The Music I Love Listening to In Lawrence
Instruments ready? I hope so, cause we've got a lot to talk about today. We’re gonna talk about one of my favorite topics I enjoy the most in my spare time.
Music.
Okay, let’s start with the musical artists I first listening to when I was a little kid. Let’s start off with one of my personal childhood favorites from the past.
Joanie Bartels
Since the first time I listened to her songs, it was ‘Traveling Magic’. And the first song I remember listening to was ‘On The Road To Where We’re Going’. It was when my mom and I were in the car driving along California together. It was a pretty catchy tune to hear in the first place. But the other songs I remember listening to ‘Beep Beep’, ‘On The Road Again’, and ‘Surrey With a Fringe On The Top’. It was fun listening to that tape in the car. When bedtime comes, I remember this cassette tape that I listened to while I was sleeping in my bed. That tape was ‘Lullaby Magic’.I had two of them to be honest with you on that one. The first ‘Lullaby Magic’ tape was relaxing and soothing while we first moved from California to Lawrence Kansas. The first time listening to Lullaby Magic was also the first time I lived in Lawrence. Whenever I go to bed, I listened to that tape from Joanie every night whenever I go to sleep. The other Joanie Bartels audio tapes I remember listening to is 'Dancin' Magic'. I could listen to it all the time in my childhood years. The songs I listened to on that tape had versions of classic songs by The Beach Boys, Chubby Checker, Lionel Richie, Los Lobos, and others like them. I even listened to 'The Polka Dot Polka' that time and it was kinda swinging and a bit bouncy in a light-hearted kind of way. The other song I loved listening to is 'Dinosaur Rock 'n Roll' because it had that bopping feeling to the music. I would even imagine what it would be like if 'Dinosaur Rock 'n Roll' were an original play. I also listened to 'Sillytime Magic', 'Dreamland', and 'Adventures with Family and Friends'. Those were fun too. I remember when I was watching 'Ready! Set! Learn!' on TLC, I watched her on TV as the 'Extra-Special Substitute Teacher', which is really cool. I even got to see her on a music video from 'The Rainy Day Adventure'. It was really cool and it was completely magical to see as a kid in '95. It was fun, and in my teen years I heard the 'Jazzy' album she recorded in 2007. And you wanna know what I think about the album 'Jazzy'? I loved it, and I'm telling you it makes me wanna dance. Now before that, I listened to another album from her. It's called 'Dreamland', and it was an enchanting album I listened to once. And it was soothing and beautiful to listen to in my younger years. It had gentle, inspirational and story-like songs that captivate children of all ages, guiding them on a magical tour where dreams are born. And since it was my 35th birthday, my mom and dad got me the Lullaby Magic CD for me while I was visiting them at their house here in Bluffton. Best gift ever.
Thanks, dad!
The next artist I also listening was when I was in at Edna A. Hill Child Development Center and when I was in preschool.
Greg and Steve
These two guys were amazing. I remember listening to the songs 'Dancin' Machine' and 'Disco Limbo'. It was really jiving and and much more groovy! I also remember the song game I played called 'The Freeze'. It was when the music stops, you freeze. Then the music resumes when you unfreeze. Then there was that other song I remember called 'Rock Around The Mulberry Bush'. It had something to do with getting up in the morning...I think. Wait, it was an early-in-the-morning song. So nevermind on that one. Next was that song 'Shoo Fly' where kids 'show you what they want to be'. That's really good and yet playful music to check out. I used to have the book and tape set of Greg & Steve Dancin' Machine once. It was a compilation of their music put together. I wonder what I'd do if I would make 'The Best of Greg & Steve' on CD on my computer. Here's a list of the songs I listened to by them. I'll say the name of the songs in the album names I remember. Here goes.
"Dancin' Machine"
"Disco Limbo"
"Simon Says 1, Body Parts"
"Rock 'Round The Mulberry Bush 1, Hygiene"
We All Sing Together Vol. 3
"Rock-a-motion Choo Choo"
"ABC Rock"
We All Sing Together Vol. 1
"The Balancing Act"
"Count Bounce"
"Animal Action"
Kids In Motion
"The Freeze"
"The Number Rock"
We All Sing Together Vol. 2
"Shoo Fly 1"
On The Move
"Hand Jive"
"It's a Beautiful Day"
"Days of the Week (Span.)"
"Everybody Has Music Inside"
We All Sing Together Vol. 4
"Say Hello"
"Copy Cat 1"
Kidding Around with Greg & Steve
I really love listening to those songs from them when I was little because of the way they love to rock and roll with the kids and how they motivate and entertain. The other two songs I’ve heard the first time before was ‘Shake, Rattle & Rock’, Stop And Go’ and ‘Do The Butterfly’ which is from the albums Shake, Rattle & Rock and Jumpin’ and Jammin’. That was when I was riding my ride around C-Tran here at Holcom Park Recreation Park, especially when I was also leaving C-Tran for the day. In conclusion of this second part of the topic, I think that Greg & Steve are incredible ever since I was going to preschool in California.
Moving on to the next artist in this topic.
The Commitments
Ever since the day my family and I moved to Lawrence Kansas, I was the first to listen to the most exciting and greatest soundtrack of all time. Yes, that’s right folks! The Commitments are like the most exciting film soundtracks that I’ve ever listened to for a very long time. Have you all noticed that I have all the songs from the soundtrack on my iPad? I do now! Before I downloaded the whole soundtrack, I listened to it on CD right here on my dad’s stereo system. The first track I listened to was ‘Mustang Sally’ and Andrew Strong sang really good in that track. That first track from the soundtrack was originally by Wilson Pickett which you already know his role on ‘The Land of a Thousand Dances’ and ‘In The Midnight Hour’. Whenever I hear this song in my head, it’s “Ride Sally Ride!” The single that was featured on the soundtrack is also one of my favorites from them. ‘Treat Her Right’! That chorus was banging in a vintage way and they were going really wild! One time we were watching the movie, and we really loved it in the first place. I somehow wondered what would it be like if The Commitments returned for a special reunion musical tour. For now, I guess we’ll never know.
Keep it coming, boys. Keep it coming.
Next artist.
Lyle Lovett
How do I describe him for instance? Well… he’s like one of my dad’s favorite artists. One of his songs I love listening to are ‘Nobody Knows Me’, ‘She Makes Me Feel Good’, and ‘This Old Porch’. The other songs include ‘She’s Hot To Go’ and ‘If I Had a Boat’. We all know that he keeps his music alive, and that’s really good because I really love listening to his music all over again. In fact, there’s other songs that I mentioned. “An Acceptable Level of Ecstasy (The Wedding Song)”, “Here I Am”, “What Do You Do/ The Glory of Love”, “Good Intentions”, “I Know You Know”, and “If I Were The Man You Wanted”. The way I hear his music reminds me of the good old days here in Kansas. It also reminds me of the good times we had visiting California during the summer. Now last year, I downloaded a couple of new songs from him off his new album '12th of June'.
One time, I listened to the title song off his album, and it still reminded me of the good times I had in Lawrence. I have other songs downloaded from his album such as 'Pants Is Overrated', 'Her Loving Man', and 'Straighten Up and Fly Right'. Those other tracks were also cool too. And when I look at that album cover art, I see a leaf falling off of a tree of the house in the neighborhood.
I have a couple of his albums with me though, nice and safe. And that's why my dad and I like to listen to Lyle Lovett. It's some really good country and jazz music.
Leo Kottke
On a Sunday morning, I listened to an album that's guitar music and no vocals. This is an instrumental guitar album by Leo Kottke.
