Millennials Make it Official: Today’s Music is Lousy

Like most people of my generation, I am convinced that the music I grew up with, from the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, is better and more authentic than the over-produced, auto-tuned, computerized rubbish that now dominates sales and downloads.

To some extent I think every generation feels that same loyalty to the songs and the bands that were playing when they first discovered music, so it’s not something I tend to debate with anyone who prefers the oeuvre of Cardi B. If they’re happy, I’m happy.

But there are signs that those growing up with what’s currently topping the charts (do they still use charts?) have also started to realize they’re settling for less. That message is being sent via a YouTube phenomenon that I’ve known about for a while but never experienced – the reaction video.

If you’re not familiar, these are videos posted by people, most of them in their 20s, who play an “old” song and then react to hearing it for the first time. I thought it was a fairly ridiculous concept that sounded no more interesting than watching someone eat a Milky Way bar for the first time. What do I care if they like it or not?

But since I hooked up my Amazon Fire TV and can view YouTube on my big screen, I’ve found myself watching a lot of stuff I’d normally pass by. And one night, I noticed a video in which someone billed as “JB Lethal” was going to introduce himself to “We’ve Only Just Begun,” by The Carpenters.

What I learned about JB Lethal is that he’s an African-American man in his 20s, who grew up listening to r&b and rap. So I was curious how this guy who was born about ten years after Karen Carpenter died would react to hearing a type of song that could not be further removed from the music on which he was raised.

As the track played, Mr. Lethal bowed his head, and then shook his head as if he could not believe what he was hearing. “Wow, man. That was beautiful,” he said when it was over. “That was so beautiful it’s ridiculous. It brightens my mood. It moves my soul.”

Shortly thereafter he reacted to a live version of The Carpenters performing the same song, because the concept of someone actually being able to sing as well as they sound on a recording is no longer taken for granted. Once again the reaction was one of admiration and astonishment.

‘Her voice is so pure. “Where is the talent at in this generation?”

It wasn’t long before he moved on to “Close to You,” “Superstar” and “Rainy Days and Mondays.”

And now I was hooked. I wanted to see what other songs and bands he’d never heard, and what he would think of them. I watched JB Lethal discover Queen and Abba and Pink Floyd and Journey. I watched him get almost tearful at Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” head bang to AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” and be blown away by the working class lyricism of Billy Joel.

“How did y’all decide on a favorite band, when all of them were this good?” he asked after listening to “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers. “What happened to music?” Why don’t we have songs like this now?”

Of course much of my pleasure in watching these reactions was rooted in confirmation bias. But there was also some relief that quality still mattered and was not entirely lost on a generation being raised on inferior product.

There was a touch of envy as well, at all of the joy that is in this young man’s future. Led Zeppelin has been part of the soundtrack of my life for four decades, so I can’t even imagine what it must be like to for him to hear “Stairway to Heaven” for the first time. That was fun to watch.

Zeppelin seems to be one of the leading go-to groups for discovery among millennial reactors. “This band sure knows how to play its instruments” extolled reactor “Jayvee” - as if that wasn’t at one time a pre-requisite for a professional career in music.

One of the unexpected pleasures I’ve found in these videos is how they inspire me to listen to old chestnuts with more focus and more appreciation than I have for many years. Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” and Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing” typically just begat a mild grin of recognition when they pop up on an oldies station. Now I really try to listen to them again – and be amazed once more by how great they sound.

“This was some really good music you guys had.”

--JB Lethal

Yeah, we know.

"Christmas" music controversies: They aren't Christmas songs!

Recent controversies over the song “Baby, It's Cold Outside” being banned from radio stations in the “Me Too” movement that successfully conquered this country with another Pelosi Administration where she runs the nation and the “men are bad” mentality runs amok reminded me of the real problem in today's music for Christmas.

