はぁ～い、調子はどぉ。

バインばいんばいぃんアィヤィヤ、フォォォッ！！！

I guess we’ll stay with relatively unknown late 1970’s bands for a while longer. Tonight it is The Knack. they were a California band that emerged in 1979 with the smash hit, My Sharona. The “power pop” of “My Sharona“, coupled with the band’s “retro” 1960s look, earned the band comparisons to the early Beatles. Many music critics of the era disliked disco, which dominated the music industry at the time, and were, at best, coolly receptive to other developing genres like punk rock, new wave and heavy metal music. The Knack’s power pop and hard rock influences earned them some critical credibility. After subsequent albums, there was a critical backlash against the band and they broke up amidst internal squabbles.

I also thought they were going to be the next Beatles so when it was announced that they would playing in Boston’s Orpheum Theatre in 1980 I did not hesitate. I purchased a dozen of the most expensive seats available with the intention of reselling them for a fortune. My dream never materialized. I believe I still have ten unused tickets tucked away somewhere.

This first video is the big hit My Sharona.

This second clip is of a song called Good Girls Don’t (but I had to) and has some pretty raunchy lyrics for its time.

JET
She’s A Genius

I’m willing to bet the ranch that the first time any of you heard of Jet was when Apple featured their song ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ in an iPod commercial a few years back…they milked that to death, but it morphed them from being a small indie act outta Melbourne into a major act playin’ arenas and everything! After taking a couple of years doing victory laps over their newfound fame, they finally got back into the studio to record their third album, Shaka Rock, that dropped last week. The reviews for the album have been kinda mixed, but I still kinda like ‘She’s A Genius’, even if it does sort of lift the guitar riff, bass line and percussion from The Knack’s ‘My Sharona’ ….. wait a sec ……. it is ‘My Sharona’…!!! Give it a listen and tell me I’m wrong and you can head over to Jet’s MySpace page to see who else they’ve ‘borrowed’ from!

Sono su di una spiaggia, in una serata di balli, fuochi e tanta gente che balla e si diverte.
È passata mezzanotte, mia moglie ed io siamo tra i “meno giovani” ma quasi non ci facciamo caso.
Il dj ad un certo punto mette su “My Sharona” (Ve la ricordate? Unico hit dei “The Knack”… ) e la annuncia (due volte) ai presenti: “eccoli… i Ramones!!
Che il Signore della Musica abbia pietà di lui, della sua ‘gnoranza e di chi l’ha messo dietro ad una consolle.
Io – forse – non avrò più l’età… ma mi sa che lui non ce l’avrà mai…
I wanna be sedated!!!

http://condron.us                       http://alphainventions.com

Lieutenant Charles "Chip" McCarthy and Firefighter Jonathan Croom

~Mourning the loss, and remembering the families of two brave members of the Buffalo, NY Fire Department~

Your Music Notes and B-days…
-1962, Little Eva went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘The Loco-motion’. The Carole King and Gerry Goffin song was offered to Dee Dee Sharp (Mashed Potatoes), who turned it down. The writers had their babysitter record it who took it to No.1. (K…we’ve heard this babysitter story for years now…could we just love the tune and be on with it?!)
~1966, during their last US tour, The Beatles, played two shows at the Coliseum in Seattle, Washington. The first show at 3pm was attended by only 8,000 fans (the arena seated 15,000), but the evening show was a sell-out.
~1967, Bobbie Gentry started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Ode To Billy Joe’.
 ~1967, Brian Wilson returned to performing live with The Beach Boys in Honolulu after a 2 year hiatus. The group had just released ‘Heroes and Villains’.
~1973, One hit wonders, Stories started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Brother Louie’. Hot Chocolate who had a No.7 hit with the song in the UK wrote the song.
1979, The Knack started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘My Sharona’, the group’s only US chart topper. Lead singer Doug Fieger said he was inspired to write the tune by Sharrona Alperin, a 17 year old senior at Los Angeles’ Fairfax High.
~2001, American singer, actress Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas aged 22. The small Cessna plane crashed a few minutes after take off killing everyone on board with exception to four passengers who were pulled from the wreckage but later died. Aaliyah had been filming a video for her latest release ‘Rock The Boat’ on the island.
~1933, Born on this day, Wayne Shorter, saxophonist; associated with Miles Davis, Weather Report, several solo lp’s, and his Quartet. From 1959-2006…recorded 23 lp’s and collected 9 Grammy’sTM, plus other awards throughout his lengthy career.
1949, Born on this day, Gene Simmons bass, vocals, Kiss…and more recently, cable show “Family Jewels”.
~1955, Born on this day in London, England, Declan Patrick McManus aka Elvis Costello
~1961, Born on this day, Billy Ray Cyrus, in Flatwoods, Kentucky; singer-songwriter, actor, producer…and world-famous father.

