This will be a weekly Top Ten list of what I consider to be the best videos currently available on TV. I don’t, as a rule, go searching for old music videos, so that’s why it will focus mostly on current or recent videos. For this category, I am also going to include any live performances on talk or variety shows that I see during the week.
Top 10 Videos and Performances for the Week of February 23, 2014
1. Nora Jane Struthers & The Party Line (Featuring Joe Overton, Drew Lawhorn, and Nick DiSebastian) Live at The Ark in Ann Arbor, MI, February 21, 2014
2. Burn—Ellie Goulding
3. Heartbeat—Jillian Rae
4. Human—Christina Perri
5. Whatever She’s Got—David Nail
6. The Heart of Dixie—Danielle Bradley
7. Happy—Pharell Williams
8. All of Me—John Legend
9. Friday Night—Eric Paslay
10. Chillin’ it—Cole Swindell
This will be a weekly Top Ten list of what I consider to be the best videos currently available on TV. I don’t, as a rule, go searching for old music videos, so that’s why it will focus mostly on current or recent videos. For this category, I am also going to include any live performances on talk or variety shows that I see during the week.
Top 10 Videos and Performances for the Week of February 16, 2014
1. My Folky Valentine: Annie & Rod Capps, and Wild Ponies Live at The Ark in Ann Arbor, MI, February 13, 2014
2. Burn—Ellie Goulding
3. Human—Christina Perri
4. The Heart of Dixie—Danielle Bradley
5. Heartbeat—Jillian Rae
6. Whatever She’s Got—David Nail
7. Chillin’ It—Cole Swindell
8. Happy—Pharell Williams
9. Friday Night—Eric Paslay
10. All of Me—John Legend
The newest member of my Hall of Fame is a female blues pioneer who had a major influence on many female performers–Janis Joplin, in particular. She died in 1937, but here is a rare film performance of Bessie Smith singing St. Louis Blues:
Kenan Thompson, Jay Pharoah, and Sasheer Zamata did a spoof on Black History Month. Like all good humor, there is some truth in there:
A fixture in the Detroit area, most particularly Hamtramck, has been The Polish Muslims, an irreverent band of extremely talented musicians. Here they are giving their lovable tribute to Paczki Day–those over sized jelly donuts that people of the Polish persuasion use to celebrate their version of Mardi Gras. Using Yesterday by The Beatles as the base of their spoof, The Polish Muslims do a spot on cover!:
And to bring the journey back to “normalcy,” here are the Turbo Accordions of Ken Nicol and Mary Drake doing The Lichtensteiner Polka. You have to have polkas on Paczki Day!!:
This will be a weekly Top Ten list of what I consider to be the best videos currently available on TV. I don’t, as a rule, go searching for old music videos, so that’s why it will focus mostly on current or recent videos. For this category, I am also going to include any live performances on talk or variety shows that I see during the week.
Top 10 Videos and Performances for the Week of February 9, 2014
1. Kacey Musgraves on Austin City Limits, February 8, 2014
2. Dale Watson on Austin City Limits, February 8, 2014
3. The Heart of Dixie—Danielle Bradley
4. Burn—Ellie Goulding
5. Human—Christina Perri
6. Chillin’ it—Cole Swindell
7. Heartbeat—Jillian Rae
8. Hold On—Colbie Caillat
9. Whatever She’s Got—David Nail
10. Friday Night—Eric Paslay
The Winter Olympics are on and I thought it would be fun to check out this song and accompanying video of The Beatles doing Back in the USSR:
What a gold medal performance by Detroit area ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White! Breathtaking!
And with Nora Jane Struthers and The Party Line coming to The Ark this Friday, I have declared Willie as one of the GREATEST SONGS EVER WRITTEN!! Here is the official video:
Looking at love from a few different angles for Valentine’s Day:
One of the greatest videos ever made, and certainly one of the funniest, with several cameo appearances including William Shatner and Jason Alexander, Brad Paisley explores computer romance in Online!:
Weird Al Yankovic spares no expense for his sweetheart in his funny take on T.I.’s Whatever You Like:
Guys are so stupid! Here’s one of my favorite clips from Dumb and Dumber where Jim Carrey demonstrates how guys think when it comes to love:
It’s finally here! Fifty years ago the United States, and since the U.S. considers itself the center of the universe, the world was visually introduced to The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. Seventy-three million people were exposed to what England had seen for the previous two years, and fell in love.
It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. Many viewers tuned in to witness a musical farce or to see the band fall flat on its face. Who doesn’t slow down at a traffic accident and gawk or at least sneak a peek. The hype had been there for the past month as I Want to Hold Your Hand rose to #1. Who were these guys usurping our record charts?
I was a witness and remember comments from my family about their long hair. (Really? Look at the haircuts. They were just touching the ears!) Someone said that John Lennon resembled a “singing golf ball with hair.”(??!!) And, of course, there were plenty of comments about the crazy screaming girls in the audience. (“What are they screaming about? They can’t even hear the music!”)
I can honestly say that I wasn’t totally won over by The Beatles from that first appearance. Even as a child, I was skeptical. I think it was my unfamiliarity with some of the music. That soon changed. But I returned the following weeks to witness those incredible moments. And man, Ringo Starr could sure rock those cymbals–and drums! But I stayed well clear of the ongoing discussion among the girls on who was cuter: John Lennon or Paul McCartney? That was so annoying! I just wished I didn’t have to hear it!
And when I visited New York City in 1985, before the age of home-owned video tapes, I went to the Museum of Television and Radio (now known as The Paley Center for Media). The first thing I wanted to see was that first Ed Sullivan appearance. I wasn’t the only one.I found out that that show was the number one requested viewing item. It seems everyone wanted to relive those magical moments when The Beatles changed the world!
Nowadays, I can just post it on my blog. What a wonderful world!:
A fun…and kind of twisted video from Jillian Rae‘s wonderful new album. The title track called Heartbeat kicks off this Pre-Show Fun!:
Another early front runner for best of the year, also from Minnesota is from a multi -faceted band, Fathom Lane, doing Sugardown!:
And sadly, Pete Seeger, passed away but left a ton of music videos. Pretty good for a guy who was once blacklisted! Here is one of my favorite songs–of many, What Did You Learn in School?:
We should have known just how bad this winter was going to be with the first winter storm of January, Hercules. Here, the very funny–and very cute, Ali Spagnola gives her slightly warped take on “I’m Hooking Up With Winter Storm Hercules”:
Wild Ponies (Telisha Williams, Doug Williams, and Jake Winebrenner) are coming to The Ark in Ann Arbor, MI, on February 13th. Here they perform “Trouble Looks Good on You” in much warmer times. Oh, if we could only have some of that now! Anyway, I like the sultry vocals and the way that drummer Jake has his wallet strategically placed on his snare drum!:
And to really get silly, Ringo Starr made an “appearance” on The Powerpuff Girls last week. Here is the all too cute “I Want to Be a Powerpuff Girl!”:
