The Bangles - "If She Knew What She Wants"

I posted The Go-Go's last night, and wanted to share my favorite song from the "other" all-female band of the 80s - The Bangles.  Possibly the most perfect song for where I am in life.  This is for all of us who are going through times of change and uncertainty. 

"Some have a style 

that they work hard to refine

So they walk a crooked line

But she won't understand 

Why anyone would have to try

To walk a line when they could fly" 

#YearlongMixtape 

http://youtu.be/mu_pNeqAQ-U 

Elton John-A-Thon - "Rocket Man"

Closing out #EltonJohnAThon with a very special one for all the U2ers.  A beautiful song in its own right, but U2 played this song after their shows on the 360 tour.  A bittersweet sendoff as we all went on our way.

"Burnin' out his fuse up here alone..."

#YearlongMixtape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LX7WrHCaUA

Elton John-A-Thon - "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That"

I (and a bunch of my friends with awesome taste) really love Elton's 80s songs. He wasn't really working with Bernie Taupin, but the music was funkier. I think a lot of us grew up with these songs as our first exposure to his music, and then found the 70s classics later. This totally rockin' jam is from his 1988 album, Reg Strikes Back. Sunday night dance partayyy!

‪#‎YearlongMixtape‬

‪#‎EltonJohnAThon‬ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wyi9AbfUa1E 

Elton John - "Levon"

I didn't realize an Elton John-a-thon would be so difficult to fit into just a few days!  But I will do my best.  Just go listen to everything.  This is one of his first big hits.  Great music and beautiful lyrics by Bernie Taupin.  I love the "and he shall be a good man" line - breaks my heart every time.

#YearlongMixtape

#EltonJohnathon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mire1WJKdR8

Samantha Fox - "Naughty Girls Need Love Too"

I cannot speak to the truth of this statement from personal experience, so I'll defer to Samantha's expertise.  The most 1988-est of songs and videos!!  Awesome!!

#YearlongMixtape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXEN57rFnIM

Guns 'N Roses - "Welcome To The Jungle"

Guns 'N Roses revolutionary debut album, Appetite For Destruction, was released 28 years ago today.  I remember how much many of my friends and classmates loved this album.  It was so exciting and kind of raunchy, but really great rock music.  I just learned today that, instead of having a side A and side B, the LP had a side G and a side R.  So badass!

(For anyone under 25, LPs are vinyl records that you are now buying because you think it's hip.  We didn't have much of a choice back in the 80s - it was either vinyl or casssettes.)

I wasn't into it as much at the time, but I have definitely come to appreciate them.  And amazingly, it appears that this is the first time they're on the #YearlongMixtape!

When they were inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 (along with the Beastie Boys and Red Hot Chili Peppers), it was the first Hall of Fame class where I remembered the bands' debut albums being released.  And even though they're not together, I think there are few bands whose fans want them to reunite as much as GNR.

#YearlongMixtape

#weareold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1tj2zJ2Wvg

Billy Idol - "Hot In The City"

The most appropriate song I could think of for tonight's #YearlongMixtape.  And a great one!  Although we weren't generating the same kind of, uh, "heat." (This is very NSFW or children, the elderly, or the easily offended!) 

http://youtu.be/PinBVYKQGeM 

Madonna-Thonna - "Papa Don't Preach"

Madonna's 1986 album, True Blue, was the 2nd album I ever bought (after Primitive Love by Miami Sound Machine).

My 10-year-old self was OBSESSED with this song and video.  I wished I was as beautiful as Madonna dancing in the black bustier and capris.  I loved watching the images of New York City.  

And I remember specifically the first time I saw it, and the drama of wondering how her father (the amazing Danny Aiello) was going to react.  Now I watch it and can better appreciate how blessed her character was to have a father who loved her unconditionally.

#MadonnaThonna

#YearlongMixtape 

http://youtu.be/RkxqxWgEEz4 

Madonna-Thonna - "Sky Fits Heaven"

Ray of Light is far and away Madonna's best album (in my humble opinion).  Front to back - incredible songs about self-acceptance and waking up to what's really important in the world.  I especially love how she blends deep, emotional lyrics with really interesting and intense electronic music.  "Sky Fits Heaven" is one of my many favorites but you should really listen to the entire album.  My other faves are "Nothing Really Matters," "Shanti/Ashtangi," and "Ray of Light," of course.

If you search "Madonna Ray of Light" on Youtube, you can hear the entire album.  I mean it - go listen right now!

