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Monday Fun Song (well... sort of): "Don't Leave Me Alone with Her" - Sparks

I've gradually been getting CDs* of the albums I originally had on cassette or record.  While we were making dinner tonight,** someone used the word "propaganda," which, of course, reminded me of Sparks' fourth album, Propaganda (from 1974).  The song that I know best from it is Don't Leave Me Alone with Her - a not-at-all romantic song with very crisp words:

...You look at her and say, "She looks OK to me"
I look at her and say, "She looks OK to me"
The reason's very clear
You're watching her with me

Don't leave me alone with her
Every home is Rome alone with her
And if you all go, who'll say no to her

Unwitting chaperones, how come you cannot see
Unwitting chaperones, how come you cannot see
A Hitler wearing heels
A soft Simon Legree
A Hun with honey skin
De Sade who makes good tea
Don't leave me here to be
Don't leave me here to be

Don't leave me alone with her
Don't my sweat and shaking register
Cause if you all go, who'll say no to her...

I love the LA Weekly article on Sparks, Shooting Off Sparks: 

...Lyrically, he [Ron Mael, the one with the Charlie Chaplin mustache] comes from the "school of Cole Porter," favoring caustic wit over trivial personal problems; his achingly clever lyrics seesaw between superficial gloss, profound sentiment and the incomprehensibly bizarre...

Russell Mael doesn't merely sing, he wraps his roller-coaster falsetto over his brother's impossible lyrics. Russell has the voice of an angel sentenced to Earth for poking fun at his superior. He has sung from the point of view of sperm, Mickey Mouse, suicidal supermodels, a Liberace sympathizer and the suitor of a faded opera star...

 

• They have a well-designed website
• Sparks's Facebook page

* CDs - NOT mp3s.  Mp3s don't have all the musical information that a CD file has.  I've read over and over that most people can't tell the difference.  Well, if I have 10,000 hours of practice*** in anything, it's in playing and listening to music.  I can tell the difference - the space in the music is gone, at the very least, in an mp3.  I find them irritating.  

** Younger son and I made roll dough, dear husband and I shaped the rolls, younger son and I made chocolate chip cookie dough, dear husband made soup, and older son, who might be coming down with a sore throat and therefore was not making food, chatted with us.  

*** In the book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell theorized that it takes 10,000 hours of practice in a field to become expert in it.

Friday Fun Song: "Drop It Low" - Ester Dean with Chris Brown

Two of my favorite Zumba teachers have used this song lately.  It's one of my current favorites.  You'll have to click through to watch the video:

The hat trick near the end is fun too.

Friday Fun Song: "Bare to the Bone" - Carrie Newcomer

I love her beautiful, alto voice and her thoughtful words.  Bare to the Bone is from her album, The Age of Possibility.

 

• Carrie Newcomer's website
• Writing from the spiritual well
• Musician writes of life's small miracles

Saturday Fun Song: "Stand by Me" - Prince Royce and many other musicians

Years ago, I had the 45 of John Lennon's version of "Stand By Me."  I think I like Prince Royce's version even better - particularly since we use it for Zumba!

Okay, that was supposed to be the end of this post - nothing long and involved.  But I had to go check the Wikipedia, where I found that the BMI named this song the fourth most recorded song of the twentieth century! Of course, I had to wander YouTube.

• It was written by Ben E. King for the Drifters who opted not to record it.  It became a hit single for him twice - in 1951 and 1986. 
• John Lennon's version
• Tina Turner's version
• Bruce Springsteen's version
• Led Zeppelin's version
• Version by Bon Jovi and Iranian singer Madadian
• Julian Lennon's version
• A hip hop version by 4 The Cause
• Enrique Iglesias' version
• Theater version from Smokey Joe's Cafe
• Straight No Chaser's a cappella version

I was originally going to put all the videos in this post, but that would make it take forever to load.  However, I had to put these in:

• The Muppets:

• Lady Gaga and Sting:

• Playing for Change - Musicians from around the world singing Stand By Me:

•  Dance to Prince Royce's version by Bachata Soul:

Friday Fun Song: "Back It Up" - Caro Emerald

Daughter introduced me to this song.  I love the jazzy feel, and the video is fun (it's also lots of fun to sing along with).

