Curio Cabinet / Song Curio
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Do cowboys dream of tumbleweed sheep? For Roy Rogers—the "King of Cowboys"—the Grand Canyon Trail was a place (and a song) full of adventure, peril, and a wondrous landscape. In the film of the same name, Rogers and his co-star Trigger (the horse) are the heroes in a plot full of mistaken identities, fraudulent deals, and a silver mine everyone wants to get their hands on. That is, except for Rogers, whose good-guy archetype remains steadfast even in the stickiest of situations. Grand Canyon Trail was one of nearly 100 films Rogers made between 1935 and 1952, a time when he was one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Rogers' music career never took a backseat to his work in movies, though; Grand Canyon Trail features a Western lullaby-like tune where romance and wide-open spaces are all a cowboy's heart could desire. Well, maybe all that and a trusty horse named Trigger (and a dog named Bullet) to keep an eye out for any trouble that comes along!
Image credit & copyright: Grit TV
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Do cowboys dream of tumbleweed sheep? For Roy Rogers—the "King of Cowboys"—the Grand Canyon Trail was a place (and a song) full of adventure, peril, and a wondrous landscape. In the film of the same name, Rogers and his co-star Trigger (the horse) are the heroes in a plot full of mistaken identities, fraudulent deals, and a silver mine everyone wants to get their hands on. That is, except for Rogers, whose good-guy archetype remains steadfast even in the stickiest of situations. Grand Canyon Trail was one of nearly 100 films Rogers made between 1935 and 1952, a time when he was one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Rogers' music career never took a backseat to his work in movies, though; Grand Canyon Trail features a Western lullaby-like tune where romance and wide-open spaces are all a cowboy's heart could desire. Well, maybe all that and a trusty horse named Trigger (and a dog named Bullet) to keep an eye out for any trouble that comes along!
Image credit & copyright: Grit TV
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
This time of year, it's no crime to get cozy with some cocoa and listen to the holiday classic, White Christmas. Yet on December 12, 1957, radio D.J. Al Priddy of KEX in Portland, Oregon, lost his job after playing the tune on the air. His crime? Spinning Elvis Presley's banned version of the song. Recorded 15 years after the original's 1942 release, Presley's version has his deep voice croon the familiar lyrics as rock-and-roll back-up singers rhythmically chant. Yet, according to music legend, Presley's version drew the ire of the song's original creator, legendary Broadway songwriter Irving Berlin. Upon hearing Presley's version, Berlin "immediately ordered his staff to telephone radio stations across the country to ask them not to play this barbaric rock-and-roll version." Though there's no way to know for sure whether Berlin was behind a conspiracy to ban the song, many radio stations did refuse to play it, calling it distasteful. Luckily, the White Christmas controversy wasn't enough to leave Presley blue. He changed his tune and swapped colors, turning Blue Christmas into a major hit in 1964!
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Image credit & copyright: Globe Photos/Graceland
This time of year, it's no crime to get cozy with some cocoa and listen to the holiday classic, White Christmas. Yet on December 12, 1957, radio D.J. Al Priddy of KEX in Portland, Oregon, lost his job after playing the tune on the air. His crime? Spinning Elvis Presley's banned version of the song. Recorded 15 years after the original's 1942 release, Presley's version has his deep voice croon the familiar lyrics as rock-and-roll back-up singers rhythmically chant. Yet, according to music legend, Presley's version drew the ire of the song's original creator, legendary Broadway songwriter Irving Berlin. Upon hearing Presley's version, Berlin "immediately ordered his staff to telephone radio stations across the country to ask them not to play this barbaric rock-and-roll version." Though there's no way to know for sure whether Berlin was behind a conspiracy to ban the song, many radio stations did refuse to play it, calling it distasteful. Luckily, the White Christmas controversy wasn't enough to leave Presley blue. He changed his tune and swapped colors, turning Blue Christmas into a major hit in 1964!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Globe Photos/Graceland
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Sure, the Beatles were one of the first viral boy bands in pop music. But the Jackson 5 perfected the formula on their first single I Want You Back from their debut album, Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5, released 50 years ago this month. In spite of their album title, the quintet came to the attention of Motown CEO Berry Gordy by way of singer Gladys Knight, not Ross. During the summer of '69, with major label support, the Jacksons recorded tracks at Motown studios in Detroit alongside the best studio band in the business (the Funk Brothers) and an ace team of songwriters and producers. But those songs proved too subdued and lacked the pop sensibilities Motown was famous for, leading Gordy to scrap them for a new session in Los Angeles. I Want You Back grew out of those sessions as an undeniably catchy tune that highlighted the Funk Brothers' rhythmic breakdowns, the Jacksons' call-and-response harmonies, and the star of the show: the charismatically vocal Michael Jackson. When Gordy first met the Jacksons, he promised them three #1 hits, yet I Want You Back was the first of a consecutive four. Those were certainly numbers the Jackson 5 could get behind, especially after reciting their ABCs!
