The Theme Show has been moved elsewhere, but for now I still intend to use this space for the “Moldy Oldies” project. A kind of dumb reminiscence of old internet behavior between myself and some long lost friends. At least until maybe this domain name disappears.
Ah, the digital paint is still fresh on this website’s walls because, like a restless artist, I’m at it again—giving the site a major facelift! You might be rolling your eyes, thinking, “Not another overhaul!” But hey, who doesn’t love a good makeover montage?
I sometimes ponder if visitors to my online abode get a teeny bit exasperated with these frequent changes. I spruce up the theme faster than a chameleon at a disco, yet, those pesky broken links remain like breadcrumbs from last year’s sandwich—you know, just in case you want to revisit ancient history.
And yes, I know, I still haven’t updated the playlists across all streaming platforms. Think of it as an eclectic treasure hunt; you never know where you’ll find that secret unreleased episode!
So, grab your virtual hard hats, and watch out for the digital dust. We’re under construction… again! And who knows? Maybe this time, I’ll even tackle those broken links… or maybe not. It’s all part of the charm!
The Theme Show: Episode 88 (2 of 4 in the Seafarer’s series) Keep singing, me laddies. AVAILABLE...
The Theme Show: Episode 87 (1 of 4 in the Seafarer’s series) Sailors be warned against beautiful...
The Theme Show: Episode 86 Break out your white tuxedo and order your martini shaken, not stirred!
NOW AVAILABLE IN TWO FORMATS! Spotify
YouTube Music
Creator notes: Another in the vein of a genre mix rather than a strict subject or keyword mix. Took a few liberties on this one which is probably better classified as “Espionage”. Includes themes from several spy, secret agent, detective and conman heist films or television shows, with a couple of songs thrown in for the young at heart.
The Theme Show, Episode 85 Wave your eight arms in the air!
NOW AVAILABLE IN TWO FORMATS! Spotify
Youtube Music
The Theme Show, Episode 84 Sometimes full of empty promises, sometimes full of hope.
In these times, we could use more of the latter.
NOW AVAILABLE IN TWO FORMATS! Spotify
YouTube Music
I decided to mix it up this week and do an atmospheric genre-based theme. One of the reasons this wasn’t the original direction I usually go with the show is that I like the challenge of making multiple genres work together, something I get to play with often in the subject-based themes.
Please note, this is a double-length episode as compared to usual.
We’ve scared up our final Halloween episode for this year.
Note: There are two songs here which don’t fit the theme. I included them to pay tribute to a few of my favorite ghost films; Stanley Kubrick’s version of Stephen King’s “The Shining” (Room 237 – track 3) and the original 1982 version of “Poltergeist” (The Doors – track 14). It winds down with a childhood favorite the Haunted Organ theme from “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (not a scary film – but fun if you like Don Knotts).
Name: Spider
Occupation: Web Designer
Hobbies include: Spending too much time on the web
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…
Or maybe more a month ago, and from the same place as per usual; I promised some re-worked versions of old themes ideas.
This is the first of those, an off-shoot of the pilot episode from December 2nd, 1999. First broadcast as a shoutcast episode simply titled “Space”, revised once previously in podcast format on June 27th, 2006 as “Space is the Place”; it will now be broken up into micro-themes as part of a Space Series.
I may not post these all consecutively as I did with the Summer Series, as I don’t want to be too repetitive, and to leave room for some impending holiday bases episodes.
Step away from the beach and say goodbye to our summer series of playlists. Try not to take it all home in your bathing suit.
Summer is winding down, but there’s still time to enjoy one last hurrah of rest & relaxation.
We are on a chore cycle in our apartment complex to determine when to bring the trash to the curb. It’s summer, so of course, people miss their turns.
Happy Saturday, everyone!
So this week, while struggling with four other themes I haven’t been able to get how I like, I was trying to come up with something that had a lot of songs I could think of right off the top of my head. This process is typically a stream of consciousness word salad as my significant other and I yell out song names over breakfast. The train idea crossed the table, and he immediately broke out, “C’mon ‘n ride the train.. woo woo” from the Quad City DJs song.
I threw in the Johnny Burnette version of “The Train Kept a Rollin’,” he threw in “Train Train” by Blackfoot (which he suggested with about twenty different inflections, no less). Both of us contributed several other songs, and Voila, an episode, was cobbled together. Hooray!
P.S. Yes, I have used “Crazy Train” before way back in the Insanity episode, but you can never have too much Ozzy.
Happy Father’s Day one and all. As I had promised in the Grandmother episode, I have returned with a set-list about Grandfathers.
I have been making a concerted effort only to use songs that have the subject matter in the title, and I have made one exception to that rule this week. The final piece was added early Friday morning as a tribute to my actual Grandfather. He was my prominent father figure during my early childhood. Eight months before my wedding, he had passed away. As part of my wedding ceremony, there was a small tribute to people who had passed away.
“He Lives in You (reprise)” is a song from the Broadway version of Disney’s “The Lion King.” It occurs at the pivotal moment when Rafiki convinces Simba to return to the pride lands and retake his home back from Scar and the Hyenas. If you have seen the film, you know that this moment is when Rafiki tells Simba to look in the water to see his father, Mufasa. At first, Simba is disappointed as he sees his reflection, but Rafiki instructs him to “look harder.” The reflection changes to that of Mufasa, whose spirit then speaks to him from beyond. It reminds us that those we have lost are never truly gone so long as we remember their legacy. Oh yeah, and there’s an episode here too:
Good morning, and welcome to yet another edition of The Theme Show. Eleven years ago during the podcast iteration of the show I had made an episode with a King theme. The intention was always to follow it up with other royal figures, and up until today I never have. Helen Shapiro gets the thank you for this idea as I was listening to song number four “Queen for Tonight” when I had the idea to revisit it.
“Queen Majesty Isabel” by Tom Cool used under Flickr Creative Commons CCO 1.0
Happy Saturday, listeners. Do you suffer from any of the following conditions?
They hey, do I have the episode for you!
WARNING: This is the very first episode of the new sets to earn its [E] tag, which is something I’ve been trying to steer away from. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Photo by Flaunter.com on Unsplash
Eric Alper asked today to describe your favorite film without naming it.
It isn’t a well kept secret that Velvet Goldmine is one of my favorite films of all time. In fact I believe I mention this in the Bomb episode.
It has amazing costumes, awesome music, and if I may say so without having been old enough to have been there, really captures the opulence of the early 70s glam music scene.
It is the ending line of the opening monologue which I quoted from for my response to Eric’s query.
I started this week with an entirely different theme altogether, but occasionally I can’t get the mix the way I want it and have to revisit it later on with a fresh perspective. Look for that one, hopefully next weekend.
In the meantime if you recall from last week sometimes a theme just comes to me while having a conversation. It’s Memorial Day weekend, and I was talking with some gaming buddies of mine about their weekend plans. It occurred to me it’s time to break out the grill and barbeque.
The title might be a bit misleading here as none of these song titles contain the word grill or grilling, but I could not for the life of me within of a good pun with the word barbeque in it.
Lastly, I am kickin’ it old-school here. As you may notice the set ends in a zydeco song, which is close enough to be considered an Obligatory Polka, like I used to do in the 90’s
Photo by Pixabay from Pexels
I’ve looked under chairs
I’ve looked under tables
I’ve tried to find the key to fifty million fables
-The Who. Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy , Decca Records, 1971.
I had to replace my computer earlier this week. I figured this was a really good opportunity to do some spring cleaning of my external backup while I was at it, so been sifting through a lot of diaries, journals, old blogs, photos etc.
Gonna be honest, binge-reading the last seven or so years of your life is weirdly dissociative. I wonder if this is how people feel when they write memoirs?
Anyway. The opening lyric to this classic by the Who always resonates with me. Life is a journey with a lot of points ahead and behind, so in theory one never really stops being The Seeker.
This week’s episode might have been inspired by a friend of mine who is a model horse enthusiast
That said, if you have an idea for a theme, don’t be afraid to forcibly (or subliminally) suggest it on one of my social media pages.
Hello all! Welcome to another episode of “What’s That Sound?”. Today’s catchy hook was inspired by re-posting some of my older episodes, mainly “How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love “The Bomb”. In it I mention that ‘The Bomb'” by The Bucketheads was once one of my favorite dance tracks:
But lets be honest, they didn’t get that mad horn section without a little help from the band Chicago.
Tomorrow is Mother’s Day, so I thought I would give the Grandmothers, Grandmas, Nanas, Abeulas, Meemaws, Yiayias, Gigis, etc some love.
Now I know obviously grandmothers can also belong to men, but I wanted it to be clear this was a Mother’s Day based theme. So don’t worry your head you menfolk, I am prepared to fully represent you in the follow up: “My Father’s Father” in a few weeks.
Happy Saturday everyone!
Channel your inner monkey because as Gwen Stefani says “this S**t is bananas” (“Hollaback Girl” not included).
The Theme Show is back after an almost ten year hiatus!
The new episodes are Spotify playlists. Hope you enjoy!
Welcome to “What’s that Sound”? Yes, I’m aware that there are a few websites where you can look up samples used in songs and I’m not really trying to take away from those. This is more of a whim posting where if I hear something that sounds familiar, I’m just posting about it for fun. It’s not necessarily a current song, and it’s not necessarily probably something someone else didn’t figure out way before I did.
Today’s entry comes from one of my favorite songs during senior year of high school, Deee-lite’s “Groove is in the Heart”. It’s not really a real surprise that a band featuring two deejays and strictly catering to the rising rave scene used a sample, so much as that typically you tend to see a rise also in the rotation of the song the sample came from on the radio. I certainly do not remember knowing where this hook came from until very recently when I stumbled across it as a recommendation while curating a Jazz based playlist for my personal use.
Ladies and gentlemen, Herbie Hancock’s “Bring Down the Birds”:
When I was in High School I took a class called “Philosophy in Literature”. It’s where I got my first sampling of Quantum mechanics, first learned how to meditate, took the first steps toward teaching myself lucid dreaming, and more (the teacher of that class remains one of my largest life influences).
One of the archetypes of literature we discussed was the “Journey of Self Discovery” (a name also shared by a book I bought from a Hare Krishna off the street the same year). Many books as well as certain musical concept albums and songs, carry this theme. In this particular case “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” comes to mind.
Each person translates “The Lamb” differently. But to me it is exactly that – a story of a man who searches very deep into the surreal corners of his own mind in search of his lost “brother” only to realize he was actually searching for himself.
If you’re up for a LOT of reading – please familiarize yourself with this as an accompaniment.
And then please do listen.
“K” is Kula Shaker’s debut album. It contains their big radio hit “Tattva” and a couple of other songs that had some traction for a short period, for example “Govinda” below:
“Govinda” is particularly poignant for me. I have been a non-denominational spiritual agnostic with an interest in Vaishnavan since 1992 when it was introduced to me by an ex lover who was a philosophy and religion major. I at one time, before deserting all my worldly possessions in my divorce, owned the entire library of books sold by The Society for Krishnan Consciousness. “Govinda” is the first song that introduced me to the avatar Lord Nrsinghadeva, who has since become my preferred manifestation of Krishna. We will get back to Him momentarily.
