Curio Cabinet / Song Curio
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Pedal into the weekend with this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Composer Aaron Copland hitched his ride to the work of Emily Dickinson. After releasing popular works such as Appalachian Spring and Billy the Kid, New York composer Copland was inspired by Dickinson's classic poem on immortality, Because I could not stop for Death. He wrote a new piece, which he called The Chariot (after the chariot that Death, personified as a man, drives in the poem). "Because I could not stop for Death / He kindly stopped for me / The Carriage held but just Ourselves / And Immortality," Dickinson wrote. Copland was especially moved that Dickinson's belief in eternal life was confirmed by the popularity of her work well beyond her death in 1886. The Chariot uses word-painting, a method of arranging music to convey the poem's literal meaning. Hence the minor notes to represent the approach of Death, and the tune's slow tempo which matches the chariot's gradual journey. (Dickinson wrote that death "knew no haste.") Copland didn't just stop with one composition; he ultimately wrote a cycle of twelve songs for soprano and piano entitled Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson. We wonder what the poet and composer would've discussed if they'd had the chance to ride together.
Below: the Dickinson poem that inspired Copland's work.
Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –
We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –
Or rather – He passed us –
The Dews drew quivering and chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –
We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –
Since then – ‘tis Centuries – and ye t
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward Eternity –
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Image credit & copyright: Eric Auerbach / Getty Images
Poem copyright: The Poems of Emily Dickinson, Ralph W. Franklin ed., Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1998 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
It's Flashback Friday! Pedal into the weekend with this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Composer Aaron Copland hitched his ride to the work of Emily Dickinson. After releasing popular works such as Appalachian Spring and Billy the Kid, New York composer Copland was inspired by Dickinson's classic poem on immortality, Because I could not stop for Death. He wrote a new piece, which he called The Chariot (after the chariot that Death, personified as a man, drives in the poem). "Because I could not stop for Death / He kindly stopped for me / The Carriage held but just Ourselves / And Immortality," Dickinson wrote. Copland was especially moved that Dickinson's belief in eternal life was confirmed by the popularity of her work well beyond her death in 1886. The Chariot uses word-painting, a method of arranging music to convey the poem's literal meaning. Hence the minor notes to represent the approach of Death, and the tune's slow tempo which matches the chariot's gradual journey. (Dickinson wrote that death "knew no haste.") Copland didn't just stop with one composition; he ultimately wrote a cycle of twelve songs for soprano and piano entitled Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson. We wonder what the poet and composer would've discussed if they'd had the chance to ride together.
Below: the Dickinson poem that inspired Copland's work.
Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –
We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –
Or rather – He passed us –
The Dews drew quivering and chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –
We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –
Since then – ‘tis Centuries – and ye t
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward Eternity –
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Eric Auerbach / Getty Images
Poem copyright: The Poems of Emily Dickinson, Ralph W. Franklin ed., Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1998 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Few living American poets have had their work featured in a Top 10 pop song, but that's exactly what happened to Wyn Cooper when Sheryl Crow's All I Wanna Do was released in 1994. The boozy tune, an example of the Bakersfield sound (honky-tonk by way of Los Angeles), allegedly found its lyrics by chance. After taking a break from recording, Crow's fellow bandmates Bill Bottrell and Kevin Gilbert found a used copy of Cooper's The Country of Here Below in a Pasadena bookstore. They brought the book back to Crow and encouraged her to sing Cooper's narrative poem "Fun" over the three-chord tune they were working on. All I Wanna Do became a #2 hit, launching Sheryl Crow's career and propping up Wyn Cooper's status as a lyric poet. It may have been a chance stroke of luck that drove Crow to "Fun," though for Cooper, music and poetry have always gone hand-in-hand: "Much of the power of poetry, which began as song, is found in its sounds, whether hard or soft, vowel or consonant, whisper or wail." Or in Crow's case, an elated cry over Santa Monica Boulevard!
