Used mainly in Russian Orthodox choral music, oktavists sing an octave below bass singers. Much deeper than you. Go on, try it.
The Breakdance Scene from the TV Series Alice – Featuring Rerun from What’s Happening
Fred Berry, the actor who played the jolly, red beret- and suspenders-wearing Rerun on the 1970s sitcom “What’s Happening!” and later became an ordained minister passed away in 2003. So remember him this way, when his TV show What’s Happening did a crossover episode with the diner-based Alice that featured, of course, breakdancing.
Iggy Pop Announces New Album “Free”
Iggy Pop has confirmed the title and release date of his new album: Free, the first new Iggy Pop album since 2016’s Post Pop Depression, will be released September 6 on Loma Vista.
While it follows the highest charting album of Iggy’s career, Free has virtually nothing in common sonically with its predecessor—or with any other Iggy Pop album.
On the process that led Iggy and principal players Leron Thomas and Noveller to create this uniquely somber and contemplative entry in the Iggy Pop canon, Iggy says:
“This is an album in which other artists speak for me, but I lend my voice…
By the end of the tours following Post Pop Depression, I felt sure that I had rid myself of the problem of chronic insecurity that had dogged my life and career for too long. But I also felt drained. And I felt like I wanted to put on shades, turn my back, and walk away. I wanted to be free. I know that’s an illusion, and that freedom is only something you feel, but I have lived my life thus far in the belief that that feeling is all that is worth pursuing; all that you need – not happiness or love necessarily, but the feeling of being free. So this album just kind of happened to me, and I let it happen.”
Full tracklisting for Free:
1. Free
2. Loves Missing
3. Sonali
4. James Bond
5. Dirty Sanchez
6. Glow In The Dark
7. Page
8. We Are The People
9. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
10. The Dawn
That Time Neil Young and Devo Performed “Hey Hey, My My”
Here’s some great remastered footage from Neil Young’s 1982 film ‘Human Highway’ featuring a rarely seen performance of ‘Hey Hey, My My’ with Devo.
National Treasures and Country Music Legends Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson to Receive Individual Inductions to the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame
July 1959 was a pivotal month for the history of folk and country music. It was when Ian Tyson met Sylvia Fricker for the first time, which began a musical journey, both as a dynamic duo and with distinguished solo careers, that would help put Canadian country music on the map globally. In honour of the start of this historic musical collaboration, Stony Plain Records will be releasing Ian & Sylvia The Lost Tapes on September 6th; the day after their much-anticipated inductions as individual songwriters to the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, which will be presented on September 5th at Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre, during Country Music Week in Calgary, AB.
“Ian & Sylvia were pioneers of the singer-songwriter movement – a genre firmly established today because of their leadership,” said Vanessa Thomas, Executive Director of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. “As a performing duo they were superb, and it was apparent through their second album that they wanted to announce their strong individual songwriting skills as well, which continued to drive their authenticity throughout their music careers spanning more than six decades.”
During the ‘60s and ‘70s, as the folk-singing duo Ian & Sylvia, they were among North America’s leading singer-songwriters, achieving commercial and critical success and recording 13 studio albums. The duo performed their hit songs for U.S. President Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 re-election campaign, at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall and Town Hall in NYC; as well as appearances on television’s “Hullabaloo,” the Johnny Cash Show, Steve Allen Show, Mike Douglas Show, and the BBC.
Their folk standards “Four Strong Winds” – deemed by the CBC to be the “most essential” piece of Canadian music – and “You Were on My Mind” were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003 and 2007 respectively. Ian penned “Four Strong Winds” after an evening with Bob Dylan, and Sylvia is credited with “You Were on My Mind,” making her one of the few female folk artists to write a major song in that genre at the time, which was remade in 1965 by American folk-rock quintet, We Five, to become a worldwide #1 hit single. Both songs, solidified their individual status as hit-making songwriters.
While Ian & Sylvia’s catalog is filled to the brim with stellar music, the release of Ian & Sylvia The Lost Tapes is culled from newly-discovered concert tapes from the early ‘70s, and never-before-heard versions of country and pop classics, cementing their reputations as performers who pushed the boundaries of folk, blues, country, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n roll. Much of their best-known repertoire is superbly represented here including “Four Strong Winds,” “Summer Wages,” “Crazy Arms,” “Four Rode By,” “Little Beggar Man,” “When First Unto This Country,” and “Darcy Farrow” reminding fans of what they were able to do best – blend influences from folk and country on the way to be widely considered two of the eras greatest songwriters and musicians.
