Otis...perfect

Otis Redding - Your Feeling is Mine: http://youtu.be/HvqYSWlj8ao

Feeling Otisey, as Usual

Otis Redding - You're Still My Baby: http://youtu.be/p6XS_3zWfYk

Help Big Bird

Hilarious!

 

And speaking of Big Bird, here's a tune from Eddie Floyd with Steve Cropper on guitar.  Big Bird.

Bias Exists, Admit It

Interesting article with studies about bias from the Christian Science Monitor:

"When Barack Obama became president, there was talk of a post-racial society, one blind to color. But the only thing we’re blind to is how instinctively biased we all are. If we can learn to see that blindness, there’s a chance we can learn to see more clearly."

I thought these lyrics fit pretty well with the topic of bias, and hey, you can't go wrong with U2 circa 1982, am I right?

I was talking, I was talking to myself
Somebody else talk, talk, talking.
I couldn't hear a word, a word he said.

He was my brother
I said there was no other way out of here
Be my brother (Brother)
Got to get out, got to get out.

I was walking, I was walking into walls
And back again
I just keep walking
I walk up to a window to see myself

And my reflection
When I thought about it
My direction
Going nowhere, going nowhere.

No-one, no-one is blinder
Than he who will not see.
No-one, no-one is blinder
Than me.

I was talking, I was talking in my sleep
I can't stop talk, talk, talking
I'm talking to you, it's up to you

Be my brother
There is no other way out of here
Be my brother
Got to get out, got to get out
Got to get out of here.

No Time To Lose

Here's a link to play this sweet oldie from Carla Thomas... contains some Steve Cropper guitar that is simply perfect, love it! 
Click the play button and a new window will open, you can hear the whole thing:


I've Got No Time To Lose (Single/LP Version)

 

Amazon link to better sounding mp3: 

Ruby Johnson, OMG!

As a longtime Steve Cropper fan (well, I'm 43 and don't remember life before "Dock of the Bay"), I am always amazed by the hidden jewels that keep turning up, but I just discovered this CD, and it's G-O-L-D, I tell ya!  Unlike most collections, it sounds like a cohesive 60 minute album, with the best band on the planet letting Ruby Johnson shine, by playing in their restrained and perfect style.

Most Played Tunes, 2011

WattsTheTopTen2011 - wattstestsite

Enjoy them yo'sef at the link above and have a Happy 2012!

The Sensational Nightingales

After that game last night, I need "Somewhere to Lay My Head". This is a fantastic gem...be sure to stick around for the last minute to see the foot moves. This was way before James Brown. This is Rev. Julius "June" Cheeks, from Spartanburg, SC. I found this and a lot more gold at TheHoundBlog.

Welcome Music Overlords

Cybraphon Demo Song (The Balkan Bazaar) from Cybraphon on Vimeo.

Cougar Country

Direct from John Cougar Mellencamp on songs in advertising, via the New York Times:

“The bottom line is, I’m a songwriter, and I want people to hear my songs,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s right. I’m not suggesting it for anybody else. This is just what I did this time to reinvent myself and stay in business. Sometimes I get sad about it really. I still don’t think that people should sell their songs for advertising.”

Uh, this from the guy who's "This is Our Country" song is the backbone for all the Chevy Truck ads for crying out loud. Well, Mr. Mellencamp, if you really "...still don’t think that people should sell their songs for advertising.”, maybe you should take your own advice. Talk about Hypocrite!

He continues:

“People say I sold out,” John Mellencamp said, explaining his decision to license a song for a Chevrolet commercial. “No, I got sold out. Sometime during the ’90s record companies made the decision that us guys who had been around for a long time and had sold millions of records and were household names just weren’t as interesting as girls in stretch dresses.”

Oh yeah, it's the stretch dresses that made you sell out. That must be why you licensed the formerly classic "Jack and Diane" to Jessica Simpson.

