Colorpulse: "A Glorious Dawn" (Cosmos Remixed)

I forget off-hand how I stumbled across this video tonight, but it's one guy's "remix," if you will, of Carl Sagan's TV series, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. Intermixed are snips of videos and "lyrics" "sung" by Stephen Hawking, taken from his Universe documentary. If you're interested in downloading the soundtrack from the video, click here.

Fabio Valdemarin: Got a Match?

I haven't done any of my Bedtime Music videos in a long time, so consider this a special edition post of that series. Tonight's video was a recommendation made on, of all places, the Alan Parsons e-mail list (which I've been a member of for a very long time). The musician is Fabio Valdemarin, who does a cover of The Chick Corea Elektric Band's Got a Match?, off the band's 1985 eponymous debut album. Valdemarin's video is unique in that he recorded each of the instruments (drums, piano, guitar and bass) separately, then combined the four videos into one to create an Enya-like recording.

One wonders how many other instruments Valdemarin can play. Looking around his website, he has another video in which he also plays the trumpet.

"Bedtime Music" Hiatus

Just a brief note to say that I'm putting my Bedtime Music series on a one-week hiatus, insha'allah. I've got some things to do this week that are of a super-high priority. I may or may not get time to do other postings this week; if I do, expect them to be very short and simple (like videos).

Bedtime Music: Bee Gees - You Should Be Dancing

Most people, like me, probably associate the Bee Gee's song, You Should Be Dancing, with the 1977 movie Saturday Night Fever (and rightfully so; the song is on the soundtrack). However, You Should Be Dancing was actually released the previous year, in 1976, on the band's album Children of the World. This was the third song overall and the first song for the Bee Gees that reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in which Barry Gibb used his now-famous falsetto.

This particular video came from the end of a television show (the credits start at the 4:11 mark) in which the Bee Gees performed live at the Manhattan Center on April 17th, 2001.

Bedtime Music: Chic - Le Freak

One of the more popular songs when I was a teenager was the 1978 hit, Le Freak by Chic. The song has an interesting history. Guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards were supposed to have a meeting at Studio 54; however, singer/actress Grace Jones forgot to leave word with management that Rodgers and Edwards were coming. As a result, the two were denied entry into the club. Upon returning home, Rodgers and Edwards began jamming together. Their anger at not being allowed into the club resulted in the beginning of a "protest song." As Rodgers later noted, "...we started singing, 'f*** off!' [Repeats the lick.] 'Aaaaahh, f*** off!'" Later that night, the "f*** off" became "freak off" and then "freak out." The rest, as they say, is history.

The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 not once, but three times, and was the best selling record ever for the band's label, Atlantic Records. It was also the best selling single for Warner Music (Atlantic's parent corporation) for twelve years, until 1990 when Madonna released Vogue.

Bedtime Music: The Trammps - Disco Inferno

We're running a bit late tonight, but we can still get this in before we actually go to bed. ;) Tonight's song is Disco Inferno by The Trammps, released on their 1976 album of the same name. In the initial release the song didn't do very well in the pop charts, reaching only 53rd place on the Billboard Hot 100. However, Disco Inferno got a second chance when it was used in the soundtrack for the 1977 movie, Saturday Night Fever; by the spring of 1978 the song's re-release had risen up to #11. Disco Inferno is The Trammps' biggest and most recognized song in the band's history.

Unfortunately, this video isn't of the best quality, although it's interesting for the flashback to '70s fashion. ;) I don't know when the video was shot although, obviously, it was done in New York City.

Bedtime Music: Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive

This week's theme: Disco. Yeah, sure, why not? ;)

And what better song to start with than the classic I Will Survive, released in 1978 by Gloria Gaynor on her album, Love Tracks. The song, about a woman who realizes she doesn't need her ex-boyfriend back in her life, was immensely popular back in the day and continues to be popular through numerous covers, parodies, and pop culture references (not to mention karaoke). Interestingly enough, George Carlin ranked this song #9 in his list of the "ten most embarrassing songs of all time." (Then again, lots of people hated disco. Who cares?)



Personally, I've also liked Victor Navone's Alien Song parody. In case you didn't know, the alien's name is Blit Wizbok, and he recently celebrated his 10th birthday.