“Baby, It's Cold Outside” is a 1944 song by Frank Loesser for year-end parties in Los Angeles as a duet with his wife.  His daughter noted it was the song of the family, and gave licencing rights to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for usage in the 1949 film Neptune's Daughter, where it is used twice in duets, once between Esther Williams, a legendary swimmer whose career was destroyed by World War II when the Tokyo Olympics were initially moved to Helsinki but later cancelled by the war (the United States was not in battle at the time), and Ricardo Montalbán (an actor whose career was well-known;  I remember him as Mr. Rourke and we may remember the old Chrysler Corporation commercials regarding “Corinthian Leather”), and then by Betty Garrett and Red Skelton, which the roles were reversed.

The song won an Academy Award for Best Song in a movie for the 1950 Oscars.

And in a similar vain, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which we've referenced in the past after learning a minister exposed the truth of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer censoring the song against Hugh Martin's request, was used for Meet Me in St. Louis, a 1944 film inspired by the eponymous book that was based around a year in the life of a family towards the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (now retroactively recognised as Expo 1904 by the Bureau of International Expositions).  In its usage, a family was concerned as the father planned to move to New York for his job, leaving St. Louis just before the exposition.  In a scene on Christmas Eve, Esther (Judy Garland) sings it to encourage her sister Tootie, played by Margaret O'Brien.

Add to that numerous songs such as “Rudolph, the Red Nose Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman,” which were designed as television specials that can only work in the Northern Hemisphere, it has now spread to fad songs from Mariah Carey (see 2004 column, “Sing We Joyously Noel” for reference) and Kathryn Hudson (please see the 2008 “Cultural Rot: MTV Video Music Awards” for historical reference) that it seems have been overplayed and are not even Christmas tunes.  Note too the trend in the Grinch and other characters, none of which even observe the moment we celebrate on 25 December.  There are plenty of Grinches, Rockette wannabes, and others, but if you try to find the Baby in a Manger, it is long lost and unable to be found.

These songs, as I've learned over time, are not anywhere near Christmas when you're sitting in a bed of Part I with Händel's Messiah with the annual singalong coming Monday, Bach's Christmas Oratorio (which took place a few weeks ago with Dr. LaRoche as soprano, I skipped it because she was added as a last-minute substitution for an event 150 miles away), and numerous Christmas sacred masterpieces (Es Ist Ein Ros) that I have learned as a singer and also one who has gained an appreciation of sacred standards (“Still, Still, Still” and “Gesu Bambino”), along with the real “What Child Is This?” and “Stille Nacht,”  that are polar opposites to what is being pushed as “Christmas” tunes.  Even churches today have bastardised church Christmas music to the point churches buying a Warner Music kids musical that replaced studying the Bible on Sunday morning were inspired by a dirty movie and dirty song, and the evening service was the adult choir singing with the karaoke machine the latest tunes off the radio that were not Christmas but instead regular songs performed by the fad Life Enhancement Centres in Australia (Hillsong) and Redding, Californina (Bethel) known for their heresies.

What gives?  Has this world of “real Christmas and the Christ Child” given way to overt commercialism where the real material is being covered up, while we glorify every winter song?  When I think of it, these winter songs are appropriate to sing in Australia during June, July, and August.  Why no discussion of that?

How Renée Fleming's "Carousel" and the WWE's "Greatest Royal Rumble" have a common denominator in Richard Rodgers

R
enée Fleming's appearance at a Broadway production of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's Carousel has been in the news recently, but Mr. Rodgers, a legendary composer of musicals, was in my head as news discussed a pay-per-view in the pseudosport of "professional wrestling" with the intercalated Royal Rumble in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, similar to the Olympic Games of 1906.  How fake wrestling associates itself with Richard Rodgers comes through a writing partner of his prior to his association with Mr. Hammerstein, Lorenz Hart.

