Year 8, Day 184

Hey guys. Today's song is I'm A Mess by Avril Lavigne and YUNGBLUD.

So I've featured Avril Lavigne before and therefore aren't going to focus that much on her today. She's a Canadian singer active since 1999 and has released seven albums since then, the first in 2002 with her latest being from 2022, which is where this song is from and as you saw above, it's a collaboration with Yungblood. Yungblood is the stage name for Dominic Harrison, an English singer active since 2017. Before breaking into music, he was actually an actor on a soap opera, which is not something I expected. He released an EP in 2017, then supported K.Flay on her tour before releasing his debut album in 2018. He continued to do touring and released EPs through 2019, then was nominated for four different NME awards, winning one of them. He released his second album in 2020, then in 2021 he released a short film based on his song Mars, He started releasing singles for his upcoming third album through the beginning of 2022, before the album was released in September. For being relatively new in the industry he has collaborated (whether musically or through his videos) with a lot of big names, so this song with Avril is no exception. I'm sure he was stoked though, since she's listed as one of his musical influences. It's a great song, and I'm interested to see what else he's got. Hopefully you guys are too.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 183

Hey guys. Today's song is I Don't Even Like You Anymore by Anna Clendening.

So I've featured Anna Clendening before, but her career is still somewhat in its early stages so we'll do this overview really fast. So she's an American musician and internet personality from Vine (when that was a thing) and has been active in the industry since 2008. She was a contestant on America's Got Talent in 2014 before releasing her debut EP in 2019 followed by a small tour around the States. As of 2020 she has signed with a large label and released another EP. This is one of her newer songs released this year, and like all the other ones I've heard from her, it's fantastic and has instantly become one of my favorites to be featured this year. So give it a listen and tell me if you agree.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 182

Hey guys. Today's song is For The Last Time Once Again by Siné.

There's no official bio ago so I've been trying to peruse and make sure I'm talking about the right person. So from what I can gather she's an artist from Denmark, since it's the Denmark branch of Universal that her social media is linked to. There has been a dedicated musician page on Facebook since 2015, but it was only recently in 2021 that the page name was for Siné, so I don't know if that just indicates a name change or a member change, like maybe it was a duo before and now it's not? I don't know. All I do know is that I really enjoy this song and want to here more and have more people appreciate this song, so I'm showcasing it for you today. Enjoy.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 181

Hey guys. Today's song is Not Sad Anymore by Clara Mae.

Photo by: Justin Higuchi

Clara Mae is the stage name for Clara Hagman, a Swedish singer/songwriter active since 2008 when she placed second in a singing competition called Next Star. She was in another singing competition the next year, but failed to reach the finals. In 2009 she was asked to join Ace of Base, joining fellow newcomer Julia Williamson to replace the Berggren's. They released an album in 2010 before Clara left the group in 2012. She adopted the stage name in 2014, and spent a few years releasing singles under that name before joining Gabriela Gunčíková onstage as a backing vocalist in the 2016 Eurovision contest representing the Czech Republic. Clara was signed to a label in 2017 and has since released an EP in 2018 and an album in 2020. This song was posted last year, so she has been doing music since, so check out more of that if you're curious.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 180

Hey guys. Today's song is Participation Trophies by Madelline.

Alright there is no official bio so bear with me. Madelline is a Canadian singer based out of Montreal and is still relatively new in the industry, with this song being one of her first major hits and it was only released this year. She's been releasing music since at least 2020, with a couple singles before releasing an EP in 2021, then an album this year. I really like this song and the sound of it (the musical theatre thing at the end made me laugh too) so I'm curious to see where she's gonna go from here. Anyway hope you like it and keep an eye out for her in the future as well. 

Peace.

Year 8, Day 179

Hey guys. Today's song is Title by Meghan Trainor.

Photo by: Ronald Woan

Meghan Trainor is an American singer active since 2009. She turned down a full scholarship to the Berklee College of Music, instead signing with Big Yellow Dog Music in 2012 as a songwriter. She wrote the song All About That Bass with producer Kevin Kadish in 2013, but no label would pick it up for an artist because of the doo wop style. Instead of being for another artist, that song ended up being the one that got her signed to a recording contract in 2014 and it became a huge hit. Since then she's released five albums, with the most recent released this year. She seems to have been doing pretty good over the pandemic. She had met her future husband in 2014, and they had their first child in 2021. Along with giving birth during that time, she was also held a Live At-Home concert series to raise money to feed those in need during the pandemic. I'm sure we'll see more from her in the upcoming see and I for one am looking forward to it.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 178

Hey guys. Today's song is Christmas Without You by Ava Max.

