Music Blog 3/27/2010

By Gary Waleik | Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Na Cancao Do Samba by Grupo Batuque (from Football Fever: A Musical Celebration of the World Cup, Nascente, 1998)

The song’s title translates to “In the Song of the Samba”, beyond that I know not what the lyrics mean. For all I know, it could be “Yeah, England’s got a World Cup prayer this year…NOT!!!”

The Free Life by James Clarke (from Music for TV Dinners: the ‘60’s, Scamp Records, 1997)

I wish to be reincarnated as a 1950’s composer of schmaltzy advertising and industrial music. Sounds like a good job. A couple “La la la”s here, and a harpsichord or Wurlitzer there, and you’re golden. Lots of cabbage and tomatoes to be had in that line of “work”, my friend. Plus, the smoking jackets…

Above the Rim (from Hoop Dreams Soundtrack, MCA, 1994)

My homey, Herbert Kornfeld (http://www.theonion.com/personalities/herbert-kornfeld,1019/), tells me that there be so much phat VT above the rim action it be jammin’ the radar at BTon International Airport. Word. That and a lot of maple syrup production, although that activity does not jam the radar. Just the above the rim jammin’ action does. Uh-huh.

The Lonely Goatherd by Mary Martin (from The Sound of Music: Original Broadway cast)

Little known fact: The Sound of Music was originally about Kyrgyz horse riders and their dead goat competitions. But Hollywood producers felt that a saga involving an Austrian widower, his singing family and a bunch of brownshirts would resonate more deeply with the American public. Maybe. One can only wonder what could have been…

The Ball Club March by D’Anna Fortunato and the Triskelion All-Stars (from Hurrah for Our National Game: Jewels from the Baseball Diamond 1858-1913)

“I say, Cornelius, I never would have ventured out to the ball-yard had I known my Brogans were in such dire need of boot-black. How embarrassing! It’s high time Penelope and I should release Throckmorton and look for a new valet. ‘Hit the base-ball, O you Pilgrims!!!’ Drat, my latest vociferation has caused the mustard-sauce from my Frank-furter to descend onto my garters. ‘O, Throckmorton!’”

John

-When I was a little one, with the tube AM radio on WHDH am late at night, I’d hear one Spanish song every so often…I always thought it was ‘one ton tomato, I’ve eaten one ton o’ tomato’. None of my teachers or peers could tell me what the song was, or about-shut up was then, as now, the expected reply…now, that I’m older, I realize that many Latin songs that sound like conquests or anthems are actually relatively mundane in lyrics (see “Goal”), I don’t feel so bad, especially when Robert Wyatt more recently sang Guantamero (which is prob. more pro-Cuban than USA..but not to make a stir over nothing here)!
-Hey G.W., why not fantasize about being a 60′s audio producer for the French duo song “J’Taime”, which culminates in a aural big-O (I wasn’t there, being too young), but even if you played it simultaneously with the ‘breakthrough Swede film “I Am Curious-Yellow”, you might not fall asleep as quickly as you are reading this!!
-There is ‘under the rim’ which refers to a heritage area beneath the redrock rims of the Colorado plateau. Hollywood fell in love with the area and filmed Westerns like “Gunsmoke” here for decades. Yeah, um hmm!
-The Lonely Bull (El Solo Toro)”is a song recorded by The Tijuana Brass with Herb Alpert. While experimenting with the sound of an overdubbed trumpet, was recorded in Herb Alpert’s garage and featured the sounds of a crowd cheering “Ole” inside a bullfight arena in Mexico.
-Gonna Ball was the title song from the Stray Cats 2nd album, released only in the UK, for reasons making us here in the states look more deprived than depraved (2nd rate innuendos). Then again, look at Brian Setzer’s ego, and you’d never know his guitar wasn’t called ‘Wretch’ instead of Greatch-sorry!