Bedtime Music: Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton - Islands in the Stream

What makes a song "country" (or any other particular genre)? Here we have the case of Islands in the Stream, a duet sung by country singers Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton; their rendition of the song ultimately ranked #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for two weeks. But the song was originally written by the Bee Gees, apparently for Diana Ross, neither of whom are country singers. And yet Islands is ranked the best country duet of all time by Country Music Television (CMT). So is it the song, the singer(s), or the style in which the song is sung?

Harold Meyerson: "The Civil War Isn't Really Over"

Harold Meyerson at the Washington Post had an interesting article today; however, it was the second half that I want to highlight:

Lesson Two: In matters economic, the Civil War isn't really over.

If Abraham Lincoln were still among the living as he prepared to turn 200 six weeks from now, he might detect in the congressional war over the automaker bailouts a strong echo of the war that defined his presidency. Now as then, the conflict centered on the rival labor systems of North and South. Now as then, the Southerners championed a low-wage, low-benefits system while the North favored a more generous one. And now as then, what sparked the conflict was the North's fear of the Southern system becoming the national norm. Or, as Lincoln put it, a house divided against itself cannot stand.

Over the past century, of course, the conflict between North and South has been between union and non-union labor. The states of the industrial Midwest and the South had common demographics (Appalachian whites and African Americans, though the Northern states also were home to Catholics of Eastern European origin) but developed two distinct economies.

Residents of the unionized north enjoyed higher living standards, both from their paychecks and the higher public outlays on health and education, than did their counterparts in the union-resistant South.

But, just as Lincoln predicted, the United States was bound to have one labor system prevail, and the debate over the General Motors and Chrysler bailout was really a debate over which system -- the United Auto Workers' or the foreign transplant factories' -- that would be. Where the parallel between periods breaks down, of course, is in partisan alignment. Today's congressional Republicans are hardly Lincoln's heirs. If anything, they are descendants of Jefferson Davis's Confederates.

This argument is not completely novel; for example, Kevin Phillips spent a significant chunk of his book American Theology on the influence of the South over American politics (which Richard Nixon exploited in his Southern strategy). This is where it's a necessity to revitalize the Frostbelt's economy and, in particular, to rebuild the infrastructure - not only of the entire United States - but especially of the country's northern tier. The north needs to rally around unionization in order to increase personal income levels and to improve the region's education and health care, as Meyerson points out.

From a political perspective this means that the Democrats must cut through the Republicans' BS and pass the legislation necessary to help stimulate the economy. Monetary policy at this point is nearly useless. Fiscal policy, in the form of government spending, is the only significant tool available to the government in order to speed up the recovery of the American economy and to improve the country's future business competitiveness.

"Joe, You Ignorant Slut"

Former National Security Advisor Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski had a brilliant put-down of Joe Scarborough on the latter's show yesterday, somewhat reminiscent of the Dan Ackroyd put-down on SNL's Weekend Update segments back in the late 70s, "Jane, you ignorant slut!" Here's the money quote:

You have such a stunningly superficial knowledge of what went on it's almost embarrassing to listen to you.

And it was all the more delicious to watch because Joe's co-host is Dr. Brzezinski's daughter, Mika. ;)

Of course Dr. Brzezinski was correct in knocking down the wingnuts' meme that Yasser Arafat was to blame for "walking away" from the peace accords. That's not true at all. In fact, even the Israelis acknowledge that then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was to blame for the failure of the Taba Summit:

It was not Arafat who broke off the talks at this critical moment, when the light at the end of the tunnel was clearly visible to the negotiators, but Barak. He ordered his men to break off and return home.
-- Uri Avnery of Gush Shalom

Get a clue, Joe, you ignorant slut!


HT: TalkingPointsMemo

The Sky in Motion

A very cool, well-made video. It makes you think that, due to the rat race, we rarely take any time to just look up.


túrána hott kurdís by hasta la otra méxico! from Till Credner on Vimeo.

Bedtime Music: Christina Aguilera & Andrea Bocelli - Somos Novios

I think I was surprised as much as anyone when I read that Andrea Bocelli was interested in performing a duet with Christina Aguilera. At the time, I only knew of Aguilera as another cookie-cutter pop singer, a woman relying upon her looks to sell pop songs (and certainly that has been her bread-and-butter). But Bocelli, not hampered by her physical attractiveness, knew what he was talking about when he said he was interested in singing with Aguilera. The below video is of the two singing Somos Novios (It's Impossible), which appears on Bocelli's 2006 album, Amore.

