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Happy Friday All!! I’m not sure about you all, but its hard for me to believe its December already. And for me, the very first day of December marks the beginning of the Christmas season instantly, therefore its only right that for the next four Fridays, I post some throwback Christmas songs to get everyone into the holiday spirit. Cool? Cool. Today’s blog has songs from the Jackson 5, Nat King Cole, Stevie Wonder, Run DMC and Whitney Houston. Everyone knows that every artists loves to remake classic Christmas tunes, so excuse me if you hear a few renditions on the same song from different artists over the next few weeks. Keep in mind that I usually have a 10 year old minimum with my song selections, but I might break my rule once or twice though. But this is my blog and I’ll do what I want to! Lol. For those out there who DO pay attention to this here blog, this is the perfect opportunity to suggest any of your favorite holiday songs for me to post up on the blog so get at me! Please enjoy these songs, vote, comment, suggest and add me to your shopping list. Have a blessed weekend!

*Exits outta the firescape*

Jackson 5 – Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song

Run DMC – Christmas In Hollis

Stevie Wonder  - Someday At Christmas

Whitney Houston – Joy To The World

This is a real 911 Call. This guy thought it was ok to request a police escort for his 350 mile trek to see Lil Wayne in Miami. When the operator say no – he asked for a helicopter.. all because he didn’t want to get pulled over for speeding…IDIOT

(1958 – 2009)

I’m about half a year late with this post, I know, but unfortunately at the time of Michael Jackson’s passing I did not have a blog yet. So, consider this my belated tribute to the late King of Pop, the greatest musician who ever lived and ever will live; Michael Jackson.

The morning of June the 25th, 2009, was quite ordinary for me. I woke up at around 7AM, as I usually did for school, and after a quick shower, I settled in front of the TV with my bowl of cereal to watch a bit of Sunrise (Morning TV). I remember I was waiting for the weather report when a ‘breaking news’ banner appeared at the bottom of the screen declaring Michael Jackson’s death, though it was not yet confirmed.

Now, I consider myself to be a massive fan of his music; but before he died, I hate to admit that I didn’t think twice about him. I wasn’t ignorant about his existence – I had been introduced to his music from a young age because my father had always been a fan; and I remember him showing me the Thriller video clip when I was about 6 years old. I couldn’t sleep that night.

Anyways, so I knew perfectly well who Michael Jackson was. I had three of his songs on my iPod – Thriller, Bad and The Way You Make Me Feel. I remember clearly listening to The Way You Make Me Feel merely a week before his death during a study period at school. I remember thinking about how much I actually liked that song and how it always reminded me of the film Centre Stage. I did love his music; but I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t like the man himself much at all. I never thought he was a paedophile, I never once believed the stories that he molested children – nonetheless, I didn’t like him much. I always thought he was a bit of hypocrite for writing the song Black or White; when I heard he was born black and then bleached his skin to become white. I thought he did this because he was ashamed of his own colour and for that reason alone, I didn’t like him.

The untimely death of Michael Jackson was a great shock to us all – even me, who at the time did not like him very much. My father was upset, but I was merely taken aback. It wasn’t until I got to school, and everyone else seemed to be talking about him, that I realised how much of an impact this one death had on everyone. Girls who only ever spoke about themselves were now speaking about Michael Jackson. My friend told me how her mother had started balling her eyes out when she first found out. I realised then that this death had actually also had a profound effect on me.

First came all the news reports and updates on his death, then came all the tribute shows, and then came the excessive downloading of all his songs. After I’d downloaded all of the songs I could find, I began watching tribute videos on YouTube, which then led me to watching snippets of his past shows/concerts, and thus I decided that I had to purchase his concert DVDs because this man was a legend.

My obsession was shared with one of my closest friends. We talked only about him; and only listened to his music for about a month following his death – and to this day we still bring him up and discuss what a great man he was.

