Liza Minnelli was born on this date in 1946. A handful of her tracks are included on today’s playlist.
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 10-1-23
In 1993, humor columnist Dave Barry surveyed his readers to find the worst song. The clear winner for Worst Overall Song and Worst Lyrics was “Mac Arthur Park.” Culture critic Joe Queenan disagreed with the results “because ‘Ebony and Ivory’ exists, as do ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,’ ‘Baby, I’m-a Want You,’ ‘Feelings,’ ‘Benny and the Jets,’ ‘Witchy Woman’ and ‘Sussudio,’” adding “On a planet where somebody thought it would be a good idea to write ‘Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,’ the best ‘MacArthur Park’ is ever going to earn in the sucky-song sweepstakes is a tie.”
The late Richard Harris was born on this date in 1930. Celebrate his birthday with a piece of soggy cake and by listening to today’s playlist, which includes the song many hate.
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 7-31-23
You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby by Fatboy Slim holds the Guinness World Record for the most significant number of samples used on a single album, with more than 60.
FatBoy Slim was born Quentin Cook on this date in 1963. A few of the classics from his You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby album are among the tunes in today’s playlist.
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Producer Spotlight: Sir George Martin
A movie director takes words on a page, a script, and brings them to life, guiding actors to deliver the best performances possible and deciding on the best ways to convey the story. A music producer plays the same roles in the creation of a record, taking words on a page, a song, and brings them to life, guiding singers and musicians to deliver the best performances possible and providing input as to how the recorded song should sound.
Sir George Martin, born on January 3, 1926, is recognized as one of the most influential producers in the history of pop music. He is best known for producing all of the albums by The Beatles except for Let It Be. It was Martin who suggested the string quartet on “Yesterday.” It was Martin, with recording engineer Geoff Emerick, who combined two distinct recordings of “Strawberry Fields Forever,” played in different keys and at different tempos, into the one with which you’re familiar. Martin suggested speeding up a ballad Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote, which resulted in the #1 hit “Please Please Me.” His production of “I Feel Fine” includes one of the earliest uses of guitar feedback. Martin conduction the string section on “Eleanor Rigby.” He brought in a 40-piece orchestra for “A Day in the Life.” On “Tomorrow Never Knows,” Martin’s use of tape loops, reversing a recording of a guitar solo in playback, and having Lennon’s vocals go through an organ’s speaker, helped Lennon achieve his desire of a recording to sound like his mind on LSD. He played piano on “In My Life,” and sped up his recording of the piano part to match the song’s tempo. He suggested the group replace original drummer Pete Best.
Sir George, who died in 2016, also produced artists other than The Beatles. Here are thirty of his finest productions.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (12-29-20)
Inspired by the December 29 birthdays of The Band’s Rick Danko, Marianne Faithfull, The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Jim Reid, The Offspring’s Dexter Holland, Propellerheads’ Alex Gifford, Yvonne Elliman, UGK’s Pimp C, GQ’s Emanuel Rahiem Leblanc, Brand Nubian’s Sadat X and Mary Tyler Moore.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (8-25-20)
Inspired by the August 25 birthdays of Elvis Costello, Wilco‘s Jeff Tweedy, The O’Jays’ Walter Williams, Digital Underground’s Shock G, Kiss’ Gene Simmons, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, Billy Ray Cyrus, K7, Willy DeVille, Weather Report’s Wayne Shorter, The Korgis’ James Warren, Leonard Bernstein, Tim Burton, Sean Connery and John Savage.
Playlist For January 8, 2020
I just thought of a great line to use in an improv scene I was in six years ago. I wish I could turn back time (not intending to quote a song title from birthday boy R. Kelly there) and use it. Ironically, the scene was about traveling back in time. I won’t tell you more about it, because describing an improv scene is .00003% as much fun as watching the improv scene, and this scene was no great shakes to start with, though with the addition of the line I just thought of its shakes would be .07% greater.
Today’s playlist begins with songs from two music legends with birthdays today – Elvis Presley and David Bowie. It’s also Little Anthony’s birthday, which led me to lean heavily toward oldies from the early days of rock and roll. Dame Shirley Bassey also celebrates her birthday today, so I threw in a couple of joints from her catalogue. i opted to not include any R. Kelly songs in the playlist, though Mary J. Blige and Erykah Badu are representing 90s r&b.
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It’s Alison Goldfrapp’s Birthday And I Need To Dance!
Translated literally, the French expression “ooh la la” means “Oh there there.”
Per About.com, “ooh la la” is an interjection that “can indicate surprise, disappointment, commiseration, distress, annoyance… any moderately strong reaction to something that was just said or done. Note that there is no connotation of sexiness or impropriety in French.”
Per UrbanDictionary.com, “ooh la la” is “a universally understood way of saying ‘check out that hot piece of ass.’” I detect a slight connotation of sexiness and impropriety.
Per OxfordDictionaries.com, “ooh la la” is “used to express surprise or excitement” or “to convey a sexual innuendo.”
The music duo Goldfrapp, made up of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory, released a single called “Ooh La La” in 2005. Written by the duo, the song tells of Alison’s lust for someone without a romantic component.
Goldfrapp’s “Ooh La La” became their first top ten pop single in the UK and their third #1 on the US dance chart. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording, and Rolling Stone magazine placed it at #10 on their list of the year’s best singles.
Today, Alison Goldfrapp turns 50 years old. Tunes du Jour’s weekly dance party is heavy on her group’s music, kicking off with “Ooh La La.”
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