Category: Listen to this!

Just when you thought those crazy Muppets were all but passé in this brave new millennium -- merely a very fond memory from decades past -- leave it to the internet to breathe new life into old felt.Posted on the MuppetsStudio YouTube page, and passed around FaceBook like a flu bug, the video below has done over a million hits a day (... wow, this internet thing might really take off). Performing Queen's legendary Bohemian Rhapsody, and doing a pretty good job of aping the original video...

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You know those viral videos that your mom sends you? The ones meant to give you a smile or a laugh -- most of which are cute but disposable. Well, here's one that is possibly the greatest cheer-you-up-from-the-doldrums video I've ever seen. It did, in fact, put tears in my eyes. According to YouTube, this thing has already gotten more than 10,000,000 views, so perhaps you've seen it, but it was new to me. I'm reproducing the text as it was sent:This video was made in the Antwerp, Belgium Ce...

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Billy Joel has been my favorite singer/songwriter for over three decades now. And while I could go on at length about this legendary Piano Man ... I'm not here to talk about him. I want to talk about his daughter. I've known for years that the man sired a little girl with his one-time wife, and erstwhile Uptown Girl, Christie Brinkley. And that Alexa Ray Joel, in addition to being a dead ringer for her father, was interested in a music career. However ... two things have shocked me of late....

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Paul McCartney returned to The Ed Sullivan Theater last week (July 15th, 2009), the same stage where he and the other Beatles were introduced to America back on February 9th, 1964 (an estimated 73 million people were watching). David Letterman has been trying for years to get the iconic performer on his Late Show, and finally succeeded. Dave clearly knew what he had on his hands here, as he dedicated nearly the entire episode to Sir Paul. Paul did sing and play on the show, but rather than ta...

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You never know what you're gonna come across on You Tube. One could simply type gibberish, ^D#&*$k*(PJ@, and they would probably have a video for that. I have championed other obscure YouTubers before on this site -- but with over 11,000 subscribers, this person hardly needs my help. I don't even know much about her, except that ...Her name is Molly. She hails from Orange County. Her You Tube signature is sweetafton23. And she totally rocks on the ukulele.Check her out -- this is prett...

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I'll admit to having a crush on Zooey Deschanel since I first saw her 10 years ago in Cameron Crowe's wonderful "semi-autobiography" Almost Famous. (She played the protagonist's older sister, Anita.) Lately, she's made herself a nice little acting career in films like The Good Girl, Failure To Launch and, of course, Elf.If you've seen that last film (and if you haven't, go rent it now), you know that in addition to being adorable, Zooey can sing. In 2006, after recording a song with renowned ...

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Given its massive radio play, I'm sure you know about the Elvis Presley Christmas Duets album that was released by Sony BMG a couple of months ago. In particular, the cover of Blue Christmas with Martina McBride. But have you seen the video?Using footage from Elvis' '68 Comeback Special, some digital wizards have magically inserted Martina onto the stage with Elvis, and dang if it don't look convincing. Especially since they went to such pains to make the lovely lady look of the period ... in...

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Turkey, stuffing, green-bean casserole, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and loooong post-meal naps -- Thanksgiving staples all. But lest we forget another holiday fixture that you may (or may not) hear on your local radio station: folk-singer, hippie-activist Arlo Guthrie's iconic 1969 anti-war song, Alice's Restaurant. If you are thirty or older, you probably know the chorus to this one by heart. If you are under thirty, probably not so much. (Arlo is the son of folk legend Woody Guthrie.)How ...

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Okay, I'll admit we've got a post here that is way out of left field.I stumbled across some videos of talented organists playing movie themes on ginormous pipe organs in church cathedrals. Specifically, John Williams' majestic scores from Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars. You wouldn't think the congregations would be down with such secular (gasp!) music being played during their services, but they all seem to love this.If you've never heard these iconic marches played in such a m...

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I love rockabilly. Always have, always will. I also think Brian Setzer is the most underrated guitar-slinger around. I have posted before about my affection for the Stray Cats -- click that link for some of their hottest licks. In the years (sigh, decades) since their formation, the pompadoured one has gone on to carve his own unique path along the melodic frontier.The Brian Setzer Orchestra doesn't get a lot of radio play, but that doesn't mean their fans aren't legion. They are and I coun...