“Govinda jaya jaya, Gopala jaya jaya. Radha Ramanahari. Govinda jaya jaya. Nrsinghadeva jaya Nrsinghadeva”
Kula Shaker, K, Columbia Records, 1996 Allow me to attempt to translate:
Jaya means victory. Govinda, Gopala, Nrsinghadeva, Ramanahari and even the female Radha are all different avatars of Krishna.
Most people think of Hinduism as a multi-theistic religion. In truth it is actually a monotheistic religion with a God that appears in thousands of different forms. Even the female avatars while being aspects of one another and also representative of different facets, are still just a reflection of the One God who created for Himself companions of His own essence, including humans, to keep Himself balanced. This is a concept called “simultaneous oneness and difference” = “acintya bheda bheda tattva” the subject of their radio hit.
The theory being that we are are made of the same materials and essence as the One God, that we are simultaneously one with one another as well as one with God. This is where the concept of Karma comes in, because when you do harm onto others you also do harm to yourself and to your God as we are all aspects of one same element.
At the same time we also each have our own consciousness and follow our own free will making us also simultaneously different from one another and from God. This is where the ideas of chakras come into play. The chakras represent your distance to enlightenment. Each soul is on a journey to reunite itself with its originator, the One Soul. Your actions in this world reflect the distance between the two states. The more animal your urges the further away you are and the more spiritual the closer to enlightenment.in order to graduate upwards your chakras need to be balanced. For each tier if your chakra is stable you can achieve oneness. Eating certain foods, meditation and yoga can bring energy back to affected area to help achieve this balance.
Body Chakras by JoanDragonfly as used under Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0 I myself fluctuate, as I’m sure most people do. Right now I’m very fixated on my sexuality, so I’m certain I hover around the second lowest of the Upper chakras (pelvic area). While other times when I’m feeling intellectual, second from highest (mind/third eye). My most common state is usually in the center (heart). They are as follows from lowest to highest:
Muladhara (Root) chakra: designated by the color red and located at the base of the spine (coccyx). In balance it governs your sense of being grounded and secure. Unbalanced it leads to self preservation and fight or flight instinct.
Swadisthana (Sacral) chakra: designated by the color orange and located in the pelvic area and sex organs. Balanced it governs your ability to connect with others and your sexual health. Unbalanced it will cause relationship issues (both platonic and non platonic), violence, addictions, and emotional stress.
Manipura chakra: designated by the color yellow and located in the solar plexus (abdomen). Balanced it governs your self esteem and self control, the ability to feel comfortable in your decisions and choices. Unbalanced it will negatively effect these things, making you feel lost, confused, or a victim if circumstance. It is also generally contributed as the cause of obesity and eating disorders due to its location.
Anahata chakra: designated by the color green and located at your heart. Balanced it governs our ability to love and be loved and also our healing capabilities. Unbalanced it also causes the negative aspects of the same, trouble in love (somewhat different than basic relationships already covered by Muladhara) and illness.
Special note on Anahata: according to a temple leader I spoke to once, this is my home chakra. The one in which I most commonly reside. I naturally hold my hands in what is known as a giving pose, palms facing upward or outward, which means I give energy to others to help heal them at the cost of myself. This more often causes me to sink to a lower chakra level than graduate onward to the higher ones.
Vishudda chakra: designated by the color blue and located at the throat. Balanced it governs communication, self-worth and feelings.
Ajna chakra (The Third Eye): designated by the color indigo and located at the brow. Balanced it governs our insight, imagination, wisdom and decision making.
Sahasrara chakra (The Crown): designated by the color purple and located at top center of your head (i.e. where you would wear a crown, hence the name). This is the chakra of pure consciousness and spirituality, and basically what you are aiming for to achieve enlightenment.
One of the things I always disliked about the Catholic religion, in which I was raised, is that it seemed to revolve around this perpetually angry and vengeful God. The entire thing always seemed to me, to be based entirely on behavior modification through fear, in which god was essentially this huge bully waiting at every turn to punish you and send you to hell. I’m sure it’s not always taught that way, but for some reason it was to me.
Vaishnavism is such more a laid-back benevolent god sort of religion. That’s not to say it isn’t serious, many people spend their lives in reflections, meditation, yoga and benediction to achieve enlightenment. I like to take my approach in life as more of a subjective morality viewpoint – in which I ultimately decide my own beliefs of what is right and wrong rather than the moral majority and try to live up to my own standards. As such I find that having a belief system in which the goal is to achieve salvation through a series of upward steps rather than one in which you are born pure and then continually removed further from it when you do wrong, to be more uplifting. Even in the most violent of parables, there is a peaceful resolve, thus why the story of Lord Nrsinghadeva speaks to me. I’m not quoting this exact, but I am going to put it in italics for the sake of emphasis:
Hiranyakasipu was a demon king who despised Lord Vishnu, for the Lord had killed his brother, the demon Hiranyaksa in the form of a boar while rescuing the earth from the cosmic ocean. He swore vengeance on Vishnu, and swore to kill him. Hiranyakasipu performed severe austerities for many days and nights until flames began to burst from his head. The flames disturbed the delicate balance of the ecosystem and so Lord Vishnu came in the form of Lord Brahma to Hiranyakasipu and begged him to please stop the austerities so the planet could heal. Hiranyakasipu agreed, on the condition Brahma grant him a boon. Hiranyakasipu asked for immortality, but Brahma was able to refuse, on the condition that he could not give a gift that he himself did not possess. Instead Hiranyakasipu sought to be clever – and wished that he could not be killed in the daytime nor the night time, that he could not be killed inside nor outside, he could not be killed on the land nor sea nor air, that he could not be killed by man nor beast, nor any weapon.” Brahma had no choice but to grant the wish.
In the years to follow, Hiranyakasipu bore a son, Prahlad. While performing austerities one day, Hiranyakasipu’s home was attacked. Fearing for his son, he sent him away. While he was away Prahlad was taught the divine benevolence of Lord Vishnu, and became one of his most devout devotees. This angered Hiranyakasipu who tried to kill the boy. Though he sent many soldiers, Prahlad continued to pray, and all attempts on his life failed. Prahlad begged his father to forget his petty vendetta, and embrace the ways of Lord Vishnu, but Hiranyasipu refused. He said to his son “show me then, your God, if He is so great.” but nothing happened. Hiranyakasipu mocked the boy “He is not here, He will not show Himself, no one can protect you”. Prahlad continued to pray for his father to stop his madness and find salvation “He is here father, and He loves you just as He loves all of his creations”. Hiranyakasipu grew more furious and drew his sword “show Him to me then, is He in this pillar?’ and he struck the pillar with his sword, and from it emerged Lord Vishnu in the form of Lord Nrsinghadeva – the half man, half lion. There was a great and furious battle between Hiranyakasipu and Lord Nrsinhgdeva, but in the end the Lord was victorious -He took Hiranyakasipu in the courtyard at twilight and forced him onto His lap and ripped out Hiranyakasipu’s intestines with his claws, which he later wore as a trophy around his neck. Because the Lord was in the form of Nrsinghdeva, He was neither a man nor beast (since He was both), He had killed him neither inside nor outside (but in the courtyard), He had killed him not on land nor sea nor air (but on His lap), He had not killed him at daytime nor the nighttime (but rather at twilight) and he had not killed him with any man made weapon (but with his claws) and thus all of the boons were withheld.
In the days that followed the confrontation Lord Nrsinghadeva was still filled with bloodlust from which no one could calm Him. They called on the demigods, they called on Shiva, they even called on His consort Lakshmi – but still his fury would not yield, and all were afraid to approach Him. Finally only one was brave enough, it was the boy, Prahlad. When Lord Nrsinghdeva saw this, He was overcome with love for the boy who was so full of faith and courage. He placed the boy on His lap and offered Prahlad a benediction, but Prahlad refused. The boy , like all good devotees, was simply happy to have served his Lord. However, he did ask that his father be forgiven. Lord Nrsinghadeva said that this was not necessary, for anyone who is killed by the Supreme Being is automatically forgiven just by His touch alone”.
Continuing on in my explanation of “simultaneous oneness and difference”, one of the things I really enjoy is this concept that we are all connected, as Prahlad said, He is everywhere. I very strongly believe in the life stream (though that does not come from Hinduism per say) and the idea that it flows through all living things and is recycled as things die and are reborn. It’s probably one of the main reasons I like to continually evolve and not be in stasis. I’m sort of always looking for the better more learned version of myself. I take all the things in my life and I see them as a process, even the bad things, towards becoming more whole. I see my lovers as steps on a path, each one imparting a different gift. I have a very influential friend, whom I was having a difficult time communicating with during the time I wrote this article. We stopped talking for a period – and this article was a reflection on the life lessons he taught which were big, but also feeling it was time to move forward. The one thing I have always believed in – is that life puts you in certain situations and spaces in certain time. Which is where the last song I have mentioned, “Start All Over” comes in:
The song in and of itself is a conundrum. On the one hand you have Crispian saying he wishes that he could start his relationship again. On the other he is saying that he’s already got one foot out the door – being as he is of the understanding that if the love were genuine then he wouldn’t be left feeling unloved.
So I whinged a bit yesterday because everyone I was counting on let me down. Needless to say, last night’s Glee (though cheesy) was timely. I decided to face the adversity and come out swinging with this Christina Aguilera cover from Darren Criss. Added bonus – Matt Bomer is in this scene (even if he is playing a total narcissist).
After searching my catalog for the song to most aptly describe my frustration with my family, I decided that Terrence and Philip about cover it.
As the emotional hurricane season that began in late summer 2009 begins to pass, I quite pleasantly discovered this song this morning. It seems to compliment both Kula Shakers’s “Hurricane Season” (my maelstrom song) and Jen Cass’ “Pirate” (my personality song) well, and seems to have an up-beat hopeful message that still ties in with my whole sea thing (its kind of strange I’m an Earth sign, that tends to pair with Fire signs).
Notes from the Future: Apparently I didn’t have much to say about this at the time as this entry had no into, just the YouTube link, so let’s add some commentary.
I’m not necessarily an Eminem fanatic by any means, but there are very specific songs of his that I relate to the lyrics.” Without Me” speaks to the idea of Eminem’s struggle between his edgy rap persona Slim Shady versus his s actual birth name Marshall Mathers (who nobody wants to pay attention to). It’s about people as dualities. The “public face” and the private persona that I believe most people use to present themselves in society versus the sides of them they keep hidden or limited to people with whom they are very close.
Doctorin’ the T.A.R.D.I.S. by The TImelords: The Timelords are probably better known as The KLF. I presume they just thought it would be funnier to use this name for recording this particular track in keeping with the Doctor Who theme. In typical KLF fashion, this is a mashup of a bunch of other songs using the formula described in their now notorious guide “The Manual: How to Have a Number One the Easy Way“, using samples from Rock & Roll, part 2 by Gary Glitter, Blockbuster by Sweet, and The Doctor Who Theme composed by Rob Granier.
Funky Nassau by The Beginning of the End: as per the name indicates, a funk song with an island undercurrent. This song is often divided up into Part 1 & 2 for radio play, but here presented in its entirety.
