Good Morning! Today's song is Love Me Like That by State of Sound.
State Of Sound is a Swedish pop duo made up of Viktor Norén and Joakim Andrén, active since 2016. They've released a bunch of singles and an EP in 2017. I don't have an official bio on them and they're still relatively new so I don't have much to tell you guys other than what I have. Their songs have been streamed tons and for good reason because they're great. So give this song a listen, and share it if you like it.
Peace
Good Morning! Today's song is Keep Me Crazy by Sheppard.
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| Photo by: Eva Rinaldi |
Sheppard is an Australian band active since 2009 and made up of George
Sheppard, Amy Sheppard, Jason Bovino, Emma Sheppard and Dean Gordon,
with past members in Jared Tredly and Michael Butler. They started as a
sibling duo, before adding more people through 2011 and 2012. They
released an EP in 2012 and performed at a bunch of festivals and the
ARIA Music Awards. They released the single Geronimo in 2014 which
became a huge hit. They released their debut album in 2014, receiving
seven nominations at the ARIA Awards. They released some songs and
played a huge festival in 2015 before supporting Justin Bieber, then
Little Mix in their tours in 2016. They released another EP in 2017,
then their second album in 2018. In 2019 they took a break when George
had a throat injury that needed surgery. They've been releasing songs
since then, that will all be combined into an album by the end of 2020,
so you should be able to go check that out. I actually had this song saved twice, the regular and acoustic version which you can see here. Give it a listen.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Kiss Me by Magic!
Magic! Is a Canadian band active since 2012 and made up of Nasri, Mark Pellizzer, Ben Spivak, and Alex Tanas. Nasri started by writing songs for others as part of a writing duo known as The Messengers alongside Adam Messinger before meeting these guys and starting the band. Their first single came out in 2013 which went huge, followed by the debut album in 2014. In 2015 they did lot of performance and touring, and won two Juno awards. Their second album was released in 2016, followed by a collab with Matoma and D.R.A.M. in 2017. They've released some singles since then so I'm sure there is more coming down the pike. For now you get this song.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is This Beating Heart by The Score.
So these guys are an American indie pop band who have been active since 2015. There's two members: Eddie Anthony and Edan Dover. The breakout for them came from a supermarket campaign looking for a musical presence who were unsigned and unknown. The song Oh My Love (which I'll be showing off at a later date) was featured, and due to the airtime that song got it led the band to being signed by Republic Records. They released their debut EP that same year. They released another extended EP in 2016 then followed it up with yet another the following year. During that time a couple different songs of theirs were used for events and pop culture creations. By now you guys should know this band since I feature them enough so enjoy.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Silence by Before You Exit.
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| Photo by: Tisha M. |
Before You Exit is an American band active since 2007 and currently made up of Riley McDonough, Connor McDonough, Toby McDonough, with past members including Braiden Wood and Thomas Silvers. It started with Connor, Braiden, and Thomas, then Riley joined soon after, and was called soulbinder39 until Braiden's mother christened them Before You Exit. The first EP came out in 2009, followed by a spot in All Time Low's tours in 2010 and 2011. Their second EP was released in 2011, and a single came out in 2012. Then they supported Allstar Weekend on tour, then auditioned for X Factor before dropping out. Toby joined the group, then they got invited to Brazil's NoCapricho Festival in 2012. They released another EP in 2013, joining some tours and playing internationally again, then in 2014 Braiden left the group to go solo. In 2014 they went on their first tour, then in 2015 they toured Europe and got signed. They released an EP in 2016, split from their label in 2017, and they completed their first album in 2018 and released it in 2019.They're gaining momentum in the industry and I enjoy them so I hope you like them too.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Nadir by TENDER.
Tender is an English electronic duo active since 2015 and made up of James Cullen and Dan Cobb. They released two EPs independently before getting signed in 2016. They released another EP, and then came out with their debut album in 2017. They've had their stuff featured in pop culture including the movie To All The Boys I've Loved Before which has gotten them some more exposure. They've also released their second album, so if you like this go check out their other stuff.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Cradles by Sub Urban.
Sub Urban is Daniel Virgil Maisonneuve, a singer active since 2017. He started out working with producer DNMO, releasing music on Spotify, but really went viral with this song when it got used in a trend on Tik Tok. If you spend any time on the internet, you'll probably recognize the bit in the middle. His debut album was released in 2020, and he was supposed to go on tour alongside some other artists, but the virus meant that was postponed. I'm sure we'll see more from him later on though, so keep an eye out.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is After Life by Ashe.
