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?
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!
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.
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.
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.
All professional DJs have a few songs we know will work in most situations young and old, Black and White, Rock, Reggae and Hip Hop. For me, Stevie Wonder Superstition is one of the songs for me. While others from the Motown era and beyond have reached higher international acclaim, Stevie has just continued to make great music and share with us his messages of hope, peace and the struggle with a forceful beats and rhythms.
I had the opportunity to see him live as a birthday present many years ago at Radio City Music Hall. A great show from a great performer. Stevie Wonder Superstition was one of the highlights.
When I first began as a professional DJ, I used to play Stevie Wonder Superstition on ’45’ nearly every show and was always accepted well. In fact, the old ’45s’ on vinyl when played too often would get ‘burned’ and make a noise from the groove it produced from over-play when played in the beginning. This is one of the records I needed to replace due to professional DJ burn. Today, I seem to still get that same response from all audiences. While it is easier to use Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna as back-up plans; I like to use call on my old friend Stevie Wonder Superstition.
Enjoy the performance of Stevie Wonder Superstition!
It is hard to imagine that there was a time music existed before The Beatles. I realize how short-sighted that is to write but still what’s on my mind. For those who were not born yet to witness Beatlemania, there is not really a way to accurately convey just how big they were and how quickly it happened. If you can visualize Beyonce, Lady GaGa, Akon, Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus all wrapped into one band in its impact and complete domination of the Billboard charts. They were their only real competition for many years. In 1964, during the week of 4 April, the Beatles held twelve positions on the singles chart, including the top five. Just to make sure you understood what was just written, The Beatles had the top five songs and twelve in general! The Beatles First Visit to USA!
The influence of The Beatles still continues today. They were the avalanche that made the British Invasion what it became and paved the road for the British artists in America today. The mindset of peace and imagining a world with equality, respect and freedom for all are still with us. The legacy of The Beatles outlasted their actual careers together as a musical group. They were together for less than a decade and here we are almost forty years later still listening to and appreciating their greatness and artistry. From the days of cute ‘moptops’ to Sargeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and finally Let It Be, The Beatles have left their mark globally and definitely for me personally. The Beatles First Visit to USA!
I remember the first ’45’ I owned was The Beatles I Want To Hold Your Hand. It is where this all started for me. In a world dominated by performers more interested in being noticed by paparazzi than trying to create world peace and love, groups like The Beatles are missed. Maybe it is time for some of the major acts of today to step-up and lead the way for the next generation. The Beatles First Visit to USA!
The Beatles First Visit to USA! Who will be the ones to do this?
It was June 30, 1985. America was in transition from the laid-back feeling of the 60’s and 70’s to an electronic culture with a new generation focused on different things than equality, peace and love. They were the beginning of the generation of ‘me’. And the ‘me’ generation had their owns interests and agendas, one of them in the front of the train was money and material possessions. So who better to write and place this in the face for all to see than Madonna Material Girl?
Her hit, Madonna Material Girl, marked this shift in cultural focus clearly with no apologies or excuses. She was bold enough to make a video demonstrating just who she and this new generation were in diamonds and glitter. It is hard to know whether she was writing about herself specifically or just making a statement but either way we all knew that the times has changed and money was now was the goal and direction of the country and individual. President Reagan had done his thing and we were an economically strong country, affluence was the norm not the exception among certain racial and cultural groups.
I am not certain the same video or song would hold the same impact and weight today as it did then. Affluence has been such an undercurrent that it is accepted as how we exist now. The days of sharing and leaving doors unlocked have been replaced by SAT prep classes and parents writing high school students college personal statements and having them proofed by a college entrance application proofreader. Today education is focused on tests, not learning. Students volunteer for resumes, not service today. Madonna forecasted this. Enjoy Madonna Material Girl!
I remember when my brother first brought home Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon. For me as an adolescent, the music was so far out of my scope of what music was and could be I did not know what to do with it. It was another year or two later before I was able to appreciate the creative sounds and energy they produced. The album graced his turntable often during those years. Soon after, it became an old friend of mine as well, with Money Pink Floyd being one of the first songs that caught my attention. The rest of the album followed shortly.The album went on to become the longest running on Billboard charts in history, its run was an unbelievable 781 weeks! Yes, you read that correctly, this album was on the Billboard charts for 781 weeks! This is about fifteen years!
Let’s put that in perspective. George W. Bush and Bill Clinton together were U.S. Presidents for sixteen years. Seinfeld ran for nine years, Friends for ten, Miley Cyrus was sixteen when she released her first album and fifteen years is more than twice as long as World War II that had over 60 million casualties. It is hard to believe that Dark Side of the Moon was on Billboard longer than Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
What made this album so interesting was the creation of what we now can do easily and often through digital effects. Money Pink Floyd used alarms and heart-beats and cash registers to help the listener hear what they were tying to say through the amazing talents of engineer Alan Parsons. It changed the industry in many ways. Can you imagine the music industry today without musicians using non-musical sounds in their recordings?
Pink Floyd had the technical know-how to include rock, electronics, jazz and classic genres all into one album with a dose of blues guitar. Today their music is often associated with the album The Wall, which was a bigger hit commercially but did not last as long on the charts. There are rumors that if you play the album Dark Side of the Moon while watching the movie The Wizard of Oz that the music syncs with the scenes perfectly. I have never tried this but it has been widely talked about since the late 70’s.
Dark Side of the Moon was one of my favorite albums during my teen years and well into my twenties. It was one of the albums I listened to when I needed some peace or to clear my head.
We had been traveling for five days through Central Mongolia. The Russian van was full of dust and dry sand. There were seven of us total including the driver and guide. We spent time on camels, horses, foot and van learning and experiencing The Semi-Gobi Desert first-hand and felt the affects in our minds, bodies and clothes.
Our driver had tried to keep things alive by playing a cassette tape of traditional Mongolian music but the rocks and dry air must have finally done his tape in and it broke into little streams of brown plastic. That was yesterday.
We had stopped to eat some lunch in a deserted mostly flat area not far from the dirt road we had been traveling on all morning. While lunch was being put together, I took a short walk to get some space and quiet from the group. We had slept in Gers (Yurts) together and I was aching for some time with myself. I was standing and doing some stretching when in the background echoing through the small hills was an American voice with a beat. It was “Beautiful” Akon, the song. Everybody rose from their individual and collective slumber. I walked back to the group and a young couple we were traveling with got out of the van and were dancing together on the dry desert ground. I broke out laughing and was taken over and reminded of the power of music and a beat. It was only minutes later when the whole group sat down for some pasta, vegetables and tuna together and enjoyed a meal. After one year in South Korea and some time in Mongolia, hearing American music in English was such a relief and reminder of how far from home I was.
Never doubt the power of music and a beat, regardless of what you like or do not like to bring out the life and energy in us. I am sure we all have our own stories and experiences to share about times and places when music woke up a lost part of ourselves. It is no wonder music has been part of every culture for as long as records have been kept. On this day, it was “Beautiful” Akon.
