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March Madness Music – 16-1 Best Album of 1967

12 Mar

Selection Sunday is this Sunday and the college basketball March Madness tournament begins next week. The month of bracket crunching is upon us. I enjoy filling out brackets so much that I decided the Music Court was going to embark on a similar competition. 1967 was arguably the greatest year for album releases ever. It was the Summer of Love and bands like the Beatles and the Doors were releasing exciting and original material. That material flew off shelves at record stores and now finds its way onto the Music Court.

What is the best album that was released in 1967. We will pin album against album in this 16 album tournament. Yes, the best albums of 1967 will be going up against each other in this multi-week tournament. Here is how it is going to work.

I have ranked 16 albums from 1 (meaning the best) to 16 (meaning the 16th best on our list). Yes, 1-16 will have tremendous albums and your favorite may not be included. Many albums were released in 1967 and it is very hard to choose the best (1-16) but I am trying. There is no genre discrimination. If I feel that the album was the best, it will be on our list.

The tournament will see four match-ups in the form of polls two days a week. So, today, below, you see the one seed vs. the sixteen seed. It is a little taste of the tourny. Tomorrow we will will do three more match-ups. You vote for your favorite. You have until the end of the first round (March 21) to vote. After the first round I will tally the votes and we will move onto the elite eight and then the final four and then the finals. Here are the rough dates of when everything will be posted.

March 13 (Tomorrow: 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14, 4 vs. 13

March 16: 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10, 8 vs. 9

March 21: Elite Eight (First two matches)

March 25: Elite Eight (Last two matches) Voting for Elite Eight ends April 1

April 1: Final Four – Voting for Final Four ends April 9

April 9: Finals – Voting ends April 15 and winner is crowned.

REMEMBER: THIS WILL ONLY WORK IF YOU ALL VOTE!!!

Let's Begin!

#1 Seed: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles  VS   #16 seed: Absolutely Free by The Mothers of Invention

 

 

 

 

 

 

The favorite of the tournament has to be perhaps the greatest Beatles album of all time. It goes up against Frank Zappa and one of his best albums in Absolutely Free. Can Zappa pull off a huge upset, or will the Beatles fly on to the next round? We will see!

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The Best Back To School Song: “Be True To Your School” by The Beach Boys

28 Jan

 

 

Hey! Put that surfboard away!

“When some loud braggart tries to put me down
And says his school is great
I tell him right away
“Now what’s the matter buddy
Ain’t you heard of my school
It’s number one in the state”

The Beach Boys win purely on their ability to use braggart in their lyric. End of story. But seriously, “Be True to Your School” won the poll for best back to school song and this title is well deserved. Their overly corny, early 60’s, nauseating school pride anthem is so utterly ensconced in the education system that it might as well be sung after the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to Brian Wilson and the plaid shirt wearing members of his surf music band.

 

Don't these look like law abiding citizens

This 1963 ode to pep rallies and Hawthorne High School, the Wilson’s school in California, is cheery and so supremely hokey it kind of needed to win. Seriously, the song is so early 60’s Beach Boys mouthwash that it practically is most of their other songs in the same key. Not much ingenuity there. But the harmonies are great and the lyric is class.

It wins because of these reasons. That are not many songs that can inspire someone to want to go back to school. Most inspire young people to long for school’s end. The Beach Boys try to get you in the classroom with the lure of pride. So get your letterman jacket on and be true to your school.

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School Day, School Day

25 Jan

Nothing like crayons to welcome students back to universities after winter break. Who doesn’t like variegated symbols of joy and youthfulness? How this has anything to do with college, I don’t know, but aren’t you now happy? This post is already so colorful. Let’s keep it that way.

As some of you know, I have just started the spring semester of my senior year at Binghamton University. In May, I will walk across the stage of my school’s events center to the tune of “Pomp and Circumstances,” (which I just found at today was originally written to profile young men dying in war. A quick shout out to the Cracked.com article). I’m not Van Wilder-ing my college experience. But there may be graduate school in my future, so I guess more college can be on its way.

