Ziggy Marley, ZZ Top, Zac Brown Band, (Frank) Zappa… Ziggy Stardust, Zero to Hero, Zebras and Airplanes… Zither, Zorro (musical 2008), Zombie Prom (musical 1997)… zany choices.
One music type I haven’t really talked about that I am a fan of is swing. One of my favorite songs is the song Zoot Suit Riot but Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. It is a great upbeat song. I had the pleasure of seeing Big Bad Voodoo Daddy in concert before the pandemic hit. It was also one of the many music styles my Dad would listed to, and he had a couple of BBVD CDs. Take a minute to enjoy a musical riot…
Yardbirds, Young Rascals, Yes, Yoko Ono… You’re Beautiful, You Better You Bet, Yesterday, You Belong to the City… yodel, yo (Indian flute), Yung Kin (Chinese instrument)… you pick your favorite.
I had a little bit more to work with using the letter Y. But it was easy to pick what I would write about. “You Are My Sunshine” is a song I always used to sing to my daughter both at bedtime and when she was sick. The memories that song inspires in me gives me so many emotions. I am happy to be her mom, miss the days she was little, and wish I could see her more.
I have heard many artists cover the song, but it was originally recorded in 1939, said to be written in 1937. But there is also speculation it was written and performed, but not recorded, in the early 1930s. Then Jimmie Davis bought the rights to the song and recorded it in 1940. According to Google the song has been recorded over 350 times from artists such as Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Carly Simon and as recently as 2017 by Charles McDonald for the movie Annabelle – Creation.
“My god is all gods in one. When I see a beautiful sunset, I worship the god of Nature; when I see a hidden action brought to light, I worship the god of Truth; when I see a bad man punished and a good man go free, I worship the god of Justice; when I see a penitent forgiven, I worship the god of Mercy.” – Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American poet who lived from 1892 to 1950. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1923 for her poetry. And later in life won the Robert Frost Medal.
Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – worship
X… well this is a tough one. I looked up artists and only found eight that started with x and I didn’t know a single one of them. Songs were a little more familiar as in I knew who sang them X, X Marks the Spot, Xanadu, Xscape. And back to more struggles with musical terms… xylophone. So this post is going to be short.
When I was a kid my grandparents had an old xylophone that I used to like to play with. In music class in elementary school we would take turns playing the xylophone. I remember my first professional musician I saw was on an HBO special that Mom and Dad taped called Here It Is, Burlesque. He played a couple of songs and was so FAST with the mallets!
Since I can’t find that show on video I will include a video of someone doing one of the same songs, Saber Dance, although she is not near as animated when she plays as he was… wish I could remember his name.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Who, Whitney Houston, Whitesnake… What a Wonderful World, Words, What About Me, Whiskey Lullaby…Waltz, woodwind, Wurlitzer, Wicked… who should I listen to first?
This post will not be what I originally envisioned. I learned back on the letter T that I cannot share music unless I have a premium plan over the free one. I apologize that you will not be able to hear this.
About a million years ago… ok. It really wasn’t that long ago, more like 35-36 years ago. I have talked about some of my favorite local musicians before. There was one band where I friended the guitar player and we talked often. Long story short, I gave him a few of my lyrics I had written in my love of writing with hopes he might find one acceptable as a song.
A few months later he sent me a cassette tape (I did say this was a while ago) and he had added a few lyrics and altered just a couple of words and set it to music! It was such a rush to hear words I had written actually sung. I think he did a great job on it and I did eventually switch it to a CD and would share the song here if I could. Since I don’t have that ability, here are a couple of the other songs I have listed along with my original lyrics that provided the seed for “We Tamed the Night.”
Van Halen, Vanilla Ice, Vince Gill, Village People… Valleri, Vacation, Vienna, Video Killed the Radio Star… Violin, vivace, vibrato, vocal music… very diverse verses.
This is something out of the ordinary. It is something I found I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would. This is Video Games Live. It is a concert experience like no other. Tommy Tallarico hosts the concerts that take place with a local symphony. The music is not your normal symphony pieces though.
The local symphonies practice and perfect video game music. The stage show runs video footage of the games the songs are from. And it is lighted like a rock concert. I only play a select few games, so I didn’t know all the songs or anything, but they all sounded awesome! First time I have been to a symphony with yelling and cheering going on (that was at Tommy’s request).
After the show (at the show I went to) Tommy set up to sign autographs. Unfortunately, we were unable to stand in line as we had a long drive home. But we did purchase some merchandise before the night ended.
The concert and available CDs include everything from the early 8bit songs to the driving rock tunes written exclusively for todays edgy games. They have costume or cosplay contests of the video game characters. Giveaways on stage and it is so much FUN!
Unfortunately, with covid there is only one concert on their tour schedule right now and it is not until next year. Check out their website here and this is a piece of one of their shows.
Leigha Robbins 