This one is dedicated to my friend Houston, and to anyone else with an addiction, and with a bit of self-deprecating humor to myself. Whether said addiction is substances, money, sex, or people. The things that make us feel so good, even though we know inside that they are bad for us. And for every morning we wake up to say, today is the day I’m going to quit, or is it?
One by Metallica: “And Justice for All” IMHO is one of the best albums of the second iteration of Metallica (their first full studio album after the death of bassist Cliff Burton) and they certainly made an impression with this lead-off single whose video incorporated scenes from the 1971 anti-war film “Johnny Get Your Gun”.
Kathy’s Song (Victoria Mix by VNV Nation) by Apoptygma Berzerk: APB skirts a fine line between Industrial and straightforward electronica but particularly so in this 2003 remix by VNV Nation. Just love the beat in this one combined with the synthesized computer vocals.
Telephone by Lady Gaga feat. Beyonce: The number you have dialed cannot be completed as dialed, the persona you have reached is no longer “in service”. Please leave a message with my next incarnation.
Note from the future: I’m not entirely sure what transpired this day, based on the date it was approximately when i moved out of my marital home and began divorce proceedings, so I presume this idea of “checking/breadking out” has some sort of relativity to that period of my life.
I Won’t Grow Up by Mary Martin (as Peter Pan): Meanwhile, in other news as part of “Crazy Time” I had started a new relationship that was just as bad as what I was leaving with, to put it mildly – an emotionally unavailable man-child.
Li’l Red Riding Hood by Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs: The very old unexpurgated versions of Red Riding Hood (the ones where he beds her before he devoured her whole) has always had a strange place in my heart. It’s one of the reasons I have the nickname “Red” (not as much due to hair color as most people think). And thus this Sam the Sham song is a longtime favorite.
Notes from the Future: April 2011 through probably April 2012 has been a really tough period of posts to re-live. This was mere weeks after the fight that was the last straw that would lead to me starting divorce proceedings, but also the (fortunately temporary) estrangement of a favorite friend of mine.
Amusingly my newly reloaded evil iPod started the day off with an “oldie”. This was my official theme song circa 1992. My friend Jon was appointed the task of comprising a mixed tape for the theater troupe techies, and decided to play off the personalities of the group. This is the song he picked for me. I’m not exactly sure this was the most flattering choice?
A very disturbing scene of rape and violence from the films “A Clockwork Orange”. Up until this point in the film it seems the main character Alex DeLarge and his entourage are just average delinquents, but this scene emphasizes what they are really capable, and why Alex ultimately is sent for rehabilitation.
Hurt by Johnny Cash – Like the NIN version obviously, but Cash’s is especially morose.
The One That Got Away by Katy Perry
Good Vibrations by Fleshhouse – One of my favorite cover songs ever. I love when someone does a good anti-song (in this case tone/style completely opposite of original concept/lyrics).
Stripped by Rammstein – On a similar vein, Rammstein awesomely brought this previously sexy Depeche Mode song a long overdue pedophile vibe.
I Am a Viking by Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force – note from the future: I wrote that this song reminded me of “Becks” but I have no clue who that even is anymore.
Somebody that I used to Know by Gotye feat. Kimbra – Some newish thing I heard on FNX.
Note from the Future: This song went on to be quite famous.
Faith by George Michael – Someone needs to do a metal/industrial version of this. Like a really angry one (no not Limp Bizkit). I’ve looked around and nada. For now I guess the original works.
I had mentioned La Camilla on Facebook which inspires this Army of Lovers interview (If you can call it that?)
I had posted their song “Crucifed” some time back in April 2008 as part of an early rendition of Song of the Day and used them several times in themes over the years. Since Alexander Bard was my favorite member of this group, so I wanted to use a track where feature prominently.
Notes from the future: I’m not exactly sure what or WHO I was battling in the comments below. The use of the word “techies” seems to indicate this was someone who did stage work with me in my college theater troupe. This would make sense since the song is from 1992, and my friend Jon used to make a lot of mixtapes for us to build to.
Fuck You by Techno-Flight 1 – Ok lady, it’s on like Donkey Kong! anyone, please feel free to join! Battle of the most insulting techies songs – GO!
Mr. Personality by Gilette – Notes from the Future: This one however was after I was out of college so maybe I just got stuck on the idea of insulting people?
I’ve never been particularly blown away by him, but for some reason the past week Jack White has been speaking my language through song.
Down with the Trumpets by Rizzle Kicks – I’m a sucker for some horns. Sample by Javier Solis.
Loca People by Sak Noel – Age restricted on YT. WTF?
Sous le Soleil de Bodega by Les Negresses Vertes – I guess I was feeling exotic today.
La Tropicana by Tropicana
So I’m sitting here considering the stream of life (as you do). It ebbs and flows, converges and separates. The people you were once friends with when you were young are not necessarily the ones that you still know when you are old.
The ones that you do keep you should always hold close to your heart, because you never know what road life might take. People move. they marry, divorce, have kids and if you’re lucky at the end of it all you and your friend will still be standing there together through the trials of the world.
Other times it is more appropriate to sacrifice your own feelings for the happiness of others. While it is sad that some people go, if you care you should be happy for them if they themselves find a path toward happiness (and yes I’m totally aware I’m making it sound like someone died here – they didn’t, other than maybe a little piece of myself, but hey they don’t call me “The Diva” for nothing I guess – Drama Queen!).
(The worst part is… I never even got to say goodbye)
I first fell in love with this song in 2003, as the song that accompanies the end credits of the video game “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”.
IMHO people don’t always give video game writing its dues; because “Sands of Time” is hand down one of the most romantic love stories ever written. Don’t run out to see the film, however, because while they did leave some elements of the game in the film, and the film is entertaining enough standing on its own separately from the game; the essence of the love story really loses something in the translation.
This one’s dedicated to… MYSELF! Been putting some serious thought into repairing my personae split. Suppressing half of my personality served its purpose for its time, but it’s time to stop self-flagellating myself. In an attempt to be “good” and completely deny myself any sort of base instinct that could be considered “bad/evil” I pretty much have only succeeded in letting myself get walked on for the last 15 years.
I Epic Fail x 10 at character judgment sometimes.
Having a weird situation in which someone I thought of at a friend, lied to me about a series of things – most of which don’t really make sense to me. All someone has to do is say “I’m a private person” or “I don’t want to people to know about my real life”.
First, they made up some whole story about how they didn’t have a FaceBook account because someone had posted photos of them on there that almost got them fired from work. Well turns out that wasn’t so true. Maybe the story is true or maybe they had an account they deleted and then remade it. The fact of the matter is at the time I asked they did have one. Why the elaborate ruse when you just had to say – “I don’t give it out to everyone”?
Let’s also talk about their age. The last time I checked 46 is not “in my 30’s”. Having a mid-life crisis much?
Maybe this is a humblebrag, but I’m a great person. I try very hard to be understanding and forgiving. I’m smart, artistic, funny and generally, people seem to like me. I think I’m deserving of respect, and of honesty.
You can’t base a friendship on lies. I’ve already unfriended two other people earlier today for their actions earlier this week – so I might as well keep going since I’m on a streak and all.
This song choice probably makes more sense in contect when you read the entry following this one.
There are some people who seem to continually keep kicking me when I’m down, bailing on me when I was in an emotional crisis and then worse formulating insane conspiracy theories about me. Grow up and shut up already, please.
In hindsight, this was clearly a passive agressive diss towards my ex-husband who was cheating at the time.
Another one pulled from the Goth/Industrial archives that’s been on heavy rotation again for some reason. I can tell you I do wish this song had been out when I was still clubbing.
If you don’t care much for the Electronic version, don’t fret, And One put out a Rock Revival version as well.
Aurelio “Voltaire” Hernández, better known solely by his middle name, is a super-cool guy and fellow protean.
How do I know he’s a super cool guy? I actually had the privilege of interviewing him once via e-mail after I haphazardly ran into him in Toronto, Canada of all places (he did an interview for MuchMusic television around the same time as Convergence IV {Goth convention} – though oddly he didn’t perform for it).
Unfortunately, the project I interviewed him for never made it to print and the interview has long since perished two email addresses and several apartments ago, so alas I can’t share it with you.
Those of you growing up when MTV was in its infancy – may likely remember the famous Hieronymus Bosch station ID. He animated that!
He’s also the author and artist of not one, but three relatively famous comic series: Chi Chian, Oh My Goth!, and Deady.
His music could be most accurately described as Gothic Gypsy Comedy (He calls it “Music for a parallel universe where electricity was never invented and Morrissey is the queen of England.”).
Full of sweeping Romany style fiddle and other European-folk influences, he uses comedy to lampoon everything from love, noisy roommates, Star Trek, and even his own Gothic sub-culture.
He is notorious for making an entrance – having once famously showed up for concerts (Goth audience of course entirely garbed in black) dressed in a fluffy pink bunny suit.
And if all that wasn’t enough he also has a family and takes time to teach stop-motion animation (the project I originally interviewed him for) at the School of Visual Arts in NYC.
Song of the Moment: 08/23/2010 I was revisiting my brief metalhead days with some folks online earlier in the week, and this is the result.
Grab some Aqua Net, tease your hair, and step into my way-back machine! This one is a total blast from the 80’s!
Yngwie J. Malmsteen, might have been a little full of himself, but he’s a guilty pleasure of mine. IMHO the guitar playing is decently impressive, even if it scales on speed.
Featuring the talents of Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow, Deep Purple) on vocals.
This is a cover of a Gary Numan song .
Technically it was written by Tubeway Army bass player Paul Gardinier, but as it’s co-written by Numan and he sings the lead vocals it kind of got adopted in to his body of work and appears on several compilations and tribute albums as a Numan song.
I honestly have no idea why I’m in the mood for this song today. Typically this one’s reserved for a day where I’m really pissed off, and I’m actually in a significantly good mood.
You were probably expecting this, but for those not in the know, I recently made a High Elf Paladin in Everquest 2 which is named after this song.
Growing up I was a big fan of The Beatles, particularly John Lennon (whom I still admire); however as I have grown older and have delved further into Eastern Mysticism I’ve been becoming increasingly more enamored with the songs of George Harrison.
I recently (finally!!!) received a CD copy of “All Things Must Pass” (you should see my LP – it’s pretty beat up!) so have been reacquainting myself with his solo works, which I haven’t really listened to for a good ten years or so.
Of the many things I think I admire about him (his spirituality, general karma, guitar playing) is that he was quite good at writing songs about love (“Something” has got to be in probably the top 5 ever). A fact that becomes increasingly more insistent when you’re in uber-sentimental overload, as I seem to be lately.
Kula Shaker is one of my favorite bands, so I’m often hard pressed to pick a favorite song, however this track is certainly one of them.
Often when I’m feeling overwhelmed or stressed-out I get deeply introspective. I sometimes sift a lot of thoughts about in rapid succession,which I call maelstroms. I think other people refer to it as “circling the drain“.
He called up to the angels he called into the deep
Said ‘God if you can hear me give me some relief’
And He didn’t ask for favors didn’t want to ask for gold
Only one possession possession of a soul
‘I’m begging for your mercy I’m begging to you please
I’m just a simple traveler lost upon the sea’
– Kula Shaker. Strangefolk, SME Records, 2007
I often feel like this song is both a literal story of a shipwreck at sea, and also a metaphorical one regarding the stage of bargaining in grief (grief as it applies, not necessarily for the loss of a loved one, but perhaps sometimes even yourself).
