I actually heard an extended mix of The Cure’s Lullaby earlier and it took me back for a little ride down memory lane. So I took it a little further listening to a few others from The Cure and just felt I had to post this one: Fascination Street— Extended Mix. Say no more… sit back… cut the conversation and let’s get out for a bit.
UPDATE:
Alright… gotta add this one too. Give it the full 8 minutes; you’ll be glad you did.
Okay… unusual for me, but… I saw Donnie Osmond work it out on one of those t.v. dance shows tonight using the song You Spin Me Round by Dead or Alive. Apparently he and his partner had the 1980s as their decade to represent… and I must admit I sort of gasped. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t like that Donnie was doing it and that it was he who was chosen to represent the 80s. It was that the damn band needed to give this song its props AND PLAY IT RIGHT! This song was part of the launch of the very concept of House Music. At the bare minimum it was infuential to the genre. And I actually think Donnie could have brought the house down had this t.v. show band actually played it even resembling the real thing— and of course if Donnie really let loose on his decades of nay-sayers through some cathartic dance number I’m evidently imagining in my own mind. Hasn’t ol’ Donnie (and Marie too!) endured everyone’s crap for long enough? I’d have liked to see him rip that one open like a gosh dern raptor up in dat hizzy!!!
Here is a real version of You Spin Me Round with a little house-flavuh, from someone who remembers the genuine…
Takes me back to listening to the AM clock radio back in the day. I always remember digging this one. To part of my mind I think a funny lead-in is to say “Beware of the moderns! Look how they purposely omit the traditional instruments of the funk! Nothing but keyboards, and drums, a tamborine and a DAMN COW BELL!!!”
And in 1976, with those instruments, I’m gonna testify right now that they DID bring the funk outta them keyboards and cowbells. They did.
I think the part that perhaps illustrates the great magic best is that the tune is so darn simple. Sure it was probably seen as a bit gimmicky to go all keyboard like that back in those days of K.C. and Kiss. But from my own memories, hearing plays of this song spans many eras of my own life. I have no doubt at all that I heard this song through all of my eras since 1976.
Well, I think it’s time to get ready
To realize just what I have found
I have lived only half of what I am
It’s all clear to me now
If you know the song, you know what part of it that is. I think that’s a song writer pretty much giving it to ya, lyric-wise. (Yes, I’m laughing as I write that… because, of course, I really do believe that.)
I know this journal has leaned quite often on the music critiques as my posts. It’s not really my mission whatsoever to actually “critique” musicians. I never want to put any of them down in any way. Instead I often view this forum as if I am sifting through someone’s old record collection or even doing research in the library when I come across an old gem. And this one took me to my childhood in both San Bruno and Concord, California where I legitimately remember listening to this song being played on my AM clock radio on KFRC, San Francisco.
Yeah, I guess I was about seven years old… and I was a religious listener of the night-time radio shows. (It’s true, Mom.) I mean, like every night. And I knew my seventies artists like frequent friends. :)
I remember it well… it was an olive-green, mono-speaker clock radio made by General Electric. The hands (yes, hands) on the clock glowed flourescent green at night. It was probably made in the U.S.A.
I found this artist while listening to Radio Paradise today, and I just chose to post this video since it is so soothing to me.
I am implementing a change to the format of this blog to one where I may add new posts several times a day, or on any given day. Additionally, instead of sending out an email alert for the usual Friday post I intend to encourage those who are interested to just check in from time to time to see what’s new. Some of my favorite sites are much more frequently updated than my own, and I will often go to them several times a day to see what’s new. And while I doubt I will be posting as much as some of the sites I visit, I do expect I’ll have new things to post more than just once a week.
Let’s just say I am pretty familiar with the operation of this site now, and I’m ready for it to evolve. So enjoy the video and the music in the link above. Maybe more later…