Photo from: El Hormiguero

I always like to throw some newer Christmas songs into the mix along with the classics because even though I do love the classics, there is only so many times you can listen to them before you're kind of done. So new Christmas music (that isn't just a new version) is refreshing. I hadn't known Ava had any festive songs until I stumbled on to this one, but I think it's great. Obviously we've talked about Ava before: Ava Max is the stage name for Amanda Koci whose been active in the industry since 2013. She adopted the middle name Ava at 13, saying she never felt like an Amanda. Originally known as just AVA, she released her debut single in 2013. She failed to get a demo picked up for a couple years until meeting the record producer Cirkut in 2015. In 2016 she released a song she worked on with him through SoundCloud, which gained popularity and led to her being signed. This is when she added the last name, which according to her adds a masculine element to the femininity of just Ava. She has two listed albums, one from 2020 and another that is one deck to be released in early 2023 and has some singles from that already floating around to tease it if you want to check those out. But for now, this will close out our Christmas week and tomorrow we'll be back to our regularly scheduled songs. Happy Holidays!

Peace.

Year 8, Day 177

Hey guys. Today's song is Santa's Coming For Us by Sia.

Photo by: Scott Murry

Sia is Sia Kate Isobelle Furler who is an Australian singer. She started singing in the 90's in Crisp, but when they disbanded in 1997 she moved to London and began singing for Zero 7's albums. She was signed in 2000 and started her solo career. She has a successful career since then releasing mega hits and winning awards. So far she has ten albums, one of those from 2017 being a Christmas album which is where this song is from. Now I've had this song saved for a very long time (probably since the album came out) because I showcased a different one before and figured one Christmas song from her a year is probably ideal. So this year it's this one. And I love that she got Kristin Bell in with a bunch of other recognizable actors in to do this video. It's nice and wholesome. This is easily becoming one a my favorite Christmas songs so I hope you enjoy it too.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 176

Hey guys. Today's song is White Christmas by Michael Buble and Shania Twain.

So I tend to be picky about which CDs are included into the Christmas playlist because while everyone can sing Christmas songs, not everyone can sing them well. Ever since Michael Buble released this album in 2011 it has been an instant addition to the approved group. You really can never go wrong with him when he sings holiday songs, and I was actually pleasantly surprised by Shania Twain. I like her music and her voice, I just never expected a duet between the two of them, they existed in separate musical realities in my brain. Then Buble made it into a Venn diagram with this song, and they sound really good together, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

Peace.

Year 8, Day 175

Hey guys. Today's song is Baby It's Cold Outside by Frank Loesser and Lynn Garland.

Wow this song has gone for a ride. So Baby It's Cold Outside was originally written in 1944 by Frank Loesser for him and his wife Lynn Garland to perform together at dinner parties. In the 40's, vocally talented people were expected to perform at parties, so he made this for their housewarming party, and after were invited everywhere to perform it as the closer. The funny thing is he never meant for it to be a hit, or recorded, but after a couple years Loesser sold the song to MGM in 1949 for their romantic comedy film. Garland was very upset about it, comparing it to him having an affair. It won an Academy Award in 1950, and went on to be covered so many times that most people don't know its origin. It's referred to as a call and response song between the host (or wolf as the score says) and a guest (or mouse) for a male and female vocalist. People now attribute this to a date rape song, which I guess applying the lyrics to modern society fits... but the truth is it's a song a man wrote as a cheeky banter to sing with his wife and she would be so appalled at what this song is thought of now. So don't read too much into it and just enjoy it for what it was created to be, as you can hear the original couple show.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 174

Hey guys. Today's song is The Most Wonderful Day of the Year from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

This has been and always will be one of my favorite Christmas movies and I think about the island of misfit toys a lot. It feels a little weird now to be doing Christmas music because technically my Christmas is over. My family always does ours early so that it doesn't mess with the plans other people have going on so we had ours on Saturday. Now I'm just chilling out eating my chocolate and reading the books I got for Christmas while everyone else is still feeling the Christmas rush. I really like that my family does early. It's a bit of a pain if stuff doesn't arrive on time, but we plan wayyyy in advance. I'm talking we had our names drawn and lists made and sent out before the end of November... which I guess makes us the misfits of sorts. Chances are some of the ones who don't have to coordinate with other family units will show up Christmas day for unofficial holiday breakfast which seems to happen spontaneously, but otherwise from my little corner of calm I wish you a smooth sailing Christmas where everything works out right.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 173

Hey guys. Today's song is The Chipmunk Song by Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Alvin and the Chipmunks are animated characters that have been around since 1958. They're kind of the brainchild of Ross Bagdasarian Sr. who performed the Witch Doctor as David Seville, with it being a novelty song that had sped up parts. There were no chipmunks at this point, but as he kept doing songs with sped up voices he saw a chipmunk and drew inspiration to make the boys. This song I'm featuring is technically the very first song that the Chipmunks were ever featured on in 1958, and the hula hoop reference was because that was the number one toy that year. The Chipmunks have continued on in popularity since. I remember watching the animated cartoon when I was a kid, so it's kind of a nostalgia thing. It's kept going even since I was a kid with movies out in the late 2000's so it's not a question of if people know the Chipmunks, but which version of them is the one they know. You tell me.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 172

Hey guys. Today's song is The Hamsterdance Song from Hampton and the Hamsters.

