Not too long ago, artists who drank and drugged themselves to death were viewed romantically. I mean, there are at least two Janis Joplin films in production as I type. But now it’s a different story. It’s hard to be a figure of dark mystery when you’re on the front page of TMZ every day covered in your own vomit.
Such is the fate of Amy Winehouse, a supremely talented train wreck of a musician who appears hellbent on dying young but without any of the accompanying glamor.
When I hear the name Otis Redding I immediately think of ‘Sittin’ By the Dock of the Bay.’ And that’s a nice enough song, but nothing that rocks my world.
But the other day I got the latest issue of Rolling Stone and there’s a feature on the 100 best singers in rock-n-roll history. Redding came in somewhere in the top twenty, with a glowing write-up of his talents. The song they mention is ‘These Arms of Mine.’
Later the same week I was reading another article on the lead singer of Fall Out Boy (I’m not sure why) and he mentions Otis Redding and ‘These Arms of Mine’ as strong influences. So I figured the coincidence meant I had to track down the song pronto.
In praising M.I.A.’s album Kala earlier this year, I compared it to a sore tooth that you can’t help probing with your tongue. It’s loud, wild and unnerving but I find myself drawn to it again and again.
That’s not the sort of quote that ends up in a magazine ad, I know. But then, the sort of people who are into M.I.A. probably don’t care what a 35 year-old white guy has to say about the album anyway.
Her music is ‘world music’ in the truest sense… it is of and about people and cultures from all over the globe. M.I.A. (her real name is Mathangi Arulpragasam, so you can see why the moniker is necessary) split her childhood between London, Sri Lanka and India and that natural eclecticism shines through her every note.
From Beyoncé to Art Garfunkel… a logical step.
Poor Art. He’s the Peter Scolari of the music world. Or is that DJ Jazzy Jeff? I suppose Garfunkel had some semblance of a career apart from Paul Simon (including a few acting roles of note) but he’s mostly a second banana with a crazy white man’s afro.
I know next to nothing about Garfunkel’s solo music career, but I do like ‘A Heart in New York’ very much. I first heard it on the Concert in Central Park album, which reunited Simon & Garfunkel 12 years after their final studio album. In fact, that’s the only place I’d heard it until tracking down an album version on YouTube.
I don’t listen to much of what makes it on the Top 40 these days. Those Now That’s What I Call Music! CDs that are into their 78th volume by now… they’re generally all Greek to me.
I’m not necessarily proud of that fact. In a way, it makes me feel like the clichéd grumpy old man who doesn’t understand what the kids are listening to. But, true to the spirit of that grumpy old man, I really do find it hard to believe people actually like some of those songs.
But occasionally a song breaks through, and I get what they hype is about. Which brings me to Beyoncé, and today’s Song of the Day, ‘Crazy in Love.’