*1931 Regis Philbin born in NYC *
(Look at just some of the recent facts about him)
April 10, 2003: Receives Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
August 20, 2004: Sets Guinness World Record for “Most Hours on Camera” – 15,188 hours
April 2006: Inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Television Hall of Fame[27]
September 2008: Guinness World Record updated to 16, 100 hours
June 2008: Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmy Awards

Thanks for swingin’ by…Enjoy your Tuesday…These guys sure are…

Kathy, Darlene, Rebecca

The Other McCain: Instant Blog Classic: &Wise Latina&(To The Tune …

The Knack – My Sharona 05. Blondie – Dreaming 06. Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn&t&ve) 07. The Members – Sound Of The Suburbs 08. Skids – Into The Valley 09. The Ruts – Babylon&s Burning …

The Knack – My Sharona 05. Blondie – Dreaming 06. Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn&t&ve) 07. The Members – Sound Of The Suburbs 08. Skids – Into The Valley 09. The Ruts – Babylon&s Burning …

The Knack – My Sharona 05. Blondie – Dreaming 06. Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn&t&ve) 07. The Members – Sound Of The Suburbs 08. Skids – Into The Valley 09. The Ruts – Babylon&s Burning …

(To The Tune of &My Sharona&)& onclick=&return addthis_sendto()& onmouseout=&addthis_close()& onmouseover=&return addthis_open(this, , this.id, this.name);&> Bookmark and Share. Posted by Robert Stacy McCain at 1:36 PM …

Right Wing News is the best source on the net for conservative news, views, & interviews.

My Sharona es un tema del cuarteto The Knack que seguramente alguna vez escucharon, tiene una base y un estribillo simple y pegadizo, ademas su solo es bastante completo.

Mas allá de que es bastante cuadrado, no deja de ser un clasico del rock y como todo clasico es bastante versionado. Empesemos por este aborto músical con nombre curioso: Leningrad Cowboys

Pero yendo a las bandas conocidas, tenemos a ni nada menos que a Nirvana.

Dentro del ambito del grunge tambien tenemos My Verona, que justamente la preparon los chicos de Pearl Jam para su show en Verona.

Por otro lado tambien encontre algunas versiones Heavy como las de Destruction y Hammerfall respectivamente

En segundo lugar y una de las versiones que mas me gusto fue la de Marydolls, bastante cambiada pero tiene su sabor.

Y acá la ganadora, Eldritch, el mejor cover al estilo thrasher.

It’s not every day that “Weird Al” Yankovic is in the news. 

"Weird Al" Yankovic

After all, it’s been 30 years since he was introduced to a wider audience with his accordion-styled parodies of The Knack’s “My Sharona” (“My Bologna”) and Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust” (“Another One Rides The Bus”) and 25 years since he exploded into pop culture icon status with “Eat It”.

Michael Jackson’s passing has brought back some reminders of those days (including a subsequent MJ parody with “Fat” in 1988), but despite the fact that Yankovic admits that he “may not have had a career if it had not been for Michael”, that is not the reason that the Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy blog ran a feature on Yankovic this weekend.

In fact, WSJ caught up with Weird Al to discuss his new project called “Al’s Brain”, premiering at the 2009 OC Super Fair this weekend (and running through August 9th).

