Penguin Music Blog

My Best Pal

2010-09-09T07:53:00.001-04:00

My Best Pal
Originally uploaded by aaross.

Barbara Mandrell and Country Disco - The Lost Genre

2008-02-25T21:42:00.006-05:00

Some say the end of the Disco era began when Rick Dees' novelty song "Disco Duck" hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1976. I actually think it was a few years later, when Walt Disney Productions answered that hit record in 1979 with Donald Duck singing "Macho Duck" on the Mikey Mouse Disco album. In the same year, a sub-genre of country music nearly developed. I call it "country disco." It was a sub-genre that not only drove another nail in the disco coffin, it also could have driven country music into a soul-sucking commercialism from which it would never recover. Well, actually that second part happened anyway, but that's another story.

My favorite example is a Barbara Mandrell's song from her 1979 LP "Just For The Record." On the cover, a 31 year old Barbara is sporting a sequined little dress that would have gotten her pass the velvet ropes at any Nashville discotheque. On the whole, the album is her blend of country with a little pop and soul (heavier on the pop than soul.) But a little song, Is It Love Yet, hidden on track 3 on side 2, is so catchy it could get stuck in one's head for close to 30 years and forever break the common wisdom that country music doesn't groove outside a line dance.

I put together this little video to illustrate. It starts off with a rhythmic lead in and then rides a slight but defined drum/dance beat and accented with backup singers throughout. In the video, I've noted the specific disco references at about 1:24 and around 2:20. To set the mood, the video includes a disco ball and go-go boys.

Babs was not the first artist to take this route, Dolly Parton had a fair amount of success with danceable country songs like Baby I'm Burnin' (#25 in 1978 on Hot 100 charts). Nor was Mandrell the last. In 1991, Tammy Wynette had a #11 hit with KLF doing Justified and Ancient. And today, all Leann Rimes songs are better after they've been reworked and remixed.

Barbara went on to win two Grammy's, have a top 10 TV Show, six #1 country singles, and perhaps the only person to appear on both Hee Haw and Baywatch.

As far as I know, "Just For The Record" was never released on CD and certainly not available digitally. LPs and 8-tracks can be found on the ebay.

Download the MP3 here: Is It Love Yet?

Barbara Mandrell Discography

2 Cool Covers

2008-02-19T18:30:00.002-05:00

"tears dry on their own" - Amy Winehouse cover (I can actually understand the words now)
"everything" - Michael Buble cover

Anne Murray

2008-02-13T11:02:00.015-05:00

Like a lot of successful artists do later in their careers, Anne Murray released a duets CD, Friends and Legends. The duets are Anne's songs over her 40 year career with artists like the Indigo Girls, Nelly Furtado, Olivia Newton-John, and k.d. lang. It's been fun hearing the songs with a duet partner and reworked a little bit. Anne is the kind of singer that is never too showy. She sings her songs as they are meant to be. Technically perfect each time and minus any unneeded frills. The best description of her singing style I've ever read was from that premiere source for music reviews...the YouTube comment section:

Says user tyoonz: "Anne has always had such an exquisitely clear, clean voice. She doesn't need to embellish her tunes with all the flamboyant flourishes that so many of today's younger singers regard as de rigeur. She lets the song speak for itself by presenting it with understated eloquence and quiet elegance." Or as zingerz24 less eloquently states, "Anne was Hott in her day..Wonderful Voice Also."

In 1981, the New York Times wrote, "Miss Murray's calm blandness of personality has a way of anchoring what might otherwise seem impossibly frothy - as in the case of Olivia Newton-John -with an affecting emotional weight. And her voice, a consoling contralto, is always a pleasure."

She was most famous for ballads that hit the adult contemporary and country music charts in the late 70's and throughout the 80's. But bored with those ballads, Anne went through a period of doing some uptempo music. It was still the 80's - so uptempo meant some synth pop stylings worked into her albums. It resulted in some cools songs and a few really bad ones. None translated into hits for her. I'm no music marketing exec, but I would imagine it was difficult to find an audience among fans used to more sedate love songs. Plus she wasn't edgy enough for the at-the-time MTV crowd. The first cut off of her 1983 A Little Good News album (which won a Grammy for Country Female Performance) is the best example. The same year my cassette player had in heavy rotation songs like "Sex (Im a...)" from Berlin and "Hungry Like The Wolf" by Duran Duran, I was also listening to this 80's sound burning up the charts (Well, it peaked at #103 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #47 on the Country Charts):

That's Not The Way (It's S'possed To Be) Listen Here ~ Buy it on iTunes here

Another of Anne Murray's greatest aspects, she could rock the shoulder pads. She didn't get the notariety Joan Collins did for shoulder pad wear. That didn't stop her. Anne sported the look on many an album cover and Solid Gold appearance. Always looking femenine - yet never too far away from her time as a PE teacher in Nova Scotia.