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| Photo by: Justin Higuchi |
Ashe is Ashlyn Wilson whose been active since 2017. She started out singing a demo in Nashville, eventually getting signed to a label called Mom+Pop. The 'e' on her moniker was added to pay homage to Carole King, whose 'e' is also not in her given name. She's written a couple songs for other artists, including Demi Lovato, and has been the featured singer on a number of tracks. The one she collaborated on with Shaun Frank earned her a Juno nomination in 2017. She did some touring with other artists before releasing her debut EP in 2018. She also has another EP split into two parts that came out, so if you like the song check out her other stuff.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Chewing Gum by Nina Nesbitt.
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| Photo by: Drew de F Fawkes |
Nina Nesbitt is a Scottish singer active since 2011. She started on YouTube with a cover of a Taylor Swift song. After that she started adding her own songs. She met Ed Sheeran and asked him for advice as an aspiring artist, and after playing a song for him got invited to support him on tour, then was invited onto another tour for Example. So far she's released two albums, one in 2014 and another in 2019. She also has a couple of EP's. I've featured her before so you should already know one of her songs, but I do hope you listen to more because she's a really good artist.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Say My Name by Tove Styrke.
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| Photo by: Athyllis |
Tove Styrke is a Swedish singer active since 2009 when she went on Swedish Idol and came in third place. Her debut album came out in 2010, and she got nominated for a Grammisgalan in 2012. She signed with a UK label in 2013, then released an EP in 2014. She did a couple performances for the EP, then released her second album in 2015, with a third in 2018.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is New Bohemia by Transviolet.
So these guys are an alt-rock group active since 2015 and made up of Sarah McTaggart, Judah McCarthy, Michael Panek, and Jon Garcia. Sarah and Michael connected online, and Michael brought in the others that he knew in school. Eventually they all moved to LA to work together in person after collaborating online. Their name is inspired by a line from a Charles Bukowski poem called When The Violets Roar At The Sun. They got some high praise early on from artists like Katy Perry, who knew Sarah before either of them were famous. Their debut EP came out in 2015, followed by them touring with LANY the next year. They were signed and dropped, then signed again before releasing their third EP in 2018. Since then they've been releasing singles through 2019 and 2020, along with their first album in 2020. So check that out if you're curious.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Not A Love Song by Bülow.
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| Photo from: Calgary Stampede |
Megan Bülow is a singer active since 2017, although she was technically discovered the year before at age 16 at a summer camp. She started working with writers and producers while finishing out high school, then released her debut EP at the end of 2017. Those songs (including this one) earned her a spot as New Artist of the Week on Apple Music Canada. She released another EP in 2018, which is a part two to the first one, then released two more in 2019. She also spent 2019 touring with Lauv, then planned to tour with him again in 2020, although I don't know if that actually happened considering everything going on. She's said that this song is inspired by the feeling of meeting someone for the first time but then realizing you weren't ready for that commitment yet. Her music is really good so I hope you check it out. She's still pretty new in the industry, but I'm sure she'll go far.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Some Things by Mali-Koa.
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| Photo by: Paul Hudson |
Mali-Koa is my most recent find and is basically as green as you can be in the industry so I don't have much on her. She's been active for at least a year, with her first song being uploaded to YouTube in 2019. This song was recommended to me by YouTube and I decided to check it out. I love that it is truly a quarantine video where she's just at home, but she set up the shots really expertly. Also the song is obviously beautiful and her voice is amazing so I'll be keeping an eye on her as her career grows. You should too.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is It's You by Molly Kate Kestner.
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| Photo by: Justin Higuchi |
Molly is an American singer who'd been active since 2013. She started out putting covers on YouTube so she could share them with family too far away to visit. She got really big because of an original song she wrote in 2008. Her video performing it made its way to some pretty big names through social media causing it to go viral. After its success she made a studio version and released it in 2014. Since then she's released a handful of singles, this being one, and even has a few songwriting credits for Kelly Clarkson's music. She's one that I could see getting really big so keep an eye out.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Tears Of Gold by Faouzia.