This is potentially my favorite Madness tune ever anyways, but combined with the EPIC POWER of 1982’s BBC comedy “The Young Ones” just equals HOLY FARKING AWESOMENESS!!!! Seriously I bought the entire DVD set mostly for this one episode (“Boring”)
It’s like “I Do the Rock” by Tim Curry meets MGMT or something. A friend of mine commented, “Kinda reminds me of Sparks”. Not a bad comparison.
HALLLOWEEN EDITION! I needed a little Lost Boys action, in fact I think I’ll go watch it!
HALLOWEEN EDITION! IMHO one of the best horror themes of all time.
I have no proof of this theory, but have long suspected that this theme was a huge influence on Final Fantasy Vii’s theme for Sephiroth “One Winged Angel” by Nobuo Uematsu.
HALLOWEEN EDITION! Roky famously struggled with mental illness, but he made some very awesome music.
HALLOWEEN EDITION! Strictly speaking, this isn’t a Halloween song, but it is an awesome costume idea.
I suspect the tags on this post ought to attract some interesting visitors.
HALLOWEEN EDITION! This is a hidden track tacked onto the end of “You Belong to Me (Theme)”, the last song on “Our Little Secret”. It’s technically a completely reworded version of “Cybersex (Scherzo)”.
Kind of an unusual post as this one contains two music files.
The first file contains the original release of the song (sometimes, in the case of say, Cat Stevens’ “First Cut is the Deepest”, he would write the song and someone else would record it, only for him to come back later and do his own version – in all cases where I use the term “original” I mean the first RECORDED version).
If you really want to mess with yourself, try playing both the files at the same time, but frankly, it’s a bit headache inducing.
THE ORIGINALS
THE COVERS
ARR! Because ’tis not be seeming like International talk Like a Pirate Day unless I be viewin’ this video!
OK, so I’m a little slow here. I found this accidentally while labeling music in iTunes (seems to happen a lot, but I do have over 25,000 tracks: so it’s bound to happen sooner or later). Essentially it is the music track that plays when you first install/setup Windows XP. If you have WinXp, then you too have this track: it’s normally located as: C:\Windows\System32\oobe\images\title.wma. It’s kind of a neat little ambient sounding track, reminiscent of Enigma, Delirium and/or quieter Xorcist songs.
I had iTunes on for background noise while doing webby stuff: when this Coil song came on.
As a general rule, I like Coil, but I get out of the habit of listening to them sometimes. Partially because the band is long defunct, partially because I tend to stray away from things I listened to during my Goth/Industrial phase (not really for any particular reason than I try to keep myself not locked into the same perpetual genres).
My particular favorites of theirs are the non-vocal tracks, particularly ones that are Avant-Garde (like on the album “Gold Is the Metal (With the Broadest Shoulders)” – a fact that I tend to forget when just off-the-top-of-my-head thinking of songs I WANT to listen to rather than my more arbitrary method of “put the music on shuffle”.
So yes it is by sheer accident today that I was reminded how much I really like this song:
Minty, aka Leigh Bowery. Too much to say about the insane genius of Leigh who departed this planet in 1994.
NSFW
This one came on my “comedy’ setlist over at Pandora. Made me wax nostalgic about back in the day when my ex-bestie & I (and assorted guests) used to glow-bowl on Friday nights.
In hindsight, Stephen Lynch’s particular brand of comedy probably doesn’t stand up too well in the current times, so listen with discretion. This one doesn’t need too many trigger warnings like some of his others, but he does drop some F-bombs.
I’ve been in a music rut. Couldn’t find anything that really interested me enough to actually make me purchase an entire CD (sometimes I buy a song or two)… but recently I’ve discovered a couple of acts that in fact parted my cash from my wallet.
The Harlem James Gang: courtesy of a show I normally don’t ever bother watching and tuned in by happenstance, America’s Got Talent. The band is called The James Band out of NYC (as opposed to the classic rock band out of Cleveland, the Harlem designation was later added to the name to avoid confusion). They mix hip-hop and sample from old jazzy type songs from the 1920s.
Note from the Future: They used to have an entire EP available on MySpace. but I have no idea where you would find thier music these days.
Too Much Noise by We the People (Full Album): isn’t remotely new. They’re a pre-punk garage band from the 1960’s. However, their album “Too Much Noise” was just reissued a few weeks ago which is how I discovered it. It’s similar in ways to the Sonics, the Seeds, or early Who; kind of an interesting peek into where the music was evolving towards at the time.
Walk Like an Egyptian by The Puppini Sisters: Yet another band with an Olde-Tymey influence. Think of them kind of like The Andrews Sisters; version 2.0. They do remakes of old jazz and swing hits and also put jazz/swing twists on newer songs. Fun for all!!!
Funky and the Farm Boy by Rodney Cromwell: I was cruising left of the dial a few weeks ago (low 80s FM band) and heard “Funky and the Farm Boy” from Rodney Cromwell’s “Sex and Gasoline” album, which I liked a lot. Unfortunately, I can’t decide if the remainder of the album is a tad too slow or too country for me. It might grow on me, it’s got a bit of a Leonard Cohen meets Bob Dylan vibe going for it.
Technique by New Order: In unrelated, not a newly discovered band, news: for those of you who like New Order, please be advised that practically their entire catalog was re-released this week in 2-disc Collector Edition CDs. If you don’t already own it, I highly recommend “Technique”, it was quite possibly my most played album circa 1989 or so.
I discovered these tracks while trying to use Tunatic to differentiate tracks in a mixed techno set.
Normally Tunatic is REALLY accurate (it will even tell you the remix if it knows), it did not in fact succeed in picking out the actual songs in the particular mix I was working with: disc 3 of “This is… Techno”: A Colin Dale mix of Progression by Mantra/Tour by De Force/Collision by Eclipse/Time by Mark Brown/and Dark & Long [Dark Train Mix] by Underworld.
Tunatic seemed to think it was a mix of
Plasir et Moisissures by Ambre
Sensual Enjoyments by Sven Vath
Ray Malone Softshoe by Moondog
This is where you’ll find information for the music that was played during the TBA Theaters Pre-Show Slideshow!
Rather than songs from upcoming films this pre-show contained songs from popular past films.
List of Songs/Corresponding Films and Release Year to TBA Theaters:
I liked this song so much, I named one of my own compositions “Don’t Laugh at Squirrels Wearing Makeup” partially after it (and partially after an Eddie Izzard skit).
Winx is actually Josh Wink a DJ from the mid 90’s. I saw him once at a rave in Rhode Island, where he played his more popular track “Higher State of Consciousness” (also from the same album); and he was pretty decent.
Honestly, I just think I like this one so much for the maniacal laughter.
Or… at least that’s what I think this was called.
Explanation: this was a song I found on Amazon download a long time ago. Rather than the streaming Amazon Music service it is now, it was more of a Bandcamp style situation where artists would upload their own work and you could download it for free or a small fee.
Sometimes they were signed bands you had actually heard of, but more often what you found was some unsigned indie band uploading their stuff hoping to make it popular.
Such is the case with the Pipies; who seemed to have a lot of downloads of reworked New Order hits, as well as a dance version of the Flinstones theme.
A couple of the tracks were virtually unlistenable; however there was this little gem was one of my most played tracks in 2001 or so.
Since then I have been frantically searching for any indication that this band and/or this track ever existed without too much luck. Anyone with more info on this, please feel free to hit me up in the comments.
Since we’re on the subject of yodeling: This is quite possibly one of the most unusual videos I’ve seen, but then what do you expect from a group who samples Goofy, Falco, yodeling, accordion, and re-lyricized ABBA snippets? This track has been on heavy rotation since I accidentally discovered it in my music library.
It seems like everybody who’s anybody under the sun has done a version of Turner Layton & Henry Creamer’s “After You’ve Gone”. I personally like this selection by Swedish singer/actress Alice Babs. For some reason when I hear it it totally seems like it should be the background track of some film set in the early 1960’s (maybe it was?). You have to appreciate near yodeling in a song.
Inspired mostly by the “I’ll leave it up to you” lyric, I went full-on tin foil hat how the pop music industry (esp. “American Idol” even though I admit to being addicted to that show) is simply trying to brainwash us into becoming homogeneous dystopian slaves to my former best friend. This rant included a quasi-paranoid statement involving the films “Brazil”, “Josie & the Pussycats”, and “Enemy of the State” (only in the inner workings of my mind could a connection ever be made between the three!).
This one comes from an alternate universe called 1971, in which you could still like Rod Stewart (before his schmaltzy lounge singer phase). Yes, seriously he was cool once. In fact, I’m pretty sure that Noel Fielding’s shag haircut as Vince Noir on “The Mighty Boosh” is channeling this particular era of Rod Stewart
The Faces were originally The Small Faces, but renamed themselves after the departure of their lead singer Steve Marriott left the band. The band pulled in Stewart as well as guitarist Ronnie Wood (who would eventually join The Rolling Stones). Another famous member of The Faces was Kenney Jones who took over as The Who’s drummer for a period after Keith Moon’s death.
As an American, I first heard of this as part of a double entendre novelty/parody called “Bras on 45” by Ivor Biggum, which features various New Wave and Synthpop songs of the late 70’s and early 80’s strung together with cheeky lyrics.
I fell upon the original many years later and became a fan of the original with its real lyrics. I dare you to listen and not have “ho-rah hoo-rah hoo-rah-ay” stuck in your head for the rest of the day!
This is a double post to demonstrate an example of what I’ve discussed in my a/m/a about openness to new styles and ideas.
In its own right “Thrash” is kind of a cute late 80’s kitsch song, great for “oh yeah I remember that one” parties; undeniably had Underworld remained in this vein they would not have even measured a blip on the musical radar screen. Fortunately, they ditched the synth-pop for its close cousin electronica, and the rest is history.
Here’s an example of Underworld in its more popular electronica incarnation, with one of my personal staples – Cowgirl:
What’s funny about The Who, is I was not very into them prior to my marriage, although they had been my ex-husband’s favorite band. I guess they grew on me since it seems I have posted them several times.
This song still cracks me up. Mousse T. was the producer while Hot & Juicy was the trio of singers Inaya Day, Emma Lanford and Nadine Richardson (Inaya Day does not seem to feature in the video, although the other members are the ladies in the car).
Regarding Christian Death, I’m not normally a big fan to be honest. I mean they’re campy, and they obviously went to the same School of Rock as Bauhaus, but normally I find them to be trying a bit too hard. I do however LOVE this little number which sounds much more like some sort of long lost basement tape of Marc Bolan & David Bowie.
You may have heard the Herman’s Hermits cover of this.
I feel like Americans my age often give me the one-eyebrowed question mark when I say I like Donovan. It always goes something like “Donovan?” “yeah” “Like from the 60’s?” “um.. yeah”.
I’m not sure what’s confusing per say, maybe because his pop career is considered brief. I kind of like his folky stuff more. As I tend to like to bring you lesser know fare as often as possible, this is a good example of his more palatable pop stuff that I think anyone can enjoy; without being the stereotypical “Mellow Yellow” or “Hurdy Gurdy Man”.
