keepingfaith

Ahh, he's alive!!! But what in the world is apple butter? Never had that. Peanut butter + apple butter = a lot of damn butter! BTW, Clique did fix the double posting to my account and they got it done right away and not in two weeks as they first said; and, I received my fulfillment goodies on Saturday, which I didn't expect to receive for weeks, or months. I was impressed!

I watched some of the BET Awards last night. I was in and out but every single time I walked in and paid attention I saw Jamie Foxx. I know he was the host, but was it supposed to be a 3-hour commercial for him, his records, his stand-up, his movies -- because that's what it seemed like to me. And while I've always enjoyed him as a comedian and actor, the dude cannot sing, and his ego seems to have gotten the better of him. He must have had four or five songs last night, not to mention the failed moonwalk attempt. Without the autotune or whatever he uses, he's not a singer; heck, with it he's not a singer either, he's a computer-voice dude. Personally, I find it disgusting for anyone to try to grab attention for themselves by figuratively bouncing off the corpse of Michael Jackson. I understand that many feel inspired by Michael Jackson, yet it was strange to hear Usher interviewed on CNN saying that he is the "humanitarian, philanthropist and artist" he is because of Michael. Do people not know how they sound by giving Michael the credit for contributing to their own fabulousness and wonderfulness? It wasn't just Usher either, I heard it over and over during the weekend. Joe Jackson was just something horrible on the red carpet -- with his lawyer, and that other dude he was trying to promote. It was grotesquery. There's no way that man should have anything to do with Michael's children. I hope someone steps in to stop that. I believe Michael would have been happy to see the outpouring of love from his fans, but it's the insiders and celebrities who are making this a circus -- the ones who are intent on getting their faces on camera. I'm keeping a mental list of the perps and right now Corey Feldman is in the #1 Worst Person spot. Actually, I have had my fill of the rush to cash-in by the cable stations. I did enjoy listening to 102FM while I was out and about this weekend. They played all Michael Jackson, and not just Beat It, Billie Jean and Thriller, but the catalog -- and it was a treat. That's the way Michael should be remembered, IMO.

I have T-Mobile. My calltones are a random mix from OMWH -- EIDN, WIDTL, TRM, Falling, Ashes -- I think all of it is in the mix. merrieeee likes it so much I never answer on the first or second ring! I have a few others assigned to specific people for whom the songs fit -- Kashmir; Whipping Post; Bring It On Home; Rickie, Don't Lose That Number; Badge -- As to ringtones, I use music from Clay (at least a dozen from ATDW, MOAM and BOTW) to the Four Tops, Wilson Pickett, Stevie Wonder, Cream, Hendrix, Grateful Dead (**truckin'**) -- stuff I want to hear when the phone rings or that relate to the person calling. I like the random and really like to be surprised, but .... there's a relative who regularly calls and when she does, I prepare myself by hearing, "Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free, take a load off Fanny, and put the load, put the load, right on me." She always has a load. And let me take this opportunity to say that I've been listening to a lot of different music lately, new music and stuff that has meant a lot to me for years, and then after about a week to ten days of this, I punched in OMWH on the changer in the car and was just blown away all over again. Clay made the comment last year before OMWH came out that he wasn't looking for songs to get played on the radio, but for songs that were right for him to sing. And while we all know that his music should be on the radio and is superior to what is played on the radio, I do get his attitude much better now. There are pop albums that came out a couple of years back that are dead, never to be interesting again except as nostalgia, if that. Dance-pop and hip-hop hits may have sold millions when they were hot, but the shelf life is short. OMWH is timeless. I believe that years from now when people go back to search out Clay's early music, they'll be blown away by OMWH. Everything about that album gets better with time. In so many ways, it wasn't a missed opportunity, or a fall through the cracks album, or anything but a true masterpiece that can be discovered and rediscovered for years and years. It is a class collection of songs with superb singing, rich emotions in his voice, first-class arrangements and sophisticated musicianship. Can you tell I love it?

Dontcha think Milton is a little scary?? I think I already welcomed one of our newbies, but what the heck? SueRue and claysmelody!! Milton was scary. But that stapler is HOT! Maybe I'm strange, but ..... Guess what? I got a fever! And the only prescription.. is more cowbell! I gotta have more cowbell, baby!

WELCOME! to SueReu and claysmelody. Not only do I staple you to the board ....but with Milton's essential stapler!!