I'm still a little traumatized from yesterday's video so my brain is not here today which is a bad thing since I have so many projects that I need to finish and them seem endless. Which reminded me of the idiom hamster on a wheel because that is me today. So I figured why not match my hamster feeling with more weird 2000's stuff today and show you guys this. For those who remember you will either love or hate it, and those who've never seen this before...I'm sorry. But if you want to know what the late 90's/early 2000's was like, it was getting this sent to you in an email with no context. This was before social media existed and before the rickroll became a thing. Just imagine it. So the history: Canadian art student was competing with her sister over views (way ahead of their time) and made hampsterdance.com in 1998. By 1999 it was an office prank and being spread around, then this song was produced by the Boomtang Boys in 2000 and is credited to a band made up of four cartoon hamsters. And it actually became a number one hit on the Canadian Singles chart. So spread the fun and show some people the Hamster Dance today.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 171

Hey guys. Today's song is Shalala Lala by Vengaboys.

Can I just say that I'm so glad I had never seen this video when I was a kid. I would have been scarred for life... hell I might be traumatized from it now, why is it so sexual?! Watch at your own childhood ruination risk. Alright, so this is a Dutch Eurodance group (that I listened to all the time as a kid) active from 1997 until 2002, and then again since 2006. Currently the members include Kim Sasabone, Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Robin Pors, and Donny Latupeirissa with past members being Roy Olivero den Burger and Yorick Bakker. Wendelien van Diepen formed the group, finding and hiring the members and they are considered one of the most popular Dutch groups with three albums released before they all disbanded, though I don't know if that was for any particular reason. After they came back it was with some member changes, and started to release new music in 2010. They've mostly done lots of touring and performances, but did release a Christmas album in 2014 that you can check out if you're feeling festive, which you might be considering we're approaching the holidays.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 170

Hey guys. Today's song is If It Ain't Love by Lucas & Steve and 4 Strings featuring Lagique.

So this song has three different musicians to focus on. First is the duo of Lucas & Steve, a Dutch duo who has lots of music under their belt and from the sounds of it have toured all around the world. I can't find an official bio, but it seems like they've gotten popular in recent years so check out some of their other stuff if you're curious. The other two musicians have even less for me to go on, but I'll tell you what I know. So 4 Strings also seems to be a duo, with two older guys and they look like DJs from the pictures I've seen. Lagique seems to be a solo artist? and his Instagram has literally three photos so he seems relatively new, but if I had to guess he's probably the voice on this track. That's just an educated guess based on previous songs I've seen and the fact that he's listed as featured, but I could very well be wrong. Regardless I really like this song so I hope you will too.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 169

Hey guys. Today's song is Never Gonna Not Dance Again by P!nk.

I have featured Pink so many times and talked about her a lot so today isn't going to be an overview at all and more so just me rambling. This is one of her newer songs, and I don't know if it is actually based on the pandemic or if I'm reading into it. I've noticed that most new songs from artists feel (if you listen to the lyrics) like a direct social commentary on the pandemic, how they felt about it or during it, and either head into a positive spin of moving past it or talking about how unhappy they are. Again, maybe it's me projecting, but it feels like there is a trend. My favorite pandemic song will always be Bummerland from AJR, which I have featured on here already, but I'm enjoying this one too, and Pink never disappoints. And honestly having Pink dance up on a heavy construction guy eating chicken feels so on brand I'm surprised I hadn't seen it before this video.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 168

Hey guys. Today's song is What's In The Middle by The Bird and the Bee.

Photo from: SVTCobra

So the Bird and the Bee is an American duo active since 2006 and made up of Greg Kurstin and Inara George. They met each other in 2004 through a mutual friend named Mike Andrews and ended up fast friends over their love of jazz. They spent time in the studio trying stuff out until there was enough for an EP which they released in 2006 followed by their debut album and another EP in 2007. They did some performing and had their songs featured in pop culture stuff before releasing another EP in 2008. Since then they've released five albums and a couple more EPs, with their most recent thing being a Christmas album in 2020. If I remember correctly I've featured them before but it was a long time ago. So they deserve to be back up on here. Hope you enjoy.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 167

Hey guys. Today's song is Hurricane by Cannons.

Cannons is an American band active since 2013 and made up of Ryan Clapham, Paul Davis, and Michelle Joy. The guys had been friends and making music together for awhile, but in 2013 they decided to advertise on Craignslist looking for a singer, which is how they found Joy. They released their first EP in 2014 before releasing their debut album in 2017. That same year they released another EP, followed by another album in 2019. A song from their second album started to get them some mainstream attention, being featured on a TV Show in 2020 which led to them getting signed. They released a single in 2021 that got them on the Billboard charts and as of this year have released another album so there's lots for you guys to check out.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 166

Hey guys. Today's song is Faded Like A Feeling by Tegan & Sara.

Photo from: Tabercil

Tegan and Sara Quin are identical twins and make up the Indie pop duo from my hometown in Canada. They've been active since 1995, though first they formed a band called Plunk. In 1997 they recorded two demo albums in the school's recording studio then the next year won a Garage Warz competition which earned them professional studio time to record a professional demo, which they did under the name Sara and Tegan. They independently released their debut album in 1999, then later switched to Tegan and Sara, because people were messing up the name. In 2000 they were signed and released their second album, and they've been going ever since. Overall they have released ten albums, with the most recent from 2022. I've been thinking about these guys lately because there was a news article (fluff piece) about renaming one of the bus routes in my city after them, which is random but I guess it was a slow news day. Anyway, I'm sure you've heard these guys before, but now you have another song of their to check out.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 165

Hey guys. Today's song is Borders by Kalandra.

