“Q” Bombs: October 30, 2011

Posted on October 30, 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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It was a mixed week for bad videos. Both “Dirt Road Anthem” by Jason Aldean and “Not Over You” by Gavin DeGraw both fell off! YIPPEE!!!!!!! But good taste fell by the wayside as Beyonce’s “Countdown” made it on to the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown….

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Worst Videos for the week of October 30, 2011

1. Remind Me—Brad Paisley with Carrie Underwood
2. God Gave Me You–Blake Shelton
3. Poison and Wine—The Civil Wars
4. Countdown-Beyonce
5. I Love You This Big–Scotty McCreery
6. Moves Like Jagger–Maroon 5 with Chritina Aguilera
7. Skyscraper—Demi Lovato
8. Pumped Up Kicks—Foster the People
9. Easy-Rascal Flatts with Natasha Bedingfield
10. Like My Mother Does—Lauren Alaina

1) “Remind Me” —Still #2 on the CMT Top 20 Countdown. A fitting position for it…….
2) “God Gave Me You”—It just seems that this one could’ve been better for such a personal song. I mean, putting Blake with his band in such a sterile setting. The blame for this one has to be on the director…………………….
3) “Poison and Wine”—The “poison” is the video. Uh, where’s the wine…………………..
4) “Countdown”—This video is really boring. Sorry……………………
5) “I Love You This Big”—Yeah. Whatever……………………
6) “Moves Like Jagger”—The law of diminishing returns is proven every week for me with this video. This should be the last week………………
7) “Skyscraper”—Still clinging to the countdown ledge…………….
8] “Pumped Up Kicks”—Come on, guys. Do us a favor and kick yourselves off the list…
9) “Easy”—I have ignored putting this video or song on a list for a long time. But I have an open slot, so……….. First reason for ignoring it would be that Natasha Bedingfield is very “easy” on the eyes. But I’ve tried to figure out the “Cinderella” plot line and it doesn’t make any sense to me…………….
10) “Like My Mother Does”—I almost feel guilty putting this song on. Again. Lauren seems nice enough. I just don’t care for the video. Too sappy………….

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Phil’s Faves: Songs, October 23, 2011

Posted on October 30, 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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This was a great week for good music! That made the choices even harder for me! And then George Bedard goes and places a second song on my list with a pull-yourself-off-the-floor live performance! I wish every week were like this one!

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Top Ten Songs for the Week of October 23, 2011

1. Time Spent in Los Angeles–Dawes
2. Down at the Plaza–Pat Bergeson featuring Dan Anderson, Tom Roady, and Steve Shapiro)
3. (I Want To) Come Home–Paul McCartney (From the movie “Everybody’s Fine”)
4. Sparks Fly–Taylor Swift
5. Cold Cold Feeling—George Bedard at the Scarab Club with the II-V-I Orchestra for The Detroit Blues Society
6. Nut Rocker–George Bedard
7. We Owned the Night-Lady Antebellum
8. Stereo Hearts-Gym Class Heroes with Travie McCoy and Adam Levine
9. Red Solo Cup-Toby Keith
10. Chase the Tear-Portishead

1) “Time Spent in Los Angeles”—My favorite for another week!
2) “Down at the Plaza”—Holding strong for another week as the “bridesmaid!”
3) (“I Want To) Come Home”—I don’t know if it’s just the time of the year or what, but I have become totally attached to this song!
4) “Sparks Fly”—I still like it, but I think it has had its run…………….
5) “Cold Cold Feeling”—This live performance of a T-Bone Walker song was flatout the best music I heard all week! I only heard it once, but it deserves recognition. Regardless, I have heard George play this song at least 50 times over the years, and I have never heard him do it better than he did with the II-V-I Orchestra! The horns added so much more depth to the song and George dug down deep to provide an astounding vocal! If you missed the performance, you can still find a GREAT version of this slow blues classic on “Upside!” by George Bedard and The Kingpins!
6) “Nut Rocker”—Maybe it’s nostalgia, but this one still sounds fresh to me!
7) “We Owned the Night”—The harmonies are just perfect on this romantic pop song!
8) “Stereo Hearts”—Some more great lyrics: “If I was just another dusty record on the shelf/Would you blow me off and play me like everybody else?” For someone who’s crazy about music, this song has multiple treasures!
9) “Red Solo Cup”—I thought this one would’ve moved up much faster for me, but the competition is tough this week……………………..
10) “Chase the Tear”—I would have put this on my favorite videos list for the week because I saw them do it live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. At least I think I saw them doing it. The set was so dark and they were all dressed in black that might just as well have flipped the light switch. Watching it on Hulu, I think they did. I am not a Portishead fan, but I like this electro rock song. As a matter of fact, I felt compelled to “watch it” several more times after I heard it. It’s great!

