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Tag: Randy Newman

  • Guilty pleasures part 2… The 70s and 80s edition

    Guilty pleasures part 2… The 70s and 80s edition

    Sometimes you just have to write about guilty pleasures…

    Back in June of 2013, I wrote a blog post here on Pop Rock Nation about songs that are guilty pleasures. As I sit here on this April day, contemplating the week and the fact that here it is April again and people are going batshit crazy, I decided I needed to post something lighthearted. And so I’ve decided that today’s post will be about guilty pleasures and the artists who create them. And hell, you can’t get any more lighthearted than Air Supply…


    Okay, so many this isn’t a lighthearted song… It is, though, kind of a guilty pleasure for me.

    I was looking at SingSnap.com this morning for my daily dose of karaoke and “All Out Of Love” was one of the “featured” songs. I don’t like all of Air Supply’s music, but I will admit that a few of their songs were gems. I loved “Lost In Love” when it first came out. Of course, I was six or seven years old at the time… Anyway, having grown up in the 70s and 80s, I became well-versed in the magic of Air Supply. Some of their songs really were okay… sort of. They definitely count as “guilty pleasure” songs for me, though. I think it’s funny that Air Supply songs are featured on SingSnap, since they are basically male duets. I imagine most men worth their salt wouldn’t want to sing these “sensitive” numbers from the 80s!


    I have to admit it… I do enjoy a lot of Barry Manilow’s music. Here’s a nice medley.

    I was reminded of Barry Manilow last week as I was exploring Styx and Tommy Shaw made a comment about how he didn’t want Styx to start sounding like Barry Manilow. Granted, too much of his music may soon traipse into super annoying territory, but there’s a reason why the man was so popular in the 70s and 80s. He can sing and play piano and writes his own songs… though curiously enough, he didn’t write “I Write The Songs”. That song was written by Bruce Johnston in 1975, but Barry made it very popular indeed. Listening to the medley I posted here, I can’t help but notice that Barry has a flair for the melodramatic.


    Randy Newman is a definitely guilty pleasure…

    Randy Newman is not the greatest singer in the world and a lot of his songs have a very recognizable sound that immediately scream early 80s commercial to me. I like him, though, because he’s very witty and I get a kick out of his voice. He makes me laugh. Randy’s song “Short People” was such a hit that the Harlem Globetrotters sang it with Goldie Hawn. Talk about a guilty pleasure!


    Snicker… if this isn’t a guilty pleasure, I don’t know what is…


    Just about everything by Culture Club qualifies as a guilty pleasure as far as I’m concerned.

    I remember how much this song used to irritate me when it was popular. Boy George is a very talented singer, but in the 80s Culture Club’s music was so ridiculously catchy that it would get stuck in my head and torment me for hours. I haven’t heard “Karma Chameleon” in years, though, so I figure it’s safe to include it in this post about guilty pleasures. It’s nice and peppy anyway, right?


    Not really a hit, but definitely a guilty pleasure…

    Jermaine Jackson had a couple of hits in the 80s and for some inexplicable reason, he recorded a ridiculous song called “Escape From The Planet of the Ant Men”. I kind of wonder if he was trying to emulate his brother Michael’s song, “Thriller”. It fails, but in a delightfully guilty pleasure way. I have to admit that when I’m in a certain mood, I really enjoy this song.


    Oh my God…

    Wham! was another one of those bands long on talent and guilty pleasure chops. This song is so 1984 it’s not even funny. I remember how the video spawned the fad that had everyone wearing painter’s caps and t-shirts with big letters on them. Or was that Frankie Goes To Hollywood that did that? Don’t know… but this song is so infectious I need an antibiotic and a painkiller… preferably in the form of an alcoholic beverage. “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go…” That’s a hell of a title for a guilty pleasure song.


    Anything involving Menudo qualifies as guilty pleasure territory…

    Here’s a classic clip from the 80s era sitcom Silver Spoons. Although this episode was about Menudo, everyone my age had the hots for Ricky Schroeder. I know he goes by Rick now, but he’ll always be “The Ricker” to me. Is it me, or are these guys way off key? Egad!


    And finally, there’s “We Are The World” by USA for Africa

    This song is pure melodrama, but I can’t help but love it for the video alone. Look at all those celebrities! LaToya Jackson is in the choir, for Chrissakes! Yes, I loved it in 1985 and I love it now. It is a guilty pleasure, though. I get a huge kick out of Stevie Wonder’s jaunty solo interspersed with Bruce Springsteen’s constipated screaming at the end. It’s pure 80s magic! And sorry, the remake just doesn’t cut it.


    Justin Bieber is no Lionel Richie.

    This version sounds suspiciously auto-tuned. Okay, I admit it… it’s making me verklempt. I still like the original better, though.

    Have a great weekend everyone!

  • Cheery songs…

    Cheery songs…

    Last week, I had the blues. This week, I’m focusing on cheery songs…

    Last week was not so good for me. A bunch of stuff piled up, causing me to go into minor crisis mode. I found myself listening to the blues a bit, because sometimes a little musical empathy is good for the soul. As the week wore on, I decided to think about more positive things. I realized that cheery songs are better than the blues when it’s time to get over it and move on. So that’s what today’s post is about, cheery songs. And there are a lot of ’em!


    Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy” is an obvious entry…

    “Don’t Worry Be Happy” is kind of the anthem for getting over yourself. This song was popular when I was a high school sophomore. It was a huge hit and Bobby McFerrin enjoyed some sudden fame as he was tapped to record the theme song for The Cosby Show during its fourth season on the air. In 1988, George H.W. Bush used the song in his run for president. Bobby McFerrin was notably upset since he neither gave permission for Bush to use “Don’t Worry Be Happy”, nor did he even plan to vote for Bush. But twenty-six years later, it’s still one of my go-to cheery songs.


