stuff123

While writing A Change Is Gonna’ Come?, I needed a link to that classic song and I tripped on to what I consider a goldmine for my style of music—old R & B. I actually found a second that I hadn’t heard. I knew Sam Cooke’s version but wasn’t aware of the Otis Redding version that played sometime later on one of the “stations”.

Well musically speaking, it was like I had died and gone to heaven. I found Jango.com. The description below describes what it does according to Jango.

It still has the beta tag (meaning it is new and still sort of in testing). The thing I like about it is that you could program the “radio” to the type of music you like by defining “stations”. You can create groups of artists and call up that station and let it play. If you like a particular song a lot you can have it play more often.

But what really impressed me was the depth of the library. I though my collection of old R & B was quite deep. Wrong. I heard stuff I didn’t even know was recorded and versions of songs that were different than the commericially successful cut. They weren’t junk either.

Two that stood out were a song by Shirley Brown called “Woman to Woman”. It was one of those songs that starts with a narration (woman to woman) about staying away from her man and then this voice kicks in. How come I never heard of her before.

And an old Ike & Tina live performance of the Wilson Pickett song “Don’t Fight It”. Sadly it was shortened because I suspect the original tape had deteriorated.

You can look at biographies of the performers. The black and white picture of the Chi-lites with a pumpkin-sized Afro is quite hilarious.

They provide lyrics for a lot of songs that scroll up like a karaoke machine. For a lot of people, that might not be a good idea. Only sing to an empty room if you are tone deaf. Listening to someone who can’t sing is almost as painful as the electric chair. Rosie and Carl Lewis singing the American National Anthem come to mind as two exceptionally painful renditions.

You decide what you want the station to play and it still provides variety. You can buy songs and ringtones as well. It isn’t like this is the only option out there but I am not aware of another program that has all these features in one package and such a deep library.

I look at it as a great supplement to my iTunes library and a way to eventually add my favourite rare songs to my own library by purchasing them. Meanwhile, I get to listen to the libraries and decide what I like and don’t like because you hear the whole song and not just a truncated version.

Jango & FoxyTunes Planet (also beta) are now two of the sources I use for music reference as well music enjoyment. FoxyTunes runs as an add-on in your Firefox browser and uses the media player of your to choice. For me, that is iTunes.

Sometimes you need to turn the music off to write and other times it only adds to the feelings and makes the words flow even more easily. I don’t have much problem with the flowing part. It’s the control that is a challenge.

This new age of music is quite something when you compare it vinyl, reel to reel tape and all the other formats that I have used. I’m glad to say that 8-track wasn’t one of them.

Digital music is just wonderful and these two applications are first class in my opinion.

I don’t get it.

I’m a Canadian and I am envious of two beautiful songs that our neighbours to the south have to celebrate their strong belief in their country. They are “America the Beautiful” and “The American National Anthem”. In my mind, two of the best inspirational songs ever written.

So it is Sunday and there are only two NFL games on today. They are the last chance before the biggest game in that sport—the Super Bowl. The NFC and AFC Championship games are the prize today.

And as usual, the game will not start until the singing of the standard song that sends the gladiators into the coliseum with the right motivation and stirs the fans into a frenzy—The American National Anthem.

I understand the first one. She doesn’t know any better because she was an American Idol contestant so it’s just another audition for her. But I don’t understand why Martina McBride feels the need to put all kinds of twists to the song.

She is a songbird. You don’t need to be doing any auditions for the audience. We would listen to you sing Mary Had A Little Lamb if you just did it the way it was intended. I went to The Favourite Reading Room in disgust.

It’s not the first time I’ve written about this (see Butchering the American National Anthem ). Maybe I’m making something out of nothing but I thought the song was important to the American people. I know The Smothers Brothers agree with me. And maybe that’s it. We’re older and remember when people placed value on things that are important.

Maybe that’s what is wrong with today’s world economy. Nobody really cares anymore? I sure hope not.

I’ve got my fingers crossed.

The title is a reference to the great Sam Cooke song that I put high on my personal list of all time favourites. (Otis Redding’s version is also excellent). But it’s a wish I have as a Canadian watching this historic day in American and World History. A new sheriff will be signed in today.

I can honestly say I don’t know much about this Obama guy. But at dinner last night, my friend MW got this serious look on his face and started talking about him with a conviction that MW gets when you know he believes strongly in something. He’s a Canadian too but he’s really a humanitarian, as well. So I stopped talking and I listened a lot more. I have trouble with that. But I knew this was important to MW.

So I think I’m not going to pass judgement on another new political figure just yet. From what I can tell, he’s promised some interesting stuff to the American public and they have responded in kind with thier support. So the test begins. Will he cave and take the politically correct route, or as MW put it, will he just lie? Isn’t that what poitically correct really means? Not my question. MW said it but I agree.

I sure hope he doesn’t cave.

Mr. Obama seems to have a lot of soul and that’s not a reference to his skin colour. Why should that matter? I always wanted to take a trip from Toronto to Harlem in my youth and visit the great hall of music known as The Apollo Theater. But I always had this great fear of being perceived as a piece of white pocket lint amongst a sea of black-eyed peas. Shows you how smart I was back then. Not very.