So I don't have much information about these guys for you, but I'll give you what I know. So this is a Norwegian group active since at least 2011, with four members though I do not know their names. There is an EP listed as being released in 2017, and two albums from 2020 and 2021 receptively. According to their website they also look to be going on a tour at the beginning of next year, so if you're in France, Germany, or Poland (and some other places too) go look into that if you want to see them live.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 164

Hey guys. Today's song is It's All Coming Back To Me Now by Celine Dion.

Photo by: Anirudh Koul

She's from Quebec and started her career as a french singer, releasing her first album in 1981, which her manager funded by mortgaging his house. It was a big success, and the next year she got started internationally by winning awards at the Yamaha World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo. She won several other awards before then being chosen to represent Switzerland in Eurovision in 1988, which she also won. And if you're sitting there wondering why a Canadian was singing for Switzerland, there is actually no rule saying a representative needs to be from that given country. Unfortunately the next year she injured her vocal chords and had to take some time to recuperate her voice. She released eight albums in french before making her English debut in 1990 with her ninth album. She has always claimed though to be a french artist, and actually turned down an English artist of the year award in 1991. She released 13 albums throughout the 90's before taking a hiatus when her husband/manager received a cancer diagnosis, but she returned after the 9/11 attacks, ending a three year break. For most of the 2000's she was doing shows in Vegas which was considered risky for her career but ultimately earned her millions. She returned to the usual (album and touring) for awhile in 2007 before returning to the Vegas show scene in 2011 until 2014 when she indefinitely postponed the shows due to her husband's condition worsening, and cancelled outright after he passed away in 2016. She has been back since then with more albums, more tours, and more shows, though the fate of the latter is in flux currently because of her own health concerns. I left a lot out so this didn't go on forever, but her career as a whole is huge so if you're curious go check her out.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 163

Hey guys. Today's song is The Story covered by LeAnn Rimes.

Photo by: PRSA-NY

LeAnn Rimes is an American musician active since 1990. Ever since she was a kid she had a unique voice, and her parents got her performing, which led to her making two studio albums in her teens which then led to her being signed an 13 in 1996. Her third album was released the same year and hit number one on the Top Country Albums list. She won her first Grammy in 1997, breaking the record for youngest artist to get one since she was 14. She changed up her sound a bit doing country pop and releasing six more albums before returning to the country scene in 2005 with her ninth album. In 2013 she released her thirteenth studio album, the last with her label, and it focused on her affair with her now husband, and the media fallout from it. The whole situation caused a lot of turmoil around her career and she was judged super harshly and ultimately her album was not successful. She did some Christmas music for a few years, then released this song that was on her album in 2016. This some of course is actually a cover with the original being from Brandi Carlile. She's come back on the scene since then, winning the Masked singer in 2020 as the Sun, and released another album in 2020 and one in 2022. On the show she talked about how being behind the mask has allowed her a kind of reset and to let people see her as something past their preconceived notion of who she is. Which is important after all the shit that got thrown at her. And I get it, I hate cheaters, I hate that they both cheated on their partners and if they fell in love (which they've been happily married for a long time so clearly they did) there was still a better way to go about it, ideally ending their relationships before starting a new one. But hindsight is 20/20, and at a certain point we need to recognize that it doesn't involve us, it's her life and we need to just let it go. I'm happy she's back and that she's happy, and I hope you guys enjoy the song.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 162

Hey guys. Today's song is A Little Work by Fergie.

Photo by: Manfred Werner

All right, I've featured both Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas before so we're just going to do a quick overview today. So Fergie is the stage name for Stacy Ann Ferguson, whose been active since 1984. She started in voiceover work, playing Sally in the Peanuts cartoons and in The Charlie and Snoopy Show. She then went on to star on Kids Incorporated for nine seasons before joining a trio with another costar. That was called Wild Orchid and was made up of Fergie, Stefanie Ridel, and Renee Sandstrom, earning a contract after two years of searching in 1994. Their debut album came out in 1997, with another in 1998 and actually made a third album but the label refused to release it. Fergie left the group in 2001. In 2003 will.i.am asked Fergie to try out for a song for their third album, and the group all immediately just clicked, and she ended up on lots more songs on the album. Following its release, she became an official member of the group. She started doing solo work in 2006, releasing her first solo album. She has continued on with the Black Eyed Peas and released another solo album in 2017, plus dipping her fingers into a bunch of other business endeavours. Her sound has evolved over the years as this song is evidence of, so I hope you check it out.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 161

Hey guys. Today's song is Your Issues by DYLAN.

