Tag: #MusicMonday

Why Eurovision Was Better in the 1960s: A Review

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I didn’t watch the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest. Judging from the reports on the BBC and Sky News, I’m glad I didn’t. It’s about spectacle, not song.

Rewind 60 years ago to 1965. Here’s runner-up Kathy Kirby (née Catherine Ethel O’Rourke), who represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Wow. Just wow. I love my female singers. Why hadn’t I heard of her before?

And here is France Gall (née Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall), the winner of the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest. Her entry was Serge Gainsbourg’s song Poupée de cire, poupée de son (wax doll, rag doll):

The good old days, when the Eurovision Song Contest was about music and songs. 🎵

#MusicMonday Remembering Bob Kuban: A St. Louis Music Icon

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I found out that St. Louis bandleader Bob Kuban died on Monday, January 20, 2025 at the age of 84. Bob Kuban and The In-Men’s single “The Cheater” peaked at no. 12 on the national charts in 1966.

Bob Kuban was a fixture in St. Louis. As a St. Louisan, I remember him best for his columns on local musical events in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I was bemused by this clean-cut guy calling Iggy Pop (or was it Iggy Stooge then?), who was due to perform in St. Louis, a “genius.”

When I think about Bob Kuban, I can’t help but think about his singer Walter Scott, whose lurid death has been the subject of true crime TV shows.

Listen to Have I The Right? by The Honeycombs #MusicMonday 🎶

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This week’s choice is the infectious hit Have I The Right? by The Honeycombs (1964).

Watch The Honeycombs perform Have I The Right?

The group’s lead vocalist was Dennis D’Ell. Anne (‘Honey’) Lantree in the girly pink pussy bow blouse 👚 was the drummer. I read that watching Honey Lantree on TV inspired Karen Carpenter to pick up the drums.

#MusicMonday 🎵 The Rascals

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It’s been a long time since I posted a #MusicMonday video. Today I present The Rascals at their induction into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. They performed a 9-minute medley of their hits:

  • Good Lovin’
  • Groovin’
  • How Can I Be Sure, as sung by Eddie Brigati
  • People Got To Be Free (a favorite 😍 of mine when I was a kid)

Reference:

BetaGems Lost Media. (2019, November 6). The Rascals reunion performance 5-9-97 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaXCqaR-qYA

I didn’t realize what killer musicians Felix Cavaliere (vocals, organ) and Dino Danelli (drums) were.

The Bee Gees (whom I love, love, love) were also inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Their performance was a disappointment 😞 just snippets of their songs 🎵.

On the Fresh Air radio show, Robert Plant said that The Rascals were very influential to budding musicians in the UK in the 1960s (begin 2:59).

Paraphrase:

The Rascals had a fantastic reputation amongst all musicians and still do. The quality of writing and the performance fantastic vocals and there was a great dynamism in their work. When I first started singing that song, I was 16, and to try and get anywhere near the quality and the style of the rascals in England at that time was virtually impossible. We just didn’t have the Italian stuff in the blood or the street corner stuff that they’d come out of. 

#Books #MusicMonday Read Keith Richards’ memoir Life

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LifeLife by Keith Richards
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Life, Keith puts to rest the crazy stories of him getting his blood exchanged and snorting his father’s ashes.

I like Keith’s plain-spokenness. He doesn’t merely call a spade a spade, he calls it a sh** shovel. His most memorable comment was calling the late Hugh Hefner a pimp.

Toward the end of his autobiography, Keith talks about being a voracious reader: his favorite subject is naval history. He also talks about cooking traditional English fare: he even offers a recipe for bangers and mash! This is not the image of Keith Richards that the media has crafted.

Keith and Patti Hansen have now been married for 39 years: they will celebrate forty years of marriage on December 18, 2023 (also Keith’s 80th birthday).

Altogether, an entertaining read!

Citation:
Richards, K., & Fox, J. (2012). Life. Phoenix.

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#MusicMonday Carly Simon mourns her sisters, who died of cancer a day apart

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Singer/songwriter Carly Simon paid tribute to her sisters Joanna and Lucy, who died just a day apart of each other this week, both from cancer.