As for Mellencamp's American pride, he plants his anti-Bush song at the tail end of his new CD, and without listing the track on the CD sleeve:

"Though Mr. Mellencamp opted to avoid a more overtly politicized album, he couldn’t resist including “Rodeo Clown,” a harsh attack on President Bush and the Iraq war, with lines about “blood on the hands of the rich politicians” and “blood on the hands of an arrogant nation.” The song isn’t listed on the packaging and appears several minutes after the album’s last track."

Ooooh! How brave! Thank goodness we have real artists like Mellencamp to stand up for their beliefs, yeah, right. Go make another ad you pink house loser!

U2 vs REM, Trio of Articles

For some reason, there are three recent articles about who was the "Band of the 80's":

U2 or REM?

Slate article
Stylus article
Stereogum article/comments

The Slate article was the first, and I think the others took it from there since that one was from a REM fan's viewpoint. The comments on Stereogum are interesting....lots of folks suggesting neither band and say it was the Pixies or the Smiths or Sonic Youth, etc. To these folks, I say: "Show me the hits!" I mean, to be the band of the decade, I think you need a hit, right?

You can't go underground for greatness, and perhaps, in the end, that is what seperated U2 from REM. U2 was always reaching for the stars, trying to be popular, while REM seemed more content with their spot on college radio (at least in the 80's).

I can speak of the 80's and these bands for that is what I know, man. In '83, I got War, Boy and October and a year later I was listening to Murmur and Chronic Town and then Fables of the Reconstruction. U2 was always my favorite, but as a Southern boy, REM got to me too. I loved them both! I followed their ascentions in the eyes of Rolling Stone magazine, and I was a pusher, too. Don't try to sell me that Flock of Seagulls fandom, U2 was different, and REM was really different.

I was surprised how quickly U2 took over the throne from the Police, who were at the top. Even before the Joshua Tree came out, Rolling Stone proclaimed U2 as Band of the 80's, and then they only got bigger. REM didn't really peak until the early 90's, so I'm going with U2 on this one (surprise!) For a couple of years in the early 90's, REM and U2 were twin powers of rock, but Nirvana and grunge took the spotlight. REM never really recovered and U2 took years in the wilderness (enjoyable experiments) before coming back to be the Big Band in 2000. U2 always seems to aim higher, and that brings some disappointments (new single, many Bono duets), but it also brings greatness (Beautiful Day, Vertigo, Fast Cars). Really though, with the Joshua Tree and Rattle & Hum, U2 were having GIANT successes that built to a peak by the end of the decade, making U2 the thinking man's choice for Band of the 80's.....they dominated, man!

And I don't think U2 is done making great music....amazing as it may be, I think some of their best work still lies ahead.

Now, who is the "Band of the Aughts?" It could be U2 again, man!

Sting Gives Up

"BERLIN (Reuters) - Sting said contemporary rock music is so stagnant that he prefers to sing 16th century English ballads.

The former teacher who shot to fame as lead singer, bassist and composer in the 1970s and 80s for The Police told German newspaper Die Zeit that he prefers singing songs of Elizabethan lutenist and composer John Dowland to the rock music of today.

His album of Dowland lute music "Songs from the Labyrinth" has topped classical charts on both sides of the Atlantic and entered the UK album chart at No. 24."

Well, maybe if some of the big rock stars out there sang rock music, it wouldn't be so stagnant, Mr. Sting. But no, some egotistical rock stars quit their good band, go on to release whiny white boy reggae/jazz fluff, do commercials for upscale car companies, and brag of sexual prowess, before giving it all up and doing albums of "Dowland lute music". Sting is through with rock and he admits it....finally, 20 years after the fact.

Vertigo - New Orleans-style

Click here to see the Edge and a band in New Orleans give a different life to Vertigo. Hola!
And don't forget to check out Music Rising....they're bringin' New Orleans back

Bogie Rocks the Bigtime

Check out this website and watch Zete bro Bogie Bowles jam with his 3 piece band. More pictures there, too, enjoy...

Hillary Plays U2, too

"Beautiful Day" is a uniter, not a divider. On this Condi & Hillary agree (and so do their husbands! ;-) Beatles, Stones, Motown, 70's Soul,... and U2...they just keep getting bigger.

