Category Archives: Music Blog

Jay-Z and Alicia Keys Empire State of Mind

Posted on by

Growing up in Jersey hearing Sinatra’s New York, New York with my parents who were big fans of Frank Sinatra, I had always this special appreciation for that song and his tribute to NYC, or “The City” as we call it here. No NYC, just “The City”.  As I got older, there was Billy Joel’s New York State of Mind. A softer more delicate recognition from a man on Long Island. I moved away form this part of the country in 1995 and whenever I visited the family would make a trip into The City because I missed it. Now, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys Empire State of Mind.

 

Coming back to this part of the world and country this year has reacquainted me with The City and all its beauty and passion. I am glad to be back here and when I heard Jay-Z and Alicia Keys Empire State of Mind upon my return, I felt like they were singing this one to me and for me. I almost tear-up every time I hear this song, not sure why but I do.  The lyrics of Jay-Z and the force and sheer beauty of Alicia Keys’ voice resonate with me in a way few songs do. The fact that it is great to dance to and fits in with most crowds the way New York, New York has is a professional DJ’s little treasure. Seeing the video just further reminds me of what I love about The City.

 

When I was providing professional DJ services recently for a wedding between a man from Scotland and a woman form South Korea, they both requested I ended the night with Jay-Z and Alicia Keys Empire State of Mind as a tribute to their new home for their families who traveled from far away. My sense is that this song will live on long from now the way Sinatra and his legacy has as well.

Jay-Z and Alicia Keys Empire State of Mind:

http://youtu.be/0UjsXo9l6I8

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Beyonce Single Ladies (Put A Ring On it)

Posted on by

It is still hard to imagine how globally popular Beyonce really is. I remember many times walking down streets of South Korea or Mongolia or Taiwan and hearing Beyonce Single Ladies (Put A Ring On it) blaring out of stores when passing by. It was typically a refreshing sound for me as an American in Asia. Most of the pop music there is an a language either I cannot speak at all or limited at best.

 

Young girls would ask me what the words of the song Beyonce Single Ladies (Put A Ring On it) meant from their American hero Beyonce. I would teach them words like ‘ring’ and ‘marriage’ and ‘it’ while watching them want to learn for the first time with vigor and passion. The same happened when Michael Jackson died with some of his songs like “Thriller” in particular.

 

I am not able to say why this global explosion for Beyonce has occurred. it is not that I doubt her talent or music, but she has a worldwide image that very few can rival. This song in particular, Beyonce Single Ladies (Put A Ring On it), has reached audiences and women everywhere. Whether the crowd is Indian, Korean or American, play Beyonce Single Ladies (Put A Ring On it) and the women will get up and dance. Another example of how music can erase boundaries as little else can.

 

It is equally surprising how this song has become a staple in the life of a professional Wedding DJ. A significant percentage of wedding Brides have Beyonce Single Ladies (Put A Ring On it) as the Bouquet Toss Song. I wonder how Beyonce feels about her song having that kind of appeal and use by professional Wedding DJs throughout The USA?  I am curious if professional Wedding DJs will still be playing this at most wedding in ten years from now?

Beyonce Single Ladies (Put A Ring On it):

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Fergie Clumsy

Posted on by

Fergie of Black Eyed Peas fame makes one of her own here in Fergie Clumsy. She samples one of the great lines in American Movie and music, “Girl Can’t Help It” from a 1956 comedy/musical film, starring Jayne Mansfield, Tom Ewell, and Edmond O’Brien. The song was by rocker Little Richard. The video does a nice job of referencing the time period of Mansfield and the ‘Blonde Bombshells’; Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mae West to name a few.

Girl Can’t Help It movie’s influence on rock music is significant. The Girl Can’t Help It film and its music reached Liverpool, England in the early summer of 1957. The featured cameo performances of early rock ‘n’ roll stars such as Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, and Gene Vincent and His Bluecaps, fascinated a 16-year-old named John Lennon by showing him, for the first time, his “worshipped” American rock ‘n’ roll stars as living humans and thus further inspiring him to pursue his own rock and roll dream.  On July 6, 1957, 15-year-old Paul McCartney’s successful audition to join John Lennon’s earliest rock group The Quarrymen opened with Paul picking up one of the groups’ guitars and performing “Twenty Flight Rock” in the same manner as he saw it played by Eddie Cochran in The Girl Can’t Help It.

