Friday, June 6, 2008

Flashback Friday!

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the rockin' 80's tunes I'd been listening to on a particular morning. And since I got so many comments (OK, like 9...whatever) from people who enjoyed that trip down memory lane, I decided to do Flashback Fridays each week. I've only mentioned this about 17 times, but just in case you're a new reader: I LOVE MUSIC. All kinds. Anyway, back to Flashback Friday and my intent to commit to a weekly music post. But then life got in the way, in the form of school ending, Lost finales, a new obsession with Battlestar Galactica, graduation, parties, picnics, and now a baby being born into our family. Look up overextended in the dictionary & you will totally find a picture of Lula & her family.

Today, my dear Mrs. R did a Fab Five Friday post where her fans (stalkers) were to list their all-time favorite tunes. There is no way I could list 5, so I cheated and took up space to list 10 out of about 32. Because I'm sure y'all are dying to know, here's a few of my faves:
"Last Goodbye"--Jeff Buckley
"Consume Me"--DC Talk
"Martha, My Dear"--The Beatles
"If You Leave"--OMD
"In Your Eyes"--Peter Gabriel
"River Deep Mountain High"--Tina Turner
"Song For the Asking"--Simon & Garfunkel
"Bye-Bye Blackbird"--Joe Cocker
"Into the Mystic"--Van Morrison
"Watershed"--Indigo Girls
"Captivate Us"--Watermark
"In Christ Alone" & "Jesus, Lover of My Soul"--performed by various artists & worship bands
'Big Man on Mulberry Street"--Billy Joel

OK, so I listed even more here than I did on Mrs. R's site, but brevity has never been my strong suit. (Right, Kelly?) Stay with me here, y'all.

Every summer we have particular CDs in constant rotation...pool music, grilling music, beach songs...anything that adds to our outdoor enjoyment. For me, it's not truly summer 'til I've heard The Temptations' "Just My Imagination." Scott longs to hear The Beach Boys Greatest Hits. Libbey asks us to break out "Livin', Lovin', Losin'; Songs of the Louvin Brothers", seriously one of the best compilation CDs in country music. You haven't lived 'til you've heard James Taylor and Alison Krauss perform "How's the World Treating You." Trust me on this one. And Caroline? Well, she's content to sing along to anything from Miley Cyrus to Coldplay--and she can belt out"Don't Panic" almost as well as Chris Martin. Kid you not.

I actually posted this video once before--but it was months ago and the song is truly worthy of a listen. So listen. Please.

Today I sat down to create a Summer of '08 playlist and stared at my iTunes account for 5 minutes. I am coming up blank, y'all. And then I got all nervous and fidgety 'cause being stymied by musical choices has never happened to me. Other than Madonna's new album, Hard Candy, I came up with nothing. (And M's new work is fabulous--love, love, love it--best stuff she's done since the mid-80's.) The new Coldplay album comes out in a couple of weeks, and we are already wearing out "Violet Hill" & "Viva La Vida," which we purchased early on iTunes. Other than these two I've mentioned, I am at a loss for a good, be-boppin', toe-tapin', get your sun on playlist.

This is where I'm assigning homework, dear readers. Please look through the catalogue of your internal jukebox and share a few good ditties that sound "summery" to you. Don't be afraid of throwing out all kinds o' music, 'cause when I say I dig it all, that ain't no lie. (Except speed/death metal--just can't deal with it. Sorry.) If you're all, "Well, I love 50 Cent but she might be offended." NO WAY--I still listen to "Disco Inferno" on a weekly basis. Maybe you're a lover of golden oldies. Oooooh, me too! Tonight I was playing Rosemary Clooney ("Come on-a my house, my house, I'm gonna give you candy"--she sang it before it was Hefner's gals' tv theme!) and Perry Como ("Find a wheel, and it goes round, round, round...") while fixing supper. Seriously hot, y'all...they were some fine crooners. Makes me crave a martini. I don't like martinis. I digress...