Carly Simon mourns the deaths of her sisters Lucy and Joanna.

Joanna Simon died of thyroid cancer on Wednesday, October 19, 2022. Lucy Simon, 82, died of metastatic breast cancer on Thursday, October 20, 2022.

Joanna was an opera singer. Lucy was nominated for a Tony Award for the score of the “The Secret Garden.” musical. Carly and Lucy performed together as the Simon Sisters in the 1960s.

Lucy and Carly as The Simon Sisters

“I have no words to explain the feeling of suddenly being the only remaining direct offspring of Richard and Andrea Simon,” said Carly.

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#MusicMonday #playlist A tribute to Loretta Lynn RIP

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Loretta Lynn with her guitar with custom fretboard

I put together this short four-song playlist in tribute to Loretta Lynn, who died at age 90 on Tuesday, October 4, 2022.

Here’s the playlist:

  1. Coal Miner’s Daughter: what’s a holler?
  2. These Boots Are Made For Walking: you’ll forget about Nancy Sinatra (or not, now since I reminded you). Good God – I mistook Loretta Lynn for June Carter Cash on the album cover.
  3. You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man): Loretta deals with a hussy. What’s a hussy? A hussy is a woman who’s got her mitts on your man – and believe me, I’ve had to deal with one.
  4. You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man): a great send-up by k.d. lang and Roseanne Cash.

Watch this playlist featuring The Bee Gees #video #MusicMonday

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For this week’s #MusicMonday feature, I created a video playlist that features The Bee Gees. My friend Ann and I exchanged videos of early Bee Gees (or so we thought) by Messenger. She shared “Words” and I shared “To Love Somebody.”

I found the video for Time is Passing By on YouTube. The video dates back to 1960, and might be The Bee Gees’ debut on TV. This was seven years before they broke internationally. Barry Gibb was 13 or 14, and the (fraternal) twins Robin and Maurice were 10 or 11. To put this into perspective, Barry turned 76 on September 1, 2022.

Watch this playlist featuring The Bee Gees

I’ve also added The Bee Gees’ induction into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame. Barry described The Bee Gees as the “enigma with a stigma,” perhaps because of the backlash after Saturday Night Fever. We were oversaturated by The Bee Gees and the songs that they wrote for others.

There are other surprises, including:

  • Maurice’s appearance with his former wife Lulu for a duet of First of May.
  • Maurice and Robin as contestants on The Dating Game. (The third contestant is champion swimmer Don Schollander, shortly before going to the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City).
  • Robin’s funeral procession, where his coffin is carried in a glass carriage led by high-stepping black horses. People follow the carriage on foot. Not surprisingly, Barry gets cheers when he walks by.

Fittingly, Brian Wilson inducted The Bee Gees into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame. He too sang and harmonized with his brothers Carl and Dennis. Like Barry, he is the eldest brother who has outlived his younger brothers. 😢

Be sure to watch and listen to the whole playlist!

#MusicMondays The Libertines #playlist

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Thanks to my interest in Syd Barrett, I’m expanding my music horizons to include other British musicians. Lately, I got interested in Pete Doherty, someone who is also English in his orientation, has poetic sensibility, and is renowned for his drug use: for Syd, it was LSD and cannabis and later Mandrax (Quaalude); for Pete, it was heroin and cocaine. Pete claims he’s been clean since 2019.

I’ve had fun watching videos featuring Pete Doherty and his band The Libertines. As I learned, Pete Doherty was co-frontman of The Libertines: the other co-frontman being Carl Barât. Bassist John Hassall and drummer Gary Powell rounded out the Libertines. Pete and Carl have had a tumultuous friendship: Carl kicked Pete out of The Libertines for his drug use and Pete burgled Carl’s home.

The Libertines (L to R): John Hassall, Carl Barât, Gary Powell, and Pete Doherty

The interplay between Pete Doherty and Carl Barât is fascinating to watch: it almost borders on homoeroticism.

Pete Doherty and Caral Barat of The Libertines performs on stage at British Summer Time Festival at Hyde Park
Pete Doherty (left) and Carl Barât (right)

Here for your viewing (and listening) pleasure is a playlist that I assembled of videos featuring The Libertines: