Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

02/27/2024 Country & Western Music – Why?   Leave a comment

I thought I’d start the day off by being a wise ass. Let me set this up by explaining that I detest Country & Western music. I’m not entirely sure why but I do. My better-half is addicted to it resulting in hundreds of hours that I’ve spent gritting my teeth and cringing over the constant barrage of alleged music spewing from Alexa. I’ve been requesting for months my need for a really expensive noise-cancelling headset. Like my dad always said, “Wish in one hand and sh*t in the other, see which one fills up the quickest.” That means if I really want a noise cancelling-headset, I’ll be buying it myself. To further explain my dislike of C & W music let me supply you with a number of song titles from that genre and then ask yourself this question, “Is this real music or just a poor parody much like something from Weird Al Yankovic.

I’m, Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home” David Frizzell

“She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles)” Gary Stewart

“Now I Lay Me Down to Cheat” David Allen Coe

“She got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)” Jerry Reed

“You’re the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly” Loretta Lynn

“I Cheated Me Right Out of You” Moe Bandy

“The Lord Knows I’m Drinkin'” Cal Smith

“You’re Out Doing What I’m Here Doing Without” Gene Watson

“Divorce Me COD” Merle Travis

“I’m the Only Hell (Momma Ever Raised” Johnny Paycheck

YEEEEE HAAAW !, (PASS THE HEADSET)

02/06/2024 HOW OLD ARE YOU?   1 comment

How old are you? It’s a valid question that most people ask about a stranger when discussing them with a third-party, “He’s about 20 years old.”. People who are in their 20’s think people in their 30’s are old while people in their 30’s think people in their 50’s are old. It’s all relative and silly but we do it all the time without really thinking about it. In my case I think anyone younger than 60 is just a stupid kid and that should show you how really stupid it is to judge a person by their age. Today’s post is going to list some interesting accomplishments by the age of the person doing them. Using age as way to judge someone is just ridiculous as these examples will show you.

At the Age of 1

Mary, of the House of Stewart, became Queen of Scotland.

Brooke Shields was selected as the Ivory Snow baby.

At the Age of 2

Judy Garland launches her stage career.

Isabella II ascends to the Spanish throne.

At the Age of 3

Albert Einstein speaks for the first time.

Alice Liddell first meets Charles Dodgson (pen name of Lewis Carol) who later used her as inspiration to write Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

At the Age of 4

Malcolm Little (who later changed his name to Malcolm X) watches as his family’s home was burned to the ground by members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Bob Hope emigrates from England to the United States

At the Age of 5

Devora Wilson, Mountain climber, scales a 4000-foot peak.

Christopher Robin Milne hears the first “Winnie the Pooh” story, with himself as the main character, made up by his father, A. A.

At the Age of 6

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart gives keyboard concerts across Europe.

Shirley Temple receives an honorary Oscar for her contribution to film.

Ron Howard stars as Opie in TV’s, The Andy Griffith Show.

At the Age of 7

Helen Keller, blind and deaf, master’s a vocabulary of 625 words.

Carol Brown, who travels more than an hour daily to attend a distantschool because as a black she is denied admission to the local all-white school, motivates her father to file a lawsuit, resulting in the landmark Brown V. Board of Education Supreme Court decision which finds public-schoolsegregation to be unconstitutional.

😉😉😉

My Credentials

Age 1 – Flung my full diaper at my mother.

Age 2 – Spoke my first word (Shit!)

Age 3 – Drew my first tree.

Age 4 – Threw up on my sister.

Age 5 – Drank my first drink of alcohol (bottle of perfume)

Age 6 – Ran away from school (police found me later)

MY PARENTS WERE SOOOO PROUD

07/27/2023 Want A Good Life?   2 comments

Everyone wants a good life. As I sat thinking about it recently, I felt a few commonsense rules were needed. I’ve been around a very long time and have collected ideas from many sources that assisted me in creating this list. I’m no genius but if you follow this list, I guarantee your life will improve dramatically.

*****

Talk slow, think fast.
Remember that great loves and great successes also hold great risks.
Call your mom.
Respect yourself, respect others and take responsibility for your actions.
When you’ve made a mistake, Correct it!

Eat plenty of whole rice.
Always give people more than they expect.
Be able to sing your favorite song.
Don’t believe anything you hear and half of what you see. When you say, “I love you”, mean it!

Pet your pets.
Spend some time alone.
Accept change but maintain your values.
At times, silence is the best answer.
Read more books!

Learn all the rules, and then break a few.
Trust everyone . . . but always lock your car.
Do not bring up the past.
Good fences sometimes make for good neighbors.
Don’t trust anyone who fails to close their eyes when they kiss you.

Only swear when absolutely necessary.
When you say, “I’m sorry”, say it with eye contact.
Believe in love at first sight.
Honor your body, treat it like a temple.
Fight fair.