“The pivotal role of Ian & Sylvia in music history may be their refusal to be trapped in the patterns of their past as one of the leading acts of the ’60s folk era,” notes Canadian music industry journalist Larry LeBlanc, “and along with the Byrds, Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson, laying the foundation of Americana music that evolved as a recognized source of popular culture.”
Ian, who loves the cowboy way of life living on his ranch in Longview, Alberta, performs his own Western influenced repertoire; Sylvia continues to have a fascinating, and still-thriving solo career while performing, writing, and recording with Quartette with Caitlin Hanford, Cindy Church, and Gwen Swick.
For this richly rewarding retrospective complete with liner notes written by Larry LeBlanc, Sylvia and producer Danny Greenspoon picked unreleased performances that Sylvia had discovered while assembling memorabilia for the National Music Centre in Calgary.
On September 5th with the country music industry gathered in Calgary for Country Music Week, Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson will receive their individual distinctions in the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame at Studio Bell. The release of Ian & Sylvia The Lost Tapes will be released on September 6th, and available for pre-order here.
The Lost Tapes Track Listing
Disc One – Classics
1. Keep On The Sunny Side (Ada Blenkhorn / J. Howard Entwisle)
2. Darcy Farrow (Steve Gillette / Tom Campbell)
3. Will The Circle Be Unbroken (Ada R. Habershon / Charles H. Gabriel)
4. When First Unto This Country (Traditional, adapted and arranged by Ian & Sylvia)
5. Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies (Traditional, adapted and arranged by Ian & Sylvia)
6. Four Rode By (Ian Tyson)
7. Nancy Whiskey (Trad.)
8. Four Strong Winds (Ian Tyson)
9. Little Beggarman (Traditional, adapted and arranged by Ian & Sylvia)
10. The French Song (Pease / Vincent)
11. Summer Wages (Ian Tyson)
12. Crazy Arms (Ralph Mooney)
13. I’ll Fly Away (Albert E. Brumley)
Disc Two – Previously Unreleased
1. After The Fire Is Gone (L.E. White)
2. Heartaches By The Number (Harlan Howard)
3. Sweet Dreams (Don Gibson)
4. Come On In My Kitchen (Robert Johnson)
5. Jimmie’s Texas Blues (Jimmie Rodgers)
6. How Long (Rick Nelson)
7. The Last Thing On My Mind (Tom Paxton)
8. That’s The Way Love Goes (Lefty Frizzell / Sanger D. Shafer)
9. Crying Time (Buck Owens)
10. Starting All Over Again (Melvin McArthur Hardin / Hubert Timothy McPherson)
11. Together Again (Buck Owens)
12. Silver Threads and Golden Needles (Jack Rhodes/Dick Reynolds)
13. The Goodnight Loving Trail (Utah Phillips)
won several Juno Awards, Canadian Country Music Association Awards, Maple Blues Awards and Western Canada Music Awards.
Jane’s Addiction’s “Mountain Song” – The Brass Edition
Maya Azucena and Brass Against absolutely kills in this cover of Jane’s Addiction’s 1988 track Mountain Song.
Jake Shimabukuro covers “Eleanor Rigby” from his new album ‘The Greatest Day’
Ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro and Jerry Douglas on the lap steel guitar turn in an stunning performance of The Beatles classic Eleanor Rigby.
LEGO Builders Assemble a Life-Sized Apollo 11 Astronaut Model
Watch a timelapse video of LEGO Master Builders assembling a 6’3” astronaut model to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. The model took almost 300 hours and 30,000 LEGO blocks.
Bell Media Announce’ David Foster: Off The Record’ Feature Documentary
Bell Media Studios and Melbar Entertainment Group have joined forces on a new feature documentary, DAVID FOSTER: OFF THE RECORD, it was announced today. The film about the 16-time Grammy Award-winning producer and composer is directed by Barry Avrich (The Last Mogul, Prosecuting Evil) and executive produced by Randy Lennox, Barry Avrich, Jeffery Latimer, and Marc Johnston. The project, currently in post-production, will enjoy a theatrical run before premiering on CTV and Crave. Broadcast details for CTV and Crave will be announced at a later date, as well as US and international release dates.