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13 Halloween Hauntings: Day 10

Posted on October 29, 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:

4) “Psychic Voodoo Doll”–Deadbolt from “Halloween Hootenanny”

Or

“Psychic Voodoo Doll”–????????

Number 4 has a dual option as well, and both are also worthy choices. But there is a problem with the second one: I can’t figure out who it’s by—and it’s the better choice.

About the song:

First, I have no idea why it has “psychic” in the title. The word is never used in the song. As a matter of fact, until I looked it up for this list, I thought it was just called “Voodoo Doll.” Oh, well. It’s a very minor detail.

The song itself is an atmospheric rock song with very nice tremolo swamp guitar! It has great lyrics about a guy who is under the spell of his lover. The chorus drives home the point because he says, as multiple scary voices support him, “I guess I’ll always be/your voodoo doll.

Now this version, which is available on “Halloween Hootenanny” by Rhino Records, is quite good, but I feel there is a better version out there. I have searched for other artists who do this song, but I can’t locate it. It’s a little darker and there is an awesome thunder crack after the opening line, “You take a pin/and then jab it through my brain.” I have a copy of it, but it’s unidentified. So, I guess there’s a Halloween scavenger hunt here: If anyone knows the band who does my preferred version, e-mail me.

Either way, this one is the perfect number 4 Halloween song!

Down to the terrifying three…………………………….

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

Peace!

Q

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Phil’s Faves: Videos, October 23, 2011

Posted on October 29, 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 regains the top spot by knocking out Taylor Swift! Who could have seen that one coming?………………….

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Top 10 Videos for the week of October 23, 2011

1. Stupid Day Job–Wally Pleasant
2. Sparks Fly—Taylor Swift
3. Gonna Get Over You-Sara Bareilles
4. We Owned the Night-Lady Antebellum
5. Brighter Than the Sun–Colbie Caillat
6. All Your Life-The Band Perry
7. Red Solo Cup-Toby Keith
8. Criminal-Britney Spears
9. Someone Like You-Adele
10. All at Once-The Airborne Toxic Event with The Calder Quartet From The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

1) “Stupid Day Job”—To me, this is one of the best videos of the year! More people need to see this! wallypleasant.com
2) “Sparks Fly”—Still good, but I’m starting to lose interest….
3) “Gonna Get Over You”—I love the ending when the music ends and the security guard is escorting the girl out who appears to be imagining the video and song!
4) “We Owned the Night”—I think I like this video so much because it’s so much better than the very wimpy, “Just a Kiss!”
5) “Brighter Than the Sun”—It looks like the Colbie run may be ending…………….
6) “All Your Life”—This is not a great video. I just happen to like the song more than the other videos that are out there…………..
7) “Red Solo Cup”—Ah! The reason videos were invented……………………
8) “Criminal”—The video is strong with its pseudo movie treatment! I’m not sure I will like it as much as her last few. It’s kind of dark……………
9) “Someone Like You”—This extremely monochromatic video conveys the exact feelings in the song……….
10)”All at Once”—I really like to see bands deliver the goods on one of their rare national appearances. A band should want their song to sound as good as possible when most people will hear it live for the first time! Awesome job!

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13 Halloween Hauntings: Day 9

Posted on October 28, 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:

5) “I Put a Spell on You”—Creedence Clearwater Revival

Or

“I Put a Spell on You”—Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

Number 5 has a dual option and both are worthy choices.

I personally prefer the CCR version. The song was a follow up to their first hit, “Suzy Q.” I don’t think that John Fogerty and the band were particularly looking for a perennial Halloween favorite—and maybe for that reason, it hasn’t been. But it contains one of the greatest guitar solos of all time!