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Image credit & copyright: Fandom.com
Sure, the Beatles were one of the first viral boy bands in pop music. But the Jackson 5 perfected the formula on their first single I Want You Back from their debut album, Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5, released 50 years ago this month. In spite of their album title, the quintet came to the attention of Motown CEO Berry Gordy by way of singer Gladys Knight, not Ross. During the summer of '69, with major label support, the Jacksons recorded tracks at Motown studios in Detroit alongside the best studio band in the business (the Funk Brothers) and an ace team of songwriters and producers. But those songs proved too subdued and lacked the pop sensibilities Motown was famous for, leading Gordy to scrap them for a new session in Los Angeles. I Want You Back grew out of those sessions as an undeniably catchy tune that highlighted the Funk Brothers' rhythmic breakdowns, the Jacksons' call-and-response harmonies, and the star of the show: the charismatically vocal Michael Jackson. When Gordy first met the Jacksons, he promised them three #1 hits, yet I Want You Back was the first of a consecutive four. Those were certainly numbers the Jackson 5 could get behind, especially after reciting their ABCs!
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Image credit & copyright: Fandom.com
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Alright stop, deliberate a decision, Ice is back with a brand new conviction. Okay, so rapper Vanilla Ice makes for easy joke fodder, but the legacy of Ice Ice Baby, off the 1989 album Hooked, remains undeniable. Allegedly written by Ice, K. Kennedy, and DJ Earthquake, the track's hook samples the bassline from Queen and David Bowie's legendary song Under Pressure (1981). Ice initially denied the connection, though the original songwriters took notice when Ice became the first hip-hop record to top the Billboard Hot 100, quickly selling seven million records; in a watershed plagiarism case regarding hip-hop samples, Bowie and Queen received songwriting credit and royalties. Meanwhile, Vanilla's viral popularity spurred journalists to investigate his "gangster" background: that of Robert Van Winkle from Dallas, Texas suburbia. Lambasted as the appropriating "Elvis of rap," Vanilla was then purportedly held out a window by producer Suge Knight, who alleged Ice had been stolen from one of his associates. (Bear with us.) After strong-arming his cut, Knight used it to launch Death Row Records, which produced rap legends Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg, among others. Yup—Vanilla nice.
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Image credit & copyright: Time & Life Pictures / Getty Images
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Alright stop, deliberate a decision, Ice is back with a brand new conviction. Okay, so rapper Vanilla Ice makes for easy joke fodder, but the legacy of Ice Ice Baby, off the 1989 album Hooked, remains undeniable. Allegedly written by Ice, K. Kennedy, and DJ Earthquake, the track's hook samples the bassline from Queen and David Bowie's legendary song Under Pressure (1981). Ice initially denied the connection, though the original songwriters took notice when Ice became the first hip-hop record to top the Billboard Hot 100, quickly selling seven million records; in a watershed plagiarism case regarding hip-hop samples, Bowie and Queen received songwriting credit and royalties. Meanwhile, Vanilla's viral popularity spurred journalists to investigate his "gangster" background: that of Robert Van Winkle from Dallas, Texas suburbia. Lambasted as the appropriating "Elvis of rap," Vanilla was then purportedly held out a window by producer Suge Knight, who alleged Ice had been stolen from one of his associates. (Bear with us.) After strong-arming his cut, Knight used it to launch Death Row Records, which produced rap legends Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg, among others. Yup—Vanilla nice.
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Image credit & copyright: Time & Life Pictures / Getty Images
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
By the time The Clash wrote 1979's epic double album London Calling, they could have renamed one of their early disaffected tracks to "I'm So Bored With Punk Rock." During their previous album tours in America, the band abandoned punk contemporaries as openers in favor of early rock 'n' rollers, like Bo Diddley and Sam & Dave. Bouts of writer's block had also hit singer-songwriters Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, adding to the group's general weariness. To give their sound the jolt it needed, the group took on the erratic producer Guy Stevens and holed up in Wessex Sound Studios. They created, often in one or two takes, songs that shed the fast, atonal punk sound for swingin' horns, rockabilly guitar strumming, and bluesy walkin' bass lines. Punk music no longer had to be characterized by abrasive sounds and solipsistic lyrics, as The Clash proved with London Calling 40 years ago this month. It could weave in and out of popular genres and speak to the struggles and triumphs of ordinary people. Take a listen to the call-to-arms of the title track, whose marching staccato riffs and name recall World War II BBC broadcasts in allied countries.