DYLAN is the stage name for Natasha Woods, an English musician active since 2019. She started in music young, learning guitar at ten, then moving on to piano, learning both by ear. She began writing music after, and sent some in to a producer named Will Hicks, which started her career. She got signed in 2019, releasing her debut EP the same year. She has since released two more EPs, one in 2020 and another in 2022. After opening for Ed Sheeran on his tour, she signed another deal and released a mixtape later in 2022. She actually was touring as of last month, so who knows, she may be in your neck of the woods at some point. If you're interested go check her out.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 160

Hey guys. Today's song is Feelings by Shy Martin.

Photo from: Teokg33

Shy Martin is the stage name for Sara Hjellström, a Swedish musician active since 2016. She had been signed at 17 for a little while, but then decided to go on independently, going to school for songwriting at Musikmakarna in Örnsköldsvik before moving to Stockholm. She got her start as a songwriter and featured vocalist on The Ocean by Mike Perry. She teamed up with Shy Nodi to write more songs, doing so for the likes of Jess Glynne, and The Chainsmokers to name a few. becoming an artist in her own right happened in 2017 with the release of her single Good Together followed by more singles leading into her EP released in 2018. She released another single in 2020, followed by another EP later in the year. She has signed with an independent label during the time of releasing her EPs, but has since left, though I know she is definitely not done in the industry. So Look forward to more of her stuff.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 159

Hey guys. Today's song is Josh by Peach PRC.

Peach PRC is the stage name for Shaylee Curnow, an Australian musician active since 2019. Peach because it pays homage to her old stripper name (Princess Peach) and because she likes the color pink, and PRC is an abbreviation for porcelain, which she started using instead of the full word on TikTok since it's shorter. Before starting her music career she had been featured in some music videos, but in 2019 she released her debut single and started on TikTok, which built her fan base. She released her second single in 2020, and then in 2021 was signed to a label, releasing this song after. And yeah, it's really about an ex named Josh who wouldn't stop calling her after the relationship. Oh to be a fly on the wall when he found out this song existed. She's released singles since then and an EP for you to check out. I can't say that I'm very interested in her as an artist, but the fact that this is about a real dude made me laugh so it earns its spot here for that.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 158

Hey guys. Today's song is Express Yourself by Madonna.

Photo by: johnlo168

Madonna has been acting a little crazy lately, but in the grand scheme of things it kind of fits her M.O. since she's been pushing the boundaries for her entire career. And honestly considering all the things there are in the world to be mad about right now Madonna sits pretty low on my list. Regardless of what she's doing now, it's just a fact that Madonna paved the way for women’s sexual liberation and marginalized groups like the LGBTQIA community, and changed society to the point that her impact is part of cultural studies and is reviewed by sociologists and historians. Weird to think about, but accurate. I've featured her before and I'll feature her again so I'm not going to do a career overview today and instead leave you with this song. 

Peace.

Year 8, Day 157

Hey guys. Today's song is Ger Ready For This by 2 UNLIMITED.

These guys are a Belgian/Dutch group the have been around off and on since 1991. Currently it's made up of Ray Slijngaard and Michele Karamat Ali with past members including Anita Doth, Kim Vergouwen, Romy van Ooijen, and Marjon van Iwaarden. Jean-Paul De Coster and Phil Wilde actually formed the group and created an instrumental of this song in 1991, but wanted a rap on it, inviting Slijngaard to try. He did it, and added Doth as well, which they loved and agreed to work with them as the duo. This was their first single, and obviously was a huge hit. After five years and three albums both decided not to continue as after spending too much time together they were starting to disagree about the sound of the group and their lack of creative freedom so went their separate ways in 1996. De Coster and Wilde recruited two new singers for the group in Ooijen and Iwaarden releasing new music starting in 1998, but both singers left by 1999 after releasing an album. In the early 2000's there were remixes done and from the sounds of it another duo promoted, Débora Remagen and James Giscombe, but I honestly don't understand what was going on there. Slijngaard and Doth reunited in 2009. Coster refused to give them the right to perform as 2 Unlimited, but Wilde did join them to do some backing tracks. They started releasing music in 2010 as Ray & Anita and they did very well. In 2012 they were allowed to perform as 2 Unlimited again as well as release a remix of this song. In 2016 Doth left, being replaced by Vergouwen. They did perform in 2020 but hasn't been much since so I guess we'll see what happens.

Year 8, Day 156

Hey guys. Today's song is Dragostea Din Tei by O-Zone.

O-Zone was a Moldovan Eurodance group active from 1999 to 2005 and made up of Dan Bălan, Arsenie Todiraș, Radu Sîrbu, and Petru Jelihovschi. In 1998 the group started as a duo of Dan Bălan and Petru Jelihovschi, but Jelihovschi left in 1999 because he never intended to make a career out of doing music. Bălan held auditions where he met Todiraș, the two of them forming a duo until getting a call from Sîrbu to audition, and the group became a trio. The group moved to Romanian in 2002, getting one hit before releasing this song in 2003. It had faded from popularity by the end of the year, but a not well known Italian group covered the song (without permission) and it topped the Italian charts. The success of that led to the original group getting a record deal, and this song gaining popularity in a bunch of other countries. They released their third album in 2004, but never quite got as big as they were before, and (even though they were still popular) disbanded in 2005. They have had two reunions, one in 2017 and another in 2019. I can bet most of you know the song, but had no idea what the song was, since this is now really only known in meme form, but hey now you can use it as fun trivia when talking to others about the Numa Numa Song.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 155

Hey guys. Today's song is Captain Jack by Captain Jack.