The Daily Pilot provides more details on the 10-minute 3-D movie, which cost $2.5 million to design and will be offered as a touring exhibit to other fairs nationwide, beginning with Western Washington’s Puyallup Fair in mid-September.

Is there actually an audience for this?  Well, turns out that Weird Al has been selling out concerts in Orange County for some time now and OC Fair organizers wanted to capitalize on that success to build out a more accessible attraction for this year’s event.

Personally, I love the fair.  Deep-fried Snickers, corn on the cob, turkey legs, funnel cakes, blue ribbon farm animals, and carnies – the only thing missing has been a 10-minute 3-D movie answering popular trivia questions about the brain (“Can a person survive with a metal stake driven through his skull?”) featuring a bizarre accordion-playing weirdo.  It’s actually genius, if you think about it.

If you’re not among the fortunate few to check out “Al’s Brain” this summer, contact your local fair and let them know that your life will not be complete without a chance to see this traveling show in your hometown next year.  You heard it here first.  And, admittedly, if you’re just not interested in such guilty pleasures, possibly last as well.

Hammerfall trupa aia care canta despre dragoni si sabii? da chiar ei au realizat pe noul album (pe care il consider groaznic) un cover ffff neasteptat…trupa ce a cantat prima data My Sharona se numeste The Knack (1979)…

merita audiate ambvele variante…au cantat-o Nirvana la un moment dat…

Versuri:

Ooh my little pretty one, pretty one.
When you gonna give me some time, Sharona?
Ooh you make my motor run, my motor run.
Gun it comin’ off the line Sharona
Never gonna stop, give it up.
Such a dirty mind. Always get it up for the touch
of the younger kind. My my my i yi woo. M M M My Sharona…

Come a little closer huh, ah will ya huh.
Close enough to look in my eyes, Sharona.
Keeping it a mystery gets to me
Running down the length of my thighs, Sharona
Never gonna stop, give it up. Such a dirty mind.
Always get it up for the touch
of the younger kind. My my my i yi woo. M M M My Sharona…

When you gonna give it to me, give it to me.
It is just a matter of time Sharona
Is it just destiny, destiny?
Or is it just a game in my mind, Sharona?
Never gonna stop, give it up.
Such a dirty mind. Always get it up for the touch
of the younger kind. My my my i yi woo. M M M My Sharona…

si originalul..care va place mai mult?

“I never read it in a book
I never saw it on a show
But I heard it in the alley
On the weird radio“

from “If You Wanna Get To Heaven” by Ozark Mountain Daredevils

I can’t remember too much stuff I studied in High School: it’s all fragments and things disappearing around corners now.

However, I probably remember every song lyric I heard between 13 and 18 years old.

If there had been cool songs explaining Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Algebra; I bet I would have …

- cured my lack of facial hair
- distilled a potion that made me irresistible to the opposite sex
- invented a way to win at PacMan
and
- built a Death Star in the shape of AC/DC’s Angus Young’s guitar.

Sadly for me the education through song portion of my fountain of knowledge dried up soon after “The Wheels on the Bus go Round and Round”.

note: probably the most educational song I know is Monty Python’s Universe Song.

double note: I might have even invented “flubber” if I had had enough money to buy records!

triple note: How cool was Fred MacMurray? Pretty cool! I kid you not!

quadruple note: “I studied so hard for the test that I lost my voice.”

quintuple note: sometimes the wheels on the bus don’t go round and round.

sextuple note: In the fantasy realm of educational songs …

The Rolling Stones: physics
The Beatles: entomology
Led Zeppelin: alchemy and aeronautics
The Animals: zoology
The Cars: automotive
ZZ Top: hair dressing school
David Bowie: biology
The Clash: art of war or fashion
The Police: criminology
Dr. Hook: medicine or possibly fishing
Men At Work: business
UB40: unemployment
The Doors: doors
AC/DC: the study of electricity
Crowded House: demographics
The Romantics: dead English poets you had to study in school
U2: spyware and spies and stuff

septuple note: I was going to include “Oasis: proctology” … but they weren’t around in my musical absorption period.

octuple note: Cheap Trick is more my life style.

http://humor-blogs.com/

BIG NEWS EPISODE 303: “Oh! Drama, Obama!”