I didn’t like him before, but now I am ashamed of the fact that I was as blind and ignorant as everyone else who didn’t/doesn’t like him. Having watched countless Michael Jackson DVD’s/tribute shows and read innumerable magazine articles about him; I can safely that I do know a lot about the man that was Michael Jackson. From all this that I have watched/listened to/read, I feel confident in my judgment of him that he was a good man. He was kind his whole life, he was compassionate, he cared so much about his family and even his father with whom he had a strained relationship at the best of times. He was very talented and passionate about his work – how else did he manage to have the best record sales ever for his Thriller album? Though you may not like his genre of music, or like him personally, you can not deny that he was talented and he knew what he was doing. He brings joy to my day (and I’m sure many others’) just by listening to his music – and through this way, he will continue to live on. He is still with us while his songs are still on our playlists.

Before 25/06/09, I had three MJ songs; today, I have 57 and counting. I have a collection of all the magazines I purchased that had MJ on the front cover; I paid $28 to see This Is It twice and I will be purchasing a copy of the DVD the minute they release it. I have newspaper cutouts all over my bedroom door and I have a folder on my computer which is practically overflowing with saved images of MJ.

Rest in Peace, Michael Joseph Jackson. You will forever be in our hearts. Long live the King of Pop.

-Ania

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Well this is it then, my 100th post and as promised here are the 100 songs currently in my top 10 (ok I know that sounds stupid, but regular readers will understand!) If I were to do this again say for the 200th post there would be quite a few differences. This list is in no particular order, although Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” probably still remains my most favourite song ever! I would love to see your comments on the list; is there anything you really like or really don’t like on here, is there anything really embarrassing perhaps. What is your top 10 or top 100? Incidentally I can already think of many more that didn’t make the cut!

As usual you will find the usual trivia content or comment along with the songs

No Woman No Cry        Bob Marley – Obviously I love this song but it has to be the live version and then preferably the one from the 1975 London Lyceum concerts. That album was called simply ‘Live’ and I wore out my vinyl copy completely

Police And Thieves        Junior Murvin – A classic reggae song, well covered by the Clash. Sadly the song is still all too pertinent today

Licking Stick     Desmond Dekker – Fun reggae at it’s best from the late great Mr Dacres

Cottage In Negril           Tyrone Taylor – Don’t ask me why but this is probably one of my favourite reggae songs ever. It makes me want to go to Negril

Rebel, Rebel     David Bowie – The first single from the wonderful Diamond Dogs album. A glorious Rolling Stones pastiche on which, unusually, Mr Bowie plays lead guitar

Heroes  David Bowie – Inspirational and also a song that I will have played at my funeral in 50 years. You should check out the versions he recorded in both French and German

Strawberry Letter 23       Brothers Johnson – Regular readers will know just how much I love this song. ‘Nuff said

I Want You Back           Jackson 5 - That opening piano run still sends shivers down my spine and frankly how can you not want to dance to this

Superstition      Stevie Wonder – Stevie rocks out more than many on this one which was originally written for Jeff Beck. More than enough to forgive Mr Wonder for “I Just Called To Say I Love You”

White Man In The Hammersmith Palais    Clash – In my humble opinion the finest song by the finest band ever!

London Calling  Clash – If my memory serves me well this is the only Clash song ever to feature in a Bond movie

Complete Control          Clash – A venomous attack on CBS, far more venomous than the Sex Pistols “EMI” in my view

Don’t Let Me Down        Beatles – My favourite Fab Four song which in fact was only a B Side! Also a song that I sing very badly at full volume when I’m drunk

Revolution        Beatles – Another moptops classic that I also sing very badly whilst under the influence of alcohol

Instant Karma    John Lennon – Karma is a powerful thing and Instant Karma is a powerful song!

Do Anything You Wanna Do      Eddie And The Hot Rods – In my teens this was probably one of the most meaningful and uplifting songs I knew. Even at the old age of 50 it still does it for me

Gary Gilmore’s Eyes      Adverts – For subject matter alone this would be in the top 100. Mr Gilmore was executed in the US in the mid 70s and he donated his eyes to an anonymous someone. That someone is the subject of the song!