But it was never a problem for me in Toronto. One of my best friends in my little hall of music, The Gogue Inn, was Bobby A. who had a skin tone similar to Mr. Obama’s. We didn’t care. Bobby used to borrow a copy of a fairly rare recording (at the time) by James Brown (Out Of Sight) so he could play it on his floor. His buddies liked to slide like James did it. Colin, the Irish guy, was pretty good at it.

The Gogue Inn had 3 levels and Bobby and I played records on our individual floors. When you left your floor and did your stint on guard duty on the back door, Bobby had the record stuffed down his pants like a second cup for a goaltender (maybe that’s where Dave Dryden got the idea for that one when I worked at Cooper). He was afraid that he might have to come to me and apologize for one of his friends getting a little selfish. The joy he always had was something I will find very to hard to forget.

And it was a special day when I ran into Bobby and his Dad on Yonge Street in Toronto and Bobby introduced me to his Dad as my friend John and the warmth would have lit up the department store where I was working at that time.

So maybe the American public will make new friends and introduce them to their dads and that Obama guy might have a lot to do with.

MW and I both agreed. We hope he is allowed to…

There’s no better way to get me to stop writing than iTunes, other than maybe a trip to The Favourite Reading Room. Music is such a great escape. I prefer it to the television even though I like to watch sports shows.

And I started thinking about all those favourite lists that everybody comes up with. How can you have just one? There’s just so many good options in the world of music.

I’m always up for a challenge so I thought I’d try it and maybe come at it a little differently, in keeping with the philosophy of Stuff123.

“America the Beautiful” was playing by Ray Charles with Leon Russell on the piano and I have to believe that was Billy Preston on the Hammond B3. At least , someone who was influenced by his style. So the list might start with this one.

Most Inspiring Song Written
America the Beautiful Performed by Ray Charles

Most Goosebumps Given in a Live Performance
Gladys Knight at The O’Keefe Centre circa 3 or 4 years after Moses’ university graduation

Best Drum Solo Performance
Skip Prokop at the CNE Bandshell during the fireworks display. The rest of the band stopped playing (Lighthouse, a significant Canadian band in the 70’s). It went on for maybe 15-20 minutes. It was truly amazing. (Woh. iTunes is on shuffle. What plays at the end of the last sentence? Lighthouse. Some stuff you just don’t make up.)

Singer Most Capable of Singing in an NHL Hockey Arena Without a Microphone
Patti Labelle (Patti Labelle & the Bluebelles then) performing Over the Rainbow. They were an introductory act for The Rolling Stones. I would have been happy if Patti just did the rest of the show. Ticket was something like 8 bucks. Of course, you only made $1.25/hour at the grocery store then. They’re up to like 4 bucks now, arent’t they? Walmart’s only paying $3.75? That’s OK. I don’t shop there for that reason.

Singer Most Capable of Generating Enough Power to Light Cuba
Tina Turner especially in the early days as The Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Ike was just scary.

Best Story Teller
Harry Chapin, who will always be best known for popularizing the phrase “It Sucks”

Best “Evening With A Friend” Live Performance
Smokey Robinson in one of those big hotels in Las Vegas. Here’s a tip for the guys reading this. Go in with 7 women. Before they figure out you’re the 8th member of that party, you get to sit right up front. The story about him stealing his guitar player of 25+ years from Diana Ross’ band in her first audition with Motown (Hitsville of course then) was stuff you only told good friends. Natalie Cole was a good opening act, as well.

I thought I should write this just in case some of you didn’t get the idea behind Do They All Have Arthritis?  You know the type that says that it’s degrading to women, rude and irresponsible. Rest assured I am no Sean Avery.

I have the greatest respect for all good people. I could care less about all the categories that all the “accountants” place the human race in. (Is that a hanging participle? Never did get the hang of that). People are people. Period. . . .. …

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Sheryl Crow said it best in her song “All I Want To Do”.

One of my best bosses ever was a really bright, charming and attractive woman. Kitty had the good sense to “let me play” with PC’s when they were very new to the business world. How else would I learn to use these tools and teach the others in our department? The Internet wasn’t in widespread use then and computer courses were pretty much geared to teaching you how to turn on the power switch and type your name, address and your favourite recipe. Windows was only a twinkle in Microsoft’s eye. (1st laptop cost $10,000. You had to plug it in to use it. Weighed something like 17 lbs.)

So I have Kitty to blame for my ability to use the computer in a practical manner. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. How’s it hangin’, Kitty. Still in Slough? Or are you running some winery in the south of France. It would be so nice to talk to you again.

Kitty could have been in a lot of trouble if the “accountants” ever caught her using her unique management style on me.

…Kitty had this thing she liked to do on her way out of the building. I’d be leaning on some filing cabinet talking to someone about something, somewhere else in the building. Pretty much had a handle on everybody’s first name in the place.

…Kitty would give me that girlish liitle smile, toss her head back and say “good night, Johnnie” as she pinched my cheek and headed on out the door. Not that one. The one down there.

She never had any problem getting me to do anything she asked.

You don’t say no to an angel.

You don’t need to see this picture. There I am dancing in the kitchen to The Temptations in my Fat Pants . Think I’ll make a another cup of tea. This writing thing is pretty good stuff.