Phil’s Faves: Videos, November 13, 2011

Posted on November 20, 2011 by PhilMaq

This will be a personal 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.

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A new number one this week as melody finally beats stupidity! Lady Antebellum is perched at the top of a solid video lineup and some GREAT TV performances!
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Top 10 Videos for the week of November 13, 2011

1. We Owned the Night–Lady Antebellum
2. Sparks Fly—Taylor Swift
3. Red Solo Cup–Toby Keith
4. A Thousand Years–Christina Perri from “Breaking Dawn, Part One”
5. Criminal–Britney Spears
6. Stupid Day Job–Wally Pleasant
7. Paradise–Coldplay
8. Don’t Cry No More–Cyndi Lauper on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”
9. Well All Right–Lyle Lovett with Peter Asher and Waddy Wachtel on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”
10. Champagne–Myron Floren with Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra on PBS

1) “We Owned the Night”—Lady A not only owns the night but top spot as well!
2) “Sparks Fly”—It’s so hard to get rid of a Taylor Swift song! It’s really just a trailer for her new concert DVD release, but it’s so darn catchy……………
3) “Red Solo Cup”—There are so many cameos in this video! I particularly like Lance Burton and Carrot Top, who puts a little red solo cup to sleep in a very tiny bed!
4) “A Thousand Years”—Besides the song, I like the 9 kajillion candles in the video….
5) “Criminal”—The melody sounds like it was hunt and pecked out on a primitive iPhone app, but the video is HOT featuring Britney on a crime spree!
6) “Stupid Day Job”—What else can I say about this one? If you still haven’t watched it, check out wallypleasant.com……………..
7) “Paradise”—Another “stupid” video in the countdown! I don’t know if this will ever happen again! A really cute video of the band trying to find each other dressed in elephant costumes! What more needs to be said……………………..
8) “Don’t Cry No More”—Cyndi Lauper sang her heart out on this incredible performance, even going up into the crowd! A lot of artists just go through the motions when they appear on TV but Cyndi pulled out all the stops doing a song from her 18 month old “Memphis Blues” CD. This was the best thing I saw all week!
9) “Well All Right”—It’s about time that someone performed a live version of a song from one of the two Buddy Holly Tribute albums that came out this year! Ironically, it was Lyle Lovett accompanied by Peter Asher and Waddy Wachtel who came through!
They did a very nice job, but what I found most interesting about the appearance was everyone’s hair. One guy had a normal cut. Two guys had shaved heads. Waddy had his usual long hair. But Peter Asher, with his remaining hair dyed a flamboyant henna color (and boy do I hate to say this), rocked a look that was part senior citizen Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols, part Bozo the Clown, and since 2/3 of his top hair is gone but what was left was purposely pushed up several inches, gave it an amphitheatre appearance—what geologists call a cirque. Lyle’s infamous hair looked very normal in comparison.
10) “Champagne”—I don’t know what the full name of this special is—I don’t think it’s out on DVD, but I stumbled upon it during a local PBS pledge drive. The band playing behind the multi Grammy award winning artist, all wore black pants and black T-shirts covered by a blue suit jacket–except for Myron Floren. Apparently, he couldn’t play the accordion with the jacket on, so he was all in black a la Johnny Cash. He was probably in his late seventies or early eighties during the taping, but he looked pretty trim, like an accordion playing “punk.” It was fun to watch!

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“Q” Bombs: November 13, 2011

Posted on November 13, 2011 by PhilMaq

A “Q”bomb, like an “H” bomb, will be my term for a music video that I consider to be subpar in music, video, or both. This will be a recurring weekly list that will focus on the worst videos that are currently on TV. I don’t, as a rule, go searching for old music videos, so that’s why it will focus on solely on current or recent videos.
I hate to be so negative about music, but when an artist takes a “bad” song and then brings more attention to it by creating a “bad” video to support it, it will appear on this list. I honestly hope, and it could happen, that this list will be less than 10 items, but I have serious doubts that that possibility will happen. We are, after all, talking about an industry that uses art for huge profits. The companies can’t help themselves.
However, at this point, I will not do a 10 worst music list. I see absolutely no reason to waste time reemphasizing bad music. Once is enough.