As an added bonus, while looking to refresh the YouTube link for this song, I found this version featuring exhibits from The British Museum, which happens to be one of my favorite museum.
This is where you’ll find information for the music that was played during the TBA Theaters Pre-Show Slideshow!
This pre-show featured songs to gear up for the release of the Star Trek franchise reboot by J.J. Abrams.
This sort of music is categorized as “experimental” or “noise”. Usually, it is composed using unconventional instruments such as saw blades, sounds of breaking glass, static, and the like. Oftentimes (as I find with the popular Merzbow) it legitimately sounds exactly as described: Noise. My speakers crackle, my ears bleed moderately; if it comes on a shuffle and I’m not expecting or in the mood for it, I wrestle for my iPod and change the track.
I collected a small smattering of compilations of this sort of music, and what I discovered was that I tended to like tracks more when the noise was used creatively. Either to tell a story or if the noise was used in a way that sounded like music and not just someone cluttering around in the garbage bin.
With that in mind I bring you the sometimes noisy sometimes ambient, always original stylings of James Plotkin:
“The Bomb!” Mixes
Some of the time I say a lot about certain songs or the artists. And some of the time I think the song sort of speaks for itself and requires no additional explanation. This is one of those songs.
Joey Dee & the Starlighters have a long and interesting history, which I’m not going to revisit here (Joey can tell you himself about Roulette Records and their mob ties). Suffice to say this song is a classic which I never get tired of.
If there was ever a song about regret, and taking advantage of opportunities while they are still available to you: this is the one. Chinni-Chap originally released this heart-wrenching tune to the Australian band New World in 1972. They then released it again in 1976 with Smokie and topped music charts across several countries. It’s about a man who professes his lifelong love for his neighbor Alice, upon the day she moves away.
Aside from the fact that I do like a good deal of Polka, I also just LOVE the lyrics to this song. A whole escaping from your regular everyday mundane life and doing something a bit off the cuff.
Self was a little band that didn’t really get too much recognition, despite having one of their songs featured in the film “Shrek“. I first heard their song “KiDdies” as part of a battle of the bands on now off-air alternative station 101.7 WFNX. They used to play one track from two bands, and then have people vote on the tracks. The winner would move on to battle the next day.
Self lost out to Radiohead’s “Karma Police”, but I liked the song so much I bought the entire album “Half-Baked Serenade”. It’s actually a really good album (if you can find it), usually receiving between 4 and 5 stars on most music sites. My personal favorite is the final (non-hidden) track: Sassy Britches. I like it so much in fact, that I had a character named after the song when I used to play “City of Heroes”.
So I got in the mood for this song because it was MJ night on “American Idol” last night. I always wonder why no one ever picks this song. I don’t think it absolutely HAS to be a duet, and it would fit really nice on one of the “rocker” types.
I also always liked this video due to its space station theme and the PVC outfits.
I can’t decide which plays a larger part in getting this song stuck in my head: the catchiness of it or the appearance of “The Bubblemen”!!!!
This song definitely doesn’t fall under the category of “rare”. However, it came up recently while doing setlists for the TBA preshow ( I was considering for “Up”); mainly because I get all in a tizzy anytime they play the English translation.
I grew up listening to it in German, but for some reason now in retro-radioville they seem to never play that version. So I do that whole thing where I hear the opening chords, get all psyched, and then… English lyrics (BOO!) In order to remedy that, he’s the much better version in all its Germanic glory!
Being as we were sort of on the subject of Rock Operas anyway. As you probably know, The Who is kind of the master of the Rock Opera. Obviously, there’s “Tommy” and “Quadrophenia” and portions of a much larger project (“Lifehouse”) became “Who’s Next” (though not necessarily in Opera format). And of course the mini-operas “The Boy Who Heard Music” which appears on “Endless Wire”.
This little number is more of a song-story than a full-on rock opera, but you get the idea. (as featured in The Rolling Stones “Rock and Roll Circus”)
I guess I keep pushing Miss Plantum lately; but seriously she rocks. If I could I would spend the rest of my life being followed around by her horn section This song despite being about a type of car I’ve never had any interest in: is pretty darn catchy. I have to admit I’m loving the PVC German milkmaid outfits in this video, which also has a little visit from Optimus Prime!
I’m not even sure it’s cool to admit you like Styx, or at least I don’t think it’s been since sometime in the 1980’s. As a youth, I was very into “Kilroy was Here”, but not just for the reason most kids my age were (“Mr. Roboto”) but more for the fact that I immediately recognized it as a Rock Opera. I have always wanted to see Kilroy played out in its entirety as a full-blown stage production, a sight I will probably never see. Anyway, since then I’ve grown to love quite a few of their songs, and yes, I even saw them live, which incidentally was pretty fun. Here’s a little Tommy Shaw helmed ditty, you probably know.
Song of the Moment was actually initially a mostly written microblog called “Heavy Rotation”, which eventually morphed to include YouTube clips. This entry was the first to future the new title, older entries were edited to match after the fact.
YouTube videos come and go for copywrite issues, discontinued users, or other issues (in fact it is sometimes a Herculean task to make sure all the videos featured on my page are all functioning at once).-This entry was no exception, as the original video that accompanied this post went missing. However, I feel like I found a reasonable replacement with this version where the audio engineer had the good sense to crank the volume on John Paul Jones’ bass.
This song (actually most of the album) is damn addictive!
I actually went on to be both a Miss Platnum fan and a Peter Fox/Seeed fan (I wish Peter had cut more than that debut album).
I’ve done my best to translate the German bit (allowing for my horrible translation skills):
Das ist der Deal, du brauchst ‘n Ehemann {This is the deal, you need a husband}
Ich brauch’ ‘ne Frau, die gut kochen und nähen kann {I need a woman, who can cook well and sew}
Du lebst im Bauernhaus, Kuhstall nebenan Ich hol’ dich raus, du fängst ‘n neues Leben an (You can live in the cowshed next to my farmhouse}
Aus dem Wollrock ins Negligeé {Get out of those pants and into a Negligee}Ich schick’ dich jeden Tag shoppen in dei’m neuen Carree {I’ll send you shopping each day in a new Carrera}
Dein Vater kriegt ‘n second hand neues Coupé {while your father gets a new coupe second-hand}
Bei der Hochzeit glänzt er unter sei’m neuen Toupé {he’ll shine at the wedding in his new toupe}
Wir feiern mit Fleisch und Selbtsgebranntem {We’ll dine on meat and drink a toast}
Ich mache auf reich vor allen dein’n Verwandten {it’ll help us deal with the relatives}Die Onkels und Tanten sind am saufen und zanken {The Uncles and Aunts will be drinking and singing}
Und die Dorfmusikanten spielen auf und wir tanzen {and the village musicians play on as we dance}
Schnapsleichen liegen auf dem Rasen {until dead on Schnaps they’ll lie on the grass}
Und die Blaskapelle ist zu blauzum Blasen {The band is too blue to blow [too drunk to play]}
Man soll immer gehen wenn’s am Besten ist {one should always go when it’s best}
Mädchen, ich zeig’ dir wo der goldene Westen ist {Girls, I’ll show you where the Golden West is}
– Miss Platnum feat. Peter Fox. Chefa, Four Music, 2007
This is where you’ll find information for the music being played during the TBA Theatres Pre-Show Slideshow!
The original podcast of this episode was lost in “The Great Hard Drive Crash of 2010”. It has been recreated here in Spotify format:
List of Songs/Corresponding Films tentatively “Coming Soon” to TBA Theatres:
I just heard “Mambo Sun” by T.Rex on 88.9 WERS. As a general rule, I get pretty jazzed anytime the radio plays anything by T.Rex aside from “Get It On (Bang a Gong)”.
In other news: Curious about other peoples’ opinion regarding the individuality/recognizability of Peter Gabriel? In other words, if you were to hear a P.G. song you didn’t already know ad nauseum, would you immediately know that it was him? This is something that came up because of “Wall-E”.
My ex-husband had said something along the lines of how his voice sounded like a lot of people and wasn’t that original. I’m trying to determine if it’s the audiophile in me that immediately makes the distinction that it’s his voice or in fact Gabriel himself that is individual enough to make him/his music instantly recognizable?
Maybe my ex’s misconception is based partially on the fact that Gabriel was replaced with relative ease by Phil Collins when he left Genesis? I could kind of see that as Collins vocals were already being used as backing for most of the songs, hence the similarity. As an added bonus, amusing footage of both of them when they still had TONS OF HAIR!!!
This is where you’ll find information for the music being formerly played during the TBA Theaters Pre-Show Slideshow!
I believe this is the first pre-show, airing appx. October 2008. It was intended to showcase the schedule of upcoming films. Not all songs were featured in the films. I did use the corresponding soundtracks whenever possible, but otherwise tracks were taken from prequels and/or songs about similar subjects.
List of Songs/Corresponding Films:
Initially, this episode was meant to be part of a series. This initial episode was about Primordial Deities and The Olympians in Greek Mythology. Subsequent editions were never completed.
Primordial Deities: They existed before anything else and created the earth and the universe. In the beginning, there was only Chaos, God of Nothingness. The earth was without form and void (I think I just stole that from the Genesis chapter of the bible?). He made from himself five children, Gaia (Goddess of the Earth), Tartarus (God of the Underworld), Nyx (Goddess of Night {Earth Darkness}), Erebus (God of Shadow {Tartarus Darkness}) and Eros (Goddess of Lust).
Nyx and Erebus bore Aether (God of Heaven) and Hemera (Goddess of Day).
Lastly, there was Chronos (God of Time).
The Olympians: Gaia created from herself the god Uranus. She took him as a husband and they bore many children, including the Titans (to be covered in a later chapter). Two of these Titans, Cronus (not to be confused with Chronos above) and Rhea bore five children: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, and Hestia. Zeus then fathered the rest of the Olympians with various women. Ares and Hephaestus with Hera, Hermes with the nymph Maia, Aphrodite from Dione, Athena from Metis, Apollo and Artemis from Leto, and Dionysus from Semele. There are twleve Olympians (though you will count thirteen on this list). Hestia growing tired of her position left the mount and turned over her rights to Dionysus. You may also notice the absence of Hades, who is not technically an Olympian (as he resides in the Underworld) who will be covered at a later time.
Included in this set is what I call the “Die Bauhausschule” section of the podcast, in which various offshoots (Daniel Ash and David J.) of the band Bauhausappear. In addition, bands directly influenced by Bauhaus or their subsequent projects (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Love Like Blood and Fields of the Nephilim), as well as Bauhaus themselves, appear.
Die Bauhausschule
This episode should hopefully be more fun than a barrel of… well you know. Surprisingly, there’s a lot of obscenity in songs about something as innocent as monkeys, so this isn’t child-friendly at all (are they ever really?)
“Song of Love” is one of the many great tracks off of the seemingly neglected third album in Kula Shaker’s catalog, “Strangefolk”. The first full album after an almost eight-year hiatus and the first to feature the current (and very talented) keyboardist Henry “Harry” Bowers Broadbent. Part of the chorus may be familiar to any Prodigy fans, as their 2007 album “Fat of the Land” featured a track with Kula Shaker’s lead singer and song-writer Crispian Mills similarly named “Narayan” which used the same lyrics “I feel another energy/and I feel a power growing”.