Theme From A Summer Place    Percy Faith Orchestra – You might say that this is one of my guilty pleasures, well maybe, but it is a beautiful piece of music. It was also used to great effect in the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s Rose Red

Wild Is The Wind           David Bowie – Not a Bowie original but one written for a 50s movie, perhaps more of a torch song and one of Bowie’s best ever cover versions. It certainly makes up for his bloody awful cover of the Beach Boys “God Only Knows” in the 80s

What’s Going On?         Marvin Gaye – Great song from a great album, such a shame that it still rings true after nearly 40 years

September        Earth, Wind And Fire – E, W & F at their best, probably my favourite Saturday night song

God Save The Queen    Sex Pistols – Fear and conspiracy kept this from the number one spot in the Queens Silver Jubilee week in 1977. For me this is a major contender for the UK’s new national anthem!

Public Image     Public Image Limited – So many people thought that Lydon would do nothing after the Pistols, how very wrong they were.

Suspicious Minds          Elvis Presley – Elvis gets his mojo back after all those years of shit movie songs

She’s Gone    Hall & Oates – Taken from the Abandoned Luncheonette album, one of the saddest songs I know. I always play this when I’m in a melancholy mood. I also believe that Daryl Hall has the finest white soul voice in history. And what the bloody hell is a luncheonette?

Mack The Knife   Bobby Darin – I love story songs and this is easily one of the best. You have to tap your feet and click your fingers to this don’t you?

Karma Police    Radiohead – Probably the best band in the world today

Bernadette        Four Tops – Levi Stubbs RIP, I believe Mr Stubbs was the finest soul singer there ever was and ever will be. is this the only song about a Bernadette too?

Still Water (Love)           Four Tops – Relaxing, powerful, beautiful, ethereal, there simply aren’t enough words to describe this gorgeous song

Into My Arms    Nick Cave – As love songs go this might be quite strange but it is undoubtedly beautiful too

Talk Show Host    Radiohead - My favourite song from the ‘Head by a long way. just a B Side and als on the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Romeo And Juliet’ movie

Take Me Girl I’m Ready  Junior Walker – My favourite ever juke box record. In the late 70s this was number 77A on the jukebox in the Windmill pub in Ruislip

Woman To Woman        Shirley Brown – A real torch song, sets the hairs on the back of my neck on end

If Loving You Is Wrong   Millie Jackson – and the classic soul torch diva has to be Ms Jackson. I saw her live at the Victoria Apollo in the 70s

Ms Jackson      Outkast - Talking of Ms Jackson (although this is actually about Erykah Badu’s Mum) here is my favourite Outkast song. Don’t you think it sounds a little reminiscent of ‘Strawberry Letter 23′?

I Know What I like (In Your Wardrobe)     Genesis – Personally I think Genesis went downhill after Peter Gabriel left, what do you think? But this Gabriel era song is just sublime and what a fantastic title too

Metal Guru        T Rex – A song I used to mime to with my tennis racquet as a teenage wannabe rock star. So why did I go on to become a bloody accountant?

One Nation Under A Groove       Funkadelic - The ultimate dance song. I saw them live with companion band Parliament in 1978 at the Hammersmith Odeon. Still one of the best concerts I have ever seen

I Can See Clearly Now   Johnny Nash – This man has the voice of an angel, why are so few of his albums available on CD. Definitely one of my heroes, I reckon I would be lost for words if I met him

There Are More Questions Than Answers            Johnny Nash – A Texan singer that sings reggae? it shouldn’t work should it? But it does doesn’t it?

Solsbury Hill     Peter Gabriel – If I ever feel a bit down this is the song I play to pull myself back up. Written about his decision to leave Genesis just before they went towards mega stardom

I Was Watching You      Rosanne Cash – Regular readers will know that I have mentioned this song before. I do cry most times I listen to it and although it was released after his death it makes me think of my Dad

Hurt      Johnny Cash – Mr Cash covers a Trent Reznor off of the Nine Inch Nails song. You must be pretty hard if this doesn’t make you at least a tad emotional

The Man Who Sold The World    Lulu – One of the better covers of a Bowie song. If their respective labels had sanctioned it Mr Bowie was ready to record a whole album with Lulu. Sadly that didn’t happen

All The Young Dudes     Mott The Hoople – The greatest Bowie cover, in fact one of his greatest songs and he simply gave it to Mott!