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Image credit & copyright: David Montgomery / Getty Images
By the time The Clash wrote 1979's epic double album London Calling, they could have renamed one of their early disaffected tracks to "I'm So Bored With Punk Rock." During their previous album tours in America, the band abandoned punk contemporaries as openers in favor of early rock 'n' rollers, like Bo Diddley and Sam & Dave. Bouts of writer's block had also hit singer-songwriters Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, adding to the group's general weariness. To give their sound the jolt it needed, the group took on the erratic producer Guy Stevens and holed up in Wessex Sound Studios. They created, often in one or two takes, songs that shed the fast, atonal punk sound for swingin' horns, rockabilly guitar strumming, and bluesy walkin' bass lines. Punk music no longer had to be characterized by abrasive sounds and solipsistic lyrics, as The Clash proved with London Calling 40 years ago this month. It could weave in and out of popular genres and speak to the struggles and triumphs of ordinary people. Take a listen to the call-to-arms of the title track, whose marching staccato riffs and name recall World War II BBC broadcasts in allied countries.
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Image credit & copyright: David Montgomery / Getty Images
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Welcome back, John Mayer. In 2017, the singer-songwriter, guitarist, and avid watch collector released new music for the first time since his 2013 album, Paradise Valley. There's something for everybody on the release, aptly named The Search for Everything: in four concise songs, we hear blues licks, country twang, jam band guitar solos, sing-along choruses, and piano ballads. The opening track, Moving On and Getting Over, sounds like the artist's 2006 album Continuum—with an easygoing groove that stays fresh from beginning to end thanks to some short, expertly placed interludes. Moving On and Getting Over is part of "Wave One" of the new album; a new "wave" is slated to be released every month, with brand new tracks, though Mayer did not state when the waves will be finished. With any luck, the album will be longer than his comedy career.
Listen on Spotify or Apple Music
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Welcome back, John Mayer. In 2017, the singer-songwriter, guitarist, and avid watch collector released new music for the first time since his 2013 album, Paradise Valley. There's something for everybody on the release, aptly named The Search for Everything: in four concise songs, we hear blues licks, country twang, jam band guitar solos, sing-along choruses, and piano ballads. The opening track, Moving On and Getting Over, sounds like the artist's 2006 album Continuum—with an easygoing groove that stays fresh from beginning to end thanks to some short, expertly placed interludes. Moving On and Getting Over is part of "Wave One" of the new album; a new "wave" is slated to be released every month, with brand new tracks, though Mayer did not state when the waves will be finished. With any luck, the album will be longer than his comedy career.
Listen on Spotify or Apple Music
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's beginning to sound a lot like the '60s in Michael Kiwanuka's latest release Hero. From his self-titled album Kiwanuka, the tune finds Kiwanuka creating a droning chant with the question "Am I a hero now?" as producers Danger Mouse and Inflo build a wall of retro-soul instrumentation around him. The London-based singer and guitarist doesn't just recycle sounds of the counterculture and Civil Rights Era for his own fun. Hero was inspired by two prominent social justice issues in the U.S.: the FBI assassination of Fred Hampton—a Black Panther and Rainbow Coalition leader—as well as the epidemic of black men being shot by police officers. Additionally, Kiwanuka's psychedelic guitar solo wails in tones that express what words cannot: the anger, fear, and grief of living and dying as a black body in a racist society. We reviewers can claim Michael Kiwanuka's sounds hearken back to Marvin Gaye's What's Going On or Jimi Hendrix's Machine Gun, but Kiwanuka's own timeless relevance ensures people will be talking about his powerful music for decades to come.
Explicit content warning: this video contains strong images.
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Image credit & copyright: The Current / Minnesota Public Radio
It's beginning to sound a lot like the '60s in Michael Kiwanuka's latest release Hero. From his self-titled album Kiwanuka, the tune finds Kiwanuka creating a droning chant with the question "Am I a hero now?" as producers Danger Mouse and Inflo build a wall of retro-soul instrumentation around him. The London-based singer and guitarist doesn't just recycle sounds of the counterculture and Civil Rights Era for his own fun. Hero was inspired by two prominent social justice issues in the U.S.: the FBI assassination of Fred Hampton—a Black Panther and Rainbow Coalition leader—as well as the epidemic of black men being shot by police officers. Additionally, Kiwanuka's psychedelic guitar solo wails in tones that express what words cannot: the anger, fear, and grief of living and dying as a black body in a racist society. We reviewers can claim Michael Kiwanuka's sounds hearken back to Marvin Gaye's What's Going On or Jimi Hendrix's Machine Gun, but Kiwanuka's own timeless relevance ensures people will be talking about his powerful music for decades to come.
Explicit content warning: this video contains strong images.
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Image credit & copyright: The Current / Minnesota Public Radio
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Thanksgiving is best spent in company—the right company, that is. American folk singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie recalls how he learned that lesson the hard way in his narrative-driven tune, Alice's Restaurant. To a jangly, ragtime guitar riff, the son of Woody Guthrie recounts Thanksgiving 1965, when he and a friend helped clean out the Stockbridge, Massachusetts, home of Alice and Ray Brock. When Guthrie offers to take their trash to the city dump, and the site is closed for the holiday, he ends up throwing it off the side of a cliff with other refuse. What ensues from there are a number of run-ins with police—and later army recruitment officials—who get into bureaucratic mix-ups with Arlo and his easy-going, mischievous attitude. What started as autobiographical talking blues for Arlo Guthrie has turned into a signature song he plays each Thanksgiving at an annual Carnegie Hall show in New York, one that is as much a part of the fall holiday tradition as stuffing or pumpkin pie. Just make sure Guthrie doesn't get tasked with taking out the holiday trash!
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Image credit & copyright: Colorado Springs Independent
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Thanksgiving is best spent in company—the right company, that is. American folk singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie recalls how he learned that lesson the hard way in his narrative-driven tune, Alice's Restaurant. To a jangly, ragtime guitar riff, the son of Woody Guthrie recounts Thanksgiving 1965, when he and a friend helped clean out the Stockbridge, Massachusetts, home of Alice and Ray Brock. When Guthrie offers to take their trash to the city dump, and the site is closed for the holiday, he ends up throwing it off the side of a cliff with other refuse. What ensues from there are a number of run-ins with police—and later army recruitment officials—who get into bureaucratic mix-ups with Arlo and his easy-going, mischievous attitude. What started as autobiographical talking blues for Arlo Guthrie has turned into a signature song he plays each Thanksgiving at an annual Carnegie Hall show in New York, one that is as much a part of the fall holiday tradition as stuffing or pumpkin pie. Just make sure Guthrie doesn't get tasked with taking out the holiday trash!
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Image credit & copyright: Colorado Springs Independent
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
On this day in 1987, rocker Billy Idol reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with Mony Mony, a song with an incredible beat… and lyrics inspired by insurance. When Tommy James and the Shondells originally wrote the rock anthem in the late 1960s, they wanted to craft a party song: simply put, the lyrics didn't matter much. The word "Mony" was inspired by a sign for the Mutual of New York Insurance Company (M-O-N-Y). The song wasn't a hit for Tommy James, and Billy Idol had a hard time getting airplay with the track as well when he first recorded it in 1981. In 1987, Idol gave the track a second life when he decided to release a live version. The move paid off as the track rocketed to #1. Idol's guttural vocals were on full display, and the sound of the electrified crowd, singing and clapping along, was enough to get anyone's feet moving—hopefully without any chance of needing insurance to cover a dance-related injury!
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Image credit & copyright: Billy Idol, MPR / Nate Ryan
On this day in 1987, rocker Billy Idol reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with Mony Mony, a song with an incredible beat… and lyrics inspired by insurance. When Tommy James and the Shondells originally wrote the rock anthem in the late 1960s, they wanted to craft a party song: simply put, the lyrics didn't matter much. The word "Mony" was inspired by a sign for the Mutual of New York Insurance Company (M-O-N-Y). The song wasn't a hit for Tommy James, and Billy Idol had a hard time getting airplay with the track as well when he first recorded it in 1981. In 1987, Idol gave the track a second life when he decided to release a live version. The move paid off as the track rocketed to #1. Idol's guttural vocals were on full display, and the sound of the electrified crowd, singing and clapping along, was enough to get anyone's feet moving—hopefully without any chance of needing insurance to cover a dance-related injury!
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Image credit & copyright: Billy Idol, MPR / Nate Ryan
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Joaquín Rodrigo's 1939 Concerto de Aranjuez isn't an all-inclusive trip to Spain, but it just might be the next best thing. Implored at a royal dinner by the guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza to write a concerto for guitar and orchestra, Rodrigo responded in kind with three movements (parts of a symphonic form): Allegro con Spirito, Adagio, and the Allegro gentile. In the opening notes of the first Allegro con Spirito movement, Rodrigo establishes a neo-classical melody with flamenco strumming and a hemiola rhythm (where three notes fill the equivalent timespan of two). At various points, different sections of the orchestra travel harmoniously along with the guitar, as if taking a jaunty stroll at the royal gardens in Aranjuez. The concerto has since gone on to be a highly lauded part of the classical guitar repertoire, and for Joaquín Rodrigo's birthday this week, we're taking another listen to this incredibly evocative work.
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Image credit & copyright: Robert Wissam Guitars
Joaquín Rodrigo's 1939 Concerto de Aranjuez isn't an all-inclusive trip to Spain, but it just might be the next best thing. Implored at a royal dinner by the guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza to write a concerto for guitar and orchestra, Rodrigo responded in kind with three movements (parts of a symphonic form): Allegro con Spirito, Adagio, and the Allegro gentile. In the opening notes of the first Allegro con Spirito movement, Rodrigo establishes a neo-classical melody with flamenco strumming and a hemiola rhythm (where three notes fill the equivalent timespan of two). At various points, different sections of the orchestra travel harmoniously along with the guitar, as if taking a jaunty stroll at the royal gardens in Aranjuez. The concerto has since gone on to be a highly lauded part of the classical guitar repertoire, and for Joaquín Rodrigo's birthday this week, we're taking another listen to this incredibly evocative work.
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Image credit & copyright: Robert Wissam Guitars
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
In hindsight, it makes perfect sense: Johnny Cash singing children's songs. The Man in Black, father of five, could spin a kid-friendly yarn just as well as an outlaw classic with his tranquil voice and well-paced storytelling. But he didn't reveal his talent until he visited Sesame Street in 1973. The show's producers invited Cash to appear alongside Oscar the Grouch to perform a new number called Nasty Dan, and the pairing is perfect. Oscar listens intently as Cash unwinds the story of a terrible person named Dan who eats "nails for lunch" and finds joy in the misfortune of little boys, before eventually falling in love with an equally nasty woman. In between lyrics, the two develop a cute rapport based on Oscar's hilarious interjections. Generally, Sesame Street segments have a moral to teach, but we're not totally sure what it is with this one. Birds of a feather flock together, maybe? While the video below is worth watching just for novelty's sake, we recommend picking up Cash's whole Children's Album, released two years after the Sesame Street appearance. There's no better way to prep your little outlaw for the big, bad world.
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It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
In hindsight, it makes perfect sense: Johnny Cash singing children's songs. The Man in Black, father of five, could spin a kid-friendly yarn just as well as an outlaw classic with his tranquil voice and well-paced storytelling. But he didn't reveal his talent until he visited Sesame Street in 1973. The show's producers invited Cash to appear alongside Oscar the Grouch to perform a new number called Nasty Dan, and the pairing is perfect. Oscar listens intently as Cash unwinds the story of a terrible person named Dan who eats "nails for lunch" and finds joy in the misfortune of little boys, before eventually falling in love with an equally nasty woman. In between lyrics, the two develop a cute rapport based on Oscar's hilarious interjections. Generally, Sesame Street segments have a moral to teach, but we're not totally sure what it is with this one. Birds of a feather flock together, maybe? While the video below is worth watching just for novelty's sake, we recommend picking up Cash's whole Children's Album, released two years after the Sesame Street appearance. There's no better way to prep your little outlaw for the big, bad world.
Other streaming options
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FREEBlues Piano Song CurioFree2 CQ
The late Booker T. Washington "Bukka" White is regarded highly for his extraordinary slide guitar playing, but less so for his equally impressive songwriting skills. Born (at least) 110 years ago this week, White painted the story of a man deeply affected by his time in Mississippi State Penitentiary in his original 1940s songs, including the blues classic Fixin' to Die. At the urging of his producer Lester Melrose, White abandoned standard delta blues fare in his recording session, instead opting to write twelve semi-autobiographical tracks. Some were about crooked authorities (District Attorney), being stuck in the same miserable prison outfit (When Can I Change My Clothes), or meditation on mortality and humility (Fixin to Die). White's tracks failed to sell, and he quit music until interest grew for his work after Bob Dylan covered Fixin to Die on his debut album in 1961. Today, White is known for his impact on '60s rock 'n' roll, his generosity toward his first cousin B.B. King, and his inimitable way with a lyric and a steel guitar.