    A live video of Dr. John singing “Accentuate the Positive”.

    “Accentuate The Positive” is another great song for chasing away the blues. This song is a classic, having been penned by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. It’s been covered by a whole lot of people, from Aretha Franklin to Bette Midler. I’m partial to Dr. John’s version, which has sort of a sassy New Orleans flair. I liked it even before New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, but having seen that city bounce back in the years since that huge storm, I appreciate it even more.


    Randy Newman’s “Happy Ending” from his musical, Faust, is another entry in my list of good cheery songs.

    This song is included on the Faust’s 1995 soundtrack for his musical, Faust. On that album, he plays Faust, and at the very end of the album, he sings a song called “Happy Ending”. It’s about moving to Las Vegas, where they’ve got everything! It’s hard not to tap your toes to the jaunty rhythm and the lyrics are pretty funny, too. Randy Newman in general cracks me up, so a lot of his songs are a good bet for snapping me out of a mood. On the other hand, he’s done some bluesy songs, too.


    “Let It Go” from Walt Disney’s Frozen is another song that begs listeners to cheer up.

    I don’t generally get into Disney songs that much, since I don’t have kids and my days of watching Disney movies are long over. However, I can’t overlook “Let It Go”, an anthem from the movie Frozen. This is a song that will resonate with a lot of people who need to snap out of it.


    Billy Joel’s “You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” is an anti-suicide song with a jaunty beat that begs listeners not to forget their “second wind”…

    The melody is very spunky and the video is a bit silly, but the words are surprisingly moving. In fact, even as I smile at the video, I feel tears welling up in my eyes. Maybe it’s not one of the best cheery songs for me, but the message is definitely a consolation for many people.


    “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life”… Yes, Monty Python is probably a better choice for me.

    British humor always makes me giggle, so it’s probably best if I stick with silly songs by Monty Python when I need a mood booster. I love absurd humor, so as I recover from “Second Wind”, I can laugh at the guys in Monty Python as they hang around on their crosses. Blasphemous? Maybe it is… but it made me smile. As a matter of fact, listening to Monty Python Sings never fails to cheer me up.

    Anyway, I’m hoping this week will be somewhat better for you and me. Cheers!

  • Thinking of Tom Lehrer…

    I’m thinking of Tom Lehrer today for the strangest of reasons…

    This morning, the plumber came to my new home to fix the sink. For some reason, his visit made me think of the following clip from the PBS classic kids’ show, The Electric Company…

    As a kid, I spent many hours watching The Electric Company. I’ve always been a reader and I love music, so that show was always very appealing to me. It turns out that Tom Lehrer, singer-songwriter, mathematician, pianist, and satirist extraordinaire, composed several songs for the old educational show that taught so many of my generation how to read. But besides teaching kids reading, Lehrer’s songs also taught math. He used music a lot to get his point across. Most of the time, his melodies were original compositions, though he did write a song called “The Elements” which used the melody for the “Major-General’s Song” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance.


    “The Elements” by Tom Lehrer. I could have used this song when I was studying and barely passing chemistry in the 11th grade.

    Of course, the songs Tom Lehrer wrote that affected me most were songs like “Silent E”…

    and “LY”…

    Even thirty-five years after I first heard these songs, they stick in my mind like highly tenacious earworms. I still enjoy them immensely, too. I’m sitting here smiling as I listen to Tom Lehrer singing so expressively. What a gift he has for teaching. My mind boggles when I think of how many people learned new things because of this man’s genius.

    Why, he even made up a clever song for math students… another subject where I could have used some serious help back in the day…


    I grew up in the era of “New Math”, but I don’t remember learning it. I have that in common with Cliff Huxtable, Bill Cosby’s famous dad character on The Cosby Show.

    And to think I started on this topic because the plumber came by to fix the sink. As it turns out, there was nothing wrong with the sink. I thought we got no hot water down there and so did the plumber, at first. But it turns out it just takes forever for hot water to reach the kitchen.

    Tom Lehrer is also known for black humor and wasn’t averse to tackling controversial subjects like religion.


    Here he is singing his song, “The Vatican Rag”.

    And he has always been a realist, coming up with some very clever lyrics for the aging. I can’t believe I’m now old enough to appreciate this song.


    “When You Are Old And Gray”

    I realize Tom Lehrer is not quite a current pop star, but I am certain that his music has influenced and inspired many current pop stars. Indeed, Randy Newman, “Weird Al” Yankovic, and Dr. Demento have all cited Lehrer as a guy who inspired them in their work. And heaven knows that all three of the aforementioned have done great things for pop music and comedy. Though as a child of the 70s and 80s, I was listening to quite a lot of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s music– how could I miss “Eat it” and “Like A Surgeon”?– as an adult, I have come to really appreciate Randy Newman’s genius. Newman’s music is custom made for commercials, but he also wrote a funny musical version of Faust as well as countless songs for soundtracks. His own songs are often poignant or witty and call on a tremendous gift for twisting words and meanings to say things you’d never expect. It’s pretty cool to think that Randy Newman was as inspired by Tom Lehrer as so many school kids learning how to read were when they watched The Electric Company back in the day.

    Tom Lehrer, so far as I know, is alive and kicking, though he hasn’t performed live in many years and has given up teaching. At age 85, I figure he’s earned a rest… Hope he’s not spending his time “Poisoning Pigeons In the Park”.

    Have a nice weekend everyone.