In the Rodgers and Hart musical Babes in Arms (1937), Billie, a woman who visits the leading male character (Val), sings the song in question, which thanks to the popular music circuit, has lost most of its lyrics and its original intent (yes, Mr. Sinatra is guilty of removing the lyric and reference!).  Billie, played by Mitzi Green when it debuted, is from the coast, and sings what we call the aria in question, "The Lady is a Tramp," which over the years and even a "sanitised" version of the entire musical was produced, which sadly has taken away toe references in the song.  Even Steafani Germanotta's version, like Frank Sinatra's and Ella Fitzgerald's versions, alter the lyrics away from the original (Derek Jeter, who is referenced in the Germanotta and Bennett version, was not even thought when Rodgers and Hart wrote the song!), but there's one part of the song that easily catches the adage "professional wrestling is fake".

The lyric in question of "The Lady is a Tramp" that though written in 1937 could easily refer to professional wrestling and how it is losing the pay-per-view battle to mixed martial arts today states, "I like a prizefight that isn't a fake."  Since a professional wrestling match is predetermined, and the players know who is to win ("go over"), that legally means the match is fixed, and legally it's a fake.  Would Billie want to see a WWE match or a UFC match, if you listen to the song with that lyric?

Here is the song, as it is from a production of "Babes in Arms" that allows us to see the original song (not the Sinatra or Germanotta versions) in its historic New York references.

The "Country Music Television" Awards? Sorry, it was just more MTV raunch

It's well known that I am not a fan of MTV.  A close friend of mine from college had a cousin who was a CBS executive at its now-defunct Charlotte office when MTV Networks took over CBS cable operations and shut down that office.  I've also heard stories of the demise of the network's Nashville offices as their Nashville-oriented cable networks were surrendered to MTV and reassigned.  I knew something was fishy, but in light of last week's complaints about the CMT Music Awards, it proved correct what I had thought was the evils of MTV.

Like the College Football Playoff and even the NCAA Final Four and Championship Game, which have moved to pay television, the CMT Music Awards, in an effort to spin the ratings of a reduced audience thanks to pay television, aired on multiple different channels in their family.  In this case, the CMT Music Awards aired on various MTV channels, and I noticed at least three channels in MTV's group aired it (and they were not country music-related channels either).  The primary complaint appeared after Hispanic hip-hop star Armando "Pitbull" Pérez performed with dancers at Bridgestone Arena (above) in a routine that was a bit on the questionable side.   But this was normal for him, considering what I've learned since a 2009 dance performance by our adult jazz team that used one of his ditties that I later uncovered used automotive metaphors to refer to a certain part of a woman's body (and had the imagery of public indecency).  Later, another pop group from a short-lived US version of a British pop music programme (lasted only two seasons) performed.

This event displayed how MTV was making the CMT brand theirs since 2000 (read the first paragraph;  they also began developing what we know as Spike now, and I have never watched the modern Spike save for one a few minutes of the 2004 Long Beach Champ Car (fka CART) event that showed Bob Jenkins wasn't worth being on MTV;  he was tossed two events into the CART Champ Car season for a series in a deal that was split with HDNet for high-definition that eventually the owners gave up on MTV, one of the big mistakes that led to its demise in the later years of what Robin Miller calls The Split;  all of the video of the MTV broadcasts (and the 1998 Pep Boys IRL events on the former Nashville Network that MTV shut down to create Spike eventually, now belong to INDYCAR, and all of the former CBS/Ed Gaylord The Nashville Network NASCAR archives now belong to NASCAR Broadcasting), nothing more than an MTV light was evidenced by the announcement they were picking up a Lionsgate Entertainment and Disney series that ABC did not renew with a new season that will likely be even raunchier, coming even closer to TV-MA (the equivalent of an X rating in the movies) because MTV can go TV-MA, which ABC cannot because of broadcast decency standards. This awards show seemingly was a "MTV VMA Light," though it will probably never reach that level of sending people to the Oval Office.

The CMT Music Awards performance featuring Mr. Pérez was nothing short of pushing MTV's inappropriate styles on country music fans, and is another part of MTV's control of music that in a more serious way is why we are seeing inappropriate music and messages to children, meanwhile, the great masterworks of classical music, sacred song, and opera are being ignored.  MTV's control of popular music has led to such inappropriate acts such as Mr. Pérez and other questionable pop stars. It proves the point if you give MTV anything, they will make things worse.

