organimodality

This is a term I thought of today (it only has 1 google hit) to describe a way of living I've been considering (and perhaps following, at least somewhat) in the past few years, ever since my life changed in 2010.  It involves letting the random, instantaneous variation of the world partially steer one through one's day, taking care of many decisions (e.g. where to park or which way to go home) that don't really matter to one's larger goals.  If I have time and articulateness going forward, I'll try to detail my thoughts on this.

The Living Daylights - A-ha

[link] I think this is my favorite Bond theme.  And the movie is in my top 5 favorites in the Bond series.  Helps when the lead singer has a lot of narrative quality just in the tone of voice, which Morten Harket has in spaces.  The chord progression and changes are really nice here, even within the constraint of the spyish motifs needed for Bond themedom.

Head of the Class

Liked this show ca. 1988.  Had a think for Sarah, played by Kimberly Russell, who strikingly is 3 years older than me (I didn't know at the time; I was in college and she was playing a high school girl).

Wide World of Sports intro

Also loved this intro music. I researched this and the In Search Of theme a few years back.  Both were written for the respective TV shows by obscure TV music composers. Just goes to show that really good music can come from anywhere and often is not appreciated by the musical world proper.

In Search Of

Watched this a lot in the 70s.  The Bigfoot episode scared the crap out of me. Loved the intro/outro music.  I think this show is the reason why I have a continuing fascination with the phenomology of people's sightings of the paranormal, even though I have no belief in paranormal/supernatural phenomena.

Project UFO TV series

[link to intro] This is a later series that I also did not watch, but I remember friends talking about it.  Sort of the first X-files. Very late 70s.

1970 UFO TV series

[link to intro] I was too young for this and never saw it.  But it looks both corny and (for TV) slick for its time. OK, well maybe if it were 1950 it would be slick.  The episodes appear to be on youtube, so maybe I'll check it out.

Emotion in Motion - Naked Eyes

[link] I love the high sweeping verse of this song.  Naked eyes could do synth pop with the best of them.

William It Was Really Nothing - the Smiths

[link] Great jangly moving song. The chorus is really sweeping. I really like the way the Smiths have rallies in their song, like the chorus into the 2nd (last) verse. 

O My God - the Police

[link] Another great life statement by the Police. And another great groove.  These songs are immortal...

When the World is Running Down... - the Police

[link] Really amazing groove. Prescient in its time, how much truth in it.

Wishing Well - Bob Mould

[link] Mould was huge on college radio in the late 80s and early 90s. This is great pop.  And I really think his voice was a prototype for the likes of Eddie Vetter and scores of other calculated low-gravelish (hard to describe), overproduced male vocal sounds that came after.

Dress You Up - Madonna

[link]  From 1985.  I've always liked Madonna. You can't understand 80s pop  culture in America without understanding the Madonna phenomenon.  But underneath the image was smart music-making.  Not that she herself was/is a musical genius, just someone with a good instinct.  The musical people she surrounded herself with, like Nile Rodgers, knew what they were doing and helped her put out consistently catchy pop that was usually pretty interesting.

Hippychick - Soho

[link] I remember dancing to this in 1991ish.  The "How Soon is Now" sample used as the rhythm feature is interesting and a reference to the 80s club scene.  It's a nice, mid-tempo groove and still largely works over 20 years later.

Actually got some time

to play around on the uke this evening.  I still remember Lola (but not the lyrics) and New Years Day (with the lyrics).  Department picnic coming up.  Hopefully I can play a few songs there.

Not sure if I can do this

But it would be cool to write a song about Tardigrades based on the pop song Dynamite by Taio Cruz.  Here are the lyrics.  This might take some time...


"Dynamite"

[Music video introduction:]
I throw my hands up in the air sometimes,
Saying AYO! Gotta let go!
I wanna celebrate and live my life,
Saying AYO! Baby, let’s go!

I came to dance, dance, dance, dance
I hit the floor 'cause that's my plans, plans, plans, plans
I’m wearing all my favorite brands, brands, brands, brands
Give me some space for both my hands, hands, hands, hands

Yeah, yeah

'Cause it goes on and on and on...
And it goes on and on and on...

Yeah!

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes,
Saying AYO! Gotta let go!
I wanna celebrate and live my life,
Saying AYO! Baby, let’s go!

'Cause we gon’ rock this club,
We gon’ go all night,
We gon’ light it up,
Like it’s dynamite!
'Cause I told you once,
Now I told you twice,
We gon’ light it up,
Like it’s dynamite!

I came to move, move, move, move
Get out the way of me and my crew, crew, crew, crew
I’m in the club so I’m gonna do, do, do, do
Just what the fuck, came here to do, do, do, do

Yeah, yeah

'Cause it goes on and on and on...
And it goes on and on and on...

Yeah!

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes,
Saying AYO! Gotta let go!
I wanna celebrate and live my life,
Saying AYO! Baby, let’s go!

