38 posts tagged with album by hippybear.
Displaying 1 through 38 of 38.
The Cast Rolls Merrily Along Discussing Their Cast Album
So this is unexpectedly delightful! Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, Lindsey Mendez, Katie Rose Clark, Krystal Joy Brown, and Reg Rogers sit down with Seth Rudetsky to discuss the release of the Broadway Cast Album for Merrily We Roll Along [YT Playlist] in SiriusXM Cast Album Town Hall | Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway [52m]. Campy, joyous and full of laughter and some delightful theater stories! Merrily We Roll Along previously.
Erma Bombeck, stand-up comedian
I don't know if the name Erma Bombeck means anything these days. For decades she epitomized a middle America observational kind of humor that was present in a lot of magazines about suburban life. While most of her material was written, she did put out one comedy album: The Family That Plays Together (Gets On Each Other's Nerves) [YT playlist, 1977]. I don't know if we have any equivalent voice in America today and maybe not all the humor works today, but this is a historical document that I got on vinyl from the Columbia House Record Club, and I'm happy to share it here today.
Duran Duran's Holiday Album!
It's not a Christmas album, but Duran Duran's sudden, surprise, entirely fun album release this year Danse Macabre came out just in time for Halloween. Inspired by an Oct 31 concert they held in 2022, they churned this out out in under a year, with three new songs, several covers, and some reworking of their own songs. The recordings included working with every member of the band official or otherwise, including Andy, Nile, and Warren. The opening track is a remake of a track from their 1981 debut, NIGHTBOAT, which fittingly includes Andy Taylor on guitar. [more inside]
The Beatles - Love
It began as the soundtrack to a Cirque du Soliel Vegas show, but became something much more. With George Martin and son Giles Martin at the helm, The Beatles 2006 album Love became much more than just a rehash of familiar material. It became a massive mashup project covering the entire Beatles career. [George & Giles Martin: Remixing The Beatles Sound On Sound, medium read] Here's the full album on Vimeo [1h20m,], probably the preferred listening experience. But also a YouTube playlist with each track separated. Oh, and here are the original liner notes to the album. [more inside]
It's named after its ATCO catalog number
Take the still smoldering remains of a defunct prog rock band, mix in an opinionated and talented South African, blend with a cutting edge music producer who has Brand New Toys to play with, and you end up with the most unlikely outcome: Yes' 11th studio album, 90125, which rose to chart dominance and likely kickstarted the entire "old bands get pop hits" string of the 80s. Listen for the first time, or listen again with new ears because it's been a while: this is a strong piece of music making! Side A: Owner Of A Lonely Heart [video], Hold On, It Can Happen [video], Changes [more inside]
I think she sings standing still because her voice is doing so much
I saw Celeste perform on Graham Norton this past weekend [9m14s, includes interview], BUT WOW! I guess she'd been there previously, and is known within the UK. I had never noticed her before, and I bought her debut album which just came out. You might also enjoy it: Ideal Woman, Strange [BRIT Awards performance, video, , Tonight Tonight, Stop This Flame[video], Tell Me Something I Don't Know, Not Your Muse, Beloved, Love Is Back [video], A Kiss, The Promise, A Little Love [cw: holiday advertising], Some Goodbyes Come With Hellos
It's not entirely show tunes, but nearly....
However it was that you first learned about Mandy Patinkin, you might not know that he recorded a really great album in the late 80s. Appropriately titled "Mandy Patinkin", it was released in 1989. The YouTube playlist unfortunately does not preserve the nature of the medleys on the album, but it's still an amazing listen. [more inside]
Is it gonna me you and me together, or are you just having fun?