Starring Christopher Biewer, Kipleigh Brown, George Caleodis, Jimmy Guidish, Gregg Lopez, KJ Middlebrooks, Melissa Okey, Artemis Pebdani, Brian Vestal and Phillip Wilburn

Directed by Michael Hughes

1. FIRST LADIES by Tom Repetto
Michelle (KJ), Laura (Artemis), Hillary (Melissa), Barbara (George), Nancy (Brian), Rosalynn (Kipleigh), Betty (Gregg), George (Phillip)

2. THE CURIOUS CASE OF JOE BIDEN by Tom Repetto
Joe Biden (Jimmy), Jill Biden (Melissa), Steve (Christopher)

3. PLAYING DOCTOR by Matt Blitz
Barack Obama (KJ), Sanjay Gupta (Gregg), Phil (Phillip), House (Brian), Quinn (Kipleigh), Mario (George)

4. THE RETURN OF BLAAAKE by Julia Gaudette
Joshua (Jimmy), Amy (Artemis), Reporter 1 (Melissa), Reporter 2 (Christopher), Blake (Phillip)

5. FAMILY PLANNING by Ray Stakenas
Father (George), Amira (Kipleigh), Carolyn (Melissa), Mohammed (Christopher), Akram (Brian), Nizar Jr. (Gregg)

6. POWER LUNCH by Phillip Wilburn
Bush (Phillip), Laura (Artemis), Barack (KJ), Carter (Phillip), Bush 41 (Phillip), Clinton (Phillip)

7. A REAL STIMULUS PACKAGE by Julia Gaudette
Joe Francis (Gregg), Larry Flynt (George), Jesse James (Kipleigh), Porn Dude (Jimmy), Drunk Chick (Melissa)

8. THE SENATOR THAT DIDN’T FIT IN by John Hallmann
Roland Burris (KJ), Harry Reid (Brian), Debbie Stabenow (Kipleigh), Dick Durbin (Christopher), Joe Lieberman (Jimmy), Dianne Feinstein (Melissa)

9. TODAY’S SPECIAL by Erich Eilenberger
Matt (Gregg), Ann (Artemis), Tom (Phillip)

10. MIKE CARONA by Michael Hughes
Reporter (Christopher), Jury Foreperson (Brian), Juror #1 (Jimmy), Juror #2 (Gregg), Juror #3 (KJ), Juror #4 (Artemis), Juror #5 (George), Juror #6 (Melissa), Juror #7 (Phillip), Juror #8 (Kipleigh)

11. SPECIAL GUEST: Dan Dominguez
Intro (Brian)

12. BIG NEWS REPORT by Alexander, Burkhart, Carlow, Connors, Denicourt, Dorsey, Eilenberger, Engel, Faga, Fisher, Gaudette, Horton, Hughes, Judy, King, Lopez, Manser, McClain, Nielsen, Perlmutter, Paulas, Philips, Reber, Repetto, Ricker, Saliman Reingold, Tippler, and Weitz
Melissa/George/Artemis/Gregg et al.

Spreading a bit of oaty joy in a light warm ray of sunshine. Kudos.

No Sacrifice, No Victory is the seventh studio full-length from Swedish heavy metal band HammerFall. Set to be released February 20, 2009 on Nuclear Blast records.

This album is another one I have been waiting on for quite some time, with high hopes that it would be another great release from HammerFall. Sadly, it did not live up to expectations. No Sacrifice, No Victory, huh? Well, maybe they should not have followed that mantra and parted ways with their old lead guitarist. That’s the only thing that the band has changed since their last album, but have somehow fallen very far into the depths of mediocrity that are modern heavy/power metal.