Below is the original trailer for the movie Girl Can’t Help It that Fergie Clumsy got its inspiration.

And this little clip that is what being a “blonde bombshell” is all about:

Fergie Clumsy is a great song for a professional DJ to segue from a slower music to a faster tune to get a crowd ready for more energy and dancing.

 

Fergie Clumsy:

http://youtu.be/-pOyb6_GTjk

 

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

 

Santa Esmeralda Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood

Posted on by

There have not been many times that a Flamenco inspired song makes a hit on the Billboard charts in the USA but Santa Esmeralda Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood was an exception; twice. The first was released at the peak of the Disco era as a long dance song that was an entire side of an album but was released as a single in a shorter version similar to the one in the You Tube video. Round two was from the movie Kill Bill. Then Santa Esmeralda Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, became even larger since the movie scene enhanced the music to many new listeners.

 

As a professional DJ, Santa Esmeralda Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood has many positive qualities besides the obvious hard-driving beat. It allows a professional DJ to mix it in from many genre without losing the feel of what is being played. This is true for Disco, Dance, and most Latin rhythms, especially Flamenco. Santa Esmeralda Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood in its longer form has many places to mix in or out since there are several breaks with just the beat, clapping and guitar not audible in this version posted here. People also love the opportunity to ‘spread their wings and fly’ while dancing during the long version  of Santa Esmeralda Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,and its constant beat with layers of textured instrumental and vocal arrangements.

 

If you can find a copy of the album version or 12″ dance version on vinyl of Santa Esmeralda Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, you will be pleasantly surprised by the remake of an old Animals song. Another song for professional DJs to use for mixing genre.

Santa Esmeralda Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood:

http://youtu.be/Oso0ieD8-tI

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

The Buggles Video Killed The Radio Star

Posted on by

At the time, this did not seem like much of a video or a vision for what is to come. Thirty years later The Buggles Video Killed The Radio Star, it is difficult to imagine the music industry without video! Try to imagine Beyonce without her dances or Michael Jackson without Thriller. Somehow, they knew and saw the future.

 

This The Buggles Video Killed The Radio Star is also a great piece for trivia. The Buggles Video Killed The Radio Star was the first song played on MTV!

http://youtu.be/Iwuy4hHO3YQ

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Scissor Sisters Comfortably Numb

Posted on by

When listening and watching this video Scissor Sisters Comfortably Numb on You Tube today, I was struck by the passion and voracity that people who chose to comment shared their opinions on this and the original version by Pink Floyd. It does not seem important to share my particular opinion, but what does some important is how personal the comments are! It is as if you we were stealing somebody’s only child from them, not a subjective comment on a pop song covered from classic rock legends. Why is this?

 

Why do we feel so emotionally charged about sharing our feelings about music?

 

What about music facilitates such force and even anger or sexuality?

 

Why are we insulted by someone disagreeing with our musical taste?

 

What do Pink Floyd think of this version of Scissor Sisters Comfortably Numb? Are they happy that more than thirty years later people still find value in their music or downright offended at the lightness of such a heavy, inward song?

 

Does it matter what they think about Scissor Sisters Comfortably Numb?

Will the ‘genre wars’ ever end?

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Queen and David Bowie Under Pressure

Posted on by

Another ground-breaking music video. Queen and David Bowie collaborate to make this song and video. It portrayed what real poverty and stress are through the use all kinds of clips. It really gave the viewer an opportunity to experience ‘pressure’ through the lyrics and the images. Unlike most videos at the time, they were not as focused on being cool or sexy but actually sharing a message with grace and force.

 

Of course, Queen and David Bowie  were not the first to do so, nor the last. At the time, it stood out from the rest of the pack. The production quality of the images were of the highest level. Music, songwriting and lyrics were right up there as well. This is one of the music videos that those in the business use as a barometer for what is possible with some creativity and skill.

 

It is rare such visionary artists are willing to share billing like this. Queen and David Bowie were both on top of the industry and could have made something flashier or more commercial but they chose to funnel their collective popularity and talents to make something that mattered. I wish others would do the same. Music has always had its share of artists that give their time and energy to support social issues. This is just an example of one of the better efforts in that regard.

“Why can’t we give love, give love, give love?… This is our last dance. This is our last dance.”