It's an album that had all the guitar sounds on each track in this album. There were no vocals, just some guitar strumming. Once I heard the song 'Accordion Bells' from that CD, and it sounded like a Christmas song but within a different version of it. Turns out, that song is also just a American Primitive Guitar instrumental along with other instrumental guitar songs by him. In that song according to the booklet, it says here. 'Open the paper, the accordion paper, and it's a bell...or a pumpkin, if it's Halloween'. That song was actually not bad. Sometimes I listen to it whenever I go to bed, the guitar music soothes me well just like Lullaby Magic. It reminded me of the Learnard house in Lawrence. Th first song off the album was 'Snorkel' and it was written in Sydney while his hotel room was flooding. Now on track four there's a song called 'Three/Quarter North' from Alan Sharp's movie,
This piece appears in the "Ulzanna's Raid," a different movie, an army scout explains to an army movie in four/four, but as a duetwith vofficer the sources of Ulzanna's cruel-Randy Kerber, on a record for Private Music, it's in three/four. He asked Alan how he wrote this beautiful speech and he said to him, "Oh, I made it up."
Another album I listened to was 'Peculiaroso' and the song I listened to on that album was the one called 'Peg Leg'. That artwork for the album was made by Rob Day.
Check it out.
This next album I listened to is 'Great Big Boy'. The song I listened to was 'Running up The Stairs'. The spoken word track was the one I heard once titles 'The Other Day (Near Santa Cruz)'. You know, that song also matched the city in California where I visited there.
Now here's yet another album I listened to when my dad and I were in St. Louis on our way to Lawrence Kansas when I visited there for vacation for Thanksgiving. It was 'Dreams and all that stuff' and the first song was 'Mona Ray'. That was the song I listened to while I was sleeping on the couch.
This is what the album cover looks like.
Now think about this, have you folks heard up ‘Up Tempo’ before?
Leo Kottke recorded this song off his self-titled album back in 1976. The song’s also featured on the essential compilation album. You know, the one with the twenty-two on it.
Then there was another album I was discovering. ‘Standing In My Shoes’.
There’s two songs I first listened to. ‘Corrina, Corrina” and “Vaseline Machine Gun”. The album itself shows a picture of himself in a sepia tone. Good thing it works out. Figures, huh guys?
(rim shot)
In 2004, Leo also released and album titled ‘Try And Stop Me’. And the song I listened to was ‘The Banks Of Marble’. Originally the song was by Pete Seeger and was written in 1949 by Les Rice.
You can tell the difference by looking at that cactus in this picture. Huh, what a roll that was.
And now there’s an album that I first listened to last year. Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon in…
The album ‘Noon’ was a bit abstract especially in that piece of album art. The word was drawn with black marker on grid paper. The song I first listened to was ‘I Am Random’ because it sounded like acoustic freeform mixed together with blues and rock ‘n roll all over the place. One thing you didn’t know about it is that it was released in 2020 during the pandemic. Pretty weird, huh. But still a great album to listen to since Peculiaroso.
And that was my informative story on Leo Kottke’s albums in music. Now let’s move on to my next part of the story.
James Brown
James brown was known as the Godfather of Soul and he was kicking it up to the funky degree. My dad loves James Brown and his music because it really makes him want to dance. The first time I listened to James Brown was when my mom made me a mixtape. That song I listened to was ‘I Got You (I Feel Good)’ and it was completely funky and upbeat. I really love the way it sounds especially with the saxophone and stuff. The second song I listened to was ‘Sex Machine’. Why? Because my dad and I both think that it’s really upbeat too! That’s why! When my mom and I went to the movies to see ‘Muppets From Space’, I listened to yet another James Brown song. It was titled ‘Get Up Offa That Thing’, and during that song, Gonzo was driving his lawn mower this late and on his way to the TV station.
The way Gonzo drove on that lawn mower was that he got distracted or brainwashed. Ha!
And when he crashed, he got exhausted for too long. Maybe that’s why the aliens ask them to build a jacuzzi.
Now here’s a little something I remember before Smooth Jazz was on the radio. I was listening to a little night music by Mozart. The classical conductor that I once heard before when my parents were listening to something beautiful.
Classical music.
When Mozart was six years old, he wrote his first opera. He was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition resulted in more than 800 works representing virtually every Western classical genre of his time. Many of these compositions are acknowledged as pinnacles of the symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral repertoire. Mozart is widely regarded as being one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, with his music admired for its "melodic beauty, its formal elegance and its richness of harmony and texture". At 17, he was a musician at the Salzburg court but grew restless and travelled in search of a better position. While visiting Vienna in 1781, Mozart was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He stayed in Vienna, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years there, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas. Wolfgang Amadeus was born in Salzburg in Austria. One time, my parents rented a movie once about Mozart, that movie was in 1984 and the movie was titled ‘Amadeus’. My folks saw that once and it was dramatic as heck and pretty much described as a "fantasia on the theme of Mozart and Salieri". I also think that it’s “Mozart’s greatest hit”.
And speaking of a greatest hit, have you heard of Falco’s song ‘Rock Me Amadeus’?
Falco was also from Austria when he made a hit in 1985. He was also a wonder in ‘Rock Me Amadeus’. It even topped the singles charts on both sides of the Atlantic as it was Falco's only number one hit in both the United States and the United Kingdom, despite the artist's popularity in his native Austria and much of Europe. In additional to the song, it was also recorded in German. The music video for the song was just booming when he was dressed up as Mozart. Excellent performance.
Now here’s another Classical composer I also heard once. The Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky. I’ve heard all of this before when I watched it on Jiminy Cricket’s Christmas. In the Disney movie Fantasia, the selections from the 1892 ballet suite underscore scenes depicting the changing of the seasons from summer to autumn to winter. A variety of dances are presented with fairies, fish, flowers, mushrooms, and leaves, including "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy", "Chinese Dance", "Arabian Dance", "Russian Dance", "Dance of the Flutes" and "Waltz of the Flowers". Cool, huh!
Now moving on to
The Beach Boys
Formed in Hawthorne, California, this all-time music group has made some really great music. Back in the day, my family and I listened to the Beach Boys at our house when we lived at Learnard Street in Lawrence. I had a lot of Beach Boys musical tapes and ones homemade by my folks an I really enjoy listening to their songs from the group. One of the songs were ‘Sloop John B’ which was featured on the Forrest Gump soundtrack and from the album ‘Pet Sounds’. That song was fun to listen to and made me imagine my family on a cruise trip or on a boat excursion. ‘God Only Knows’ also from the album was also from one of my mixtapes. Other songs that I like are ‘Surfin’ Safari’, ‘409’, ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’, ‘Surfin’ USA’, Be True To Your School’, ‘Surfer Girl’, ‘Help Me, Rhonda’ ‘Good Vibrations’, and much much more to choose from.
Next artist.
The Beatles.
Ever since my dad first got The Beatles book, my family and I are always into this band. The first time I listened to The Beatles was when I was a little kid. The hits I hear from 'The Beatles 1' album got me going on and on and on all over again, and it's really awesome. The fab four is just excellent!
"Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles!"
Here are my favorite songs I like listening to.