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A new number one bomber! It will probably stay there for a while since it’s just beginning to move up. It’s a schizo entry because it’s also on my favorite songs list. The good news is that Beyonce’s “Countdown” quickly disappeared, and I think we have finally seen the last of Jason Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem.” Three new bombs move onto the list…………………….

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Worst Videos for the week of November 13, 2011

1. Blood Pressure–Mutemath
2. Someone Like You–Adele
3. Remind Me—Brad Paisley with Carrie Underwood
4. God Gave Me You–Blake Shelton
5. Easy–Rascal Flatts with Natasha Bedingfield
6. Nothing–The Script
7. It Girl–Jason Derulo
8. The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie–Red Hot Chili Peppers
9. You Make Me Feel–Cobra Starship and Sabi
10. Shake It Off–Florence + The Machine

1) “Blood Pressure”—The most annoying video since Wang Chung’s “Everybody Have Fun Tonight”………………..
2) “Someone Like You”—I have never seen Paris, the setting for this video, look so ugly………..
3) “Remind Me” —Finally starting to fall………….
4) “God Gave Me You”—Hopefully, He’ll take this video back…………….
5) “Easy”— Alright, I’m really getting tired of this one………….
6) “Nothing”—That’s about what I get out of this video…………….
7) “It Girl”—Starting to fall before it overstayed. I like that in a bad video…………..
8. “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie”—Who are they supposed to be imitating on that rooftop? U2? The Beatles?…………………..
9) “You Make Me Feel”—Kind of a catchy song, but a so-so video……
10) “Shake It Off”—This band always gets a lot of positive attention, but this video is way too busy……………

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Phil’s Faves: Songs, November 6, 2011

Posted on November 13, 2011 by PhilMaq

This will be a personal weekly Top Ten list of what I consider to be the best songs that I listened to the previous week. Most songs will be current, but there are no boundaries. I’ve already stated on this web site that I am obsessed with music. I am constantly hunting it down whether it’s online, on CD, from my personal collection, from a library (Yes, I think the library is a great source of music–especially for music that you aren’t sure about.), TV, or radio. Since most of these sources mostly emphasize new music, the odds are pretty good that most of the songs on this list will be new. But in my search, I don’t use any boundaries for the other sources. I am just looking for good music that I haven’t heard, or happened to forget about. Everyone, including myself, has forgotten way more great music than they can ever remember-even if they are also music fanatics.
Also, there will be no rules concerning songs on this list. A song can show up or drop off a number of times. This will be the most volatile of my lists. It all depends on how much music I am exposed to during the week and what I find interesting. On really obscure stuff, I will try to include the source, if I know it.

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Pat Bergeson rules the roost for a second week! Sir Paul McCartney is the “bridesmaid” for another week! Now that didn’t happen at his wedding! Other than that, there’s a lot of shifting going on as nothing falls off…………………………….

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Top Ten Songs for the Week of November 6, 2011

1. Down at the Plaza–Pat Bergeson featuring Dan Anderson, Tom Roady, and Steve Shapiro
2. (I Want To) Come Home–Paul McCartney (From the movie “Everybody’s Fine”)
3. Blood Pressure–Mutemath
4. We Owned the Night-Lady Antebellum
5. Stereo Hearts–Gym Class Heroes with Travie McCoy and Adam Levine
6. Nut Rocker–George Bedard
7. A Thousand Years—Christina Perri from “Breaking Dawn, Part One”
8. Sparks Fly–Taylor Swift
9. Red Solo Cup-Toby Keith
10. Time Spent in Los Angeles–Dawes