This week’s episode is all about sharp things. Knives, saws, razors… well you get the idea.
Stabat Mater: Quando corpus morietur, composed by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi – Wow what a title! It would have been longer still had I put in the individual performance notes. I actually first heard this piece in the film Amadeus. It’s the piece they’re playing in church when young Salieri pledges his virginity to god in exchange for the gift of composing music. I like it because it just sounds pretty and is equal parts church-organ Gothic and choir singing.
Requiem in D Minor, K 626, Confutatis composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – And speaking of Mozart… I liked this one well before the film (I’ve been partial to Mozart since I was a child). This is part of the infamous “Requiem” which Mozart had been working on when he died, and his most controversial work (not for content, but as to who actually deserves the credit for a good portion of this work). However, despite the fact that Mozart’s student Sussmayr, probably filled in a good portion of the unfinished portions of the work, I would argue that “Confutatis” at least seems quite distinctly “Mozart” sounding (as in I would argue that this portion of it had already been completed or near completion). Either way, it’s darkly ominous, and it seems to reinforce the theory that Mozart came to believe that he was not in fact writing the Requiem for a patron, but instead writing his own funeral mass. Also available on the Amadeus soundtrack.
Blue-eyed Matador by Voltaire – This is really only here because I like Voltaire. I kind of consider him the “Goth ‘Weird Al'” in a way. His songs are usually full of self (or at least subculture) parody but yet set to really gorgeous sweeping gypsy violin. Voltaire is also an accomplished comic book artist and stop-motion animator.
Wajid by Vas – Can you tell I’m just working backward alphabetically? Vas is another world-music fusion type band (not unlike Dead Can Dance). A lot of the music is Persian inspired.. and you know me and my fascination for Persians (and yeah I had it before the movie “300” thanks). I can’t really describe it better than that, Just take a listen, it’s worth it if you like this style of music.
Istanbul by They Might Be Giants – I like TMBG, but I’m not obsessed with them like some people. If they’re on I’ll listen to them, and I own “Flood” mainly due to this song, but I don’t gotta go out and buy their whole catalog or anything. Either way, this song (despite being a cover of “The Four Lads”) is just pure genius.
I was initially going to do the podcast about royalty in general until I realized that I had enough songs to divide them up, so I went with the King theme.
The Highwayman by Loreena McKennitt: this is a poem by Alfred Noyes, set to music. I love this song for its extremely strong imagery. I can picture very distinctly every scene in my head.
Cairo by Amazulu: I absolutely love Amazulu, but it’s virtually next to impossible to find any of their stuff over here in the USA! Boo Hoo! What few songs I have are all on really random compilations (a few I bought only for the reason that Amazulu was on them). I first saw this band through the television show “The Young Ones” and just loved them for their fun upbeat tempos infused with calypso melodies.
The Ferryman’s Daughter by Donovan: it’s another one of those folky throwback songs that sound like they’re either medieval or at least been passed on for a few generations. It’s credited as being written by Donovan, so I’m assuming he just made it up on his own and it just sounds older than it actually is.
It’s Oh So Quiet by Bjork: strangely I didn’t much like Bjork at first, and the older I get the more I think she’s brilliant. I like how she uses a lot of different styles, is extremely artistic, and doesn’t seem to give a good god-damn what anyone thinks of her. Regarding this particular song; it is a cover of a 1951 song by Betty Hutton. I like the juxtaposition between the soft playful music and the loud in-your-face jazz, as well as the lyrics which match. I think the allure of the song is evidenced in the words, but this is a pretty good summation (IMHO) of the ups and downs of falling in love.
Great Hosannah by Kula Shaker: In general, I highly recommend the entire album “Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts” (an album I largely credit as saving my life when things were at their worst). Kula Shaker is my current favorite band at the moment (even though they’ve only recently gotten back together). Great Hosannah is essentially my current Mantra. It’s all about despite bad things happening hope is always just around the bend. I might actually make a larger post on this one, come to think of it… tune in later
Crucified by Army of Lovers: another entry into the “betrayal” category. I take “savior” to mean “lover” so draw your own conclusions I guess. Some of you 80s and 90s kids might even remember this one getting riffed on the “Beavis & Butthead” episode “Cleaning House“.
Black Eyed by Placebo – Placebo is a band I discovered in part through one of my all-time favorite films, “Velvet Goldmine”. I just really dig a lot of their lyrics, and really enjoy Brian Molko’s voice as well as appearance (I blame 80’s new wave music for my taste in androgynous men!).
Coin-Operated Boy by Dresden Dolls – Oh I KNOW, it’s their popular song! I like the toy piano music, besides sometimes a coin-operated boy doesn’t always sound like such a bad idea.
The Light by Love & Rockets – You can always tell who my favorite bands are/were as they have multiple entries. This song has a pretty cool video, which my friend from High School’s church once featured in a lecture they had regarding satanic imagery in music videos. ( I guess because of drummer Kevin Haskins playing tabla in the circle of candles, the pointy hornlike poker thing at the beginning, and all the smoke?).
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite by Eddie Izzard -This song features in “The Beatles” inspired film “Across the Universe”. Sung by one of my favorite comedians, Eddie Izzard, it also features the Bread & Puppets Theater of Glover Vt (whom I had the pleasure of seeing once back in 1994). Diehard Beatles fans will notice a few ad-libbed additions to the traditional lyrics, which are of course my favorite parts as they are so obviously Izzard inspired.
Empathy (Clarified Vision Mix) by Pigface – The specific version of this song comes from the album “Feels Like Heaven…” (long title “FLH.. Sounds Like Shit”) and is essentially a remix album of various Pigface tunes. This particular version features Michael Gira of “The Swans” fame. I also enjoy it’s Middle Eastern-inspired sound.
Seagull by Bad Company – This particular track is by far my favorite Bad Company song. I think in part because it’s a very simple guitar melody song, but also for just the kind of odd juxtaposition in the lyrics (pastoral peaceful scenes of the seagull in flight interrupted by the abrupt and poignant line “you’ll fly all around/’til somebody shoots you down” with virtually no change in the basic musical scheme, which indicates to me some sort of general treatise on the nature and cruelty of man).
Note from the present: It’s hard to find any reference on the internet about Finetunes. My recollection of it was it was an early music streaming or playlist curation site (Spotify would not be available in the U.S. until 2011) where you could favorite things you liked and get suggestions for similar songs. I think it tied into MySpace or maybe Blogger and thus you could connect the lists to mini blog posts or see what your other friends enjoyed.
This post was actually inspired by a former friend of mine’s post on “Essential Recordings”, but also something I had been meaning to do for a while anyway. The concept is to explain WHY the songs I have on heavy rotation are actually there, to begin with.
Enjoy the Silence (Harmonium) by Depeche Mode: Well for one thing it’s just darker than the original album version, but also it’s got a harmonium in it. I love the harmonium! It’s up there with my favorite instruments (along with the Kanun, Sitar, Hurdy Gurdy, Harpsichord, and Oud (or in general the Lute family) and one of my bucket list items is to learn how to play one.
Persia by Lotus Mind: throughout this list, you will find a lot of modern bands who are either heavily influenced by sounds of either the past or of exotic origin, or who put a new twist on works of the past. Lotus Mind is one of those bands, playing music that is heavily inspired by Indian musical traditions {ragas} (this album “Lotus Mind” even has the deity Ganesh gracing its cover art).
Stupid Girls by P!nk: I’m probably the last person you would expect to like P!nk, but she’s got that tough-girl no-frills demeanor that I respect in women. “Stupid Girls” mourns the loss of ladies who are actually inspired to be something (other than a walking advertisement and a male accessory).
Kundalini Express by Love and Rockets: As you may have read on my a/m/a, I used to work for these guys. They were my favorite band throughout high school and into college so when they reunited for their “Lift” tour in 1998 I worked on the local promotions (ticket giveaways, flyers for shows, and distributing the singles to local DJs). Of course, this means I also got to meet them (Daniel Ash was like my god throughout High School). Anyway, “Kundalini Express” is an older track from their second album “Express”. Though not inspired musically by Indian traditions, it did introduce me to the concept of Kundalini, and well it was a downward spiral after that into eastern Mysticism and those kinds of ideals. In particular, I like the second verse which ties up very neatly and simplistically the basic tenents of Hinduism which is based on chakras and karma, and essentially that all people are connected (without going into a huge lecture on the subject).
Arabian Sky by Kaweh: This is a little band I think very few people have heard of. They’re based in California but are apparently available for hire (like weddings and events) despite having made several albums. Kaweh himself is proficient in Spanish (Flamenco) guitar but also has Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influences (as heard in this particular song). I only really know this one album (Seven) so I can’t tell you how the rest of their stuff is, but this album is sort of a mix of different styles (one song is blues, another jazz, and a few that sound like Santana, as well as this one token Middle Eastern track) so it might not interest you if you don’t like a lot of different styles.
Sand by Lee Hazelwood & Nancy Sinatra: I have liked this song since the early 90’s when Einsturzende Neubauten did a cover of it, but the older I get the more I really enjoy the original interpretation by Lee & Nancy which has become one of my favorite all-time songs. So much so that when/if I learn how to play an instrument I would like to do my own interpretation of this song.
This episode is dedicated to my friends, who listened to me when I needed them the most, and to the many artists (some of whom regularly feature in the show) who write songs that inspire me and help me through both good times and bad. You are all my “light” and with your guidance, I can overcome whatever obstacles lay ahead.
Winter is not quite over, but I figured: never underestimate the power of positive thinking!
Back in college, a friend of mine used to throw an anti-Valentine’s day party. You were not allowed to do anything Valentine-ish whatsoever (no dates, no hooking up while at the party, etc.). Strictly meant as an antithesis to the entire holiday.
The “Prozzak” Love Block
The “Weird Al” Love Block
Obligatory Polka
Happy New Year!
Creator note: This was an old LiveJournal Meme from 2007. I decided to keep it here at The Theme Show archives, because almost all of my answers to the tagged items were music related, and reflective of my tastes around the time I brought the show into podcast format.
Tagged by meganquinlan
Rules: tagger will choose seven interest from your profile and you will explain what they mean and why you are interested in them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so that others can play along.
10CC -10 CC is an English band from the 1970s. Their name, interestingly enough, comes from the metric measurement of semen ejaculated from the average male during sex. Despite this rather crude band name, they are most famous for their soft-rock ballads. “Donna” is a throwback to 1950’s falsetto-voiced pop (think Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons). “I’m Not in Love” is a technical achievement musically: using a whopping 256 different vocal dubs to provide the backing melody and recently ranked on the recent VH1 countdown special “VH1’s 40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Songs”. The band eventually parted, but members Kevin Godley and Lol Creme continued as Godley & Creme and made some more albums, finally going into video direction and production. Godley won a Grammy in 1986 for his work on The Police Synchronicity Concert (Best Video, Long Form). When writing my profile, I concentrated on bands of the ’70s, particularly original glam rock, and discovered this band quite by accident on a compilation via their song “Rubber Bullets.” That song was a partially controversial song considered a protest to an incident between the British Army and rioters in Northern Ireland. “Rubber Bullets” was produced featuring a double-tracked solo, the first being the original solo. The second track, the solo, slowed down to half speed and re-recorded (giving it a high-pitched fuzzy sound). As a music fan, I appreciate small details like this in music production, which is why you would also find me to be a fan of the Blue Man Group (the PVC plumbing pipes used as instruments, ingenious!). Other well-loved musical inclusions are the Lowrey organ arpeggio effect Pete Townshend does at the beginning of “Baba O’Riley” and the band Einsturzende Neubauten’s use of everything, including the kitchen sink as the instruments. (The song “Intermezzo – Yu Gung” features a rhythm section of razorblades on mirrors, while a jackhammer accompanies the piece “Kangolicht”).