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WORDSLINGER'S NOTE: Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I am closing in on the tail end of the book edit and that has consumed all my time. When that is finished next week, I will devote much more of my time posting on this blog. Thanks for your patience. In the meantime, I thought I'd put up an easy one ...I'm an Elvis fan. I've made no bones about that here. Or here. I've also argued that if any contemporary music artist comes close to matching the beauty, talent and charisma of Elvis...

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I like to think I've got pretty eclectic tastes in music. I can go from AC/DC to Frank Sinatra to Hank Williams without batting an eye. But I've recently rediscovered an artist who I grew up listening to and who I kind of forgot -- hard to believe since his name is almost the same as mine. Of those three aforementioned artists, he is probably closet in style to Frank Sinatra, but he was never part of the Rat Pack. I'm speaking, of course, about Andy Williams.This living legend has recorded 1...

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While I was searching YouTube to replace the theatrical trailer for my write up about Cool Hand Luke, I came across a video of Harry Dean Stanton singing Just A Closer Walk With Thee from that movie. The picture quality was horrendous (a video camera pointed at a TV) but the song was just as good as ever.From there I started listening to a few other takes on this old gospel standard -- there are scores of them on that video channel -- and now that it's good and stuck in my head, I thought I'd p...

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WORDSLINGER'S NOTE: Sorry I haven't posted in awhile everyone ... between working full-time and editing the book, there hasn't been a lot of time to blog. Change is coming -- I'm downgrading to part-time work so I can dedicate more hours to writing and working on this site. Life's too short to waste time doing things you can't be passionate about. Here's a quick post to tide you over.Depressed? Down in the dumps? Brain synapses misfiring? Hey, we all get that way sometimes. You can either...

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I'm not that familiar with Britain's Got Talent, yet while surfing YouTube today, I came across a couple of videos that totally destroyed me. Maybe I'm a big softy, but six-year-old Connie Talbot's unbelievably moving take on the classic Somewhere Over The Rainbow, reduced me to a blubbering mess. The panel - including Simon Cowell - are also visibly moved by this performance.I'm posting both the audition and finale versions of this. Check them out and let me know what you think. (More info ...

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I was watching American Idol a couple nights ago, and despite some great, moving performances, I started thinking about - of all things - Judy Garland. I wondered if time frames had been different, how the young star would have fared on Fox's talent show.Randy would probably have told her, "I'm not feeling it, dog." Paula would have loved her "colors." And I suspect Simon (who, in Season 5, requested Katherine McPhee sing one of his favorites, Somewhere Over the Rainbow) would have called her...

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No reason for posting this except ... I've always been a huge fan of Billy Joel, I'm in the mood to hear some right now, so why not share some of his classics?The living legend has sold in excess of 150 million albums worldwide. He is the sixth best-selling recording artist in the United States. He was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame (1992), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999). While he "retired" from recording pop music in 1993, he returned to touring in 2005, covering many ...

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After recently watching and reviewing Bonnie And Clyde, I had Foggy Mountain Breakdown stuck in my head for a few days ... hey, there are lots worse songs to have playing incessantly in your noggin. I figured I could fix the problem by actually listening to it again, so I hopped on YouTube and ... boy did I find something pretty cool.Earl Scruggs and Steve Martin (along with an all-star band, including Marty Stuart and Vince Gill) on The Late Show, pickin', grinnin', and doing a pretty kick ass...

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I've made no bones about the fact that I love not only Elvis, Johnny and Jerry Lee, but the entire 1956 Sun Records catalogue. The time and place that a bunch of young, talented, greasy-haired hooligans congregated in Sam Phillip's little studio and invented something we call rock and roll. Mixing gospel, hillbilly and blues -- only in Memphis, folks -- the term at the time was rockabilly.Jump ahead a quarter century or so and that unique sound, once so vital, had grown somehow quaint. At leas...

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So ... I'm surfing through You Tube, looking for something interesting to blog about and while I was about to do something regarding Judy Garland and George Gershwin (which I still might do), I found something pretty remarkable.I must confess, until last year I was not that familiar with Fiona Apple. It was her song (and album) Extraordinary Machine that truly captured my attention. As a huge fan of old American standards, Extraordinary Machine sounded like Rosemary Clooney on acid ... and I m...

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I'm putting up this post because I'm a big Presley fan, and ... well, I'm in the mood for a little Elvis this morning. So why not post a few of my favorites? Most of the Elvis songs I'm fond of were never huge hits, and nearly all of them are from early in his career. I also think one of the greatest periods in music history is 1956 Sun Records.After searching out available songs on Google Video and You Tube, and finding a treasure trove, I've decided to a do a series of posts, categorized by...

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