Greer's Underground Velvet Show Sept. 5th

The Velvet Underground - Sunday Morning
Buddy Holly - Not Fade Away
The Rolling Stones - Not Fade Away
Buddy Holly - You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)
Cee Lo Green - (You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care
The Wandering Bards - Loose Juice
The Black Lillies - Two Hearts Down
Voxhaul Broadcast - Rotten Apples
The Beatles - Teddy Boy (Bootlegged version)
The Kinks - Arthur
The Seeds - Can't Seem to Make You Mine
Fruit Bats - Picture of a Bird
An Horse - Swallow the Sea
Freelance Whales - The Great Estates
Sleigh Bells - Tell 'Em
Donovan Frankenreiter - It Don't Matter
Bright Eyes - Laura Laurent

Greer's Underground Velvet Show #11, kid theme, #12

#11
1. The Velvet Underground - Heroin
2. The Who - Sparks
3. The Middle East - Blood
4. The Beatles - Sun King
5. Radiohead - Karma Police
6. The Kinks - You Can't Stop the Music
7. Yann Tiersen - La Valse d'Amelie (from the Amelie soundtrack)
8. The Rolling Stones - Moonlight Mile
9. Band of Horses - Out in Nature
10. Boy & Bear - Feeding Line
11. The Allman Brothers - One Way Out
12. Fitz and the Tantrums - Don't Gotta Work It Out
13. Kurt Vile - Ghost Town

The week after: Kid-friendly theme songs and soundtracks
1. The Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane (not a theme song or soundtrack, but the most upbeat, relatable Velvet Underground song I could think of)
2. The Beatles - All Together Now (Yellow Submarine)
3. Avril Lavigne - The Spongebob Squarepants Theme Song (Spongebob Squarepants movie)
4. The Shins - They'll Soon Discover (Spongebob Squarepants movie)
5. MxPx - Scooby Doo, Where Are you? (Scooby Doo movie)
6. Outkast - Land of a Million Drums (Scooby Doo movie)
7. Grease cast - We Go Together (Grease)
8. The Monkees - Theme Song
9. The Monkees - Last Train to Clarksville
10. Barry Louis Polisar - All I Want is You (Juno)
11. The Brady Bunch - Theme Song
12. The Brady Bunch - Time to Change
13. Danny Elfman - Augustus Gloop (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
14. The Langley Schools Music Project - Band on the Run (Paul McCartney and Wings cover)
15. Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward - Winnie the Pooh Theme Song (Winnie the Pooh movie)
16. Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward - So Long (Winnie the Pooh movie)
17. Karen O and the Kids - Capsize (Where the Wild Things Are)
18. The Archies - Sugar Sugar
19. Counting Crows - Accidentally in Love (Shrek 2)
20. Jason Mraz - I Melt With You (50 First Dates)

#12
1. The Velvet Underground - Oh! Sweet Nuthin'
2. Florence and the Machine - Not Fade Away (Buddy Holly cover)
3. Grateful Dead - Uncle John's Band
4. Cults - Abducted
5. G. Love and Special Sauce featuring the Avett Brothers - Fixin' To Die
6. Woody Guthrie - Goin' Down This Road Feelin' Bad
7. Loretta Lynn and Jack Black - Portland Oregon
8. Tame Impala - Solitude is Bliss
9. Donovan Frankenreiter - Glow
10. The Jayhawks - She Walks In
11. Nikki Jean - La Di Da Di Da
12. MONA - Listen to Your Love
13. Zee Avi - The Book of Morris Johnson
14. Monsters of Folk - Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)

Next show: no theme, just good music! Listen on September 5th, 10pm PT on party934.com

The Underground Velvet Show #4

Because for some reason, it's missing from my blog. I must have forgotten to post it after I played it.

1. The Velvet Underground - I'm Set Free
2. Crumpets - Mama Baby
3. Patience and Prudence - Gonna Get Along Without You Now
4. The Beatles - I Saw Her Standing There
5. Elvis Presley - That's All Right
6. Lead Belly - Irene (Goodnight Irene)
7. Muddy Waters - Louisiana Blues
8. Buddy Holly - Words of Love
9. Emmylou Harris - The Speed of Sound
10. Willie Nelson - Always Seem To Get Things Wrong
11. Bob Dylan - Song to Woody
12. Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks
13. Stevie Wonder - Sir Duke
14. Sly and the Family Stone - Everyday People
15. Neil Young - Heart of Gold
16. The Yardbirds - Heart Full of Soul
17. Best Coast - Boyfriend
18. Beach House - Wedding Bell

Greer's Underground Velvet Show #10

No theme this week.