While the album is technically good, and has great productions values, the songwriting is not there — nor is the fire, passion and attitude that heavy metal needs to bring to the table. The first three tracks on the album (“Any Means Necessary”, “Life is Now”, and “Punish and Enslave” respectively) are an utter bore-fest. The songwriting is bland, the guitar solos are routine, and there seems to be no passion in the vocals. With moderate tempos and simple songwriting, the spot you absolutely need to excel in would be the sheer power of your sound, which HammerFall simply missed the memo for on this album. The first track with any balls at all is “Legion” – and even then the song is not all that great.

The first part of the album where I found myself interested was the organ piece in the beginning of “Between Two Worlds” – then as soon as the guitar chimed in I was instantly turned off. It sounds as though the guitar was recorded in a tin can, and is difficult to listen to. All the other elements to the song are over loaded with reverb and echo, and as a whole the song is a production mess.

“Hallowed Be My Name” (no, not a Maiden rip-off, though I wish it was) is yet another boring song, that happens to have a really nice solo in it. Usually, in slow heavy metal songs, a great solo can save you — not this time. The first good song on the album is “Something for the Ages” which, sadly, appears seven songs into the album. Oddly, this song has the least vocal presence of all the songs on the album (none, to be exact). Do I sense a trend here? Of course. Simply put, the vocals really hurt this album a lot. They are dry, boring, and without power or attitude. For a heavy metal album, this simply cannot do. If all the songs on the album had vocals like the title track, “No Sacrifice, No Victory” this might not be a problem.

The last three songs on the album are actually excellent, in almost all respects (this does not include the Knack cover, “My Sharona”). Sadly, the first 3/4 of the album was such a bore-fest, it doesn’t matter what the last songs were, they could not make this album good.

As I said before, most of this album is boring, dry, and uninspiring. While not difficult to listen to, I might not ever feel the need to put this album on — other HammerFall albums will quench your heavy metal thirst in a much better way. Now, before you all start yelling and screaming, I’m not saying the vocals are bad at any point, they just aren’t big, ass-kicking, and awesome as HammerFall (and heavy metal) vocals should be. After a couple listens, it grew on me, but still is nothing spectacular.

Track picks: “Something for the Ages”, and “Bring the Hammer Down”

Overall score: 6 out of 10 devil horns

In case you were wondering, they did to a pretty awesome rendition of “My Sharona” — why exactly is way beyond me…

Yesterday, at the rock-ready hour of noon, the Boston Rock Academy graduated its first class of students with an awe-inspiring performance.  Friends, family, and music lovers came from all around to see exactly what would happen when, after only 5 rehearsals, our aspiring rockstars took to the stage.

The answer:  they rocked!  With huge smiles, massive musicianship, and immense self-confidence, the students played their first gig like seasoned pros.  Joined onstage by local band The Mystery Tramps, the guys jammed out together on both their own compositions, as well as a Mystery Tramps tune, taught by members of the band!  Not to mention solid covers of “Dirty Water” and “My Sharona.”

Within hours of the conclusion, Heidi Tucker (guitarist/student Brian’s mom), sent us this note:

(L) Andrew - Mystery Tramps, (R) Brian - Rockstar

Give your child the chance to build self-confidence, learn to work in a team structure, and (of course!) learn to rock — only at the Boston Rock Academy.

I was listening to this earlier today and realised again how genius the whole thing really is. I’d be suprised if another band has done anything quite this cool.

 It would probably be better to understand the context of the song before you watch the video for full effect, so I’ve found a couple of good descriptions if you fancy a read.

First is this, which I found at http://www.videosift.com/video/Dead-Kennedys-Pull-My-Strings

‘On March 25, 1980, the DKs were invited to perform at the Bay Area Music Awards in front of music industry bigwigs to give the event some “New Wave credibility”, in the words of the organizers. The day of the show was spent practicing the song they were asked to play, the underground hit, “California Über Alles.” In typically subversive, perverse style, the band became the talking point of the ceremony when after about 15 seconds into the song, Biafra said, “Hold it! We’ve gotta prove that we’re adults now. We’re not a punk rock band, we’re a new wave band.”