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| Photo from: Canada Summer Games |
Fouzia Ouihya is a Moroccan Canadian singer active since 2015. She started by winning Song of the Year when she participated in La Chicane Éléctrique in 2015, then started posting covers and original material on YouTube. This led to her being signed to a talent agency. In 2016 she was second place in Canada's Walk of Fame Emerging Artist Mentorship Program, then in 2017 won the grand prize at the Nashville Unsigned Only music competition. The same year she teamed up with Matt Epp to write a song, winning the International Songwriting Competition, the first Canadians in 16 years to win the competition. In 2018, she was featured on a David Guetta song, then featured on a song by Ninho in 2019. Her first EP came out in 2020 so she's really just beginning in her career so keep an eye out for stuff in the future.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Joke's On You by Charlotte Lawrence.
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| Photo by: Justin Higuchi |
Charlotte Lawrence is a singer active since 2014. She doesn't have a lot of information for me to give you as her career is still pretty green. She has an impressive lineage with a mother and great aunt who are actresses, a television producer father, and is a descendant of a real estate mogul. She signed as a model to an agency, and has done some work through that for Teen Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. She's been releasing some singles since 2014, but really started to get into music in 2018 with the release of her debut EP. I found her through YouTube, but most people will look this song up because its been used in the Birds of Prey movie. In any case it's a good song and I expect more from her in the coming years.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is The Way I Was from Jem and the Holograms.
So I think I featured a song from this movie back when it came out, but I circled back around to it because a lot of the songs are really good. Like most things that are made from a franchise, fans hated it and it probably would have been better received if not attached to the original thing (most recent example being Fate: The Winx Saga.) So this song is done by the character of Jem, but is sung by Audrey Peeples who is an actress active since 2009. She was a theater kid, then was accepted to Harvard but deferred to pursue acting, starring in Nashville from 2013 to 2016, Sharknado in 2013, leading this movie in 2014, as well as doing guest spots on other shows through the years. So if you're curious about her go check out her acting history and give it a watch.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is To Be Human by MARINA.
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| Photo by: Drew de F Fawkes |
Marina is Marina Diamandis who is a singer from Wales. She moved to London to pursue music, applying for auditions in the same paper that advertised for what would become the Spice Girls. In 2005 she chose the stage name Marina and the Diamonds, with Diamonds referring to her fans. She also stopped going to auditions in favor of learning to compose her own music, releasing her first EP on Myspace in 2007. She had talks with 14 different labels before deciding on one which wouldn't dictate her brand. In 2009 she released two EP's with the label, and came in second on the Sound of 2010 poll through BBC. Her debut album came out in 2010, along with another EP and started getting a lot of mentions on top 100 lists, although she was still disappointed to not hit with an American audience. Her next album came out in 2012 and this is the one that ended up breaking through the over-saturated American market. Her next album was supposed to be out in 2015, but got leaked so was released early. In 2018 she dropped the stage name to go solely by Marina to make a change in her career. All of her music is worth being listened to so I hope you guys check out her other stuff.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Grow As We Grow by Ben Platt.
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| Photo by: Kirsten Schleicher |
So Ben Platt is an actor, singer, and Broadway star active since 2002. He started on Broadway while still a kid, starring alongside Kristin Chenoweth in The Music Man when he was 9, followed by Caroline, Or Change and many more. In 2012 he joined the cast of Book of Mormon in their Chicago production, continuing into 2013 then reprising his role on Broadway in 2014. Meanwhile he starred in Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2, earning a nomination for Male Scene Stealer at the Teen Choice Awards. In 2014 he signed on to an unnamed project, with it being revealed to be Dear Evan Hansen in 2015. He was the starring role through their Washington production in 2015, and the Off-Broadway and Broadway runs in 2016, with his Broadway run going through into 2017. He won many awards for his role including a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical. In 2018 he starred in Run This Town, and released a Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen Mashup with proceeds going to ending gun violence. He released his debut album in 2019 which a tour following and has released singles and a deluxe album since then. He's also starring in The Politician on Netflix, for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination, and is set to star in the film adaptions of Merrily We Roll Along and Dear Evan Hansen. Ben Platt is absolutely amazing and all of his music pulls at your soul. This is definitely not the only song from him that I have saved to showcase, so hopefully you like him because there will be more. Enjoy!
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is My Mistake by Gabrielle Aplin.
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| Photo by: Drew De F Fawkes |
Gabrielle Aplin is an English singer active since 2008, starting on YouTube. She self-released an EP in 2010, then another in 2011 before being one of the performers on BBC Introducing, with her cover being the most viewed clip from the show. She released another EP in 2012 before signing with a record label, with her debut album released in 2013. Her next album was released in 2015, then an EP in 2016 which switched up her sound. She left the label to release music through her own, releasing an EP in 2017 and another album in 2020, which is where this song is from although it was released as a single in 2018. She says it's her most honest song to date, which I believe from listening to it. I love it so I hope you will too.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Meet Me On The Battlefield by SVRCINA.
