Year 5, Day 267

Hey. So today I give you Friends by Anne-Marie and Marshmello.

Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson is a British singer whose been active since 2013. She cut a demo that year, but I guess decided to mature as an artist before releasing her own stuff, so she spent some time doing guest tracks. The band Rudimental heard some of this and when one of their singers left, asked her to do some songs for them. She ended up spending the next two years touring with them. She released her debut EP in 2015 and did a couple live performances of that while working on her album. While the debut album wasn't out until this year, she's been releasing songs from it since 2016 as singles to hype it up. And it's worked. Her own stuff along with her featured vocals on Rockabye by Clean Bandit have put her career at a solid spot for her beginning. Marshmello is an American DJ. His name is Christopher Comstock, but I've literally never seen his face so we're sticking with his persona. (He also is known by Dotcom, and everyone pegged him as Marshmello before it was officially released). He actually started out on SoundCloud, posting original stuff in 2015 which got the attention of other well known performers who shared it. He released his debut album in 2016 and has since worked with a ton of people and made a huge name for himself. He released a second album last month, and while I know who he is now, I'm good with DJ's doing personas. It's kind of fun. All that matters is he makes great music and I'm eager for more.Now I've attached the official music video, but personally I like the lyric video more because the drawings of them are adorable. Check it out.

Same kind of line as yesterday, this song needs to be one with counting. We've got a variety. Going festive, my grandma chose the Twelve Days of Christmas. My mom went predictable for her with 321 by Hedley, Anna did 1234 by Feist, and Will went predictable for him with The Heretic Anthem by Slipknot. Sammy went with Seasons of Love from Rent.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 266

What's Up. Today's song is L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole.

Nathaniel Adams Coles started in music the same way a lot did at that time: in church because his family was involved. He learned to play the organ really young, but started formal lessons later at age 12. By 15 he left school to pursue music, forming a trip that recorded music for a label including stuff for a musical revival. He ended up touring with them and marrying a member of the cast. He did a lot to further things for his race with is amazing, the King Cole trio sponsored their radio show becoming the first program on air sponsored by a black musician, and a decade later he hosted the Nat King Cole Show on NBC becoming the first African American host on television. He was the one to pull the plug on the show in 1957, but the show had been failing for awhile because no one would sponsor it. He continued to thrive in the music industry singing in English and doing Spanish songs. He experimented with other genres over the years, but is mostly a jazz guy. He was married twice, the second one just six days after the divorce went through, and his second wife was actually contemplating divorce because he was having an affair when they found out he had lung cancer. He was a heavy smoker (as most people were then) and only had months to live. He continued making music, the album of the same name as this song being his last and died in 1965 (on my birthday which freaks me out). Throughout his life he had to deal with a lot of racism. Basically anything you've seen depicted as happening happened to him, but he was a strong guy and made it through. So I hope you appreciate him and the song.

Going back to simple parameters this song needed to be one with spelling in it. My grandma's response was immediate with D-I-V-O-R-C-E by Loretta Lynn, and Anna picked W-O-M-A-N by Etta James. Sammy went with the Alphabet Aerobics by Blackalicious, but I fully thought she just meant the A, B, C's so my bad Sammy. My mom went with Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani. Will was last and chose Simple by Florida Georgia Line.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 265

Hey everybody. Today's song is Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra.