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Image credit & copyright: Bass Player Magazine
Few living American poets have had their work featured in a Top 10 pop song, but that's exactly what happened to Wyn Cooper when Sheryl Crow's All I Wanna Do was released in 1994. The boozy tune, an example of the Bakersfield sound (honky-tonk by way of Los Angeles), allegedly found its lyrics by chance. After taking a break from recording, Crow's fellow bandmates Bill Bottrell and Kevin Gilbert found a used copy of Cooper's The Country of Here Below in a Pasadena bookstore. They brought the book back to Crow and encouraged her to sing Cooper's narrative poem "Fun" over the three-chord tune they were working on. All I Wanna Do became a #2 hit, launching Sheryl Crow's career and propping up Wyn Cooper's status as a lyric poet. It may have been a chance stroke of luck that drove Crow to "Fun," though for Cooper, music and poetry have always gone hand-in-hand: "Much of the power of poetry, which began as song, is found in its sounds, whether hard or soft, vowel or consonant, whisper or wail." Or in Crow's case, an elated cry over Santa Monica Boulevard!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Bass Player Magazine
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Indie artist Kishi Bashi set out to make history with his new record—or at least, to find inspiration from history. The former violinist for Regina Spektor and of Montreal began work on his forthcoming album Omoiyari by exploring the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The first single entitled Summer of '42 explores a relationship that develops amid the dislocation: Bashi layers the romantic lyrics amid a flush of rapid string arrangements and gentle acoustic guitar strumming. Punctuated with his falsetto (high vocal register) refrains of "I am in love with you," the song moves with the intensity of a new relationship and the tender melancholy of gone, but not forgotten affection. Bishi's work is evidence of the humanity that thrives in some of the most difficult circumstances.
Below: audio of Summer of '42 and a short film of Bashi visiting the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming.
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Image credit & copyright: Kishi Bashi / Max Ritter
Indie artist Kishi Bashi set out to make history with his new record—or at least, to find inspiration from history. The former violinist for Regina Spektor and of Montreal began work on his forthcoming album Omoiyari by exploring the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The first single entitled Summer of '42 explores a relationship that develops amid the dislocation: Bashi layers the romantic lyrics amid a flush of rapid string arrangements and gentle acoustic guitar strumming. Punctuated with his falsetto (high vocal register) refrains of "I am in love with you," the song moves with the intensity of a new relationship and the tender melancholy of gone, but not forgotten affection. Bishi's work is evidence of the humanity that thrives in some of the most difficult circumstances.
Below: audio of Summer of '42 and a short film of Bashi visiting the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming.
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Kishi Bashi / Max Ritter
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this starry-eyed favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
On March 26, 1964, Funny Girl, a biographical musical about Jewish vaudeville star Fanny Brice, opened on Broadway to rave reviews. Much of the praise was reserved for the lead, a young Barbra Streisand, whose singing was the cherry on top of her energetic expressiveness. But Streisand almost didn't get the part. When she showed up to audition in front of producer Ray Stark, "she looked awful. All her clothes were out of thrift shops." Stark originally reached out to established actresses like Mary Martin, Anne Bancroft, and Carol Burnett for the role. But deals fell through for various reasons. Against the strongest wishes of his wife, Stark hired Streisand on the spot. She must have channeled that experience into her performance of I'm the Greatest Star, an early number in which Brice perseveres through a botched audition. "You think beautiful girls are gonna stay a star forever?" Streisand sings. "I should say not! / Any minute now they're gonna be out!...Finished! / Then it'll be my turn." Was it ever.
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It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this starry-eyed favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
On March 26, 1964, Funny Girl, a biographical musical about Jewish vaudeville star Fanny Brice, opened on Broadway to rave reviews. Much of the praise was reserved for the lead, a young Barbra Streisand, whose singing was the cherry on top of her energetic expressiveness. But Streisand almost didn't get the part. When she showed up to audition in front of producer Ray Stark, "she looked awful. All her clothes were out of thrift shops." Stark originally reached out to established actresses like Mary Martin, Anne Bancroft, and Carol Burnett for the role. But deals fell through for various reasons. Against the strongest wishes of his wife, Stark hired Streisand on the spot. She must have channeled that experience into her performance of I'm the Greatest Star, an early number in which Brice perseveres through a botched audition. "You think beautiful girls are gonna stay a star forever?" Streisand sings. "I should say not! / Any minute now they're gonna be out!...Finished! / Then it'll be my turn." Was it ever.
Other streaming options
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Who needs a sibling rivalry when you can have sibling harmony? The brothers Scott and Seth make up the namesake of the Avett Brothers, a folk-rock band from North Carolina. On tracks like the reflective ballad No Hard Feelings from the 2016 album True Sadness, the brothers' long history together can be seen in the music video's home movie footage and heard in their rich vocal harmonies. The lyrics of the song follow a deathbed reflection on life and whether or not the pursuits of wealth and status will mean anything in the end: "When I lay down my fears / My hopes and my doubts ...And the keys to my house / With no hard feelings," Scott croons. Even though the Avett Brothers appear to be fresh-faced and youthful in their video, the brothers have been playing music together for nearly 20 years. If that history gives them a perspective of grace in the face of mortality, as the lyrics to No Hard Feelings point to, we can't wait to see what happens in the sibling-led band's next 20 years.
