Monthly Archives: August 2009

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District 9

district9District 9 is full of contradictions.

It’s an often horrific science fiction film with uncomfortably funny scenes that would feel right at place in The Office. It’s an allegory about ethnic strife and prejudice that contains some borderline offensive racial stereotypes. It’s a B movie on a shoestring budget (by Hollywood standards) boasting special effects that rival those in films costing 10 times as much.

But the central contradiction is that a film made up of the parts of so many other movies winds up such a surprisingly original achievement.

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Song of the Day #390: ‘Time After Time’ – Cyndi Lauper

lauper20 Best Songs of the 80s – #14

Cyndi Lauper is one of the few artists on this list who went on to do great things after the 80s — at least creatively. Unfortunately she never again achieved commercial success anywhere close to her peak in that decade.

But in the 80s, she was the bomb. ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun,’ ‘She Bop,’ ‘All Through the Night,’ ‘True Colors’ and today’s song were ubiquitous and her quirky fashion sense and cutesy demeanor made her an MTV favorite.

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Song of the Day #389: ‘These Dreams’ – Heart

album-heart20 Best Songs of the 80s – #15

Of all the songs on this countdown, this is the one that seems the most ridiculous today in contrast to how cool and interesting I found it back in the day. I remember finding Nancy Wilson very attractive and getting that whole close-your-eyes-and-sway thing going on while contemplating the deep meaning of the music and lyrics.

Man, I was a tool.

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Song of the Day #388: ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’ – The Supremes

supremessetI’ve been pulling these Motown Weekend titles from a Web site listing the ‘100 Greatest Motown Songs.’ I don’t necessarily agree with their order but the top 25 has provided me fodder for nearly 3 months worth of fabulous hit songs from the golden era.

I’m less excited, though, by the songs lower on the list. So rather than highlighting those lesser efforts, I’m going to finish out the Motown series by focusing on the #1 singles of The Supremes. I’ve already featured ‘Where Did Our Love Go‘ and ‘Baby Love‘ but they had… wait for it… TEN more #1 singles in their career.

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Song of the Day #387: ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ – Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

marvtamA little background, courtesy of Wikipedia:

The original 1967 version of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” was a top twenty hit. According to record producers, Terrell was a little nervous and intimidated during recording because she hadn’t rehearsed the lyrics. Terrell recorded her vocals alone with producers Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol, who added Gaye’s vocal at a later date.[1] “Ain’t No Mountain” peaked at number nineteen on the Billboard pop charts, and went to number three on the R&B charts.

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