Angelo Spinazzola

Here is a nice upbeat song, Everyone Will Shine, by Angelo Spinazzola. (Isn't that a really cool name!) It is from his CD "From Roots to Wings".

Angelo is from Nova Scotia. I met him years ago, when my ex-wife and I took a trip to that lovely northern, hilly part of the province known as Cape Breton. Mr. Spinazzola, besides performing as a musician at night, runs a very goodguided kayak tour business. We went on his tour, had a great time, (saw lots of bald eagles, in Canada!), and he was such a nice guy I bought his CD. As it turns out, he is also an excellent musician, as you will discover once you listen to his music.

Check out his myspace page, and if you happen to be in Sydney, Nova Scotia, maybe you can catch one of his shows.

By the way, Cape Breton is a GREAT place for anyone to visit who likes music. I would guess there are more musicians per capita there than anywhere else in the world. Just watch out for the bagpipes!!

My PC has gone mute!!

Well, this is embarrassing ......... the sound card, (I guess it is the sound card?), on my PC has died, and now my PC is mute. That's right: I can not hear a durned thing! Which means that, if in a fit of senility I mislabel a song or two, I won't be able to catch my error. Phooey!!

To celebrate (?) my PC's lack of auditory output, here is 10 seconds of silence. (Wow - how avant-garde, huh?)

Reggae Covers

I briefly mentioned the "20 Best of Reggae" CD in the previous post. Let me tell you now that I think this is a really wonderful CD.

The CD consists of reggae versions of famous rock-n-roll hits. Besides "Hotel California", it has great versions of "Don't Stop", "Start Me Up", "Sara Smile", "Lay Lady Lay", "We Can Work It Out", and D'Yer Mak'er , which I should have included on my Led Zeppelin Covers post.

I bought this CD new at Best Buy for something like $5.00, so I certainly feel I got my money's worth. Check it out!

Welcome to the Hotel California

Here are two covers of the Eagles "Hotel California".

First, we have this version from a band called "Kid With Man Head", off their "Flapjack Hairpiece" CD. I'd like to see these guys live; they look like they put on a fun show.

Next, a reggae version by Edi Fitzroy, off the "20 Best of Reggae" CD. More about this CD in another post!

Dry Bones (Dem Bones)

Here's a sweet little song my Papa sent me: Dry_Bones, a version of the old spiritual Dem Bones, sung by the Delta River Boys.

I know next to nothing about the Delta River Boys, (Wikipedia never heard of them), but my Papa says Bing Crosby sang with them early in his career, although Wikipedia says he is wrong.

Gary Valenciano!

If you are a filipino, surely you know of Gary Valenciano, or Gary V., for short. (Did you also know he is known as, "Mr. Pure Energy", because of his energetic dancing?) Here are two of his songs, which I assume are sung in Tagalog, as he in from the Manila area.

I have no idea what Natutulog Ba Ang Diyos nor Sana y Maulit Muli mean. Anybody out there speak Tagalog?

Did you know there is a Tagalog version of Wikipedia?

A Silly Post

How about a very, very Short_Song? This is an a cappella "performance" by your friendly blogger. (Aren't you glad it is a SHORT song!)

And here, as an encore, is the "dub, scatter" remix: Short_Song_remix. What do they really mean by "scatter" or "dub" remix anyway? Do those words mean anything at all, or are they just empty marketing blather?

Mozart, the Original Headbanger

Listen to this song, (first movement of Sonata for Two Pianos, K.448), and I'm sure you'll agree with me that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had the heart of a rock-n-roller.

I first heard this song performed many eons ago when I was a student at the University of Georgia, and have liked it ever since. This version comes from the "Concerto & Sonata For Two Pianos" CD.

Rock on, Wolfie, rock on!!

For my Sunshine!

For my sweetie, here is my favorite Blood, Sweat, and Tears song, You_Made_Me_So_Very_Happy, which I took off the "Found Treasures" CD.

Download, play it, and crank up the volume!

Here's another one: You_Are_So_Beautiful, from "Joe Cocker's Greatest Hits".

I love you, Dear!!

An Angry Song!

Yesterday was an extremely frustrating day at work. Now understand that my job alternates between just normally frustrating, very frustrating, and extremely frustrating. Yesterday was not a good day.

