Sunday, March 16th, 2008
Damn you, writers’ strike!
As a result of the lack of new programming during prime time these past few months, my wife Laurie and I started watching American Idol, something we have never watched in the past. And, like millions of others not just in the United States but around the globe, we have become more than just regular viewers, but also critics of the performances, dress, attitude and song choices of the contestants.
This past week, the 12 Idol-wannabees had the opportunity to choose from the Lennon-McCartney catalog for the first time in show history. I wondered briefly what songs they might choose, but didn’t dwell on it, wanting myself to be surprised and perhaps delighted by their choices. After last Tuesday’s night show, let’s just say there were fewer surprises and delights, and more choices that both shocked and sickened. If originality is a factor, then why rehash versions of songs already made popular by Earth, Wind and Fire or Stevie Wonder? A country version of Eight Days a Week - are you kidding? And, to be honest, has anyone ever covered Across the Universe and done it justice (I’m open to challenges)?
So, where this may be too late for the 11 remaining contestants to change their choices for round 2 of the Lennon-McCartney theme, here are some of the songs I think they should attempt:
Oh, Darling - just promise me that they won’t copy the lame Robin Gibb version from the Sgt. Pepper movie.
No Reply - a great stalker song that someone could really nail with a more sinister sound.
Fool on the Hill - a versatile song that is one of my favorites.
Long and Winding Road - Simon is bound to hate this, but I don’t care.
I’m Down - for the rockers on the show, this was a staple of Beatle concerts (before they stopped touring, of course).
Yer Blues - this is the big-risk, big-payoff song; if someone can carry this one off, they could go a long way.
Revolution - there are already two existing versions to choose from; maybe there’s another possible arrangement.
You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away - a fun song, and one that can accommodate audience participation (if that’s allowed).
And Your Bird Can Sing - another one of my favorites that would also give the band a chance to replicate George’s brilliant guitar from the original.
Back in the USSR - another one for the rockers on the show.
You’re Gonna Lose that Girl - maybe start this one a cappella, and then bring the band in.
I’d also like to suggest a couple of songs they should not attempt:
A Day in the Life - I know Tom said he figured out a way to cut this down to two minutes, but that would be all-risk, no reward.
Strawberry Fields Forever - you don’t mess with perfection.
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer or Yellow Submarine - avoid the goofy songs.
Yesterday - I know they will be tempted, and thousands have done it before, many badly - please just say no.
Posted in OneVoice | 3 Comments »
Thursday, February 21st, 2008
I made a decision last night that this would be my last post about American Idol unless something really unbelievable occurs. There are probably 100,000,000 people that blog about their every thought regarding American Idol and that is not why i got this blog. So, my final thoughts on this years American Idol are as follows: a girl is going to win. They were pretty good last night, not great, i could do without most of them but a few showed that they had some vocal chops and some personality and thats all im looking for when i watch this show. I counted 4 out of 24 contestants who fit this bill and they are all girls. The rest of them cannot sing and are socially awkward. Those are two things that i dont want in my pop stars.
