The Beatles’ Wait from their 1965 album Rubber Soul is credited to Lennon–McCartney, although in the 1997 book, Many Years from Now, McCartney recalls it as entirely his. This is supported by a 1970 interview with John Lennon by Ray Connolly, in which he could not remember writing it; “That must be one of Paul’s,” he said.
https://youtu.be/j-h_fBFCJgE
The “Camp Fire Song Song” is a song that SpongeBob sings in The Camping Episode.
Patrick sings a verse in the song as well, but he cannot catch up because SpongeBob is singing too fast, so he instead resorts to playing the drums near the end.
Charting across Europe, Lana Del Rey’s Summertime Sadness reached the top ten in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. In the spring of 2013, Summertime Sadness reached number one in Poland, Ukraine and Armenia. Trap and house remixes of Summertime Sadness helped Del Rey break into the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
The song is also referenced in The Chainsmokers’ hit single “#Selfie”.
A new study measuring the economic and cultural impact of Toronto’s live music venues was released today at a virtual news conference by the City of Toronto and the Canadian Live Music Association, in partnership with Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area and Ontario Creates.
The long-awaited study entitled Re:Venues: A Case and Path Forward for Toronto’s Live Music Industry, outlines the contributions and status of the industry and includes recommendations for actions needed to support and protect live music venues through this economic uncertainty and beyond.
Conducted by Nordicity, the study finds that live music venues in Toronto generate a total economic impact of $850 million annually, while providing the equivalent of 10,500 full-time jobs. Labour income generated by the operations and tourism impacts of Toronto’s live music venues total $514 million each year. The report emphasizes the importance of live music venues to the city’s economy and calls attention to the key role these establishments play in a thriving music ecosystem.
Each venue that closes costs an average of $575,000 in annual GDP contributions, and $148,000 in provincial and federal taxes. Since March 2020, Nordicity estimates the shutdown of music venues in Toronto cost the city’s economy $99M in GPP, the equivalent of 1,480 jobs.
The critical areas of need vary across immediate, short and long-term recommendations, but given the immense urgency, the Nordicity report concentrates on immediate, short and medium term recommendations via eight categories.
Each of the eight categories quantify actionable items the industry should adopt to survive the current crisis, rebuild the industry’s foundation, and to sustain and grow the sector:
The actions identified in the report for Toronto, Canada’s largest city and a world leader in entertainment will have implications for the industry across the country. In 2019, 107,000 individual artists performed at venues in Toronto alone.
The development of a sustainable, healthy music industry is critical to the countless Canadians who benefit both culturally and financially from this sector.
Further information about the study, and images/infographic can be found Here.
Nashville, TN – Award-winning, revered singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams is working to help independent music venues during this time with the announcement of Lu’s Jukebox. Scheduled as a six-episode series of mostly full-band, HD video performances in-studio, Lu’s Jukebox will feature a themed set of songs by other artists curated by the multi-Grammy award winner. The first episode kicks off on October 22nd with Running Down A Dream: A Tribute To Tom Petty, featuring songs from his celebrated career in advance of his 70th Birthday.
Lu’s Jukebox will be streamed, ticketed performances accessed through Mandolin in order to raise funds to assist them through these trouble times caused by COVID-19. Each venue will receive a percentage of the ticket sales purchased through this Lu’s Jukebox link (see list of venues/promoters below). With the touring industry coming to an abrupt halt, many of the beloved independent music rooms are struggling to get by. Many are legendary music halls with rich histories who may have to choose between closing their doors or being bought out by a conglomerate. Either choice would have an immeasurable negative ripple effect for artists, fans, crew members, booking agents and of course the venues, altering the entire live music industry and experience.
“We’ve actually wanted to do a cover series for a long time now, but never had the time with my touring schedule”, says Williams. “I guess the silver lining in all of this has been to be able to really get inside the songs of some of my favorite artists – see what makes them tick. My hope for this project is that we’ll be able to help as many venues as we can. They’re our homes, as artists. We have to take care of them, for the sake of live music to come.”
Other upcoming episodes of Lu’s Jukebox will feature themes that will include significant eras, specific musical styles, songs of legendary artists and some surprises. Stay tuned to Lucinda William’s social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) for announcements of upcoming episode themes scheduled for November 5th and 19th, December 3rd, 17th, and 31st.
Like thousands of artists, Williams cut her teeth and developed her craft by playing in small, medium and large clubs throughout the country, and the world. These venues are vital to the development of artists and their music. Williams has never forgotten her roots, and often performs special shows in some of her favorite halls.