Regarding Roy Orbison -- I went to high school with his brother Sam in a suburb of Houston. I remember that their dad was called "Orb" and that the family moved to Tennessee, where Roy had been living for a while. Sam wore the same style of glasses that Roy wore -- but there the similarity ends as Sam could not sing a note. The only other thing I remember about that year was the horror that my best friend died suddenly of meningitis. She was the first and last best friend I ever had, beginning in the 5th grade when I was the new kid and she "adopted" me. When I was in the 4th grade, they put me into the 5th grade during the term -- on Valentine's Day for some reason. The 5th graders were not welcoming, except for Leah. We were opposites. I was tall, she was tiny. I was bookish and pianoish, and she was athletic. She was outgoing and I was an introvert. She was a cheerleader and I was a twirler. And this is tied together in my mind right now because of the song "Leah" by Roy Orbison. Now, on another matter -- how do you like THIS! PH's career, if you can call it that, must be over by now.

I see so many similarities between Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson: They were supersonic stars, led crazy private lives, abused drugs, were surrounded by enablers, and died on the verge of a comeback. Michael was 19 when Elvis died, and walked right into those empty shoes. Michael let it be known that he wanted to be the next "King" and he very napoleonically named himself, "The King of Pop." I have never for a minute thought Michael Jackson was guilty of molesting children. That his life was strange is settled, but he had a singularly strange upbringing in that he never remembered a time when he was not famous. Never had a moment of childhood when he was not being pushed to work harder to support his family, including singing in strip clubs at the age of 5. I heard someone on TV last night say that as he grew older and looked in the mirror, he saw Joe Jackson, and thus began his quest to change his face to never look like his father as he grew older. In that, he succeeded. He didn't have a normal life -- but then neither did Howard Hughes or Albert Einstein. It seems that genius, in any field, leads to isolation. I feel badly about Michael Jackson, but not devastated as I was when John Lennon was murdered at the age of 40. That John was killed returning from the recording studio is something that hurt me for a long time. The man who sang "Give Peace A Chance" shot dead in front of his residence in the presence of his wife, with a 5-year old upstairs. Sometimes I still have a hard time believing it. And for years I couldn't listen to the last verse of "God" where he sings: The dream is over What can I say? The dream is over Yesterday I was the dreamweaver But now I'm reborn I was the Walrus But now I'm John And so dear friends You just have to carry on The dream is over

No Beatles or Stones because they aren't American. Yeah, no BB King, but Robert Johnson the father of Delta Blues is there and rightly so. (And, my son would consider the list total bullshit if it DIDN'T include Nirvana. He became interested in popular music because of Nirvana.) In a sense, all lists are bullshit, especially those spanning every genre, but they can be interesting to read -- on slow days.