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Image credit & copyright: Bryce Duffy
Who needs a sibling rivalry when you can have sibling harmony? The brothers Scott and Seth make up the namesake of the Avett Brothers, a folk-rock band from North Carolina. On tracks like the reflective ballad No Hard Feelings from the 2016 album True Sadness, the brothers' long history together can be seen in the music video's home movie footage and heard in their rich vocal harmonies. The lyrics of the song follow a deathbed reflection on life and whether or not the pursuits of wealth and status will mean anything in the end: "When I lay down my fears / My hopes and my doubts ...And the keys to my house / With no hard feelings," Scott croons. Even though the Avett Brothers appear to be fresh-faced and youthful in their video, the brothers have been playing music together for nearly 20 years. If that history gives them a perspective of grace in the face of mortality, as the lyrics to No Hard Feelings point to, we can't wait to see what happens in the sibling-led band's next 20 years.
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Image credit & copyright: Bryce Duffy
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It was a one-eyed, one-horned flying novelty song that highlighted actor and musician Sheb Wooley's bizarre career. Born April 10, 1921, Wooley transitioned from a rodeo cowboy to a musician in the '50s, most notably penning The Purple People Eater after some schoolyard tomfoolery he overheard from a friend's son. Capitalizing on the era's fixation with flying saucers, Sputnik, and mad science, he invented a pigmy creature that blows music from its horn and swoops around devouring purple people—wishing, in a high-pitched Chipmunks' voice, that it could join a rock 'n' roll band. Wooley's producer in Nashville flatly rejected the demo, but MGM pounced, with the maniacal ditty selling one million copies and topping American charts for six weeks. Wooley's other successes included portraying Ben Colder on the television series Hee Haw and landing supporting roles in countless westerns, notably the 1951 film Distant Drums, in which he gave birth to the iconic Wilhelm death scream heard in Star Wars. Which really testifies to Wooley's ability to blow it out and really knock 'em dead—and be knocked dead himself!
Below: audio for The Purple People Eater, as well as a compilation of Wilhelm screams.
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Image credit & copyright: CBS / Hee Haw
It was a one-eyed, one-horned flying novelty song that highlighted actor and musician Sheb Wooley's bizarre career. Born April 10, 1921, Wooley transitioned from a rodeo cowboy to a musician in the '50s, most notably penning The Purple People Eater after some schoolyard tomfoolery he overheard from a friend's son. Capitalizing on the era's fixation with flying saucers, Sputnik, and mad science, he invented a pigmy creature that blows music from its horn and swoops around devouring purple people—wishing, in a high-pitched Chipmunks' voice, that it could join a rock 'n' roll band. Wooley's producer in Nashville flatly rejected the demo, but MGM pounced, with the maniacal ditty selling one million copies and topping American charts for six weeks. Wooley's other successes included portraying Ben Colder on the television series Hee Haw and landing supporting roles in countless westerns, notably the 1951 film Distant Drums, in which he gave birth to the iconic Wilhelm death scream heard in Star Wars. Which really testifies to Wooley's ability to blow it out and really knock 'em dead—and be knocked dead himself!
Below: audio for The Purple People Eater, as well as a compilation of Wilhelm screams.
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: CBS / Hee Haw
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this fun favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Few people in life ever attain a theme song of their own, yet comedian Don Rickles did just that. The occasional Tonight Show guest-host and buddy of Frank Sinatra developed an act that earned him the ironic nickname "Mr. Warmth" for the way he would arrive onstage and make sarcastic quips about his audience members. Rickles' highly interactive and confrontational style eventually melded with his own vision of himself as a bullfighter—to which Johnny Carson began to play La Virgen de la Macarena as Rickles' entrance music, a traditional matador's song that takes the bull by the horn section. The concerto-style piece finds the orchestra posturing with bold flamenco mode notes (an altered, flamenco-sounding, Phrygian scale) as the trumpet soloist sways deftly in and out of harm's way. It seems just like in comedy, timing is everything for the song!
