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Music 🎵 Today's Music Break thread

Recently purchased this Blues Traveler album and their 1994 album four at a local resale shop for $1 each.

The album this song is on was issued in 1990. They were surely a total pop rock musical anomaly in 1990.

 
Doohickie said:
Wow, that's pretty good.

I'm not sure I'd call them a musical anomaly for that in 1990; it's very much in the same vein as Saint Stevie Ray Vaughn, RIP.
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Good point. Though blues rock was surely not topping the charts in 1990 I bet.

Also see Lenny Kravitz.

Additionally, reminds me of this 1983 hybrid anomaly:

 
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proof that anyone could get a record deal in the 90's (I heard this once on Sirius satellite radio...and was struck by how bizarre it was. A friend called it a hybrid of Bjork and Beastie Boys)

 
NHPlanner said:
proof that anyone could get a record deal in the 90's (I heard this once on Sirius satellite radio...and was struck by how bizarre it was. A friend called it a hybrid of Bjork and Beastie Boys)

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Maybe...alternatively Bjork and Beastie Boys and RHCP.
 
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The Pachelbel chord progression reminded me of something similar Axis of Awesome did years ago. You may have seen it before, but it's still entertaining as hell (and educational). If you haven't seen this video before you really want to watch it all. There are a shocking number of songs that have used the same chord structure. This is only ONE such chord progression. There are many others.

 
Speaking of Blues Traveler...

It wasn't until earlier this year that I was reading something and learned that John Popper was high school friends and in a band in college with Chris Barron called Trucking Company. After Popper left, the band became The Spin Doctors.



And back to Blue's Traveler...

Four was a great album but I really liked their follow up Straight on Until Morning - it was also the last CD I bought before I left for boot camp in July '97. This is another one of those albums I still fire up from time to time and listen to all the way through.


Also, this:
 
On one of the late night shows recently, Blues Traveler and Gin Blossoms did a mash up of Hey Jealousy and Run Around. It was like a peanut butter cup, both great songs but together, better!

Found it
 
WSU MUP Student said:
And back to Blue's Traveler...

Four was a great album but I really liked their follow up Straight on Until Morning - it was also the last CD I bought before I left for boot camp in July '97. This is another one of those albums I still fire up from time to time and listen to all the way through.

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In the spirit of Meat Loaf he should have adopted the stage name Pulled Pork.
 
Some Jack White brilliance here: Doing a cover of the Ranconteurs' song Old Enough with Rickey Skaggs and Ashley Monroe joining the band. A great rendition of a good song.

 
I know Mariah Carey is kind of a societal meme, especially at Christmastime, but she has some songs that I think are simply some of the best singing I've ever heard.


I mean, I get goosebumps listening to that song. It's that good, at least to me.
 
Doohickie said:
I know Mariah Carey is kind of a societal meme, especially at Christmastime, but she has some songs that I think are simply some of the best singing I've ever heard.


I mean, I get goosebumps listening to that song. It's that good, at least to me.
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I don't think it's a hot take to say Mariah might be the GOAT in terms of pop vocal abilities. I think I recall reading somewhere a while back that her and Axl Rose were the two singers in that era that had the largest vocal ranges and whoever number 3 was, it wasn't even close.

People in the teens and 20s know Mariah Carey as the harbinger of the Christmas season but she had an insane run of hits in the '90s and '00s and even into the '10s. She's got 19 Billboard #1 hits, an armful of Grammys and AMAs, she's the second highest selling female artist behind Rihanna (who has sold a crazy 400some million records since just 2005 compared to like 230 million for Mariah since 1990... Rihanna benefits from having made her name during the streaming era but she also hasn't put anything out in like a decade so it's not unfathomable that Mariah could still pass her up) and like 5th or 6th among all artists for total certified sales. She's spent a combined ~100 weeks atop the Billboard charts (more than anybody else) and has hit #1 in 20 separate years (I think that's also another record).

She's so much more than "All I Want for Christmas is You" but I like that song too. I've got it saved in my favorites on the radio in my Jeep so I'll know when some SiriusXM channel starts playing it this holiday season (maybe it already has been played? I don't know... I'm not in my Jeep much lately). She's definitely leaned into the Christmas song though so good for her.
 
More Str8 Boomer Jams!!



Stand Up is my favorite Tull album. Thick as a Brick, Benefit, Aqualung, Passion Play, Under Wraps & Stormwatch are also contenders.

Ian Anderson as a person, and a flautist, is BEYOND OBSCURE.
 
Doohickie said:
I know Mariah Carey is kind of a societal meme, especially at Christmastime, but she has some songs that I think are simply some of the best singing I've ever heard.


I mean, I get goosebumps listening to that song. It's that good, at least to me.
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WSU MUP Student said:
I don't think it's a hot take to say Mariah might be the GOAT in terms of pop vocal abilities. I think I recall reading somewhere a while back that her and Axl Rose were the two singers in that era that had the largest vocal ranges and whoever number 3 was, it wasn't even close.

People in the teens and 20s know Mariah Carey as the harbinger of the Christmas season but she had an insane run of hits in the '90s and '00s and even into the '10s. She's got 19 Billboard #1 hits, an armful of Grammys and AMAs, she's the second highest selling female artist behind Rihanna (who has sold a crazy 400some million records since just 2005 compared to like 230 million for Mariah since 1990... Rihanna benefits from having made her name during the streaming era but she also hasn't put anything out in like a decade so it's not unfathomable that Mariah could still pass her up) and like 5th or 6th among all artists for total certified sales. She's spent a combined ~100 weeks atop the Billboard charts (more than anybody else) and has hit #1 in 20 separate years (I think that's also another record).

