It is clear you need a list of artists whose songs you should avoid:
You cannot possibly sing as well as them. The only way you are going to get away with it is to do it in a different style, but that is really dangerous too.
This is the fourth year of the competition. You should have seen enough others try something similar and fail.
I have been trying to buy the soundtrack to The Life Aquatic on iTunes all morning. Every time, I click on ‘Buy Album’ I get a message that says:
Purchase of this item it not currently available.
This items is being modified please try again later.
I had this same problem with Barenaked for the Holidays in December.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Similar Irritations?
Update [9:13PM]: The album is available for purchase, but now it costs $11.99. The two dollar increase has not tempered by desire for the album. The final song is downloading now…
I sent a couple of people a copy of my 2002 holiday mix. This is so I tell them (and you) what is on the disc. I have linked to iTunes where I can. Some are just clips I have found floating around the net.
Holiday Mix 2002
1 – A Mad Russian’s Christmas | Trans-Siberian Orchestra | Christmas Eve and Other Stories (4:42)
2 – White Christmas | The Drifters | Home Alone Soundtrack (2:42)
3 – Winter Wonderland | Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass | ??? (3:05)
4 – Little Drummer Boy (Grinch Mix) | Jars of Clay | Drummer Boy -EP (4:50)
5 – ‘Zat You Santa Claus | Louis Armstrong | What a Wonderful Christmas (2:39)
6 – Give a Little Bit | Sarah Masen | ??? (3:39)
7 – Blue Christmas | Elvis Presley | Elvis Presley: Holiday Classics (2:07)
8 – Green Christmas | Barenaked Ladies | Barenaked for the Holidays (2:34)
9 – The Christmas Song | Mel Torme | Christmas for Lovers (2:48)
10 – Christmas in the Caribbean | Jimmy Buffet | Tennessee Christmas (3:13)
11 – Baby, It’s Cold Outside | Diane Reeves and Lou Rawls | Jazz to the World (3:54)
12 – Snoopy’s Christmas | Royal Guardmen (?) | ??? (3:10)
13 – Gabriel’s Message | Sting | A Very Special Christmas Vol. 1 (2:11)
14 – Go Tell It on the Mountain | Yellowjackets | GRP Christmas Collection Vol. 3 (4:33)
15 – One Little Christmas Tree | Tina Arena | ??? (3:34)
16 – Sleigh Ride | Squirrel Nut Zippers | Christmas Caravan (3:11)
17 – O Holy Night |*NSYNC | Home for Christmas (3:36)
18 – 12 Days of Christmas | Bob and Doug MacKenzie | Great White North (?) (4:50)
19 – Christmas is Coming to the USA | Jimmy Fallon, et al | SNL (1:53)
20 – Star Wars Christmas | Yoda, Darth Vader, and Jabba the Hutt | ??? (1:23)
21 – Love Train | The O’Jays | The O’Jays: Super Hits (3:04)
22 – Santa Claus is Coming to Town | Various Artists | A Very Special Christmas (3:54)
A couple of years ago, I started making a holiday CD for family and friends. It serves as our Christmas card each year.
I start with buying one of the cool pre-printed CDRs at 5inch.com.
Then, it normal takes me a week or two to figure out what to put on there. This year, iTunes made that easier. The growing collection of music made it alot of fun. I do recommend getting off their canned lists and doing searches on song titles. You get a better selection of songs to choose from.
With further ado, here is our 2004 holiday CD:
I am a big fan of Barenaked Ladies and they have a new holiday album called “Barenaked for the Holidays”. It is a combination of old and new material, and has all the fun of a typical BNL album. You’ll find “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, “Green Christmas”, and their “God Rest Ye/ We Three Kings” medley with Sarah McLaughin. My favorite of the new is “Elf’s Lament”. They brought in Michael Buble to help with it.
I am going to direct you to the BNL site to buy it. I got a strange message from iTunes today that I could no longer purchase the item off their site (and I could not find a way to contact them to tell them I had a problem).
As iTunes becomes my source for music, I find that I buy singles, not albums. I know there is nothing earth-shaking about that, but I often try other songs off an album and come away disappointed.
So, I am suggesting a few of singles and in no way vouch for other songs on the albums.
I just like this post. It capture a lot of great ideas. It is about the music industry, but it is also about passion and Generation C.
[via Scoble’s Linkblog]
I was (still am) a pretty big Huey Lewis and the News fan. I got tickets to see them live at Summerfest about 12 years ago. The band that opened for them was called The Subdudes and I thought they put on a better show then HL&TN. I can’t tell you how many times I have listened to their Lucky album. They just have a great southern rock/blues sound. I should also say that I am a sucker for accordion and organ. They use a lot of the first.
After a seven year silence, The Subdudes have just released a new album called Miracle Mule. Check out Morning Glory, I’m Angry, or Maybe You Think.
P.S. For a limited time, the Subdudes are offering a free download of their song “Help is On The Way” on their website.
This week I am going to recommend listening to Colin Hay. You all know him as the front man of Men At Work. I find I really like his solo work. There was an episode of Scrubs that featured Hay and a few of his songs. He played an acoustic version of “Overkill” and the episode ended with the cast singing “Waiting for My Real Life to Begin”.
His 2001 solo album Going Somewhere has “Waiting For…”, but you will need to buy the import version to get the acoustic “Overkill”. You can also find a slightly different acoustical version of “Overkill” on the Scrubs Soundtrack with Hay’s “Beautiful World”.
Might I also recommend his 2002 album Company of Strangers available at CD Baby.
The only Colin Hay I could find on iTunes was “I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You” on the Garden State Soundtrack (which was produced, written, and directed by Scrubs star Zach Braff) and you have to buy the whole album to get the song.
This week we are going to go with Sing, Sing, Sing performed by the Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. This is a remastered version from the Centennial Collection album just released last week. The best recorded version I have found is on the Swing Kids soundtrack.
I went to college at Michigan Tech and was a proud member of the MTU Pep Band. Sing, Sing, Sing was our trademark song. There are few songs that have the overwhelming energy Sing, Sing, Sing has. You can’t help tapping your foot.
I did mean to go overboard today, but I run across this too.
James Shatner has a new album coming out. Ben Folds arranged and produced it. They have previews of all the track with interviews.
[via lighthearted boy]
I mentioned awhile back that I would start posting some links to music I like.
I’ve decided weekends would be a good time to throw these out to you. Consider it the Weekend Edition of A Penny For…
I thought about writing a long explanation of the stuff I like, but it would take a long time and I don’t think I would properly capture it anyway. Let me just say I listen to a wide range of stuff.
My links are going to send you to iTunes
My first link is going to be to Hands Down by Dashboard Confessional.