Living across the street from a bar known for its concerts is pretty cool. Many a night I can hear a band rocking out from my living room. On this particular night, Illinois will be gracing the stage at the North Star Bar. Ever since Nancy Botwin's "brick dance" on Weeds I have wanted to see this band live, and now they will be playing just a few steps from my front door. Unfortunately, I will be working, so I'll just have to settle for today's Song of the Day.
Since it is currently 88 degrees in Philadelphia, I figured I would break off a little preview of the 2012 Summer Mix. This little 80's gem will be on there with a lot of other fantastic warm weather jams. Enjoy.
I wouldn't refer to myself as a big fan of reality television, despite my one and only IMDB credit being within the unscripted genre. Nevertheless, on the several recent Monday evenings when How I Met Your Mother is showing a rerun, I flip to NBC and catch bits and pieces of The Voice. And I am really enjoying it. I caught about four of their battles and was impressed with what I saw. The performance that really hooked me was this fantastic cover of the Faces' "Stay With Me." It's a good reminder of how a bitching amount of swagger can turn a less-than-attractive fellow like Rod Stewart into a Bond-level ladies' man.
After a great, self-guided walking tour of Brooklyn Heights and the Lower East Side, I thought I'd cap off the day with a little ode to that city to our North and East.
There is a fair amount of Van Halen hype going on right now, with the brothers (and son/nephew) Van Halen touring with original crooner David Lee Roth. The Van Halen clan even has a new album out with Diamond Dave at the helm. Having grown up in a household in which Van Halen, with all three of its singers, getting a lot of spins, I would like to think I know a thing a two about the band and their kickass rock. That being said, I fully expect all of the backlash I will get for this. I think the Sammy Hagar-led lineup is Van Halen at their best. So for that, here is a Hagar-era tune. Oh, and one more thing, firing Michael Anthony was a huge mistake.
I am one of those people who, upon hearing a new song, will play it endlessly without tiring of it. An annoying trait, I know, but it's just what I do. For awhile, that song was "Somebody That I Used To Know," but now it's "Comeback Kid" from Sleigh Bells. Here is their kickass SNL performance from a couple of weeks ago:
Here in Pennsylvania it's known as Fastnacht Day, but most of the country knows it as Mardi Gras thanks to the New Orleans tourism promotional machine. With that in mind, there is only one song for such an occasion. Coming from the old Disneyland After Dark show, it's Louis Armstrong and Monette Moore singing "Bourbon Street Parade."
Pandora is pretty fantastic. Last week I started a station with the Black Keys' song "Everlasting Light." I have been rewarded with blues, garage rock, Motown, and pretty much the entire Dirty Dancing soundtrack. "Hang Me Up To Dry" by the Cold War Kids is one of the songs that stuck around after it came up on Pandora.
If this song isn't already in your rotation, it soon will be. Like our recipes here at the What, it's simple and delicious (if a song can be delicious). Not to mention it has a seriously cool (body paint!) video. Here's to hoping that "Somebody That I Used To Know" is the start of a string of great music from Gotye.
Today would have been my Grandpop's 74th birthday, so in his honor today's song of the day will be one of his favorites. Feel free to sing along, that's exactly what he would do.
Ever since making the first part of Mixtape Madness' celebration of 90's music, I have been on a huge 90's kick. Watching the Sublime documentary hasn't helped. At any rate, I first became aware of this song from Sublime's song DJs (which was spectacularly covered by No Doubt and Gwen Stefani's abs) but have come to enjoy it on its own. It also supports my argument that we need ska back in a big way.
Shuffle is a wonderful thing. From its beginnings of automatically switching between tracks on your five CD changer to iTunes randomly selecting tracks, it sure has come a long way. Occasionally it leads to the rediscovery of a fun song like "Ghetto Superstar." Hooray for shuffle.
Music is pretty fantastic. Even with the fantastic variety of musical selections, everyone has a few favorites they never tire of listening to. One of those songs for me is "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters. Enjoy!
It was only a matter of time before "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" made it to Song of the Day. This is one of very few songs that has appeared in more than one Mixtape Madness, showing up one both #1 and #6. The whole song is great, but my favorite part is definitely the fourth section with the lyrics in Spanish. Enjoy!
Though I have been campaigning to skip the 80's nostalgia and move on to reminiscing about 1994, I can't help but love this track, a clear throwback to the 80's and one of the best songs of 2011.
Stealing Christmas, a part of this complete breakfast.
As an adult, one often discovers interesting factoids about the programming they grew up on as children. For example, Laurence Fishburne hung out at Peewee's Playhouse, Miss Piggy and Bert have more in common than you think, and Dr. Seuss is more political than you ever realized. With it being the holiday season, another discovery along these lines was made, at least in the What's inner circle, pertaining to Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We are, of course, referring to the cartoon version, not the live-action Jim Carrey film. Perhaps the most recognizable part of that cartoon is the song describing some of the titular character's less-than-perfect traits. Did you know that distinctive crooner Thurl Ravenscroft (super badass name), the man behind this Christmas classic, is also responsible for voicing Tony the Tiger? You learn something new every day.
Much like yesterday, there is really only one song that can be today's Song of the Day, though this one is pretty much good for the whole weekend. Hooray for leftovers!