Bowie

I quoted from this song once, when I was running for the state legislature so many years ago. There was something noble about it, the idea that it wasn't old-fashioned to dream of big things and grand deeds, to think that such things were possible for ordinary individuals.

It's perhaps the quintessential Bowie song, the one that so many have come back to in the days since his death, and I think it's because it strikes something in the hearts of people, the possibility of striving for something, even if it's just for one day, even if you wind up failing in the end. And there is something noble about that, particularly in the "why bother" world we seem to have lapsed into too often.

There's no sense in adding to the millions of words written, not when one has nothing new to offer. A couple of very good posts from people I follow in unlikely places, ones you might not ordinarily read: F1 journalist Joe Saward here, and Catholic blogger Steve Skojec here. Check them out when you get the chance.

And here's perhaps the quintessential performance of the quintessential song, at least given the context: Bowie singing Heroes at Live Aid in 1985.

Three deaths as the hours waned

Three notable deaths made New Year's Eve in 2015 feel very sad, considering the value of those we lost in just one 24-hour span.

Marvin Panch. The 1961 Daytona 500 champion, the oldest living Daytona 500 champion (born 1926), died Thursday.  Seventeen Sprint Cup Series wins, he won the race at just under 150 MPH, then a record.  Some of his wins, according to the family statement, included those with Ford's works team run by Peter DePaolo, the man who was an Indianapolis 500 record setter, as he won the first Brickyard classic to go under five hours in 1925.  He also won the second of NASCAR's then-three majors, the World 600, with Richard Petty (his boss) as relief driver.  Panch's 1961 Daytona victory was known for being in an older car when top driver Glenn (Fireball) Roberts had the engine expire on his new 1961 model Pontiac late in the race, allowing Panch to win.  Legend has it that Dewayne (Tiny) Lund (who was very big despite the nickname), who pulled Panch out of a Maserati that had caught fire after a nasty crash during a testing session for the Daytona Continental (now Rolex 24), was given Panch's Wood Brothers ride for the 1963 Daytona 500, and Lund, an Iowan who made his home in Berkeley County, won the race.

Natalie Cole  A pop singer who transitioned from R&B to jazz to match the standards of her late father Nat King Cole, her success came at a price.  She admitted in her early years to drug use and alcohol problems, and criticised NARAS for awarding their awards to a drug addict who later died at a fairly young age.  Her jazz standards will forever be remembered for the trickery used to make listeners think she was doing a duet with her father, who died when she was 15, but she had success on her own as well.  She also enjoyed modest success in television and film work. She was a legend in the jazz standards market, and most assuredly will be missed.

Wayne Rogers.  For younger people, he will be remembered as a financial analyst on Fox News, often appearing as one of the Cashin' In panelists in its original format.  However, another generation will always remember him as the one and only original Trapper John McIntyre on M*A*S*H (Pernell Roberts did the spinoff drama Trapper John, M.D.). After leaving the show in 1975, his career was fairly modest (as was the case with so many actors who leave successful programs, particularly M*A*S*H, as most of his shows that he starred in - City of Angels and House Calls - were either short-lived series or guest spots in TV movies. There was something inherently likable about him, though, with a friendly smile and ingratiating personality, that will ensure he, like Marvin Panch and Natalie Cole, will be remembered.

Of a professional wrestler and the artist's version he used for entrances

For some reason, I was reflecting on my youth and the entrance music of a popular professional wrestler in the 1980's whose gimmick had a 1940's influence and a 1960's pop song as his entrance music.  Remember which wrestler used the song?

Yes, it was this artist's version that was used, although this is the current version of the group that is being used.  Which wrestler used this song as his entrance music?  Personally I'd still have this group than what goes for "pop music" today.

Those days of watching championship "wrestling" as a kid and hearing this song that always meant one wrestler's entrance!