Captain Jack is a German Eurodance group active from 1995 to 2005, then again since 2008 and is currently made up of Bruce Lacy and Michelle Stanley. The original group consisted of Sharky Durban and Liza da Costa, which is who is one this song that was released in 1995. Durban left in 1996 and was replaced by Francisco Gutierrez. The group released two albums before da Costa left in 1998 to go solo, being replaced by Maria Lucia Lozanes. They released an album and a couple singles before Lozanes left in 2000, being replaced by Ilka Anna Antonia Traue. Traue and Gutierrez together released five albums by 2005, but Gutierrez then passed away, leading to the group to go on a hiatus to figure out its future. The group was brought back in 2008 with a completely new lineup made up of Bruce Lacy and Jamie Lee, releasing an album and a couple singles before Lee left the group. Laura Martin joined the group in 2010, releasing an album in 2011 and then leaving in 2012 to pursue a solo career, being replaced with Michelle Stanley. They have some songs since then, but it looks like it's mostly performing that they do now. This song was based on an old army tune known as Hey, Hey Captain Jack, and as expected became extremely popular. I personally know this song from DDR which I used to play all the time, so if you want you can probably look that up and dance along.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 154

Hey guys. Today's song is Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom by Vengaboys.

This is a Dutch Eurodance group (that I listened to all the time as a kid) active from 1997 until 2002, and then again since 2006. Currently the members include Kim Sasabone, Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Robin Pors, and Donny Latupeirissa with past members being Roy Olivero den Burger and Yorick Bakker. Wendelien van Diepen formed the group, finding and hiring the members and they are considered one of the most popular Dutch groups with three albums released before they all disbanded, though I don't know if that was for any particular reason. After they came back it was with some member changes, and started to release new music in 2010. They've mostly done lots of touring and performances, but did release a Christmas album in 2014 that you can check out if you're feeling festive.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 153

Hey guys. Today's song is Satisfaction by Benny Benassi. 

Photo from: Gozamos

I have had this song saved with really no way of finding a spot to put it in because it's so weird, but today feels right. Also I find the video for this absolutely hilarious in its ridiculousness. Is it about showing off sexy ladies? Is it an ad for power tools? Both? Are the shots of these women using the tools to break, maim, and destroy things meant to incite lust, wariness, or fear? It's quite the juxtaposition, although maybe I'm overthinking it. Anyway, Benny Benassi is an Italian DJ active since 1985. He started out as a duo called the Benassi Bros with his cousin Alessandro Benassi before donning the moniker KMC and getting some big traction through songs from that. He switched from house to electro and released this song in 2002 which became a huge hit. He released his debut album in 2003 then released two albums as the Benassi Bros featuring his frequent singing collaborators Paul French and Violeta Claudia in 2004 and 2005. He founded his own label also in 2005, then remixed the song Bring the Noise by Public Enemy in 2007 which earned him a Grammy in 2008. Since then he's released three more albums in 2008, 2011, and 2016, and in between that has worked with some big names in the business including Madonna, Anjulie, and John Legend. So while he's most known for this song, he is in no way a one hit wonder. Go check out the other stuff if you're curious.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 152

Hey guys. Today's song is I Like To Move It by Reel 2 Real featuring The Mad Stuntman.

Alright we had a new dance song yesterday, so I thought why not put up an older dance song. Not that this one is really that old, but you can see and feel the generational gap a little bit. So Reel 2 Real was a hip hop music project from Erick Morillo that was active from 1992 until 1997. In that time he released two albums, from 1994 and 1996. He was a DJ and worked with lots of people before abandoning the pseudonym in 1997. This song specifically was done in 1993 with The Mad Stuntman, the moniker for Mark Quashie. The name was inspired by the 80's TV show The Fall Guy. Quashie was born in Trinidad, but lived in New York where he met Morillo and they worked on this song which became a huge hit. He released three albums, in 1994, 1995, and 1996 before he just kind of faded into obscurity. Obviously this song made a comeback mostly thanks to Madagascar so most people are familiar with it again, which makes it interesting that no one knows anyone about wither of the artists. But at least now you know a little bit.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 151

Hey guys. Today's song is Tip Toe by Jason Derulo. 