1. The Velvet Underground - I'm Sticking With You
2. Shooby Taylor - Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing
3. The Pebbles - We Love the Beatles
4. David Starfire - Come Together (Beatles remix)
5. The Hood Internet - Arcade Fire vs. Blondie (Sprawl II and Heart of Glass mashup)
6. XTC - Statue of Liberty
7. The Yardbirds - I'm a Man
8. Jeff Beck - Let Me love You
9. Lindi Ortega - Little Lie
10. Mayer Hawthorne - A Long time
11. The Zombies - She's Not There
12. Skylar Grey - Dance Without You
13. Otis Redding - Try a Little Tenderness
14. Cathy Saunders - Making Believe
15. The Flaming Lips - Spongebob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy (from the Spongebob Squarepants Movie soundtrack)
16. Karen O and the Kids - All is Love (from Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack)
17. Honeyhoney - Glad I've Done What I Did

Greer's Underground Velvet Show #9 - songs about weather

Songs about rain, snow, sun, etc.

Playlist:

1. The Velvet Underground - Who Loves the Sun
2. Fleetwood Mac - Although the Sun is Shining
3. The Kinks - Sitting in the Midday Sun
4. Norah Jones - Sunrise
5. Grateful Dead - Box of Rain
6. Traffic - Coloured Rain
7. James Taylor - Fire and Rain
8. The Beatles - Rain
9. Super Furry Animals - Hello Sunshine
10. Obray Ramsay - Rain and Snow
11. She & Him - In the Sun
12. The Brady Bunch- It's a Sunshine Day
13. Echo and the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
14. Buddy Holly - Raining in My Heart
15. Rocky Votolato - She Was Only In It For the Rain
16. Jethro Tull - Someday the Sun Won't Shine For You
17. Bright Eyes - Spent on Rainy Days
18. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Who'll Stop the Rain

Of course, there were plenty of other songs I could have done, but my show is only an hour, and I decided not to do a continuation of the theme the week after.

Greer's Underground Velvet Show #8 - songs with colors part 2

The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat

Elvis Presley - Blue Moon of Kentucky

Wilco - Red-Eyed and Blue

Howlin’ Wolf - The Red Rooster

Rocky Votolato - White Daisy Passing

Loretta Lynn - Little Red Shoes

Buddy Holly - Blue Suede Shoes

Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi

Echo and the Bunnymen - Silver

Van Morrison - Blue Money

Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountains

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion

Jimi Hendrix - Red House

The White Stripes - Red Rain

The Shins - Red Rabbits

Echo and the Bunnymen - The White Devil

Freda Payne - Band of Gold

Greer's Underground Velvet Show Playlist #7 - color theme!

All these songs had colors in their title/were about colors.

1. The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes
2. Coldplay - Green Eyes
3. Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
4. Bright Eyes - True Blue
5. Alexi Murdoch - Orange Sky
6. Coldplay - Yellow
7. The Beatles - Yellow Submarine
8. Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze
9. George Baker - Little Green Bag
10. Bob Dylan - It's All Over Now Baby Blue
11. Cream - White Room
12. Dr. Dog - I Only Wear Blue
13. Rooney - Blue Side
14. The Shins - Pink Bullets

Continuation of color theme next Monday on the Underground Velvet Show, because there were a lot of songs I didn't get to! I'm trying to come up with more themes to do too. I'm thinking:

-songs with "rain" and "sun" themes
-songs about traveling (mentioning a place in the song)

If you miss my show but want to hear the podcast, go to the itunes store, type in "party934 radio podcasts" and download my show (under my name.)

The Underground Velvet Show playlist #6

The Velvet Underground - What Goes On
Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks
Beck (featuring Jack White) - Go It Alone
The Bens (Ben Folds, Ben Lee, and Ben Kweller) - Just Pretend
M. Ward - Let's Dance (David Bowie cover)
She and Him - Don't Look Back
Simon and Garfunkel - America
The Beach Boys - Feel Flows
The Seeds - Mr. Farmer
Julian Casablancas - I'll Try Anything Once
Iggy and the Stooges - Gimme Danger
Shonen Knife - Twist Barbie
Dr. Dog - Shadow People
Animal Collective - What Would I Want? Sky

Tomorrow, (Monday) at 10pm for my show, I'm playing all songs with colors in the title!

