I've been on vacation since last Wednesday, and today is the day I have to grit my teeth, put my nose to the wheel and my shoulder to the grindstone, and go back to work (Mike: insert snarky comment about the joys of retirement here). Once again, I have clothes to match, lunch to pack, etc, etc, etc ... and so I think I'll do a relatively short post. In honor of digital friend and fellow blogger Andrea, how about let's talk about music this morning?
It seems that today is the anniversary of the date in 1889 that the juke box made its first appearance. The device was installed at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco, and consisted of an Edison Class M Electric Phonograph inside an oak cabinet, with tubes coming out of the cabinet through which, when the appropriate coin was inserted in the slot, the music could be heard. In its first six months of service, the first juke box earned more than $1,000 - quite a sum of money for the time.
The first juke boxes were less popular than their major competition, the coin-operated player piano, because their sound quality was inferior. The first jukebox with a sound quality good enough to entertain an entire room wasn't introduced until 1927. After that, the juke box took off, with famous companies like Wurlitzer, Rock-Ola, and Seeburg producing boxes of every size from the table-top boxes popular in roadside diners ..
to the larger boxes popular in bars and dance halls, containing hundreds or thousands of records that could be played in exchange for one's coins ...
1. Still Me, by Erkan Aki.
2. Four-Twenty AM, by David Rose and his Orchestra.
3. The Perfect Partner, by Jimmy Buffett.
4. Song for Judith (Open the Door), by Judy Collins.
5. Pachelbel's Canon in D, by Johannes Pachelbel.
Probably not five choices you'd see in the average honky-tonk, but hey - it's my blog?
What's in your juke box? Add your list to the comments.
And now, it's off to the salt mines.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
13 comments:
1. Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden
2. Meteor Rain by F4
3. The Banana Boat song. No idea who its by.
4. Apache by The Shadows
5. Home by Michael Buble
Although at this point in my life, the stars of my jukebox will probably be The Wiggles, Jurassic Joe and whoever sings those Thomas & Friends songs.
1. The Moody Blues - Your Wildest Dreams
2. Elvis Costello - Every Day I Write The Book
3. Laura Bell Bundy - Giddy On Up
4. Duran Duran - The Reflex
5 The Monkees - Daydream Believer
1. "Lazy" - Deep Purple
2. "Sweet Jane" - Lou Reed
3. "Piano Man" - Billy Joel
4. "Jennifer Juniper" - Donovan
5. "Stealin'" - Uriah Heep
Note: Tomorrow, this list might be completely different. Heck, it might be different by this afternoon. The day after that, different again.
Ditto on Gilahi's note.
"Unforgetable"-Natalie and Nat remake
"Beginnings"-Chicago
"Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral"-Wagner (he loved his brass)
"When You wish Upon a Star"- Charlie Chaplin (there is a wonderful concert band arrangement of this beautiful melody)
"What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?"-Sinatra with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra
Correction: "When You wish Upon a Star" was written by Harline and Washington. Chaplin wrote "Smile" (though your heart is aching).
Ha! I know none of these songs in which you guys write of. My guess is you may not know mine either but here goes...
1- Alejandro (Lady Gaga)
2- Men & Mascara- (Julie Roberts)
3- Independence Day-
(Martina McBride)
4- Changes- (Mary J Blige)
5- Hot & Cold- Kty Perry
Some very good stuff out there!
Amanda: The Banana Boat Song is by Harry Belafonte (at least the version I know).
Andrea: from Elvis Costello, I'd have picked "This Town," and "Shades of Gray" from The Monkees.
Gilahi: "Piano Man" and "Jennifer Juniper" are excellent choices!
Bandit: "Unforgettable" is, indeed, unforgettable.
Raquel: Ha! Fooled you! I know all of those, but if I were to add a Lady Gaga song to my list, it would be "Poker Face."
Here are my next five choices:
"Fields of Gold" (Sting);
"Jamaica Farewell" (Harry Belafonte);
"You Know That I'm No Good" (Amy Winehouse);
"A Daisy a Day" (Jud Strunk); and,
"Years Ago" (The Statler Brothers).
Over to you all...
You asked for it:
"In The Hall Of The Mountain King" - Edvard Grieg
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" - Iron Butterfly
"Maggie May" - Rod Stewart
"Paradise By The Dashboard Light" - Meat Loaf
"Give It Up" - Hothouse Flowers
(If you're not familiar with that last one, I recommend finding it on YouTube or finding the single from the album and giving it a listen.)
"Rhapsody in Blue"- Gershwin
"America the Beautiful"-arr. Carmen Dragon (it's the arrangement you hear on July 4th)
"MacArthur Park"- Maynard Ferguson and his big band (no singing in this one, just Maynard playing his trumpet in the stratosphere)
"Simple Gifts"-A Shaker Hymn popularized by Aaron Copeland in his composition "Appalachian Spring." (you have all heard this beautiful melody whether you know it or not)
"Saturday in the Park"-Chicago
"Whiter Shade Of Pale" - Procol Harum
"Sorrow" - David Bowie
"Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" - Crosby, Stills & Nash
"Cool Change" - Little River Band
"Amy" - Pure Prairie League
AAAAAHHHHH.... Somebody stop me! There's just too many of them! Black Oak Arkansas! Etta James! Johnny Winter! Taj Mahal! Blue Oyster Cult! Alice Cooper! Pink Floyd! Antonio Vivaldi! Big Mama Thornton! Tony Bennett! Queen! Warren Zevon! Frank Zappa! Gioachino Rossini!
AAAAAAAAHHHHHH.....
Wv - cophopul: Never liked their later stuff, but the early years were great. What? The colors.... the colors...
Gilahi - Whoa, big fella...WHOA! Edvard Grieg, Iron Butterfly, and Meat Loaf on the same list! I'm impressed!
Bandit - another excellent list!
OK I'm back from my second day in row of getting up early and doing habitat. My only song right now - rock-a-bye baby.
1. Clark's "Trumpet Voluntary"
2. Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus"
3. "Brandenburg Concerto #3"
4. "Stars and Stripes Forever"
5. "Midway March"
Bilbo -- My taste in music is extremely eclectic so this was really hard to do. I also love Smokey Robinson, Michael Bolton, and the Doobie Brothers!
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