It is interesting how the sound quality and production sound just like the stuff being produced today. A professional DJ can mix Queen and David Bowie with current stuff and there is no drop-off in audio quality or technology. I do, and people seem to like it!

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Walk This Way

Posted on by

Walk This Way. Run-D.M.C. was a Hip Hop group from Hollis, in Queens, NYC. Founded by Joseph “RUN” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, the group is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of Hip Hop.

 

They were the biggest act in Hip-Hop throughout the 1980s and are credited with breaking Hip Hop into mainstream music. They were the first group in their genre to have a Gold record and be nominated for a Grammy. The group was among the first to show how important the MC/DJ relationship was. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked them number 48 in their list of the greatest musical artists of all time.

 

Walk This Way, the song and video became one of the biggest hits of the ’80s, reaching number four on the Hot 100, and cemented Run–D.M.C.’s crossover status. It also resurrected Aerosmith’s career. More than this, it was really the bridge between rock and Hip Hop in the mainstream that allowed their followers to try both genre as viable and important.

 

As a professional DJ, I remember when RUN-DMC were first commercially released. They blew me away with their force and passion in both beats and lyrics. It was not long after that they became regulars on my turntables and the clubs I was working in at the time. It was fun to see how people reacted to hearing their stuff for the first time. I knew then that they had tapped into something special. When they recorded “Walk This Way” with Aerosmith, they cemented themselves as pioneers again. There are those that say they were the ones who birthed the so-called Golden Age of Hip Hop. To me, they were the ones who made Hip Hop relevant and important to the music industry and music in general.

Walk This Way

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Elton John Empty Garden

Posted on by

Elton John Empty Garden. I still get emotional and shaky when I think of the night John Lennon was shot and killed12/8/1980. I was the professional DJ that night in a club and dropped the record I had in my hand when I was informed of this shocking event. It was and still is my “Where were you when J.F.K. was killed?” moment. This song was a tribute to John Lennon from his good friend and Godfather to his second son Sean, Elton John. It made remembering John all that much more difficult and real.

 

John Lennon was my hero growing up. His words and music about peace, love and personal action are still with me today and have shaped my being. I was crushed when he died. Somehow, Elton being a friend of his and one of my favorite writers at the time made it seem better since he too was grieving the loss of a special man personally. Elton John Empty Garden.

 

Elton had performed on several Lennon songs and even appeared onstage with him at his final concert in 1974.  When he performed this song at a sold-out Madison Square Garden show in August 1982, Elton was joined onstage by Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon.

 

There has been some discussion of which “garden” Elton John Empty Garden was writing about. Perhaps the “empty garden among the flagstones” are the thousands of flowers that were left at the entryway to the Dakota that night and through the following days. People simply did not know what to do with their grief and so they gathered outside the Dakota with their flowers and radios and sang his songs into the morning. Yoko had to send her assistant outside saying she loved the singing but it was keeping her awake so would they gather again that Sunday and remember how “John loved and prayed for the human race. Please pray the same for him.” Others say John’s beauty and creativity itself was ‘the garden’. Still others argue that it is actually Madison Square Garden where they played together especially John’s last performance. Regardless of the truth, all of them have equal and different pull at my heart, they all work for me and feel true.

 

This remains one of the most touching and emotional songs for me. “Hey Hey Johnny, won’t you come out to play?”Elton John Empty Garden.

 

I miss you John. Where are you?

Elton John Empty Garden

http://youtu.be/AABK5eY1DGc

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

A Flock of Seagulls I Ran

Posted on by

A Flock of Seagulls were really one of the bands that are generally regarded with breaking ground for other musical acts in the then, new video music scene. The wild and creative hairstyle by lead singer, keyboardist and former-hairdresser Michael “Mike” Score made them an international success with their techno sound and beats. The video A Flock of Seagulls I Ran, was also considered very creative and interesting at the time.

 

Those of us who were fortunate enough to be professional DJs in clubs that utilized videos as part of the environment then, loved playing “I Ran” since it appealed to people both as a great dance song but also hysterically entertaining to look at his hairstyle on a huge screen. This was a new and cutting-edge component to the club scene and music videos were just starting to shape the music industry.

 

A Flock of Seagulls I Ran reached #1 in several countries and is still a highly requested song today for professional DJs.

A Flock of Seagulls I Ran

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