears.

In further news, I read in Shape magazine (I don’t recall the issue number) years ago that listening to slower music helps the body mentally and physically wind down after a workout. This held true for me, so I would say it works.  Song lists to fall asleep to are also a big favorite of mine!

Picture Credit: Weights

1. Simian Mobile Disco – Audacity Of Huge
2. Revolver – Get Around Town
3. The Dead Weather - So Far from Your Weapon
4. Just Jack – The Day I Died
5. Amanda Blank – Make It  Make It
6. Orba Squara – Poker Face (Lady GaGa)
7. Max Raabe & Palast Orchester – Blue (Eiffel 65)
8. Air – To Do Joy
9. Martin Solveig feat. Dragonette – Boys & Girls
10. Gypsy And The Cat – Jona Vark

Qu’il en soit ainsi :

1. Moi, Axeley, militante active contre les Simian Mobile Disco et leur musique molle et sans vie est cessé d’exister. Car, OUI, j’aime Audacity Of Huge. J’ai essayé depuis quelques semaines d’y resister le plus possible mais rien à faire. Ce tube est de ce qui vous colle à la peau pendant un bon mois. Du vrai SMD : Froid, net, precis, inhumain.
2. Encore un jolie tube. Dans un registre beaucoup plus chaleureux avec les Revolver et leur pop beatles (Pléonasme, je sais). une petite mélodie accrocheuse, des voix sympas, une petite guitare bien placé, je ne demande pas mieux.
3. Un album tout à fait admirable et une chanson plus que jouissive.
4. Le nouvel album de Just Jack est bien evidemment décevant mais pas si “faible” que je l’ai lu ici ou là. Il y a du bon, même si le mauvais nous reste à travers la gorge. Toujours est-il que son nouveau single “The day I died”  est un petit plaisir Just Jackien digne du monsieur.
5. Amanda Blank ou la voix de Extraball de Yuksek. On la retrouve ici avec un petit titre sympa comme tout, assez santigoldien mais surtout infiniement tubesque.
6. Une reprise de Lady GaGa en bonne eduforme. On ralentit le rythme, remplace les ordinateurs par une petite guitare et des cloches de fête foraine et c’est partie. Je vous l’accorde ce n’est pas exceptionnelle mais assez original et pas non plus désagréable.
7. L’original est ridicule et la reprise l’ai surement encore plus mais que voulez-vous j’ai le visage crispé par une rire ridicule. c’est juste excellent. Essayé ça vous réussira.
8. ENFIN le nouveau single de Air!!  Je vous avouerais que je ne suis pas enthousiasmée. Ce n’est pas mauvais, c’est même tres jolie, tres Air mais je ne sais pas, ca manque de risque, ca manque du “Truc” qui vous fait drolement changer votre vie.
9. A la base, je ne suis pas fan de cette chanson, mais au bout de quelques écoute, il est difficile de ne pas l’avoir en tête. Oui, il y a bien écrit Martin Solveig…..
10. Ce n’est ni le tube de l’été, ni le gros succes du moment mais un jolie chanson rafraichissante. Evidemment ca ressemble à tous et n’importe quoi. Le manque d’originalité est presque affligeant mais cette chanson en question est juste génial alors bon pourquoi pas. A vrai dire le son ressemble tellement à tout que j’ai cru que c’était une reprise…m’enfin. Pas de prise de tête, ce titre est juste un plaisir ephémere…

Is it impossible to come up with your own chorus for a song these days? I can’t believe how many songs released in the past few months are taking the heart and soul out of older songs. In 99% of cases, it’s unsuccessful. But for some reason, it’s catching on these days. Here are a few of the most recent/popular. 

Live Your Life - T.I. and Rihanna used the Numa Numa song in Live your Life, but this borrowed music is the least bothersome to me. First of all, most Americans have only heard of the Numa Numa song because Gary Brolsma (the Numa Numa Guy) made it famous on You Tube. But the song is actually a real single released by a Moldovan pop band called O-Zone in 2004. So, as the song is foreign, it isn’t a classic, and it has been copied and remixed hundreds of times, I don’t think T.I.’s integration of the Numa Numa song degrades Live Your Life in any way. My only qualm is that it really has nothing to do with being less gangster or caring too much about money. The song would’ve been just as good without the Numa Numa inclusion.

Right Round - Flo Rida’s “Right Round” is ruined by using Dead or Alive’s You Spin Me Round. I like everything about the song but the chorus. The lyrics sound great with the fast-paced beat and the bridge is perfect. The chorus is it’s downfall. With a massive and innovative hit like Low, Flo Rida should’ve stuck to making original music. You can only listen to the “right round” lyrics so many times before they get old. I change the radio station every time it comes on. It’s funny because Flo Rida could’ve probably gotten away without buying the rights to use part of the original You Spin Me Round because it could pass as satire. And it’s not like Flo Rida’s stealing a potential market from Dead or Alive. I don’t think they’re looking to break into pop/hip-hop. Just look up Campbell V Acuff Rose and see how 2 Live Crew got away with using Roy Orbison’s Pretty Woman lyrics without permission.