Fogerty even does his best to make eerie sounds with his guitar during the solo. And although the song appears to be just a sped up version of the original, they play around enough with the time signatures to make it sound nothing like it. The vocal is incredible, too, and that’s just because the listener is so drawn to the guitar work! I saw John play this a few years ago and it blew me away! First, I didn’t expect to hear it, and secondly, he just shredded it!

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Now, the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins version is no slouch, either. First, the horn arrangement is very strange just by itself. And talk about an incredible vocal! The spastic singing at the end plus the music is otherworldly. And he must have known it too because he usually performed the song while coming out of a casket! It’s difficult to decide which one is better. So, you make the choice on this one……………….

Only four more 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 8

Posted on October 27, 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:

6) “The Ghoul I Love the Most”—Tommy Frenzy (From Tuff Darts)

This is the freshest entry on my list. It’s basic four on the floor classic rock. There’s a very good, loud guitar solo in the middle. Other than that it sounds like something from the late 70’s or early 80’s. The melody is simple but memorable. So what’s to like?

Well, all of the things that I just mentioned, I happen to like. There really aren’t many straight ahead Halloween rockers that are catchy and melodically good. Many bands try to overdo it for Halloween songs. This one gets it right.

What puts it over the top for me is the story. The singer is the main character who goes to what he thinks is a Halloween party with costumed guests, but it turns out that all of the monsters are real! They’re all dancing to a skeleton band, having a great time, and now he’s being followed/ by the ghoul he loves the most!” My favorite line is when he realizes that she isn’t fake and falls in love with her charm. “While shaking her hand/I pulled off her right arm!!!!”

That’s pretty much it till it fades. Good ol’ classic rock and Halloween! What else do you want?

The Top 5 is left! Check in tomorrow for the next one…………………………

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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 7

Posted on October 25, 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:

7) “Haunted House”—Jumpin’ Gene Simmons

This was my favorite Halloween song for a number of years! Basically, it’s a remedial rock song with breaks. The arrangement includes an adequate sax line and a cheesy organ.

The plot of the song is pretty basic, too. The singer describes what happens when he buys a house that is inhabited by a ghost who doesn’t want him around. The fun part of the song is the descriptions of the antics that the ghost does to scare him off. He drinks “hot grease from the fryin’ pan,” and “drinks hot coffee right from the spout.” It is the only song that I know of that has the line “I had a hunk of meat in my hand.” (And you know what? I don’t think I want to know about any other songs with that line.) The breaks have the ghost questioning him, “See if you’ll be here when the morning come!” And our hero always responds that he’ll be there and he “ain’t gonna run!”

The song was later rerecorded by Gene because the words are hard to understand on the original. I prefer the original because of the same lo-fi approach. Why make the words intelligible? It makes the listener hang on the words.

It is still a favorite of mine, and I enjoy it every year!

Only a “six-pack” of songs left. Check in tomorrow…………………………..

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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 6

Posted on October 24, 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:

8) “The Creature From the Tub”—Andrew Gold

Ooooooooo! This one is really scary—especially if you’re a little kid!!!! It’s bad enough that you have to take a bath when you’re young, but all of the dirty water might cause an apparition to appear: THE CREATURE FROM THE TUB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was the mid 1990’s and Andrew Gold, who just became a member of Phil Maq’s Hall of Fame last week, had young children. He took a look around the Halloween musical landscape and didn’t like what he saw—or heard. Outside of a couple of Rhino Records collections, or the CDs that rhyme with “Drew’s,” there really wasn’t much to choose from. There was the old tried, true, and either boring or done to “death,” or just plain awful choices. So he did what any father who’s a musician that noticed there was a hole in the musical spectrum would do: He decided he’d make his own family fun music.
Not only did he put together 10 solid songs on one CD, “Halloween Howls,” but he also made one of the best Halloween albums of all time!

To me, the best song on the album is “The Creature from the Tub!” While Andrew sings the lyrics, he does an excellent job describing the bathtub textures and scene. To authenticate the experience, you get to listen in on the mother and son talk about it. The music is a staccato metronome type of beat to simulate dripping water. The musical interludes have nice little synthesizer fills.

And the lyrics are ultra cute. Andrew sings the song from the perspective of the boy and gets to describe the tub water as getting “slimy” “icky,” and “sticky” and hopes the monster “doesn’t lick me.” He even tells his “mommy, it’s not funny.” It is possibly the cutest and most creative song about a monster you may ever hear!