My Post of the Year

Time for a little navel gazing as we come up to the end of 2008. Blogging has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for me this year. On the one hand, I wrote more blog posts in 2008 (379, not counting this one or any others published before tomorrow) than in any other year. On the other hand, the birth of my daughter A'ishah has taken away a considerable amount of time writing, which is only natural as taking care of her is the much, much higher priority in my life. What's interesting is that at least one person began to think that I was no longer writing on my blog. As I mentioned in that post, it's not that I've quit writing; it's just that I've been extremely busy. (I almost feel guilty for writing this post. Almost. ;) )

This year the tone of my blog has changed somewhat. I haven't written quite as much about Islam as I had in the past, and there were a lot more posts on political and economic issues. Writing about politics isn't a surprise, especially in such an important election year. The posts on economic issues were driven by two motives: both the number of serious issues that have cropped up in the past year that I felt deserved commentary, and an overall rekindling of my interest in the subject. For the past two years I had been teaching economics, which is a subject I've always enjoyed, to the point where I'm now going to try to go on for a Ph.D. in the subject, insha'allah. And so I've done a number of very small-scale analyses on different topics, many of which I've cross-posted over at Daily Kos, where I tend to get a lot more feedback. But I don't really feel that any of these posts qualify for a "post of the year," so I'm leaving them out of the list.

The blog posts that gave me the most pleasure writing this year (other than those about my daughter ;) ) was my series on The Great Arab Conquests. Somewhat surprisingly it generated little comment from others; however, the lack of attention it got didn't diminish the joy I had in writing these. I wish I could write a lot more of this type of post.

Be that as it may, my top four blog posts for 2008 were: On Submission, written in February; The Pearl - Thoughts on Identity, written in November; Six Pieces of Advice Meme For Boys, written in March; and my post of the year, Straight Talk About Islam, written in May. Two other posts in the Straight Talk About Islam Series have been written since the original post; be sure to check them out as well.

Bedtime Music: Alison Krauss and Robert Plant - Killing the Blues

New theme this week; I had done male vocalists two weeks ago and female vocalists last week, so this week: duets. ;)

In looking for a video to use, I stumbled upon a duet by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. Plant is someone whom I'm familiar with; if you've followed my Bedtime Music series, you know that I've focused mostly on rock music while only occasionally going into other genres such as classical and jazz. So, Robert Plant, former lead singer for the classic rock band Led Zeppelin, is someone who I enjoy listening to. But Alison Krauss? Krauss is a 37-year-old award-winning bluegrass-country singer (21 Grammy Awards to date) who's been recording music since the age of fourteen. In 2007 she collaborated with Plant on an album entitled Raising Sand. This video is of their second track, Killing the Blues. The album overall has been nominated for five Grammy Awards (including Album of the Year), and Killing the Blues was nominated for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.

The End of Firaushah

I wanted to say that Milady and I made the recent decision to shut down Firaushah.com. I pulled the plug, so to speak, last night on the 998th day of operation. Over 2.5 years, we received a total of 8,206 hits from 4,316 visitors coming from 92 different countries. We wish more of you had bought from us, but that's the nature of the E-commerce beast. Tudungs, kefiyyeh, and a few other things are still available for sale; if you're interested in buying anything, please e-mail me.

Bedtime Music: Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out of My Head

Our final female vocalist this week is Australian Kylie Minogue. To be honest, I had never heard of Minogue until I came to Singapore, where she's popular (although her most recent concert here - on November 25th - generated some complaints). Can't Get You Out of My Head appeared on Kylie's 2001 album, Fever. The song is very popular, having reached the number one position for the charts of 40 countries although, as luck would have it, the song only reached #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. I've decided to use a concert video instead of the original music video as this version's not quite as sexy (sorry for that cheek shot; luck of the draw). BTW, according to Wikipedia, Kylie sings 176 "la's" in the song (although the accountant in me is not impressed enough to actually verify that number. ;) )

Watts Zap Best of 2008

I haven't shown any Watts videos in a long time (since July 1st), so it's time to present the Watts Zap Best of 2008 compilation. Two of the blunders in this clip are especially ironic. The "false start" by Dayron Robles (Cuba) is especially ironic considering he's the current world record holder in the 110 meter hurdles and Olympic gold medalist. Likewise, the very last video of Mao Asada (Japan) launching herself into a flop on the ice is not what one would expect from the 2008 world champion.