Cliche rhymes in songs

Cliche rhymes in songs:

eyes > butterflies (when I look into your eyes, I feel butterflies, etc)
only > lonely
together > forever
crazy > baby

(I know some of these don't actually rhyme, but that doesn't stop artists from putting them together)

love > above
hands in the air > just don't care


Not a rhyme, but a cliche verse: tears fall like rain, crying raindrops, tears of rain, etc.

Another one that really gets me: any phrase with "the deep blue sea" in it. Same with "high as the clouds" or "high as/in the sky" or "blue as the sky."

Others? Post in comments.

The Underground Velvet Show: Saturday Edition

Today I played original songs and then famous covers. (There are many I could have done but ran out of time.) Playlist below:

The Velvet Underground - I'm Waiting for the Man
David Bowie - I'm Waiting for the Man
Lou Reed - Peggy Sue (Originally Buddy Holly)
Buddy Holly - Oh Boy
She & Him - Oh Boy
Paul McCartney - Maybe I'm Amazed
Jem - Maybe I'm Amazed
The Beatles - If I Fell
Maroon 5 - If I Fell
The Postal Service - Such Great Heights
Iron and Wine - Such Great Heights
The Postal Service - We Will Become Silhouettes
The Shins - We Will Become Silhouettes
The Band - I Shall Be Released (Originally Bob Dylan)
Shonen Knife - Jet (Originally Paul McCartney and Wings)
Willie Nelson - He Was a Friend of Mine (Originally Bob Dylan)

Party 934 Show #5

Last week my show was cut off by 15 minutes due to technical difficulties, so the playlist is shorter than usual. Here is the playlist for show #6:

The Velvet Underground - Femme Fatale
The Beatles - All My Loving
Led Zeppelin - Tangerine
Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
The Rolling Stones - Play with Fire
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
Roxy Music - Just Like You
The Belle Stars - Iko Iko
Music from the Bollywood Film Mela - Chori Chori Gori Se
Bright Eyes - Ladder Song
Cults - You Know What I Mean
Shonen Knife - Jet
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead

Playlist 2 and 3 for my radio show!

Party 934 playlist for show #2:

1. The Velvet Underground - She's My Best Friend
2. The Rolling Stones - Tell Me
3. Liz Green - Back in the USSR
4. The Shaggs - Philosophy of the World
5. Buddy Holly - Crying, Waiting, Hoping
6. Loretta Lynn - High on a Mountain Top
7. Sondre Lerche - To Be Surprised
8. Coconut Records - Drummer
9. The Decemberists - Rise to Me
10. Feist and Grizzly Bear - Service Bell
11. Best Coast and Wavves - Got Something For You
12. Wavves - Convertible Balloon
13. Cults - Go Outside
14. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons - Beggin'
15. Grateful Dead - Ripple
16. The Kinks - Strangers
17. Traffic - Dear Mr. Fantasy

Party 934 playlist for show #3

1. The Velvet Underground - The Murder Mystery
2. The Black Angels - Young Men Dead
3. The Beatles - Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand
4. Blind Faith - Can't Find My Way Home
5. Fleetwood Mac - Although the Sun is Shininh
6. Lykke Li - I Know Places
7. M. Ward - Epistomology
8. Coconut Records - The Thanks I Get
9. Aqueduct - Hardcore Days and Softcore Nights
10. Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
11. Balkan Beat Box - Smatron
12. Bad Livers - Death Trip
13. The Band - Life is a Carnival

The Underground Velvet Show Returns!

I'm now hosting a one-hour radio show on party934.com (which streams live on the radio in the Hudson Valley at 94.9 FM.)

My first show was last night, because it's every Monday night at 10pm pacific time, 1am eastern time. If you missed my show and want to listen to it, you can go to the itunes store, type "party 934 radio podcasts," click my show, and then download it for free! You can also subscribe to the Party 934 podcast so you can listen to all of the latest shows. Visit Party934.com for more information about the shows.