Anyway, all this school talk had me thinking. What are some of the best songs to listen to when you are going back to school after a break? So I have taken the time to compile a list tonight of my top five school songs. The list encompasses school pride created by the Beach Boys and school…uh…indifference from Animal Collective. It takes elementary school and college and mashes it together into this amalgamation of pencils, chalk and locker room effluvium. So, in my best Mr. Mackey, “school is good, mmkay.”

Check out the posted songs and vote. Plus – this is the best part – if you think I’m an idiot and another song deserves a spot on our list, you can vote other and comment on why your song should be on the list.

The Songs:

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Woke Up This Morning Feeling…Not So Fine

10 Aug
Replace “not so fine” with “fine” and you have a Carole King/Gerry Goffin composition made known by Herman’s Hermits. Keep the “not so fine” and you have me on this Tuesday morning: tired, achy and indisposed.
And, it just sucks. Excuse my down attitude, but, I hate being under the weather. I want to be above the weather at all times. So, today, I am taking the day off from the internship and staying in my house. But, that does not mean that I can’t complain to my faithful internet public. Yes, you get my full suffering wrath. I haven’t felt poorly in a while. Now that I do feel sick, though, I am showing a distinct bias towards songs about being…well…sick. And, whenever there are multiple songs about a specific subject do you know what that smells like? Fresh baked cookies? No. A brand-spankin’ new poll. Oh Yeah! Perhaps Cross Canadian Ragweed says it best in their song “Sick and Tired.” The line, “Sick and tired of being sick and tired” just explains it all doesn’t it.  So, in this poll I am looking for the best lyric that mentions the word sick in relation to now feeling 100 %.  Below I am going to give you some song lyrics that stand out to me and I am looking forward to your opinion. Like usual there may be other lines that you like better and I am looking forward to what you all think is that classic “sick” line.

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Best Alcohol-Related Song: “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffet

21 Jul

Apparently, Music Court viewers like the blues. “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” the John Lee Hooker classic about drunkenness and loss, took home the prestigious prize of Best Alcohol-Related Song. A very solid choice. The included John Lee Hooker video is amazing. I will admit that. But, in my opinion, as much as alcohol is very well represented in the title and in Hooker’s growl, the best song that deals with the art of bombs, shots and guns (wow, who knew booze were so violent. Nothing like alcohol personification) is “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffet. The other choices are good ones, but, heck, I am happy when I drink and I’m telling you this is just such a light drinking song. You hear me! The song is AWESOME! Okay, failed drunk attempt. Let’s get to some real reasons.

Buffet's frozen concoction that helps him hang on

Firstly, come on, Buffet has made an entire bar/restaurant franchise out of his hit and you can’t even say the man is selling out, because his other songs have to do with hamburgers and paradise. Seriously, the man is a restaurateur who happened to be proficient with an acoustic guitar. His restaurant company even sells margarita makers. Margarita makers. The song has turned into a trademark that promotes drinking. In an economical sense the song is an easy win.

 
But, from a music sense just look at these lyrics.

“I blew out my flip-flop
Stepped on a pop-top
Cut my heel had to cruise on back home
But there’s booze in the blender
And soon it will render
That frozen concoction that helps me hang on”

I don’t care if the song is corny and is the child of a man who created a song entitled bluntly, “Why don’t we get Drunk and Screw.” We are not judging great songs. I mean, this may very well be the worst song on the list. But, it is horribly catchy and has such a cult following its scary. Well, a lot of people like to drink and listen to Buffet. His name is Buffet. Look, he is an escape. The lyrics above practically say, I had to leave fantasy land, but, there are still booze back home so everything will be okay. Yes, it does sound like the song is promoting alcoholism, but, like Buffet’s annual Summer appearance at Jones Beach Theater, it is good in small doses. Look, the man puts on an entertaining show and his song is just such a pleasant drinking song. You listen to it and say, “Hey, where is my margarita.” Well, Buffet would probably respond. “You can now make them at home using this”

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