Flashback Friday: Opera for the masses

Since I've been known to have an affinity for German opera, it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm dipping into the Germanic oveure today. However, rather than Wagner, or even Strauss, I'm looking at an underperformed opera, one that should be performed more often than it is. It's Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) by Kurt Weill and Bertold Brecht, who more famously brought you "Mack the Knife" from the aptly named Threepenny Opera. (Which is in fact an opera, and not just a part of Bobby Darin's songbook.)

This is one of those pieces I think ought to appear more often; certainly it should be in the crosshairs of opera companies that would rather commission productions that, with few exceptions, won't see the light of day again. Mahagonny was written in 1930, but it's only been in the last 40 years or so that it's gotten anything like significant visibility. (It didn't premiere at the Met until 1979.)

Here's one of the signature moments from the opera: the "Alabama Song" ("Oh, moon af Alabama") from Act I, which is typically performed in English even when the opera is done in German. Valentina Valente is the lead, with Jonathan Webb conducting the orchestra of Teatro Valli.



Of course, you mmight remember the Alabama Song this way instead:



Ah, who says opera can't appeal to the masses?


Originally published March 24, 2011

Flood thoughts

While in the Flood of the Century here it seems, I've thought for a while about voices in singing, and even songs that discuss vocal parts.

Straight No Chaser, which does "Back Home Again in Indiana" at the 500, has their own take on "All About That Bass," making it a song about a vocal part in their own a capella style.  I am no fan of bad pop music, but it made me laugh about this version because as a tenor myself, note the putdowns on the tenors by the basses!



And of course, while the boys talk about low men, there is a song for girls about the low women.  And this lament is one that could make some of them unsuitable for Fox News, if you understand the network's dress code, and they want to be on Fox News!  Ben Moore wrote this song, "(I Can Be a) Sexy Lady" for Susan Graham, a mezzo lamenting her roles in opera.  It is part of the mezzo's repetoire, and often sung at recitals, as I've learned.  The first time I heard it was Kelsey Harrison in her recital (since Serena LaRoche had a part in that recital), and I wanted to know what the song was -- and it was a lament.  Now think about "(I Can Be a) Sexy Lady" and "All About That Bass (No Tenors)" and think of their low voice songs.



Hoosier Hysteria Retirements

So one "gospel" singer who has performed the National Anthem at the 500 in 1992, ironically the year that a famous motor racer who never won at the Brickyard despite seven career starts presented her that trophy for Female Vocalist of the Year for an 11th consecutive year.  Neither won in that premier class in their careers after that year.  The presenter retired after 2000.  That singer just announced she is on her farewell concert tour.

Add to that another Hoosier, a motor racer, with 20 years in major motorsport, who is hanging it up after 2016 too, and unfortunately, he fits in the same role as Doug Sanders, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, and Colin Montgomerie do in golf.  He is the best driver in motorsport to never win a major, though he has won championships and other races, he never won an official INDYCAR or NASCAR Sprint Cup major.

Sharing notes

Congratulations, Michael and Serena!  Born on May 8, 6 pounds, 7 ounces, 20 inches long, it's Daniel Edward LaRoche!

Hype Week.  The real "Hype Week" is finally here for the countdown to June 6, 2 PM EDT on your local Fox station:

• Jeep and the Qatar Foundation.
• Berlin.
• Juventus.  FC Barcelona.

The most watched show of the year.  More people will watch this one clash of the titans than any other programme.  Cue the theme!

And Speaking of Themes and Sports.  It's the Month of May, and WIBC Radio will be playing this. Can you identify why?

Just because - shocking!

Back when he had hair and was good - it's the delightfully alt hit "Shock the Monkey," by Peter Gabriel.

(An occasional series on the music I hear during the drive home - mostly to fill space!)

Just because

Heard on the way home last night:  "Voices Carry" by 'Til Tuesday.

(A new series on the music I hear during the drive home - mostly to fill space!)

Just because

Heard on the way home last night - David Bowie's Modern Love.

(A new series on the music I hear during the drive home - mostly to fill space!)