Here is the playlist for my show from last night (I can play whatever I want. The one rule is that I can't play Top 40, which is no big deal to me!):

1. The Velvet Underground - I'm Beginning to See The Light (The Underground Velvet Show always starts with a Velvet Underground song!)
2. The Magic Mushrooms - I'm Gone (from Pebbles Vol. 9, Rare Recordings from Southern California)
3. Bessie Jones - Sometimes (from a collection of Alan Lomax recordings)
4. The Beatles - Love You To
5. I Hear Music (Swingsett and Takuya's Might Fine Remix) from Billie Holiday Remixed and Reimagined
6. The Avalanches - Since I Left You
7. Animal Collective - Leaf House
8. Peter Bjorn and John - Dig a Little Deeper
9. Passion Pit - Little Secrets
10. Lykke Li - Sadness is a Blessing
11. The Antlers - Sylvia
12. LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean
13. Beach House - Zebra
14. Sufjan Stevens - Too Much

Seattle, LA, New York

I just applied to a job where I was asked to create a playlist that represents "the vibe" of Seattle, then LA, then New York. Each playlist could be no more than 10 songs. This proved difficult as any genre of music really can come from any city, but I tried to generalize as much as possible. This is what I came up with:


Seattle (indie folk/underground/alt-pop)

1. The Helio Sequence – Everyone Knows Everyone
2. Rocky Votolato – She Was Only In It For the Rain
3. The Antlers – Kettering
4. Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal
5. The Decemberists – The Mariner’s Revenge
6. Beach House – Zebra
7. The Album Leaf – On Your Way
8. Best Coast – Boyfriend
9. Cults – Go Outside
10. Broken Bells – October

L.A. (top 40/club/surf pop)

1. Britney Spears – Till The World Ends
2. DeadMau5 – Ghosts and Stuff
3. Girl Talk – Shut the Club Down
4. Chiddy Bang – Opposite of Adults
5. Phoenix – 1901
6. Katy Perry feat. Kanye West – E.T.
7. Phantom Planet – California
8. Spoon – The Underdog
9. The 88 –How Good It Can Be
10. Rooney – Holdin’ On

New York (electronic/house/alt rock)

1. Animal Collective – My Girls
2. Vampire Weekend – Ottoman
3. LCD Soundsystem – Dance Yrself Clean
4. MGMT – Electric Feel
5. Of Montreal – Id Engager
6. Passion Pit – Moth’s Wings
7. Bishop Allen – Middle Management
8. Sufjan Stevens – Movement 1V: Traffic Shock
9. M.I.A. – Jimmy
10. The Black Angels – Young Men Dead

Track Listing for "Dark Was The Night" compilation

Purchase the album on Amazon and read about it on wikipedia

Disc 1 -
“Knotty Pine” – Dirty Projectors and David Byrne – 2:23
“‘Cello Song” (Nick Drake) – The Books featuring José González – 3:54
“Train Song” (Vashti Bunyan) – Feist and Ben Gibbard – 3:02
“Brackett, WI” – Bon Iver – 4:03
“Deep Blue Sea” – Grizzly Bear – 3:46
“So Far Around the Bend” – The National – 3:43
“Tightrope” – Yeasayer – 3:18
“Feeling Good” (Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse) – My Brightest Diamond – 3:54
“Dark Was the Night” (Blind Willie Johnson) – Kronos Quartet – 3:51
“I Was Young When I Left Home” (Bob Dylan) – Antony with Bryce Dessner – 4:55
“Big Red Machine” – Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner – 4:39
“Sleepless” – The Decemberists – 7:54
“Stolen Houses (Die)” – Iron & Wine – 1:07
“Service Bell” – Grizzly Bear and Feist – 2:23
“You Are the Blood” (Castanets) – Sufjan Stevens – 10:14
Disc 2 -
“Well-Alright” – Spoon – 2:46
“Lenin” – Arcade Fire – 4:06
“Mimizan” – Beirut – 2:43
“El Caporal” – My Morning Jacket – 3:33
“Inspiration Information” (Shuggie Otis) – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – 4:06
“With a Girl Like You” (Reg Presley) – Dave Sitek – 3:27
“Blood Pt. 2” (Castanets) – Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens & Serengeti) – 3:36
“Hey, Snow White” (Destroyer) – The New Pornographers – 4:26
“Gentle Hour” (Peter Gutteridge) – Yo La Tengo – 5:31
“Another Saturday” – Stuart Murdoch – 2:56
“Happiness” – Riceboy Sleeps (Jónsi & Alex) – 8:37
“Amazing Grace” – Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues – 3:34
“The Giant of Illinois” (The Handsome Family) – Andrew Bird – 4:45
“Lua” (Bright Eyes) – Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch – 5:54
“When the Road Runs Out” – Blonde Redhead & Devastations – 3:28
“Love vs. Porn” – Kevin Drew – 3:57
“Play the Game” (Queen) by Beach House was additionally released as an iTunes only bonus track.

