No Other - If my memory serves me right, Gene Clark came into my life, not in an apparition, but through good ole circumstance and coincidence. It was the weekend of my brother's bachelor party where three of my best friends along with six of his took to the Poconos for a golf and beer filled kick off before he tied the knot. On the last morning, packing up and waving friends goodbye, I sat in my grandma's Buick, the only car we had at the time that fit all our shit, and got ready for the trek back home. With no aux cord we took to the ingenious device that transmitted music from phone to unused local radio stations accompanied by the great classic - static.
Any-who, as I started the car and proceeded to wait for the others, our chosen telecommunication wave emitted sound in the form of Gene Clark's "The Virgin." The station was a little fuzzy, but the song came through and fell into my lap as I listened with enticed ears. I had never heard Gene Clark's music except for some Byrds' songs that eluded my active memory until I learned of Clark's brief stint with the band.
Since that fateful day in Pennsylvania I've come to ingest and enjoy more of Gene's music eventually landing on this lead off track - "No Other." With all it's mystery and eeriness "No Other" sizzles into your head and makes itself at home with a comfy but harrowing sleeping bag. I hope music can do for you what it has done for me by finding its way in to my life through surprising circumstances.
Awaiting On You All - I believe that music can make or a break a skateboarding video part. Some skaters may not be able to choose their preferred song due to licensing and that leads to using whatever you've got sometimes to the tune of self destruction. There are all types of circumstances, but even if the skater gets their choice the music still might suck the life out of their part.
George Harrison's "Awaiting On You All" came in guns ablazin' to accompany an all time video. While it wasn't used for a specific video part, Girl Skateboards used the track perfectly in their 7th edition of their Open House series. Contest videos are usually plagued with constant cheers and long "oooooohs" after every trick. This video used this track's wall of sound in the best way possible and created an enjoyable contest video that had all the hype and energy still preserved.
I love this track in its own right, but combining it with skateboarding took it to the next level for me. Check out the video and witness some great skating. Already 14 years ago: Sheesh!
So Into You - In a dream state and thinking of that one special person that makes your eyes light up like a full moon - That's a feeling I found myself in the first time I heard this beautiful track. Tamia does the incredible job of making the chills travel through my body and lift me up in hopeless romantic ecstasy.
I haven't listened to much R&B in my life but when I put on those songs I've bookmarked I wonder what rock I've been hiding under. "So Into You" just plain puts me in the feels. In an elegant and concise way, Tamia describes what anyone feels when falling for that special person. And she makes it sound so sexy, so romantic, so large that there just has to be a song written about that special someone.
Whether you're in a gooey mood or whether you want to get down to a great track, spin this one like all goodies - as loud as it can go.
Unpredictable - I remember finding Wavy McGrady's page after one of his videos was shared by Barstool. I thought the guy was pretty funny and I threw him a follow, but then I found out he had great music taste, could actually play that music, and wrote killer songs to top it all off.
"Unpredictable" has been my most played Wavy track over the years because of how catchy it is while speaking exactly to some of the things I find myself thinking over and over again.
"Every day I'm waking up and I just feel the same as yesterday
I mean it's good but there's really no change and that's okay"
As a fellow CT musician and a young adult adventuring through this world, Wavy McGrady sums up a lot of feelings people struggle with everyday. With lines that hit home in a spot on way this track stuck out to me and slapped me straight in the face as the realization that while I may be doing some cool things "I'm not my biggest fan no more." But there is great music out there that can help you realize you are not alone.
Art is a truly fantastic tool that can help both the creator and viewer. It's wonderful to cheer people on from a distance and acknowledge the hard work they put in to their craft, especially when it's so close to you and similar to what you're aspiring for yourself. Check out this local artist and the innovation he and his band is putting out. Keep chugging along and your dreams will come true.
In Thee - Like so many other great bands, Blue Oyster Cult has been able to show their softer side as they create inspirational and wonderful music that strays from their usual sound. It's refreshing realizing that we all grow and have to adapt and that we can take our skills in whatever realm and utilize them in different channels to create something fresh and surprising.
I can't speak on the feel of this album when It came out, but I can speak on how it made me feel the first time I heard it. "In Thee" was my first taste of BOC's Mirrors and it immediately captured my attention. The Heavy Metal band I've listened to thousands of times and seen live frequently who sings about stealing eye balls and giant lizards wreaking havoc can write a love song so tender and forthright?
Listening to and loving music that came out 40 or so years ago always seems to humble me. I don't know it all and I've come to accept that, but it doesn't stop the shock when certain circumstances arise. While "In Thee" might compare itself to "Burnin' for You," It still stands out as a curve ball straight out of left feel. Although it might make me seem foolish, I sort of like that I am so easily surprised by music that has been out for longer than I've been alive. That means that there is endless music to hear, to fall in love with, and to be intrigued by. There is always evolution and there are always different emotions I am feeling. Good thing is that there is a song for each and every one of my moods. "In Thee" captures my nostalgia and the all too familiar feelings of longing. It will always remind me of someone special who will forever make me "wish I could wrap myself in thee."
Zig Zag Wanderer - Captain Beefheart is an enigma broadcasted from here to the farthest planet and back. Beamed down from outer space in a giant milk carton, or so it seems to me, is the man who influenced so many while being unapologetically himself (again or so it seems to me.)
I've got one specific reason for this song making it on to this week's playlist and it lies between 1:34 and 1:50. The first time I heard the drum and bass break I'm pretty sure my brain exploded. Hands down one of the coolest parts in music has got to be so simplistic and basic that it's ingenious.
Captain Beefheart makes me feel, along with lots of other people, crazy wild feelings, but that's wonderful and exciting. He may or may not be a genius, crazy and troubled as many are, but he knows how to put the feeling into the music he and his fellow musicians are performing. The Magic Band are the ones creating my favorite part of this track so I think I may give them the proper acknowledgement they deserve. Well done boys. Keep it groovy and disgusting (stank face included.)
Groovin' - We have finally reached the namesake of my blog and website and the single inspiration for creating a place to house my many music takes. The Rascals' "Groovin'" has gone down in history as having a lovely misheard lyric that I know I'm not the first one to acknowledge.
The group's singer and keyboardist Felix Cavaliere explained the phenomenon as "how [he] slurred uneven words to squeeze them in to fit the beats" of a song. The correct line of "life would be ecstasy, you and me endlessly" was misheard as an odd statement in a love song as "you and me and Leslie." Cavaliere has joked that it wasn't "as if I was with my girl and she brought along a girlfriend."
Like most other people, I've taken to this mishap and run with it because of the joy its brought me. I have to trick myself in to singing the correct lines as it's so easy to morph the words together to sound like some odd threesome.
Naming this blog after the "Groovin'" goof up has been my homage to the music that came before me and the hold it has on my life. Music is everything to me, so why not have a little fun with it. It's you me & Leslie against the world. Let's take it over.
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