1) “Down at the Plaza”—I am so happy for this song because it lifts my spirits and passes that happiness right back to me!
2) (“I Want To) Come Home”—This song is sooo great that I don’t know how much longer the “Plaza” can hold it off…………
3) “Blood Pressure”—To me, this is the best hard rocking single since Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?!” PLAY IT LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4) “We Owned the Night”—I really like the “Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh” line the best! It makes me want to sing every time, and I have three harmony lines to choose from!
5) “Stereo Hearts”—Adam Levine just nails his part! There isn’t any other male out there who can sing that high of a line!
6) “Nut Rocker”—This one might be losing a little steam, but I also know that George will be performing it live again with Bill Kirchen at The Ark in Ann Arbor on December 4th. If it can only hang on until then………………….
7) “A Thousand Years”—Christina did another very cute interview with James Shearer on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown! Just like the song, she seems sincere in whatever she says. And that smile!!!………………………………..
8) “Sparks Fly”—There’s a lot of good stuff coming out! Taylor’s run on this one may be ending……………
9) “Red Solo Cup”—Alright, the song is not the same without the video, but it still is one that has so simple of a chorus, you can’t help but sing or whistle along! Just reference Neil Diamond and “Song Sung Blue”…………………..
10) “Time Spent in Los Angeles”—A big drop by Dawes. I hate to see it when the good ones have run their course………………….

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Phil’s Faves: Videos, November 6, 2011

Posted on November 12, 2011 by PhilMaq

This will be a personal 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.

This will be a personal 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.

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Yay! “Stupid” continues to rule on my “video faves” list! But this time, it’s Toby Keith riding the top of a “red solo cup!” It’s nice that Wally Pleasant was able to pass the “stupid” torch to a fitting recipient! There’s also many new entries! Things are looking up………..

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Top 10 Videos for the week of November 6, 2011

1. Red Solo Cup-Toby Keith
2. We Owned the Night-Lady Antebellum
3. Sparks Fly—Taylor Swift
4. A Thousand Years–Christina Perri from “Breaking Dawn, Part One”
5. Stupid Day Job–Wally Pleasant
6. Gonna Get Over You-Sara Bareilles
7. Criminal–Britney Spears
8. Tough–Kellie Pickler
9. Blood Pressure—mutemath from “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”
10. Santa Fe—Beirut from “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”

1) “Red Solo Cup”—Oh, yeah! My stupidity faith has been restored! This video is catching on as it keeps appearing on the CMT High 5 Video Countdown!
2) “We Owned the Night”—It seems that Lady A at least owns the number 2 spot……
3) “Sparks Fly”—I think it may be getting another strong breeze at it’s back………..
4) “A Thousand Years”—The title may be some foreshadowing on how long the video and song might hang around!
5) “Stupid Day Job”—A large drop for Wally after a GREAT run on this list!
6) “Gonna Get Over You”—A super fun debut video done by Jonah Hill!
7) “Criminal”—Ya know you can’t keep Britney down. Welcome back, Brit!
8) “Tough”—A pretty good song from Kellie and the best that anyone has rocked that white top look since Mindy McCready!
9) “Blood Pressure”—An even more blistering performance than the one they did on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon!”
10) “Santa Fe”—An awesome national debut performance! These guys are worth checking out!

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“Q” Bombs: November 6, 2011

Posted on November 7, 2011 by PhilMaq

A “Q” bomb, like an “H” bomb, will be my term for a music video that I consider to be subpar in music, video, or both. This will be a recurring weekly list that will focus on the worst videos that are currently on TV. I don’t, as a rule, go searching for old music videos, so that’s why it will focus on solely on current or recent videos.
I hate to be so negative about music, but when an artist takes a “bad” song and then brings more attention to it by creating a “bad” video to support it, it will appear on this list. I honestly hope, and it could happen, that this list will be less than 10 items, but I have serious doubts that that possibility will happen. We are, after all, talking about an industry that uses art for huge profits. The companies can’t help themselves.
However, at this point, I will not do a 10 worst music list. I see absolutely no reason to waste time reemphasizing bad music. Once is enough.

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Wow! Four major “Q” Bombs dropped off the countdown lists this week leaving a lot of openings. The good news is that I had to really think about their replacements. The bad news that CMT continues to show “Dirt Road Anthem” ………………..

