Which one is your favorite? - XLV -

Here is a song that matches the colors of the blog. It's from 1984 and written by one of my favorite artists who passed away in 2016. It is a power ballad that combines rock, R&B, gospel, and orchestral music. Thhe song was originally written for a film of the same title.

Here is the song for this week;

"Purple Rain"

"Purple Rain" reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for two weeks, being kept off the top spot by "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham! It reached No. 1 in Belgium and the Netherlands. It is certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and is considered to be one of Prince's signature songs. Following Prince's death in April 2016, "Purple Rain" rose to No. 1 on the US and UK iTunes Charts, allowing it to re-enter the Billboard Hot 100, where it reached No. 4. It also re-entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 6, placing two spaces higher than its original peak of No. 8. In France, where it originally peaked at No. 12, "Purple Rain" reached No. 1 around a week after Prince's death.

"Purple Rain" is ranked at No. 144 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. 

Prince provided one of the most memorable Super Bowl halftime moments when he performed this song in the rain at the 2007 game between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears. After blasting through bits of several songs, he slowed things down for a sensuous rendition of "Purple Rain." The stadium turned dark, and purple lights glistened through raindrops as Prince enraptured the crowd with a silhouetted guitar solo that produced a stunning visual. Colts fans will remember the game, but for the rest of us, Prince's performance on the field was the highlight.

The album was actually the soundtrack to the first movie Prince made.

The song "Purple Rain" was the centerpiece of the film and a key plot point. In the movie, the female members in Prince's band, Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, write a song that Prince ignores, prompting a tirade from Wendy ("Every time we give you a song you say you're going to use it but you never do. You're being paranoid as usual..."). At the end of the film, Prince's crew is in a heated rivalry with another band (The Time), who do a blistering set that Prince must follow. When Prince takes the stage, he introduces "Purple Rain" as being written by Wendy and Lisa, then tears down the house with it.

Many viewers were offended by the movie Purple Rain because of its apparent sexism. Prince defended the film, and himself, to MTV in 1985: "I didn't write Purple Rain. Someone else did. And it was a story, a fictional story, and should be perceived that way. Violence is something that happens in everyday life, and we were only telling a story. I wish it was looked at that way, because I don't think anything we did was unnecessary. Sometimes, for the sake of humor, we may've gone overboard. And if that was the case, then I'm sorry, but it was not the intention."

The film was written by the screenwriter William Blinn and its director Albert Magnoli, but Prince did inspire the script. He told Larry King: "I really wanted to chronicle the life I was living at the time, which was in a area that had a lot of great talent and a lot of rivalries. So I wanted to chronicle that vibe of my life."

According to Blinn, the story came about when Prince told him stories about his father, a musician who never quite made it and sometimes blamed his family for his failures. To Blinn, it sounded like a kind of therapy. "It was as if he were sorting out his own mystery," he said.

Here are the 6 versions I picked for you;

• Randy Crawford - "Purple Rain"

• Holly Cole - "Purple Rain"

• Etta James - "Purple Rain"

• Amanda Palmer & Jherek Bischoff - "Purple Rain"

• The Waterboys - "Purple Rain"

• Bruce Springsteen - "Purple Rain"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.

Five Songs for the Weekend - LXXXV -

A lot of uncertainties all around the world trying to be addressed. How will our lives be in the coming months, in the coming years? When will the Covid-19 be over, or will it be over at all? Will things get back to normal soon or we can only expect that to happen in 2021? Will the masks be the most important garment in our daily lives in the future? A lot of questions and still no answers...Maybe humanity today is not as developed as we think...

As Don Cherry once said;

“When people believe in boundaries, they become part of them..."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• Abelita Mateus Quintet- "Mixed Feelings"

• The Prodigy - "Breathe"

• Townes Van Zandt - "Nothin"

• Ludovico Einaudi - "Una Mattina"

• Gaelynn Lea - "Breathe"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Which one is your favorite? - XLIV -

This week we go back to the 40s with a very popular song composed by the great Kurt Weill. The lyrics were written by Ogden Nash for the Broadway show "One Touch of Venus" in 1943.

Here is the song for this week;

"Speak Low"

The musical comedy "One Touch of Venus", scored by Kurt Weill, opened on Broadway in October, 1943, and ran for 567 performances. S. J. Perelman and Ogden Nash (who also served as lyricist), based their book on the 1885 farcical romance novella, The Tinted Venus, by F. Anstey. In the production Mary Martin played a statue of Venus who came to life when a barber, Rodney Hatch (played by Kenny Baker) slipped the engagement ring which he had bought for his girlfriend on the statue’s finger. The goddess of love tempts Hatch and tries to win him over with the seductive “Speak Low,” the outstanding song from the show sung by Martin. Much to his consternation, she follows him all over the city of New York before resolving not only his romance but the complicated love affairs of others before finally returning to her art gallery pedestal.

“Speak Low” went to number 5 on the charts in 1944, recorded by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians with vocalist Billy Leach.

The tune is considered as a jazz standard that has been widely recorded, both by vocal artists and instrumentalists until today.