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Image credit & copyright: Chris Morphet / Redferns
The late Booker T. Washington "Bukka" White is regarded highly for his extraordinary slide guitar playing, but less so for his equally impressive songwriting skills. Born (at least) 110 years ago this week, White painted the story of a man deeply affected by his time in Mississippi State Penitentiary in his original 1940s songs, including the blues classic Fixin' to Die. At the urging of his producer Lester Melrose, White abandoned standard delta blues fare in his recording session, instead opting to write twelve semi-autobiographical tracks. Some were about crooked authorities (District Attorney), being stuck in the same miserable prison outfit (When Can I Change My Clothes), or meditation on mortality and humility (Fixin to Die). White's tracks failed to sell, and he quit music until interest grew for his work after Bob Dylan covered Fixin to Die on his debut album in 1961. Today, White is known for his impact on '60s rock 'n' roll, his generosity toward his first cousin B.B. King, and his inimitable way with a lyric and a steel guitar.
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Chris Morphet / Redferns
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Whatever Glen Campbell set his mind to in his musical career, he did in a big way. The singer got his start as a sessions musician; he played guitar on tracks like Elvis' Viva Las Vegas and the Byrds' Mr. Tambourine Man, and once filled in for Brian Wilson on a 1964 Beach Boys tour. Meanwhile, he also thrived onscreen; Campbell hosted his own variety show in the early 1970s and co-starred with John Wayne in the 1969 film True Grit. His legacy as a country-pop crossover artist was cemented in 1967 when he won two country Grammys and two pop Grammys—the latter for the track, By the Time I Get to Phoenix. The travelling ballad showcases Campbell's aching tenor and sophisticated guitar accompaniment—part of his signature sound that sold over 45 million records and made having a broken heart sound so good.
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Image credit & copyright: Glen Campbell
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Whatever Glen Campbell set his mind to in his musical career, he did in a big way. The singer got his start as a sessions musician; he played guitar on tracks like Elvis' Viva Las Vegas and the Byrds' Mr. Tambourine Man, and once filled in for Brian Wilson on a 1964 Beach Boys tour. Meanwhile, he also thrived onscreen; Campbell hosted his own variety show in the early 1970s and co-starred with John Wayne in the 1969 film True Grit. His legacy as a country-pop crossover artist was cemented in 1967 when he won two country Grammys and two pop Grammys—the latter for the track, By the Time I Get to Phoenix. The travelling ballad showcases Campbell's aching tenor and sophisticated guitar accompaniment—part of his signature sound that sold over 45 million records and made having a broken heart sound so good.
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Image credit & copyright: Glen Campbell
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
The album The Skeleton Tree from 2015 might have seen towering songwriter Nick Cave broken down by the death of his 15 year-old son, but his new double-album release Ghosteen is filled with songs of solace. The delicate Spinning Song opens the concept album and features Cave's characteristically vivid lyrics, this time pairing fairytale and '50s rock 'n' roll imagery, be it big '50s updos to swooning magical feathers. Eerie synthesizer noises persist as Cave's voice rises into a falsetto range, repeating the words "peace will come in time." The refrain is one Cave has put into practice as a performer: rather than field endless press junket questions about his son's death after The Skeleton Tree, Cave chose more meaningful outlets for reaching his audiences as he grieved, including his thoughtful series of Q&As and mail drops with fans dubbed The Red Hand Files. While Cave is known for playing up the menacing aspects of his onstage persona, it's good to know that his downtempo efforts like Ghosteen can be equally as striking in their graceful beauty.
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Image credit & copyright: Anton Corbjin
The album The Skeleton Tree from 2015 might have seen towering songwriter Nick Cave broken down by the death of his 15 year-old son, but his new double-album release Ghosteen is filled with songs of solace. The delicate Spinning Song opens the concept album and features Cave's characteristically vivid lyrics, this time pairing fairytale and '50s rock 'n' roll imagery, be it big '50s updos to swooning magical feathers. Eerie synthesizer noises persist as Cave's voice rises into a falsetto range, repeating the words "peace will come in time." The refrain is one Cave has put into practice as a performer: rather than field endless press junket questions about his son's death after The Skeleton Tree, Cave chose more meaningful outlets for reaching his audiences as he grieved, including his thoughtful series of Q&As and mail drops with fans dubbed The Red Hand Files. While Cave is known for playing up the menacing aspects of his onstage persona, it's good to know that his downtempo efforts like Ghosteen can be equally as striking in their graceful beauty.
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Image credit & copyright: Anton Corbjin
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
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 comeback tours, 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
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
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 comeback tours, 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
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky, and they've got a brand new riff on their theme song. The new Addams Family animated film features My Family, a Latin hip-hop tune that samples composer Vic Mizzy's iconic original theme music with appearances from Migos, Karol G, Snoop Dogg, and the Rock Mafia. Mizzy's original Addams Family theme for the TV series in 1964 has had staying power equal to that of the Addams Family's creator, Charles Addams. The 1991 Addams Family live-action film saw MC Hammer rework the track, and The Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horror" episodes also quoted from the unmistakable harpsichord and snaps of Mizzy's tune. With My Family, Migos and company prove that Addams Family values extend beyond entertaining the ghoulish aspects of life to cherishing shared familial bonds… well, those that revolve around entertaining the ghoulish aspects of life. We at Curious happily give them two snaps of approval for Halloween!