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Worst Videos for the week of November 6, 2011
1. Remind Me—Brad Paisley with Carrie Underwood
2. God Gave Me You–Blake Shelton
3. Countdown–Beyonce
4. Blood Pressure–Mutemath
5. I Love You This Big–Scotty McCreery
6. Someone Like You–Adele
7. It Girl-Jason Derulo
8. Nothing-The Script
9. Easy-Rascal Flatts with Natasha Bedingfield
10. Dirt Road Anthem-Jason Aldean

1) “Remind Me” —Remind me as to why I should like this song…….
2) “God Gave Me You”—Oh, let’s not go bringing God into this discussion…….
3) “Countdown”—OK. Let me tell you why I really don’t like this video. It has that “spastic look.” There’s too much activity as if making it look “busy” was the idea….
4) “Blood Pressure”—The way I feel about this video is inversely proportional to the way I feel about the song!
5) “I Love You This Big”—It’s falling pretty quickly now. Hopefully, it won’t last much longer…………..
6) “Someone Like You”—See the explanation for this week’s “Q” Bomb number four…………………..
7) “It Girl”—I really didn’t want to dislike this video or song. It’s infinitely better than “Don’t Wanna Go Home. Four openings moved it from a boring position to bad…..
8] “Nothing”—This is another song that was just under my radar for a long time until those openings occurred……………..
9) “Easy”— It’s actually not so “easy” for me to dislike this video, but it doesn’t know when to finally disappear……………
10) “Dirt Road Anthem”—I didn’t expect this video to reappear on the “Q” bomb list but CMT continues to show it. It’s in the High Five Video Countdown for the week. It’s been nominated for CMA awards. It may never die at this point. QUADRUPLE ODWITS!!!!
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Phil’s Faves: Songs, October 30, 2011

Posted on November 6, 2011 by PhilMaq

This will be a personal weekly Top Ten list of what I consider to be the best songs that I listened to the previous week. Most songs will be current, but there are no boundaries. I’ve already stated on this web site that I am obsessed with music. I am constantly hunting it down whether it’s online, on CD, from my personal collection, from a library (Yes, I think the library is a great source of music–especially for music that you aren’t sure about.), TV, or radio. Since most of these sources mostly emphasize new music, the odds are pretty good that most of the songs on this list will be new. But in my search, I don’t use any boundaries for the other sources. I am just looking for good music that I haven’t heard, or happened to forget about. Everyone, including myself, has forgotten way more great music than they can ever remember-even if they are also music fanatics.
Also, there will be no rules concerning songs on this list. A song can show up or drop off a number of times. This will be the most volatile of my lists. It all depends on how much music I am exposed to during the week and what I find interesting. On really obscure stuff, I will try to include the source, if I know it.

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Pat Bergeson makes it to the top spot knocking out Dawes! I think this is a superb countdown! There is a so much variety on it!

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Top Ten Songs for the Week of October 30, 2011

1. Down at the Plaza–Pat Bergeson featuring Dan Anderson, Tom Roady, and Steve Shapiro)
2. (I Want To) Come Home–Paul McCartney (From the movie “Everybody’s Fine”)
3. Time Spent in Los Angeles–Dawes
4. Sparks Fly–Taylor Swift
5. Nut Rocker–George Bedard
6. We Owned the Night-Lady Antebellum
7. Stereo Hearts–Gym Class Heroes with Travie McCoy and Adam Levine
8. Blood Pressure–Mutemath
9. Red Solo Cup-Toby Keith
10. A Thousand Years—Christina Perri from “Breaking Dawn, Part One”

1) “Down at the Plaza”—I couldn’t imagine this song not reaching the top! I liked it the first time I heard it and I continue to like it! This one makes you want to move your feet!
2) (“I Want To) Come Home”—This is the run that Sir Paul should have had on the charts when it first came out!
3) “Time Spent in Los Angeles”—Still good, but it’s peaked with me….
4) “Sparks Fly”—I hear it pretty frequently, and I still have a positive response towards it!
5) “Nut Rocker”—Competition is getting tough for this one to survive. That might be a good thing. Maybe it’ll get a breather before the holiday season…………….
6) “We Owned the Night”—This one is starting to be a “simbie” for me!
7) “Stereo Hearts”—This is just the right mixture of pop and hip hop! It’s the best one since Hayley Williams from Paramore appeared on “Airplanes” with B.o.B. from “The Adventures of Bobby Ray!”
8) “Blood Pressure”—This song is really getting my attention! It’s such a great power blues rocker!
9) “Red Solo Cup”—I can’t stop myself from singing along to this not too subtle promotional song for Solo Cups!
10) “A Thousand Years”—I have the feeling that this one might hang around for a “thousand years!” Second best ballad on my list!