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Image credit & copyright: NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this fun favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Few people in life ever attain a theme song of their own, yet comedian Don Rickles did just that. The occasional Tonight Show guest-host and buddy of Frank Sinatra developed an act that earned him the ironic nickname "Mr. Warmth" for the way he would arrive onstage and make sarcastic quips about his audience members. Rickles' highly interactive and confrontational style eventually melded with his own vision of himself as a bullfighter—to which Johnny Carson began to play La Virgen de la Macarena as Rickles' entrance music, a traditional matador's song that takes the bull by the horn section. The concerto-style piece finds the orchestra posturing with bold flamenco mode notes (an altered, flamenco-sounding, Phrygian scale) as the trumpet soloist sways deftly in and out of harm's way. It seems just like in comedy, timing is everything for the song!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
Despite headlining the stage, Billy Corgan is still just a rat in a cage. The frontman for the Smashing Pumpkins embodied the angsty zeitgeist of the mid-90s with his whimpered fury before ultimately falling victim to his ego. On the roaring single Bullet with Butterfly Wings off the album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness—in which Corgan allowed his bandmates to write just two of 28 tracks—we hear of his tormented success story. The song opens by springboarding into an ominous rhythm, with Corgan despairing at how he and his bandmates are doomed to age, forever lose part of their childhood selves, and still find themselves trapped by life. "Can you fake it for just one more show?" Corgan snarls, capping off the gloom. The verse foreshadowed his decision to break up the band in 2000 due to group infighting related to his control issues, as well as drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and bassist D'arcy Wretzky's past struggles with drug abuse. The band has mounted a recent comeback tour, but we're not getting our hopes up—because that just wouldn't be in the dispirit of Corgan!
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Image credit & copyright: Virgin
Despite headlining the stage, Billy Corgan is still just a rat in a cage. The frontman for the Smashing Pumpkins embodied the angsty zeitgeist of the mid-90s with his whimpered fury before ultimately falling victim to his ego. On the roaring single Bullet with Butterfly Wings off the album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness—in which Corgan allowed his bandmates to write just two of 28 tracks—we hear of his tormented success story. The song opens by springboarding into an ominous rhythm, with Corgan despairing at how he and his bandmates are doomed to age, forever lose part of their childhood selves, and still find themselves trapped by life. "Can you fake it for just one more show?" Corgan snarls, capping off the gloom. The verse foreshadowed his decision to break up the band in 2000 due to group infighting related to his control issues, as well as drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and bassist D'arcy Wretzky's past struggles with drug abuse. The band has mounted a recent comeback tour, but we're not getting our hopes up—because that just wouldn't be in the dispirit of Corgan!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Virgin
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
There's a new sound carrying from the steppes of Mongolia, and it's taking the West by storm. Mongolian rock band The Hu blends Western heavy metal with traditional Tuvan throat singing. This unique blend of musical heritages, dubbed "Hunnu Rock," has propelled their hit Yuve Yuve Yu, or "What's going on?," to over 10 million views on YouTube. The tune has singers Gala and Enkush enciting Mongolian pride from gorgeous Central Asian cliffs, deserts, and forests, over a galloping baseline played by Temka on a two-stringed tovshuur. Guttural vocals, urging Mongolians to cherish their rich history, pound each beat as band members saw at elaborately-carved horse head fiddles called morin khuur. The final breakdown swirls with glissandos and quavering pitches, thanks to The Hu's Tuvan throat singing—whereby a vocalist uses their vestibular folds, or "fake vocal cords," to produce an additional undertone. The Hu hopes its rock will free Mongolians, once culturally repressed by Soviet occupiers, to become more in touch with their ancestors. Although, the group eagerly welcomes all, Mongol or not, to join in the head banging and to toast to the new heavy metal Khanate!
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Image credit & copyright: The Hu / Dashka Productions
There's a new sound carrying from the steppes of Mongolia, and it's taking the West by storm. Mongolian rock band The Hu blends Western heavy metal with traditional Tuvan throat singing. This unique blend of musical heritages, dubbed "Hunnu Rock," has propelled their hit Yuve Yuve Yu, or "What's going on?," to over 10 million views on YouTube. The tune has singers Gala and Enkush enciting Mongolian pride from gorgeous Central Asian cliffs, deserts, and forests, over a galloping baseline played by Temka on a two-stringed tovshuur. Guttural vocals, urging Mongolians to cherish their rich history, pound each beat as band members saw at elaborately-carved horse head fiddles called morin khuur. The final breakdown swirls with glissandos and quavering pitches, thanks to The Hu's Tuvan throat singing—whereby a vocalist uses their vestibular folds, or "fake vocal cords," to produce an additional undertone. The Hu hopes its rock will free Mongolians, once culturally repressed by Soviet occupiers, to become more in touch with their ancestors. Although, the group eagerly welcomes all, Mongol or not, to join in the head banging and to toast to the new heavy metal Khanate!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: The Hu / Dashka Productions
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this squeaky-clean favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Danny and Sandy weren't the only ones to make big changes in their lives when the Grease movie soundtrack was released 41 years ago. Before Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta became the faces of the musical, Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey's play was an homage to the birth of rock 'n' roll and the "greaser" culture popular with Chicago's teenagers at the time. The original 1971 run of Grease in Chicago's Kingston Mines Theater Company featured more hard-edged teenagers, less focus on Sandy and Danny's romance, and far less time spent singing on stage. When the production moved to Broadway in 1972, all references to Chicago and about 13 songs were cut in the process—Foster Beach became Summer Nights, for example. One song that stayed strong through the purge? The babble-friendly, happy endings of We Go Together. In spite of the differences between the original musical and the 1978 movie, when Grease is the word, we can be sure that it'll be followed by a boogedy, boogedy, boogedy, boogedy, / shooby doo-wop, she-bop!