Bedtime Music: Swing Girls - In the Mood

In the movie Swing Girls (which I briefly mentioned a few days ago), the actresses (and one actor) had been taught how to play music for several months prior to filming; as a result, all of the performances in the movie were "real," performed by the actors themselves. When the film was released, they did at least one promotional concert, entitled "Swing Girls' First & Last Concert" (although I've read on IMDB that several concerts were performed in both the U.S. and Japan). This video is of Glenn Miller's 1939 classic, In the Mood.

An interesting side note: In the Mood was apparently based at least in part on the melody of another song called Tar Paper Stomp, written by jazz trumpeter and bandleader Wingy Manone, who recorded the song in 1929 and 1930. After the success of In the Mood, Manone apparently was paid off by Miller and his record company not to contest the copyright.

Bedtime Music: Ray Anthony - Harlem Nocturne

I'm happy to say that this is the 100th post of my Bedtime Music series.

Tonight's song is a familiar melody to me, Harlem Nocturne, originally written by Earle Hagen and Dick Rogers in 1939. In writing this song, Hagen was trying to imitate Duke Ellington's sound; since then, Harlem Nocturne has become a jazz standard, covered by many artists and bands.

This particular cover is by Ray Anthony (whose birth name is Raymond Antonioni) from The Ray Anthony Show, a TV variety show broadcast in 1956-57. Anthony is still alive (he turns 87 on the 20th), and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Happy birthday, Ray!

Bedtime Music: Rak Bela Combo - It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)

Sorry about the lack of a video for last night's Bedtime Music; I was quite busy yesterday.

Tonight's video is of the Duke Ellington classic, It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing). The song was written in 1932, three years before the birth of the Swing Era. The title was based on the oft-stated credo of Ellington's former trumpeter Bubber Miley, who was dying of tuberculosis. According to Ellington, the song became famous "as the expression of a sentiment which prevailed among jazz musicians at the time."

This particular cover of the song is performed by the Rak Bela Combo, a trio of guitarists: Bela Rak Jr., Bela Rak Sr., and bassist Kristof Gelley. I like this video because it's a good example of the versatility of music in performance, in this case playing swing on acoustic guitars.

Bedtime Music: Santo & Johnny - Moonlight Serenade

New theme this week: big band/swing music. Milady and I watched a cute Japanese movie over the weekend, Swing Girls, which featured this type of music. Insha'allah, I'll talk about the film again later this week.

Moonlight Serenade was originally written and recorded by Glenn Miller in April 1939. The song was actually derived from an earlier song (1935) entitled "Now I Lay Me Down to Weep," the music to which Miller also wrote. This particular video features Santo & Johnny's cover of Moonlight Serenade.

Bedtime Music: Kiss - Beth

On Monday's Bedtime Music selection, I noted that the song Frankenstein had been a last minute addition to Edgar Winter's album; likewise, that the song was originally the B-side on the 45-rpm single yet was more popular than the A-side. The same can be said for Beth, the Peter Criss ballad on the Kiss album, Destroyer, released in 1976. Ironically, even though Gene Simmons and Peter Stanley both wanted the song off the album (it wasn't your typical Kiss song), Beth has turned out to be the band's highest charting single of all time (#7) and only one of two singles recorded by the band that became a gold record.

Although it's not stated on Youtube, this video is from the February 23, 2003 concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at the Telstra Dome, Melbourne. The concert was recorded and became the 2003 album, Kiss Symphony: Alive IV. This video is one of the last performances by Criss as a member of Kiss as he left the band shortly afterwards and the band has retired Beth from their concert setlist.

Bedtime Music: Gordon Lightfoot - The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald

In my opinion, one of the most important songs from the 70s is that of Gordon Lightfoot's The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, released on his 1976 album, Summertime Dream. For those of you not familiar with the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, the Fitzgerald was a bulk carrier freighter that sailed the Great Lakes. Launched in 1958, she was, for a time, the largest ship on those waters. On November 10, 1975, the Fitzgerald sank in 530 feet (162 m) of water near Whitefish Bay, Ontario, Canada, without having given any distress calls. All 29 men aboard died. The exact cause of the sinking is unknown. An excellent documentary by the Discovery Channel on the sinking of the Fitzgerald (which I have watched) suggests that three rogue waves in succession may have caused the Fitzgerald to take on water into the cargo holds before snapping the ship in half.