Bedtime Music: Sheryl Crow - All I Wanna Do

Tonight I'm featuring Sheryl Crow's hit, All I Wanna Do, off of her 1994 album, Tuesday Night Music Club. The song earned Crow the 1995 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The lyrics are based on the poem "Fun," by Wyn Cooper. A book of Cooper's poetry, "The Country of Here Below," had been purchased by Crow's producer, Bill Botrell, and the resulting success of the song brought a considerable amount of royalties and exposure to Cooper. The line "This ain't no disco" is a reference to the Talking Heads' song, Life During Wartime.

The below video is from Crow's February 14th performance at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

JDsg is alive and well...

...he's just been super-busy. ;)

I got the following comment today:

I've notice you no longer write on your blog, I sort of enjoyed reading you posts, it was always interesting.

Wow! Talk about leaving the wrong impression! I know, I haven't written much in the way of essays or commentaries on current events as I usually do; the problem has been a very hectic schedule over the past couple of weeks. Milady and I have been cleaning up the flat, tossing some old furniture and buying some new stuff. For example, even though today is Christmas, Ikea delivered three new wardrobes that we ordered (very badly needed), our new office chair (to replace the old one with the miserable casters that were always falling off), and a new bookcase (to replace another that was falling apart). I've also been preparing a lecture on astronomy very similar to the one I did back in 2005. Because there are supposed to be around 60 kids for this camp, I just finished burning 70 CDs last night with all the photos I'm using to give away as gifts to the kids. And I'm trying to prepare my college applications (going on for a PhD, insha'allah). And I'm trying to finish up an essay for the blog. :)

So it's not like I've given up on blogging; far from it. I'm just trying to squeeze in everything while helping out at home, including taking care of the baby. In the meantime, I have tried to keep up with my three regular series (Bedtime Music, Drum Corps Saturday, and Movie Sunday), following the blogger's rule that, even if you can't write something for the day, at least put up a picture or video so that you have some new, fresh content. In that regard I hope my readers have enjoyed some of the posts (Bedtime Music in particular has been growing more popular over time). But I do apologize for not being as regular in my written posts as I used to be, and I hope that you all will continue to visit my blog and leave comments.

Bedtime Music: Tina Turner - What's Love Got To Do With It

In my opinion, the period of 1983-85 was an exceptionally good time for rock music. Tina Turner happened to be at the start of her comeback at this time, and she really shook up the music industry with her hit, What's Love Got To Do With It, from her 1984 album, Private Dancer. The irony is that, because she was considered "unmarketable" by the American recording industry, only eleven radio stations initially put this single on their playlists. With some pressure on Capitol Records to promote the song more, What's Love Got To Do With It eventually rose to number one, for Tina her first and, in America her only, number one hit. Eventually, the song won three Grammy Awards in 1985: "Record of the Year," "Song of the Year," and "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance." The song is also ranked #309 on Rolling Stone's listing of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

This video is of Tina's performance at the Grammy Awards on February 26th, 1985.

Bedtime Music: Tracy Chapman - Fast Car

Several years ago, when I was teaching English to teenagers from around the world, I was delighted to find that the textbook and accompanying cassette tapes included Tracy Chapman's song Fast Car, off her 1988 self-titled debut album. What a joy that lesson was. Of course the kids loved the song, too; "Play it again," they would say, to which I was all too happy to oblige. ;) Fast Car won Chapman a Grammy Award for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" (the song was also nominated for "Song of the Year" and "Record of the Year"), and is listed at #165 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Bedtime Music: Pat Benatar - Love is a Battlefield

As promised last week, this week's theme will be female vocalists, starting off with Pat Benatar (whom I've seen live in concert). By 1983, when Love is a Battlefield came out (on the album, Live from Earth), Pat was already a well-established artist. She had called songwriters Mike Chapman and Holly Knight, asking for a hit for her next album, and they came up with this song. Except that they really wrote it as a ballad instead of an up-tempo dance song. When the album came out, Chapman and Knight were shocked:

"When Mike and I first heard it we were horrified, we hated it, because it was so different. But then it became such a huge hit, and we had to step out and say, You know, they did a very good rendering of it, and that's how it was meant to be. There's lots of ways you can hear that song, and they're all good." (Songfacts)

Because Michael Jackson's music video Thriller had recently come out, Pat's video also has a group dance scene in the second half.