Wishing Well     Free – Forget all the stuff he’s done with Queen, this was one of Paul Rodgers finest vocal performances

You Get What You Give        New Radicals – One of the most short-lived bands of the 90s, but what a legacy. Gregg Alexander also wrote (or co wrote) Ronan Keating’s ‘Life Is A Rollercoaster’ which I kind of like!

A Town Called Malice    Jam – Paul Weller. probably the greatest English rock star of his generation. I saw him live at the MEN in Manchester last year and he is even better in concert. Indeed he played this Jam classic too

The Look Of Love         ABC – For all my criticism of the 80s this song and the album it comes from (The Lexicon Of Love) is one of my favourites. Produced by the great Trevor Horn

Sheena Is A Punk Rocker          Ramones - 1, 2, 3, 4 and off da bruvvers go. Hey Ho Let’s Go is there really anything else to say?

Wuthering Heights         Kate Bush – Oh Kate my Lionheart, I love this woman and want to have her babies

The Man With The Child In His Eyes        Kate Bush – OK maybe I wouldn’t really do the male pregnancy thing with Kate, but she is definitely my favourite female singer

5.15      Who – My favourite song from the Who from my favourite of their albums, the classic ‘Quadraphenia’

Sugar Sugar      Archies – This was the first single I ever bought. I got it from Uxbridge market in 1969

Suedehead       Morrissey – For me Stephen can be a bit hit or miss but this is definitely on the hit side

William It Was Really Nothing     Smiths – How could I not include the Smiths in this list and yes I am being just a tad egotistical with this choice

New Years Day  U2 – The piano refrain is haunting in a rock kind of way. Also more ego coming out here too, my birthday is on new years day!

Justified And Ancient    KLF and Tammy Wynette - There will never be anyone like the KLF. Were they a band or just art terrorists? Who knows and frankly who cares when they left songs and collaborations like this behind!

You Got The Love         The Source Featuring Candi Staton – Another uplifting song, although personally I tend to ignore the religious aspects! Recently Florence And The Machine have recorded a great cover of this song

Gimme Shelter  Rolling Stones – For me this song, especially the riff, evokes the 60s

It’s Only Rock N Roll     Rolling Stones – Now this is another I used to mime to as a teenager, well ok I still do! It might not be a pretty sight but I love doing it!

Hurricane          Bob Dylan – Dylan at his best, when riled or when he gets political he is untouchable. This song was about the plight of wrongly imprisoned boxer Reuben Carter

You Wear It Well            Rod Stewart – Most people I know would opt for Maggie May from his early 70s hits, I always preferred this one. Possibly even worth forgiving him for the awful ‘Baby Jane’ for

Wish You Were Here        Pink Floyd – One of the Floyd’s greatest and another song that gets me just a little emotional

You Can Make Me Dance Sing Or Anything        Rod Stewart And The Faces – I bet you can’t not dance to this. It’s one of the last songs the Faces recorded before Ron Wood and Rod the Mod left. It shows them going in a direction which I think would have been so good

Itchycoo Park    Small Faces – I actually remember hearing this on the radio as a kid. I didn’t have a clue what the lyrics were about then and I don’t think I’m much wiser now! Don’t go near the atrocious cover version by M People

Lowdown          Boz Scaggs - Taken from the excellent Silk Degrees album from 1976 and the track I use to soundcheck any new hi-fi equipment even now

I’m Your Puppet            James And Bobby Purify – This was actually a rerecording of their original 60s song. Guilty pleasure or great soul song? I’ll let you decide, but either way I love it!

