Who Wants to Be A Musicaire – Music Trivia

3 Jun

Welcome to the first installment of Music Trivia! Music Trivia, the game where you all get the chance to prove that you are the ultimate Musicaire (a made up term that means absolutely nothing). Seriously, Music Trivia gives you the opportunity to answer music trivia questions, both tough and easy. This is a game for everyone. There are no categories and no genre/time period discrimination. Questions can range from the guitar proficiency of Robert Johnson to Eve 6‘s drummers name. But I’m probably not going to ask about Tony Fagenson. I find that there is a lack of challenging music trivia on the web and I want to change that with this bi-weekly post. Here is how it is going to work. Today I will post five random questions (themed posts are possible in the future). The questions will be multiple choice. After answering all five questions, post your answers in a comment. On Tuesday, I will post up the answers and who did that best. Remember, it is easy to cheat at this game, but why would you do that? No Google and no listening to songs for answers. Answer the questions like you are taking a test in a classroom. Cheating makes this stupid. If Music Trivia garners a good amount of participants (10 or more), I will make the posting more frequent and will start giving out prizes to winners. Yes, that’s right, prizes. But it is your responsibility to play the game, have fun, and tell your friends. How tough is that, right? So good luck and I hope you enjoy the first ever Music Trivia game on The Music Court.

1.) “Hey Jude” is arguably the Beatles‘ best and most emotional song. When Paul McCartney first played the track for bandmate John Lennon, Paul stopped after a line and told John he was meaning to change the particular lyric. Lennon said that he wouldn’t and it was the best line in the song. What is that line?

2.) The Mamas & The Papas is still considered one of the best folk/vocal groups ever. Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty were truly the vocal superstars of the band. Before they joined The Mamas & The Papas they were both members of an unsuccesful New York band called The Mugwumps in the mid-60’s. The other two members of that band went on to form a famous American band after the break-up. What band did they form?

3.) Soul Asylum released “Runaway Train,” a song about runaways, with a corresponding video that featured pictures and names of missing children. Because of the song’s popularity many children featured in the video were actually returned to their homes. The song was pretty good too. It took home the Grammy for Best Rock Song in what year?

4.) In Canned Heat‘s “On The Road Again” what instrument helps create the buzzing sound that follows the song like a swarm of bees. (Video Clue)

5.) The Dirty Mac was a one-time supergroup formed exclusively for the TV Special “The Rolling Stones Rock n’ Roll Circus” in 1968. The band featured John Lennon on rhythm guitar and vocals, Keith Richards on bass guitar, Mitch Mitchell (drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience) on drums and what famous lead guitarist?

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The Voice Prediction – Buffalo Springfield Tour Review – Liam Gallagher is Miserable

2 Jun

The Voice: Battle Rounds Are Over

NBC’s new singing show has been quietly successful in its inchoate format. It is not an American Idol spin-off and has put an interesting twist on the singing competition genre of television shows. The Voice features Maroon 5 lead vocalist Adam Levine, vocal superstar Christina Aguilera, eccentric pop musician Cee Lo Green and country singer Blake Shelton. In past episodes, each artist picked eight emerging musicians for their teams and then pinned team members against each other in a vocal battle format, narrowing the teams down to four artists each. The 16 artists will now perform for the privilege to stay on the show with voting now up to viewers. They will fight for the grand prize of a recording contract and their team leaders will look to become the artist who found “The Voice.”

The Voice is an appealing singing competition that brings a fresh look to singing competitions. The talent, though, has been somewhat sub-par, besides a few artists. Listening to the performers on each team, I believe that Adam Levine’s four are the most talented. I also think that the winner of the competition is on his team. Javier Colon’s haunting performance of “Time After Time” during the blind auditions propelled him into the early favorite spot. Check it out:

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Buffalo Springfield Launch Reunion Tour

Rolling Stone ‘s David Fricke has been providing excellent music reviews for the better part of 20 years and his review of Buffalo Springfield’s reunion tour is no different. The Springfield tour is exciting and the combination of original members Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay provides a true nostalgic folk/rock punch.

Read here: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/blogs/alternate-take/buffalo-springfield-launch-first-tour-in-43-years-20110602

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Liam Gallagher Is An Idiot

That speck of snot is worth more than your comments

Liam Gallagher what are we going to do with you? You just cannot keep yourself from making insipid comments, can you? Plus, it gets even more embarrassing when your doltish comments are completely contradictory. Let’s take a peek at your recent statements.

When asked about performers from the 1960s and 70s still making comebacks today he said, “All those f*ckers playing their greatest hits are sh*tbags.” First off, why are you so angry? Why do old-school rockers performing better music than you can ever play piss you off? Well, I may have just answered my own question, but do such feelings really warrant a contentious response. No, especially since they are utterly contradictory. Paul McCartney has been playing his greatest hits for over the past 20 years. McCartney, the former Beatle, was (and still is) Gallagher’s muse. Gallagher’s band Oasis were practically the Beatles of the 90s. Seriously, Gallagher flat-out copied McCartney’s material. So him saying that musicians who play their greatest hits are sh*tbags is basically saying that McCartney is a sh*tbag which would then (if you follow my logic) would be saying that Gallagher himself is a sh*tbag, which he is.

Also, he called Bob Dylan a miserable c*nt. I’m not kidding.

60’s Band of the Week: The Ad Libs

1 Jun

The 60’s Band of the Week is back…and we are still on A. When you have compiled a list of over 1000 60’s bands and artists it may take around a lifetime to do each profile. Actually, at our new rate of one band a week I know exactly how long this list is going to take us at the Music Court. 19.2 years. If I stay at this current rate the list will be finished when I’m 40 years old. 60’s music will have moved into the realm of true “classics” and popular music will probably sound like a strange concoction of synthesized vocals and electronica. Okay, that list part was a little imagination on my part. How about we get to today’s 60’s band of note, The Ad Libs.