Svrcina is Molly Svrcina, although originally she went by Molly Hunt before taking her family name. She's been singing since she was a kid, but she got a publishing deal in 2009 when she was 13. She released songs as Molly Hunt until 2013, the started going by Svrcina. She released a couple covers, then was featured on a song in 2014 before releasing her debut EP in 2016. Her debut album came out in 2018, and I'm sure there will be more so check her out and keep watch for what's next.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Hello My Old Heart by The Oh Hellos.
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| Picture from: NPR |
The Oh Hello's are an American duo made up of siblings Tyler Heath and Maggie Heath active since 2011. Tyler started writing music in 2007, releasing three albums on his own before teaming up with Maggie to write a song for their mom for her birthday. After that they decided to form this group, releasing an EP in 2011. They released their first album in 2012 and have since added another album and three more EPs to their discography, the most recent of which came out in 2018. Since they began, they've added a touring group. They're still an independent group, meaning they haven't been signed so they've released all of these on their own, so if you like what you hear, go buy an album and support them.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Dream A Little Dream Of Me by The Mamas and Papas.
The Mamas and Papas were a folk rock vocal group active from 1965 to 1968 and then briefly in 1971 with members including Denny Doherty, Cass Elliot, John Phillips, Michelle Phillips, and Jill Gibson. The group was started by the Phillips couple, and joined by Doherty who then brought in Elliot, an old band mate from when they were in the Mugwumps together. Elliot joined despite John having issues with her low voice and appearance. After an affair, Michelle was kicked out of the group, eventually replaced with Gibson. Though their career was very brief, they had five albums, seventeen singles, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. This song was a solo song from Cass Elliot that saw a huge amount of success, leading to her wanting to pursue a solo career. When the group split, due mostly to tensions between John and Elliot, and the changing music scene, all of the original members had their own solo careers to varying degrees of success. The Phillips did late try to bring back the group with the New Mamas and Papas, but with a revolving door of members it never quite did what the original did for music. Anyway I hope you enjoy this song, and if you like what you hear go look up their other stuff.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Flowers On The Wall by The Statler Brothers.
The Statler Brothers were a vocal group active from 1955 until 2002 and made up of Don Reid, Harold Reid, Phil Balsley, Lew DeWitt and Jimmy Fortune. Originally they were caller the Four Star Quartet, then The Kingsmen, and performed gospel music at churches. When another group got famous with the same name they were using, the changed to the Statler Brothers, which was named after a facial tissue brand they saw in a motel room. Jimmy Fortune was only with the group since 1983, when DeWitt was having health problems. They spent eight and a half years as Johnny Cash's opening act, appearing on his show multiple times, and even dedicated a song to him to acknowledge his help mentoring and discovering them. As their popularity grew, they embarked on their own. Something odd about them is that they incorporated so much comedy into their performances that they have been nominated for just as many comedy awards as music awards. Over the course of their career, they released 38 albums, along with 2 live albums and 5 compilation albums. DeWitt left the group in 1982, going solo until his death in 1990. The rest of the group retired and disbanded in 2002 after a farewell tour. Harold Reid passed away in 2020, but the others are all still doing their own thing. Don Reid became an author, and Fortune has continued in music as a solo artist. I don't know much about any career that Balsley has done, but he moved and lives back in his hometown. Which honestly, after conquering the world is the best place to retire to. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Our Day Will Come by Ruby & the Romantics.
Ruby and the Romantics was an R&B group active during the 60's and made up of Ruby Nash, Ed Roberts, George Lee, Ronald Mosely, and Leroy Fann. Ruby was originally in an all female group, and the guys were in a group called The Embers before the name switch a couple times, becoming the Feilos. They were all from the same town, so the guys asked Ruby to sing with them on occasion. They auditioned for a label and got signed to Kapp Records, who changed the group name to this one. Their first song came out in 1963 and hit number one on the Billboard R&B chart. The continued releasing singles and an album through the sixties, but nothing really hit like their first song, and the group eventually broke up in 1971. While their career was short lived, they made quite the impact being an influence for a lot of future groups and artists. The only one still around now is Ruby, but they will be remembered thanks to their music and their placement in both the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Tonight from West Side Story.