Tap dancing, cartoon cats, strict formation moves, and really catchy tunes. Paula Abdul's debut album Forever Your Girl from June 13, 1988 was a huge juggernaut. A so-called "six-pack" album [YT playlist] for having 6 Top 45 hits, it is perhaps the most successful first album ever so far. Side A: The Way That You Love Me [video], Knocked Out [video, alternate (original) video] , Opposites Attract (with The Wild Pair) [video with MC Scat Cat], State Of Attraction, I Need You [more inside]
The world was groovin'
1985 was a ridiculously strong year for music releases. June 10, 1985 saw the release of Talking Heads' Little Creatures. Their best selling album [YouTube playlist], it was on many end of year best lists, and it spawned two hit singles. Side A: And She Was [video], Give Me Back My Name, Creatures Of Love, The Lady Don't Mind [video], Perfect World [more inside]
Sorrow and Joy are not oil and water
A little new listening for your weekend: Indigo Girls have a new album out, Look Long. It's full of collaborators old and new. Here's the official YouTube playlist. Here are the lyrics at lifeblood.net. [more inside]
Share The Light, Won't Hold Us Down
Pearl Jam has released their 11th album, the first new album in 7 years, Gigaton. Variety article, track by track with the producer. Lyrics (more or less, not on the PJ website yet) for reference while listening. Videos may also have closed captions. Side A: Whoever Said, Superblood Wolfmoon (Tiny Concert Animated Video), Dance Of The Clairvoyants (Mach III), Quick Escape [more inside]
Feb 10, 1971 - Carole King - Tapestry
It's hard to describe how huge the impact of Carole King's second album, Tapestry, released 49 years ago today. She was the Billie Eilish of her day, winning the top four Grammys and selling billions of streams millions of albums with her strong presence and her personal style. Every song written by her, keyboards/piano by her, this is her. Listen for the first time, or listen again; it's truly great. Side A: I Feel The Earth Move, So Far Away, It's Too Late, Home Again, Beautiful, Way Over Yonder [more inside]
Don't be scared for only the dark can show you the stars
Pet Shop Boys are back with their 14th album, Hotspot. This brings to a close their trilogy of albums with producer Stuart Price, who helmed the previous albums Electric and Super. Side A: Will-O-The-Wisp, You Are The One, Happy People, Dreamland (Featuring Years & Years) [official lyric video], Hoping For A Miracle [more inside]
This is your father's electronica
French soundtrack composer Jean-Michel Jarre burst into the public mind in 1976 with the release of his synthesizer album Oxygène. Presented here in two sides, as originally released. Side A: Oxygène (Part I), Oxygène (Part II), Oxygène (Part III) [18m45s] [more inside]
The scattered pages of a book by the sea
1972's Genesis was, well, it was Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Steve Hacket, and Phil Collins. It was deeply prog. Every track was an adventure. And thus we were given Foxtrot (discogs). Perhaps it's a love you've forgotten about. Perhaps you've never heard it. It's worth a listen either way. It's... well, it's 1972 Genesis. Side A: Watcher Of The Skies, Time Table, Get 'Em Out By Friday, Can-Utility And The Coastliners [more inside]
I just invented the Tom Collins
Celebrate the history of the United States with The Firesign Theatre (here spelled Theater) on their first album Waiting For The Electrician Or Someone Like Him [42m]. Presented in two sides from the perspective of 1968, the first side contains Temporarily Humboldt County (in which the American Natives confront outsiders for the first time), W.C. Fields Forever (in which the American Natives encounter the then-rising Counter Culture), and Le Trente-Huit Cunegonde (in which the American Natives face the possibilities of the future of the US). [more inside]
As long as you hold me more than you hold that guitar.
Amy Grant's astonishing 1988 album Lead Me On was not what anyone was expecting. After the pop of Unguarded, she retreated into a more acoustic Nashville-flavored rock style. And revealed some of the most mature, questioning, striving-toward-perfection-while-failing lyrics ever recorded by a CCM artist. It's truly an album worth giving a full listen. CD track listing: 1974 (We Were Young), Lead Me On [video], Shadows, Saved By Love, Faithless Heart, What About The Love, If These Walls Could Speak, All Right, Wait For The Healing, Sure Enough, If You Have To Go Away, Say Once More
A True Story, A Part Of Noise, and Phil Collins: The Final Chapter!