Kula Shaker – Kula Shaker is an English band from the 1990s (still active). The lead singer Crispian Mills is the son of actress Haley Mills and spent some time in the early 90’s backpacking through India. Upon returning, he created the band and eventually incorporated the sounds and teachings that Crispin had acquired during his travels into the music. Kula Shaker is one of several “fusion” bands that I enjoy (the other semi-famous one being the Canadian band “The Tea Party”). Their albums are great in that they are an amalgam of different styles; one song might sound very much like you’re listening to “The Beatles,” while another will sound like the “Grateful Dead” or “Jimi Hendrix .”They also have an eclectic mix of traditional Indian worship songs set to rock music, the most famous of which “Tattva” became a minor hit for them in 1996. The albums are better when listened to from start to finish than individual tracks. Much like the spiritual journey one takes when reading the works of India’s prophets and gurus, Kula Shaker’s albums are a journey musically through different styles and sounds.
Throwing Toasters – As fun as it sounds, but probably not in the way you thought. Throwing Toasters is the band/guise of my friend Grant. He is a fan of parodies, comedy, filk, etc. He is sometimes a teacher (substitute) as well. I began my foray into his music with his third album, entitled “Chrome,” which features some of his biggest hits to date “NRL (The Nursery Rhyme Lawyer Song” and “Bad Influence” (both inspired by his experiences as a teacher). Grant is hilarious, so he even opened for “Weird Al” Yankovic during the most recent tour.
:wumpscut: – Surprise, it’s another band! This time it’s a 90’s Industrial Band from Germany. I like this band partially because it was the band that introduced me to industrial that wasn’t Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, or KMFDM (and helped me discover other bands like Haujobb and Covenant). I also can’t think of too many other bands that sound too much like them. I appreciate them because of their cunning use of sound clips. I have no idea why this is, but I have always liked songs with sound clips. My personal favorite is during the song “Thorns.” A very excellent piece using a Medieval style in harmony with the electronic sound; it features in the dead center of the song the line “Tonight You Sleep In Hell” as spoken by The Kurgan in the movie “Highlander .” As expected the song, “Soylent Green” features dialogue from that film (only in German). While I admit that a few of their songs are too noisy to listen to them, there are several shining gems, most of which feature fusions from other countries or styles. “Funeral Diner” features a Guqin {or similar instrument} sample from an episode of the X-Files. “Black Death”‘s use of the French language almost makes it sound romantic until you begin translating it, realizing it is quite literally the symptoms of the disease itself. A point was driven home by its unrelenting heavier chorus of “make my body burn.”
Apoptygma Bezerk – I bet you didn’t see this coming or anything. YES, It’s a band! Another industrial helping from the ’90s (still active) from Norway. While I am currently not as into this band as I was, it was another band that appealed to me during my club years because it was different from the same old usual stuff I heard week to week. One of my favorite songs is “Love Never Dies,” which starts with a sample from bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and then slowly drifts into the modern, more industrial music. It also features the chorus surrounded by Carl Orff’s “O Fortuna .” It’s a bit of a creepy love song in a kind of stalkerish “I love you so much I don’t want to let you go” kind of way. My second favorite song is called “Kathy’s Song,” and I particularly like the VnV Nation Victoria Mix (which is how I discovered that particular band). Anyways it’s another love song (in the way that industrial songs can be both technological but love songs at the same time) but not nearly as creepy as “Love Never Dies.” I particularly like the beginning, with a female vocoder doing the story of “Genesis.” Yet after God creates man, the man then creates a machine and the machine to make music. Aside from the fact that I like the song, the mechanical part interests me on some other level, based on an interest in technosexuality. No, I don’t want to have sex with robots or anything. Still, for some reason, the aesthetic of that type of fetishism is attractive (i.e., Sorayama artwork {though I prefer the ones where the private bits are actually inside the metal}).
The Cap’n be settin’ ou’ t’ sail once again, an’ this time she has brought along some shanties t’ play at your next Shipmate party!
As always, please Don’t Forget T’ ‘visit The Official Site O’ International Talk Like A Pirate Day, For More Swashbucklin’ Fun:
http://talklikeapirate.com
This is a flashback edition of “The Theme Show”. The original “Bugs” episode first aired on 12/9/1999. If you look hard enough, you might notice this episode contains one of my original compositions, which can be found at Soundcloud.
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING TWO SONGS ARE EXPERIMENTAL NOISE RECORDINGS. PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS WITH THE VOLUME TO PROTECT YOUR SPEAKERS (OR YOUR EARS)
END WARNING
20-22. The Fisherman’s Chronicles Parts I-III by Primus
It’s getting warm (finally!), school is getting out, and that can only mean one thing. Time for some summer fun! This episode of The Theme SHow contains many classic summer favorites, and a few others not as familiar. Don’t forget your sunscreen! 1. The Door into Summer by The Monkees 2. Hot Fun in the Summertime by Sly and the Family Stone 3. Staying out for the Summer ’95 by Dodgy 4. The Summer of ’69 by Bryan Adams 5. Summer Teeth byWilco 6. That Summer Feeling by Jonathan Richman 7. Summer Nights by Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta & the Cast of “Grease” 8. Lonely Summer Nights by The Stray Cats 9. Suddenly Last Summer by The Motels 10. Picnic in the Summertime by Deee-Lite 11. Cruel Summer by Bananarama 12. Summer Jamming by Inner Circle 13. Summertime by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince 14. Summer Girls by LFO 15. Boys of Summer by Don Henley 16. Endless Summer Nights by Richard Marx 17. Summer Breeze by Seals & Crofts 18. In the Summertime by Mungo Jerry 19. Summer in the City by The Lovin’ Spoonful 20. Summertime Blues [Live] by The Who 21. Summer Nights by Van Halen 22. Cold Summer’s Day by Erasure 23. Summer Jam by UD Project 24. Summer Son by Texas 25. Summertime is Over by Birmingham 6
“Beach Summer Sand Sea Waves” by Bossfight at Negative Space used under Creative Commons
For my birthday, I went away to London, which is a place I’ve been wanting to go forever. Also I’ve been dying to put “London Calling” by the Clash in an episode anyways, so I figured what better place then to do one all about that great city across the pond. I’ve also included a couple other British related items to fill the set.
Public Subway Underground by Brodie Vissers from Burst used under Creative Commons
So May is the month of my birthday, and also three of my other friends’ birthday. So to celebrate I’ve made an episode all about birthdays. The funny thing is only some of them are actually happy songs, maybe I should have called this episode “Not-So-Happy Birthday” instead. Oh well!
Photo by Pineapple Supply Co. on Unsplash used under Unsplash license
This week’s episode has songs with the word game or games in the titles.
Photo by Ylanite Koppens from Pexels used under Pexels license
So as some of you know (and the rest of you probably don’t) used to be a partial owner of a movie theater. This episode was originally posted to celebrate the purchase and is movie themed. It is not themed so much in the way of songs FROM movies, but songs about the movie industry, cinemas, theaters, etc. Enjoy!
photo “Rialto Theatre, Edmonton” by Provincial Archives of Alberta used under Flickr’s “The Commons” license
For those here looking for the TBA Theaters archives, here is one that was not previously posted. This was a set list provided for a private showing for employees and select members of the community upon or around the reopening of the Rialto Theater in Lancaster NH on March 30, 2007
This presentation accompanied a slideshow relating to the history of the company and its’ owners, and included a number of one of the owners’ favorite songs.
Yes I know it’s still March, but I wanted to get this one out in time to play on April 1, and the next episode doesn’t come out until April 3, so I was naughty and decided to disrespect my Irish blood for this year and skip St. Patrick’s day (though hopefully the weeks fall right next year and I can do a set then). Welcome to this episode featuring of course songs about fools. Towards the end please enjoy a series of songs from various members of Bauhaus.
image available on pixabay used under Creative Commons CC0
This week’s cast is all about cats (which is in a way funny since one is an anagram of the other, but I digress). So clean your whiskers, and ditch your collar we’re howling on the fence tonight!
“Brown Tabby Kitten” by Erik Jan Leusink at Negative Space used under public domain
I had a couple of other casts ready to go, and instead decided on this impromtu set inspired by a weekend vacation to Las Vegas.Too bad I insisted the trip be a surprise, perhaps if I had this set-list to inspire me we would have won something, oh well! Anyways it’s all songs about luck with a few songs about Vegas.
“Man & Dogs Playing Cards” by Ryan McGuire at Gratisography used under Gratisography license
“The Name Game” will be a series with song titles featuring the Full Name (first and last and occasionally middle initials or names) of a person or persons. There might be future installments featuring movie themed names, music themed names, book themed names, television themed names, and celebrity themed names (which will basically anyone who doesn’t fit into the previous categories such as sports themed names, political themed names etc.) This installment is the original non-celebrity edition. Songs with only one name (i.e. Wake Up Little Susie) may be featured in a different series at a later time.
Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash used under Unsplash licence
I swear I am not running out of ideas for themes. I was originally going to wait to do this episode, as we just had a Hero theme about ten episodes ago, but I’m so psyched that the television show “Heroes” is back on tonight with new episodes, I just had to!! These songs are less general and refer to our heroes and heroines by name. Not all of them were specifically written about a particular hero, but the ones that aren’t still seemed to suit the particular character I had in mind.
Photo by Kristina Paukshtite from Pexels used under Pexels license
The holidays are over, and it’s back to work. As such this weeks theme is all about work. I went out on a limb a little on a couple of songs because I really wanted them in there, even though their titles technically did not have the words work, worker or working in the title.
“Diverse People Working at an Office” by rawpixel.com available at LifeofPix used under public domain
The 2006 Christmas podcast is so big I had to make it an hour longer than the average Theme Show episode. Enjoy a selection of Christmas songs you probably won’t hear anywhere else this year (Mud, Gary Glitter, Slade, The Ramones, “Weird Al” Yankovic).
“Christmas Tree Red Bauble” by Picjumbo at Negative Space used under Creative Commons license CC0
My daughter accidentally deleted this podcast from Libsyn at some point, so I don’t have the original commentary for this repost. I’m pretty sure it went “something, something, something, snow”.
Setlist:
ice cold by leeroy at lifeofpix used under public domain
Hey there, and happy upcoming holiday season. The next few episodes will be holiday themes, beginning with this one which is aimed at Thanksgiving. Some of the songs are actual Thanksgiving songs, while others just have the word thank or thanks in the title, and at the end there is a kind of random Thanksgiving food selection guaranteed to make you hungry. So enjoy!