Here are the 6 versions I picked for you;

• Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians - "Speak Low"

• Barbra Streisand - "Speak Low"

• Billie Holiday - "Speak Low (Bent Remix)"

•  Ava Gardner/Dick Haymes/Eileen Wilson - "Speak Low"

• Tony Bennett & Norah Jones - "Speak Low"

• Marisa Monte - "Speak Low"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.

Five Songs for the Weekend - LXXXIV -

Yesterday I have started to watch a Netflix series called "The Eddy". It tells the story of a jazz club owner in Paris. The first two episodes are directed by Damien Chazelle (Whiplash, La La Land). I am sure you will like the series, especially if you are a jazz fan.

As Johnny Griffin once said;

“Jazz is music made by and for people who have chosen 

to feel good in spite of the conditions..."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• The Eddyband ft. St. Vincent - "The Eddy"

• Yilian Canizares - "Mapucha"

• Oceanvs Orientalis ft. Idil Mese - "Ege"

• Jonathan Bree - "You're So Cool"

• Lola Marsh - "She's a Rainbow"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

RIP : Ennio Morricone

Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and former trumpet player Ennio Morricone has died at the age of 92. He was very well known for his compositions he wrote for the cinema and television.

He started as a talented football player for A.S. Roma but quickly left the sport to follow his passion for music. His score to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is considered one of the most influential soundtracks and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  His filmography includes over 70 award-winning films, including all Sergio Leone films (since A Fistful of Dollars), all Giuseppe Tornatore films (since Cinema Paradiso), The Battle of Algiers, Dario Argento's Animal Trilogy, 1900, Exorcist II, Days of Heaven, several major films in French cinema, in particular, the comedy trilogy La Cage aux Folles I, II, III and Le Professionnel, as well as The Thing, The Mission, The Untouchables, Mission to Mars, Bugsy, Disclosure, In the Line of Fire, Bulworth, Ripley's Game and The Hateful Eight.

He musically influenced many artists in a whole spectrum of genres. Ennio Morricone has sold well over 70 million records worldwide during his career that spanned over seven decades.

Here is one of his best compositions played by Yo-Yo Ma and Chris Botti, "Cinema Paradiso".
RIP Grand Master.

Which one is your favorite? - XLIII -

This week's song is a Lou Reed song from 1972. It's from his second album called "The Transformer"  and was produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, and released as a double A-side with "Perfect Day". In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked it at number 223 in its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Here is the song for this week;

"Walk On The Wild Side"

This song is about cross-dressers who come to New York City and become prostitutes. "Take a walk on the wild side" is what they say to potential customers. Each verse introduces a new character. There is Holly, Candy, Little Joe, Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jackie. The characters are all cronies of the infamous Andy Warhol Factory, as was Lou.

"Little Joe" refers to Joe Dallesandro, who was also one of Andy's kids in the factory. He was in several films by Warhol. Sugar Plum Fairy is the nickname of actor Joe Campbell. "Holly," "Candy," and "Jackie" are based on Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, and Jackie Curtis. They are all real drag queens who appeared in Warhol's 1972 movie Women In Revolt. Woodlawn also appeared in Warhol's 1970 movie Trash, and Curtis was in Warhol's 1968 movie Flesh.

Reed had empathy for these characters that comes through in the song, as he struggled with his sexuality for most of his life. His parents even tried to "cure" his homosexuality when he was young. With this song, Reed presented a completely different view of gender roles in rock.

This was not banned by the notoriously conservative BBC or by many US radio stations because censors did not understand phrases like "giving head." Depending on the regional US market, the song was, however, edited for what we now call political correctness. Reed leads into the female vocalists' "Doo, doo-doo" hook with the words, "And the colored girls say," but some stations played a version that replaced the phrase with, "And the girls all say."

The baritone saxophone solo played over the fadeout of the song is performed by Ronnie Ross, who had taught David Bowie to play the saxophone during Bowie's childhood.

The backing vocals are sung by Thunderthighs, a vocal group that included Dari Lalou, Karen Friedman, and Casey Synge. The bass hook was devised by Herbie Flowers and was performed by him on double bass overlaid by fretless Fender Jazz Bass. He was paid a £17 flat fee (equivalent to £200 in 2019). Drums were played by Ritchie Dharma using brushes rather than conventional drumsticks.

The single peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts in early 1973.

Here are the 6 versions I picked for you;

• Amanda Palmer - "Walk on the Wild Side"

• Tok Tok Tok - "Walk on the Wild Side"

• Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - "Walk on the Wild Side"

• Alice Phoebe Lou - "Walk on the Wild Side"

• Dave Stewart & Vanessa Paradis - "Walk on the Wild Side"

• Dave's True Story - "Walk on the Wild Side"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.

Five Songs for the Weekend - LXXXIII -

Literally half of the year has gone by. The second quarter of the year has been quite dramatic due to the virus and it looks like that this difficult period is not ending soon. I wonder how we will remember the year 2020 in the future, as a lost year or as a year that thought us many things. Will there be songs composed about these days of Corona?

As Tom Waits once said;

“I like beautiful melodies telling me terrible things."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• Kahil El’Zabar ft. David Murray - "In My House"

• The War on Drugs - "Thinking Of A Place"

• Celeste & Paul Weller - "You Do Something To Me"

• Gevende - "Sanki"

• AH! KOSMOS - "Trace of Waterfalls"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.