Lionel Richie Can Save the World

"According to John Berman of ABC News, “Grown Iraqi men get misty-eyed by the mere mention of his name. ‘I love Lionel Richie,’ they say. Iraqis who do not understand a word of English can sing an entire Lionel Richie song.”...

"I'm huge, huge in the Arab world. The answer as to why is, I don't have the slightest idea."...

...Your songs in the post-Commodores years were so unfunky that some folks have called you the black Barry Manilow. Your music does not inspire a frenzy of
booty-shaking, but rather glides across the consciousness… maybe that’s it: your music makes Middle Easterners feel safe in an unsafe place....

...Lionel, the Iraqis said that they were playing All Night Long in the streets when the U.S. military rolled into Baghdad back in 2003. Something must be gained in
the translation: Everybody sing, everybody dance/Lose yourself in wild
romance/Were going to party/Karamu, fiesta, forever/Come on and sing along! This, while in contrast, the big song blaring from U.S. fighter jets was reputed to be Drowning Pool’s metal hit Let the Bodies Hit the Floor."

Not sure why I find this so interesting, maybe because he's not the musician I would expect to save the world. But hey, good luck Lionel!

watts4u2Pod

Wow...a cool new feature that keeps track of my playlists. This should be interesting over time. You can join in the fun, includes a free streaming radio at 128 kbps. Click on the iPod to the left for more info, the one to the right is just for show. Thanks to u2log for pointing this out, they turned me on to blogging and flickr, so I expect this to be a hit

CD/DVD combo, a winner!

DualDisc: Double the format, double the fun | csmonitor.com

"Record labels have also noticed that their cousins, the film studios, are selling billions of DVDs by stuffing them with bonus features. That's led record executives to conclude that music buyers can be enticed by new albums or back-catalogue reissues by adding similar extras to DualDiscs, which have the capacity for 30 minutes of video in addition to a surround-sound mix. For example, a reissue of Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue" includes a documentary about the making of the celebrated work. The Springsteen album, which will retail for the price of a regular CD, includes, among other things, footage of the Boss playing songs acoustically. It's surely only a matter of time until some artist includes a "commentary track" to play over the music."

This is a good direction, and hopefully a good sign that future U2 releases will be bundled with goodies usually left on the cutting room floor. U2 included the Unforgettable Fire documentary on the Slane DVD, and that was a great bonus. The digital box set has about a dozen previously unreleased tunes, many of them outtakes that would normally have gone unreleased. Hopefully U2 will include those tracks as bonus material on a future release. Yes, give us more!

By Any Means

Pop Goes Politics - Is the new protest music any good? By Jody Rosen

Nathan's band is making some waves on Slate today!

Trans Am
Liberation, Thrill Jockey
Click here to listen to "Total Information Awareness," here to listen to "Spike in the Chatter," and here to listen to "Uninvited Guest."
War on Terror catchphrases like "Total Information Awareness" and "Spike in the Chatter" sound like song titles in search of creepy music, and Washington, D.C.,-based Trans Am delivers just that on this suitably dystopian soundtrack. But there's only so much a mostly instrumental neo-prog rock band can say. Whether droning "Security … Technology" over power chords in a vocoder robot voice, or layering samples of Arab journalists describing bombing runs on Baghdad atop clattering canned beats, Trans Am's message is the same: That George Bush sure is a scary warmonger. Liberation's most satisfying variation on this banal theme is "Uninvited Guest." The song stitches together bits of Bush's speeches ("Our commitment to weapons of mass destruction is America's tradition," says the president to roaring applause) and plays them over an eerie Afrika Bambaataa-style synthesizer riff.

Watts on the Clie

Watts on the Clie, originally uploaded by watts4u2.

Updated when warranted, "Watts on the Clie" highlights tunes running on my MP3 player. You'll notice a major shift from the premiere edition of "Watts on the Clie" (check the archives). These tunes are mostly classics sprinkled with some lesser known yet almost just as great tunes.