This is kind of long, but I thought it was interesting and I've done some editing of the narrative ... NPR's list of the 100 most important American musical recordings of the 20th Century (alphabetically): "Adagio for Strings" Samuel Barber wrote this classical piece for string quartet, and it was first performed in 1938. Now a standard short piece for orchestra, "Adagio for Strings" endures in part due to its appearance in two well-known film soundtracks -- Platoon and The Elephant Man. "Ain't That a Shame" New Orleans rhythm & blues piano legend Fats Domino. "Alexander's Ragtime Band" Irving Berlin tune that launched the era of American popular song. "All or Nothing At All" Frank Sinatra's version of this heartfelt ballad was actually a commercial flop when first released in 1939, selling fewer than 8,000 copies. "Appalachian Spring" Aaron Copland once confessed that his famous composition -- written for a Martha Graham ballet -- really had very little to do with Appalachia or spring. Many critics contend it is his best work and arguably the best dance composition ever created by an American composer. "As Time Goes By" Unforgettable ballad, written by a 26-year-old Tin Pan Alley writer named Herman Hupfeld in 1931, and made famous by its central role in the 1942 film Casablanca. "Back in the Saddle Again" The tune that became "Singing Cowboy" Gene Autry’s theme song. "Blowin' in the Wind" Dylan's anthem of the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 60's. "Blue Moon of Kentucky" Bill Monroe first recorded this hit in 1946. "Blue Suede Shoes" Carl Perkins song developed a mutating life of its own as the first million-selling, triple-play crossover that moved from the top of the country charts to those of rhythm & blues, and then pop. "Body and Soul" Coleman Hawkins recorded "Body and Soul" in 1939, it instantly became one of jazz's most influential performances. Born to Run (Album) The seminal 1975 Bruce Springsteen album. The title track took the 24-year-old Springsteen six months to write and at the time, he described it as his "shot at the title." A Chorus Line (Musical) This 1975 show changed the course of musical theater by dispensing with elaborate sets, costumes, and big stars, and involving a gritty element of realism previously absent on Broadway. "Coal Miner's Daughter" Loretta Lynn's remembrance of her Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, upbringing. "Crazy" This 1961 hit, written by Willie Nelson and sung by Patsy Cline, is the number one jukebox single of all time. "Django" Jazz classic written by pianist John Lewis, leader of The Modern Jazz Quartet. Lewis wrote the tune as a tribute to the late gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt. "Dream a Little Dream of Me" The 1968 recording of this song by Cass Elliot and The Mamas and the Papas sold nearly 7 million copies nearly forty years after its composition by two little-known musicians. Drumming Composed by Steve Reich in 1971, this work is considered a masterpiece of minimalism -- a musical genre that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s and is best described as stripping music down to its most basic elements, like a tone or a pulse, and then reworking it altogether through the repetition and overlapping of that single motif. Fiddler on the Roof (Musical) Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick wrote the lyrics and music for Fiddler on the Roof, which hit Broadway in September 1964. "Fine and Mellow" CBS's 1957 broadcast The Sound of Jazz invited a number of famous jazz musicians to perform on live television. The list included Billie Holiday, whose performance of this song lives on in the annals of great jazz and live-performance history. "Fire and Rain" The pop standard from James Taylor's 1970 debut album, Sweet Baby James, was the artist's poignant attempt to deal with a friend's recent suicide and his own struggle with drug abuse and mental illness. "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" Written by banjo picker Earl Scruggs, this song was arguably the first tune that introduced wide audiences to bluegrass music. Popularized in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, the song established the leadership role of the banjo. "4:33" Elusive musical composition written by avant-gardist John Cage. The piece, premiered in 1952, directs someone to close the lid of a piano, set a stopwatch, and sit in silence for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. Musicians and critics alike initially thought the piece a joke. But its premiere pianist, who never played a note, calls it his most intense listening experience. "4:33" speaks to the nature of sound and the musical nature of silence. "Give My Regards to Broadway" Featured in the 1904 musical Little Johnny Jones, a show which quickly flopped, this tune was penned by George M. Cohan, the successful actor, composer, and musical producer at the turn of the century. Gone with the Wind (Film Score) The music from one of the most popular American films of all time had a tremendous impact on movie scores in the decades following its 1939 release. Max Steiner's work is instantly recognized today and is emblematic of both musical scoring and the cinema itself. "Good Vibrations" Written by Brian Wilson, this song epitomized the sound of garage-band rock and featured a theremin, prototype for the modern synthesizer. Graceland (Album) Paul Simon traveled to South Africa in 1985 after hearing a friend's tape of music from the country. His trip would become a cultural, political, and personal journey. After 10 days of working with local musicians, Simon returned to New York with several South African artists to produce an extraordinary juxtaposition of rhythm and story-based lyrics. Grand Canyon Suite Born in New York, Ferde Grofe quit school at 13 and set off across the country on a series of odd jobs. He first saw the Grand Canyon on a 1916 trip with other workers and completed the Grand Canyon Suite in 1931. "Great Balls of Fire" Jerry Lee Lewis singing what was called "the devil's music." "The Great Pretender" One in a series of chart-toppers in