After the success of Phil Collins' songs in 1984 with Against All Odds and in 1985 with White Nights, plus his 1986 Miami Vice appearance as Phil The Shill [DailyMotion link, 50m, presented in mirror vision], the next logical step was the 1988 film Buster. Featuring Collins as the star of the movie and also writing retro-style songs (for both himself and The Four Tops) plus a selection of oldies, and also featuring a score by Anne Dudley of Art Of Noise fame. The song Two Hearts won Collins multiple awards. The movie didn't. Side A: Two Hearts [not the music video, music video] [Phil Collins], Gardening By The Book (Incidental Music), Just One Look [The Hollies], ...And I Love Her (Incidental Music), Big Noise [Phil Collins], The Robbery [Anne Dudley], I Got You Babe [Sonny + Cher] [more inside]
Cold War, Ballet, Tap Dance, and more Phil Collins
The 1985 film White Nights had the same director as Against All Odds. Not surprisingly it also had a stellar soundtrack album, including two songs nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song. Side A: Separate Lives (Love Theme From White Nights) [not the music video, music video] [Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin], Prove Me Wrong [David Pack], Far Post [Robert Plant], People On A String [Roberta Flack], This Is Your Day [Sandy Stewart and Nile Rodgers] [more inside]
3/5 of Genesis, a portion of Fleetwood Mac, Big Country & Kid Creole
The 1984 movie Against All Odds [trailer, 1m33s] featured a stand-out, Grammy-winning (for best score) soundtrack album with a Grammy-winning song and a lot of other great material. Side A [the song side, 24m51s]: Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) [Phil Collins] [MTV video, movie summary video (Ed. note: dear god Jeff Bridges was gorgeous!)], Violet And Blue [Stevie Nicks], Walk Through The Fire [Peter Gabriel], Balcony [Big Country], Making A Big Mistake [Mike Rutherford], My Male Curiosity [Kid Creole & The Coconuts] [video] [more inside]
Music For Activities Freaks
You may know True Stories as a 1986 movie by Talking Heads with an accompanying album. What isn't widely known is there is a second album, released on vinyl and cassette only -- Sounds From True Stories: Music For Activities Freaks, a score album from the movie [41m]. It's worth a listen! Side A: Cocktail Desperado (Terry Allen And The Panhandle Mystery Band), Road Song (Meredith Monk), Freeway Son (David Byrne), Brownie's Theme (David Byrne), Mall Muzak: Building A Highway / Puppy Polka / Party Girls (Carl Finch), Dinner Music (Kronos Quartet) [more inside]
A final Holiday album post for 2018
December [40m] is the fourth album by pianist George Winston, released in 1982. Perfect for atmospheric reflection as we enter [Northern Hemisphere] Winter and our season of Celebrations. Perhaps the most famous Holiday album you've not yet heard. Happy Solstice! Side A: Thanksgiving; Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head; Joy; Prelude/Carol Of The Bells; Night -- Part One: Snow, Part Two: Midnight, Part Three: Minstrels [more inside]
My parents own this, I own it, if I had kids, they'd probably own it too
1962 saw the release of a truly classic Holiday album -- The Glorious Sound of Christmas, from the Philadelphia Orchestra [44m]. Lush playing under Eugene Ormandy and creative arrangements by Arthur Harris lift the familiar carols well above most holiday fare that has come before or since. With the Temple University Concert Choir. Side A: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, Joy To The World, Oh Holy Night, O Come O Come Emanuel, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Ave Maria [more inside]
Adam's quotable lyrics are all too long to fit here
Counting Crows made a big splash some 25 years ago with the release of their debut album August And Everything After. Their 1993 release has sold over 10 million copies worldwide and fostered several hits. Side A: Round Here, Omaha, Mr. Jones, Perfect Blue Buildings, Anna Begins, Time And Time Again [more inside]
MMMBop + Beck's Dad x 25+ years x symphony orchestra = String Theory
NPR has a lengthy article about, and an even more lengthy [1h23m] First Listen of Hanson's new album String Theory -- a double album, career spanning retrospective recorded with a symphony orchestra playing arrangements by David Campbell, who amongst other things of note is Beck's father. [more inside]
When I'd Give Her The World, She Asks Instead For Some Earth