‘Love Me Do’, ‘From Me To You’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’, ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, ‘Help!’ ‘Yellow Submarine’, ‘Penny Lane’, ‘All You Need Is Love’, ‘Hey Jude’, ‘Get Back’, ‘Come Together’, ‘I Saw Here Standing There’, ‘Something’, ‘Twist And Shout’, ‘Day Tripper’, ‘We Can Work It Out’, ‘Drive My Car’, ‘Here Comes The Sun’, ‘Eight Days a Week’, ‘Ticket To Ride’, ‘Hello, Goodbye’, ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’, With A Little Help From My Friends’, ‘Please Please Me’, ‘I’ll Cry Instead’, ‘Let It Be’, ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’, ‘Nowhere Man’, ‘Norwegian Man’, ‘Revolution’, ‘I Should Have Known Better’, ‘Octopus’ Garden’, ‘Paperback Writer’ ‘P.S. I Love You’, ‘I Am The Walrus’, ‘In My Life’, ‘When I’m Sixty Four’, ‘Yesterday’ ‘I Feel Fine’, ‘Real Love’.
Wait a minute… Turns out I love all Beatles songs! What the heck am I thinking?
(I should’ve known.)
Anyway, I enjoy listening to The Beatles all my life for decades because of how they sing and the way they changed the world of music forever. The Fab Four came from Liverpool and that was when the band came to America. Everyone was screaming for them and all the fans loved them. As their popularity grew into the intense fan frenzy dubbed “Beatlemania”, the band acquired the nickname "the Fab Four". Epstein, Martin or another member of the band's entourage was sometimes informally referred to as a “fifth Beatle”.
What is the “fifth Beatle”, you ask? Well, it’s an informal title that has been applied to people who were at one point a member of the Beatles or who had a strong association with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. It even claims first appeared in the press immediately upon the band's rise to global fame in 1963–64.
Here are some album titles I like:
In an episode of Drake & Josh, the album ‘Abbey Road’ from the Beatles was seen.
In fact, the picture of the album can be seen in many shows and movies.
Last year, there was a new song the remaining Beatles released called ‘Now & Then’.
I listened to it, and guess what, I loved it. It was an amazing soft ballad I’ve ever heard for the very first time. I’ll never forget the time I listened to the Beatles while I was walking around the neighborhood. It was that Thanksgiving when I did that when I’m getting some exercise. Here’s to you, Paul. Love your music you guys.
During the Beatles anthology series, I once saw a commercial with Ringo Starr called the ‘Private Issue’ by Discover. I was abstract and hypnotized by the artwork in that credit card design it used with paint. And I tell you, it’s blue with the other colored painted and drawn in any other way. So you may ask, what’s the card you deserve? As always, it’s a private issue. Cool!
Anyway, what I also love about the Beatles is their music and their greatest hits I’ve heard on the radio on Oldies 95 a long time ago. The Beatles also has their own SiruisXM station where it’s all Beatles music all the time. My dad and I will always continue listening to the band all the time and anytime.
March to the next part of the topic.
Pop Music
I’ll never forget the first time I got to listen to the Now That’s What I Call Music! Series. At first, I started out on Now 4. But then I started collecting the series, and I got all the various artists all in every NOW! CD. It was also when I first did my dance party at my house. So we got the chance to jam to the Now 4 CD along with the other musical artists on stereo. Yeah, good times.
Speaking of pop music, I remember the first time I got an A*Teens CD.
The album is titled ‘The ABBA Generation’ covering the original ABBA hits on one CD. A few songs I listen to are ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)’, and ‘Super Trouper’. I could listen it over and over again and I still have it with me. I also got the chance to listen to their new hit ‘Upside Down (Bouncing Off The Ceiling)’ off their second album ‘Teen Spirit’. And by that time I first listened to the new single, it was extremely exciting and really cool with a huge dance beat. Boy, that group from Sweden was great! And in case you remember this one, this is what the original group looks like before A*Teens.
ABBA is one of the Pure Disco artists I remember listening to with my friend Jennifer. And I tell you, my friend really enjoys good disco. You go, girl!
The other artist I discovered next is Sammie and his album ‘From The Bottom To The Top’.
The song I first listened to was ‘Crazy Things I Do’. And the first time I watched the first single was the time I was watching SNICK every Saturday on Nickelodeon.
That video was off the hook!
The best part is that we also played that CD at my first dance party in my house.
Okay, here’s yet another musical artist I discovered. It was our trip to the music store here at the mall. We got there and I bought myself an album by Baha Men.
I even got to listen to their hit song ‘Who Let The Dogs Out’. It was exciting and so upbeat even in the summertime. It had two versions of the hit song. One as the original and one with the ‘Barking Mad’ remix in it. It’s the title album and single by the group.
I also listen to another song by Baha Men. ‘You All Dat’.
“Baby don’t tell me a way.”
This track did a sample of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ which got a joyful Junkanoo beat. I like this song also because it’s the feel of the party. Best second song ever!
In other words, that group is also great too.
Okay now here’s an artist I also discovered from the 1980s.
Cyndi Lauper
Just think of the possibilities in this artist that I can think of.
My dad and I started listening to this artist in the car. The album is ‘She’s So Unusual’ and it’s still one of the best albums of all time. The song ‘Money Changes Everything’ off the album was also part of my mixtape I once had. And let me tell you something about that track. It was amazing how to lyrics kept going and the sounds of the melodica felt like the sounds of the century of that decade.
The next song we listened to was ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’. That song was totally cool to jam out to, works every time! It sounded like a party workout song everyone loves to check out on the radio once, but it more than that. It’s a party anthem of the 80s. The music and the sounds in that song was really cool though.
The other songs I listened to from her are ‘She Bop’, ‘All Through The Night’, ‘Witness’, ‘When You Were Mine’, and ‘Time After Time’. This album made me goes back to the 80s and enjoy the great times there in California.
Another artist.
Don Henley
I first listened to the album ‘The End of The Innocence’ once, and it felt the heartland of rock music. The songs I like are ‘The End Of The Innocence’, ‘The Last Worthless Evening’, ‘Little Tin God’, and ‘The Heart Of The Matter’. Those songs I listened to were really spectacular at first, and was pretty awesome. One thing you should always know about him is that he was the member of the band ‘Eagles’.
Just thought you should know that one.
Now if you’re into Americana music and country folk music, check this out.
The Notting Hillbillies
Mark Knopfler formed that band project on the month of May in 1986.
The only problem was that the band one did just one album.
It was titled ‘Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time’ and it was the only album they’ve done. The songs I remember listening to were ‘Your Own Sweet Way’, ‘Run Me Down’, ‘One Way Gal’, ‘Blues, Stay Away From Me’, ‘Will You Miss Me’, and ‘Please Baby’. Those were the only songs I love listening to when I was a kid. And this is why country music is always legendary in every other way.
Little Village
The roots rock band we really love to listen to in the 90s. Their only album was the self-titled album.
“Well all right!”
The songs that my family and I love are ‘Solar Sex Panel’, ‘The Action’, ‘She Runs Hot’, ‘Don’t Think About Her When You’re Trying To Drive’, and ‘Don’t Bug Me When I’m Working’. This band was also a supergroup starring John Hiatt, Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe, and Jim Keltner. They went on a tour of the US and Europe to support it, and disbanded the year of its release. They had previously worked as a group while recording Hiatt's solo album ‘Bring The Family’ in 1987. We still listen to the band a lot because of the good old days in Lawrence and in California too.
The track ‘Don’t Bug Me When I’m Working’ was amazing and really cool. I really like the bicycle bell sounds at the end. The sound effects in the songs were abstract and surreal as they were all spoken while singing the lyrics.
“What a small town!”
Now, back to my pop music topic.
*NSYNC
The first time I heard the boy band was in 1999 when I listen to the songs ‘Bye Bye Bye’ and ‘It’s Gonna Be Me’. The album ‘No Strings Attached’ were one of the greatest albums of all time in the Billboard charts. And I think that it’s more than a really good thing, this boy band is awesome in some other good ways in music.