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Image credit & copyright: Paramount Pictures
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this squeaky-clean favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Danny and Sandy weren't the only ones to make big changes in their lives when the Grease movie soundtrack was released 41 years ago. Before Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta became the faces of the musical, Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey's play was an homage to the birth of rock 'n' roll and the "greaser" culture popular with Chicago's teenagers at the time. The original 1971 run of Grease in Chicago's Kingston Mines Theater Company featured more hard-edged teenagers, less focus on Sandy and Danny's romance, and far less time spent singing on stage. When the production moved to Broadway in 1972, all references to Chicago and about 13 songs were cut in the process—Foster Beach became Summer Nights, for example. One song that stayed strong through the purge? The babble-friendly, happy endings of We Go Together. In spite of the differences between the original musical and the 1978 movie, when Grease is the word, we can be sure that it'll be followed by a boogedy, boogedy, boogedy, boogedy, / shooby doo-wop, she-bop!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Paramount Pictures
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Before riot grrrls or girl power, Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin brought feminism to the pop charts in a big way with Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves. The song was written by singer Annie Lennox, who wanted to see if she could craft "an anthem for women." From there, she knew that she'd need a fellow soul singer and mezzo-soprano to trade verses with; when Tina Turner and a host of others said no, producer Clive Davis stepped in, getting Lennox and Eurythmics bandmate Dave Stewart quickly to Detroit to record with the Queen of Soul herself. When the two forces of Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin later came together to shoot the video for Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves, the screen between Franklin and Lennox flashed footage of suffragettes being arrested, women entering (typically male) industrial jobs, and empowering views of icons like Dr. Angela Davis and Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi, first female Prime Minister of India. Now that's what we call showing R-E-S-P-E-C-T where it was due!
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Image credit & copyright: Lynn Goldsmith
Before riot grrrls or girl power, Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin brought feminism to the pop charts in a big way with Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves. The song was written by singer Annie Lennox, who wanted to see if she could craft "an anthem for women." From there, she knew that she'd need a fellow soul singer and mezzo-soprano to trade verses with; when Tina Turner and a host of others said no, producer Clive Davis stepped in, getting Lennox and Eurythmics bandmate Dave Stewart quickly to Detroit to record with the Queen of Soul herself. When the two forces of Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin later came together to shoot the video for Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves, the screen between Franklin and Lennox flashed footage of suffragettes being arrested, women entering (typically male) industrial jobs, and empowering views of icons like Dr. Angela Davis and Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi, first female Prime Minister of India. Now that's what we call showing R-E-S-P-E-C-T where it was due!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Lynn Goldsmith
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Mariah Carey holds a Billboard record for 18 number-one hits in part thanks to her virtuosity with a masterful vocal technique. The New York singer was the biggest '90s R&B diva to employ the melisma style, in which multiple notes are sung over a single syllable of text. In her live performance of Emotions at MTV Unplugged, for example, Carey applies that vocal styling to a gospel choir-like opener. From there, Carey's melisma traverses her impressive five-octave vocal range, including her famous ultra-high "whistle register." On her best songs, Carey is a marvel of contemporary music; but when melisma became the go-to way of singing for dozens and dozens of contestants on vocal competition shows like American Idol, The X Factor, and The Voice, critics started to cringe at its overuse and loss of emotional range. Fortunately, for Mariah Carey's 50th birthday today (or 49th, depending on who we ask), we can spin her classics and remember why everyone wants to sing like her.
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Image credit & copyright: Rated RnB
Mariah Carey holds a Billboard record for 18 number-one hits in part thanks to her virtuosity with a masterful vocal technique. The New York singer was the biggest '90s R&B diva to employ the melisma style, in which multiple notes are sung over a single syllable of text. In her live performance of Emotions at MTV Unplugged, for example, Carey applies that vocal styling to a gospel choir-like opener. From there, Carey's melisma traverses her impressive five-octave vocal range, including her famous ultra-high "whistle register." On her best songs, Carey is a marvel of contemporary music; but when melisma became the go-to way of singing for dozens and dozens of contestants on vocal competition shows like American Idol, The X Factor, and The Voice, critics started to cringe at its overuse and loss of emotional range. Fortunately, for Mariah Carey's 50th birthday today (or 49th, depending on who we ask), we can spin her classics and remember why everyone wants to sing like her.