Blending rare archival footage, interviews, and unprecedented access to Foster himself, DAVID FOSTER: OFF THE RECORD is an up close and personal look at the extraordinary career of a producer, composer, and entertainer who has helped sell more than a half billion records working with some of the most successful artists of all time. Powerful and sometimes humorous, the film follows Foster’s relentless ambition, hunger, and rise to the top, as he becomes an iconic producer and songwriter, working with the likes of Chicago and Celine Dion at the beginning of his career, and later with Barbra Streisand, Michael Bublé, and Andrea Bocelli, just to name a few. Viewers also receive an inside look at the next chapter in his career – a first for Foster – Broadway, and a look into his personal life, which has occasionally become front-page news.
The film features interviews with friends, family, and fellow musicians, including: Barbra Streisand, Lionel Richie, Michael Bublé, Celine Dion, Quincy Jones, Clive Davis, Josh Groban, Katharine McPhee, Kristin Chenoweth, Peter Cetera, Chicago, daughters Erin and Sara Foster, Diane Warren, Carole Bayer Sager, and more.
“I have spent a near half century devoted to making music and discovering talent all over the world so now it becomes a very daunting, emotional, and cathartic experience giving in to the process of having a film made about your life,” said David Foster. “I am both excited and nervous but most of all I hope that this film may serve as a guide to inspire young artists, songwriters, musicians and producers to relentlessly pursue their dreams and creative talents.”
Born in Victoria, BC, Foster began studying piano at age four. As the story goes, his mother was dusting the family piano, hit one of the keys, and was shocked when he correctly called out, “That’s an E!”, thus discovering he had perfect pitch. Starting as a studio musician, arranger, and recording artist with the band Skylark, Foster worked his way up the ranks to become one of the most successful songwriters and record producers in history. He’s behind 50 Top 20 hits; has 16 Grammy Awards; and another 47 nominations to his name, including three Academy Award nominations. He has also earned a reputation as a talent scout, playing a key role in the discovery and launch of Celine Dion, Josh Groban, and Michael Bublé. In 2002, David was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame and has also been inducted into The Canadian Music Hall of Fame, The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in the U.S. In 2013, he received his star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. He also established the David Foster Foundation in 1985 with a mission to provide financial support to Canadian families with children in need of live-saving organ transplants, along with promoting organ donor awareness.
The Archies’ Sugar Sugar is 50 years old!
Let’s talk about 1969 – 50 years ago – for a moment – The Beatles’ last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records, First Concorde test flight is conducted In France, Boeing 747 jumbo jet makes its debut, Pontiac Firebird Trans Am the epitome of the American muscle car is introduced, Woodstock attracts more than 500,00 and a singer-songwriter named Andy Kim co-writes The Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar,” a song that debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 in July, 1969, a full 2 months after released as radio doesn’t want to play a cartoon band.
In September, it hits #1 on the way to becoming Billboard’s Record of the Year and the biggest-selling single of the year. Wilson Pickett, Tom Jones, Ike & Tina Turner, Bob Marley, The Germs, Mary Lou Lord, and even Homer Simpson goes on to cover the song.
Born in Montreal, Andy Kim was inspired by the Beatles, Hank Williams, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Buddy Holly, and Bob Dylan. He found fame in New York City at just 16 years old when he wrote How’d We Ever Get This Way?, the first of nine Billboard Top 40 hits, including #1 songs Rock Me Gently and Sugar, Sugar, one of Billboard’s “Greatest Songs of All Time.” A true Canadian son, Andy has been awarded the country’s top industry honosr three times, the JUNO Award for outstanding achievements in the record industry, as well as the Indie Award for Favorite Solo Artist and a star on Canada’s Walk Of Fame. Andy is a member of Songwriters Hall of Fame and was inducted into Billboard’s Hit Parade Hall of Fame. Over his epic career, Andy has sold over 30 million records, and The Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar, has been streamed over 300 million times on Spotify and YouTube.
His latest album, It’s Decided, produced by Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew, was released on Arts & Crafts to critical acclaim. In May, 2016, Andy was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall Of Fame. Andy Kim’s music can be heard almost 50 years later in hit series such as Showcase’s Ray Donovan, The CW’s Riverdale and Netflix’s Mindhunters and Sarah Jessica Parker’s new series Divorce.