Olympian          Gene – probably the best of the ‘Britpop’ bands, well in my opinion anyway. Sadly the band are no longer around, but I did manage to see them three times while they were. Another song that I will have played at my funeral in the very distant future too

Born To Run      Bruce Springsteen – I was always going to include something from the Boss and it was always going to be this song

Lose Yourself   Eminem - In my opinion Mr Mathers is the greatest rapper, although Jay Z does push him close

Too Late To Turn Back Now       Cornelius Brothers And Sister Rose – It took me more than 20 years to track down this song and now when I listen to it I reckon it is definitely a guilty pleasure

Stay Together   Suede – The most Bowie influenced of the 90s British bands. The combination of Brett Anderson’s lyrics and vocals along with Bernard Butler’s guitar is truly awesome

Skin Trade        Duran Duran - A Duran Duran song in my top 100? Yeah that surprised me too

1999     Prince – I love a lot of Prince’s stuff, but this remains a great party track

Susan’s House  Eels – Mark Everett is a superb songwriter and this for me is one of his best. His autobiography is bloody good too

Take A Look Around      Temptations – A terrific Norman Whitfield production and that intro still blows me away!

Let’s Get It On   Marvin Gaye – This great song has recently been sullied by it’s use to advertise pizzas on UK TV (I think it might have been Dominoes) But it still remains a great song for seduction and lurve

The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage          Smokey Robinson And The Miracles – Bob Dylan once described Smokey as the worlds greatest living poet. Listen to this song and you can see why!

Gimme A Little Sign       Brenton Wood – A great example of 60s soul and the song I sing most in the shower (along with the Monkees ‘I’m A Believer’)

The Love You Save       Jackson 5 – Another classic written for the boys by the Motown house writers billed as the Corporation

Staggerlee        Lloyd Price – Another story song and I reckon the best version by far

Once In A Lifetime         Talking Heads – The ‘Heads finest moment for me. This song has everything and makes me happy everytime I hear it

Pyjamarama      Roxy Music – Roxy before they became bland and frankly shit!

Song 2    Blur – Funny isn’t how the songs with barely any lyrics often sound so good. Whoo Hoo indeed!

Double Barrel    Dave And Ansel Collins – Another slice of superb reggae. For years I thought these guys were brothers, they’re not. Actually it’s Ansel Collins and Dave Barker.

Sorted For E’s And Whizz          Pulp – Jarvis Cocker is a lyrical genius and this is Pulp’s best example of his way with words

Spinning Around           Kylie Minogue – OK so there is a certain appeal to the gold hot pants, but as modern disco goes this is brilliant. Gotta love Kylie!

Love Rollercoaster        Ohio Players – One of my favourite funk songs, expertly covered by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers but it wasn’t a patch on the original

Hey Hey My My        Neil Young – A great song and one which found a degree of infamy as it was quoted in Kurt Cobain’s suicide note

Grace     Jeff Buckley – How big a star would he have been had he lived? Probably one og=f the biggest I think

Satellite Of Love           Lou Reed – Taken from the Transformer album which was produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson. Listen carefully and you’ll hear Bowie on backing vocals

Hey Ya      Outkast – The ultimate party record of recent times, a great video too

Since I Left You            Avalanches – Aussie DJs/ dance act, I can’t believe that this wasn’t a bigger hit

Seven Nation Army        White Stripes – Jack White has recently been named man of the decade by some UK publications, perhaps with some justification. The riff alone on this is worth the top 100

White Horses      Jacky – OK clearly this theme from a 60s TV show (strangely enough it was called White Horses) is very much a guilty pleasure but I really love it. I think Jacky’s only other hit was ‘Rupert The Bear’

D’Yer Make ‘Er  Led Zeppelin – Taken from Houses Of The Holy and in many peoples opinion Zep’s worst song. But I like to be different and this piece of cod reggae is wonderfully irreverent

Wild Wood        Paul Weller – England’s finest living rock star perhaps? Well after Mr Bowie anyway

Stay With Me    Lorraine Ellison – How much emotion can you squeeze into a song, not much more than Lorraine Ellison does in fact. Ignore the David Essex cover of this song at all costs!

Young Americans    David Bowie – What he himself described as plastic soul and one of the songs I can recite the whole lyric of

December brings a sunny, frosty day to our corner of Wisconsin. There’s no snow (yet), but it’s time for Christmas music.

