Tag Archives: Rhode Island Rock Wedding DJ

Chuck Berry Johnny B Goode

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“In the 1960s and 1970s, Berry’s music was the inspiration for such groups as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Berry had a number of comeback recordings and in 1972 had the first and only #1 Pop Chart hit of his career with “My Ding-A-Ling. 1986 fittingly saw him inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the very first inductee in history. As a tribute to his pervasiveness in the realm of rock, a clip of Chuck Berry Johnny B Goode was chosen played in the Voyager I spacecraft, proving Chuck Berry and his rock legacy are truly out of this world.”  The Official Site of Chuck Berry

 

Charles Edward Anderson “Chuck” Berry (born October 18, 1926) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of Rock and Roll music.

 

Among the many bandleaders performing a backup role with Chuck Berry were Bruce Springsteen and Steve Miller when each was just starting his career.  At the request of President Jimmy Carter, Chuck Berry Johnny B Goode performed at the White House on June 1, 1979.  A pioneer of rock music, Chuck Berry Johnny B Goode was a significant influence on the development of both the music and the attitude associated with the rock music lifestyle. A statue 8 feet (2.4 m) tall of Berry, funded by donations, is being erected along the St. Louis Walk of Fame. The dedication ceremony was July 29th, 2011.

Chuck Berry Johnny B Goode Rhode Island DJ

In 1980, when I was a freshman in college working at the college radio station as a DJ and a professional Wedding DJ, I had the opportunity to see Chuck Berry Johnny B Goode perform at a small venue in Dover, NJ called The Show Place. There were maybe 100 people present at the show and it was so much fun! I was so surprised how much energy and enthusiasm he had as ‘an older man’ back then. It is amazing to me that he is still performing today!!!! That was 31 years ago.

Chuck Berry Johnny B Goode Music Video

http://youtu.be/2gv62KbSBQM

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Billy Joel We Didn’t Start The Fire

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Billy Joel We Didn’t Start The Fire. Since releasing his first hit song, “Piano Man,” in 1973, Billy Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to the RIAA.  Billy Joel has Top 40 hits in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s; achieving 33 Top 40 hits in the United States, all of which he wrote himself. He is also a six-time Grammy Award winner, a 23-time Grammy nominee and has sold over 150 million records worldwide.

 

Billy Joel attended Hicksville High School, class of 1967. However, he did not graduate from Hicksville. Due to playing at a piano bar, he was one English credit short of the graduation requirement; he overslept on the day of an important exam, owing to his late-night musician’s lifestyle. He left high school without a diploma to begin a career in music.  Upon seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, Joel decided to pursue a full-time musical career, and set about finding a local Long Island band to join.

 Billy Joel We Didn’t Start The Fire Story

“The song and music video have been interpreted as a rebuttal to criticism of Joel’s Baby Boomer generation. The song’s title and refrain mention “the fire”, an allusion to conflict and societal turmoil; Joel asserts that these can’t be blamed on his generation alone, as “the fire” has been “always burning since the world’s been turning”. Wikipedia.

 

For a list of the references throughout the song, please go to this Wiki page “We Didn’t Start The Fire” to get the info on each, it is fun!

 

The first single from the Album Storm Front, was released in September 1989 and it became Billy Joel’s third and most recent US #1 hit, spending two weeks at the top; it was also Billboard’s second-last #1 single of the 1980s.

Billy Joel We Didn’t Start The Fire Music Video

Interesting piece of trivia. 52nd Street was the first album to be released on compact disc when it went on sale alongside Sony’s CD player CDP-101 on October 1, 1982, in Japan.

Billy Joel We Didn't Start The Fire icon Rhode Island DJ

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Jon and Nikki Wedding

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DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ   Some Photo Credits to Anna Rozenblat Photography  

Ritchie Valens Sleepwalk

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It is hard not to feel the energy and Soul that the great Ritchie Valens Sleepwalk put into every guitar lick in this song. Smooth as silk without being overproduced. I recently had a Groom ask for this song to be the song that he and his mother would dance to for their Mother-Son Dance.  I fought hard to contain the tears that well-up every time I hear this song. I do not remember the scene in the film La Bamba but I remember it was one of the more emotional ones. There are few artists from that era that had a full-length feature film made about their life like Ritchie Valens Sleepwalk. As a professional Wedding DJ, I get requested plenty of his music these days and continue to feel moved by his music.