She's so much more than "All I Want for Christmas is You" but I like that song too. I've got it saved in my favorites on the radio in my Jeep so I'll know when some SiriusXM channel starts playing it this holiday season (maybe it already has been played? I don't know... I'm not in my Jeep much lately). She's definitely leaned into the Christmas song though so good for her.
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Speaking of Mariah...

I was out on a walk yesterday morning and turned on the most recent Hit Parade podcast from Slate and the topic was songs that debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the first 10 minutes or so was all about Mariah and "Fantasy".

And here's the "Fantasy" remix with O.D.B. because this is objectively the superior version!

 
A lot of the time, when I go out for a run I like to pick a song that's been on my mind and let Spotify build me a playlist to run to. This morning I used Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain" and one of the songs in the playlist was "Pretty Little Ditty" from RHCP. I probably hadn't listened the entire Mother's Milk album in at least 30 years so I hadn't heard this instrumental in a very long time.




About a 50 seconds in it hit a very familiar riff:

 
For lp
released today back in 1977.
Where were you then ? - I was a sophomore in college

1758643716103.png
 
^I'm not LP but I'll chime in... I wasn't yet born when that album came out but I still love it!

I even have these shorts:
1758647857040.png


I like to wear them with my Bernard Purdie shirt!
 
Devo was one of the greatest bands of all time. Not only were they subversive as hell, but were also very influential on other bands to follow.

 
Heart on the Bad Animals tour was my first concert in 1987 at age 16. All I can say is damn...Nancy...throw Terri Nunn of Berlin in the mix, too. Ann, with the best voice in the biz.


 
mendelman said:
Have you seen this doc about DEVO yet? It's on netflix and really good.



See also:
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I watched that a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. No real revelations or controversies but, other than being weird, I never thought of Devo as a particularly weird band.

I will say that I never knew they were so focused on the visual aspect of their music, especially early in their careers, and that they sort of got their big break by scoring some bizarre abstract art films or putting out their own long-form videos, but I guess that all makes sense.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I watched that a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. No real revelations or controversies but, other than being weird, I never thought of Devo as a particularly weird band.

I will say that I never knew they were so focused on the visual aspect of their music, especially early in their careers, and that they sort of got their big break by scoring some bizarre abstract art films or putting out their own long-form videos, but I guess that all makes sense.
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I liked that they never 'compromised' their sound and ethos for the machine and then just quit when it had run its course for the members.

Mark Mothersbaugh is/was clearly a genius designed specifically for that discreet period of US social/cultural/arts history.
 
mendelman said:
I liked that they never 'compromised' their sound and ethos for the machine and then just quit when it had run its course for the members.

Mark Mothersbaugh is/was clearly a genius designed specifically for that discreet period of US social/cultural/arts history.
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My kids have gotten used to me watching stuff with them and pointing out that the music was from Mark Mothersbaugh. It didn't matter if it was some sort of movie or a children's TV show or cartoon... he pops up doing the music for so much stuff over the past couple decades. Now they can watch a show and here the music and be like, "I bet this is that guy from Devo that dad's always talking about :eyeroll:" and they're usually correct but when I play an actual Devo song or album they're like, "What is this stuff? Dad, this is weird!"

...And they're still usually correct! :rofl:
 
mendelman said:
I liked that they never 'compromised' their sound and ethos for the machine and then just quit when it had run its course for the members.

Mark Mothersbaugh is/was clearly a genius designed specifically for that discreet period of US social/cultural/arts history.
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When our kids were younger (now 23, 22, and 18) there was kids show that Mark would be part of and he would use a whiteboard or similar to draw something or show a picture...memory is vague but it was Mark.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
other than being weird, I never thought of Devo as a particularly weird band.
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Can you more fully explain this sentence?
Because I have to tell you nobody sounded anything remotely like DEVO when they first hit the scene. Perhaps it sounds 'not weird' nowadays (or even dare I say passe), but I assure you, it was pioneering at the time.
 
SlaveToTheGrind said:
When our kids were younger (now 23, 22, and 18) there was kids show that Mark would be part of and he would use a whiteboard or similar to draw something or show a picture...memory is vague but it was Mark.
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I think that was Yo Gabba Gabba. They also had Biz Markie (RIP) on there a lot.

Maister said:
Can you more fully explain this sentence?
Because I have to tell you nobody sounded anything remotely like DEVO when they first hit the scene. Perhaps it sounds 'not weird' nowadays (or even dare I say passe), but I assure you, it was pioneering at the time.
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I made a typo in there. I meant that other than being weird, I never thought of Devo as a particularly controversial band. But yes, even though Devo's prime was a bit before my cultural consciousness I always gathered that they sounded quite unique for their time... and into my time as well.
 
I'll post the audio only version of this new release...the video version is a little over the top.

1st single of the last album (to be released in January) of the band that started me down the rabbit hole of heavier music in the early 1990's.

 
Anybody else excited for the announcement of a Rush tour in 2026?

No Detroit dates so now I need to decide whether I want to go to Chicago, Toronto, or Cleveland. I've got a buddy from the Cleveland area who looks a lot like Geddy Lee so maybe I can convince him to come to that show...

 
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