And to end out our musical week we have West Side Story. This one is an actual musical with the book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Stephen Soundheim. In 1947, Jerome Robbins asked Bernstein and Laurents to collaborate on an adaption of Romeo and Juliet, as told through an Irish Catholic and Jewish family conflict in Manhattan called East Side Story. But after they made it they realized it was basically the same as other plays and shelved the idea. As they continued the careers over they years, they continually talked about returning to the project, only succeeding when Bernstein and Laurents were blacklisted in the industry for alleged communist activities. They changed the title to West Side Story, and Bernstein decided to focus solely on the music, inviting Betty Comden and Adolph Green to do lyrics, but they were otherwise engaged. So they invited Soundheim, who they'd met before, to do it. He resisted at first, but eventually accepted. Laurents reworked the book, changing the families to be Polish/Irish and Puerto Rican. They continued making adjustments, pulling it away from a scene by scene adaption of Romeo & Juliet, and switching material between West Side Story and Bernstein's other work Candide. The show was almost complete by 1956, but the team had other obligations to deal with before finally West Side Story, after many issues finding the right people to help, opened on Broadway in 1957. After a positive run it opened on West End in 1958, then did a US tour in 1959. Since then it has had revivals on Broadway in 1960, 1964, 1980, 2009, and 2020, then West End revivals in 1974, 1984, and 1998, as well as more US tours in 1985, 1995, and 2010. It has also has movie adaptions made, which is where this clip is from, in 1961 and another set to be done this year. The original Broadway show was nominated for six Tony Awards, winning one for scenic design and one for choreography, which was unsurprising as the show had more choreography than any other musical at the time. The film adaption saw them nominated for eleven Academy Awards, winning ten of them, which shows how popular West Side Story has become, despite its struggles at the beginning. So check it out, and I hope you enjoy.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Make 'Em Laugh from Singin' In the Rain.
Much like La La Land, this is not a true Broadway musical, but is a movie musical. It was released in 1952 written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green with music by Nacio Herb Brown and lyrics by Arthur Freed. The movie stars Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds who have all since become legends in the industry. The film takes place in the 1920's during the transition from silent films into "talkies" and follows the actors through that transition and their lives during it. It actually wasn't a very popular film when first released, though did result in a Golden Globe for O'Connor, the one who sings this song, a Writer's Guild Award for Comden and Green, and a nomination for Jean Hagen as a supporting actress. Since then it's become iconic, and thought to be the best musical film ever made. In 1989, the US Library of Congress selected 25 films to be preserved in the National Film Registry as "culturally significant." One of those was Singin' In The Rain. A little interesting fact about the film is that while a large plot point revolves around the actresses voices being dubbed over, the actresses of Singin' In The Rain did actually have some dubbing done. Betty Noyes was the singing double for Debbie Reynolds, and Jean Hagen's voice was used as well despite her character being the one dubbed over in the film. This song was written by Comden and Green specifically, along with one other, and is considered an original song despite sounding very similar to Be A Clown by Cole Porter from the musical The Pirate in 1948. I'll be honest: I have never actually seen Singin' In The Rain. Most of us have seen enough references to the film to recognize them for what they are, but this is on my list of stuff to watch eventually. So I don't know if it is as amazing a musical revelation as everyone says it is, but you can let me know what you think about it.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat from Guys and Dolls.
I mentioned the classic Broadway shows yesterday, so I thought why not take a little trip back and visit some of those classics now. This song is actually the first ever Broadway song I heard and sang along to because either the musical was being done at my school, or part of it was? I can't remember, but I remember clearly watching a performance of this and loving it. Obviously the clip is from the movie version done in 1955 with Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, and Vivian Blaine but it was a musical first. Based on two short stories written by Damon Runyon called "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure" featuring character from his other work "Pick the Winner", this musical was written by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, with music & lyrics done by Frank Loesser. The concept was made by Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin, who had teamed up the writers to get the show where they wanted it. They ended up with a second draft that was written to incorporate the music Loesser had already done for the first version, which led to the show flowing really nicely. Also some of the roles were written for specific actors, and tailored to their strengths, hence why one lead only has one song as he wasn't a singer naturally. It premiered on Broadway in 1950, winning a Tony and a Pulitzer, then beginning on the West End in 1953. Then of course the movie adaption came out in 1955. Since then they've had revivals on Broadway in 1976, 1992, and 2009; and in the West End, in 1982, 2005, and 2015. The original Broadway Cast has also been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which was done in 1998. The musical follows four main character as they struggle to complete their separate goals throughout the play: Sarah to save the mission, Adelaide to marry her man, Sky to win the girl, and Nathan to run his game. Much of this ends up revolving around illegal craps games and gambling. Many people might not be aware, but this is actually where the song Luck Be A Lady comes from, made famous by Frank Sinatra, despite it being Brando's character song to sing in the movie. It's probably the most notable thing for people today to recognize from the musical. But Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat will always have a special place in my heart, as it started my obsession that is musicals. It's a song not done by any of the four leads, but by a character named Nicely, played by Stubby Kaye who sang this role in the Broadway production, before joining them in the film. So big props to him for this masterpiece, and I hope you enjoy it.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is You'll Be Back from Hamilton.