Songs I've Used as Facebook Statuses Part 3

For Part 1 and 2, click here and here


-"In the spring, When the world's turning green, I only think about the fall..." - "Tourist Trap" by Bright Eyes

-"I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear, just as long as you stand, stand by me..." - "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King (John Lennon version)

-"Auprès de moi toujours" - French title for the film "Never Let Me Go" (French title translates to "Close to me always".) "Never Let Me Go" is a reference to one of the songs played in the film. From wikipedia: "The title comes from a song on an American cassette tape called "Songs After Dark" by fictional singer Judy Bridgewater."

-"Dance Yourself Clean" - "Dance Yrself Clean" by LCD Soundsystem

-"Realnaya lyubov" - Russian title of movie "Love Actually." "Real Love" is also a song by John Lennon.

-"Only the lonely." - "Only the Lonely" by Roy Orbison

-"Yes I'm Going to a Party, Party" - "Birthday" by the Beatles

-"When you go, will you glow, on and on and on and on?" - "I Woke Up With a Song in my Head this Morning" by Bright Eyes

-"Make yourself free, a man said that to me, and now my heart is like an open door..." - "Tourist Trap" (again) by Bright Eyes

-"And I am gonna stand my ground..." - "Rise to Me" by The Decemberists

-"What am I supposed to do when the best part of me was always you?" - "Breakeven" by the Script

-"Picture book, of people with each other, to prove they love each other, a long time ago..." -"Picture Book" by The Kinks

-"Save tonight, fight the break of dawn..." - "Save Tonight" by Eagle Eye Cherry

-"Here it come, that heavy love, you're never gonna move it alone..." - "Shell Games" by Bright Eyes

-"I'm a jew, a lonely jew, I'd be merry, but I'm hebrew..." - "I'm a Jew" from South Park

-"I rolled a stoney....well you can imitate anyone you know, yes you can imitate anyone you know, I told you so....all I want is you...." - "Dig a Pony" by The Beatles

-"It seems so easy (seems so easy, seems so easy), Oh-oh-oh so doggone easy (doggone easy, doggone easy)...it's so easy to fall in love." - ""It's So Easy" by Buddy Holly

-"That'll be the day that I die..." - "The Day that I Die" by Buddy Holly

-"Hanukkah is the festival of lights, instead of one day of presents, we have eight CRAZY nights!" - "The Hanukkah Song" by Adam Sandler

-"Moses supposes his toeses are Roses, But Moses supposes Erroneously, Moses he knowses his toeses aren't roses, As Moses supposes his toeses to be!" - "Moses Supposes" from "Singin' in the Rain"

Tourist Trap by Bright Eyes

Our family friends were renovating their house several years ago, and invited us over to spray-paint one of the walls that was going to be torn down. There's a line in the song "Tourist Trap" by Bright Eyes that is repeated throughout the song, that says: "I'm not sure if I live here anymore." I decided to spray paint these words all over the wall for the sake of irony. What I accidentally wrote instead is "I don't think I live here anymore." Although it relatively means the same thing, "I'm not sure" and "I don't think" sound different enough that the affect of the words change. Even though that wall is long gone, pictures exist of the spray paint, and every time I hear this song, I remember how I changed the meaning of the song by accidentally writing down the wrong lyrics. This is not a song to be messed with; it has some of the most powerful lyrics I have ever heard. The song appears in the Four Winds EP (2007) released right before Cassadaga (2007). The song "Four Winds" appeared on the Four Winds EP and was the main single off of Cassadaga. Cassadaga wasn't Conor Oberst's best effort and there were some songs I wouldn't have included, like "Make a Plan to Love Me" and "Soul Singer in a Session Band." "Tourist Trap" should have absolutely been included instead and is seriously too underrated of a song. Lyrics are below (the lines I like the best are bolded). On a side note, wikipedia says Johnny Depp named Cassadaga one of his "favorite things" of 2007.

It's not the road we used to know,
They tore some buildings down.
The traffic's like a pack of dogs.
There's fewer trees, windows, fleas,
Concrete on the lawn.
There's people here, but you are gone.