Rock, pop, jazz, soul, contemporary Christian, big band, decades (40's through 90's), country...I truly love it all. And if you include some Whitesnake, Van Halen, Winger or Night Ranger then I'll faint dead away, 'cause I love me some 80's hair bands. I heart Kip Winger. Sigh... "She's only seventeen..." Well I was. Once. A long time ago.


Though I specifically mentioned the latest by Madonna & Coldplay, I'm not just looking for new stuff...span the decades & genres and recommend away. If enough of y'all play along I will be certain to have a fabulous new playlist to wear out in these sweltering months to come. We will ALL benefit from this. (See how I love and appreciate each of you? Feel it, embrace it, cherish it...LOVE.) And really...sweltering's not so bad when you're kicking back with a cold drink & some darn fine music. In the pool, of course.

I'll close with this:

As I told Mrs. R earlier, it's THE anthem of southern summers, regardless of whether you're in Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, Colorado or California. And it's no secret...I would've loved to sing back up for the original Lynyrd Skynyrd...complete with long, straight, parted-down-the-middle hair, flowy dress, oodles of blue eyeshadow and boodles of chunky bracelets and rings. And now I've decided on my costume for Halloween.

Carrie, if you use the term "geriatric globes" and "Rick Springfield & Peter Frampton" in your comment, you WIN! I don't know the prize yet, but you'll still win. 'Cause that's just smokin' hot. For real.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

You mention Lynyrd Skynyrd so I'll begin there with everybody's band party favorite: Sweet Home Alabama! With special significance to me this summer. It will be on constant rotation as we make the 12 hour drive in a month. Forget about summer, it will probably be rockin for the next 12 months as well.

My favorite summer song isn't that old but it *is* summer for me. Except the tattoo part. Summertime by Kenny Chesney.

I'll have to find other songs to play in between these two.

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Unfortunately music is not something I obsess over. That is my hubby's forte. I say things to him like "what is the name of that song I like?" Or I'll be in my mom-mobile and hear a cool song on the radio...and will have to call him at work to make him listen to it so he can tell me who is singing it.

But...I might be able to help with summer music. There is the classic Mungo Jerry "In the Summertime" or Sheryl Crowe's "Soak up the Sun" or one of my current favs Eddie Vedder's "Hard sun."

Tori said...

Hmmm... songs that remind me of summer? Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N Roses, first and foremost. I think I've mentioned that before, actually. That song and Beth by Kiss. Also, Fly Me Courageous and Honeysuckle Blue by Drivin N Cryin. Pink Floyd's Take it Back makes me think of summer, too. High Enough and When I See You Smile by the Damn Yankees. Let's see.... I've Got a Dark Alley.... and Sugar, We're Goin Down by Fall Out Boy. Any Eagles songs. Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts, Richard Marx, Love Song and Signs by Tesla, just about anything by Bon Jovi and Poison. Every Moment by Joy Williams is another fave..... need more? I've seriously got TONS! :)

Heather said...

Hot Fun in the Summertime - Sly & the Family Stone
Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff & Will Smith
Take it Easy - The Eagles
Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
Struttin' with Some Barbecue - Louis Armstrong
Saturday in the Park - Chicago
Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen
Green Onions - Booker T & The MG's
Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffet
Down on the Corner - Creedance Clearwater Revival
Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
Black Water - The Doobie Brothers
Bamboleo - The Gypsy Kings
Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
Stir it Up - Bob Marley
Centerfield - John Fogerty
Good Times - Chic
Watermelon Man - Mongo Santamaria
What'd I Say, Part 1 - Ray Charles

You ask...I deliver.

Unknown said...

i'll keep my suggestions narrowed to an island theme:

1. la isla bonita - i think you're best sticking with madonna's version, though i must tell you i heard david hasselhoff's rendition on the radio the other day. he prefers to pronounce it la EYEsla bonita. interesting. and horrible.

2. island in the sun - this is one of weezer's best, and it's one of our songs. we almost got hip hip engraved on our wedding rings, but we ended up not getting anything engraved on them. maybe for our five year.

that'll do it since i tend to underlist (we're a good complement for each other that way). i enjoyed the post!

Lula! said...