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Rated RnB
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Orange you glad you get to enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives?
Everything old is New (York) again. Case in point: Long Time, Blondie's 2017 single. The sound recalls the heyday of the New Wave era while borrowing something new from new NYC co-writer Dev Hynes, better known as Blood Orange. The two acts may come from distant musical eras, but Blood Orange's retro synthesizers and Debbie Harry's lovelorn lyrics blend seamlessly. The result is a song with an air of timelessness that serves as a fitting ode to the city both musicians call home. Check out the video for Long Time, directed by Beyoncé collaborator Dikayl Rimmasch, and featuring Debbie Harry as a taxi driver in the Big Apple. Go ahead, take the ride, roll down the windows, and turn up the radio with this one!
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Image credit & copyright: Blondie: Danielle St. Laurent, Blood Orange: Nina Corcoran
It's Flashback Friday! Orange you glad you get to enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives?
Everything old is New (York) again. Case in point: Long Time, Blondie's 2017 single. The sound recalls the heyday of the New Wave era while borrowing something new from new NYC co-writer Dev Hynes, better known as Blood Orange. The two acts may come from distant musical eras, but Blood Orange's retro synthesizers and Debbie Harry's lovelorn lyrics blend seamlessly. The result is a song with an air of timelessness that serves as a fitting ode to the city both musicians call home. Check out the video for Long Time, directed by Beyoncé collaborator Dikayl Rimmasch, and featuring Debbie Harry as a taxi driver in the Big Apple. Go ahead, take the ride, roll down the windows, and turn up the radio with this one!
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Image credit & copyright: Blondie: Danielle St. Laurent, Blood Orange: Nina Corcoran
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's spring, and sleazy '70s love is in the air, thanks to Donna Summers. The "Queen of Disco," Summers found a multimillion-selling sound by capturing the hedonism of the era with intoxicated falsetto vocals. On tracks like Spring Affair, off the album Four Seasons of Love (1976), she lifts her airy voice over chimes and a giddy baseline to confess her springtime yearnings. Spring Affair was indicative of Summers' productive early years: a churning of erotic hit carols like the pulsing Love to Love You Baby (1975). Unfortunately, the songstress' kitschy sex appeal lost its mojo alongside the disco genre, which faded in 1980; though, the diva's transition into rock and gospel softened her fall from stardom. Fortunately for Summers, she nevertheless roller skated into retirement with five Grammys for dance, R&B, rock, and gospel—a groovy consolation, if you ask us!
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Image credit & copyright: GAB Archive / Redferns / Getty
It's spring, and sleazy '70s love is in the air, thanks to Donna Summers. The "Queen of Disco," Summers found a multimillion-selling sound by capturing the hedonism of the era with intoxicated falsetto vocals. On tracks like Spring Affair, off the album Four Seasons of Love (1976), she lifts her airy voice over chimes and a giddy baseline to confess her springtime yearnings. Spring Affair was indicative of Summers' productive early years: a churning of erotic hit carols like the pulsing Love to Love You Baby (1975). Unfortunately, the songstress' kitschy sex appeal lost its mojo alongside the disco genre, which faded in 1980; though, the diva's transition into rock and gospel softened her fall from stardom. Fortunately for Summers, she nevertheless roller skated into retirement with five Grammys for dance, R&B, rock, and gospel—a groovy consolation, if you ask us!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: GAB Archive / Redferns / Getty
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Nick of Time wasn't just the title of Bonnie Raitt's breakthrough album from 1989: it was also a motto for the singer and guitarist who saved her life from falling apart. Raitt was at a personal low a few years before Nick of Time was released, struggling with out-of-control substance abuse and the sting of being dropped from her record label, Warner Bros. She even ended up funding her own tours, and as audiences shrank, so did her savings. With the help of her friend Stevie Ray Vaughan, Raitt got sober; and an appearance on the hit HBO special Roy Orbison: Black and White Night gave Raitt the clout to start recording a comeback album. Produced by Don Was (current President of Blue Note Records), Nick of Time found Raitt showing off her blues chops and bottleneck slide guitar skills (using a cylindrical device on the fretted hand to get a vibrato-heavy sound) in songs like Thing Called Love. Nick of Time scored Raitt her first #1 album and Grammy for Album of the Year, proving there was no time to waste in taking advantage of her newfound popularity.