As always, “three under the tree” means three Christmas songs a day. This year, it also means three years of putting those songs under the tree.

We’ll start as we always do, with the three tunes I first heard long ago on WOKY, the Mighty 92, then the big Top 40 AM station out of Milwaukee.

As a kid, I had no idea there were pop, rock, R&B and soul versions of Christmas songs, all played only at a certain time of year, all dropped in among the usual stuff on the Top 40 playlist. I could not wait for that time of year to roll around.

“Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” the Jackson 5, 1970, from “A Motown Christmas,” 1973. It’s out of print but is available digitally. (Also available on “The Ultimate Motown Christmas Collection,” a new compilation.)

I was 13 when I heard this for the first time, and it blew my mind.

Last year, I wrote: “Some people are down on this tune, perhaps because of what Michael Jackson has become. That’s understandable, but it’s unfortunate. If you can, appreciate it as a pop gem from a more innocent time.” Michael Jackson is gone now, but he left us this gift.

“Snoopy’s Christmas,” the Royal Guardsmen, from “Snoopy and His Friends,” 1967. (The link is to a double CD also featuring “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron,” their debut album from 1966.)

Still a guilty pleasure. Still no apologies.

“Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the Plastic Ono Band and the Harlem Community Choir, released as a single, 1971. It’s available on “Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon,” a 1998 compilation.

It’s almost 40 years old and still fresh, still relevant. (Although I wish I had a better rip for you. My vinyl rip of this tune, off the “Shaved Fish” LP from 1971, is cluttered with the reprise of “Give Peace a Chance” tacked onto the end. Not really suited for a nice, clean outro edit.)

Finally, a few words about what’s to come.

Everyone gets busy as Christmas nears. So this year’s series will run only for a couple of weeks, wrapping up well before Christmas.

Hope you’ll enjoy the tunes. Some of them will be familiar if you’ve visited here in the past two years. Our greatest hits, if you will. We’ll try to pull out the good stuff, the tunes you may want for your Christmas mix, the tunes that summon pleasant memories of holidays past.

If you have a request, send it along.

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With Christmas around the corner, this Motown Christmas Collection is perfect for your listening pleasures. It has “Let it Snow” by Boyz II Men, “Santa Claus is Coming 2 Town” by the Jackson 5, “Silent Night” by The Temptations, & many many more. There are also songs from Boyz II Men, The Jackson 5, The Commodores, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Johnny Gill, Stevie Wonder, Smokie Robinson, Diana Ross & More. You need this compilation in your collection. Download links available after the pic.

You can check out the full tracklist here: Motown tracklist

Download the double disc compilation here!

Disc 1

Disc 2

CONTACT Chris Parisi FOR GUEST LIST OR TABLE RESERVATIONS – www.facebook.com/crispy59

Gracias al USHistoryBlog.com, me entero de la existencia de “100 Great Moments in American History You Can Catch on YouTube”, un recurso que podría resultar de gran ayuda para quienes estén interesados o involucrados en la enseñanza de historia norteamericana.  Publicado por OnlineSchool.com, 100 Great Moments in American History You Can Catch on YouTube es una lista de vínculos a  cien vídeos procedentes de YouTube relacionados al desarrollo histórico de los Estados Unidos.