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Phil’s Faves: Videos, October 30, 2011

Posted on November 6, 2011 by PhilMaq

This will be a personal 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.

This will be a personal 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.

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Wally Pleasant stays at the top for another week, but there definitely is some competition starting to enter the list. There were a number of great TV performances, and fun seemed to be a connecting theme!

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Top 10 Videos for the week of October 30, 2011

1. Stupid Day Job–Wally Pleasant
2. We Owned the Night-Lady Antebellum
3. Sparks Fly—Taylor Swift
4. Gonna Get Over You-Sara Bareilles
5. Red Solo Cup-Toby Keith
6. A Thousand Years–Christina Perri from “Breaking Dawn, Part One”
7. Hello Again–Amos Lee with Calexico from “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”
8. Blood Pressure-mutemath on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”
9. Shadowcasting–Ra Ra Riot on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”
10. We’re Gonna Party Today–Yo Gabba Gabba on “Late Night with “Jimmy Fallon”

1) “Stupid Day Job”—One more week at the top for Wally! That’s really really good for a “stupid” video!
2) “We Owned the Night”—Lady A looks like they’re having fun in this video! That makes me have fun watching it!
3) “Sparks Fly”—Taylor looks like she’s having a lot of fun in this video, too! Unless you have a good plotline, why not make it look like you’re having fun?
4) “Gonna Get Over You”—Another fun video! There’s a theme here………………..
5) “Red Solo Cup”—A video that looks like they had too much fun! Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like it’s catching on. Too bad. Maybe people just don’t appreciate stupid things……….
6) “A Thousand Years”—I honestly don’t know anything about this “Twilight” series, but I hear from my teenage daughter that the girl should have married into the werewolf family. Yeah, whatever. All I know of is that this 12/8 song shows Christina in almost natural light, so she looks the best she ever has! This video and song should be HUGE!
7) “Hello Again”—Amos Lee with significant help from Calexico did a superb performance of this song from “Mission Bell!” Calexico gives the song just enough of a mariachi feel!
8) “Blood Pressure”—First of all, I hate their video for this song. Fortunately, I think the song is incredibly awesome—which is what this performance is!
9) “Shadowcasting”—Ra Ra Riot made a rare TV appearance and killed when they played this song from their excellent “The Orchard” CD!
10) “We’re Gonna Party Today”—Alright! This is another silly and fun performance!
Everybody went crazy on this live performance! Guests included Biz Markie, Erica Badu, Bootsy Collins, Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo, and The Roots who all joined in on the insanity! It’s all about fun, baby!!!

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13 Halloween Hauntings: Day 13

Posted on October 31, 2011 by PhilMaq

For the next 13 days, I am going to list my all time favorite Halloween songs. There will be a new entry every day in reverse order, and the list will be kept on the “lists” page. I will also provide some commentary with each entry. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween

13 Halloween Hauntings:

1) “Rockin’ in the Graveyard—Roy Loney & The Phantom Movers

Or

“Rockin’ in the Graveyard—Jackie Morningstar” (Original version)

My favorite Halloween song, at least until something else catches my attention, is the rockabilly ghost tale, “Rockin’ in the Graveyard.” It starts out with the artists explaining that they’re doing it for the money. They both reference David Seville’s “The Witch Doctor” and Sheb Wooley’s “Purple People Eater” as selling a million copies, and this one’s supposed to do the same. This beginning explanation is kind of slow and extended. After this part, the song starts rockin’!

The singer describes walking past a graveyard where he sees and hears a lot of strange things made by the ghost inside. But the strangest thing he hears is when the ghost says, “I WANT YOOOOOOU UUUUUUUUU!!!!

The chorus is the best part as the ghost sings: “Wait a minute, boy/Wait a winute/ Wait a minute boy I say/Wait a minute boy/ Wait a minute/Wait a minute/Before you run away!” The song is meant to be fun, not scary, and the rockabilly beat keeps it light.