'Cause we gon’ rock this club,
We gon’ go all night,
We gon’ light it up,
Like it’s dynamite!
'Cause I told you once,
Now I told you twice,
We gon’ light it up,
Like it’s dynamite!

I’m gonna take it all,
I, I’m gonna be the last one standing.
Higher over all,
I, I’m gonna be the last one landing.
Cause I, I, I believe it,
And I, I, I I just want it all...
I just want it all...
I’m gonna put my hands in the air!
Hands, hands in the air!
Put your hands in the air!

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes,
Saying AYO! Gotta let go!
I wanna celebrate and live my life,
Saying AYO! Baby, let’s go!

'Cause we gon’ rock this club,
We gon’ go all night,
We gon’ light it up,
Like it’s dynamite!
'Cause I told you once,
Now I told you twice,
We gon’ light it up,
Like it’s dynamite!

Don't You Want Me - Jody Watley

[link] Since I was going back to 1988 the other night with Scritti Politti, here's another pop song from that time that I've always liked.  Nice hooks and classic synth songs.

When It's Over - Loverboy

[link] People like to hate on early 80s power rock, but from a composition standpoint, lyrics and shrill male vocals aside, there is a lot of basic territory being covered here.  The instrumentation is also relatively new for the mainstream.  Hard guitars and hard synth sounds, put together.

Sugar and Spice - Scritti Politti

[link] Really liked these guys in the mid/late 80s and these songs still sound great.  Really smart dance pop.  Everything is so tight in the production. Listened to them incessantly between '85 and '88.

Hit - The Sugarcubes

[link] The Sugarcubes were really one of the best bands of the ca. 1990 era. I love this bouncy little song.  Rich pop.

Not much time

to do much with any of the ukes recently.  Real life schedule too hectic.  Hopefully things will settle down soon.

When You're Gone - Benjamin Orr

[link] I really like this ballad off Orr's 1987 solo album.  It's a beautiful piece of pop.

Midnight to Midnight - Psychedelic Furs

[link] The title track of their 1987 album.  This is my favorite track on the album. This is arguable the last album of their mature pop sound.  They stripped things down after this and sounded quite a bit different. It took me a while to grow into this album (or it to grow on me).  They were going for high imagery, which seemed a bit pretentious (and still does).  But the songs eventually get some depth after repeated listenings.  Or most of them anyway.  This one has nice dynamics and intensity.  The churning vocal line against the rising and falling of the rhythm guitar in the chorus is my favorite part.

Limbo - Bryan Ferry

[link] Another classic from that album. The cold, sort of aloofness I get out of this is really strong. A very measured but still very rhythmic song.

The Right Stuff - Bryan Ferry

[link] With Roxy Music, Ferry got through the 70s sort of in parallel with punk and disco and emerged in the late 80s with this incredible album Bete Noire, which spanned the pop and alternative genres.  These songs really hold up. He inspired a lot of post punk, but going forward, I think his later stuff has the potential to be revisited.  It's influenced by funk and soul but really has a lot of originality, resulting in a sound that no one that I've heard has replicated.

Stay the Night - Benjamin Orr

[link] Bassist and half the vocals of the Cars, the late Ben Orr knew how to make a pop sound and how to put a pop hit together.  This 1986 song still sounds amazing.

Prove - Ric Ocasek

[link] Off his first solo album, Beatitude, from 1982.  Great rhythm track and the composition and keyboard tracks are as innovative as the most new wavey Cars stuff (e.g. on Panorama). Really great song. This album is now out of print and the CDs that are available are selling for about $25 on Amazon and ebay.  I'm thinking about dropping the coin on one even at that price.

Since You're Gone - The Cars

[link] The Cars were a huge influence on me and this is one of my favorites (I pretty much like every one of their songs, which I can't say about too many bands). These guys were successful on pure rock radio, even though they were innovating in New Wave most of the time and in their Heartbeat City with huge Top 40 pop success. Ocasek seems pretty strongly in the Lou Reed lineage and with the instrumentalists, who are all supreme talents, synthesizes a novel, edgy, American sound.

Ric Ocasek

From the early 80s on, Ric Ocasek was a bit of an image icon for me.  Others I have picked up over the years include William Gibson and Anthony Bourdain.  He's still rocking.  This seems not very long ago; never heard the song before, probably from one of his later solo efforts, which I need to listen to and get.

Tattoos

Not a music or science topic but an aesthetic one.  I hate them.  I think almost all of them are ugly, except maybe for really small ones in unobtrusive places. It's really sad to me that people are covering their otherwise beautiful skin in a lot of cases, with these things.  But that's their choice and their right.  Not my idea of beauty.

The Waiting - Top Petty and the Heartbreakers

[link] Another early fave of mine. The Early Petty breaking into the pop and rock charts was trying for a different image than he eventually evolved into.  It's cool to go back and look at these videos.  The songs have lost nothing and overplay hasn't tarnished them at all.