Below: the original Addams Family opening credits, which were directed by Vic Mizzy as well, and the new My Family from the 2019 Addams Family animated film.
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Image credit & copyright: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky, and they've got a brand new riff on their theme song. The new Addams Family animated film features My Family, a Latin hip-hop tune that samples composer Vic Mizzy's iconic original theme music with appearances from Migos, Karol G, Snoop Dogg, and the Rock Mafia. Mizzy's original Addams Family theme for the TV series in 1964 has had staying power equal to that of the Addams Family's creator, Charles Addams. The 1991 Addams Family live-action film saw MC Hammer rework the track, and The Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horror" episodes also quoted from the unmistakable harpsichord and snaps of Mizzy's tune. With My Family, Migos and company prove that Addams Family values extend beyond entertaining the ghoulish aspects of life to cherishing shared familial bonds… well, those that revolve around entertaining the ghoulish aspects of life. We at Curious happily give them two snaps of approval for Halloween!
Below: the original Addams Family opening credits, which were directed by Vic Mizzy as well, and the new My Family from the 2019 Addams Family animated film.
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Image credit & copyright: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Who you gonna call? According to the producers of the 1984 film Ghostbusters, not Ray Parker Jr. The soulful star wasn't their first choice in their search for an artist to create the movie's titular song. Producers first reached out to Huey Lewis, who was already tied to another film project: Back to the Future. The story goes that when producers eventually hired Parker to fill the role, they deliberately directed him toward a "Huey-Lewis-esque" sound. Parker's song became just as big a hit as the movie for which it was made, with its funky beat, warbling synthesizer, and iconic, easy-to-remember lyrics. However, the song was a little too Huey-Lewis-esque for Lewis himself, who sued Parker for copyright infringement in 1984, claiming that Parker had lifted the melody from Lewis' I Want a New Drug. The pair settled out of court in 1995, with confidentiality agreements in place to prevent either party from speaking about the debacle. However, when Lewis spoke candidly about it in a 2001 Behind the Music episode, Parker sued him right back. It's safe to say the amount of drama that ensued over this danceable 1980s classic was nothing short of spooktacular!
Below: the videos for Huey Lewis' I Want a New Drug and Parker's Ghostbusters. Are they eerily similar?
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Image credit & copyright: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty
Who you gonna call? According to the producers of the 1984 film Ghostbusters, not Ray Parker Jr. The soulful star wasn't their first choice in their search for an artist to create the movie's titular song. Producers first reached out to Huey Lewis, who was already tied to another film project: Back to the Future. The story goes that when producers eventually hired Parker to fill the role, they deliberately directed him toward a "Huey-Lewis-esque" sound. Parker's song became just as big a hit as the movie for which it was made, with its funky beat, warbling synthesizer, and iconic, easy-to-remember lyrics. However, the song was a little too Huey-Lewis-esque for Lewis himself, who sued Parker for copyright infringement in 1984, claiming that Parker had lifted the melody from Lewis' I Want a New Drug. The pair settled out of court in 1995, with confidentiality agreements in place to prevent either party from speaking about the debacle. However, when Lewis spoke candidly about it in a 2001 Behind the Music episode, Parker sued him right back. It's safe to say the amount of drama that ensued over this danceable 1980s classic was nothing short of spooktacular!
Below: the videos for Huey Lewis' I Want a New Drug and Parker's Ghostbusters. Are they eerily similar?
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Image credit & copyright: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty
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FREEVideography Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
These days director John Carpenter is known as a master of horror, yet few people know that he also penned the famous theme music and score to his 1978 film Halloween. Many would argue that the fast-paced piano stabs of the score do as much for Halloween's terrifying ambiance as the silent white-masked killer Michael Myers, which indicates how braided Carpenter's musical muse is with his filmography. "I bring it out when I have to make a movie, then put it away again and enjoy my life, because otherwise I'm haunted by it," he once said. (He's not the only one!) Carpenter grew up the child of a music professor and had a stint in an '80s synth band called the Coupe De Villes. His director and composer credits include Escape from New York, The Fog, and They Live, to name a few. While Carpenter's influence on horror and independent filmmaking can't be overstated, his composition skills have only recently been highlighted with the release of his Movie Themes records in the past few years. We'll be reaching for the John Carpenter albums tomorrow for an extra heart-pounding Halloween soundtrack!
