As I recall, G and her best friend played this song a lot years ago. Over and over. There was definitely dancing involved too. Ever since, I immediately think of G when I hear this song, which is surprisingly frequent (the hearing of the song, the thinking of G is frequent w/o the song… he he). Today being G’s day, I wanted to pick a song that is happy & fun, and her’s in my mind.
I like this song, but don’t be fooled by this Russian duet. They are not actually a lesbian couple in real life as portrayed in the video and in general. In truth they were cherry picked via auditions by the producers that created the group (who they later split from) and who apparently liked a good scandal. It is fabricated, but not without art or value. They actually left their producers in the name of focusing on making music, not scandals.
I never knew about the odd acronym of a name until I read this…
“…the producers decided on the name Тату (Tatu). It is a shortened version from the Russian ‘Eta devochka lyubit’ tu devochku’, meaning ‘This girl loves that girl’. For the release of their first English-language album, they decided to go by t.A.T.u., using uppercased letters and periods to differentiate between an already existing Australian band also named ‘Tatu.’”
Although lesbianism may be more accepted where I come from in the USA, there is still the common notion that homosexuals are just crazy people, hence the lines:
Mother looking at me
Tell me what do you see?
Yes, I’ve lost my mind
Fortunately music and movies, like this group, are helping to break those misconceptions.
With the passing of the late and great Michael Jackson, I couldn’t help but poke around my collection of Michael Jackson albums and songs. I put on the album Thriller, and there I heard it: The reason why he is referred to as “The King of Pop”. The beat. The energy. The singing. The conviction. Just watch the “Beat It” video and you’ll see what I mean.
The album released with hit after hit after hit at a time when most albums had one, maybe two… er… still do, I guess. 5 of the 9 songs hit #1 on the charts in the US. In retrospect, I think the album contrasts greatly with the Post-Punk and New Wave that was becoming dominant on the radio in the 80s, and may have granted an outlet for those who craved a different sound. There was the MTV boost too. The Thriller video helped catapult the still infant MTV and MTV helped catapult Thriller. Sure Michael paved the way for a lot of bad and lesser pop, but I think maybe it set the bar high for what Pop should be and was hard for even Michael himself to follow up.
It is the best selling album of all time, with over 100 million copies sold. (Number 2 and 3 being AC/DC – “Back In Black” and Pink Floyd – “Dark Side of the Moon” respectively, and both around the 45 million mark.) With that said, and with his passing being so recent, it is easy for me to say you should want, listen to and love this album (100 million of you already do), but I am going to say it anyway. I believe it to be true and this is my own little ‘tip of my hat’ to Michael.
(Pick up #2 and #3 while you’re at it. Apparently I am more of a popular music slut than I thought. However, #4 is Meat Loaf – “Bat Out Of Hell” with 43 million? Really? I would not have guessed that! Now I have to go listen to it.)
Oh and the Thriller video! So cool. With the story line, and the dance, and even Vincent Price with the spoken word and all. You know that scene in “13 Going On 30″, when Jenna (Jennifer Garner) gets the whole room doing the Thriller dance… you KNOW I wished I knew the moves so I could dance along in my living room when I saw it. Excuse me well I go to my mirror and yell “freak” at it or try out the moves. Both perhaps.
Here are my 5 favorites from the album, with “Thriller” being my favorite.
In addition to Cyndi Lauper, I also had the “Electric Boogie” (AKA “Electric Slide”) in my head this morning. Yet I have not been to any weddings or anything lately. But I know the moves. Oh yes I do. And no I will not demonstrate them unless the song is playing loud and clear. Do you know them?
The video above is from the 1990 release of the song on her album “Carousel”, though the song was first created in 1976. The “Electric Slide” dance was created in 1974, setting the stage for all the other line dances that most people either run to or run away from. See “The Macarena”. (And yes, I know that one too. Oh tasty alcoholic beverages, what have you done to me!? Oh who am I kidding… I was sober!)