The name of this blog is “A Combination of Things” and while it fits my blog it is actually the name of a song that I wrote a couple of years ago but finally recorded with the Joiner Inners last year. Its a pretty good song I think. I have always thought that it had a kind of Replacements feel to it. I think its kind of shambley and rough, not rough like tough but rough like not clean, a little sloppy, all good things. I’ve got a red notebook next to me as a write this and its first 3 pages are filled, front and back, with things i want to write about in this blog. Ive broken them down into some simple categories that you can see over to the right there, yeup right over there. If you allow me to ramble some more ill get to my point. I bring up the song because, i never at any point sat down and wrote out a set of new lyrics for the tune, i never felt inspired to do so. I had already given it the name and one night, i think i may have been watching a baseball game, I’m a Mets fan by the way but we’ll get to that at another date, I started sifting through this manila folder I have that is filled with yellow legal sheets and scraps of receipt paper and envelopes and Chinese food take out menus, all of them containing ideas for stories and books and movies and lyrics written in my very distinctive chicken scratch. I have accomplished very little in the time i have already put in on this planet but these manila folders with all of my many years of accumulated notes and thoughts i think shows me that i have the potential do something pretty great, I’m talking about great creatively. I’m not going to be president, although I’m not sure how great being president is, and I’m not going to cure cancer and I’m not going to climb a mountain because I’m afraid of heights and people that climb mountains are crazy not great. The end of this story is this, I was watching a Mets game and i was looking through this folder and pulling out anything that i thought might make a good lyric. i was remembering where i was and what i was doing when i was making these notes. I had my guitar next to me and a fresh legal pad with “A Combination of things” written across the top of it. when i thought i had enough lyric ideas i started writing them down and after a little trimming and a little editing and a little revising and a little more of all of them, i had myself a tune. a pretty good tune. Not a great tune, because i think I’ve only written one great song in my life and i only think that because everyone tells me it is but Combination of Things is a pretty good song and I’m proud of it i guess. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is this, This blog is going to be just like that song. I’m going to take little pieces of myself that i have accumulated throughout my existence and I’m going to write about them and by the end of what I’m writing my views on them may have changed. By the end of reviewing a movie i might find that i didnt like it that much when at the beginning of the review i said it was the greatest movie i have ever seen. Maybe ill review a record after one listen and hate it but maybe ill listen to it while I’m reviewing it and the guitars on the fourth track will do something i didnt notice before and i wont be able stop listening to it for a week. maybe the drums start to shake out a beat that is impossible for one man to play but you dont hear the second man or that second set of hands and the record finds its way into the open slot in my top 15 records of all time. Little things that dont mean anything all of the sudden coming together to mean something. It may not mean anything to you and i absolutely respect that but i think blogs are kind of personal. The fact that people read them is almost secondary. You write for yourself and if you do it well enough and interesting enough maybe someone starts to pay attention but you do it, I do it, first, to put the pieces of myself into some kind of order, to archive them by date and category and if you’re honest with yourself as you go when you’re done you can show it to someone and say this is me. whether you agree with me or not, this is all that Ive got.
(click on the link “Combination of Things” in the Blogroll to hear the tune at my old bands myspace which i have renamed. i dont think i need to tell anyone what the new name is)
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Wednesday, February 20th, 2008
Big win by Barack Obama last night. That’s 10 in a row folks. Keep on chooglin’.
Alright. I told anyone who would listen that i wasn’t watching American Idol this year because of the bull crap that they pulled with Josiah (although, after watching last nights proceedings, i am actually sort of glad he didn’t get put through. I forgot that the goal of these early elimination rounds is to pick a song and turn it into adult contemporary trash. Im not sure how well he would have accomplished this and im glad he was spared the embarrassment). Anyway, i DVRed and I watched and half way through some random crumb bum’s rendition of Moon River i was wishing i had stuck to my guns and not compromised my principals due to an absence of acceptable time killing activities while waiting for the polls in Wisconsin to close so that i might bathe gloriously in election night analysis and punditry. Every male performer this year is terrible. TERRIBLE. Even the Australian guy with the record deal, Michael “Two First Names” Johns, was sub par and he sang one of the same songs he sang last week in LA. I can only hope that the girls tonight are better because now, since i have already forfeited my integrity, i have to watch and root for all the men to get kicked off before all the women the same way i rooted for Ace to spontaneously combust mid-George Michael song during season 5.
Also, it’s lunch time here in corporate hell and I just ate a Quizno’s. its close to the office and never crowded. I was nursing a substantial hunger and had forgotten to bring myself a microwavable soup or even a small plastic sack of pretzels. Let me tell you something faithful blog reader, don’t be fooled by advertising or praise from a colleague or friend, eating Quiznos is never a good idea. Ever. I did however just find a piece of Orbit gum, flavor spearmint. Which is always nice
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