ANY DISAGREEMENTS? DIAL 1-800-BITE-ME



07/13/2023 “FIRSTS”   1 comment

I’m not entirely sure why being “first” is so important to so many of us. Everyone wants to be “first” not just in sporting events, but damn near everything. I was the “first” kid in my family to go to college, and it gave my parents something they used to impress their friends. I was also the “first” in the family to drop out of college and join the Army. I sure didn’t get any kudos for that move. Today I decided to research some “firsts” not just from the United States but worldwide. This is also the “first” time I’ve written about “firsts” on this blog. Let me be the “first” to congratulate myself for that.

  • Barbra Streisand’s first performance was as a chocolate chip cookie.
  • The first song Bruce Springsteen ever learned to play on the guitar was The Rolling Stones, “It’s All Over Now.”
  • The first ready to eat breakfast cereal was Shredded Wheat in 1893 (it beat Kellogg’s Corn Flakes by just five years).
  • The first scientifically planned slimming diet was devised in 1862 by Dr. Harvey, an ear specialist, for an overweight undertaker. At that time dieting was initially something that only men did, and women didn’t start to do it until they stopped wearing figure-altering corsets.
  • The first dry cleaning was done in 1849 by a Monsieur Jolly-Bellin of France, who discovered the process by mistake when he upset a lamp over a newly laundered tablecloth and found that the part that was covered with alcohol from the lamp was cleaner than the rest.

  • Peter Sellers was the first male to ever be featured on the cover of Playboy.
  • Cuba Gooding Jr’s first job was as a dancer for Lionel Richie at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
  • The world’s first traffic island was installed – at his own expense – by Colonel Pierrepoint outside his London club. It’s also ironic that he was later killed crossing over to it.
  • Courtney Cox was the first person on U.S. TV ever to use the word period in an ad for Tampax.
  • Gustav Mahler composed his first piece of music at the age of four, Sergei Prokofiev composed his first piece of music at age five, and Wolfgang Mozart was just eight when he composed his first symphony.

MAKE A LIST OF YOUR TEN “FIRSTS”

07/11/2023 🎵FOR YOU MUSIC LOVERS🎵   Leave a comment

I was recently watching an English comedian who had me laughing until I cried. His whole shtick was pointing out how badly people misinterpret lyrics in songs. It was truly ingenious, and I thought today I would pass along a few of those samples to help you to determine how badly you’ve been hearing them. The highlighted quotes are the incorrect lyrics most commonly misheard followed by the performer and the album or song. It’s all just fun and games so enjoy.

“Sleep in heavenly peas.” The Christmas Carol, Silent Night.

“There’s a bathroom on the right.” Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bad Moon Rising

“Excuse me while I kiss this guy.” Jimi Hendrix, Purple Haze

“Dead ants are my friends, they’re blowing in the wind.” Bob Dylan, Blowing in the Wind

“Donuts make my Brown eyes blue.” Crystal Gale, Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue

“Midnight after your wasted.” Maria Muldaur, Midnight at the Oasis

“She’s got a chicken to ride.” The Beatles, Ticket to Ride

“You and me and Leslie.” The Rascals, Groovin’

“Baking carrot biscuits.” Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Taking Care of Business

“Just brush my teeth before you leave me.” Juice Newton, Angel of the Morning

AND THE BEAT GOES ON!

03/27/2023 🎶OLD TIME ROCK ‘N’ ROLL🎶   Leave a comment

Bill Haley & the Comets

I love Rock and Roll. I mean the old-style Rock & Roll of the 50’s, 60′ and 70’s. The current music trends leave me flat due primarily to the unavoidable bad influences of Rap which is highly overrated and just plain sucks. Only Rhythm and Blues still seem as smooth and sexy as always. Today I’m going to throw out some trivia from the golden age of Rock & Roll for those of you still interested in good music. This trivia is a little obscure but nonetheless interesting.

  • Link Wray’s hit instrumental “Rumble” from 1958 sounded so menacing that it prompted a ban by several US radio stations.
  • In 1986, Duane Eddy teamed up with The Art of Noise, an electro-pop act, for a revival of his old “Peter Gunn” hit.
  • A bobbysoxer teen idol, Ricky Nelson returned in 1972 with a singer-song writer style hit, “Garden Party”.
  • Chantilly Lace almost scrapped a top 30 placing in 1972 for legendary rock and roller Jerry Lee Lewis.
  • The Drifters returned to the British charts in 1972 with a revival of their mid-60’s single “Come on Over to My Place”.

The Bee Gee’s

  • The Father of Rock & Roll, Bill Haley, died in 1981.
  • MC5 and Roy Wood attracted boos and worse at the London Rock ‘n’ Roll Show held at Wembley Stadium in 1972. The crowd was upset that they all had long hair.
  • The Beach Boys released a song by cult hippy leader Charles Manson on the B-side of their1968 single, “Blue Birds Over the Mountain”. Originally called “Cease to Exist“, the band gave it an even stranger title of “Never Learn Not to Love”.
  • The US hard-rock band Aerosmith made an unlikely appearance in The Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band film performing the Beatle’s “Come Together“.
  • The Bee Gee’s first number one single hit in the US, “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”, went nowhere in Britain, which is all the more surprising because it’s since become a standard.

