I'm in the mood for a melody...

  Instructions:
   1. Open your library (iTunes, Media Player, iPod, etc)
   2. Put it on shuffle
   3. Press play
   4. For every item, type the song that’s playing
   5. When you go to a new item, press the next button
   6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool…

   …

THE MOVIE OF MY LIFE

Opening Credits: "Suburbs" by Arcade Fire (though I consider myself urbane, I seem sentenced to the sprawl)

Waking Up:  "Breathe" by Pink Floyd (a mellow wake-up with some sound advice)

First Day of School: "Hungry Heart" by the Boss (hungry for knowledge)

Falling in Love: "Dream a little dream of me" by Etta James/Louis Armstrong (right sentiment)

Fight Song:  "Wild Horses" by U2 ("you're dangerous...")

Prom:  "Homemade Love" by Journey (obscure but appropriate - I stayed home during my prom)

Life: "Closer to the Heart" by Rush ("...too mold a new reality...")

Mental Breakdown: "Save if for later" by The English Beat  (nice manic mood)

Driving:  "Power" by Kanye West (horsepower?)

Flashback:  "The Harder They Come" by Jimmy Cliff ("...as sure as the sun will shine...")

Getting Back Together:  "She bangs the drum" by Stone Roses (sounds good)

Wedding:  "She's got a way" by Billy Joel (not one of our wedding songs, but could've have been - "she's got a smile that heals me")

Birth of Child:  "Ecstasy" by Poi Dog Pondering (Happy, happy days)

Final Battle:  "Misunderstanding" by Genesis (well, I guess we know what the final battle was about)

Death Scene:  "Come on Eileen" version by No Doubt (I'm not dying, and don't call me Eileen)

Funeral Song:  "Life is Good" by Los Lobos (more of an anti-funeral song; oh, the irony)

End Credits: "Brilliant Mind" by Furniture (well, that goes without saying after reading this blog...)

Even better than the real thing...

If I can't go to Ravinia....I'll bring Ravinia to Talega.  Saw a U2 tribute band at our local park.  Sounded great.  Played all the hits and even closed with a cover of a cover:  Helter Skelter.  Good time was had by all.

List Monday - Best of the '70's

Well, I've been thinking about the best songs of this plaid decade and like the apparel, it is just too musically diverse.  I broke it down by best of genres, as I delineate.  Bands like Zeppelin and Stones have already been covered; so, they won't be covered again.  Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves...

1. Punk Rock - the best of decade:  Clash -London Calling, Talking Heads-Psycho Killer, Blondie - Heart of Glass, Knack - My Sharona, Police - Roxanne
2. Prog Rock - Genesis-Carpet Crawlers, Pink Floyd-Wish You Were Here, ELO-Strange Magic
3. Arena Rock - Styx-Come Sail Away, Journey-Loving,Touching,Squeezing, REO-Time for Me toFly, Cheap Trick-Surrender
4. Hard Rock - Rush - 2112, Boston - More than a feeling, Aerosmith - Dream On, 
5. Pop Rock - Abba
6. Singer Songwriter - Springsteen - Born to Run, Billy Joel - Piano Man, John Lennon - Imagine
7. Funk/Soul - Earth Wind & Fire, Marvin Gaye
8. Reggae -  Anything Bob.  Can't go wrong with Peter Tosh or Jimmy Cliff either.
9. Disco - Bee Gee's are cool.
10. Cheesey - Pina Colada Song, Raindrops keep falling, Tie a yellow ribbon, Afternoon Delight, Muskrat Love, etc.
11. All of the above:  Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody, Meatloaf

List Monday - Best of the '60's

So, the decade of my birth is not my most favorite musically.  The only worse decade is the bankrupt 90's.  Yet the 1960's were sonically important - less so for the specific songs that came out, but more so for the bands/artists that emerged.  Therefore, I am listing my top 10 important musical acts, their most influential tunes, and my favorites from their repertoire.  Yeah, yeah, yeah - I know I left out Dylan, Hendrix, Jefferson Starship, Hollies, all of Motown....not my cup of tea.  And the Dead, they're in a special category, to be discussed later.....

1. Beatles -  Day in the life or Hey Jude.......my fav:  Tomorrow Never Knows
2. Stones - Satisfaction.......Moonlight Mile (and setimental fav Emotional Rescue)
3. Who - My Generation or Baba .......  Love Reign O'er Me (Emminence Front, close behind)
4. Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven......Boogie with Stu
5. Beach Boys - Good Vibrations......In My Room
6. Doors - Break on Through......Riders on the Storm
7. Kinks - Lola........Apeman
8. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Waters.......Late in the Evening
9. Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl..........Into the Mystic
10. Neil Diamond - Solitary Man/I am I said/Holly Holy..........too many to choose from...I'll go with:  Morningside

List Monday - Top 10 songs of the 1950's (non-blues)

1. All shook Up - Elvis...had to pick one by the King, heartbreak hotel or jailhouse could have been here too.
2. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry...he and Little Richard are the unsung forefathers of r&r
3. Earth Angel - The Penguins...actually a b-side, one of the earliest r&r songs, and it's best ballad
4. Be Bop a Lula - Gene Vincent...derived from the bebop jazz style, prior songs included "Be-Baba-Leba" and "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop"
5. Rock around the Clock -  Bill Haley & the Comets....happy days, need i say more
6. The Great Pretender - Platters...slightly lyrically better than Only You.
7. Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis....the killer, embodied r&r lifestyle
8. Blueberry Hill - Fats Domino....actually dates back to 1940, but Fats made it a r&r staple
9. Little Darling - Diamonds....great doo-wop cover of an r&b song
10. Chantilly Lace - Big Bopper...a song with personality

Honorable mention:  In The Still of the Night - The Satins, Not Fade Away - Buddy Holly, Sh-boom - The Crewcuts, Get a job - Silhouettes.  Surprised to learn Duke of Earl was from 1962.

School of Rock

M H T 101 Introduction to Music 
A historically oriented study of art music, its styles, and forms from the Baroque period (1940's - 1955)to the present day. This course is designed to provide a solid grasp of twentieth-century European (particularly both major waves of English invasion musicology) and North American art music by offering both broad coverage of significant works and in-depth examination of the era's diverse musical trends, social and political environments, and aesthetic and cultural controversies. Students are expected to contribute to class discussion, engage closely with musical scores, listen attentively to pieces, and write sensitively about compositional details as well as music's multiple roles in contemporary culture. Major graded work includes a midterm, final, and a paper that combines analysis and interpretation. This course will apply toward requirements for a music major.

Recommended Prerequisites:  Introduction to the Blues, with an academic emphasis on Willie Dixon, Advanced Sinatra, Elementary Forefathers:  Berry, Richard and the men of Sun Records or consent of department. This meets the General Education requirements for Humanities and Fine Arts.

Required Listening: 


Pink Floyd - Wish you were here


U2 - Joshua Tree

Rush - 2112

Neil Diamond - Hot August Night

Stone Roses - Stone Roses

Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

Bob Marley - Legend


The Clash - London Calling

Grateful Dead - American Beauty (had to pick 1)

Genesis - Three Sides Live

Roxy Music - Avalon

Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Sessions

Los Lobos- just another band from east l.a.

Cheap Trick - live at budokon

Sinatra - In the wee small hours