Frank Sinatra was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. He started out after getting kicked out of school and used to find odd jobs singing to pay for things. At the time he also decided to take elocution classes and his speech teacher was the first to notice his talent. He got his start in 1935 when the group the 3 Flashes let him hang around (which they only did because he had a car). He begged them to let him join for an audition they were having, and after that they became known as the Hoboken Four. They won and got a lot of attention, and eventually Sinatra became the lead singer and the one everyone noticed. In 1938 he was working as a singing waiter next to a radio station, and started performing on one of the shows. By the next year he got the opportunity to record a single and once that was heard he got signed. He was put in with the Harry James band and released songs with dismal ratings, which made him frustrated and he left to join the Tommy Dorsey band. He debuted there in 1940 and it marked a change in him and his career Dorsey took him under his wing as a father figure, and really helped Sinatra develop his craft. After a couple successful years, Sinatra convinced Dorsey to let him do solo songs which started in 1942. When Sinatra went solo for real, his relationship with Dorsey crumbled and never got fixed. He became known as Swoonatra, wooing the hearts of all the girls in a phenomenon that was unheard of at the time, even causing the Columbus Day riot. When the war came around, it was a big deal that Sinatra didn't go. Officially people were told he was unfit because of a perforated eardrum, but the truth is that he was deemed unfit after a psychiatric evaluation. He did spend a lot of time in those years performing for the troops alongside the Andrew Sisters. He spent a couple years at the height f his career releasing tons of music and playing a lot of shows before his career declined in 1950. The death of a friend, an injury, and the publicized release of his affair brought his career down. His divorce put him in debt, and caused him to go to LA to perform at a hotel. This is pretty much how Vegas shows came about. In 1953 he threw himself back into his work, both music and film, focusing on nothing else. His career made a comeback in the next couple years, and eventually he started his own music label which became highly successful and sold for millions. He continued to thrive, becoming infamous somewhere along the way before retiring in 1970, being bored of singing his old tunes. His retirement was short lived, coming back after a couple years and continuing on until his death in 1998.

This is a little different, it's a song by an artist that someone else chose for you. So Anna chose mine after I explained it to her. Sammy did Bully by Shinedown, and Will picked Radioactive by Imagine Dragons. The my grandma said North To Alaska by Johnny Horton, and my mom chose Fishin' In The Dark by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 264

Hi guys. Today's song is Uptown Girl by Billy Joel.

I'm sure most people know the name, but maybe not the career. He was born to Jewish parents, and his family has a lot of music in their blood. His parents ended up splitting up, and he would take jobs playing piano at bars while going to school to help his mom make ends meet. When he failed to graduate (because of the playing) he decided to just skip it and foray into his music career. He started with a band called the Echoes, but changed the name to the Emeralds, then to the Lost Souls. He left after two years and joined a band called the Hassles who ultimately failed and then split from there to form a duo with the drummer. That group also failed when he had an affair with the drummer's wife (soon to become his first wife). He signed as a solo artist in 1970, but because of a studio fuck up his music didn't do well at first. It wasn't until people heard live versions that he started to get noticed. By 1973, he signed with (and could actually make music on) a new label, and Piano Man was born. For the next decade he popped out hits left and right, songs that are still classics today. At that point he was starting to get branded as a soft rocker which he took offense to, so he spent a couple years playing with his sound and being more adventurous in his topics. In 1983 he went back to lighter music with a tribute to the doo wop era, which is where this song comes from. The 90's saw an upheaval of the people he kept around him with most being pushed out of the picture and a couple different lawsuits for fraud being filed. By this time he was on to wife number two. By 1994 he was divorced again, and playing concerts with Elton John. Which is perfect because my brain always pairs them up. He continued touring in the 2000's and by 2007 was recording music again (which he hadn't done for 14 years at that point). He's continued on this way and still does today, so I don't know if retirement will ever be a thing for him, but he sure has had a lasting career and has shattered records. It's kind of amazing.

This one the criteria was a song that makes you happy. Mine I put a song that I know is a mood changer for me, it makes me feel instantly happy when I hear it so it was perfect for the category. My grandma went with Happy Heart by Andy Williams, and my mom chose Who Do You Love by Marianas Trench. Anna said any song by this guy, but picked All We Got by Chance The Rapper featuring Kanye West. Sammy went predictable with Shake It Off by Taylor Swift, and Will chose Feel Good Inc by Gorillaz.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 263

Hello. So today's song is Respect by Aretha Franklin.

I've already done a post on her career, so none of that today. I had a really hard time picking a song for this category because by definition if you can think of a version of the song besides the original that you prefer, it doesn't fit. And every song I thought of was like that. Finally I settled on this song because Aretha is a legend and everyone love this song, loves to sing along; and I have never heard a version of this that didn't make me want to listen to the original, so there you go.