Lu’s Jukebox
Participating Venues, Markets & Promoters Thus Far
Planet Bluegrass – Telluride, CO
The Dakota – Minneapolis, MN
Production Simple – Louisville, KY
Cat’s Cradle – Haw River/Carrboro, NC
Capitol Theatre ¬– Clearwater, FL
State Theatre – Portland, OR
AMP Concerts – New Mexico
Freight & Salvage – Berkeley, CA
World Café Live – Philadelphia, PA
The City Winery – NY, Boston and Nashville
Flying Saucer Presents – Ponte Vedra, FL
The Pageant – St. Louis, MO
ACL Live – Austin, TX
Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA
True West – Portland, OR and Seattle, WA
First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN
Koncerts – New England
Pabst Theater Group – Milwaukee, WI
SPACE/Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL
Tipitina’s – New Orleans, LA
The Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
European Venues/Promoters
Black Deer Festival – Tunbridge Wells, UK
Sage – Newcastle, England
John Fell – Birmingham, England
Todd Wills – Bristol, England
Regular Music – Scotland
Aiken Promotions – Ireland
Kilkenny Arts Festival – Kilkenny, Ireland
Mercury Wheels – Spain
Paradiso – Amsterdam
The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the induction of two songs written by nostalgic synth-pop band, Men Without Hats. Their smash hits Safety Dance and Pop Goes the World catapulted the new wave band from Montreal to international fame in the 1980s, garnering commercial success and countless awards.
The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame will add both records to its permanent and interactive exhibition at the National Music Centre in Calgary, that features a celebrated catalogue of inducted songs that fans can listen to, as well as displays, exclusive artifacts, and one-of-a-kind memorabilia celebrating Canada’s greatest songwriters and Inductees. A virtual induction presentation is planned for a later date.
Lead vocalist Ivan Doroschuk who penned both songs still stands by the do-your-own thing principle behind Safety Dance, which was written after he was kicked out of a nightclub for pogo dancing, which as judged as being too unruly and unsafe. The lyrics “we can dance if we want to” is a rebellious anthem for being free spirited, independent, and standing up for your rights – even if it’s to dance.
The track skyrocketed to No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1983, propelling the album “Rhythm of Youth” to sell more than 2 million copies worldwide. Not only was it a commercial success, but industry accolades came rolling in, garnering three Félix Awards for Best-Selling Single, Group of the Year, and Rock Album of the Year; Grammy nomination for Best New Artist; JUNO nominations; and a 2008 SOCAN Award.
This past April, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon performed Safety Dance with health care workers and The Roots with the added lyric, “Everybody’s washing their hands” as part of the One World: Together At Home benefit concert for COVID-19 relief. The song has also been covered by Weird Al Yankovic, Big Daddy, and others, and has been featured on such TV shows as “Glee,” “The Simpsons,” and “Family Guy.”
Following the success of Safety Dance and brief foray into rock, songwriter Ivan Doroschuk decided to take the band back to its electronic roots. Doroschuk originally wrote Pop Goes the World as an electronic instrumental, aiming for a sound similar to their 1972 hit Popcorn from the album “Hot Butter.” He then added his two-minute riff to the end of a demo recording which he submitted to Polygram’s A&R rep, Derek Shulman, who advised him to build a whole song from the riff. “So that’s what I did,” said Doroschuk. “I went back into the studio and spent quite a while building a song. It was one of the first songs that I actually sat down and worked on.
Doroschuk, brother Stefan and bandmate Lenny Pinkas recorded Pop Goes the World for the Mercury label at England’s Eden Studio, the result being a gold single and a JUNO nomination for Single of the Year. The song reached the No. 2 spot on RPM’s Top 100 singles chart in 1988 and was Billboard’s No. 20. The album went platinum in Canada and won a Félix Award and a PROCAN Award for the most-played English-language Canadian single on Canadian radio in 1988.
The video for Pop Goes the World contributed to the song’s popularity and heavy rotation on radio. Directed by Tim Pope (who also directed the Safety Dance video), the band incorporated comic references to their Quebec roots, such as Big Bonhomme (Quebec City’s winter carnival mascot).
Everybody has to start somewhere.
The band’s Gulf War protest show that was featured in the Instrument documentary.
Peter & the Wolf/Carnival of the Animals – Part II by “Weird Al” Yankovic and composer and keyboardist Wendy Carlos, released in October, 1988. It features a comical adaptation of the orchestral works Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev and The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns.
The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Album for Children at the 31st awards.
Want to know why Eddie Van Halen was voted number one in a Guitar World magazine reader’s poll for “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”?
These.
It’s not just a trip of his most famous work, but a walk down some of the greatest guitar parts in music history.
…and of course, the big one…
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Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.
Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com
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