La lista que compone 100 Great Moments in American History está subdividida en ocho categorías. La primera es titulada Inauguraciones presidenciales y recoge vídeos de la inauguración de varios presidentes estadounidenses, entre ellos, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon y Barack Obama. Vínculos mundiales, la segunda categoría, recoge vídeos  de eventos de historia norteamericana de trascendencia mundial como el ataque a Pearl Harbor, el caso Watergate y el 11/9. La tercera categoría –Asesinatos históricos–  está dedicada al tema  de los asesinatos políticos y destacan aquí los vídeos relacionados a la muerte de Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Martín Luther King, Robert Kennedy y John Lennon. La cuarta categoría es titulada Discursos históricos y recoge los famosos “fireside chat” de Franklin D. Roosevelt y discursos de Malcom X, Ronald Reagan y George W. Bush, entre otros. La quinta categoría es titulada Momentos fuera de este mundo y agrupa vídeos asociados a la carrera espacial (el lanzamiento del Sputnik, el alunizaje, el desastre del transbordador Challenger, etc.). La sexta categoría  nos lleva al mundo cultural, pues agrupa vídeos relacionados a la historia musical estadounidense como la llegada de los Beatles a los Estados Unidos, Woodstock, las presentaciones de los Jackson 5 y los conciertos de Black Sabbath. La penúltima categoría atiende un elemento muy importante de la cultura norteamericana: los deportes. Aquí encontramos vídeos de la pelea de Cassius Clay y Sonny Liston, la victoria del equipo de hockey norteamericano sobre el soviético en las Olimpiadas de  Invierno de 1980 y la participación de Michael Phelps en las Olimpiadas de 2008. La última categoría –Momentos televisivos– agrupa vídeos relacionados con la historia de la televisión estadounidense: I Love Lucy, Star Trek, Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, MTV,  The O´Reilly Factor, Survivors, etc.

A pesar de que la selección de algunos vídeos podría ser cuestionada, 100 Great Moments in American History You Can Catch on YouTube constituye una herramienta útil para la enseñanza y el estudio de la historia de los Estados Unidos.

Norberto Barreto Velázquez,

Lima, Perú, 29 de noviembre de 2009

Crowned the King of Pop by his best friend Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson has achieved and surpassed the accomplishments of those who inspired him, those who came before him. Inspired by  James Brown, Bill Bailey, Fred Astaire, and the Nicholas Brothers, Michael moulded their dance moves and made them his own. He combined his natural elements of song and dance to propel himself into superstardom. Along his way to the top he collected many awards documenting his prowess in entertainment, some of which can be found at the Michael Jackson Exhibition at the O2 Arena. Among the awards, include gold and platinum albums, the first platinum album awarded in 1969 when he was eleven.

The Exhibition chronicles the short life of the star. After experiencing a taste of Michael Jackson in concert on a large video screen,  the exhibition starts with the contract his father signed with the William Morris  Agency establishing his sons as the pop group The Jackson Five, which would later become The Jacksons. It continues with personal items from Michael’s life, including the Neverland Arch that led to the entrance of this former home in California. You can see cracked and chipped paint in his blue 1967 Rolls Royce Phantom that he took Elizabeth for rides in.

Props from his many cinematic music videos included the green rocket ship from “Leave me Alone,” the sleek black Gibson guitar used in the video “Scream” where he sang and danced along side his sister Janet, his Egyptian costume from his 1993 hit “Remember the Time” and the robot mask with protruding pieces from his film “Moonwalker.”

It’s widely known that Michael lived a life of extravagance. He lived like a king. His wardrobe, also featured at the exhibition,was often composed of  elaborate ensembles with arm bands in the colours of royalty,  accented with metals or insignias that hung from his chest like a decorated soldier. They were designed with the purpose of presenting Michael as a king. His collection often mimicked the uniforms of the royal guards of Her Majesty the Queen of England as well as the military uniforms of other countries. There are other times where his style was more futuristic, and can be described as experimental. Those were usually seen in costume at his many elaborate concerts.

Towards the end of the exhibition, props and clothing that were to be used at his final series of performances, This is It, were creatively placed in two sizeable rooms. In one room, the view of Michael’s massive and elaborate revision of the Thriller dance sequence brings back memories of his original music video. In the next area, a more modest room featured the costumes he would have changed into during his last performances, which included various versions of his trademark penny-loafers. Across from the costumes in a corner was a small thermos rotating inside of a glass case. The sign underneath stated that Michael’s children would pack his lunch inside of the thermos every day for him to take with him to rehearsals.

In the final room, a set of books with white pages were left for fans to leave their message for his family. Further along around a corner, a light shined on a solid square black pillar with a glass case on top. Inside the glass case was “the glove.” There were other versions of it that Michael wore, even in different colours to match his outfit, but this was the trademark white glove that he wore at the American Music Awards in 1984.