Christmastide (Day 7) - Where is the Christ Child?

We cross the halfway point of Christmastide, with Epiphany coming the first Monday of the new year, and after that we start Ordinary Time until the Lenten season.  But as we reach Day Seven Wednesday, the last day of the year, I ask if we have lost the meaning of Christmas.

This Advent season (remember Advent is the four Sundays before Christmas, and Christmastide is Christmas to Epiphany), as I visited the stores, save for the religious stores and Hobby Lobby, it seemed that the decorations I saw on sale at stores and posted everywhere were promoting winter days that does not sound appropriate, considering the next Summer Olympics will take place in the winter (Rio is south of the Equator), and it's also summer for the INDYCAR champion (Australian).  The other type of decoration we are seeing at the stores is the old-fashioned obese man in a red outfit (you should have seen how two companies that I am a shareholder decided to slim him down for their marketing campaign) or the related reindeer from a 1960's television special always airing during this time of the year that later infuriated me when the Made in China winter holiday cards based on it were being sold at the Post Office, while I purchased Indiana-made Christmas cards from Abbey Press this year.  Why does everything have to be dreaming of snow and winter, as was the case of many years ago with movies?

The schools are saying “winter holiday,” and many stores are saying “holidays” with nary a reference to the child in the manger.  The signs of Joseph, Mary, the baby, the shepherds, the animals, and the magi are are few and far between.  (And don't raise the right hand in a toast when the last line is sung in “Away in a Manger,” which can be a problem if the Spilman tune is used!)  And after listening to “The Many Moods of Christmas,” I learned a song that has been very popular for Christmas isn't even theologically correct, it was written during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, but I appreciated the Catalan music and other music that had the message of the Child that we long forgot.  The numerous songs listed on the ASCAP Top 30 list were mainly winter songs, and sacred song has long been ignored.  Why is Mariah Carey better rewarded than Mark Lowry, though both are 1990's songs (although Pentatonix had a version of Mark's song that, well . . . )?

Meanwhile, television has vastly ignored the Christ child.  Whereas you could have seen coverage of live choral performances of masterpieces that promote the Christ Child 50 years ago, as we've learned, the sacred masterpieces are gone, shed to the scrapheap while specials from the latest pop stars are everywhere.  Live sing-along Messiahs and Lessons and Carols are more virtuous than the specials that are there today.

Just ponder the question:  Why have we become so ignorant of the Child whose birth we celebrate throughout this twelve day season?  Has popular culture shown they are out of touch with the heartland again?

Analysis on The Mindset List

The Mindset List, released annually regarding college freshmen upon entrance, is an interesting read from Beloit University. I thought it would be an interesting read for consumption with analysis.

Humanism In Education - #3. Terms such as “Forbidden Fruit,” “The writing on the wall,” “Good Samaritan,” and “The Promised Land” are unknown to most of them. This is Humanism on Parade in schools, they have never read the Bible because it's not permitted. Even today's Life Enhancement Centres ignore the Bible, and instead people read a certain self-help book from the King of Life Enhancement Centres in Mr. Warren, Mr. Osteen, or have been taught to believe in New Age beliefs through schools.

MTV as a Legitimate Source of Information - #5 and #22. During the 2008 presidential campaign season, Senator Obama ran campaigns, similar to Governor Clinton, on MTV, and appeared on MTV's homosexual network. However, when it came to the Barclays League of news sources, he refused to appear. The Administration recently said they prefer to appear on entertainment media, not news outlets. MTV programming is that revered by a generation.

And Speaking of #22. We've reverted back in technology. We've gone from black and white to NTSC 480, from 480 to near-movie quality 720/1080 High Definition (the only shows not in HD today are Big Brother and Let's Make a Deal), and now we're embracing tiny screens with 240p quality. It's similar to auto headlights -- we've switched from sealed beams back to screw-in bulbs of the 1920's in the past 30 years.

What's Read - #18? Oh we do miss the years of the World Book in our home!

