And she just did ..

Why then, so can I !  😀

Coz after all, those of you who’ve been around here for a good long while will remember that I used to post lists of my favourite numbers every so often, right ?

Right.

No complaining where there’s no action to accompany the track, btw: consider yourselves lucky that I’m so KIND !

And when I die                        Blood Sweat & Tears
I love the nightlife                 Alicia Bridges
If you leave me now             Chicago
Blackbird                                    Crosby, Stills & Nash
Memphis soul stew               King Curtis
Border song                               Elton John
Goodbye Stranger                  Supertramp
I shall be released                   The Band
Let me serenade you             Three Dog Night
Signed, Sealed, Delivered   Stevie Wonder

Today’s online The Guardian includes this article.

It’s something I’ve thought about many times .. not the death of Robbie Robertson, but of all of them – rockstars, exemplification of my youth.

“Robbie Robertson is gone and our world – once again – is diminished.”

To me that sub-heading is not overly dramatic, it’s simply a fact; something that hits home on an almost regular basis, these days. I’ve reached that age when the death of my contemporaries has to be dealt with far, far too often; and that I never actually met or even saw Robbie on TV has no significance .. I heard him a thousand and one times, so I knew him.

Just like I knew them all, the members of the dozens of groups who created the musical joy of my 20s and 30s – Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears, Three Dog Night, The Who, The Doors, CCR, Fleetwood Mac, The Animals .. At this moment my brain won’t furnish any more of those evocative names, but there are dozens of them. Any of you of my generation are shouting at me the names that meant most to you – maybe The Mamas and the Papas, or The Lovin’ Spoonful, or Supertramp ..

I fear that there may be group members whose deaths I haven’t read of because the editors of online content are too young to know who they were. I’m not sure why I feel as if I need to know of their ‘passing’ – a description I loathe that’s become the accepted norm – but it could be to do with that aspect of my character that has me arrange my now tiny book collection in author order and my DVDs by title (yes, I’ve kept the DVDs I really love). OCD, possibly ..

I appreciate the writer’s assumption that we of the ’60s and ’70s take in the reference of her article’s title without having to think about it. She knows we know.

And the beat goes on ..

Whenever I visit one of my favourite songs – and boy, there are lots of ’em ! – I have cause to reflect upon .. well, Life, I guess.

Here’s one I never tire of (but then, I never tire of any of said favourites): it’s from 1978 as you will guess from the outfit. Alicia Bridges was a knockout !

I look at her while I’m listening and think how terrific she looks: what fantastic shape she’s in – those legs ! – those arms ! And, of course, she sounds equally good, imnsho. What a time she must have had when that song was doing the hit parades and the discos ! How fêted she must have been ! She would’ve been referenced world-wide for the movie “Love at First Bite”, too – which was rendered madly popular by this song (and possibly also by the rather yummy George Hamilton).

And then there is — now ..

What must it be like to have had a life like that and to find yourself suddenly – because age always comes suddenly – on the cusp of 70 ..?

I have to be grateful for never having been beautiful or talented; for the come-down that ageing brings must be almost infinitely worse for those thus blessed ..

Some have actual performances but by no means all: I’ve gone for the original sounds, which means a lot of images of discs ..

Some are classics now, and some just hit parade material of the times.

But these ten musical items are ten pearls on my long, long necklace ..

Border Song – Elton John

Chain Reaction – John Farnham

Goodbye Stranger – Supertramp

How deep is your Love – The Bee Gees

If you leave me now – Chicago

I shall be Released – The Band

Let me Serenade you – Three Dog Night

Love the one you’re with – Crosby, Stills & Nash

Ordinary Pain – Stevie Wonder

Spinning Wheel – Blood, Sweat & Tears

Take me to the Pilot – Elton John

Venus – Shocking Blue

I’d forgotten the word – and those of you saying “I’d forget it too, if I were you ..” have no memory of how good it was.

It was my favourite music in the late ’50s. Come to think of it, it was possibly the only music on the hit parades.

And the song that’d been niggling in the back of my mind for days, working its way up my consciousness until it was all there and I could sing it, was this one ..

