Working On A Dream’s Album Cover
Boss fans: How does this make you feel?
I have to admit, I’m pretty lenient when it comes to album covers from my favorite artists. I think it goes back to Lovesexy – possibly the most embarrassing album cover of all time. Regardless of one’s opinion, you’re gonna be spending a fair amount of time with the record, so you may as well learn to get along, right? As an 18 year old kid, I stepped into the record store, grabbed a copy of Prince’s new album, and with as much masculinity as I could muster, placed this on the counter and paid me my money down…
Nowadays we buy most of our music behind the anonymous curtain of the internet. In MY day, you suffered for your music!
Well, It’s Not a Box This Time…
An instant classic from The Lonely Island crew. The Lonely Island is Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone also known as the team behind the SNL Digital Shorts that have become beacons of funny in a sea of mediocre (save for this year). The team is is releasing thier debut record INCREDIBAD on February 10th.
Links: Official Site
Santa Boss is Coming to Town
No holiday season on Ickmusic (and we’re in our 5th!) is complete without some holiday Boss. Give me the two Bruces (Cockburn and Springsteen), and it’s enough to ride me through the holiday season for sure – enough to ride me through a lifetime, come to think of it. Here’s a nice little collection I stumbled across a few days ago, featuring some holiday-style Bruce through the years.
It’s followed by Bruce and the Band’s appearance on Conan, back on December 12th, 2002. Bruce is in a giving mood, handing out a blow-up doll for Max, and a George Foreman grill for Conan – two items sure to warm any cold winter’s night.
Bruce Springsteen
Santa Boss Is Coming To Town1. Jingle Bells (Christmas Holiday Night, Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ – 12/18/2000)
2. Blue Christmas (Christmas Holiday Night, Convention Hall, Asbury Park – NJ 12/18/2000)
3. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town [mp3] (Winterland Night, Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA – 12/15/1978)
4. Merry Christmas Baby (Nassau Night, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY – 12/31/1980)
5. The Wish (Freehold Night, St. Rose of Lima School, Freehold, NJ – 11/8/1996)
6. Pilgrim In The Temple Of Love (Sydney Night, Capitol Theatre, Sydney, Australia – 2/12/1997)
7. Run Run Rudolph (Christmas Holiday Night, Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ – 12/18/2000)
8. Deck The Halls (Jingle Bell Night, Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ – 12/7/2001)
9. Jingle Bell Rock (3:38) Jingle Bell Night, Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ – 12/7/2001)
10.Christmas Baby Please Come Home (Jingle Bell Night, Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ 12/7/2001)
11. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (Christmas Holiday Night, Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ – 12/18/2000)A Nudge in the Right Direction
It’s been awhile since we shared what’s popping up on our readers…
- The 25 Days of Mellowmas kicked off over at Popdose this week complete with an original theme song composed and performed by Alan O’Day. (Somewhere Alan Thicke is calling his management to contact Jeff and Jason for next year.)
- Radio Exile provides an official timeline to the whole Satriani vs. Coldplay debacle. (Because C, D, G, Em is clearly the most obscure chord progression ever.)
- It would appear that both Fleetwood Mac and The Faces are both headed out on the road in 2009. (Paging Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers…)
- Finally, it would appear Prince has lured yet another young lady into his life with the promise of a record release. (Can someone have Támar‘s people call Bria‘s people to start the intervention now?)
Enjoy!
Ickmusic’s Friday Five: December 5, 2008
Welcome to the first week of our “Holiday Edition” of the Friday Five!
As we wind down to the New Year the last four editions of the Friday Five will be shuffled from my vast collection of Holiday music. I encourage everyone to play along and spin up some holiday cheer. With the holiday season being short and the duress of the current economic climate being ever present we could all use a little lift in spirits.
For those who have not joined in the Five, here’s how it works: … I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five with a bit of insight for each track.
Then it’s your turn! Just share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments and see what your fellow readers are listening to as well.
Here are this week’s tracks:
1. The Jackson 5 – Up on the Housetop (from Now That’s What I Call Christmas, Volume 3)
My wife and I were discussing the irony of the bevy of Jackson-related holiday tunes just the other day. I do love this track though.
2. Chuck Berry – Merry Christmas Baby (mp3) (from Rockin’ Little Christmas)
As much as I dig this track, “Run Run Rudolph” is far superior. I will say, however, that Springsteen‘s cover of this is on my “Top 10 Recent Christmas Songs”.
3. Vince Guaraldi Trio – Christmas Time Is Here (instrumental) (from A Charlie Brown Christmas)
Nothing captures the holiday ‘feel’ better than the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas.
4. Andy Williams – It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (from Now That’s What I Call Christmas, Volume 3)
I realize it’s the pangs of nostalgia that endear these tunes to our collective conscious but some of these songs are so earnest and true that it’s hard to deny their timelessness.
5. Dean Martin – Baby It’s Cold Outside (mp3) (from Christmas With Dino)
Dean Martin was one smooth motherf**ker. Proof positive is the cover of the record that this classic is originally from A Winter Romance where we see a picture of Deano holding a lovely young lady while throwing the “how you doin'” look to another philly nearby. You can clearly deduce that he’s bringing both of these birds back to his chalet for martinis and a three way romp.
Now it’s your turn, what’s getting you in the holiday spirit?
No, Really… It’s Me
The marketing machine behind Lily Allen‘s new record It’s Not Me, It’s You, due out February ’09, is in full swing and it’s certainly got my attention. Her video for the first single “The Fear” puts the foul mouthed popster in an Alice in Wonderland world complete with living presents and balloon festooned dancers.