The band, who all wore white shirts with a big, black S painted on the front, pulled black ties from around the backs of their necks to form a dollar sign, then started playing a new song “Pull My Strings”, a barbed, satirical attack on the ethics of the mainstream music industry, which contained the lyrics, “Is my cock big enough, is my brain small enough, for you to make me a star?”. The song also referenced The Knack’s biggest New Wave hit, “My Sharona”. The song was never recorded in the studio but this performance, the first and only time the song was ever performed, was released on the posthumous compilation album Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death.’

Wiki also has a page dedicated to the song,

‘Pull My Strings was a song by the Dead Kennedys, written by DK lead singer Jello Biafra and drummer Ted specifically for the 1980 Bay Area Music Awards. The song would not find its way onto a record until 1987’s Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death.

The song, recorded live at the awards show, begins with the band playing the opening chords to “California Über Alles“, one of their more famous songs. After the first few bars, Biafra yells out “Hold it!” and sarcastically tells the audience that they’re becoming a New Wave band because they “need to prove (they’re) adults now”. Klaus Fluoride begins to play another bass line, and a new song begins.

Biafra begins singing about his not being able to afford a car thanks to his self respect, and decides to sell out to the record companies to make some money (“I’m tired of self respect, I can’t afford a car, I wanna be a pre-fab superstar”). He decides to become one of the cookie cutter new wave acts breaking into pop music at the time. The chorus implies that the musicians in the new wave bands need to be dumb and have a large penis, and are able to be pulled by strings like a puppet because they’ve sold their souls to the record labels, who basically can now mold them in whatever they (the labels) want them to be.

One of the targets of the Dead Kennedys in the song appears to be The Knack, who hit big around that same time with “My Sharona“. Twice in the course of the song, in its middle and at its end, a bridge is played to the tune of “My Sharona”, with Biafra singing the word “drool” to the tune of it and replacing “My Sharona” with “my payola“. Biafra also makes a sarcastic reference to the hypocrisy and drug abuse of the American bourgeoisie, referencing famous comedian Bob Hope with the line “And when I’m rich and meet Bob Hope, we’ll shoot some golf and shoot some dope”.

The song was written because the band was invited to play at the 1980 Bay Area Music Awards (or Bammies), to play their hit California Über Alles. However, they instead wrote this song solely for the show, and were never invited back. Also, this was the only time they ever played the song, despite its popularity.

During their performance, the Dead Kennedys wore white shirts with the letter S painted on the front. On the recording of the song, once Pull My Strings begins the audience can be heard cheering in response to the band members pulling their black neckties from behind their backs in front of them, making a dollar sign.’

I can’t track down an actual video of the performance, although i would love to, so this recording will have to suffice, unless a video is unearthed from somewhere..

Lyrics to the song,

I’m tired of self-respect
I can’t afford a car
I wanna be a prefab superstar
I wanna be a tool
Don’t need no soul
Wanna make big money
Playing rock and roll
I’ll make my music boring
I’ll play my music slow
I ain’t no artist
I’m a businessman
No ideas of my own

I won’t offend
Or rock the boat
Just sex and drugs
And rock and roll

Drool, drool, drool, drool, drool (etc.) My payola!
Drool, drool, drool, drool, drool (etc.) My payola!

You’ll pay ten bucks to see me
On a fifteen foot high stage
Fatass bouncers kick the shit
Out of kids who try to dance
If my friends say I”ve lost my guts”
I’ll laugh and say
That’s rock and roll
But there’s just one problem…

Is my cock big enough
Is my brain small enough
For you to make me a star
Give me a toot, I’ll sell you my soul
Pull my strings and I’ll go far

And when I’m rich
And meet Bob Hope
We’ll shoot some golf
And shoot some dope

Is my cock big enough
Is my brain small enough
For you to make me a star
Give me a toot, I’ll sell you my soul
Pull my strings and I’ll go far

This is one of my most favourite things ever, everything about it is so perfect.