Photo from: MTV International

This is another song that is on the list because I watched a choreography video and found it good a long time ago, and it's been on my list since then. Obviously there are always lots of different choreo ones, but I linked the specific one I was talking about. So Jason Derulo has been around since 2006 and has released four albums with the first in 2010 and the most recent in 2015. This song was released in 2017, and was on deck with others to be on his next album, but rather than that because it took him so long working on the album when he got around to it he didn't include any of those first songs because they had their time and the EP was now about a certain vibe rather than being big. So his next two parter EP came out with the first part in 2019 and with the second part on deck for 2020, but he left his label before that came to fruition. He also has acting credits, starring in the movie adaption of Cats (which we all wish didn't exist) and is cast as one of the Isley Brothers in an upcoming biopic. He's been releasing music since leaving the label so check that out if you're curious. And yeah we're not gonna talk about the other guy because his list of sexual assault allegations are numerous and he doesn't deserve recognition for anything other than his misconduct and the pain he's brought to the lives of women. I wouldn't even put this song up, but I wanted the chance to showcase that choreography video. So do with it what you will.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 150

Hey guys. Today's song is Think I'm Crazy by Two Feet.

This is the stage name for Zachary Dess, a triple threat singer/songwriter/producer active since 2016. He originally played in jazz and blues ensembles, but adopted this stage name and started making his own music. He got signed after a viral hit on SoundCloud ended up on the US Hot Rock Songs chart. His first album was released in 2018, and since then he has released three more with one coming out every year starting in 2020. Which means he is another artist that released a new album this year for you to check out, so give it a go.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 149

Hey guys. Today's song is El Dorado by Stellar.

Alright, so Stellar doesn't have an official bio to work off of, but his YouTube has been around since 2014, and it has a little mini bio on it, so I'm going to post that for you guys so you have a bit of information from the man himself. "His career launched on August 6th, 2019 with the release of his debut mixtape Bipolar. Almost a year later Stellar established himself as an upcoming artist with the release of his breakout Dark Pop single Ashes." He's got a lot of music on his page and everything I've heard so far is really good so hopefully you'll check him out. 

Peace.

Year 8, Day 148

Hey guys. Today's song is In The Mirror by The Interrupters.

The Interruptors are a ska punk band active since 2011 and made up of Aimee Interrupter, Kevin Bivona, Justin Bivona, and Jesse Bivona. So Aimee Interruptor is a moniker for Aimee Allen who was originally a solo artist, who met the guys when they were in a band called Telacasters in 2009. Kevin and Aimee started writing, and the other brothers were brought in to play until the band was born. They started off touring with a bunch of groups and playing at some festivals before getting involved in the Tim Timebomb and Friends projects and joining his touring group. Their debut album was released in 2014, followed by a tour and another album in 2016. They released their third album in 2018, which is where this song is from. Fun Fact: All of their albums were produced by Tim Armstong from the Tim Timebomb project earlier in their career. In 2019 they were the cover of Keiiang! magazine, and they were joined on tour by Billy Kottage from Reel Big Fish as a featured musician. Plus they have a new album out this year so go check that one out, because they are a really good band.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 147

Hey guys. Today's song is Informer by Snow.

Snow is Darrin O'Brien, a Canadian reggae singer active since 1989. Growing up he was fascinated by the "gangster lifestyle" and got in with an Irish-Canadian group, getting into a lot of trouble. He dropped out of school in the 9th grade, then encountered an influx of Jamaican immigrants in his neighbourhood, which let to his interest in reggae music, After a brief stint in jail he befriended a Jamaican DJ named Marvin Prince, who helped him refine his sound and actually gave him the Snow moniker, which apparently stands for Super Notorious Outrageous Whiteboy. He gave tapes of his stuff out to a lot of people, but as a white male toting a Jamaican sound, he didn't get much interest. In 1988 he was arrested wrongfully for attempted murder, and while he served time until he got acquitted he did schooling and wrote music, including this song. Meanwhile Prince show his music to a rap star named M.C. Shan, who then introduced Snow to music producers, leading to him being signed in 1991. They quickly recorded his album and it was released in 1993, with this song becoming a huge hit. There was a lot of disputes over the money and credit for that album though between all those involved. He's released five more albums since then, with the most recent from 2002. He has been doing singles since then, working with the likes of Daddy Yankee and actually in 2020 he pretty much sweeped the Latin Billboard Music Awards categories he was nominated in. So even though I only know this song from him, he is apparently still relevant and making music so go look that up if you're interested.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 146

Hey guys. Today's song is Flower by Moby.

Photo by: Justin Higuchi

Moby is the stage name for Richard Hall, an American musician active since 1983. The name Moby comes from him being related to the writer of Moby Dick, and from his dad's nickname for him since he was a large baby. He started with guitar and piano at nine, and was in his first band called the Vatican Commandos, releasing an EP with them, then singing vocals and playing bass on and off for a bit with Flipper and found a post punk band called AWHOL. He moved to New York in 1989 and start DJing around town while also playing in Ultra Vivid Scene. He got signed as a solo artist in 1990 to a new label who released his music under many different monikers such as Voodoo Child, Barracuda, Brainstorm, and UHF to make it seem like they had more artists than they did. He did earn some success as Moby with one of his songs which led to him being more recognized and able to swap mixes with other artists and helping them produce their stuff. With his success he wanted to leave the label and withheld new music when the label said no, but the label continued to put out his old stuff without consent leading to the release of his 1992 and 1993 albums. He was finally able to leave the label and signed with someone else, releasing an EP in 1993, then an album under the name Voodoo Child in 1994, and his third album as Moby in 1995. He also did a remix of that third album, which brought him critical acclaim leading to Billboard dubbing him the King of Techno. He continued to release music under different monikers so he could make the music he wanted without pressure. Over his career he's released 19 albums as Moby, along with 4 EPs, 11 remix albums and 12 compilation albums, not to mention all the other stuff he did under different names. His career is so long as is this post and I'm not even through the 90's so I'll cut it off here. If you want to go in depth, and I suggest you do, go look him up.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 145