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Image credit & copyright: Marina Chavez
Nick of Time wasn't just the title of Bonnie Raitt's breakthrough album from 1989: it was also a motto for the singer and guitarist who saved her life from falling apart. Raitt was at a personal low a few years before Nick of Time was released, struggling with out-of-control substance abuse and the sting of being dropped from her record label, Warner Bros. She even ended up funding her own tours, and as audiences shrank, so did her savings. With the help of her friend Stevie Ray Vaughan, Raitt got sober; and an appearance on the hit HBO special Roy Orbison: Black and White Night gave Raitt the clout to start recording a comeback album. Produced by Don Was (current President of Blue Note Records), Nick of Time found Raitt showing off her blues chops and bottleneck slide guitar skills (using a cylindrical device on the fretted hand to get a vibrato-heavy sound) in songs like Thing Called Love. Nick of Time scored Raitt her first #1 album and Grammy for Album of the Year, proving there was no time to waste in taking advantage of her newfound popularity.
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Image credit & copyright: Marina Chavez
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this shoe-in favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
South African musician Ray Phiri, who played with Paul Simon on his seminal 1986 Graceland album, has passed away at age 70 in July 2017. The guitarist made his mark with Stimela, a platinum-selling band who spoke out against apartheid censorship and the personal turmoil it caused in songs like Whispers in the Deep. The song was banned on South African national radio, but that only made it more popular than ever—and Simon took notice. Phiri went on to play lead guitar on Graceland's Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes and is credited as a co-arranger on tracks like You Can Call Me Al. At the time, the South African-influenced album drew controversy for breaking the U.N.-backed cultural boycott of the apartheid country. But it's remembered as a classic record that helped expose the rest of the world to South African music. Rest in peace, Phiri; we'll remember you through those funky guitar riffs and mighty protest songs.
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Below: Ray Phiri on tour with Paul Simon for a performance of Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes.
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this shoe-in favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
South African musician Ray Phiri, who played with Paul Simon on his seminal 1986 Graceland album, has passed away at age 70 in July 2017. The guitarist made his mark with Stimela, a platinum-selling band who spoke out against apartheid censorship and the personal turmoil it caused in songs like Whispers in the Deep. The song was banned on South African national radio, but that only made it more popular than ever—and Simon took notice. Phiri went on to play lead guitar on Graceland's Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes and is credited as a co-arranger on tracks like You Can Call Me Al. At the time, the South African-influenced album drew controversy for breaking the U.N.-backed cultural boycott of the apartheid country. But it's remembered as a classic record that helped expose the rest of the world to South African music. Rest in peace, Phiri; we'll remember you through those funky guitar riffs and mighty protest songs.
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Below: Ray Phiri on tour with Paul Simon for a performance of Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes.
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FREEMath Song CurioFree2 CQ
How do we love thee? Let us Pi the ways. If there is one artist we could count on to explore the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, it's the eccentric British singer Kate Bush in the tune Pi. Set in a triple meter to no doubt compliment the first numbers of pi (~3.14), Bush tells a story of a man who obsesses over mathematical constant. True to her unique lyrics, Bush counts pi to the 91st decimal place over two verses, in what feels like a vocally soaring mathematical meditation, if not an instance of excessive dedication to a concept. Pi sits alongside Bush's career-long practice of writing songs from fantastical points of view, including a weather-machine inventor's daughter, and a fetus in a nuclear war. No other pop singer takes on dramatic roles quite like Kate Bush does, which has earned her a number of famous musical and literary fans like Elton John and David Mitchell. Maybe with Pi she'll become a favorite of STEM communities, too?
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Image credit & copyright: Arena
How do we love thee? Let us Pi the ways. If there is one artist we could count on to explore the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, it's the eccentric British singer Kate Bush in the tune Pi. Set in a triple meter to no doubt compliment the first numbers of pi (~3.14), Bush tells a story of a man who obsesses over mathematical constant. True to her unique lyrics, Bush counts pi to the 91st decimal place over two verses, in what feels like a vocally soaring mathematical meditation, if not an instance of excessive dedication to a concept. Pi sits alongside Bush's career-long practice of writing songs from fantastical points of view, including a weather-machine inventor's daughter, and a fetus in a nuclear war. No other pop singer takes on dramatic roles quite like Kate Bush does, which has earned her a number of famous musical and literary fans like Elton John and David Mitchell. Maybe with Pi she'll become a favorite of STEM communities, too?
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Image credit & copyright: Arena
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FREEWorld History Song CurioFree2 CQ
St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner! To celebrate, we're kicking the dust off our travelin' shoes and walking The Rocky Road to Dublin with the High Kings. The folk song features lyrics written by poet D.K. Gavin for the famous 19th-century British singer Harry Clifton—though, the song remains popular among contemporary punk bands. It features a melody composed in the Dorian scale and a distinct rhythm known as a slip jig: a triple meter that follows a two-note long and short, quarter-and-eighth-note pattern. The brisk pace of the jig carries the rowdy tale of a man leaving his home in Tuam, Ireland, and traveling to Liverpool in England: "Cut a stout blackthorn to banish ghosts and goblins / a brand new pair of brogues, rattlin' o'er the bogs / frightenin' all the dogs on the rocky road to Dublin." Along the way, he makes friends with local livestock, has his "bundle" of supplies stolen, hitches a ride on a boat, and starts a fight with some English people insulting the Irish. Sounds like someone could use a lucky shamrock and a pint of Guinness for all his troubles!