Kelly--why oh WHY was ANY radio station playing the Hoff? Please let me know the dial numbers, so I can stay away from this station when driving through your area.

Heather--separated at birth. That's you and me. Otis & Ray are two of our most favorites in the world. When Libbey was 3 we listened to Ray's Greatest Hits--Vol. 1 & 2--and the child still has over 25 of his songs memorized. We need to get to work on Caroline! And Marley, Armstrong, Wonder? YES!!!! Finally, anyone unafraid to list some Chic is full-on cool forever in my book. GOOD TIMES...indeed.

Tori--Is it a prerequsite for Georgians to love Drivin' & Cryin'? I can't remember how many times I've seen them in concert and "Honeysuckle Blues" is always a crowd pleaser. This one is SO going on the playlist. And Tesla? The guitar intro on "Love Song" is still my most favorite.

Kat--Mungo Jerry. Yep-Yep. Love it. Thanks for reminding me of "In the Summertime."

Vicki--I love some LS ("What was your name, little girl, tell me what's your name?"--awesome!), but I refuse to listen to Kenny Chesney on the grounds that he's a University of Tennessee fan. I can't abide that. For real.

Y'all are good at this--keep 'em coming! I am loving it.

Insane Mama said...

My summer HAVE TO listen to is
Kid rock and Sheryl Crow singing together... ( I don't usually like kid rock) But this song is what my best friend and I always listen to when we go camping, which is summertime.
I cannot remember the name of the song... Ahh
This is going to drive me nuts
I think it is called picture

Candid Carrie said...

I nailed it, perfectly.

Tiffany said...

Am I the only one playing? So, this one time, Rick Springfield and I went to see Peter Frampton in concert. Rick was so sweet and gave me a geriatric globe.

What did I win?

And, You already know about my deep and abiding love for Lynyrd (which I am pretty sure I spelt incorrectly on my own blog. Shocking. But I LOVE me some JT. How Sweet it is to be Loved By You....or, Secret o' Life.

Thanks for all the videos!!

Erin The Great said...

Oh my goodness! Well fellow music junkie... are you ready for the most eclectic summer listen list you've ever seen??? I thought so... Some are repeats from Mr.R's blog comment.

1. Freebird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
2. Over the hill and far away - Led Zeppelin
3. Wish I - Jem, if you haven't heard her you should because she's amazing.
4. I've got a woman - Ray Charles
5. We're not going to take it - Twisted Sister
6. Canned Heat - Jamiroquai
7. High - James Blunt
8. Respect - Erasure
9. Golly Sandra - Eisley
10. Can I get a witness - Marvin Gaye
11. Such Great heights - Postal Service
12. The way i am - Ingrid Michaelson
13. Jump around - House of pain
14. Bandages - Hot hot heat
15. I'm into something good - Herman's hermits
16. Here i go again - White snake
17. If you want blood - AC/DC
18. The very thought of you - Billie Holiday
19.Barracuda - Heart (heaven bless nancy wilson)
20. Sweet child of mine - Guns & Rosses
21. Let go - Frou Frou
22. Surfer Girl - The Beach Boys
23. Drunkin Lullabies - Flogging Molly
24. Don't talk to strangers - Rick Springfield
25. Creep - Radio Head
26. Long snake moon - PJ Harvey
27. Cheeseburger in paradise - Jimmy Buffett
28. Waterloo Sunset - Def Leppard
29.I will follow you into the dark - Death Cab for cutie
30.Changes - David Bowie
31. Try a little tenderness - Otis Redding
32. Do you realize - flaming lips
33. Everlong - Foo fighters
34. New york, New york - Frank Sinatra
35. Hotel Yorba - White stripes.

Anything that ABBA, The Beatles and the 80's butt rock genre has to offer. Sorry the list is so long, believe it or not, I held back. Hope you enjoy!

Unknown said...

I swear you know more about music than I have ever known in my life! I guess you need to be on "Name that Tune"! You go girl!

Tiffany said...

So I just read Carrie's blog and realized I was invited to the contest. Do I get a prize for trying?