Today is supposed to be a song that can never be improved upon. Which is a hard choice. Sammy and Will both chose the same song, which is Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, while my grandma went with Rocky Mountain High by John Denver and my mom chose Thank You by Johnny Reed. Anna went with a classic in I Want You Back by the Jackson 5.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 262

What's Up. Today I give you Wannabe by the Spice Girls.

Much like the Beatles who I mentioned a couple days ago, these girls broke records and smashed through what the music industry was to make a place for themselves. The group consisted of Mel B, Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton, Melanie C, and Geri Halliwell. But really they were known respectively as Scary Spice, Posh Spice, Baby Spice, Sporty Spice, and Ginger Spice. An ad was put in the papers in 1994 to get girls to audition for the group, and out of 400 who showed, four of the girls were found, along with one who didn't end up staying. They were originally called Touch (horrible name) and spent a couple months doing demos, one called Sugar and Spice. From that Geri changed their name, and Emma came in to replace the old member. The girls were pissed that they didn't have a solid contract, so they essentially did a tour for A&R Reps which made everyone want them. In 1995 they split from their management company and stole their master tapes with all their material before signing with an Entertainment company. They debuted in 1996 with this song, and as you can probably guess, it became huge, becoming the biggest selling single by an all-female group of all time. Their album came out the same year, and people put it on the level of the Beatles, dubbing it Spicemania, even leading them to break a record that The Beatles had set. They released their second album in 1997, and fired their manager which was a bold move at the time. The next year Geri quite the group, reasons ranging from exhaustion to dissonance in the group, and went solo for awhile. Her leaving kind of wrecked all the plans that had been in motion for the group and even led to a lawsuit with one of their sponsors, a case which is now a precedent in England. 1999 was the year of babies, with two of the girls giving birth. This was also the year that Victoria married David Beckham, which I only mention because it's pretty much become a meme now. Despite the personal changes, the worked on and released a new album in 2000 with a different sound that no one really appreciated. After that they went on hiatus indefinitely to do solo careers, but stated that they weren't breaking up. Which gave them room for their comeback which they did in 2007 for a year. After a tour they went back to their personal lives, but briefly emerged again for the Olympics in 2012 and to promote the Spice Girls musical in the works. As of 2016 they were back, but only three because Mel C has a pretty solid career on her own, and Victoria is busy with her own stuff. Of course that ended when Geri got pregnant. Although recent news this year says there will be another reunion so I guess we'll see.

Similar to yesterday, this one is a song from the 90's, which is kind of my go to. Will chose Walk by Pantera, Anna said No Rain by Blind Melon, and Sammy picked Skinnydippin' by The Vengaboys. My mom chose Right Now by Atomic Kitten. My grandma ends it with I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 261

Afternoon guys. So today's song is Girls Just Want To Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper.

She had a surprisingly hard life growing up, facing abuse from a stepfather and people who bullied her by legitimately throwing stones at her. She even damaged her vocal chords and was told she's never sing again before her fame even began.She started out singing covers in a bunch of bands before forming her own with a saxophone player she met. They were called Blue Angel's and despite labels offering her solo contracts, she passed until they would take the band as a whole. The album failed, they broke up, she ended up bankrupt and working at IHOP and singing in clubs before being picked up again as a soloist. She was given songs to sing, but she often changed them (which she did with this song), taking a misogynistic hit and making it a lady anthem. By the second album she was allowed to write her own songs and started doing some film work. Since then she released a lot of music that deals with hard issues, has done lots of activism for LGBT rights, done acting, collaborated with others, and built a good life for herself. She honestly deserves it.

These are our favorite 80's songs, which is hard for me because I love that decade for songs. Will made a face when I asked for this one, but he said One by Metallica. Anna settled on That's When I Reach For My Revolver by Mission of Burma. My grandma went with Karma Chameleon by Culture Club which prompted my sister singing that every time the name is said, then Sammy chose Livin' On A Prayer by Bon Jovi. Then my mom has decided on We Got The Beat by The Go Go's.

Peace.