Ritchie Valens Sleepwalk Music Video

He was born Ricardo Esteban Valenzuela Reyes. He was asked by his producer and agent to change his family name to make it sound ‘more american’. Its strange in 2011 to contextually imagine that happening today, where nearly twenty percent of American population is Latino.  His death along with other pop stars Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper is still considered an American tragic story. After the February 2, 1959, performance in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly, Richardson, and Valens flew out of the Mason City airport in a small plane that Holly had chartered. He was on the plane because he won a coin toss. The plane, a four-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza, departed for Fargo, North Dakota, and crashed shortly after takeoff in a snow storm. The crash killed all three passengers and the pilot; at 17, Valens was the youngest to die on the flight. The event inspired singer Don McLean’s popular 1971 ballad “American Pie“, and immortalized February 3 as “The Day the Music Died”.

Ritchie Valens Sleepwalk with Rhode Island Oldies DJ

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

John Lennon Imagine

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John Lennon Imagine. I remember the bittersweet night of being a professional DJ at a club in Randolph, NJ on a Monday night, it was December 8,1980. The club was mostly packed, especially for a Monday night in winter. The dance floor was jamming and everybody was having a good time. A young woman came up to the DJ booth and begged me to play Bruce Springsteen. I explained that the dance floor was full and she would have to wait till it thinned out, otherwise everybody would probably stop dancing. She finally convinced me to play him while she was standing there. I had the record in my hand when one of the bouncers ran up and told me John Lennon had just been shot and killed. I dropped the record on the floor of the DJ booth. After the song playing was over, I turned on the mike and announced his death. I asked for moment of silence and then played “Imagine” before returning to my regular set, although not regular at all. It is the moment I think of the most when I get behind my turntables, then CD Players and now MacBook. Growing up, he was hero my hero with his music and desire for peace.

John Lennon Imagine Music Video

http://youtu.be/DCX3ZNDZAwY

The next day, as Program Director of the local college radio and DJ, I stated that we only play John Lennon Imagine and music by John Lennon for the next twenty-four hours.

The Beatles and John Lennon Imagine Icon

 

“BMI named John Lennon Imagine one of the 100 most-performed songs of the 20th century. The song ranked number 30 on the Recording Industry Association of America‘s list of the 365 Songs of the Century bearing the most historical significance. It earned aGrammy Hall of Fame Award and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. A UK survey conducted by the Guinness World Records British Hit Singles Book named it the second best single of all time, andRolling Stone ranked it number 3 in their list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time“. Since 2005, event organisers have played it just before the New Year’s Times Square Ball drops in New York City. Dozens of artists have performed or recorded versions of “Imagine”, including Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Joan Baez, Elton John, and Diana Ross. Emeli Sandé recorded a cover for theBBC to use during the end credits montage at the close of the 2012 Summer Olympics coverage in August 2012. “Imagine” subsequently re-entered the UK Top 40, reaching number 18.” Wikipedia

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Clarence Clemons Tribute (Jungleland)

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As a New Jersey teenager in the 70’s and 80’s, it was hard not to be a Bruce Springsteen fan. He spoke to a time and place in our shared story and had those riveting live performances that lasted anywhere from 3-4.5 hours with everybody leaving covered in sweat.  As soaked in sweat as Bruce Springsteen was by the end of the night, equally drenched was The Big Man on The Saxophone, Clarence Clemons.

 

This clip is from a performance in 2009 with Clarence Clemons performing one of my favorite solos of Clarence Clemons, “Jungleland”.

Clarence Clemons Tribute “Jungleland” Music Video

I remember when Izod Center (originally Brendan Byrne Arena, formerly Continental Airlines Arena and commonly Meadowlands Arena) first opened and they booked Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen to perform the first and second weeks respectively.  I had the opportunity to obtain tickets to two of the Springsteen shows. Those were some great memories for me.  Clarence Clemons, you will be missed and remembered.

Clarence Clemons Hartford Civic Center, April 24, 2009 Born to Run

Clarence Clemons playing his “Born to Run” saxophone solo with house lights up. Hartford Civic Center, April 24, 2009.

Clarence Clemons and How He Became Part of The E Street Band

Clarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr. (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011), also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death, he was a prominent member of Bruce Springsteen‘s E Street Band, playing the tenor saxophone.