Just a musical note .. [grin]

No, not me .. Give me a break !!

But this-morning I landed upon a group of male dancers on YouTube who perform under their leader’s name – Ricardo Walker. It’s a video about dance’s evolution since the ’50s; and whilst I’m sceptical about a couple of them, by far the bulk are – well, take a look ..

Oh, but don’t unless you love to watch excellent dancers in  almost perfectly synchronized movement ..

How happy I was to see Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk – my favourite piece since .. I don’t remember when !

Which reminds me (no, don’t panic: I had that on my blog for long enough) of some more terrific male dancers ..

There’s something indescribably pleasing about these guys’ movement in sync., don’t you think ..? Here’s my final offering for today: it combines both Ricardo’s dancers and a song of Bruno’s.

There aren’t too many that stand out, imnsho; but one is head and shoulders above the rest:

with music by John Lurie.

(I’ve always found Danny deVito extraordinary: not only has his highly successful career included many amusing ‘little guy’ roles, but in movies like “Other People’s Money”, he is the protagonist to whom not a single reference is made regarding his height. And it works !)

Anyway ..

I was working for a Sydney group run by the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, and sent to attend a talk about Citrix networking given in a theatre not far from our building. In fact it was somewhat farther than I thought which resulted in my having to rush, but they were late starting; and I puffed in from the street, relieved to see all lights still on and hear ‘warm-up’ music still playing. I stopped at the back of the theatre, rivetted ..

“Chili Hot” ..

Happily for me, I was standing next to the bloke who was operating the sound desk whence came this super music, so I hissed urgently at him “What is that faaaaabulous track ?” and he grinned and said simply “Get Shorty !” Turned out he’d been asked that question roughly 100 times by people more conscientious than I, so there much earlier ..

Later, Stringer and I bought the DVD of the movie and enjoyed it enormously. Still more did we enjoy the soundtrack; and I can’t resist giving you one more example:

“Stink” ..

(The imagery fronting that track is fascinating: every famous mafioso features, among all the stills shown.)

When I say “clever”, I mean that these two blokes wrote (write ? – that I don’t know) songs that were wonderfully melodious and appealing, but also meaningful. I refer to two of my favourites who were both big stars in the ’70s but are still writing and performing – Paul Simon and Paul Williams.

(The “w.m. and a.” part could be truly applied to, say, “What a day for a daydream”, but certainly not the “m.”, for instance ..)

Whereas Simon’s career has been that of an absolutely successful and admired around the world musician,

as indicated by his official website (link behind screengrab), Paul Williams’ career has been much more varied,

as is clear from his website (link also provided behind screengrab).

Paul Simon has performed his own compositions I believe exclusively – that is, in terms of actual recordings, anyway. Some of those I love most are:

One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor

Loves me like a rock

— which are from the album “There goes Rhymin’ Simon”; and also

50 ways to leave your lover

Have a good time

both from “Still crazy after all these years” album, and I delight in the title track.

The ’60s and ’70s weren’t just rock, not by any means: in fact it was during those two decades that some of the loveliest songs ever written in the ‘pop’ genre (which is to say, music listened to by the youth of the day) were released.

Two of Paul Williams’ most haunting tracks are

Evergreen – an Academy Award winner !, and

The Rainbow Connection. Now THERE’s a novel version .. or not really – the song is Kermit’s, after all.

Williams has written so many wonderful songs that I can’t possibly enumerate them; but “Rainy days and Mondays”, “Out in the Country” – yesss ! Three Dog Night recorded it !, “Someday man”, “Ordinary Fool” – dozens and dozens of examples of beautiful music with terrific lyrics. If I don’t link to them it’s only because I know I would immediately wish I’d mentioned different songs.

But here’s one from Randy Newman written about Paul Williams ! You will soon learn why .. [grin] It’s a great song, btw, and you’ll enjoy it, I think. As to why Newman wrote this song .. you have only to listen to the lyrics of Williams’ Do you love me babe ? ..

So my use of the adjective “clever” should now be clear: these are men almost without peer in their industry, and they deserve all the accolades their fans heap on them.