The Beatles

ROCK ON ! ! !

001/14/2023 💥💥Music Limerick Alert💥💥   Leave a comment

I realize that many of you out there are avid music fans. I’m addicted to oldies from 1958 through 1974 and have thousands of songs from that era. I like a lot of the new stuff too but I’m able to pick and choose the ones that really get me going. While we are all music lovers, my second passion is limericks and interesting poetry. So, with that in mind I decided that today my limerick selections would be G rated and concern music and musicians. I hope you enjoy them as much as you enjoy your music.

🎵🎵🎵

By Anonymous

There was a composer named Liszt

Who from writing could seldom desiszt.

He made Polonaise.

Quite worthy of praise,

And now that he’s gone, he is miszt.

🎹🎹🎹

By Ogden Nash

A bugler named Dougal MacDougal

Found ingenious ways to be frugal.

He learned how to sneeze

In various keys,

Thus, saving the price of a bugle.

🎸🎸🎸

By Paul West

All of a sudden, the great prima-donna

Cried, “Heavens! My voice is a goner!”

But a cat in the wings

Cried, “I know how she sings,”

And finished the solo with honor.

🎼🎼🎼

By Anonymous

There was a composer named Bong

Who composed a new popular song.

It was simply the croon

Of a lovesick baboon,

With occasional thumps on the gong.

🎷🎷🎷

YOUR TURN TO HUM A FEW BARS

12/29/2022 🌞The Eighties🌞   Leave a comment

I’m a lover of trivia as you all know. Many of you claim to be as well and in recent weeks I’ve had a few people boasting of their knowledge of trivia from that era. I decided today to supply all of you with ten questions pertaining to the 1980’s and all of the weirdness that went on at that time. The answers will be provided at the end of the post. No cheating please.

1. For appearing in what magazine did Vanessa Williams, the first black Miss America, have to give up her title?

2. What movie featured the Beach Boys only number one hit of the 1980s, Kokomo?

3. What company introduced the popular arcade videogame Centipede in 1980?

4. Who sang the number one hit “Shake You Down” in 1986?

5. In commercials for cars and trucks, what was pitch man “Joe Isuzu” known for?

6. What strange and unpopular character was quickly dispatched as a Burger King pitch man in 1986?

7. What was “The Icky Shuffle”?

8. What was the name of Doc Brown’s dog in the movie Back to the Future?

9. What popular videogame character made his debut in the 1981 arcade hit Donkey Kong?

10.What arcade character was chased by a purple snake named Colly?

HOW MANY DID YOU ACTUALLY GET RIGHT?

1-Penthouse, 2-Cocktail, 3-Atari, 4-Gregory Abbott, 5-Lying, 6-Herb, 7-NFL Touchdown dance, 8-Einstein ,9-Mario, 10-Q*bert

09/21/2022 “Music Trivia”   2 comments

  • None of the Beatles could read music.
  • Paul McCarney’s real first name is James.
  • The real name of pop star Lorde is Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor.
  • Elvis Presley never wrote a song. He was just a performer.
  • Guitar manufacturer Gibson listed Jimi Hendrix as the number one guitar player of all time.

  • Sonny and Cher were originally known as Caesar and Cleo.
  • Prince played twenty-seven different instruments on his debut album, For You.
  • Iggy Pop once appeared in an episode of Star Trek – Deep Space Nine.
  • Andy Warhol was a frequent babysitter for Mick Jagger’s daughter Jade.
  • Karaoke machines were first built in Japan in 1971. The word “karaoke” means “empty orchestra” in Japanese.

TRY SINGING ALONG

09/01/2022 🎵🎵 Music Lovers 🎵🎵   Leave a comment

It amazes me just how fast this year has flown by. It won’t be long here in Maine until I’m whining and complaining about the snow. Thinking about snow and ice is depressing most of the time but I’ll deal with it by writing about things that make me less depressed and bored. Being a formal high school and college graduate, I found the following statements to be funny and sad. Funny because some are ridiculous and sad because they’re all taken from actual high school and college exams. This collection mostly concerns Music Appreciation ad Music History.

  • A virtuoso is a musician with real high morals.
  • A harp is a nude piano.
  • The principal singer of 19th-century opera was called the pre-Madonna.
  • An interval in music is the distance between one piano to the next.
  • Agnus Dei was a woman composer famous for her church music.

  • A tuba is much larger than its name.
  • When electric currents go through them, guitars start making sounds. So would anybody.
  • I can’t reach the brakes on this piano.
  • The most dangerous part about playing cymbals is near the nose.
  • The correct way to find a key to a piece of music is to use a pitchfork.

HIGHER EDUCATION IS THE ULTIMATE OXYMORON