Also in the album ‘Celebrity’, there were two new singles I remember listening to also. ‘Pop’, ‘Gone’, and ‘Girlfriend’. ‘Celebrity’ was awesome too.
Backstreet Boys
Love songs and pop music combined together. I remember that the first song I listened to was ‘Larger Than Life’. That song was banging! And so does ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)’. The album ‘Millennium’ was just incredible! The two albums I remember were also the self-titled album and ‘Black & Blue’. ‘Shape Of My Heart’ was a beautiful love ballad I’ve listened to. Now on the first album, I remember listening to the song ‘As Long As You Love Me’. It was a sunny sounding ballad anthem that I love listening to in my younger years.
I also remember listening to Aaron Carter and his teen pop music. ‘Aaron’s Party’ was a really great kid-friendly rap song every kid in school has ever listened to.
Best track ever!
Britney Spears
Why don’t you come out there and hit me baby, one more time! I listened to her songs in many Now CD volumes. Songs from the album “…Baby, One More Time”, the song ‘Oops! I Did It Again’, ‘Lucky’, ‘Stronger’, and ‘(You Drive Me) Crazy’. For me, I was so exciting to hear her music. And I thought I’d be in too deep. I feel really moved when Britney Spears was on TV when I first saw her first hit music video. It was on MTV a long time ago.
The first time I heard her first hit ‘...Baby, One More Time’ was back in 1998. I had no idea that Britney Spears can be such talented. In fact, I remember watching 'The Mickey Mouse Club' on the Disney Channel once, and she was also in it too. That was before she released her first debut album from back in the day.
Okay, just a few more and we’re wrapping it up for the day.
Enya
Ever since I was into some relaxing music, I first listened to Enya when I was in California and the first time I moved to Lawrence Kansas. The first album I listen to was 'Shepherd Moons' on cassette tape.
When I listened to the entire album on both sides of the tape, I was completely relaxed because it's one of the best new age artists from Ireland. And it even keeps me calm in my head. The way I hear her voice makes me feel really good and quiet. One of the songs I listened to on the album is 'Caribbean Blue', 'How Can I Keep From Singing?', 'Book of Days', 'Ebudae', 'Angeles', and 'No Holly For Miss Quinn'.
But that's not all, there's also 'Watermark'. The album that came first ever since I lived in Lawrence Kansas. 'Shepherd Moons' was the album I listened to in California once though. Anyway, two of the songs I listened to was 'Storms In Africa, Part 2', and 'Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)'. It was the first time I listened to that album when I hung out with Karen Green since I was little.
Next album, The Memory of Trees. This album is one of mom's favorite albums she listened to here at the Learnard house. The whole album was peaceful and so relaxing too. The best part of the album is that it's inspired by Maxfield Parrish's artwork just like my mom had. When my family listened to the album on a Sunday morning, it soothes the brain into a relaxing quiet mode. The new age music in these Enya album are remarkable and relaxing in any other way.
This is what the original painting 'The Young King of the Black Isles' looks like.
Inspiring!
Now another album my mom used to have is 'A Day Without Rain' and the third song played in it was 'Only Time' which became popular in the radio charts. The best thing about this song is that the song was also a pop remix heard on the radio. Greatest album heard in 2001! Sometimes I couldn't help but wonder what the world feels like whenever the song plays on the TV somewhere.
Moving on to the next album. In 2005, Enya did another release called 'Amarantine'. That album was really cool too, in fact it was as beautiful and magical as it seems. The video for the track was sparkling to perfection. And I think her finest in music just keeps getting better.
And now in 2015, she returned to music for the next album titled 'Dark Sky Island'. It was the album I got from Target that year and it was pretty good. In fact, I first listened to the song 'So I Could Find My Way'. The other song I heard was 'Echoes In Rain'. I didn't know what it meant, but it sure sounded like it reminded me of our trip around the world. Just a thought on that one though. But good!
Now here's something that you might remember listening to when I still lived in Lawrence Kansas. That is the reissue album of 'The Celts'. Take a look.
The 1992 reissue of the very first album from 1987 was remarkable to this very day. My mom really loved listening to that album and it was really beautiful with a Celtic feel to the album. And ever since my mom got that album, we heard every track that reminded me of our trip to Iceland. No, really! I'm totally serious! That album was interestingly good! And in case you forgotten, this is what the original album artwork back in 1987 looks like.
(Pretty vintage, don't you agree.)
Now get this. I would like to talk to you about the sampling of the song "Boadicea". The song has been sampled by numerous artists. Including The Fugees, Angie Martinez, Metro Boomin, Meek Mill, and many others. But one of the best part of that sample is that Mario Winans sampled the song in his hit single "I Don't Wanna Know" featuring P. Diddy in 2004. The song was popular in 2004 with this song sample they used which was really cool in many hip-hop/r&b stations heard on the radio. The song can also be heard in TV shows and movies too, just to be sure.
The music of Enya is widely recognised for featuring multi-layers of her vocals, varied instrumentation, lengthened reverb, and subtle Celtic elements. Her career as a solo artist, now over four decades long, is notably an atypical path to success in the music industry. As the second-best-selling Irish music act overall, after rock band U2, Enya is the best-selling Irish solo artist, believed to have sold over 80 million albums worldwide. Did you also know that Enya was in a Irish folk band called Clannad?
From 1980 to 1982, she was in a band once and was featured in two albums, Crann Úll and Fuiam.
Crann Úll was also the first Clannad album to feature Enya. Plus, she also appeared as supporting vocalist on the track "Gathering Mushrooms".
Next, Fuaim known in the Irish word for "sound" was produced by Nicky Ryan and was the last Clannad album to feature her. Spoiler alert, it was the sixth album. It was also the only Clannad album to credit her; while she performed keyboard and backing vocals on the previous album "Crann Úll", she was not credited for this. She departed, along with Nicky Ryan, shortly thereafter to begin a solo career.
Whenever I listen to Enya, it really makes me feel relaxed and soothed in both ways and somehow tranquil in another cool way. And that's why I love listening to Enya since a couple decades ago. And I hope that someday she'll make the next album sometime soon. I'll never get tired of that one.
Okay, now let's move on.
The Pretenders
While I was living in California from 1989 to 1992, my family and I got into listening to this rock band starring Chrissie Hynde. The first song was 'Stop Your Sobbing'. And when I first listening to that song, I was energetic and listened to her sing the words of the song. The other song I listened to was 'My Baby', a jangle rock song I love listening to also. The way I listen to it makes me think of all the good times that we shared as a family whenever we're in the car driving. I remember when I was listening to The Pretenders while I was reading Little Critter books in my spare time. It kinda made me feel pretty happy when I listen to them while reading. I have the band's greatest hits album with me and it's still really good. I really love listening to them because of the jangle rock and new wave feel into the band's music. And did I forget to mention that in the 'Greatest Hits' album, there was also a bonus track with UB40 & Chrissie Hynde called "I Got You Babe". It was a cover of the original song by Sonny & Cher. Awesome sauce! I consider them the greatest band I've ever heard in my entire life.
Texas Tornados
The only album we got from them is the self-titled album from 1990, and it's still one of the best albums ever listened to in my golden years. I like all the songs in this album because it has a bit more of a Tex-Mex feel in the musical genre. My family loves this band from back in the day. One of my favorites from them are "Who Are You Thinkin' Of", "Soy de San Luis", "She Never Spoke Spanish to Me", "A Man Can Cry", and "Dinero". If I were to put Texas Tornados on my next playlist, we'd celebrate Cinco de Mayo in another great way especially in Lawrence, which we'll get to later on in the next blog story. I'll give you a story about that later on in the next blog. My dad would really like to hear a lot more about it in the future.