"Traveling down this road
Watching the signs as I go
I think I'll follow the sun
Isn't everyone just
Traveling down their own road
Watching the signs as they go
I think I'll follow my heart
It's a very good place to start"

#MadonnaThonna

#YearlongMixtape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChRs2RJELRQ

Madonna-Thonna - "Into The Groove"

For a lot of girls (and quite a few gay boys) who grew up in the '80s, Madonna was everything.  And I don't care what anyone says - she still is.  My favorite of her early-years songs - definitely the most fun to dance to!  And some great harmonies in the last chorus too!

#YearlongMixtape

#MadonnaThonna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52iW3lcpK5M

Madonna - "Like A Prayer"

It's time for a Madonna-thonna!  It will be very difficult to pick just a few faves, but I think this is my favorite song of hers.

Remember the controversy the video caused when it was released?  Burning crosses!  Madonna kissing Black Jesus!  And she's a brunette!  1989 was such a tumultuous time.

I also have to share this video from the Live 8 concert in 2005.  The young woman at the beginning of the video was featured in the original footage of the famine in Ethiopia that was shown at Live Aid in 1985.  She was close to dying in that video, but with the help of money raised during the concert, she received food and medical help.  And at the time of Live 8, she had just passed her final agriculture school exams.  And when Bob brought her out on stage, of course it was like a flood of tears.  Then he introduced Madonna, and she sang Like A Prayer, and it was pretty great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-XGpov_2I8

"Life is a mystery,
Everyone must stand alone
I hear you call my name
And it feels like home"

#YearlongMixtape

#Madonnathonna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79fzeNUqQbQ

Queen - "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions" - #LiveAid30

Today is the 30th anniversary of Live Aid.  I very vaguely remember seeing part of it on our very tiny TV in our living at our house on Orchard Rd.  I think we were actually having a yard sale that day.  I only remember seeing a couple of performances, and I don't remember who it was that I saw.  I very highly recommend watching the Live Aid DVD that was released a few years ago.

It's also been 10 years and 11 days since Live 8, which I had the pleasure of attending and volunteering at in Philly.  I don't have to explain how significant the cause of ending poverty is to me, and while I might not always see eye-to-eye with all of the views of "Saint" Bob Geldof and Bono, I think that any interest in helping everyone everywhere live a life of dignity is a great thing.

I know I'm gonna get kicked out of the U2 fan club for NOT choosing their performance of "Bad" as today's song, but this is probably the most memorable performance of the event.  Freddie Mercury shows why he's the greatest frontman ever.  (Hold your rocks, U2ers! Yeah, I said it!)

#YearlongMixtape

#LiveAid30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUJztI884M

Florence and the Machine - "Rabbit Heart"

I love this song for two reasons: 1) it's Florence and the Machine! and 2) it's about finding courage, something I struggle with on a regular basis.

"I look around, but I can't find you (raise it up)
If only I could see your face (raise it up)
Instead of rushing towards the skyline (raise it up)
I wish that I could just be brave

I must become a lion hearted girl
Ready for a fight
Before I make the final sacrifice"

I haven't heard all of their newest album, but Florence is magic, and I very heavily extremely strongly recommend that you listen to their first 2 albums.  Actually, I don't think that was emphatic enough - they are among the best I've ever heard in my life, and you should definitely put them on your musical bucket list.

#YearlongMixtape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF6kBNLTvaU

Neil Diamond - "America" (July 11th post)

This was supposed to be yesterday's post.  I was going to post this last week for the 4th of July, but got a little swept up in Foo Fighters fun.  I FREAKING LOVE THIS SONG.  It's pretty much the only song that makes me feel patriotic, because it's about all the hardworking beautiful immigrants who have come to the U.S. looking for a better life.  I hope we can work toward creating a country worthy of the dream they seek.

"Far,

We've been traveling far

Without a home

But not without a star"

#YearlongMixtape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTSLRbm8L9E

Talking Heads - "Life During Wartime"

The best!  From their legendary concert film, Stop Making Sense.  This song and performance showcases everything I love about the band!

Funny or Die put together a hilarious workout video commercial using the nonstop moves the band uses in the film: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/a707991c2c/77-exercises-a-workout-video-for-fans-of-the-talking-heads?_cc=__t___&_ccid=vruj4f.nratbt

I first learned about the song when Bono used to sing the hook during "Discotheque" on U2's Popmart tour.  Here's a link to the great lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/talkingheads/lifeduringwartime.html

"This ain't no party, this ain't no disco,
this ain't no fooling around
This ain't no Mudd Club, or CBGB,
I ain't got time for that now"

Thanks for joining me for Talking Heads-thon!