the 1950's by The Platters. Guys & Dolls (Musical) Based on Damon Runyon's short story The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown, this musical centers on the character of Nathan Detroit, the organizer of the oldest-established, permanent-floating crap game in New York. "Hellhound on my Trail" Robert Johnson blues classic. Johnson was a somewhat mysterious figure among Mississippi Delta blues musicians, who only recorded a few songs and established plenty of myths, including the story that he sold his soul to the Devil at the Crossroads. "Hello, Dolly" Louis Armstrong thought so little of the song when he recorded it in late 1963, that when fans first clamored for it at his shows concerts year later, he had to ask a sideman what they were talking about. Armstrong rarely listened to popular radio, much preferring tapes he carried with him everywhere. "His Eye is on the Sparrow" By the mid-1950s, a woman with "a voice like an angel" had emerged as a leading light of American gospel music. Mahalia Jackson fashioned a string of hit songs out of gospel standards, from "Move on Up a Little Higher" to "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands." "Hoochie Coochie Man" When it came out as a single in 1954, this song, written by Willie Dixon and tracked by Muddy Waters, hovered near the top of the R&B charts for 13 weeks. "Hound Dog" & "Don't be Cruel" First released in 1956 on opposite sides of one 45-rpm record, Elvis Presley's two hit singles shot to the top of the popular-music charts and fostered the birth of rock and roll. "I Got Rhythm" George and Ira Gershwin's classic. "I Walk the Line" Johhny Cash's first big hit. "I Wanna Be Sedated" The debut album by The Ramones, one of America's first widely recognized punk rock bands. "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" Hank Williams song which, recorded in 1949, foreshadows Williams' death at age 29. "In the Mood" Glenn Miller's 1939 recording of the swing classic. "(Goodnight) Irene" This sentimental tune was a favorite of the folk and blues artist Leadbelly. In 1950, Pete Seeger revived the song and turned it into a major pop hit. Kind of Blue (Album) Critics and jazz fans alike consider Miles Davis' Kind of Blue an improvisational tour de force. "King Porter Stomp" Jelly Roll Morton wrote "King Porter Stomp" back in the early 1900s, when he was just a teenager playing piano in the clubs of his hometown, New Orleans. "Koko" Charlie Parker and his group were attempting a cover of the popular jazz tune "Cherokee" when the session producer asked Bird to do a different song due to copyright issues. His variation became "Koko," a song that almost single-handedly gave rise to bebop. "La Bamba" An old Mexican wedding dance with African roots, the song was given a rock and roll twist by Richie Valens and was released in 1958 on the flip side of the 17-year-old's second hit, "Donna." The B-side recording was messy and expected to be used only as filler and forgotten. But "La Bamba's" unexpected success made it the first Latin crossover hit in rock and roll history. "Let's Stay Together" When a young Al Green met with Hi Records producer Willie Mitchell, Mitchell realized the great potential in Green's seductive voice (while all Green wanted was to be liberated from his only big hit, "Back Up Train"). They turned the idea of soul music on its head in 1971, with the release of "Let's Stay Together" (after more than 100 takes). "Light My Fire" In 1965, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Robbie Krieger, and the late Jim Morrison came together in Venice, California, as The Doors. Their sound drew from a variety of influences, including jazz, blues, classical, British psychedelic rock, and the surf music of Southern California. Two years later, they recorded "Light My Fire," a seven-minute opus that many in the music industry were convinced could never achieve success at that length. But by July 1967, it was the number one song in America. "Like a Rolling Stone" Bob Dylan's raucous performance of this song on an electric guitar with The Band at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival made Joni Mitchell say "The American folk song has grown up." A Love Supreme (Album) Classic 1964 recording by John Coltrane. Trane's four-part jazz masterpiece was a soul-searching attempt to express his faith in God through music following a long battle with drug and alcohol abuse. "Mack the Knife" The swinging tune made popular in the United States by Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin is actually an import from a rather bleak German musical, The ThreePenny Opera. Kurt Weill provided the music with lyrics by playwright Bertolt Brecht. "Maybellene" Chuck Berry's 1955 song was recorded the first time he entered a professional studio, while he was working at his father's construction company and training to be a hairdresser. His daring mix of blues, R&B, and country led to a rock n' roll song, and "Maybellene" became a tremendous crossover hit. "Mood Indigo" Duke Ellington was a master at creating an element of surprise in his compositions. The unique voicing of instruments on "Mood Indigo" is an example of the composer's subtle sophistication. My Fair Lady (Musical) Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's "perfect musical," which opened on Broadway in 1956. "My Funny Valentine" With the music of Richard Rodgers and the lyrical wit of Lorenz (Larry) Hart, this song orginally came from the 1937 musical Babes in Arms. "My Girl" This 1964 song is so universally popular that when the Temptations tried to cut it from their standard concert set a few years ago, audiences booed them. R&B legend Smokey Robinson wrote it specifically for the group in collaboration with Barry Gordy, head of Motown Records. "Night and Day" One note, repeated 35 times over eight bars of music. That's the unlikely beginning to one of the greatest love ballads ever written. Cole Porter once claimed to have referenced a Moroccan prayer call when writing the song, or the melody might have come one night at New York's Ritz-Carlton hotel, the lyrics working themselves out on a