(St. John's Fiesta also included too.)
Joni Mitchell
This is definitely my mom's favorite artist to listen to back in my golden years. She had a few albums in her collection of music, like this album.
Ladies of the Canyon is officially the greatest album my family and I love listening to all the time during that decade. Every Sunday morning we listen to the entire album for some quiet time, and sometimes in my spare time I like to listen to her songs at anytime. My mom's favorite song is "Morning Morgantown", and two of my favorite songs are "Conversation" and "Big Yellow Taxi". To me, Ladies of the Canyon is also one of my family's favorite albums. And to top things off on this one, the Counting Crows covered the song from Joni which featured Vanessa Carlton.
You know what they said... Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
Time is move on to the next artist.
Stevie Ray Vaughan!
Whenever you're into the blues, garage rock, or rock 'n roll music, you've got the power of the guy with his guitar of "Double Trouble"! He was best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians in the history of blues music, and one of the greatest guitarists of all time. He was the younger brother of guitarist Jimmie Vaughan. Born and raised in Dallas, Vaughan began playing guitar at age seven, initially inspired by his brother Jimmie. In 1972, he dropped out of high school and moved to Austin, where he began to gain a following after playing gigs on the local club circuit. Vaughan joined forces with Tommy Shannon on bass and Chris Layton on drums as Double Trouble in 1978.
I personally think that I really like listening to him because of the chords and notes he plays on his guitar.
In the Vaughan Brothers album 'Family Style', I listened to a song I remember listening to on my mixtape. The title of this song is called 'Tick Tock' and the song was about how the world got together, helping one another, and universal love became a theme to this day. Peace and understanding always happens this way. And as always, peace love and happiness is all we need for this world. I really love the style in this song because the blues rock in this track teaches all of us about peace and love and how people of the world will love each other and help each other too.
And there's another song I remember from him called "Pride And Joy". It's an original composition by Vaughan and was released on his debut studio album Texas Flood in 1983. One time during a cruise trip at the Norwegian Star, I was at the video arcade and I was playing Guitar Hero. I chose that song and I rocked out loud to this rock 'n roll tune! Seriously, this song was so off the hook!
In the 'Live Alive' CD, I first listened to the song "Say What!". That song was playing live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 1985. I bet you knew that too!
While I was at Graveface Records & Curiosities looking for vonyl records to put on my wall, I found a Stevie Ray Vaughan album title 'The Sky Is Crying'. It was the fifth and final studio album by him compiling songs recorded throughout most of their career. It was released 14 months ago right after his death in 1990. And the album features ten previously unreleased tracks recorded between 1984 and 1989. Only one title, "Empty Arms" (complete reprisal), appeared on any of the group's previous albums. The tracks were compiled by Vaughan's brother, Jimmie Vaughan, and was Vaughan's highest charting album at #10.
The Ramones
Did you know that after the story of Tacky the Penguin on homemade audio cassette tape, music from the Ramones start playing? Now you know! Because since the first time I listened to that rock band, my dad and I like to rock out loud with the Ramones on CD. When I was a kid, I used to have the Ramones on a blank audio cassette tape my parents made so I can listen to them again and again right after two stories heard on it. Before the Ramones played, there were to stories on audio tape. 'Green Eggs and Ham' and 'Tacky the Penguin'. And after that, the Ramones start playing. My favorite songs from them are "Cretin Hop", "Rockaway Beach", "Teenage Lobotomy", "Locket Love", "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker", "Ramona", "Do You Wanna Dance" "Surfin Bird", and "Blitzkrieg Bop". Way back when I was in art class at Central Junior High, I first listened to the song "Pinhead" while I making some art. That song went really really wild when the kids rocked to that song from back in the day. Those funny voices from high to low were absolutely crazy. "Pleased to meet you!" "What a boss!" "Gabba gabba!" WHOA! What happened here?! But still, funny track! Another track, there's even one from the album 'Road To Ruin'. It's titled "I Wanna Be Sedated" and it's more wild. The other part of this song is that it's featured in the trailer for the 1996 comedy movie 'Black Sheep' which you already knew about. When I first played 'Tony Hawk Underground 2' on PlayStation 2, I remember when the song "Rock 'N Roll High School" was playing. And I gotta tell you right this minute, the hit song from 1979 was really cool because of the fact that I love to party. That song was also featured in the video game too. Ever since I first listened to them in my house, I thought it was gonna be too loud for the neighbors to hear, but boy was I wrong. I think my dad and I love listening to the Ramones since during my younger years. So...
"1! 2! 3! 4! Cretins gonna hop some mo'!" [rock riff] "4! 5! 6! 7! All the cretins go to heaven!"
The B-52s
(Remember this album? I’ll bet you do!)
During my times in Lawrence, I remember when I first looked at that album by this rock band The B-52s called 'Cosmic Thing'. On that homemade audio tape, I listened to the entire album by the band. I remember that time when I was with a friend of mine who was a para from Cordley. Although I may not remember her name right now but it’s been awhile. I went to visit her at her house, we hung out together, and we listened to The B-52s on the stereo in her living. I’ll never forget the time I watched Rosie O’Donnell on TV with her. Anyway, my favorite tracks from their album are “Love Shack”, “Roam”, “Deadbeat Club”, “Bushfire”, and “Channel Z”. The reason I first got into this album is because of the energy and the new wave feel when they combined in this pop rock sound. When I was watching Pop-Up Video on VH1, the music video for “Love Shack” was on and I got to see the band play that song in a house somewhere and was shot at the home and studio of ceramic artists Philip Maberry and Scott Walker in Highland, New York. I really love that video for the song because of the energy and the dancing. I think it had something to do with a Chrysler with twenty seats or the “whole shack Chevy”. Just a thought.
I also remember that time when I was with Stephanie going to Kansas City on to Union Station where we were just going to Science City at Crown Center. On our way, I got into my iPod and I played the song “Love Shack” in her car and I surprised her with this song. She was happy to hear this song with me and we both jammed on to it.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I forgot to mention to you that The B-52s did the theme song for Nickelodeon's show 'Rocko's Modern Life'.
But anyways, the band is just really great and it’s really fun and upbeat in both ways. (End of subject.)
Nick Lowe
How do I describe Nick Lowe in my childhood years? Oh yeah, he’s the not of pub rock, power pop, and new wave. In fact, he has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with being a vocalist, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica. Plus, he is best known for the songs "Cruel to Be Kind" (a US Top 40 single) and "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" (a top 10 UK hit), as well as his production work with Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, and others. Lowe also wrote "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding", a hit for Costello and "I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'n' Roll)", a hit for Rockpile bandmate Dave Edmunds.
You might remember something like this but I can tell you that I remember this smash hit that my dad and I really like since "The Action" was played.
"You Got The Look I Like" from the 1990 album 'Party of One'.
Now this is something that I love listening to as a kid! I also used to hear this in my childhood mixtape, and so does the other song on Side B in the tape. "I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock 'N Roll)". That song was also featured in my mixtape I used to have too. Just thought I let you know about it, one of my dad's greatest childhood rock songs I've heard.
In case you'll remember, that other song of 'the bride' and the 'rock 'n roll' part is from his 1985 album, 'The Rose of England'.
Now check this out! I’ve always been listening to smooth jazz to clear up my head. I know every smooth jazz artist that I can memorize on a daily basis since I first listened to that genre during my younger years in 2001.
I remember when Sade was on the radio and it got me the “sweetest taboo” in this kind of music. She’s got the smooth operator in her songs she sings, and I gotta say that Sade is very talented and sings really really good.