Sugar - It seems like Flo Rida’s found a fast-track way to the #1 spot. This case of using pre-released music is more like T.I. using the Numa Numa song because it’s not really needed and the song he borrowed is 90s techno, not an 80s classic. “Da ba dee da ba die…” follows the best part of the song – it could absolutely be taken out and not effect the song. And because Eiffel 65’s original song Blue was techno, using it in a hip-hop song isn’t too bad of an idea. It’s not like they’ve tainted a golden oldie or something. I actually like Sugar better than the original and much more annoying Blue. Sugar is light, refreshing and original. The lyrics are cute and catchy and you can’t help but sing along. Wynter also proves to be a great addition. It’s not one of the best hip-hop songs of all time, but it’s worth downloading. I don’t regret it.  

Goodbye - Kristinia DeBarge’s first single includes the chorus from Steam’s Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye. For her first release, including such a familiar and overdone song is a little presumptuous. It seems she’s getting in over her head. You should have to prove yourself in the music industry before you can buy rights to use a huge hit, slap a different vibe to it and claim it as your own. Goodbye is basically just the Na Na Na song. The lyrics and the flirty tunes are completely overpowered by the popular chorus. The old-fashioned chorus drones on while the verses just be-bop around it trying to fit in. The original parts of the song aren’t memorable, and even the older chorus isn’t used successfully — not a good mix. I wouldn’t buy it. 

For other popular songs that have taken parts from other music, see this Rolling Stone article on Flo Rida’s success at integrating older songs into his new releases. The last paragraph is particularly enlightening as to whose music isn’t entirely their own:

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/02/18/flo-ridas-right-round-shatters-digital-singles-record-with-a-little-help-from-an-80s-hook/

Fonte: “Corriere di Como“

Eventi - Prima del cantante romano si esibirà sul Lario Biagio Antonacci. Alexia domani a Chiasso

di Maurizio Pratelli
A pochi mesi dal suo concerto nel giorno di San Valentino al Teatro Sociale di Como, Biagio Antonacci torna sul Lario per la seconda parte, quella elettrica, del tour intitolato “Il cielo ha una porta sola”. Si riapriranno così martedì 7 luglio (non succedeva dal concerto di B.B. King del 12 luglio del 2005) i cancelli dell’ex Galoppatoio di Villa Erba, palco nobile che ospitò lo stesso anno i Garbage, Laura Pausini e Anastacia. Erano gli anni di “The Rhythm Of The Lake” e della Fourone di Vittorio Quattrone, il promoter lariano ora impegnato a Milano con il suo Jazzin’ Festival. In questo caso, il live dell’artista milanese è organizzato con il patrocinio di Villa Saporiti e i biglietti, unica data in Lombardia, sono in vendita da oggi a 41,40 euro presso le abituali prevendite.
Ma non sarà l’unico concerto che si terrà a Cernobbio, perché l’8 settembre arriverà anche Claudio Baglioni che si esibirà nel parco di Villa Erba per il suo “Gran Concerto Q.P.G.A”, acronimo della sua canzone più famosa, Questo piccolo grande amore.
Il nuovo tour si ispira all’omonimo concept album degli anni ’70 e sarà una sorpresa assoluta. La scaletta dello spettacolo è basata sull’album Q.P.G.A. che Claudio pubblicherà in autunno in un doppio album.