Bad Pop In The Ears -- #15 and #21. Hearing loss and not caring for the car radio. When the car radio has been the source of sports, news, and weather, what else do you need? I was carrying earplugs for events, and even carry earplugs for events. Sadly, this generation even wants loud rock music for church services. No more LaRoche, Harrison, or Cuttino for them as they want the latest from the Michael Jackson Library for church. Huh?

And on #21. As someone who grew up in the rise of talk radio, with the push of Rush, G. Gordon, Dr. Laura, Boortz, and other major radio shows, and even the 21st century leaders of Hannity, Ingraham, and Tom Sullivan, a generation that ignores serious discussion on airwaves will be completely ignorant. When all they know is the latest pop tune on the airwave, and buy the songs at 99 cents to hear what they want to hear, how can you listen to serious works?

Stupid Sexual Deviancy - #24. No gloves for sexual deviancy groups because they want normalisation. Boxing referees but not White House Security need gloves? Oh dear. Maximum AIDS promotion by the deviancy activist groups that would love to contaminate blood supplies with AIDS!

CCCP - #28. Star Wars (when the movie arrived in 1977) was used by the greatest American President of postwar time as a reference for the defence of this nation against the Evil Empire, the dangerous bear, the CCCP. Star Wars Defence could be needed today to fight Al Qaeda!

William Franklin Graham II - #34. The difference in this unlike the gridiron star listed is that the Graham family is a dynasty in religious communities. William Franklin Graham III and William Franklin Graham IV are evangelists themselves, running the family crusades today.

Seatbacks - #39. Now I've never been to the grand opera theatre of all time, but I've seen supertitles on the stage, not the seat for the operas I have attended!

Labour Issues - The answer to #43? Because of internationalisation of baseball that we saw after consecutive Canadian titles, the next year was Japan's year. The finalists were the Yomiuri Giants versus the Seibu Lions. And which two players from the World Champion 1994 kyojin won MLB titles? Hint: One's from Minnesota and the other made a name for himself on the world stage of baseball's premiership that Series. Futbol has been the sport of this generation, but it's women only for the most part as the success is prominent for Americans, but men are still weak (as the Olympic failure to qualify shows).

No Print Please at #47. At this rate, California propaganda can be easily pushed. John Stossel notes the costs are cheaper for physical books.

Jumping Matches at #52. The controversy of figure skating, since the elimination of compulsory figures (on a figure of eight) has changed the graceful skaters into a more masculine power game. The elimination of the sixes proved it! And of course, the modern action sports movement is where power sports matter! ◙

Faking It, MMXII: Don't Have a Cowell, Symphoney!

Here we go again with another round of Faking It at a major event. We saw in Peking four years ago Faking It during major Olympic opening ceremony events (singers replaced with fakes that look better), and later with the RNC, along with the ceremony marking the deification of The Whammy.

I've written checks to musicians, paid a college student accompanist both cash and a home-made pumpkin pie that I made myself, and have walked out of karaoke events at church. But it still does not matter. As classical music fans, we who pay our money for these spectacular concerts, play the instruments or sing in choral events these masterpieces have become highly offended by the trend towards faking. When $200 DVD's replace the church musician, something's awfully fishy. We do not support the awful trends of music, something a friend noted, "Now they spend half their seasons doing pops concerts with geriatric groups like Styx and Sha Na Na so they can afford to play a little Beethoven or Mozart, forget Mahler or Bruckner, that would cost more money for a bigger orchestra."