Remember when Kansas City had a smooth jazz radio station? We all do. In fact, my family and I love listening to smooth jazz all the time especially on our spare time. There’s always a lot more to it than just that. I first listened to Kenny G on the radio once, and he serenades the mood with his saxophone.
He’s always got the midnight motion in his silhouette for love.
Now during my smooth jazz listening, I heard Dave Koz once. And what do I think of Mr. Koz? Well, I’ll say that he plays pretty well in his saxophone just like Kenny G does. But it doesn’t stop there, there’s over plenty of saxophonists and other jazz musicians I’ve heard on this station. Jeff Kashiwa, George Benson, Ramsey Lewis, Spyro Gyra, The Rippingtons, David Sanborn, Brian Bromberg, Boney James, Rick Braun, David Benoit, Grover Washington Jr., Chuck Mangione, everything!
When I first listened to Paul Hardcastle, it’s like this. The song “Lazy Days” really set the tone for whenever there’s a rainy day outside. The track “Inner Changes” made me feel like I’m floating through space. “Rainforest” and “Bird Island” made me feel like I’m in a jungle surrounded by birds singing and rain on the waterfall. Even “Lost In Space” made me see the stars in the sky in the night time. “Shelbi” sounded like the ocean vocalizing the sky. And “Lost Summer” felt like aliens scatting notes and the feeling of Mars looked a lot more like a quiet future in my head.
It was mesmerizing, but then there’s other songs I’ve heard of lately. I’ve heard of many smooth jazz like “Mountain Dance”, “Cast Your Fate To The Wind”, “Take Five”, “Paisa”, “Hippies On a Corner”, “Grazin’ In The Grass”, “Sleep Walk”, “High Noon”, “Bumpin’ On Sunset”, “Caribbean Breeze”, “Cafe Carnival”, and much more.
If you like Chuck Mangione's songs like "Give It All You Got" and "Feels So Good", then you are considered 'more than lucky'. That's because I really enjoyed listening to both of those songs from him. Fun fact about this artist, two things. The sound of his flugelhorn is heard from an intro seen for Microsoft Windows. Second, he's also seen in episodes of the FOX hit show 'King Of The Hill'.
How's that for 'feel good?
Okay, now here's another part of the story. Ever heard of acid jazz before? Well, I can tell you more. I've heard of many acid jazz artists on this radio station before. For instance, I've once heard the song "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" by Us3.
As you feel the beat drop using jazz and hip hop all put together, you blend the two music genres and you get the term "jazz hop". There's even a difference between that and jazz rap. It gets more jazzy and groovy every time you hear this song over and over again. And when you do, you might wanna bring your friends over to join in with you. My parents would really like to jam out to this song because of the way the beat boogies in a cool way. See what I really mean?
There's also one called Down To The Bone. Famous for the band's famous album 'The Urban Grooves: Album II'. Now let me tell you something about "Long Way From Brooklyn" and "The Zodiac". These two songs I listened to reminds me of the good times I shared when my family and I visited Kansas City all the time. And I tell you, smooth jazz really gets me going and helps me focus and concentrate. Duh!
In the 1997 album 'From Manhattan To Staten', I heard the song "Brooklyn Heights". Why? Because I think it reminds me about me visit to New York City. And I just hope that I can visit there again soon. And where can I get to New York City without the hassle after a long flight? I'm taking the train.
Other acid jazz artists I know listening to are Ronny Jordan, Count Basic, Roy Ayers, The Brand New Heavies, Jamiroquai, Herbie Hancock, and Guru.
Before I move on, here's one that I remember listening to in my younger years.
Donald Fagen
When I first listened to the song "I.G.Y." on the smooth jazz station, I felt really upbeat as the song starts playing. It made me feel like I'm soaring through space in Science City at the Union Station. And most of all, I love listening to his entire album, 'The Nightfly'. My dad loves that album a lot whenever we listen to it the whole time. One thing you should know about him is that he was a member of the band 'Steely Dan', which you already knew.
The band is known for its hits such as "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", "Hey Nineteen", "Peg," "Kid Charlemagne", "Deacon Blues", "Do It Again", "Reelin' In The Years", "Dirty Work", "Black Cow", "Aja", "Doctor Wu", "My Old School", and "Bad Sneakers".
Oh and did I forget to mention "FM (No Static At All)"? Now you know!
Okay now that's outta the way, let's go to the next subject of our story. Hip-hop and indie music.
In my younger years, I remember listening to some hip-hop music on my own time. In my 'Hot Summer Hits' CD from Old Navy, I heard the song "Summertime" by DJ JAzzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.
It was an absolute throwback jam I remember listening to when my mom and I were in Oklahoma to see my dad perform with the Majestics Rhythm Revue. I was at the store and we bought the CD to listen to. When I opened it, the jewel case came off by accident. Anyway can tell you it wasn't my fault, but at least I got to listen to it.
Anyway, I also had the Hip Hop mix as one of the Pure Gold Hits collection from Target. It's a collection of pure hip hop hits from the 80s and early 90s. I listened to "Funky Cold Medina" by Tone Loc and it was tight. Besides the song Summertime, I heard about "Bust a Move" by Young MC. It was pretty cool. But the song I remember jamming out to is MC Hammer with his hit song "U Can't Touch This". It was a massive throwback jam from back in the day.
While I was waiting in Stephanie's car, I first heard the sing from Sir Mix-A-Lot called "Baby Got Back". Man, talk about booty shaking. The first time I listened to that song was in 2001 while we were on an adventure together and I was waiting inside the car. That song was extremely funny and completely old school too. The way I heard that song before really made me laugh. That's what I like about comedy hip hop. Comedy rap is also comedy hip hop, and Ludacris does some good hip hop in these funny songs such as "Rollout (My Business)", "Get Back", "Stand Up", and "Number One Spot". Antoher thing about comedy hip hop is that Eminem did some too like "My Name Is", "The Real Slim Shady", "Without Me", "Just Lose It", and the video that featured Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and the characters of Crank Yankers.
It's really more funny like the sitcoms and sketch shows you see on Comedy Central and MTV2.
There's also a comedy hip hop group I remember listening to and watching on Saturday Night Live.
The Lonely Island
The three dudes from Berkeley, California who they first met in junior high before graduating from college and moved to Los Angeles to make funny short films. You remember those guys seen on that SNL Digital Shorts seen on NBC and heard them on these studio albums. I remember this song "I'm On A Boat" and it reminds me of my cruise trip at the Norwegian Star. It made me feel free and laugh all day. Any time I listen to that song on a cruise trip or on a boat excursion somewhere, I get down like on the dance floor. I'll never forget my first two cruise trips. One with my family from Iceland to Greenland in 2022, and one with my mom last year. Thanks Mama Kim.
Now to continue. I have something else I wanna talk to you about in this subject.
The Black Eyed Peas
Before that, I watched will.i.am on Cartoon Network do his rap for Dexter's Laboratory in his music video for "Secrets". That jam was alternative on the low.
When I first watched Dexter's Laboratory on TV, it kinda reminded me of the time old school hip hop was featured in this cartoon. Like that part of an episode where Dexter does the robot.
Word!
If you ever tell a secret to someone about hip hop music on Dexter's Lab, just make sure nobody knows.
Anyways... When Elephunk first came out in 2003, I first heard the song "Where Is The Love?" featuring Justin Timberlake on the radio when I was in the car with my friend. Back in the day when I first discovered the hip hop group, it made me wonder what alternative hip hop looks and sounds like. But not to be confused over the same title of the song by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway though.