Da ricordare che il 7 luglio, lo stesso giorno del concerto di Antonacci, andrà invece in scena a Villa Olmo una grande opera, il Rigoletto di Giuseppe Verdi.
E sarà un altro grande nome della canzone italiana, Fiorella Mannoia, il 4 luglio, ad aprire il suo tour estivo a Campione d’Italia.
domani alexia a chiasso
Arriva domani, alle 20.30, al Palaghiaccio di Chiasso Alexia, la pop star ligure per anni in cima alle classifiche con le sue canzoni che furono un vero e proprio tormentone radiofonico negli anni ’90. Incontrando la stampa in occasione della presentazione del suo tour estivo che partirà proprio dal Canton Ticino, Alexia ha voluto sottolineare il suo impegno personale contro la droga. I proventi del concerto svizzero saranno infatti devoluti a Fondazione Futura, organizzazione di Lugano molto vicina a questa problematica. Un bel messaggio da parte di un’artista che ha fatto la sua fortuna proprio tra gli adolescenti: Fun Club del ’97, disco che conteneva la contagiosa Uh la la la, e The Party del ’98, che regalava invece Gimme Love, vendettero oltre un milione di copie. L’anno seguente arrivò poi Happy, album e singolo che conquistarono tutta l’Europa danzante, un successo strepitoso, le cui note ancora echeggiano nelle orecchie dei suoi fan. L’ascesa di Alexia è poi proseguita sul palco del Festival di Sanremo, vinto nel 2003 con il brano Per dire di no. La città dei fiori l’accoglierà sempre a braccia aperte, tanto che anche quest’anno, in coppia con Mario Lavezzi, Alexia ha proposto Biancaneve, un brano poi inserito nel nuovo album ale&c. Proprio a Chiasso, durante il concerto di domani, con una nuova tecnologia chiamata holophonica, verrà registrato il video del singolo, We Is The Power, cantato nel cd con i Bloom 06, ex Eiffel 65. Accompagnata dalla sua band, la cantante ripercorrerà a Chiasso tutto il suo repertorio. In scaletta 28 brani, 15 dei quali hanno conosciuto l’ebbrezza del top in classifica.
La nuova Alexia bada però più ai contenuti, non le piace essere chiamata cantautrice, ma stima molto De Gregori e Jovanotti, perché a volte basta parlare d’amore per trasmette un segnale positivo. Per solcare il palco non serve la droga, ma solo preparazione.

Thought of this song today and had to post it in “Blast From The Past”. What a song which deserves to be heard over and over again. Classic! Heres’s “I’m Blue”

Eiffel 65 are a three-piece Italian electronic dance music group formed in the late 1990’s.

See Also: O-Zone-Dragostea Din Tei

Ogni tanto penso ci siano suoni che non si toglieranno mai completamente dalla mia testa. Tipo questi.

When rapper Flo Rida originally burst on the scene (his song Low was featured in the award-winning-worthy Step Up 2 The Streets), I wasn’t a fan.  I thought the song was essentially shilling a catalog of products: Apple Bottoms jeans, Uggs (boots with fur), Reeboks (with straps), and um, baggy sweatpants…

But somewhere along the line, I got hooked.  The same happened with his follow up (In the Ayer) and Right Round, which borrows quite liberally from the classic 80’s tune, You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) by Dead or Alive.

Now know this – I usually can’t stand it when most songs lift old songs for new ones.  (Rihanna’s borrowing of Soft Cell’s Tainted Love back-beat to create the entirely different SOS was a major exception.  And I don’t count the Numa Numa song lifted for TI and Rihanna’s Live Your Life.)  And Right Round barely passed that opinion, but imagine my surprise when I heard Eiffel 65’s Blue in a new song:

Initially, I thought, “Oh geez, not this now!”  But when I figured out it out was Flo Rida, all was forgiven.  Why is that?

How could any one ever forget this song? I heard some variation of it on the radio and it’s no where near as good as this one. Had to bring it back for the first throw back of the week. Talk about one hit wonders.

bcopeonthewall

I have done some things in my childhood that I’m not proud of. For instance, during a heated snow ball fight that lead to my younger brother locking me out of the house in the cold, I entered through the back, ran to his room to retaliate, found that it too was locked, and preceded to kick a hole in the door. I’ve thrown rocks at cats. Peed in community pools. Farted in elevators. “Pantzd” friends of mine in front of others. Good friends. People close to me with elastic waistbands at mid-thigh level. I might even be responsible for a number of wedgies. I can’t remember specifically. My point is that these things are unfortunate blemishes on an otherwise superb record of human understanding and tranquil coexistence. And while it may be embarrassing to acknowledge these past blunders, perhaps nothing, no hurtful tease issued from my lips or regrettable Cheetoh flavor dust wipe onto the shoulder of another, no, perhaps none of it is as distressing and lamentable as my fondness for the Eiffel 65 song “Blue (Da Ba Dee).”

Eiffel 65 released “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” on their 1999 album Europop, and without any premonition, a whole planet of intelligent life went wild. The song climbed to #1 in numerous countries and #6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In the days of such esteemed Disney Channel Original Movies as Brink!, The Thirteenth Year, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, Halloweentown, Johnny Tsunami, Smart House, etc., I successfully ignored and avoided the craze surrounding musical acts like BBMak and SHeDAISY (as, of course, I should have). But when the channel introduced me to “Blue,” I thought, “Who are these three Italian pioneers and what is this sublime log cabin they’ve created?” All I wanted to do was listen, dance, sing the lyrics that don’t make sense, dance, listen, sing, jump, pose, dance, start the revolution. But it wasn’t going to be that easy. I was going to have to be sneaky. If anyone at school found out how much I liked “Blue (Da Ba Dee),” all the 8th grade cred I had amassed would be leveled to the ground. It didn’t look good…

…until I utilized the classic technique “Negative Attraction.” Negative Attraction, also known as Mock and Awe, is a process in which a particular enthusiast of something, such as a song, belonging to a specific demographic, such as 8th grade, verbally slanders that which they appreciate to protect their image. By heavily mocking “Blue” as if I were a HUGE fan and it was totally my FAVE song, I gave the impression of detest whilst secretly getting to listen to it. Here’s an example:

Me: Hey Fred, have u heard that STOOOOPID song that goes, “I’m blue da ba dee dabba dai da ba dee,” and so forth?

