Category: Music

Rest in Peace: Casey Kasem

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Casey Kasem died today.  Mr. Kasem was 82 and had been in failing health for some time.

Mr. Kasem was best known as the host of his American Top 40 Countdown which appropriately enough counted down Billboard’s best selling records each week.  Casey Kasem also did voice work for commercials, and cartoons (most notably as the voice of Shaggy on the long-running Scooby Doo series).

I was a big fan of the Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 Countdown when I was a kid.  In the last few years I made rebroadcasts of Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 Countdown: The 70’s a part of my Sunday morning routine.  I listened to it as I updated the StalloneZone.

Casey Kasem usually ended his show by saying, “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.”   Sage advice from a man who did just that.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Casey Karem’s family, friends and fans.

The Infinite Jukebox

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Have you seen The Infinite Jukebox?  The Infinite Jukebox is an app that let’s you play your favorite songs on an infinite, ever-changing loop.  

How does The Infinite Jukebox work?  I’m glad you ask and we’ll let the folks at Infinite Jukebox answer…

How does it work? – We use the Echo Nest analyzer to break the song into beats. We play the song beat by beat, but at every beat there’s a chance that we will jump to a different part of song that happens to sound very similar to the current beat. For beat similarity we look at pitch, timbre, loudness, duration and the position of the beat within a bar. There’s a nifty visualization that shows all the possible transitions that can occur at any beat.

Some songs work better than others.  So far my favorite is Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean.

Puddles the Sad Clown: Let Me Live That Fantasy

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Last week I posted about Puddles the Sad Clown with the Golden Voice.  Since then I have watched all the Puddles’ song videos I could find.  I’ve also shared them with family and friends.

This morning a friend sent me a link to an excellent profile of Puddles that appeared at Grantland.   The article is Let Me Live That Fantasy, by Justin Heckert [illustration by Tim McAuliffe] and while it answers a lot of questions about Puddles, it definitely leaves me wanting to know more.

Puddles: the Sad Clown with the Golden Voice

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Some people have a real fear of clowns.  I can understand that since some clowns are scary.

If you’re someone who gets scared of clowns, then you probably already booked it out of this post since it is about a seven-foot tall clown named Puddles: the Sad Clown with the Golden Voice.

Listen to Puddles sing and it’s easy understand the golden voice part… not sure why he’s sad since that clown can croon.

The Greatest Beatles Performance of All Time

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If you’re a Beatles fan, and you haven’t read Colin Fleming’s recent article in The Atlantic, you’re in luck.  Fleming writes about what he calls the greatest live Beatles performance ever…

Months before the The Ed Sullivan Show, the band played a seven-song set for Swedish radio that settles any doubt about their electrifying live presence.

Click over to The Atlantic to read and listen to 50 Years Later: The Greatest Beatles Performance of All Time.

Married 73 Years, “Sweet Lorraine” and Fred’s Undying Love

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Fred and Lorraine Stobaugh spent a life together in love.  After 73 years of marriage, Lorraine passed away.  A month later, Fred saw a songwriting contest hosted by Green Shoe Studio.  Although Fred can’t play an instrument or sing, he wrote a song as a tribute to Lorraine and their love.

Fred sent the lyrics along with the story of his undying love for his recently deceased Lorraine to Green Shoe Studio.  Simply titled, “Sweet Loraine,”  Fred’s story and lyrics moved the folks behind the contest.  Although Fred’s entry didn’t meet the criteria of the contest, he ended up with something much more valuable than a win.  Green Shoe Studio musicians brought “Sweet Lorraine” to life.

Watch the video below and prepare to be moved to tears of joy.

Thanks to Green Shoe Studio for making “Sweet Lorraine” come to life and to 22 Words for the link.

43 Years of “Your Song”

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Your Song written by Bernie Taupin and Elton John, and of course, performed by Elton John is one of the most beautiful songs ever.  I thought that when I first heard it nearly 43 years ago and I think it now.

In 1998, Your Song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004 the song was placed at number 137 on Rolling Stone‘s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.

Elton John has performed Your Song thousands of times over the 43 years since it was released… and below is a video compilation taking us through the years as Elton performs it.

 

Thanks to Miss Cellania for the link.