#THon

#YearlongMixtape

#WeirdBandsThatILove

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obAtn6I5rbY

Talking Heads - "And She Was"

A happy little song about flying away from life, even if it's with chemical assistance.  David said he wrote the song about "a blissed-out hippie-chick in Baltimore [where he grew up].  She once told me that she used to do acid (the drug, not music) and lay down on the field by the Yoo-hoo chocolate soda factory. Flying out of her body, etc etc. It seemed like such a tacky kind of transcendence… but it was real! A new kind of religion being born out of heaps of rusted cars and fast food joints. And this girl was flying above it all, but in it too."

Music may be my drug of choice, but getting away from the world every once in a while is a necessary and wonderful thing.

"And she was looking at herself
And things were looking like a movie
She had a pleasant elevation
She's moving out in all directions"

#THon

#YearlongMixtape

#HeyHeyHeyHeyHEY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgSVTdAtNYE

Talking Heads - "Born Under Punches"

I think Remain In Light is my favorite full Talking Heads album.  This is the crazy amazing lead track.  There is so much going on in this song that you have to listen to it a few times to hear everything.  I love that challenge.  I think the lyrics are about a man who doesn't know how to make sense of his life, so he gets a job working for the government.  But the insanity of the wide world is still calling to him to join it.

"I'm not a drowning man
And I'm not a burning building! I'm a tumbler
Drowning cannot hurt a man
Fire cannot hurt a man, not the government man"

Here's the original album version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilcD1fHcGB0

This live performance is awesome!  Watching petite Tina play that large bass LIKE A BOSS is a treat!

#THon

#YearlongMixtape

#KindaWeirdBandsThatILove

#runningoutofsynonymsforawesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO7N2tFb0X8

Talking Heads - "I Zimbra"

One of the many reasons why I love Talking Heads is their appreciation of global music, especially the African rhythms they incorporate so awesomely on "I Zimbra."  The song is from their incredible Brian Eno-produced 1979 album, Fear Of Music.

I have said this before, and I'll continue to shout it from the rooftops - David Byrne is an unbelievably great live performer and all-around genius.  He surrounds himself with unique, talented band members, and his shows are full of joy and life.  If you ever have the opportunity to see him in concert, do whatever it takes to go.

#THon

#WeirdBandsThatILove

#YearlongMixtape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI3oswxdeUw

Talking Heads - "Psycho Killer"

I'm going to do a Talking Heads mini thon - a THon!  I love this band so much!!  Starting off with their first hit - it's all about that bass :) 

#THon 

#YearlongMixtape 

#TinaWeymouthIsAGoddess 

http://youtu.be/yX6FsTIq6ls 

Heart - "These Dreams" and "Straight On"

One of the many cool things about yesterday's festival was that the Foo Fighters invited artists from almost all of the cities that Dave Grohl profiled in his outstanding Sonic Highways series.  Heart (representing Seattle!) was one of the bands I was really excited to see, and besides the Foos, they were definitely the crowd favorite.  They ROCKED!

They played my two favorite of their songs back to back, so I'm sharing them on the #YearlongMixtape.

"These Dreams" is their one of '80s hits, featuring Nancy on vocals.  Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics.  Beautiful harmonies on this one!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkuyTX_KbGY

"Straight On" is a totally different song - funky and rockin' - and Ann still sounds unbelievably great.

Dave wanted to do it in DC because he grew up just outside of the District in Springfield, VA.  I'm so glad he grew up close by so we could go to the show!  It was a true privilege to be there.  In case you're wondering, here's the lineup, and the cities they're from:
RDGLDGRN - Washington, DC (unfortunately we missed their set)
Trombone Shorty - New Orleans
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - Los Angeles
Gary Clark, Jr. - Austin
Heart - Seattle
LL Cool J - NYC
Buddy Guy - Chicago
Trouble Funk - Washington, DC

#YearlongMixtape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTb-m_GZWk4

Lissie - "In Sleep"

Lissie is a really great singer-songwriter whose music is at once intense but soothing.  Her 2010 debut, Catching A Tiger, is a gem!  "In Sleep" is one of my favorites! 

#YearlongMixtape 

http://youtu.be/7pAEDUlgYxk