My only complaint is the intro. Jackie Morningstar did his tongue-in-cheek version when the mentioned songs were popular. Roy Loney didn’t have to, but to his credit, he really hams it up for that section. I would have dropped it for the remake. But either way, this song’s a true Halloween classic!

Well, that’s it. I hope you found a song that you liked or were motivated to check out something new!

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!

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Until next time, take care of yourself, and take care of each other!
Peace!
Q

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13 Halloween Hauntings: Day 12

Posted on October 31, 2011 by PhilMaq

For the next 13 days, I am going to list my all time favorite Halloween songs. There will be a new entry every day in reverse order, and the list will be kept on the “lists” page. I will also provide some commentary with each entry. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween

13 Halloween Hauntings:

2) “I Want to Bite Your Hand”—Gene Moss from “Dracula’s Greatest Hits”

These last two songs are very personal favorites of mine. They are also relatively unknown songs.

Song number two, “I Want to Bite Your Hand,” came out of the same cauldron that ‘created’ “Monster Mash,” with some distinct changes. AM radio was still king, and monster movies were still a hot fad. But that mash potatoes dance had moved on thirty minutes after everyone was into it. To take its place was the British Invasion, and in particular, in a very big way, The Beatles!

The Beatles were so big that one of the fads at the time was to make money off of them. This was the age before big marketing deals that pretty much started with The Beatles, but they were not prepared to stop the onslaught of merchandise that bore their name.

So Gene Moss, taking his cue from Bobby Pickett and his Boris Karloff imitation, decided to do a spot on Bela Lugosi impersonation while satirizing both The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and Dracula. An extra added touch is the Motown or Girl Group soulful backup singers that make Drac sound really hip! It is too cool for words!
And some of the words are hilarious: “And when I bite you I feel happy inside/It’s so delicious that my thirst I can’t hide! I can’t hide! I can’t hide!!!

You can find this song on a CD called “Dracula’s Greatest Hits.” It is worth tracking down!

One more scary song to go…………………………….

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Until next time, take care of yourself, and take care of each other!
Peace!
Q

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13 Halloween Hauntings: Day 11

Posted on October 30, 2011 by PhilMaq

For the next 13 days, I am going to list my all time favorite Halloween songs. There will be a new entry every day in reverse order, and the list will be kept on the “lists” page. I will also provide some commentary with each entry. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween

13 Halloween Hauntings:

3) “Monster Mash”—Bobby “Boris” Pickett

This is the Halloween song that would make number one on most people’s personal lists…and it is worthy of that honor! It is a perfect blending of two campy satires from a time when Monster movies and AM radio controlled a teenager’s mind—when they weren’t thinking about sex!

The music of the song satirizes Dee Dee Sharp’s biggest fad dance craze hits: “Mashed Potato Time” and the follow up “Gravy” (For My Mashed Potatoes).” I guess she thought she would make a career out of doing the “mashed potatoes.”

Monster movies also were a huge fad in the early 60’s including ones that were made in the 50’s and even further back than that. They were shown for matinees and on late night TV. These sci-fi classics were so popular they were even used for several series of bubblegum cards that kids would trade like sports cards. Bobby Pickett does a spot-on impersonation of Boris Karloff, who was often featured in many of the best ones, to seal the deal!

I feel there isn’t a need to discuss the lyrics because I am going to guess that almost everybody has heard either this version of the song or some awful recreation. Unfortunately, there are a lot of those and the reason is obvious. If you can’t recreate that impersonation, there’s no reason to attempt it. But many punk and metal bands still give it a shot. After all, it’s a song that “cuts” across all genres and ages. The only alternative version that I find amusing as an alternative option is by the doo-wop accapella vocal group The Mighty Echoes.

The only reason I’m not making it my personal number one is because it is sometimes played to death. (No pun intended.) To programmers, this is the only acceptable Halloween song on many radio stations and they use it like the all Christmas format uses schmaltzy Christmas songs.

It has been “resurrected” and placed on the Billboard charts many times over the years.
I still love it and I always will! And my hope for it is that it gets reanimated every Halloween forever!

Down to the terrifying two…………………………….

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Until next time, take care of yourself, and take care of each other!

Peace!
Q

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