Fred: No.

Me: Gawd, it’s so funny and dumb and awful. Let’s go listen to it!

Fred: Ok.

See? I got to indulge in a guilty pleasure by pointing out the ridiculousness of the song to others. And “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” was indeed ridiculous. I’m sure the three members of Eiffel 65 know this. They are probably sitting together somewhere in Italy, drinking expensive coffee, laughing, talking about the fast cars they get to drive.

Of course, listening to “Blue” a hundred times with my mom on the way to school took its toll. I eventually transitioned from pretending to think the song was stupid to actually thinking it was stupid. Which it was. But I liked it and I wish I hadn’t been so embarrassed by it. I know now that I had no 8th grade cred. I should have accepted and embraced the song for how it made me feel. I should have listened to my heart. Alas, wait until 2020 for hindsight, as they say.

Here’s the music video. Man, if only the internets didn’t ruin time capsules, futurepeople could unearth this work of art and develop hypotheses about our culture’s affinity for aliens, waving back-and-forth, and wearing leather ball caps.

SHORT POST THIS MORNING.

Flo Rida went on Music & Conversation with CNN’s Shannon Cook on Tuesday and gave out his “private” phone number so fans could call and text him. Yeah. What?

I mean, I’m Twitter BFF with Lil Jon and all so my Rapper BFF dance card is kinda full, but I couldn’t resist asking him an important question which has been plaguing me for the past week:

Seriously, I WANT TO KNOW WHY.

He told Shannon Cook that he actually answers about 30% of the calls and texts he gets from fans. I roll my eyes at that, but we’ll see. Its 3:51 am and thus far he hasn’t let me know why he committed the catastrophe that is “Sugar”:

If he doesn’t answer, he better be ready to have one angry lil podcaster on his case, is all I’m gonna say. OlyVil readers, give him a call yourself! Leave us a comment and let us know if he actually answers. MAYBE HE’LL TELL YOU WHY EIFFEL 65. WHY WHY WHY. You can reach him, apparently, at (305) 528-2786. One of the crazies from Miami local entertainment show, Deco Drive, said she called and got his voicemail, which was full, natch, so idk, man. TRY YOUR LUCK.

Anyhow, you can watch the segment here. Highlights include Shannon Cook looking awkward and bored during, basically, the entire interaction. I feel for her. Flo Rida, afterall, is no Lil Jon.

Do you feel…. blue?

Grande clássico da música eletrônica… adoro!

Enjoy!

Bjs e Abraços

Too much of heaven can bring you underground. Heaven can always turn around
Too much of heaven our life is all hell bound. Heaven the killer makes no sound…
…You still talk about money that’s right and too much of heaven
Come on my friend, let me tell you what it’s all about
It called money dependents today, if people just keep going on looking at the dollar bill
nothing else around them, no love and no friendship nothing else
just the dollar bill going on into the pockets
Into their bank accounts and too much of heaven bringing them underground…

Jump your mind mind, jump your body move your mind, move your mind mind
jump your body body, jump your mind mind, jump your body move your mind
move your mind mind, jump your body move your
Move your body every everybody, move your body come on now everybody
Move your body, move your body, everybody come on now everybody
You want to move the world start with your body
Yo, come on you gotta start with something
If you wanna move your mind just move your body
Move your mind, move your mind it’s gonna cost you nothing
You want to move someone start with your body
Yo come on and try ro move somebody if you wanna move alone then everybody will move along with you.

You listen up: here’s a story about a little guy that lives in a blue world
And all day and all night and everything he sees is just blue like him inside and outside
Blue his house with a blue little window and a blue Corvette and everything is blue for him
And himself and everybody around ’cause he aint got nobody to listen:
I’m blue (da ba dee)…
…I have a blue house with a blue window, blue is the color of all that I wear
Blue are the streets and all the trees are too, I have a girlfriend and she is so blue
Blue are the people here that walk around, blue like my Corvette it’s standing outside
Blue are the words I say and what I think, blue are the feeling that live inside me.
I’m blue (da ba dee)…
…Just blue like him inside and outside
Blue his house with a blue little window and a blue Corvette and everything is blue for him
And himself and everybody around ’cause he aint got nobody to listen: I’m blue (da ba dee)…

Really? This is really a sample on this album? Really?

Downloads Flo Rida – Sugar (ft. Sugar)