And I'm fine, still swimming through time.
Afraid some days I've reached the shore,
Make yourself free, a man said that to me,
Now my heart is like an open door.

And the road finally gave me back,
But I don't think I'll unpack,
'Cause I'm not sure if I live here anymore.

It's not my weight that makes me faint,
For the sugar in my blood,
But the way these strangers stand so close.
They say my name, like a guessing game.
"Is that really you?"
No, I don't think it ever was.

In the spring,
When the world's turning green,
I only think about the fall,
Or the frets on the board
a progression of chords,
Oh how I want this to resolve.

And the road finally gave me back,
But I don't think I'll unpack.
'Cause I'm not sure if I live here anymore.

Now the road finally gave me back,
But I don't think I'll unpack.
'Cause I'm not sure If I live here,
No, I'm not sure if I live here anymore.
I'm not sure if I live here anymore...

Spousal Support

Don't get me wrong, I think pop music is fun to listen to, even if I don't take it very seriously.

But I've always wondered...

Russell Brand is married to Katy Perry. Brand used to live a very rock and roll lifestyle; he was a hard partier with drug, alcohol, and sex addictions. He then became a comedian and has now made a name for himself in Hollywood. Perry makes music that, although is catchy, is kind of, well, shallow. She has a nice voice but she is on the top 40 charts, to put it best. I'm not trying to sound pretentious, all I'm trying to say is that when I think of some of the most influential artists of our time, Katy Perry will never come up on that list. I wonder what Brand thinks about his wife's music. Does he feel obligated to like it because they are married, or does he actually enjoy it anyway? Would he have been able to date her and then marry her if he didn't take her music seriously?

The same goes for Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson. I'm not a fan of Fall Out Boy and I think they are more pop than actually hard rock or punk, but fans of Fall Out Boy call them punk rock. Wentz has tattoos, piercings, dyed hair, and wears punk clothing, and even if that doesn't mean everything, it still suggests that he considers himself part of the punk-rock lifestyle. Ashlee Simpson had a short music career, and her songs were definitely pop. She was made fun of for lip-synching on Saturday Night Live and has never been considered a serious musician. She doesn't write her songs and apparently doesn't sing them either. Currently Wentz and Simpson are going through a separation, but when they were together, did Wentz actually enjoy her music? Even if I'm not a fan of Fall Out Boy and don't think they are the best musicians out there, they at least are musicians. They write their music and sing their own songs and play instruments. Does Wentz stick up for his wife when she is made fun of because he really does view her as a serious musician, or because he is obligated to?

Maybe I'm giving the husbands too much credit and their wives not enough credit. All I know is, I'm a terrible singer, and I would want my boyfriend or husband to save me the humiliation and tell me to find another interest entirely. However, Katy Perry and Ashlee Simpson make millions of dollars and I'm currently jobless, so maybe I have the wrong attitude.

Excerpt of American Idol Research Paper for Course Called "Listening to American Pop Music"