When I first heard the second single called "Shut Up" during a ride with Stephanie, I guess the artist on the radio correctly and Stephanie knew I was right. So she congratulated me for that, and I knew that I was right the whole time. Those songs was heard on Mix 93.3 that day when we were in the car.
When I heard the song "Hey Mama" after downloading it on the internet, it sounded different in this album version...at first. But when I heard the clean version of the song, it sounded really better.
The additional vocals I've heard was from Tippa Irie which it combines hip hop with samba and reggae.
I would say that the song I once heard was the greatest since the first debut single by the Peas. And I give them a big thumbs up for that. You go, guys!
Now there's another song I heard on the TV once before I heard this on the radio. "Let's Get It Started". When I saw the video on TV, it made me wanna dance a lot! The music, the dancing, the lights, the jams! The video took place in a nighttime setting in Los Angeles. My favorite part of the video was the energetic dancing. And I tell you, the peas are the bomb! That's really good music I love listening to.
The Black Eyed Peas also did another album called 'Monkey Business'.
I love listening to the hits "Don't Phunk With My Heart" and "Don't Lie". The music video for the first single was a parody of the game show 'The Price Is Right' which we remember watching on television once. It was really funny when the members played as the contestants, Voodoo Tuesday, and the announcer. Even the members played themselves as the funky band. Man, that video was hilarious. Cool though.
If you haven't seen the show before, here's what the original game show looks like.
In other words to wrap that up, The Black Eyed Peas are just awesome!
Other hip hop and R&B artists I remember listening to were Busta Rhymes, Bow Wow, Lil Jon And The Eastside Boyz, Ying Yang Twins, Usher, P. Diddy, Fat Joe, Chingy, Lady Sovereign, Soulja Boy Tell'Em, Beastie Boys, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Outkast, Coolio, A Tribe Called Quest, and others like them.
And speaking of Outkast, I remember the one hit wonder "Hey Ya!" I first watched on TV and listened to on the radio. I swear to god, my dad loved that song because he wanted to dance to it. My friend Stephanie loves that song too. Even I myself included love that song! Everybody loves that one hit wonder from 2003. André 3000 wrote "Hey Ya!" in 2000 and began work on recording it in December 2002 at Stankonia Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. That song was a big hit! Andre 3000 was incredibly funky fresh. "Lend me some sugar, I am your neighbor!"
I hope that someday I can have a Polaroid camera again. My old one is beat up though, I'm not sure.
And now for a quick fact on country music.
A song I remember from Carlene Carter is one featured on my mixtape from my childhood.
"I Fell In Love".
That's the song played right after James Brown's song was playing on that audio tape. And I gotta tell you right now, it was an awesome country track that my folks loved listening to.
Here’s another subject in this topic of my blog.
Rock music.
Let me tell you about an artist I first discovered in the 2000s at my house when I was downloading music. Ever since I started using KaZaa, I’ve first heard about the song “Good Riddance (Time Of Our Life)” by the rock band Green Day.
I’ve first heard that song on the radio and on the internet and it was a pretty good alternative folk song. What you didn’t know is that the song was from the album, ‘Nimrod’.
And now, more on…
Green Day
I began listening to this artist since the year 2001. And as I listened to their music, I get very energetic in rock. I’ve heard of other songs like “Basket Case”, “Longview”, “Warning”, and “Minority” before in the 90s on MTV once. Now this is something that I want to you pay attention to, cause this is a song that I can always remember listening to in 2005.
American Idiot!
The very first time that I heard the song from the album was when my family and I lived near the farm while I watching music videos on MTV2. It was the time we had satellite TV. We used to have DirecTV together. I had that to also watch Nicktoons TV. I also got it to watch CD USA too. Man, those concerts really got me going since Wakarusa. Anyway, this song I first heard on TV and on the radio was headbanging and really punk sounding, and guess what, I really liked it!
When I was in high school, I had Broadcast Media class during this hour. And before class started, I showed everyone how I crazy I was being while I was dancing to the song in that music video. I was pretending to play air guitar, jump around, and dance around really really faster just like the video. And everyone loved it, they were laughing so hard and thought that was hilarious. One thing you should also know is that the music video for the single “American Idiot” was directed by Samuel Bayer. I also like the part where the green slime started erupting in the set while the band was playing. It was extreme!
Okay, moving on…
Good Charlotte
First time hearing the band was in 2003, I first heard the song “The Anthem”. It was from the album “The Young And The Hopeless”.
That rock anthem was absolutely banging to the extreme!
The second was “Girls and Boys”. In this video it featured elderly folks dressed up as teenage youths. We thing that was really funny, but for this band I understand that.
Then the third song I heard was “Hold On”. That song was a rock ballad which focuses on coping with your loved ones and who you lost.
That third song was so touching to hear. That one time I saw this video was what I watched it on MTV while I was staying up late until midnight. Man, I was totally into music videos lately ever since I have those NOW! CDs.
Now, there’s another song I’ve heard before “The Anthem” premiered on the radio.
“Lifestyles of The Rich And Famous”
The music video that I first saw was a parody between CourtTV broadcasts and ‘Law and Order’ episodes.
The cameo appearance had Chris Kirkpatrick of *NSYNC. Well played, dude!
Right after “The Young and The Hopeless” comes “The Chronicles of Life and Death”.
The hits I heard were “Predictable”, “I Just Wanna Live”, and “We Believe”.
I really love that second single from the album because they were dressed up as the five parts of the food group. Extremely funny! Rock on, guys!
Next!
Simple Plan
This rock band from Canada is really cool ever since I first listened to them on my CD mixes. I know every song I love hearing from every album I check out.
My list of songs from Simple Plan I remember listening to:
1. I’d Do Anything
2. Addicted
3. Perfect
4. I’m Just a Kid
5. Welcome To My Life
6. Shut Up
7. Don’t Wanna Think About You
8. What’s New Scooby Doo?
9. Crazy
10. When I’m Gone
11. Boom!
12. This Song Saved My Life
Real quick though, this rock band will always keep on rocking!
blink-182
Ever since I first have the NOW 4 CD, I first listened to their hit single “All The Small Things” here at home and during my house party. And whenever I listen to them, I can see how nostalgic I get from the very beginning. On NOW 3 before that anthem, there was a song I listened to called “What’s My Age Again?”. It was pretty cool although I can picture myself in my underwear. Yikes! (Sorry about that.)
Now in the NOW 15 CD, I listened to their new single “Feeling This”.
That song is also another anthem for the youth nation.
Just to be clear, it was featured in their self-titled album right here.
The other songs I heard from the album are also “I Miss You”, “Down”, and “Always”. Those other three songs were the bomb and really good tracks in the making.
And in my ‘popular’ opinion on this one, blink-182 is by far the greatest rock band I’ve ever heard in my younger years when I was in Lawrence.
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Next artist!
Everclear
I just wanna say that I’ve heard of the band Everclear once since they were featured on NOW volumes 5 and 6. Those three guys are looking groovy.
My favorite songs from them are “I Will Buy You a New Life”, “Father of Mine”, “Wonderful”, and my personal nostalgic favorite, “AM Radio”! Timeless hits!
The video for “Wonderful” was featured on TV, even as a sneak peek for SNICK House Video Picks. That song was a bright experience on making life a lot better. Sometimes I dream of adventures that will always make me smile.
The second video I saw was “AM Radio”, the one hit wonder! That song featured a lot of nostalgia from back in the day. It also got an awesome appearance by The Brady Bunch. This kind of nostalgia I remember listening to and watching on TV got me plenty of good memories.
Put a smile on your face!
