In the delightful, slightly mocking cabaret classic Mad Dogs and Englishmen, celebrated wit No?l Coward considers the lack of shaded siesta in English society totally insane, which is a sentiment I've come to sympathize with more and more since my recent work trip abroad when I noticed that the rest of the world really seems to appreciate its leisure time in a way that we (who don't even partake in tea) are incapable of. Rapidly consuming a salad or sandwich while hunched over one's desk is a kind of living the songwriter would not tolerate.

Coward is a favorite dandy of mine and he previously appeared as a style icon on this blog. Ever eloquent, he said of writing this song (which became a signature number in his act):

I wrestled in my mind with the complicated rhythms and rhymes of the song until finally it was complete, without even the aid of pencil and paper. I sang it triumphantly and unaccompanied to my traveling companion on the verandah of a small jungle guest house. Not only Jeffrey [Amherst], but the gecko lizards and the tree frogs gave every vocal indication of enthusiasm.

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Posted on February 23, 2009

Prince has no trouble hiding his emotions in his music but Adore, a lesser known but thoroughly excellent passion ballad from ?a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_o'_the_Times_(album)” target=”_blank” title=”Wiki: Sign O The Times”>Sign O the Times' just goes beyond. It's his most sweaty browed, chest beating, all out on his knees, overcome, unhinged and overjoyed expression of L-O-V-E.

As he grows increasingly spastic in his declarations of adoration, he forcefully mutters, “Girl I ain't f***ing just for kicks, No!!” Probably not a line Patti LaBelle, whose album The Winner In You inspired Prince to write this soulful song, would sing, but it's the kind of fun-time raunch that makes Adore a true Prince masterpiece.

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Posted on February 9, 2009

There's just one fault I can find with the Obama inauguration – lord knows all the bloggers (even my favorites) are really bearing teeth. From Refinery29: “The First Lady's big brocade suit in chartreuse was, well, we hate to be the ones to say it, a bit much, especially when you add in the collar bling.” And from NyMag's live feed: “Oh, Aretha. What are you wearing on your head? Is that a Liberty Bow?” But my criticism is not sartorial. I adore Michelle, particularly in sunshiny yellow, and I certainly don't want to bad mouth Aretha and her booming big bow (why bother messing with the woman at all? She rules no matter what).

No, my only qualm is that the Obama team failed to take advantage of the classic Pointer Sisters ditty 'Yes We Can Can' during the campaign, and it turns out I'm not the only one who spotted this missed opportunity. This article appeared in the Las Vegas Sun on December 27th:?”We tried our damnedest, too,” says Anita Pointer. “We tried to contact his office and see if we could perform it for him. We really would love to be at that inaugural ball singing ?es We Can Can,' but we never could get any response from anyone.”

It's really too bad that her request fell on deaf ears — but don't let that stop you from jiggling around and feeling all hopeful by dancing in a new era in the privacy of your own home. I've always adored these ladies and this uplifting hit is one of their greatest.

“And try to find a piece of land without stepping on one another
And do respect the women of the world – remember you all have mothers
We got to make this land a better land than the world in which we live”

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Posted on January 26, 2009

Great White really didn't have enough mainstream hits to outweigh the band's later notorious involvement in the horrific and tragic Station nightclub fire, but the one big hit they left behind, Once Bitten, Twice Shy, holds a special place in my nostalgic heart. I've mentioned my sixth grade “bad” buddy Holly a number of times on this blog before; the two of us would listen to Eazy E in her very witchy bedroom in between playing this hair metal classic over and over.

But it wasn't Great White that first performed it. Ian Hunter of Mott the Hopple fame (who was a frequent collaborator with this week's hunk Mick Ronson) introduced this song to the world on his MC Escher meets the 80s first solo album. It's a song that fits nicely in the both glam rock and hair metal canons, two genres that in some ways are really not all that different.

Great White's version earned the band a radio and a subsequent video hit thanks to the inclusion of pinup girl Bobbie Brown. No, not the former Mr Whitney Houston, but the girl from Warrant's Cherry Pie video – which really was quite ahead of its time when you consider how the white background craze hit TV ads in the last decade. It was released on their album “Twice Shy”, an album that came two years after “Once Bitten” and it features wonderfully of the time album art with sexy legs in a sea of red satin sheets lying dangerously close to the fin of a predatory great white shark.

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Posted on January 12, 2009

Harold Faltermeyer pretty much defined the drum machine and synth sound of mid to late 80's detective work when he wrote both 'Axel F' for Beverly Hills Cop and the theme song to Fletch. The two songs and, come to think of it, the movies themselves have a lot in common and when the latter was playing in the background one recent Sunday afternoon, I couldn't help but get excited every time this tune came on. It's energetic, fun and dated – but in a good way.

Please note that I am not recommending the Stephanie Mills song “Bit by Bit” (which is dated in a bad, womanly Billy Ocean type way) which is often considered to be the theme of the Chevy Chase classic.

You Tube features this brilliant cover (which takes advantage of the Oscillator Sync feature on the Alesis Ion) of what is a very popular song among synth enthusiasts – and here's a Guitar Hero version.

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Posted on December 28, 2008