Links: Official Site | on Last.fm | on MySpace
Christmas at the Gap
Yes it’s crass commercialism at best but I’ll be damned if this years Gap holiday campaign isn’t brilliant. It’s funny, catchy and doesn’t necesarily beat you over the head with the merchandise. Rainn Wilson and Selma Blair turn in a topsy-turvy take on the Frank Loesser classic “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”. It’s definitely kick started my late blooming holiday spirit. You can catch the rest featuring The Dixie Chicks, Janelle Monáe, Jon Heder and many more at the Gap site, but here’s my favorite…
Christmas with Bruce Cockburn (or in my case, a remedy for the Holiday Blues)
How in the holy frijoles is it December already? And why do I get the same stressed, panicked feeling every year? And why do I harbor such resentment against those who get their Christmas shopping done early (or prance gaily around their yards stringing up their lights the day after Thanksgiving)?
*deep breath*
The truth is, when I put myself in the mindset of how much I enjoyed the holidays as a kid, I can actually get some of those warm, good time-y feelings back. And having two little kids adds to the fun too. But man oh man, the stress returns every year, as sure as the commercials.
Music, of course, is the key to bringing back some of that positive holiday energy. Since 1994, this collection of tunes has steered the way (or the sleigh, heh). I taped this special off the radio that holiday season. I’ve said this all before, but Bruce Cockburn is a warm, comforting musical presence in my life, and listening to him sing these great songs and play the guitar like only he can – well – it’s better than a fridge full of nog.
Now, Nanci Griffith joins Bruce here, and sings some songs of her own (“Wexford Carol”, “Grafton Street”, “Going Back to Georgia”, etc.). But it’s the Bruce tunes that resonate with me: “Shepherds” opens the show, and has always been a song that pops into my head throughout the year, for some reason: “Glooooooria, in the hiiiighest.” I’m not heavy into the religion, mind you, but when Bruce sings, I’m a believer; “Deer Dancing Around a Broken Mirror”, a spirited and lush instrumental tune; “Huron Carol”, a song written in the 1600’s by a Jesuit missionary to the Huron Indians, and sung in the Huron language. Bruce gives a wonderful introduction, and reads the English translation beforehand; and of course, two favorites of mine: “I’m Gonna Fly Someday” and “One Day I Walk”. Sublime.
Enjoy. And hey, happy holidays, eh? Oh, and always a reminder for you fellow Yanks that haven’t heard of Bruce from the great white north – it’s CO-Burn. Co sounding like So. Ho ho ho.
“Christmas with Cockburn” (ZIP of mp3’s)
The Columbia Records Radio Hour, 1994Intro
Shepherds
Wexford Carol (Nanci Griffith)
Brave Companion of the Road (NG)
Deer Dancing Around a Broken Mirror
I’m Gonna Fly Someday
Grafton Street (NG)
Going Back to Georgia (NG)
One Day I Walk / Intro to Huron Carol
Huron Carol
Mary Had a BabyDefinitive Rod
I guess it takes well over half a dozen greatest hits packages to land at “The Definitive”. And while the word does not get bandied about as much as “The Essential” it certainly implies some form of completeness to it. Unfortunately this latest Rod Stewart collection falls short in a few places. Conspicuously missing are entries from his insanely popular “The Great American Songbook” series and a stray hit here and there (“All for Love” was an international number one, wasn’t it). Despite its shortcomings the 2 disc set manages to cohesively get you from rockin’ “Rod the Bod” to the blue eyed soul of his early 90’s material. It occurred to me in listening to the set that I am clearly a fan of 70’s and late 80’s/early 90’s Rod and could live without hearing “Infatuation” ever again. That aside it was like revisiting an old friend listening to hits such as “Maggie May”, “You Wear It Well” and “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright)”. Even “Da Ya Think I m Sexy?” got cranked up in the headphones. The deluxe version of the set includes a DVD featuring 14 videos and more spandex and hairspray than a 1986 Poison concert. Far be it from me to keep all that goodness to myself so here’s two from the set.
Rod Stewart – Da Ya Think I m Sexy? (Video)
Rod Stewart – Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright) (Video)
Buy The Definitive Rod Stewart: Amazon | iTunes
Links: Official Site | on Last.fm | on MySpace
It’s My Lucky Day
The holiday season is upon us, and the Boss is like Santa Claus – the gift that keeps on givin’. This week, he unleashes another new song from his upcoming release ‘Working on a Dream’. This one’s called “My Lucky Day”.
Bruce Springsteen’s new song “My Lucky Day” – from the album ‘Working on a Dream’ (January 27 / Columbia Records) — will be available on AmazonMP3 and MySpace Music for one week starting today.
Additionally, Amazon.com, Inc. and MySpace today exclusively debuted the music video for “My Lucky Day,” the first time that the two sites have collaborated on streaming video. Fans can visit the Amazon Bruce Springsteen Artist Store, http://www.amazon.com/brucespringsteen, and the MySpace Bruce Springsteen Artist Profile page, http://www.myspace.com/brucespringsteen, to watch the video and download the new single. As an added bonus, fans can also check out an extra two-minutes of behind-the-scenes footage of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band preparing to record the song.
Springsteen’s new album ‘Working on a Dream’ has been set for January 27 release on Columbia Records. ‘Working on a Dream’ was recorded with the E Street Band and is the fourth collaboration between Springsteen and Brendan O’Brien, who produced and mixed the album.