Setlist:
Photo by Pro Church Media on Unsplash used under Unsplash liscence
This week’s theme is a sister episode to the “For The Birds” episode from 7/18/2006. It also contains some flashback elements from the original 12/16/1999 Birds theme. I put in as many birds as I could think of, except of course the turkey, who will obviously make a guest appearance in the Thaksgiving theme. Hope you enjoy!
SETLIST:
image by TapioHirvikorpi at Pixabay used under Creative Commons CC0
Continuing in the Halloween vein, this week’s cast is about the undead (vampires, zombies, and skeletons predominately but a few other songs for filler).
Setlist:
Creators Note: I have a different blog/website where I usually keep old internet remnants, but once and a while I find bits that are relevant to how The Theme Show came to be in idea in the first place. Here’s another little LiveJournal gem. Answers now provided. Be sure to click though all five pages!
Nicked from alienpigpen
Step 1: Put your MP3 player on random.
Step 2: Post the first line(s) of the first 25 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
~~Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly.
Step 5: NO CHEATING (that goes for the guesser, too!)~~
So now that your faith’s gone, who you going to trust?
Now that your conscience is crawling in the dust
I’ve been meaning to tell you, sister
I’ve been meaning to tell you all
The Master & Margarita by The Tea Party
Open your heart, open your mind
A train is leaving all day
A wonderful trip through our time
And laughter is all you pay
Around the World in a Day by Prince
I am the day you die
I want to be alone
Come see my spirit fly
The road to Thunderdome
Requiem by Army of Lovers
Cigarette holder- which wigs me
Over her shoulder – she digs me
Out cattin’ – that satin doll
Satin Doll by Duke Ellington
Half of what I say is meaningless
But I say it just to reach you, Julia
Julia by The Beatles
It’s that time of year again, when we encourage little children to dress up in costumes and shamelessly go door-to-door begging for sugary snacks that will rot their teeth. In honour of this hallowed occasion (pun intended) this episode of the cast features songs with names of various treats (chocolate, gum, lollipop) as well as songs with the word candy or sugar in them. Don’t forget to brush and floss after listening!
Setlist:
The Theme Show is back from her foray into plundering the seven seas, and like any pirate worth her salt, I brought back plenty of booty!
This week’s set-list features songs with the word gold in the titles. It did end up being a little James Bond heavy, but James Bond is cool.
Setlist:
Strike the Colors! The Theme Show hast officially surrendered her flag, hoisted The Jolly Roger, and is lea’in’ port t’ plunder the Se’en Seas.
Ahoy, the Cap’n speaks t’ her faithful crew:
Aye, listen up ye landlubbers! September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. In honour o’ this occasion, The Theme Show is donnin’ tis’ eyepatch and tis’ wooden leg, and playin’ nothin’ but songs of, about, or relatin’ t’ Pirates!
Please Don’t Forget T’ ‘isit The Official Site O’ International Talk Like A Pirate Day, For More Swashbucklin’ Fun:
http://talklikeapirate.com
SETLIST:
This week features songs with the word “Hero” in the title. Other heroes specifically mentioned by name (i.e. Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc.) will probably be featured later in their own cast.
Setlist:
Photo by Porapak Apichodilok from Pexels under Pexels Legal Simplicity License
This edition features songs that have the names of weekdays in the titles. Somewhere in the middle is a big ‘ole warp because I had no Tuesday or Wednesday songs,but hopefully you’ll enjoy it. For fun, I began and ended this set with the Monkees. Don’t know why, it was just a whim.
Setlist:
photo “McDibb’s” by _william used under creative commons attribute 2.0 [notation: photo enlarged]
This podcast features songs which for the most part wouldn’t ever be covered in most other categories. Basically the titles of all the songs in the cast are comprised mainly of nonsense and made-up words. I actually had to cut a few that I wanted to put in for time constraints due to the presence of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly. I just couldn’t bring myself to put in the radio edit, it made no sense to me to put a version of a song famous for all those solos, and then use a version that doesn’t even have them, so hopefully you all like this song; as I have put in the unedited 17 minute version. Look for the songs I decided to leave out someday in a future cast, Son Of Utter Nonsense… maybe.
Setlist:
photo by Ryan McGuire used under creative commons attribution CC0
Welcome to another Flashback Edition of the Theme Show. The Birds theme was originally broadcast December 16, 1999. I reworked it a little again, sticking only to songs which had bird in the titles. The joke among my friends is that I own “all the CDs” yet for some reason I was hard pressed to find a copy of Free Bird and apparently I need to buy a 3rd copy of The White Album because it’s missing… again (instead I had to put a cover. I felt bad replacing the Beatles, but it turned out the cover was a nice pick me up for the set). So yeah, for some reason 75% of songs about birds are mellow, so this is a really subdued set. Also for those of you that remember from way back the Theme Shows all used to end in an Obligatory Polka, in this case I left it in (sort of).
image by Roman Heuvel used under creative commons attribution license CC0
I realized I probably should have started off the show with this cast instead of Space Is The Place, since it makes no sense to have it available AFTER the holiday! DUH! DUH! DUH!
Anyways; if you’re looking for a nice fluffy happy Forth of July soundtrack with America the Beautiful and God Bless America, then this is not your mix. Either that or just skip over everything and go to the last track. The mix gets a bit sarcastic and unpatriotic, but I end it on an ironic note with God Bless The U.S.A. because well while we may have our issues, at least I still have the freedom to play these somewhat unpatriotic songs without going to the stockades!
American Flag by How I See Life used by creative commons attribution licence CC BY-ND 3.0
There are four or five missing pilot episodes, I am hoping to find them still as I am finding a LOT of other things I thought long eaten by the Ancients of the Internet.
Until then – welcome to the very first PODCAST episode. A recreation of the 12/2/1999 Pilot, “Space” only this time it was hosted at Libsyn, and distributed through iTunes (the show even had it’s own phone app for a brief period). This episode was first broadcast on June 27th, 2006.
image “Solar Exclipse” by Folkert Golter used under creative commons attribution license 3.0
Retroactive was a second podcast I thought about doing that never really got off the ground. The idea was to do a podcast of cover versions and remixes of classic songs. This particular episode is heavy on the Industrial and Electronic genres.
Welcome to the sixth pilot episode of The Theme Show.
Unfortunately this is the one very old episode of the show which has not been fully recovered to whatever the original set-list was. It seems I only had saved a partial word file (it was early 2000, I am going to chalk that up to no auto-save and forgetting to hit the disk icon). Certainly if someone else for some reason would have this information, please let me know. For now, here is what little I do know I played. Originally broadcast on 1/6/2000.
Theme Show Warmup
Regular Setlist
“Violet”- Hole
Welcome to the fifth pilot episode of The Theme Show. That’s a very long title, isn’t it? This episode was the first Theme Show episode to break away from the one-worded title.
This episode was posted on the verge of New Years Eve 1999, when some people were convinced the world and all it’s machines would come screeching to a halt due to the millennium change (and possibly the Prince song) and that the resulting outage would cause nuclear weapons to launch, and that we were all going to die! Though I didn’t really subscribe to the theory (and hey it’s 2018 as I’m writing, so I guess we survived) I figured if we were all going to disappear into a fiery Armageddon, the least we could do is laugh on the way out, so the entire episode is apocalyptic songs.
Theme Show Warmup
Regular Setlist
Obligatory Polka
Welcome to the fourth pilot episode of The Theme Show. For some reason I thought having a double length episode was the way to go with this one (even though I had received comments from listeners that 90 minutes is just long enough or even a bit too long).
I suppose I’ll chalk it up to this being a Christmas episode, and I had grandiose visions of people sitting down to open presents with my playlist as a soundtrack (despite not every song on here being appropriate for family gatherings).
Also I released it two days before Christmas, which in hindsight was a little dumb.
It was broadcast on Winamp on December 23th, 1999 and simply called “Christmas”. It has had two revisions since, which you will find in later posts (1) (2).
This set breaks from the original format, as I had no contest (the theme was obvious) and that there were enough polka songs that they are spread throughout. This format without the Workout and Obligatory Polka, would eventually become the norm.
The Setlist
Welcome to the third pilot episode of The Theme Show.
Since this was a live broadcast at the time, there is no original audio file, nor have I chosen to recreate the playlist at Spotify, instead being favor of providing a new set-list/remix of it as a New Episode. However I am providing this set-list for the sake of historical archive, and will be making YouTube playlists for these “Pilot” episodes.
It was broadcast on Winamp on December 16th, 1999 and simply called “Birds”. It has had two revisions since, which you will find in later posts (1) (2).
Following the format of the time (as explained in the first Pilot post) this set-list featured the “Theme Show Workout” and the “Obligatory Polka”. It also features a little help from a friend of mine. Special thanks to Sortedboy for his contributions to this set.
Theme Show Workout
Winners: gonkdroid on IM and osserman on IRC (I was feeling generous this week!)
Standard Playlist
Obligatory Polka
Welcome to the second pilot episode of The Theme Show.
Since this was a live broadcast at the time, there is no original audio file, nor have I chosen to recreate the playlist at Spotify. Instead, for the sake of historical archive, I will be making YouTube playlists for these “Pilot” episodes.
This episode was broadcast on Winamp on December 9th, 1999 and simply called “Bugs”. It has had one revision in podcast format, and may also be broken down as a micro-theme for future episodes (if that happens I will link them here).
Following the format of the time (as explained in the previous post) this set-list featured the “Theme Show Workout” and the “Obligatory Polka”.
Theme Show Workout
Standard Playlist
Obligatory Polka
Welcome, from the future! What you see before you is a recreation of the ORIGINAL set-list from the very FIRST episode of the show.
Since this was a live broadcast at the time, there is no original audio file, nor have I chosen to recreate the playlist at Spotify. Instead, for the sake of historical archive, I will be making YouTube playlists for these “Pilot” episodes.
This episode was broadcast on Winamp on December 2nd, 1999 and simply called “Space”. It has had one revision in podcast format, and may also be broken down as a micro-theme for future episodes (if that happens I will link it here).
There were three main components to the original Pilot format. To elaborate, I defer to a quote from the original web-page:
The Theme Show Warm Up:. At the beginning of each show the I play five songs of lesser known origin and faster tempo. At the end of the fourth song I turn on my Yahoo! messenger, and the first person to IM me with a correct guess at the theme wins a prize. (Usually a Pez dispenser).
Requests:. Though at least 90% of the playlists are made up ahead of time, I am always open to suggestion. If at any time you have a wild or witty addition to the theme, you are encouraged to IM me with your request.
Obligatory Polka: I have some strange fascination with Polka that I have never understood. I think it could possibly be all those subliminal messages “Weird Al” Yankovic has been sending me when I play his albums backwards. Or perhaps it was the insane ex-DJ of the Brandeis College radio station (WBRS 100.1 FM Waltham, MA) who used to play tidbits of Polka on his show each week . Anyway enough of this rambling, I guess what I’m really trying to say is that the show ends with an obligatory Polka. It sometimes does not even go with the theme but who cares?
Eventually these sub-concepts were dropped upon the podcast revisions of the late 2000’s.
Theme Show Workout
WINNER: gonkdroid (through Yahoo IM)
Standard Playlist
Obligatory Polka