Yesterday evening I was still irritated, and found myself unable to sleep. So ...... I hopped on the internet, and went cruising to places I probably should not go!

One of these was the webpage of a young lady who dumped me last year. Now some of you may know that currently I am engaged to a most wonderful woman, who also happens to be from the Philippines, and that we are waiting, and waiting, and waiting for a VISA so she can come join me here in Columbia, SC, and we can get married. The woman who dumped me was also a filipina. Well, as it turns out, guess who got her VISA and is already in the USA?

So, I humbly dedicate this song, Devine_Thing, to all the people who helped make yesterday so irritating for me.

Yet, yet ......

Who am I to complain, really? I have a job, which even though I do not always like it, pays me well, and is safe. I am healthy, and my family members are all healthy. And most importantly, I am engaged to the wonderful Ronelin, who is truly the Sunshine in my life. (Okay everybody, say "Ah, how sweet!")

Devine_Thing is off the "Hotwired" CD by The Soup Dragons, another band from the UK. (Scotland is part of the UK, but not of England, correct?)

World Exclusive!!

Okay, well maybe not totally "exclusive", but here is a tune I can all but guarantee you will NOT find anywhere else. Todd Cecil, (see earlier posting "Led Zeppelin Covers" for another of his songs!), sent this little ad-lib song to my buddy Jackson, who sent it to me. And now you too can hear Todd strummin' his banjo to the tune, Lay_Your_Burden_Down.

Just a reminder: Mr. Cecil will be playing at the "Rhythm on the River" concert series here in Columbia, SC, on June 16th. If you live 'round these parts, get yerself on down to the river to hear some good music!

Weird Music from Japan

Back to the subject of unheard music ......... maybe, in her proper cultural context, Yoko Ono isn't so strange after all? (Nah ...... she's weird. And proud of it!)

Anyway, here is some very strange music from Japan. The song is Love_Isnt_Blind, and it is off the "Guitar Organism" CD. "Guitar Organism" seems to be the brainchild of one Kazuyuki K. Null, of whom I know not a durn thing, other than he is an experimental musician, (obviously!), and his real name is apparently Kazuyuki Kishino. However, if you do a Google search, you will see that "Guitar Organism" pops up in a few playlists.

We live in a weird world!

So, Ken, does anyone read your blog?

Does anyone read my blog?

I have been asked this question, and I immediately answer, "Of course!" And it is true. Friends, family .... at least once ....... maybe.

Okay, here's the deal: it does not matter whether only 1 person ever reads this blog, because it costs me absolutely nothing to post to it. I only lose my time, which is not really a loss, because I am learning all about blogging in the process. And if that one person hears some music s/he likes, and then buys the CD because of this blog, then I have done my job. (Ta da! Give that boy a medal!)

And besides, I am making money off this blog! Why just a little over a week ago, I received my first payment from Google Adsense. Okay, it was only for 42¢, but hey, even the largest financial empires have to start somewhere, right?

I've also been asked why I get so few comments. (Confession: the only comment to date was posted by me!) Part of the reason for this is that to leave a comment, you need a blogspot id, which I think is a real bummer. I know that if I am browsing a website, and I have to create an id to leave a comment, I just won't leave a comment.

So there!!

Pyscho Chicks

A couple of screamers for ya:

First we have Petra, of the group Scrub, signing Real_World. This song is off the "Wake Up!" CD.

I know next to nothing about this group, or its lead singer. Anyone know whatever happened to Petra? Mike Showalter, the group's drummer, turns up on a few internet pages, so I assume Scrub has long since disbanded.

Next we have the wonderful Lucia Cifarelli singing with her now sadly defunct band Drill the sweet little tune, Go_To_Hell. This song is from the "Drill" self-titled CD.

I usually don't like overtly dark, heavy rock, but I really enjoy this album, and am sad that Drill never released another. I read that they did tour extensively. Maybe someone has recordings of some of their live performances?

Whatever happened to ..............

Sinead O'Connor? She of the infamous "Pope photo ripping incident"? (Hey, at least she didn't draw a cartoon of Mohammad!)

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about her: Sinead! And here is the song Scarlet Ribbons that helped her through a difficult childhood. The song is from the "Am I Not Your Girl?" CD.