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Image credit & copyright: Michael Smurfit
St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner! To celebrate, we're kicking the dust off our travelin' shoes and walking The Rocky Road to Dublin with the High Kings. The folk song features lyrics written by poet D.K. Gavin for the famous 19th-century British singer Harry Clifton—though, the song remains popular among contemporary punk bands. It features a melody composed in the Dorian scale and a distinct rhythm known as a slip jig: a triple meter that follows a two-note long and short, quarter-and-eighth-note pattern. The brisk pace of the jig carries the rowdy tale of a man leaving his home in Tuam, Ireland, and traveling to Liverpool in England: "Cut a stout blackthorn to banish ghosts and goblins / a brand new pair of brogues, rattlin' o'er the bogs / frightenin' all the dogs on the rocky road to Dublin." Along the way, he makes friends with local livestock, has his "bundle" of supplies stolen, hitches a ride on a boat, and starts a fight with some English people insulting the Irish. Sounds like someone could use a lucky shamrock and a pint of Guinness for all his troubles!
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Image credit & copyright: Michael Smurfit
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday and International Women’s Day! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Getting away from everything can heal a tough breakup. For Joni Mitchell, it inspired the greatest albums ever made, Blue. At the beginning of the '70s, Mitchell and singer Graham Nash called it quits, prompting her to trek across Europe—not in search of anything in particular, but recording her experiences in music. On songs like California, she makes a light-stepping travelogue between France, Greece, and Spain, all the while expressing melancholy about the home she left behind. Though Blue was made during a difficult time, Mitchell's masterpiece record still resonates with audiences; it recently claimed the top spot in NPR's "150 Greatest Albums Made By Women." And wherever she goes in the world, she can take that title with her.
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Image credit & copyright: Jack Robinson Archive
It's Flashback Friday and International Women’s Day! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Getting away from everything can heal a tough breakup. For Joni Mitchell, it inspired the greatest albums ever made, Blue. At the beginning of the '70s, Mitchell and singer Graham Nash called it quits, prompting her to trek across Europe—not in search of anything in particular, but recording her experiences in music. On songs like California, she makes a light-stepping travelogue between France, Greece, and Spain, all the while expressing melancholy about the home she left behind. Though Blue was made during a difficult time, Mitchell's masterpiece record still resonates with audiences; it recently claimed the top spot in NPR's "150 Greatest Albums Made By Women." And wherever she goes in the world, she can take that title with her.
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Image credit & copyright: Jack Robinson Archive
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
When the Commodores partied, they partied hard—as exemplified by the mighty, mighty anthem Brick House. But when they took it Easy, they really took it "easy like Sunday morning." The Motown soul band released Easy in 1977 as a piano ballad written by their lead singer Lionel Richie. In interviews, Richie has said the Sunday mornings he was thinking of weren't the fast-paced partying weekends in the city, but the slow days in his hometown of Tuskegee, Alabama, where "Small Southern towns die at 11:30 p.m. Saturday night." Though the song preached the values of lackadaisical efforts, it was a workhorse on the Billboard charts, rising to #4 on the Hot 100. As for Richie—who is known for his simple song titles like Hello, Lady, and Truly—his current tour performances of Easy sound like he's gotten comfortable with letting his audiences take over for his vocals. If you ask us, that could be taking it a little too easy during a live performance.
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Image credit & copyright: IMDB
When the Commodores partied, they partied hard—as exemplified by the mighty, mighty anthem Brick House. But when they took it Easy, they really took it "easy like Sunday morning." The Motown soul band released Easy in 1977 as a piano ballad written by their lead singer Lionel Richie. In interviews, Richie has said the Sunday mornings he was thinking of weren't the fast-paced partying weekends in the city, but the slow days in his hometown of Tuskegee, Alabama, where "Small Southern towns die at 11:30 p.m. Saturday night." Though the song preached the values of lackadaisical efforts, it was a workhorse on the Billboard charts, rising to #4 on the Hot 100. As for Richie—who is known for his simple song titles like Hello, Lady, and Truly—his current tour performances of Easy sound like he's gotten comfortable with letting his audiences take over for his vocals. If you ask us, that could be taking it a little too easy during a live performance.
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Image credit & copyright: IMDB