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Song of the Day #744: ‘My First Kiss’ – 3OH!3 featuring Ke$ha

This summer single experiment has been interesting and illuminating. I really like the experience of hearing a song for the first time when I’m about to write it up. It’s the polar opposite of what I usually do on this blog, posting songs I know by heart. I think I’ll continue to do this from time to time so I can keep tabs on what the kids are listening to.

Apart from a brief mention of 3OH!3 by my sister a few weeks ago, I have absolutely no idea who or what they are. Based on the image I found to accompany this blog entry, I’d guess they are cousins to MGMT. Of course I’m not all that familiar with MGMT’s music either, so that doesn’t do me much good. Now, off to hear their big summer single, which features accompaniment (of course) by Ke$ha.

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Song of the Day #743: ‘Billionaire’ – Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars

Moving into another week of summer singles, I find myself wondering why almost all of these songs “feature” somebody other than the lead artist. I suppose that’s standard procedure in hip-hop, the equivalent of a special guest star on a TV show during sweeps week. At times the collaborations are compelling (see Rihanna and Lil Wayne’s contributions to Eminem’s Recovery) but I usually find it gimmicky.

Bruno Mars shows up as a guest singer on a few of the tracks I came across when picking songs for the blog. I don’t know if he’s released any albums on his own of if he’s professional accompaniment. Something about the guy makes me want to smack him but he has a nice voice.

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The A-Team

When I first saw the trailer for The A-Team, a man behind me in the audience said to his companion “This is Charlie’s Angels for guys.” And he hit the nail right on the head.

Like the first Charlie’s Angels film, The A-Team turns a campy, beloved TV series into a big-screen summer popcorn extravaganza full of cartoonish action, complete with equal helpings of laughs and thrills.

And just as Charlie’s Angels offered men in the audience the mesmerizing sight of Cameron Diaz’s swinging panty-clad rear end, The A-Team saved money in the costume budget by having Bradley Cooper go shirtless 75% of the time. Based on my wife’s reaction, this decision is popular with the ladies.

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Song of the Day #742: ‘Not Dark Yet’ – Bob Dylan

I’ve always been intrigued by the sequencing of Time Out of Mind. The “money” tracks alternate with the more standard blues fare right down the line.

You start out with ‘Love Sick,’ a slow burner that eases you into the album and invites you to tour the soundscape Dylan and Lanois have served up. Next up is ‘Dirt Road Blues,’ a basic blues track that could have fit on any number of Dylan albums (though the lyrics speak to this record’s themes of loneliness and loss: “I’m gonna have to put up a barrier to keep myself away from everyone.”)

‘Standing in the Doorway’ is a yearning epic and one of the best songs on the album. Check out these opening lines:

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Song of the Day #741: ‘Trying to Get to Heaven’ – Bob Dylan

In 1997, Bob Dylan released his first album of original material since 1990’s Under the Red Sky. That album was a critical disappointment and the two albums of folk covers that followed it did little to change the fact that Dylan hadn’t really lit the world on fire in more than 20 years.

Enter Time Out Of Mind, which kind of did just that.

Yet another “comeback” album for Dylan, the Daniel Lanois-produced Time Out Of Mind earned him his best reviews in decades, went platinum and won the Album of the Year Grammy. At 56, Dylan was suddenly once again at the top of his game.

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