I think we all kind of already know Hamilton, but it still deserves its write up. So Hamilton came to be when Lin Manuel Miranda read an Alexander Hamilton biography written by Ron Chernow. The book, music, and lyrics were written by Lin Manuel Miranda, who also created and starred in In The Heights previously. And I wont talk too much about that one because I have some music from it to on my list to feature so it'll get its own spot later. As many know, this musical is different from others because it is a hip hop and rap rendition, and is casted primarily of people of color, to show America how it is today while still telling history. It's an amazing thing since, like all other facets of the culture, there is a problem in Broadway with white privilege and these roles would normally be unattainable for these actors. Personally I think its great. This song and actor are the exception to that rule as Jonathan Groff was cast as the King of England. His role is the only one played by a white actor. And I'm not going to say a lot, but you guys know I absolutely adore Groff and he doesn't disappoint in this song. Miranda was joined by Alex Lacamoire, who was Hamilton's Music Director, Orchestrator, and Conductor, and had also worked with Miranda on In The Heights. The first intro to Hamilton was a performance at the White House where Miranda performed was would become the opening rap, before the show premiered off Broadway in 2015. After a few months of sold out performances, they moved theatres and were officially on Broadway continuing to sell out performances and build the fan fervor. In 2016 they were nominated for 16 awards, winning 11 of those along with a Pulitzer. They brought the show to Chicago in 2016, then ventured into the West End in 2017, earning 7 Olivier Awards. They've also done three national tours in 2017, 2018, and 2019 along with a brief run in Puerto Rico with Miranda returning to the show. A thing that Lin Manuel Miranda does in his musicals is that he usually stars in the Original cast as the lead. It's a pattern I love, since no one knows the show better than he does. You'll find that a lot of actors in Hamilton over the course of it's run are also actors who were in In The Heights at some point.Obviously Hamilton isn't running right now because Broadway is shut down with the rest of the world, but it will be back and it has earned its place beside all other classic musicals and will be remembered just as fondly as they are. And since it hasn't been able to be live, it's available on Disney + with most of the original cast returning for the recorded performances so you can still enjoy it right now, and I hope you do.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Tango Maureen from Rent.
Rent started out from the dream of Billy Aronson to make a musical out of La Bohème, an opera, and have it based in New York. A year into working on the concept, Jonathon Larson started to collaborate on the project, and they wrote some of the music together. It was Larson's idea to call the show Rent, and it was his idea to set it up around poverty, homelessness, and the LGBT community. In 1991, Larson asked Aronson for permission to take the concept of Rent and make it his own. He worked on it for years while working at a diner, writing hundreds of songs but eventually settling on 42. He did a stage reading for the show in 1993 with the New York Theatre Workshop and he realized he'd have to rework it so it wasn't as long and complicated. By 1996 the musical had gotten to the stage of final rehearsals before debuting off-Broadway. Before previews could start Larson died, and the very first preview of the show ended up being a sing through in his honor. The show became so popular it moved to Broadway the very same year and the rest is history really. I will never get over the fact that Larson never got the chance to see his masterpiece become a reality. It's too horrible for words, and every time I sing one of the songs, or cry watching it I send a little thank you up to him for the amazing gift this show is.
Peace.
Good Morning! Today's song is Summer Nights from Grease.
This musical was written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, and if any of you know The Outsiders, you know why it's called Grease. It was written to subvert 50's tropes and it actually does a pretty good job while also dealing with some serious issues. It was first performed in 1971 in a nightclub and eventually moved on to theaters and then to Broadway, having the longest Broadway run by 1980. The movie saw some changes to plot and adding songs written by John Farrer, changes that have in some cases been added to revivals of the musical. We don't talk about Grease 2 because like Jim Jacobs, I do not approve of it, so let's all pretend it doesn't exist. I've actually seen a production of Grease when I went to California in school and it was awesome. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested.
Peace.