Lucky #7 is tomorrow……………………………..

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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 5

Posted on October 23, 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:

9) “My Son the Vampire”—Allan Sherman

I swear (Of course I do.), this song always makes me laugh. Not because it’s so good. But because it’s so baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad! It’s the only Halloween song I can think of where one of the monster’s actually has an offspring.

Allan Sherman was a comedian, who peaked in the 60’s. He made a series of silly comedy albums that usually included song parodies, and was best known for a brilliant musical letter home from camp known as “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah.” He was the “Weird Al” Yankovic of his time—but he really couldn’t sing. He was just funny.

Anyway, back to the song. It starts with something falling over. Music stands? Sticks? Hardened nuclear waste? I don’t know. It’s like an abstract, avant garde beginning, giving the song way more credibility and class. When I listen to it, especially, if it’s something I’ve transferred it to, I skip this part. It just delays the “good” parts of the song.

Doing a terribly bad imitation of Dracula, the chorus consists of him shouting “BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD”

The verses are pure, stupid genius where Allan rhymes long lines that end with the likes of “dental floss” and “Red Cross.” His dad actually is warning people to stay away from him because he needs “BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!” What a good father who is disappointed in his son!

The music is cool lounge Jazz with purposely placed wrong piano notes, muted drums, and nicely accented cymbals. Towards the end, there is even some cowbell … and woodblock! The total effect is a dark brooding song with silly words constructed to keep the listener off balance. There’s even a “ratchet” sound throughout to make the song even more irritating. But the ultimate irritation is when I play this tune around other people—for them, not for me. I’m usually too busy laughing!

It is a relatively unknown Halloween classic!

Check in tomorrow for #8…………….

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

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“Q”Bombs: October 23, 2011

Posted on October 23, 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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Well, it appears that an unexpected wave of “good taste” seems to have invaded both CMT and VH1’s video countdowns by not voting in Blake Shelton’s “Footloose” or Beyonce’s “Countdown.” But it appears that good sense didn’t last long because “Remind Me” moved back to the top……………………..
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Worst Videos for the week of October 23, 2011
1. Remind Me—Brad Paisley with Carrie Underwood
2. Dirt Road Anthem—Jason Aldean
3. Not Over You—Gavin DeGraw
4. God Gave Me You–Blake Shelton
5. I Love You This Big–Scotty McCreery
6. Skyscraper—Demi Lovato
7. Pumped Up Kicks—Foster the People
8. Moves Like Jagger–Maroon 5 with Chritina Aguilera
9. Poison and Wine—The Civil Wars
10. Like My Mother Does—Lauren Alaina

1) “Remind Me” —This song jumped back on top of the CMT Top 20 Countdown. Can anyone “remind me” why it should be #1? I’ll skip the juvenile comment that it’s more like #2. (Uh, OK. I guess I didn’t.) Brad Paisley told CMT Insider that he asked Sheryl Crow to record the demo of the song. Well, if she sang it, at least the song would be better. But if it’s the same video, just with her, it would pretty much be the same result…
ODWITS!
2) “Dirt Road Anthem”—Two videos in the same countdown, and this one can’t get knocked off! DOUBLE ODWITS!!
3) “Not Over You”—Still hanging on just below the Top 10 on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown! TRIPLE ODWITS!!!
4) “God Gave Me You”—He couldn’t have possibly given us this video……………
5) “I Love You This Big”—Scotty actually has a decent song, “The Trouble With Girls” for the follow up to this one. I can’t wait until it knocks this one off……………….
6) “Skyscraper”—The longest fall from a skyscraper. Ever………………………….
7) “Pumped Up Kicks”—The kicks are finally starting to end for this song………….
8) “Moves Like Jagger”—Almost off the countdown. I’ll go easy this week………
9) “Poison and Wine”—There is NO WAY that this song could’ve taken five minutes to write. The double whammy of this song is that it never appeared on the CMT countdown. I have to be subjected to it on the VH1 countdown!
10) “Like My Mother Does”—This one actually isn’t that irritating to me. My only complaint is that they are packaging her as if she’s Carrie Underwood……….Jr………..

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