Adjacent to the black pillar was a quote in white printed against a black wall. The quote from Michael reflects his view on life which can be interpreted as an optimistic commentary on his own.

“If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with.” – Michael Jackson (1958 -2009)

Check out  Janet Jackson’s new music video “Make Me” from her new compilation album titled “Janet Jackson – Number Ones”, which is out now to purchase from all good music stores.  See Previous blog HERE for more details!

Behind the scenes of Janet’s new music video “Make Me”.

LINKS

Janet Jackson’s Official Website
http://www.janetjackson.com

Janet Jackson’s Official Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/JanetJackson

Janet Jackson’s Official Myspace Page
http://www.myspace.com/janetjackson

Janet Jackson’s Official Twitter Page
http://twitter.com/janetjackson

Must see:  Michael Jacksons’ This is it!

To watch the movie trailer click on image:

Michael Jackson’s - Moonwalker (1988) Havent seen this film already?, it’s probably too late for you to enjoy the magic but you should still see it anyway. Rather than featuring one continuous storyline, the film is a collection of short films about Michael, several of which are long-form music videos from the Bad album. While showing clips from his previous works.

 This film is a massive staple in my childhood and probably one of the earliest memories I have of Mike, I remember this being the first video I had and still have, but I use the DVD now to preserve it lol.

It’s sad when I learned of Mikes passing so much of imagery flicked through my head within a matter of seconds that  was implanted by this film as a child. It felt like my whole childhood was ripped out, no more magic, no more fun, all gone. Shattered

However, loving Michael he has left us all his legacy, and this is definitely one thing everyone should see, lord knows my family must be sick of me pumping this film down there throats every school break.

SCOOTERBOYS

La pasión por las motos, en concreto la Vespa y la Lambreta, junto con la música es lo que más caracteriza tanto a los modds como a los scooterboys. Su lugar de reunión serán los “rallies”, circuitos para las motos. Al igual que su precendente, la generación beat, no cuentan con una ideología vinculada por lo que se podría decir que es una rama del anterior.

Los modds son los primeros grupos con letras críticas hacia el sistema pero su objetivo no es el de cambiar el mundo; “el modd duerme en la cárcel pero es el que duerme en la litera de arriba”.

En cuanto a la estética, los scooterboys se diferencian de los modds en la preocupación por la estética, sobre todo en los chicos y en menor grado las chicas. Este interés hace que los jóvenes pierdan el gusto en el sexo opuesto ya que toda su atención se centraba en la imagen. Sus ingresos se destinaban al placer y poco se dedicaba para el vivir.

Será en esta época cuando se empiece a hacer Pop, pero el gusto de estilo musical sigue centrándose en el modern jazz, el Blues y el Rhythm Blues (género musical derivado del jazz, el gospel y el blues aunque más enérgico que éste último. Aparecen en este momento dos de las discográficas más importantes de la época:

                         Motown: creada por Berry Gordy y situada, en un primero momento, en Detroit se trata de una discográfica en la que pusieron una nota de color artistas como los Jackson 5, las Supremas, Steve Wonder y Michael Jackson entre otros. Creada por Jim Stewart, músico blanco.

                         Stax: creada por Jim Stewart curiosamente un músico de raza blanca con música negra norteamericana dirigida al “oído blanco”. Se trata de una de las discográficas más importantes del mundo en cuanto a música soul. Por ella pasaron artistas de la talla de Rufus Thomas con un continuo éxito en la década de los 60 y 70 y autor de mitos como “Do the funky Chicken”.

De la suma del Rhythm Blues el skiffler nacen grandes grupos de la historia como los Beatles o los Rolling Stones. Este nuevo tipo de música nace en la cuna de EEUU pero se configura en Inglaterra.

If this is an advert for Aero why is he skateboarding through a bowl of Maltesers?

Oh, and they stole the idea from this video.

$2500 grand prize for the winner. Nice bonus for your day after Thanksgiving shopping spree. If you are interested in registering please contact Chris Parisi at 703-929-5374.

with special DJ set by Joel Madden. Contact Chris Parisi for Ticket and Table Reservations

Genius!

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