The Tony award-winning 1991 Broadway production of The Secret Garden (adapted from Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel) is not particularly well-known. Its house is haunted by the past and its young heroine struggling to grow into the future. The show's sophisticated examinations of love and loss and its depiction of youthful self-discovery was deeper than typical musical fare. The main record we have of this show is the Original Broadway Cast recording [discogs], which features Daisy Eagan, Mandy Patinkin, and John Cameron Mitchell (very much pre-Hedwig), amongst others, and contains between song scenes which flesh out the story even for those who have never seen the show. Here's a YouTube playlist (I apologize for the commercials). [more inside]
Without you it's not as much fun to pick up the pieces
In 1997, Trent Reznor put together a fever-dream of a soundtrack album for David Lynch's film Lost Highway. Over 20 years later, it still has the same power it had when first released. [If you can listen to this album as a single work rather than broken up, I recommend that.] Side A: I'm Deranged (Edit) (D. Bowie), Videodrones: Questions (T. Reznor), The Perfect Drug [video] (Nine Inch Nails), Red Bats With Teeth (A. Badalementi), Haunting & Heartbreaking (A. B.), Eye (The Smashing Pumpkins) [more inside]
Doesn't take much to rip us into pieces
Tori Amos turned the narrative upside down when her 1992 sophomore album Little Earthquakes [~1h] became a mammoth hit. Cassette Side A: Crucify [video] , Girl, Silent All These Years [video], Precious Things, Winter [video], Happy Phantom [more inside]
It opens with an Iggy Pop cover
Hey, remember that time back in 1995 when Boy George put out a punk/glam rock album that was also full of beautiful pop songs and ballads? Cheapness And Beauty was a real thing! Full album [YT playlist, ~50m] Side A: Funtime [video], Satan's Butterfly Ball, Sad, God Don't Hold A Grudge, Genocide Peroxide, If I Could Fly [more inside]
Visions of a world where every neighbor is a friend
This is an album I listen during every New Year's season because it has a bittersweet New Years song on it, and I love those. It's also about the pressures of fame and a document about couples breaking up. It's heartbreaking and beautiful and bittersweet and ABBA only did one more (very surreal) album. it's worth a listen. ABBA -- 1980 -- Super Trouper [YouTube playlist, ~40 min]: Side 1 [22m30s] -- Super Trouper; The Winner Takes It All; On And On And On; Andante, Andante; Me And I [more inside]
Baby It's A Red Flag Day
Red Flag Day is, I feel, the song that best encapsulates the new U2 album, Songs Of Experience. Inventive arrangements (morphing across the song), the feeling of four guys playing in a band, clarity in the production like never before... It's rock and roll for now, and old U2 fans might appreciate it.
Poetry And Music For Christmas
Centerpoint: Poetry And Music For Christmas [Bandcamp link, album can be streamed there] is an album by musician Jeff Johnson and poetry by Keith Patman read by Dallas McKennon. It's meditative and quiet and insightful and perfect for the Advent season.
Michael W. Smith - Christmas
In 1989, CCM artist Michael W. Smith was at the peak of his career, achieving minor mainstream success while being one of the biggest Contemporary Christian artists of the time. He released an excellent, orchestra+choir, Steamroller-influenced, rather introspective-feeling album of original holiday music titled simply Christmas. The opening track is Overture/O Come All Ye Faithful. [more inside]
Bernard Jay
You already know the work of BJ Leiderman. What you may not know is that he's released his first album [3m15s Sneek Peak video] after 30 years of aspiring toward the release. [more inside]
First Listen: Willie Nelson, 'God's Problem Child'
Still going strong at 84, Willie Nelson releases yet another album and you can listen to it before it's released thanks to NPR.
Strange Attractor
You remember Alphaville, right? They've dropped a new album, Strange Attractor. Giants - House Of Ghosts - Enigma are all tracks from this new album.
Grizabella sings Queen
Elaine Paige (Cats, Chess, a zillion other things) sings the songs Queen in a 1988 album titled simply The Queen Album. [YouTube playlist, so so sorry about the commercials]
McLuhan, Massage, Film
This Is Marshall McLuhan: The Medium Is The Massage [54m] is a well-done little-known film put out in conjunction with his well-known book The Medium Is The Massage: An Inventory Of Effects [pdf page includes download link] and the cult album The Medium Is The Massage: with Marshall McLuhan [41m]. [more inside]
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