Here's the description from the YouTube page:

New Orleans...1951...a bar full of genius players, double dealing, sweet talking players with more on their mind than numbers, converge where the hustlers lay on the sugar thicker than the cheap wine that flows in the back rooms of the gambling halls. Eyes shift to the white girl who is obviously lost, or from out of town. And as soon as the timpani plays and she grabs the microphone, her voice moves her from pariah to princess of the pleasure dome. A coincidence ? No, not really...

She's a Dutch jazz singer, and her debut album, Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor (love the title!), was the best selling album in the Netherlands in 2010.  Back It Up was actually a demo song, which caught on due to YouTube and radio play.  The album was put together around the song.

• Caro Emerald's website

Friday Fun Song: "Born on a Friday" - Cleo Laine

If I could sing like anyone else, I'd like to sing like Cleo Laine (...well, except for the days I'd like to sing like Diane Schurr).  There are two albums of hers from the late 70's/early 80's, that I knew but didn't own and that have been out of print for a long time.  We finally found them recently.  For Christmas, dear husband bought me the record of Cleo Laine, Live at Carnegie Hall (apparently it never was released on CD), and I found a used copy of Born on a Friday on Amazon.  For some strange reason, the Schenectedy Library didn't want it anymore.  Their loss; my gain.  The song Born on a Friday is on both albums - live and studio versions.  It's one of my favorite blues songs and one of my favorite Cleo Laine performances:

Saturday Fun Song: "Una Aventura - Bandoleros"

Sometimes it takes me weeks to like certain Zumba songs.  I liked Una Aventura, by Bandoleros, the first time I heard it.  It reminds me of the Gypsy Kings, one of my favorite groups. 

 

Friday Fun Song: Twelve Days of Christmas - Dance version

I love the dance moves in this video!*

[Hat tip to a friend on Facebook]

* So far, I've got them up to "7 swans a swimming."  I can't get the "8 maids a milking" moves yet.

Friday Fun Song: "Shake Your Groove Thing" - Peaches and Herb

I don't multitask.  I'm really good at throwing myself into doing something, but if I'm trying to do three things, I tend to end up focusing on just one sooner or later.

I thought this was going to be a calm week, but it ended up being pretty busy.  We had the normal round of homeschooling, classes, and rehearsals (although, because of my reactions to the allergy shots, I missed one of the two singing rehearsals I had on Wednesday).  Finishing things up in the gardens has been a fairly large project.  We have another large project that I'll write about next week, but that's also taken up lots of time. 

Every time I get really busy, though, things fall through the cracks (I know, you're wondering what this has to do with disco).  The last two weeks, the thing that's starting to fall through is my knee.  I've been careful of my back because of all the yard work.  I've neglected my physical therapy, icing, and stretching, though.

Today, my knee twinged a bit in Zumba.  I knew that it wasn't anything serious - just some swelling (which I later iced out).   I kept it really low impact, but I was almost considering just giving up and leaving - then this song came on. 

When this song was popular, in 1979, I thought it was okay.  Until last summer, when we did a disco dance in One Upon A Mattress, I didn't really care much about disco one way or another, although I liked the occasional song (I never understood people who hate disco).  Now, because enthusiasm is contagious, I really like disco - our choreographer/Lady Beatrice loves it. 

This song wasn't part of Mattress, but it reminded me of the Mattress disco.  During Zumba, it gave me energy and made my morning!

 

Friday Fun Song: "Hey Mama" - Mat Kearney

I occasionally get obsessed with a song, and this song is my current obsession.  If nobody else is around, I'll play it over and over and come up with choreography.  I think I've choreographed it through about three times with a blend of Zumba, Broadway, and jazz. 

I've had a difficult time writing for months now, which is making this NaBloPoMo (Nat'l Blog Posting Month) more challenging.  Someone asked me recently how my creativity was going, and I said that it wasn't going very well because I find it difficult to write.  I thought about it for another second and changed my tune because choreography and photography have been sort of... flowing.*

Hey Mama is the first single from Mat Kearney's fourth album, Young Love.  It's about the beginning of his relationship with his wife. 

• Mat Kearney's website

 

* This post was delayed because I was Googling "How to become a Zumba instructor" and "middle aged Zumba instructors."