Movie Sunday: Mr. Baseball

Mr. Baseball is one of my favorite movies. (Milady groans. :) ) Why? Because it's a romantic comedy, it's about baseball, and it's about life as an expatriate. (OK, so I loved the movie before I even became an expatriate. ;) ) It's a classic "fish out of the water" story set in a culture that's both exotic and attractive to Americans. Mr. Baseball's also got some exceptionally good performances in it by the supporting cast of actors: Ken Takakura as Uchiyama, the baseball team's manager, Aya Takanasha as Hiroko, the Japanese love interest (and the daughter of Uchiyama), a young Dennis Haysbert as fellow expatriate Max Dubois, and Toshi Shioya as Tom Selleck's interpreter and guide. And the "rookie" in the first clip belting out the 500-foot home runs? That's "The Big Hurt," Frank Thomas.

Now if only I could find a copy of the movie here to buy...

Jack Elliot: Just let them have a little fun.

Uchiyama: Baseball is work. Not fun.

Jack Elliot: Baseball is grown men getting paid to play a game. When you were a kid, I bet you didn't pick up a bat and ball because you were dying to work. A player's career is short enough. Let them enjoy it.

Max 'Hammer' Dubois: Max Dubois. Around here they call me Hammer. Don't ask me why.

Jack Elliot: Jack Elliot.

Max 'Hammer' Dubois: Yeah. I know who you are. I've been in Japan, not dead.

Jack Elliot: C'mon, it ain't over till the fat lady sings!

Toshi Yamashita, Jack's Interpreter: [subtitle as he translates to the team] When the game is over, a fat lady will sing to us!

Drum Corps Saturday - 2005 Hawthorne Caballeros

The next corps up in the 2005 DCA Championships were the Hawthorne Caballeros, who scored 90.050 in the prelims and 89.688 in the finals, placing seventh in both shows. (This was actually their worst showing at DCA since 1969!) The Cabs' show that year was themed "Passage To The Pyramid," playing the songs "The River Nile," "Sandstorm," and "The Riddle and Passage to the Great Pyramid."

Bedtime Music: Joe Walsh - Life's Been Good

I don't know about you, but Joe Walsh's 1978 hit, Life's Been Good, seems like the perfect Friday night song. I've always loved the song and its humor, and used to secretly dream of starting a rock band just to be able to perform this one song. ;) Life's Been Good originally appeared on the soundtrack for the 1978 movie FM, which itself had a fantastic lineup of songs, some of which I've already featured on Bedtime Music. In this video Walsh is true to form in that he changes some of the lyrics; this has been a regular habit of his while performing in concert over the years.

Bedtime Music: Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love

Next up is the late Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love, from his 1985 album, Riptide. The original music video for this song and several others of Palmer's were famous for the Patrick Nagel-look models who danced seductively while Palmer sang. According to VH1's Pop-Up Video trivia, a musician had been hired to teach the models basic guitar fingering techniques, but "gave up after about an hour and left." The videos have been very popular over time, and many people have either referenced them or parodied them in other works (such as the "Billy Mack" video in the 2003 romantic comedy Love Actually). In any event, the song was popular enough that it soared all the way to #1 on the US charts and #5 in the UK.

This particular video is from a May 1986 concert in Tokyo, and has none of the dancing girls. Sorry, guys! ;)

Bedtime Music: Marvin Gaye - What's Going On/What's Happening, Brother

Tonight's male vocalist is Marvin Gaye with the first two tracks off his landmark 1971 album, What's Going On, with the title track and What's Happening, Brother. The song, What's Going On, and album are rightly considered to be among the very best of all time, with Rolling Stone ranking the title song the fourth greatest of all time and the album the sixth greatest.

What's interesting is that Motown's chief, Berry Gordy, originally tried to block the release of the single, which had been recorded before the remainder of the album, as he felt the song was too political for radio at the time and that the song would flop for being "uncommercial." When the single proved to be a best-seller, Gordy reversed himself and asked for the remainder of the album to be finished.

This live performance comes from the long out-of-circulation 1973 film, Save The Children.