What's interesting about this song is the speed with which it was written and recorded. The Fitzgerald, as mentioned above, sank on November 10, 1975. The sinking was reported in a Newsweek article entitled "Great Lakes: The Cruelest Month," which was published on November 24th. Lightfoot used the article as his inspiration to write the song, which was then recorded in December, 1975.

Bedtime Music: Jim Croce - Time in a Bottle

Although I didn't really start to become interested in the radio until 1974, the works of Jim Croce were extremely popular in the early 70s when I was growing up. Most of the younger generation are probably unfamiliar with his work due to Croce's tragic death in an airplane crash in September 1973, when Jim was only 30. Ironically, he died one day before the release of his fifth album, I Got a Name.

This particular song, Time in a Bottle, was released on his 1972 album, You Don't Mess Around With Jim, with both the song and the album reaching #1 on the charts in 1974. The song was written for Croce's then-unborn son, A.J. Croce, who would later become a successful musician in his own right. Although I haven't found any sources to confirm this, I'm fairly certain that the woman and child in the the video are Jim's wife, Ingrid, and his son, A.J.


Jim Croce - Time In A Bottle 1972 by tch47

Bedtime Music: Focus - Hocus Pocus

The song that made me decide to change the theme this week away from instrumentals was this: Hocus Pocus by the Dutch band, Focus. Technically, there are no lyrics in Hocus Pocus; the song is in the musical form known as a rondo. Here, the vocal parts are yodeling (for which the song is famous) and gibberish, alternating with the power guitar riff.

Hocus Pocus was released on the 1971 album, Moving Waves. This video comes from a 1972 broadcast of the Old Grey Whistle Test. (There is another version of this video at Youtube without the announcer appearing at the beginning and end, but the visual quality is quite poor.)

Bedtime Music: The Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein

Originally I was going to use the theme of "instrumentals" this week; however, I've found a couple of other videos that I want to use so the new theme is "music from the 70s."

When I originally thought of "instrumentals," one of the first songs that came to mind was of The Edgar Winter Group's classic Frankenstein. This song was originally released in 1973 on the album They Only Come Out at Night. The song was, in fact, a last minute addition to the album and placed on the B-side of 45-rpm records (the A-side being the song Hangin' Around). However, that changed when word came back from DJs that Frankenstein was the more popular song. The original single that was played on radio was only 4:44 long; however, this version, from a 1973 broadcast of the Old Grey Whistle Test, is over twice as long, at 9:12. In this recording, Edgar Winter shows his musical versatility by playing a synthesizer, saxophone and the drums.

Bedtime Music: Elton John & Kiki Dee - Don't Go Breaking My Heart

This is a favorite song from my teenage years, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, a duet by Elton John and Kiki Dee (Pauline Matthews). I was fourteen when it was released in the summer of '76 (you can do the math to figure out my age ;) ). The song was written by Elton John (and not by Bernie Taupin, although this was before the break-up between the two men in '77-'79), with the song being done in an imitative Tamla Motown style. (Dee had signed with the Tamla Motown label some time around 1970; however, she moved to John's label, Rocket Records, in 1973.) The song was an immense hit for both singers, reaching #1 in both the US (four weeks) and the UK (six weeks); ironically, this was the last Elton John single to reach #1 in the UK until 1990. What's not as well known is that John and Dee have recorded two other duets, a cover of the Four Tops' Loving You is Sweeter than Ever in 1981 and a cover of Cole Porter's True Love in 1993 (which reached #2 in the UK).

Bedtime Music: Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole - Unforgettable

This is not a duet in the traditional sense, two people singing together at the same time; however, the use of audio technology to create a duet between a deceased father and his daughter was a very popular move when Natalie Cole's "digital duet" of Unforgettable came out on her 1991 album, Unforgettable... With Love. (Several other artists have used the technique over the years, including Kenny G and Celine Dion. Ironically, Kenny G was criticized for his "digital duet" with Louis Armstrong's song, What a Wonderful World.) Natalie Cole's duet brought her three Grammy Awards in 1992: Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. The original recording of Unforgettable by Nat King Cole was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000.

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?

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.