Okay, moving on to another artist.
“Wear Sunscreen”
Another nostalgic hit from 1999 by Baz Luhrmann.
This speech song was about the start of summer and wondering what the future looks like. Whenever summer starts, this jam will begin playing.
All righty! Now for my favorite part of the topic in my blog.
INDIE ROCK!
(Or what we like to call "indie music".)
Ever since the 2000s decade first came, I was always into a lot of indie music for a living. I remember all kinds of indie artists from TV and on 96.5 The Buzz.
There’s:
The Flaming Lips
The Shins
Modest Mouse
Franz Ferdinand
Death Cab For Cutie
The Postal Service
Eisley
Portugal. The Man
The 1975
Ben Lee
The Streets
Arcade Fire
Of Montreal
GROUPLOVE
The Apples In Stereo
Bjork
Black Kids
Rilo Kiley
Coldplay
Chad VanGaalen
Atom And His Package
Karen O And The Kids
Iron And Wine
Stellastarr
Landon Pigg
Hot Hot Heat
TV On The Radio
Razorlight
Son Volt
Vampire Weekend
R.E.M.
CSS
Silversun Pickups
Surfer Blood
lovelytheband
Ben Kweller
Eastern Conference Champions
The Gaslight Anthem
American Authors
Ponderosa
Sparklehorse
etc.
There’s always plenty of indie music where it all came from. Since I started listening to KJHK, I feel like I can hear college rock music on the radio over and over again. And whenever I need to make a song request, I call the radio station and they’ll play it for me. Pretty cool, right.
Let's start off with...
The Flaming Lips
When I first heard about The Flaming Lips from a friend of mine, I got the chance to their music. I remember the song "Do You Realize?" and "She Don't Use Jelly".
But there's my kind of song that I love listening to since my time in Wakarusa!
"The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song"
That song was an incredible experience to witness since 'Yoshima Battles The Pink Robots'. And ever since the first time I listened to that song, it was on the album 'At War With the Mystics' and it was that time I bought the album here at Target when we were out shopping in 2006. I even remember how the song goes. And when I got to the Wakarusa festival that year, my dad and I got to see The Flaming Lips in concert.
We saw Wayne Coyne walk inside the giant bubble.
Fun fact is that the song from The Flaming Lips was featured in a promo for a Cartoon Network show Squirrel Boy.
Stellastarr
I couldn't imagine what the band looked like if they were young to see me at the Granada, but I can tell you that I remember listening to that band a long time ago when I was in high school. The song I remember listening to is "Sweet Troubled Soul".
It was also the time I chose the song for my homemade music video version of it. Although I'm not sure what happened to the videotape and how we didn't get to transfer the VHS tape to a DVD, but at least everyone in the school really loved it. When I watched the animated version of the video on TV, it really got me into stop motion animation and not just video making on my camera. The original video was directed by Adria Petty, who's also the son of Tom Petty.
Anyway, about my high school video version. It had me running all over the school, breakdancing, and playing around in fast motion, and it got me in green screen where I played air guitar. And it also got real slow motion played on the footage. Isn't that wild?
Oh, and in case I forgot. The song was from the album 'Harmonies for the Haunted'.
Hot Hot Heat
My first time hearing this band was when I got done with school and I got to meet up with Stephanie inside the car. I got in, and just as I expected, the song "Goodnighit Goodnight" was playing on KJHK.
It was the first time that I heard that song entirely! Ha! What an amazing song discovery. I really love that song when I was young. It really made me smile and how I danced to it though. Sometimes I always wondered what I'd be like if I can hear that song at a downtown Lawrence block party. Hey, it could happen!
Good thing I still have that album with me.
lovelytheband
Last year while my mom and I were on our way to Norway and on to the Norwegian Star cruise ship to Greenland, my mom let me discover a song from lonelytheband called "Sail Away". When I first heard the song, I really loved it. It was when my mom and I were eating lunch at Burger King. And you know, I was right. That song is really cool. In fact, my mom loves this song too.
Just so you already know, the song was from the album 'If We're Being Honest'.
Anyway, the band was formed in Los Angeles, California in 2016. And according to Wikipedia, the band is most known for their single "Broken" which charted on several US Billboard charts. In September 2017, the band released their first EP, Everything I Could Never Say.... They released the single "These Are My Friends" in May 2018. And on August 3, 2018, they released their debut album Finding It Hard to Smile.
This one goes out to my mom Kimberly Grinnell.
Check this out!
Sparklehorse
When Uncle Bob sent me a CD of 'Have You Heard', I first remembered listening to the song "Go" with The Flaming Lips. It was really relaxing and a bit beautiful in an indie kind of way. It paid tribute to the late great Daniel Johnston.
Now in 2006, I first discovered a new song from Sparklehorse straight out of the album 'Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain'.
The song was called "Don't Take My Sunshine Away" and it was the very first track in that album. I rememebr listening to that song while I was sleeping and when I first listened to it on my iPod. The artwork in this album art cover was pretty abstract and a bit more dadaism in it. The best thing about the band is that there's always a clown face seen in the picture. Although it was Sparklehorse's first studio album in five years, approximately 25 minutes of the 55-minute-long record were released in some form previously, dating from the sessions for the It's a Wonderful Life album. If you haven't heard of "Ghost In The Sky" yet, then get this. "Ghost in the Sky" was originally released on the Japanese pressing of It's a Wonderful Life. "Shade and Honey" appeared on a joint 7" split-single with the Shins and Mates of State. "Shade and Honey" was also sung by the actor Alessandro Nivola in the 2002 film Laurel Canyon, and Nivola's version is also found on the soundtrack.
Hey, if anyone of you guys are wondering about what I can do next to support this band like The Flaming Lips, maybe I can think of an idea of a music video for the song "Don't Take My Sunshine Away". Let me know about this later on and we'll think of some ideas for it in the future.
And one quick note, the clown face was also featured in the art cover of the album, 'Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot'. Wild, huh!
Now here’s my next pick for an indie rock band that I remember listening to in my younger years while I lived in the farm with my family.
Straylight Run
The band from Long Island, New York. I remember the first time I listened to the song “Existentialism On Prom Night” when watching the video on Fuse.
The music video for the song was filmed inside a subway train in New York. It really reminded me of the time my dad and I visited New York during summer vacation. I got to visit my relatives and my cousins there. I feel like every time we go on a subway train to someplace from here to New York City, I get really indie over this song whenever this track is set in motion.
Not only I got the self-titled album from the band, my dad got me a Straylight Run t-shirt for me to wear. I really loved that shirt from the band because of the music and the motion in it.
My thoughts on Straylight Run would be that it's another greatest band I've heard in my entire life. And I also think that I love this band ever since I got into indie music in my younger days in 2005. And I'll never forget that song I first listened to for the very first time.
When I hear a song from Straylight Run, I began to serenade in the car, at home, or anywhere around the neighborhood. I really love how they sing this song. And once you do, you sing like you think no one’s listening. It’s like poetry in motion.
“Sing me something soft.
Sad and delicate.
Or loud and out of key.
Sing me anything."
"We’re glad from what we’ve got.
Done with what we’ve lost.
Our whole lives laid out.
Right in front of us.”
See what I mean. In this video, I call it ‘Straylight In Motion’.
So next time when I get the chance to visit New York for vacation, I’m taking the subway train. Yeah, good times.
In conclusion, I like Straylight Run because it’s really great indie music to this decade. Rock on, you guys.
Well, that wraps up my next blog. If you like this one, let me know on the comments below. Keep reading my blogs and I’ll see you next time.
Happy listening!
Peace out.
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