Bruno Mars

Bruno Mars is one of those artists who - like Katy Perry or Pink (who I'll discuss one day soon) - are on the charts today that you wouldn't normally think I'd like. But I do.

I especially like his latest single Locked Out of Heaven:




It reminds me a lot of early Police songs, around their Outlandos d'Amour and to a lesser extent Reggatta de Blanc phase. As I did with the song Strawberry Letter 23, before I worked up a whole compare and contrast post, I Googled to see if someone else had already done the work. Sure enough, someone had!

First,  here are the three Police songs that I think Bruno Mars took inspiration from.

#1 - Can't Stand Losing You (from Outlandos d'Amour):




#2 - Roxanne (from Outlandos d'Amour):




#3 - Message in a Bottle - especially the chorus (from Reggatta de Blanc):




Here is the mash up of Bruno Mars's Locked Out of Heaven with The Police's Can't Stand Losing You - Can't Stand Locked Out of Heaven:




Here's an article entitled "Does Bruno Mars Think 'Heaven' Sounds Like A Police Song? 'Hell Yeah!''

Full article here.


Finally, here is the cast of Glee performing the song on their January 24, 2013 episode:

Top 10 List: AC/DC Songs

AC/DC is one of those bands that if you like one song by them, you'll probably like all songs by them. From their first album High Voltage (1975) to their latest one, Black Ice (2008), when an AC/DC song comes on, you can tell it's them.

Carlos and I have been trying to keep up with the summer movie releases. Two of the movies we've seen have featured AC/DC songs:

The Avengers - Iron Man's "theme song" is Shoot To Thrill

Battleship - Thunderstruck

Since I love making lists, I thought I'd tackle my Top Ten Favorite AC/DC Songs of All Time. Unlike my entry on Badfinger, however, I'm not going to chart this band's history as I count down.

I will give you a bit of my history with the band.

My first memory of AC/DC is seeing their concert film Let There Be Rock around September 1980 at Lakeside I in Metairie (Louisiana) with my friend Lloyd. We were both 13 so we had my mom drop us off and pick us up. I remember that I was nervous because we were meeting Lloyd's older cousin and her friend. They must have been 14 or 15. I tried to act cool the whole time.

 I have seen AC/DC live once: in the mid 1990's - though I'd love to see them live again. Their encore of For Those About To Rock (We SaluteYou) with the fireworks is incredible.

 AC/DC has never been one of my All-Time favorite bands, but their best songs definitely endure in my mind.

Now the list. Top Ten Favorite AC/DC Songs of All Time

#10 -

Highway to Hell (title track - 1979)

#9 -

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (title track - 1976)

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#8 -

Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution (from Back in Black - 1980)

#7 - 

Have a Drink on Me (from Back in Black - 1980)

#6 -

Heatseeker (from Blow Up Your Video - 1988)

#5 - 

Shoot to Thrill (from Back in Black - 1980)

#4 - 

Let's Get It Up (from For Those About to Rock [We Salute You] - 1981)

#3 -

That's The Way I Wanna Rock N Roll (from Blow Up Your Video - 1988)

#2 - 

Thunderstruck (from The Razors Edge - 1990)

 #1 - 

C.O.D. (from For Those About to Rock [We Salute You] - 1981)

Lagniappe:

TNT (from High Voltage - 1975)

This one is right outside of my Top Ten. Dedicated to the late Bon Scott. Bits of the song can be now frequently be heard on the cable network Turner Network Television, better known as TNT.

Shuggie Otis

A few months ago, I was listening to WTUL and heard Shuggie Otis's song Strawberry Letter 23 for the first time in 30 years.

I heard the song again today and was planning on researching all the songs that sampled it.

Then I came across this video, which did all the work for me...




If you want to see for yourself, here is The Brothers Johnson cover version of the song...




Outkast's Ms. Jackson that samples the song...




And Beyonce's Be With You that samples the song and lyrics...

Song History: More Than A Feeling (Revisited)

Update

Song History: More Than A Feeling (follow up)

I did not address in my original entry about the song More Than A Feeling that Nirvana had been badgered that their song Smells Like Teen Spirit derived from the former because I did not believe it.

I thought I'd bring it up now because I came across this video today...


I still don't believe it.

Song History: More Than A Feeling

Original post January 25, 2010
Updates and re-post June 15, 2011

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My ongoing Song History Project entails that I pick a song that I love that has been covered many times and research its history.

My goal: Find every version ever recorded – plus any song, according to the original artist, that had influenced the song’s composing.

First up is More Than A Feeling by Boston.







According to rollingstone.com, the song was “released as the lead single from their eponymous debut album on Epic Records in September 1976, with ‘Smokin’ on the flipside. The single peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. The track...is ranked as #500 on the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and in 2009 it was named the 39th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.”

From Dave Marsh's The Book of Rock Lists: “The chorus riff may itself be a subtle homage to the Kingsmen's classic, ‘Louie Louie’. The descending verse riff is also similar to the hook from ‘Badge’ by Cream. The song's instrumental guitar bridge is heavily inspired by the instrumental hooks of the Tornados' 1962 instrumental hit ‘Telstar.’"

Tom Scholz, who composed the song, credits "Walk Away Renee" by The Left Banke as the main inspiration for the song.

Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke...




Here is a list of cover versions I have found.
(If you know of any other ones, let me know!)

South African Thrash Metal band Agro: 2004 CD Gouda Than Hell
Info Link

Swedish Hair Metal band Bad Habit: 1989 CD From After Hours (and on their greatest hits CD 13 Years of Bad Habits)




Ingram Hill: 2005 Herbie Fully Loaded soundtrack



This version is closest to the original. That is not necessarily a good thing. Ingram Hill also did a cover version of Queen's song '39. I don't see a video for Ingram Hill's version, but here is Queen's original version, probably one of my Top Ten Favorite Queen Songs.




Japanese female pop singers Nav Katze: 1994 album Uwa No Sora

Info Link
The band seems to cover other classic rock songs (like Wild Horses) so I was hoping they would sound like Shonen Knife covering Top of the World. Instead they sound like electronic noise.


NSYNC: 1998 debut CD




Sleater-Kinney: 1996 CD Move into the Villa Villakula and The Virgin Suicides soundtrack




UK Soft Rock Artist Sylvain Cossette: 2008 CD 70’s





The Big Mess Orchestra
Web Site


The Stafford Brothers - A couple of DJ’s remixing the song




University of North Carolina Chapel Hill acappella group Achordants – 2007 CD High-Stakes Old Maid
Info Link

There is no video of their version of the song, though their web site has videos of them covering Carry On Wayward Son (Kansas), September (Earth, Wind and Fire), Long Train Running (The Doobie Brothers) and other songs.



Here is a list of songs that sample “More Than A Feeling”.

- DJ Peter Presta: "Totally Hooked" (See this blog entry to hear the song.)

- Hunters & Collectors



While not an actual cover, the main riff for the song is the same as More than a Feeling's chorus riff, except in a different key.


Songs That Inspired “More Than A Feeling”

The Kingsmen's Louie Louie



Cream's Badge



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Of all the songs listed, I have a copy of ALL of them except for Agro, Nav Katze, The Big Mess Orchestra, and Achordants.

I posted about Brad Delp’s death here.

Final Thought:


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Another time: A song originally recorded in 1933 and covered by artists such as Shocking Blue, John Mellencamp, Led Zeppelin and Bob Dylan...