Below: an interview with Carpenter, where he gives an excerpt of his Halloween theme, and one of our favorite viral videos this year features a young tot getting down to Carpenter's grooves.
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Image credit & copyright: Las Vegas Weekly
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
These days director John Carpenter is known as a master of horror, yet few people know that he also penned the famous theme music and score to his 1978 film Halloween. Many would argue that the fast-paced piano stabs of the score do as much for Halloween's terrifying ambiance as the silent white-masked killer Michael Myers, which indicates how braided Carpenter's musical muse is with his filmography. "I bring it out when I have to make a movie, then put it away again and enjoy my life, because otherwise I'm haunted by it," he once said. (He's not the only one!) Carpenter grew up the child of a music professor and had a stint in an '80s synth band called the Coupe De Villes. His director and composer credits include Escape from New York, The Fog, and They Live, to name a few. While Carpenter's influence on horror and independent filmmaking can't be overstated, his composition skills have only recently been highlighted with the release of his Movie Themes records in the past few years. We'll be reaching for the John Carpenter albums tomorrow for an extra heart-pounding Halloween soundtrack!
Below: an interview with Carpenter, where he gives an excerpt of his Halloween theme, and one of our favorite viral videos this year features a young tot getting down to Carpenter's grooves.
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Image credit & copyright: Las Vegas Weekly
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
For opera soprano Jessye Norman, extraordinary performances were a regular occurrence. Norman passed away this month at the age of 74, leaving behind some of the most lauded classical vocal performances of the last half-century. Take her recording of Richard Strauss' Im Abendrot ("In the Sunset"), the last piece of his Vier Ietzte Lieder ("Four Last Songs"). Strauss derived the title from the Joseph von Eichendorff poem about approaching death alongside a beloved, which he set to music for soprano voice and orchestra. The song begins when a timpani strikes a slow death march as the strings offer up a bittersweet, minor-key melody. When Jessye Norman joins in, her famed control and power take center stage. She begins quietly with quick vibrato notes (rapid pitch fluctuation), eventually rising to match the lyrics' themes of fear, fate, and solemn grace at the inevitable end of life. Some musicians spend a lifetime trying to execute technical virtuosity and emotional depth: Jessye Norman seemed to do so anytime she opened her mouth to sing.
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Image credit & copyright: Met Archives
For opera soprano Jessye Norman, extraordinary performances were a regular occurrence. Norman passed away this month at the age of 74, leaving behind some of the most lauded classical vocal performances of the last half-century. Take her recording of Richard Strauss' Im Abendrot ("In the Sunset"), the last piece of his Vier Ietzte Lieder ("Four Last Songs"). Strauss derived the title from the Joseph von Eichendorff poem about approaching death alongside a beloved, which he set to music for soprano voice and orchestra. The song begins when a timpani strikes a slow death march as the strings offer up a bittersweet, minor-key melody. When Jessye Norman joins in, her famed control and power take center stage. She begins quietly with quick vibrato notes (rapid pitch fluctuation), eventually rising to match the lyrics' themes of fear, fate, and solemn grace at the inevitable end of life. Some musicians spend a lifetime trying to execute technical virtuosity and emotional depth: Jessye Norman seemed to do so anytime she opened her mouth to sing.
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Image credit & copyright: Met Archives
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FREEJazz Guitar Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
It's been over 70 years since Jackie Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first African-American player to appear in a Major League Baseball game. Integration supporters celebrated the groundbreaking event in lots of ways—not the least of which was through song. Count Basie and his Orchestra released Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball? " in 1949, two years after #42 won NL Rookie of the Year. It was an instant baseball classic. The informal chorus of voices and plodding horn section transport us to a nostalgic vision of baseball's early days—complete with ball-hitting-wooden-bat sound effects. But within the lyrics of the song, there's something more serious: tacit pride in Robinson as a role model for young black Americans hoping to achieve things once thought impossible in the postwar American racial climate. And that's not all. He stole home—19 times, to be exact.
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It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
It's been over 70 years since Jackie Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first African-American player to appear in a Major League Baseball game. Integration supporters celebrated the groundbreaking event in lots of ways—not the least of which was through song. Count Basie and his Orchestra released Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball? " in 1949, two years after #42 won NL Rookie of the Year. It was an instant baseball classic. The informal chorus of voices and plodding horn section transport us to a nostalgic vision of baseball's early days—complete with ball-hitting-wooden-bat sound effects. But within the lyrics of the song, there's something more serious: tacit pride in Robinson as a role model for young black Americans hoping to achieve things once thought impossible in the postwar American racial climate. And that's not all. He stole home—19 times, to be exact.
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