 

“One night we were playing in Asbury Park. I’d heard The Bruce Springsteen Band was nearby at a club called The Student Prince and on a break between sets I walked over there. On-stage, Bruce used to tell different versions of this story but I’m a Baptist, remember, so this is the truth. A rainy, windy night it was, and when I opened the door the whole thing flew off its hinges and blew away down the street. The band were on-stage, but staring at me framed in the doorway. And maybe that did make Bruce a little nervous because I just said, “I want to play with your band,” and he said, “Sure, you do anything you want.” The first song we did was an early version of “Spirit in the Night“. Bruce and I looked at each other and didn’t say anything, we just knew. We knew we were the missing links in each other’s lives. He was what I’d been searching for. In one way he was just a scrawny little kid. But he was a visionary. He wanted to follow his dream. So from then on I was part of history.” Clarence Clemons

 

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Beach Boys Good Vibrations

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Beach Boys Good Vibrations. It was May 21st, the eve of my 19th birthday. Me and two of my buddies were enjoying a night out at one of our favorite clubs in West Orange, NJ. It was last call and one of the guys turned to me and said, “Let’s go and celebrate your birthday in A.C. (Atlantic City)”. Ten minutes later we were in my Camaro headed South on The Garden State Parkway.

 

Two hours later we were playing blackjack in Ceasar’s Palace. I won a pile of cash and they offered us a room for the night complimentary. We woke in the morning and went to the beach to relax not knowing that The Beach Boys were giving a free concert on the beach! It was a great show and Beach Boys Good Vibrations made it one of my best birthdays still to this day.

Dance in sunset on Beach with The Beach Boys Good Vibrations DJ in New Jersey

I grew-up listening to Beach Boys Good Vibrations and other records mostly on 45’s and some albums. As a professional DJ they have always been a part of what I play when it makes sense to do so. I used to play a bunch of different Beach Boys medleys due to their still high popularity at the time. Today they are more of a nostalgic band for younger folks but those old enough to remember them continue to ask for whichever of their songs is their favorite.

Beach Boys Good Vibrations Music Video

Beach Boys Good Vibrations

“The Beach Boys Good Vibrations is a song by American rock band The Beach Boys, released as a single in October 1966. Composed andproduced by Brian Wilson, the song’s lyrics were written by Wilson and Mike Love.

Released as a single on October 10, 1966 (backed with the Pet Sounds instrumental “Let’s Go Away For Awhile“), it was The Beach Boys’ third U.S. number-one hit after “I Get Around” and “Help Me, Rhonda“, reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1966, as well as being their first British chart-topper. Initiated during the sessions for the Pet Sounds album, it was not taken from or issued as a lead single for an album, but as a stand-alone single, although it would be later considered for the aborted Smile project. It would ultimately be placed on the album Smiley Smile eleven months after its release.” Wikipedia

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Joe and Nalini Wedding

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  DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

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It is interesting how songs change their cultural shape and form over time. When Steam released the song “Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” in 1969, I doubt very much Gary De Carlo thought it would be a song used as a way to hate and taunt people fifty years later. It is actually a love song in a way, not your traditional love song but still not hateful or a way to give somebody ‘the finger’ through music.

 

I think the first seeds of the negative perspective of the song  Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye originated with cheerleaders leading this song as a way to say ‘goodbye’ to the fans and players of the other team that they beat after a game; pretty simple and harmless stuff. It may be indicative of todays culture that this simple song, Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, has gone from a number one hit on Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 to a cheerleaders chant to a way to disrespect a person or group with anger and force. The artist literally meant for the person to actually kiss the man goodbye, like a real kiss. He says, “I still love you girl, I still need you girl”. These are not words of hate or taunting…

Steam Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye Music Video

Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye was meant to be the ‘B side’ of Gary’s first single because he did not like it. The record company wanted him to release it as an ‘A side’ single so Gary changed it from his real name to Stream, to not be identified with the song personally. Bananarama released a cover of Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye in 1983, which also enjoyed commercial success. The video of Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye has a woman punching a man in the face, as a way to ‘kiss him goodbye’. This may be when the song changed from a soft, playful tune to one of hate and anger. This goes in line with the current climate in the USA that supports women taking their anger out on men physically, as if it will solve the cycle of violence of men towards women.

Reaction To Women Abusing Men In Public

Hate and violence do not quell hate and violence, they expand it. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught us this many years ago (click the link for the entire speech).

“…Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Martin Luther King Famous Quotes Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

Bananarama Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye Music Video

http://youtu.be/dmUtqBF_YZY

Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye gained another round of popularity following the success of the film, Remember The Titans. The film’s last scene includes the men humming the chorus. The song itself was played earlier during the film as well.

http://youtu.be/wgxeMrNlM8s

Again, Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye is not a song about violence or taunting.

 
Here is the exact quote from the last scene from allsubs.org:
Older Sheryl: "People say that it cant work, black and white; well
  here we make it work, everyday. We have our disagreements, of
  course, but before we reach for hate, always, always, we remember
  the Titans."


DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Josh and Benedicte Wedding

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