It's no longer a church problem. A recent concert in Winnipeg with a well-known symphony whose "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi" from Carl Orff's massive Carmina Burana (Dr. Cornwell, that still is one piece that has such powerful) was used for many years by Sean Hannity to open his radio programme turned nasty when it was revealed that the group was faking it. They were allegedly the backing group for a Simon Cowell prefabricated pop group. Instead of performing, while they were faking it live, the sound system was playing prerecorded accompaniment, effectively making the symphony a glorified fake. Now who are the divos? The group that demanded singing to prerecorded music? It's as bad as the church singers who sing almost exclusively to the can, claiming it sounds better than the real thing. Don't tell me that. If I'm paying for Mary Lee, Jennifer, Mori, or other musicians to play in a concert, I want to hear them. I don't want to hear a recording! Real musicians are not Powerade bottles. Here's the article. ◙

A Christmas Miracle: The Story of the 2010 Carolighting

Last year, at the South Carolina State House, the Governor's Carolighting, which had been lost two of the past three years, was in danger of being lost to complacency when the volunteers were able to rescue it in time, with a volunteer chorus and musicians, for Mark Sanford and the boys to light their final State House Christmas Tree.

Unfortunately this year, when we had the all-state crews back and ready for this year's Carolighting, the event, moved to Monday night this year, was called off as a result of weather, the third time in five years the state's annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremony did not take place, meaning Nikki Haley would not have the ceremony for her first year in office. 38-year Raycom newsman Bill Sharpe, the unofficial dean of South Carolina newscasts (joined WCSC in 1973, and has stayed with the station since then), was set to host the event.

Let's remember back when a group of hearty volunteers made a State House tradition as a miracle on Gervais Street. Raycom's Dawndy Mercer Plank had the honours. ◙

Rockin' Christmas

For reasons that don't really bear going into, here are some Christmas classics I'm fairly confident you haven't heard in quite this way before. First, a medley of seasonal favorites by Jimi Hendrix, including "Silent Night," "The Little Drummer Boy," and "Auld Lang Syne," with a little bit of "Taps" thrown in for good measure.



As if that wasn't enough, here's a Jim Morrison impersonator with a surprisingly effective rendition of "Jingle Bells":



Just goes to show that Christmas music comes in all shapes and sizes, doesn't it? Say what you will, this beats Celine Dion and Mariah Carey any day. ◙

A cornucopia of Christmas music

In February, I celebrate ten years since a 26-year old college graduate decided to have fun and take voice from a 24-year old master's student earning the degree in vocal performance who needed it to fulfill her degree requirement, and over the years, it has blossomed into an enjoyable friendship with Dr. LaRoche, her pets, her friends, and her (newlywed) husband. I've sung sacred Christmas works at the 2010 Governor's Carolighting (the ceremony was not held in 2011 because of weather) when a makeshift choral group was required because of the lateness of its organisation, and have been part of two one-offs with church choral groups because of the laziness of our own church with Christmas music becoming extremely secular in nature. Monday night is the annual sing-along at Washington Street that I've enjoyed over the years, with Dr. LaRoche, The Brittnee, and the Rattrays in the past.

As someone who appreciates the serious church music of Christmas, and is sad to see many of the works disappear from our daily grind, being replaced by winter songs that are not sensible for the season (remember half of the world it's summer!), let's open a cornucopia of wonderful song for Christmas.

Paderborner Domchor's - Veni Veni Emanuel



Johannes Kalpers - “Hush, hush, hush, for the little child wants to sleep!”. This Austrian folk tune from Salzburg is about the infant Jesus and Mary as they sleep. The song was given to me for the informal recital with friends, and it's become a favourite of mine.



I'm guilty of always (especially the first verse) wanting to sing this in Latin. One of my first Christmas music selections I purchased was a Luciano Pavarotti album (are you kidding me?) and why would he be an inspiration for a college student who hadn't heard much classical music? Once I anchored my boat with the young Mississippi Squirrel, I had gone classical and my steps haven't turned back. A Montréal, chanson "Adeste Fideles," avec Pavarotti . . .

Speaking of Steyn - In Memoriam Hugh Martin (1914-2011)

As I read the Mark Steyn links yesterday, something came to my attention as a blurb, but we didn't forget.

Mark pointed out the death at 96 of songwriter Hugh Martin. In 2008, we noted how a song from "Meet Me in St. Louis" was changed to remove a religious reference, and it was recorded by a trio of Dove Award winners with the lyrics as the writer had wanted. ◙