Hey guys. Today's song is Why Me? Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

Photo by: Steven Miller

So this is an American swing revival band active since 1989. Current members include Scotty Morris and Kurt Sodergren who founded the group, and also Dirk Shumaker, Andy Rowley, Glen Marhevka, Karl Hunter, and Joshua Levy with two past members beings Jeff Harris and Ralph Votrian. The band released two CD's under their own label, and were featured as the house band on Let's Make A Deal before signing with Interscope Records and releasing three albums in 1998, 1999, and 2003. They also appeared in the halftime show in 1999 and were also featured as ESPN's house band for their award show. Since then they've done songs and performance for a bunch of different shows, and have released four more albums with the most recent from 2017. For them making the rounds I had never actually heard of them until I found this song on YouTube, but they seem great, so I'm sure I'll be checking out more of their stuff. Hope you will too.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 144

Hey guys. Today's song is Dancing With Myself by Nouvelle Vague.

Photo by: Martin Stabenfeldt

This is another one that I've had saved to feature for a really long time, but never quite found the right place to put it. This might still not be quite right, but it serves as a good way to kind of ease us back into the more modern stuff. So Nouvelle Vague is french for new wave, and this group is a French cover band led by Olivier Libaux and Marc Collin, and features a multitude of singers of which there are just too many to name. They've been active since 2003, releasing music since 2004 with the release of their first album, with another in 2006, 2009, and 2010. They did an EP and an album in 2016, followed by another EP in 2017 with some compilation albums since then. The group mostly covers 70's and 80's French new wave music, and uses bossa nova a.k.a. a Portugese new wave musical style. Now let's talk about this song specifically. Originally it was a punk rock song from the band Gen X released in 1980, then was re-released by Gen X's singer as part of his solo career after the band broke up. That singer being Billy Idol, which probably sounds familiar. This song was then covered by Nouvelle Vague for their 2006 album, featuring Phoebe Killdeer as the vocalist on the track. She also has other music to check out if you're interested in her voice, just look up her name and you'll find it. And if you're curious, listen to the other versions of this song to see their differences. In any case, I hope you enjoy.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 143

Hey guys. Today's song is Why Do Fools Fall In Love by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers.

So this group now is called the Teenagers, but at the time of this song was being billed as Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, hence why the name is like that at the top, but I will be treating the group as The Teenagers, because of the lineup now. So The Teenagers is an American group active since 1954, and was actually considered to be rock's first teen act. Currently the group is made up of Herman Santiago, Bobby Jay, Terrence Farward, Jimmy Merchant, and Terry King and has a long list of past members. The original group was Merchant and Santiago, along with Frankie Lymon, Joe Negroni, and Sherman Garnes. It started as Earth Angels, a group founded by Merchant and Garnes, then they added Santiago and Negroni and became The Coupe De Villes. In 1954 Lymon joined the lineup, becoming the Ermines, the the Premiers, then settled on the Teenagers. This song was made by Santiago and Merchant, with some rewriting done with Lymon, but the day they had an audition for a label Lymon ended up singing lead instead of Santiago who was sick at the time. The song, along with others beame big hits, but they were getting billed as Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers which caused infighting (rightly so) and Lymon went solo. He wasn't successful, and ending up addicted to drugs by 15, got clean, relapsed, and overdosed by 25. A sad ending for a talented individual. The Teenagers had continued on with a new lead in Billy Lobrano, but they didn't have any success so he left. Garnes passed away in 1977, followed a year later by Negroni, both from natural causes. The group brought in Bobby Jay and Frankie's brother Lewis Lymon as replacements. By the 80's they had a new lineup of Merchant, Santiago, and Eric Ward, and Pearl McKinnon, using a woman's voice to try to bring back Frankie's sound. Ward left in 1983, replaced by Derek Ventura, then Ventura left in 1984, replaced by Phil Garrito, Meanwhile McKinnon was replaced by Roz Morhead, and they added in Marilyn Byers, then eventually settled on Jimmy Castor as their lead. He was the lead from the late 80's into the 90's, but then was replaced with Timothy Wilson, with that lineup staying for awhile. As I said at the beginning, they are now made up of Santiago, Jay, King, and Farward, and usually are billed as the Legendary Teenagers or as Frankie Lymon's Legendary Teenagers, although using that name feels a little grubby at this point. They only had one album from 1956, during the Frankie era, but had some singles after, with the newest original from 1963 and a re-release of this song from 1989, otherwise they mostly just perform. While the group sounds like it has faced its share of issues, I'll always still appreciate this song, and I hope you will too.

Peace.