Music on Television, Then and Now: American Bandstand, American Idol and the Search for an American Image (An Excerpt from a 2010 Essay from my course on “Listening to American Pop Music”)
By Greer Grenley
Music and television have a complicated relationship. Although authenticity has always been one of the most important aspects of music according to music critics and enthusiasts, music on television (not music heard on television, but rather, shows about music) has been able to exist in an idealized, unauthentic, and unrealistic form. A perfect example of a music show that does not necessarily represent reality but instead presents clean-cut, wholesome Americans is Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. Although this show remained on-air for decades, the 1950’s, a racially troubled time for America, was when the show was at its peak. American Idol is a modern-day version of American Bandstand in the sense that it creates a viewer’s nostalgia for the era of American Bandstand by showcasing music and dance routines from many decades, including the 1950’s. It also represents wholesome musicians who are to become the “idols” of American youth. However, American Idol has a controversial history where the issues of racism have come to light.
Instead of hiding prevalent racism in order to maintain the wholesome, clean-cut image, American Idol instead creates what is almost a form of reverse discrimination: some of the contestants are constructed around racialized representations of themselves. The winner of Season 3 was Fantasia Barrino, an African-American teenager and single mother from North Carolina. She showed intentional signs of not being very sophisticated and continuously referred to herself as “just a country girl.” On the “American Idol tour”, she sang “Summertime,” a song originated in George Gerswhin’s Porgy and Bess (1935), a musical written by white Americans about the experience of being African American.
However, there have also been discussions about blatant racism on the show. Online threads accused the show of voting-based racism when an African American finalist named Jennifer Hudson, who was a favorite early on, was eliminated. Viewers were mad not just because of her departure, but because the three finalists with the lowest amount of votes that week were all African American (Jennifer Hudson, La Toya London, and Fantasia Barrino). The host, Ryan Seacrest, addressed the public in the opening remarks of the following week’s episode. He said he had received letters, phone calls, and threats, and as the studio audience angrily shouted, he said that that is how American voted; if the result of the vote was unsatisfactory, it was the fault of those who voted and not the producers of the show.
Yet, despite all of this, there is an interesting pattern of who becomes the most popular or successful musician, regardless if he or she actually even wins the show. Season one’s two semifinalists were Kelly Clarkson, a white young woman from Fort Worth, Texas, and Justin Guarini, a half Caucasian and half African American young man from Pennsylvania. Clarkson was deemed the winner and has had a very successful musical career, releasing several singles that reached number one on the billboard charts and selling millions of worldwide concert tickets. She perhaps presents more of the wholesome, white bread American image than Guarini would have – she is white, yes, but also from a very “American” state (Texas) and also represents the “good-girl” image. Season two’s finalists were Ruben Studdard, a large African American man from Alabama, and Clay Aiken, a scrawny white man from North Carolina. Although Studdard was voted the winner, it is in fact Aiken who has had a more successful music career. His first solo album, Measure of a Man, debuted at number one of the Billboard charts, whereas Studdard was dropped from his record label in 2007 due to poor album sales. Despite how America voted, Aiken’s popularity post-Idol proves that Aiken is in fact easier to advertise as a proper wholesome, clean-cut image of America. Both finalists were from the south, so location probably does not play a big part in this. They both were born in the same year (1978) so age also does not play a factor. Aiken is white, although the race of the contestant doesn’t always impact how successful they are. Jennifer Hudson, who is African American, didn’t even make the final two rounds of American Idol and yet she won an Academy Award for her role in the movie-musical Dream Girls and has been seen in other movies since then. If Aiken’s popularity is not an issue of race, then perhaps it is because Studdard, who is very large and has recently tried to lose weight, does not fit the "ideal" of what the population wants its rock or pop idol to be. Yes, the audience did vote for him, because sometimes the voice is good enough that someone who doesn’t fit the mold gets through. However, these surprise winners do not always become big stars; the odds are stacked against them because they are not ideal in physical appearance, so they can't continue the momentum and truly make it.

Pop culture blog

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LCD Soundsystem Won't Be Playing at My House

For the meaning behind this post's title, see LCD Soundsytem's "Daft Punk is Playing at My House" .

So many things in life we take for granted.

When MGMT opened for Of Montreal at the Glasshouse in Pomona, I was only there to see Of Montreal and arrived late so that I wouldn't have to sit (or more like stand) through two opening acts. I only caught a few minutes of MGMT but wasn't really paying attention to them. Then when they broke out several months later, I kicked myself because even though I can say that I saw MGMT live, I can't really say it because I have no recollection of any slight detail from their set. And I actually like MGMT.

But at least I was physically present for some of that show, if not emotionally. I mention this event because of what occurred recently:

I went to the Treasure Island Music Festival in San Francisco this past October. LCD Soundsystem was supposed to be the last act to hit the stage on the night that I had tickets for. However, because it was getting late and I was tired and cold and it would still take a few hours to get back to where I was staying, I left right before they came on in order to beat the crowd out of the festival. I like LCD Soundsystem but haven't followed them excessively; it wasn't until I got home from the festival that I started listening to them. I still don't follow everything they do or have done, but what I feel most is guilt for having missed my chance to see them.

Especially when I found out it was most likely my last chance.

On February 5th, James Murphy (the man behind the monicker) announced that LCD Soundsystem was retiring. Now I wish more than ever that I had stayed for the show in San Francisco, because their last performance will be at Madison Square Gardens in New York, which is obviously nowhere near Seattle.

So the lesson is, friends, to take every opportunity as it comes. You never know when you may be hearing the next big thing (MGMT) or, in this case, the last big thing.

By the way, check out James Murphy's soundtrack and musical score to the film "Greenberg," which starred Ben Stiller.



To read about LCD Soundsystem's latest problems with ticket scalpers, read this article here from Slate.com.

The Underground Velvet Show with DJ Greer, May 2010.