Anne Murray Discography
Anne Murray Centre

Anne Murray and Dionne Warwick - "You Won't See Me"

2008-01-28T21:00:00.003-05:00

Under Contruction

2007-12-30T12:28:00.001-05:00

Testing... just testing

Penguin Music - ONJ Covers

2006-11-18T22:43:00.000-05:00

Penguin Music, BNL Covers

2006-11-14T18:00:00.000-05:00

Woman to Woman...

2006-10-19T06:51:00.000-04:00

Mike Alstott - Then and Now

2005-11-10T09:25:00.000-05:00

Mike Alstott Then (When the Tampa Bucs were Orange)

Mike Alstott Now - All grown up

Lisa Marie Live

2005-04-29T18:39:00.000-04:00

I thought I would share some thoughts on the Lisa Marie Presley concert last Wednesday. We haven't been to a concert in over a year, since seeing the Barenaked Ladies last March. That's really a shame, because I love live music.

Before you click away from this blog, wondering who would listen to Michael Jackson's ex-wife. I still can't erase the trauma from seeing them kiss on M-TV all those years ago. Blehh... But her music is actually really cool. Kind of like a Melissa Etheridge, Cher in the 60's sorta rockin' sound. Speaking of Melissa Etheridge, here's a question to my lesbian friends, why didn't you tell me LMP was a big lesbian draw? I had no idea; the crowd looked like they were there for an Indigo Girls show.

The House of Blues is the most awesome place to see a concert - especially when it's not sold out. You can really see the artist and if there are annoying people talking, you can just stand in another spot. But, the House of Blues in Orlando is on Walt Disney World property. Apparently, Mickey doesn't allow people to say "fuck" on his land. The opening act changed some lyrics from "fuck" to "friggin'". It's kind of like buying an edited CD at Wal-Mart. Lisa Marie got around this rule pretty smooth. In the song S.O.B., when it the line "just like to bite on my fucking fingers..." came, she sang up to the "fuck" and held the microphone out for the crowd to sing it. Got one over on Mickey, I'd said "fuck" in his Kingdom.

Another thing about the venue, not only is it at WDW, but it's also in Orlando. Concert goers in Orlando typically watch a show with the enthusiasm of K-Mart shoppers standing in line waiting to check out. I never get that. You are at a concert because you apparently like an artist, you've paid for expensive tickets (including that $7.50 per ticket "rape me" TicketMaster fee) and you stand there...just stand there. Live a little.

Aside from all the annoying thing, it was a great show. She sounded technically great. Good vocals. Good band. She even talked about songs that were difficult to sing live. It seemed they were having some sound problems. At one point, she told the sound guy to "turn my shit down." She sounded great and had fun with the audience. Plus she is so damn cute. I like that she's 38 like me.

Her new CD was at #9 on Billboard, which is surprising. There were probably only about 2000 people at the show. Go on Yahoo Music and check out her video for Dirty Laundy.

L.M.P.

2005-04-27T17:21:00.000-04:00

My partner and I have a date with Elvis's kid tonight. Lisa Marie Presley concert tonight at the House of Blues. Her new CD is really nintendocore...well...that's not the word for it, but it's damn good. Her single, Don Henley's 80's song "Dirty Laundry" was written just for her. Think about it, you're born into being a rock and roll trivia answer, you're rebellious, you get married a lot...you will have some dirty laundry to sing about. I know the whole marrying MJ think is a lot to get passed, but if I were responsible for my past relationships, I'd have dirty laundry too.

Anyway, her music rocks. She's the same age as me. It's good that she finally got a job in her late 30's. I thinks she gets a bad rep for what all the media says about her. Music always speaks for itself.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

2005-04-13T10:36:00.000-04:00

So how gay is this? I am listening to Dionne Warwick this morning in my office on MusicMatch. Hearing Anwar sing "I Know I'll Never Love This Way Again" on American Idol last night put me in a Dionne mood. I almost forgot she exsisted, and haven't listened to her in years. I loved her back in the day singing the theme song to Solid Gold. She'll be my guilty pleasure for the day.

Tom Brady's Jock Strap

2005-02-08T19:08:00.000-05:00

Even if the Patriots wouldn't have won their 3rd Super Bowl last Sunday. Any picture that shows Tom Brady's jock strap is worth a look.

2004-11-06T08:42:00.000-05:00

The British sum it up so well...