Here is the “how to” for the “Electric Slide” by the creator of the dance, Ric Silver:
This song was in my head as I awoke. Cyndi Lauper is a good litmus test for whether you love or hate 80’s music, or should I say “New Wave”. I remember seeing this a gazillion times on MTV and my sister was a big fan as I recall. Somewhere I have a picture of her with Cindi Lauper hair. I should pull that out to show her husband. Heh heh.
Oh and children of the 90s or later, it was not too difficult to pick up the old table phones the wrong way because both ends looked the same and it could be put back on the receiver either way. I guess that’s just one of the things that makes me an old person now. Whatever!
I had asked a coworker of mine from India for music suggestions from India, and after suggesting some more traditional Indian tabla artists like Zakir Hussain and classical flute like Hariprasad Chaurasia, he showed me his “western” music. If I recall this was at the top of the list followed by the likes of Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Hillary Duff, etc. I was surprised to see such a purely pop influenced collection, but I suppose it makes sense that with the success of the Bollywood musicals and “The Wests’ music industry” blasting pop music abroad, pop music would have its appeal to my friend more so than other genres. Here we have to ignore pop music some of the time or it would be the only sound anyone ever heard.
Then again, who am I to talk. I’m a music freak. I currently have this song on my iPod for when I go running.
I had nothing except more Franz Ferdinand stuck in my head this morning, but I just posted them the other day. So I was glancing through my MP3 collection and was immediately drawn to this song. Why? Who knows. Perhaps it is the mix of the dance-pop sound with the Chinese string in the background. (I think it is a liuqin perhaps?). Perhaps because it looks like it is going to be a nice day and I’m feeling frisky & I want to go play in the sunlight like a kitten? Perhaps I want to roll around in a table covered with black goo in front of my guests just like Christina Milian? I know you must be thinking “I feel the same way” or “Freak!” Whatever. Just listen to the hot song already!
Even though I clearly listen to a variety of music, I must admit I’m weak in genres like Urban Pop, R&B, and Rap. I dabble in them and I have some individual songs, but very few albums. Any suggestions? Any “must haves”?
Time for some “girl music”… er… Madonna remixing Abba. I suppose most people would consider it “girl music”, but really it is just super pop-y dance music (aka Europop) with a trance like twist. Ok so most of you are probably saying, “yeah, that’s still ‘girl music’”. It is odd that I feel like I have to legitimize a musician as successful as Madonna but here me out…
Madonna is like candy to me musically. Not very deep or anything. But she frequently has a catchy melody, and a catchy beat (excellent for running to, by the way.) She still has just a touch of the 1980s in her music too, even though she has evolved musically, and I am a huge 1980s music lover. These things keep me listening to her even though it is ‘not cool’ among either my Indie or ‘manly music’ listening friends.
You cannot deny that Madonna as a musician is hugely influential and clearly deserved her place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Like it or not, she paved the way for Brittney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Fergie, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, most of the American Idol singers and so many other popular musicians. She has also managed to evolve her music past the 1980s and is still going platinum with just about every album at the age of 50, unlike some of her contemporaries, e.g. Michael Jackson, who lost their way musically (and yes, yes… he lost his way in other ways too).
I think this song “Hung Up” is an excellent example of just how good she is. She has sampled “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” by Abba, a 1979 song that came out only 3 years before her first release in 1982, and made this song her own. I think she even improved upon it. The whole dance floor bit in the video with the boom box it is like she is reminiscing at the same time, perhaps even poking a little fun at the late 70s and early 80s with her pink leotard and purple sequin belt, which I also indicates some brilliance on her part.
To the guys… er… manly men still reading out there…
Perhaps Europop isn’t your thing? That’s fine. I appear to be a freak (musically) and see value in just about every genre out there. Not all music is for everyone, and it is very unlikely you’d like every song of the day I post.
I’m sorry if your masculinity is threatened in some way by this post. May I suggest some of my other posts like Led Zeppelin or God Lives Underwater to restore you to your proper testosterone levels?
PS: I love “The Family Guy”, the FCC episode at the beginning of Season 4, SO funny! And the song! Ha!
PPS: Although Madonna also has songs listed under Rock and Roll, Trip Hop, Trance and Country, I’m leaving this post off of those genre tags so not to cause confusion.
Listen on Blip.fm!