December 08 2007

In Praise of...The Bee Gees

Now, before you call me a sentimental sap, I will say you are right. Music moves me in so many different ways. I can honestly say that I grew up with these guys. From the very first time I saw them on Shindig! or Hullaballoo or Ed Sullivan or wherever it was sing their wistful, haunting Massachusetts, I was hooked. My infatuation continued through "How Do You Mend A Broken Heart" (which is just pure magic).I lost track of them in the mid 70s and then bam! there they were again, riding the coattails of the disco revolution. Being the hard nosed stubborn guy that had a "Disco Sucks" Tshirt, they tore me up again with "How Deep Is Your Love", a song I dare not admit to my friends that I liked, but I liked, a lot. I could have lived without the rest of the Saturday Night fever crowd but when you sell over forty million copies of a record, THAT carries some weight. During an eight-month period beginning in the Christmas season of 1977, the brothers wrote six songs that held the #1 position on the U.S. charts for 25 of 32 consecutive weeks-- three under their own name, two for brother Andy Gibb, and the Yvonne Elliman single. Fueled by the movie's success, the album broke multiple records, becoming the highest-selling album in recording history to that point. Saturday Night Fever has since sold circa 40 million copies worldwide, making it the best selling soundtrack album of all time. The multiple Grammy Award-winning group was successful for all of its forty years of recording music, but it had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a harmonic "soft rock" act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as the foremost stars of the disco music era in the late 1970s. They were best rated band in the world in 1978. No matter the style, the Bee Gees sang tight three-part harmonies that were instantly recognizable; as brothers, their voices blended perfectly, in the same way that The Beach Boys' did. Barry sang lead on many songs, and an R&B falsetto introduced in the disco years; Robin provided the clear vibrato lead that was a hallmark of their pre-disco music; Maurice sang high and low harmonies throughout their career. The three brothers co-wrote most of their hits, and they said that they felt like they became 'one person' when they were writing. The group's name was retired after Maurice died in January 2003.
It has been estimated that the Bee Gees' record sales total more than 220 million, easily making them part of the list of best-selling music artists. Their 1997 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame citation says "Only Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees. With that in mind here are my top five Bee Gee favorites....

1. "How Deep Is Your Love" -this is in my top 15 favorite songs of all time. It was a perfect song for what I felt about a particular woman (and really, isn't that all that counts) perfect harmonies.


2. "To Love Somebody" -thought they were The Beatles the first time I heard this and that ain't a bad thing


3. "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" - I had just moved from the farm to the Quad Cities and this song got me through it. It seemed that this song was on the radio all summer in 1971. Everytime it came on, I sang along..."I can think of younger days...how can a loser ever win?"


4. "I Started A Joke" for all the losers in the world. I wonder how many lives were saved because of this song.


5. "Lonely Days".. alone in my room on the farm, listening to late night radio out of Chicago, praying to God that he would get me out of that God forsaken place, as the AM signal would fade in and out...

Pearl Harbor Day

"It is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced."- Tom Brokaw

The Two Least Effective Ads Using Classic Rock Songs

I will restate something I posted in another post. I absolutely, positively and without question despise the new Dr. Pepper ad campaign with the guy that scores a touchdown and then does the dance with "Karn Evil Number 9" in the background. Number one, I hate touchdown dances and number two, what the hell does the song have to do with Dr. Pepper? I turn the channel every time it comes on. Now, on the other hand, I like the Diet Dr. Pepper spot with Tom Jones. It is very creative and fun, comparing Diet Dr. Pepper with donuts and pie and such. Very nice.
Dr. Pepper should have MORE ads like the one above, that will make me buy their stuff. She's very nice, too. Hubba!

Pizza Hut has ruined one of my all time favorite songs. Let me just say that I have always liked the Bee Gees. Other than "Staying Alive", I have always enjoyed their very tight harmonies. "How Deep Is Your Love" is my favorite Bee Gees song. Has been since the first time I heard it. It is now a pizza commercial. I can't stand it. Now, when kids think of what was a great song, they will think of pizza...or Dr. Pepper. It is truly a shame that the people I admired and looked up to have sold out to the highest bidder. Greg Lake, Barry Gibb, Pete Townshend, shame on you. I guess you really need the money, huh? Advice...hire a good accountant.

AK 47

The picture to your left is an AK-47 assault rifle. Its purpose is to kill people. Now, before you think I am going to get on some "left wing" harping about taking all the guns away, I'm not. I grew up on a farm and was quite the marksman. I could nail a quail from a fine distance and rarely missed. The guns I used, however, were of the 30.06 and .22 caliber. There were times that if I didn't kill it, we wouldn't have any meat. My mother made a great rabbit stew. Here is my point. How in the world did the kid from Omaha get access to a gun like this? He stole it from his step father. Why in the world would someone have this just lying around in their house? I keep hearing that "guns don't kill people, people do". But if guns are in the range of people who are out to do mass carnage, then we have a whole different subject. I understand if you want to have a gun around for protection, or for hunting, but for the life of me, I can't understand why this gun(or any assault rifle) is legal. Would you take this gun hunting? Only if you are hunting terrorists. I do not advocate the confiscating of anyone's right to protect themselves with a gun but the quicker we get this junk off the streets, the safer we'll be.

This IS Very Funny

What a great, creative bunch at Busch creative. Their spots are done well and retain the message. I don't care who ya are, this is funny...

Post 1,000

How unreal. 1000 posts and it's hard to believe how many people read this collection of crap and junk every day. My thanks to Steve Mays at Learfield (which seems so long ago) for setting this thing up and then having it sit for three months before I decided to start blogging. In many ways, this is a book of my life and the crap that I think about and have over the last 2 years and five months. 1,000 posts. Over two hundred people a day come on here. What the hell is wrong with you people? If you get any enjoyment, great. If I have maybe made you think, great. It's just junk. But it's my junk and apparently, it's your junk, too. Thank you. And here's to 1,000 more with great health and by the way, what's so funny about peace love and understanding?

You are all a bunch of knuckleheads and I love ya.

Another One Hit Wonder Band

Damn, I have had this song in my head since someone mentioned it in a previous post. this song was played on KSHE in about 1986 or so. A Canadian band called "Frozen Ghost". They had a couple of hits in Canada, but this was their only big one here.

Bad Finale to A Great Year

Mizzou got slapped, manhandled, hammered and mistreated. They were not a match for mighty Oklahoma as the Big 12 season ends with a clank. The Mizzou gameplan was almost as unwatchable as the dumb, stupid Dr. Pepper ad with the clown doing the touchdown dance to Karn Evil Number 9 by Emerson Lake and Palmer. I really, really hate that spot. But, Mizzou fans, let us look at it like this. At the beginning of the season,
if I told you that Mizzou would end up 10-2, ranked in the top ten of all national polls and would beat Illinois and Kansas in the same season, what would your response have been? I thought so. According the polls I have seen, MU will end up 6th or 7th in the polls and ahead of KU. Going to the Cotton Bowl is not the same as the BCS party, but, the future is now at Mizzou and finally the 35 year stink that has been on this football team has faded. Recruiting looks great. Daniel is a junior and Maclin a freshman with a whole lot of help coming in next year. It has been an exciting season and an overall great one for the black and orange. Now, if we can get the basketball team heading in the right direction, it could be an even better year.
M-I-Z Z-O-U