The Ad Libs

Band: The Ad Libs

Origin: New Jersey

Genre: Doo Wop

Most Popular Line-Up:

– Mary Ann Thomas

– Huge Harris

– Danny Austin

– Norman Donegan

– Dave Watt

Name: Originally a street-corner quintet named the Arabians and then the Creators, the band broke up in 1963 and re-formed a year later with new members and became the Ad Libs.

History:

Some of this was touched on in the brief name section above. The Ad Libs were Doo-Wop musicians that started on the streets in the mid 1950s. The story of The Ad Libs can be traced back to songwriter John Taylor, a saxophonist who had been playing with big band groups for several decades. He came across The Creators, the band’s second name (at the time), when they were in their nascent stage as a street-corner quintet. After The Creators hit no success with their releases, the band broke up and re-formed  a year later as The Ad Libs with two former Creators, Hugh Harris and Danny Austin. Harris and Austin added Norman Donegan, Dave Watt and perhaps most importantly Mary Ann Thomas.

John Taylor’s jazz and big-band music influence was an essential element of The Ad Lib’s brief success. He, with George Davis, wrote “The Boy From New York City,” which will forever be known as a true Doo-Wop one-hit wonder.  The song’s mixture of Doo-Wop and big-band flavor makes it catchy and bubbly.

Group manager Bill Downs took a tape of the Ad Libs performing the song to song-writing duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Leiber and Stoller (along with George Goldner) owned Red Bird Records. After hearing the piece, they signed the Ad Libs to Blue Cat records (a subsidiary of Red Bird) and released the song in December of 1964. The song hit #8 on the Pop chart and #6 on the R&B chart at the height of its success. The Ad Libs would have to wait years before another chart appearance.

A few unsuccessful releases led to The Ad Libs being dropped from Blue Cat and bouncing around before signing with Share Records and recording “Giving it Up,” a Gladys Knight and Pips song written by Van McCoy. The 1968 release charted at #34 on the R&B list.

Unfortunately, the band saw little more success as the years progressed. In 1988, The Ad Libs recorded four albums for John Taylor’s Johnny Boy Label. The band only consisted of two original members during the recording, Dave Watt and Mary Ann Thomas. Since then, Thomas, Harris and Watt have passed on.

Most Popular Release:

“The Boy From New York City” comes in with a rare zero dislikes on YouTube. Impressive feat for The Ad Libs’ best song.

You’re Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher and Slower and Slower – Jackie Wilson, Soul Music’s Cool Uncle

31 May

It is common knowledge that Aretha Franklin is the Queen of Soul. Otis Redding is usually crowned as her king. And James Brown gets the laudatory title as the Godfather of the genre. But where does Mr. Excitement fit in? Jackie Wilson was as instrumental in the soul transformation as James Brown. He brought stage gyrations to the R&B scene and helped expand the genre of soul. While Ray Charles is often cited as its creator, Jackie Wilson certainly does not get enough credit for a performer who inspired Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley! If James Brown is soul’s Godfather than Jackie Wilson is definitely soul’s cool uncle.

The Master of Cool

Wilson hit major chart success with his 1958 R&B song “Lonely Teardrops,” a song that implemented doo-wop techniques and, because of Wilson’s powerful voice, neared on soul. His on-stage movements were crowd pleasers. “Lonely Teardrops” was written by a team of songwriters led by pre-Motown Berry Gordy who used the money from the song’s success to help create Motown, a record label that would become part of the definition of the soul genre. And there you go, a surprising fact about a popular song!

But wait. That just sparked my interest in perhaps Wilson’s best known song, “Higher and Higher,” which was released nine years after “Lonely Teardrops.” Wilson, then a true master in the field of soul, recorded this song with Motown Records’ house band The Funk Brothers. Well, he didn’t actually record it with the band. That is where the surprising fact reveals itself. Producer Carl Davis brought the Funk Brothers’ backing track to New York City for Wilson to record his vocal. After hearing the track, Wilson originally sang this upbeat classic as a soul ballad. Davis’ response?

“I said that’s totally wrong. You have to jump and go with the percussion. If he didn’t want to sing it that way, I would put my voice on the record and sell millions.”

It only took Wilson one more take to record the song the way Davis intended it to be heard. And it sold a lot of copies.

Trust me Grandson

30 May

A quick follow-up to Anthony’s new Memorial Day inspired Musical Lexicon. This is in no way attempting to steal Anthony’s thunder, but cease your Google search for “The War Was in Color,” I’m just going to post it right here. Anthony and I are on similar wavelengths. “The War Was in Color” is one of Virginia folk/celtic rock band Carbon Leaf‘s best songs.

It is also a perfect pairing for Memorial Day, where since the Civil War we have honored those who have fought and continue to fight for the privilege of being a free American. The true meaning of this day is often lost to the gas grill and the cool wetness of a dip in the pool. Many people have marked Memorial Day as an unofficial beginning of summer and this has transformed the holiday into a day of festive family get-togethers.

I don’t believe this transformation is a perversion of the holiday. Some are quick to point out that by consuming franks and burgers while tanning in backyards across the country, Americans are not fulfilling their duty of honoring the military men and women (and dogs) that keep us safe. But I would argue that our actions represent a celebration of being American and being free. I do urge everyone to take a moment today to just think of the soldier lost during World War II whose body was never recovered. The soldier who is forever memorialized in grainy black and white photographs that will inevitably wither away with the memory of him throughout time. Think of the soldier in Afghanistan who cannot be with his daughter and wife today. Salute the memory of those lost and the life of those currently serving. Here is “The War Was in Color”

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