Newport, Rhode Island, beach, the next day. "A Night in Tunisia" Straddling swing and bebop, trumpet sensation Dizzy Gillespie "lived in a dream for a moment" during a break from a 1942 New York performance. The melody he knocked out at the piano became "A Night in Tunisia" and marked the arrival of Afro-Cuban rhythms in American jazz. Oklahoma! (Musical) The Broadway musical Oklahoma!, premiered in 1943, and was expected to flop. Richard Rodgers wrote it without his long-time lyricist Lorenzo Hart (its librettist, Oscar Hammerstein, was only, at that time, famous for his failures). The show did a little better than expected: it launched a revolution in American musical theater and turned a huge profit. "Once in a Lifetime" From the 1980 Talking Heads album, Remain in Light, this song marks a change in the way bands wrote songs: jamming in the studio, recording the product, and creating tunes around improvised minimalistic riffs which caught their ears on the playback. "One O'Clock Jump" Recorded in 1937 by the Count Basie Orchestra. With its driving rhythm section, "Jump" became Basie's signature theme, and the band played it at the end of their performances for more than 50 years. "Oye Como Va" Written by the late Latin jazz percussionist Tito Puente, "Oye Como Va" reached its widest audience when it was recorded by the San Francisco rock band Santana. Their 1970 album Abraxas spent six weeks at the top of Billboard's Album Chart and thirty weeks in the Top Ten. "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" James Brown was a concert sensation in during the early 1960s. But until "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" climbed the charts in 1965, he was largely unknown to white fans. The song, Brown's first Top Ten hit, was a metaphor for the changing times. It also represents Brown's first attempt to capture the rhythms of his live performances in a studio recording. "Peggy Sue" Buddy Holly's classic tune "Peggy Sue" didn't begin life as a keeper at all. It wasn't until the Crickets added a few paradiddles and changed the chorus from "Cindy Lou" to "Peggy Sue" that the song finally made it out of the studio onto the charts. Porgy & Bess (Opera) Classic Gershwin brothers opera. Based on a story by DuBose Heyward, it was first performed in October 1935 and was orinally met with mixed reviews. Its tunes have developed such acclaim, however, that often virtuosos like violinist Jascha Heifetz transcribed them as instrumental encores, and people still whistle them today. Psycho (Film Score) Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho created an entertainment sensation: no one could be seated after the film began, the star of the movie was killed ten minutes into the story, and the stark black-and-white images served to heighten the film's chilling plot. Using only strings due to a tight production budget, composer Bernard Hermann created a soundtrack to accompany the horror on screen that was equally terrifying. "Purple Haze" Guitarist Jimi Hendrix wrote Purple Haze on December 26, 1966, during a gig at a club in London. He said that the lyrics were based on a dream he had after reading a science fiction novel. "Rapper's Delight" Unforgettable rap classic. "Respect" Aretha Franklin's powerful anthem, written and first recorded by the late Otis Redding. "Rhapsody in Blue" George Gershwin's most identifiable masterpiece. At age 25, Gershwin took only three weeks to compose one of the most enduring pieces of American music. "Rock Around the Clock" Bill Haley was a Swiss yodeler from the Philadelphia suburbs who, at the very least, made an unlikely rock star. When the tune was released in the soundtrack for Blackboard Jungle it went on to sell over a million copies. "'Round Midnight" Thelonious Monk probably composed this song in 1938. Monk soon became known as a great jazz innovator, one of a small group of musicians who were part of the bebop revolution of the 1940s. "Route 66" Bobby Troup wrote it, Nat King Cole sang it, and it became a classic. "St. Louis Blues" W.C. Handy, a middle-class African American, wrote "St. Louis Blues" in 1914, a time when Tin Pan Alley's popular songs began to fuse with folklore to explore the blues, the form that led to the full-fledged birth of American jazz. Showboat (Musical) Written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, Showboat opened on Broadway in 1927 and presented a challenge to the average musical, which, at that time, was little more than frivolous entertainment. Kern and Hammerstein conceived of a musical hybrid -- a show that marries opera and musical comedy with songs that function as narratives and themes both dramatic and comedic. "Sing, Sing, Sing" On January 16, 1938, Benny Goodman and his musicians took to the Carnegie Hall stage for the first swing music concert in the hall's history; for scholars, the concert would eventually mark the birthplace of the genre's legitimacy. "Sing, Sing, Sing," was the program's last number and what Goodman called a "killer diller." "Singin' in the Rain" The song appeared in a total of seven MGM musicals, including an Academy Award-winner and a movie in which it was the title song. The question that remains, however, is one about the song's origins, which are shrouded in folklore. When the song was actually written, and for what purpose, remains unknown, even though it is sometimes called Hollywood's finest work. "Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay" Otis Redding's last and biggest hit, finished by co-writer Steve Cropper of Booker T & the MG's after the singer's untimely death. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" The 1991 song that shot Seattle rock band Nirvana to the top of the charts. Written by Nirvana frontman the late Kurt Cobain, its quick popularity marked the rising appeal of so-called "grunge" music, which, produced over the synthesized sounds of late-1980s pop, changed the direction of rock and significantly influencing the "alternative" culture of the 1990s. "Stand By Your Man" Sometimes it's hard to be a woman...and sometimes it's hard to figure out how a song will affect the public. Tammy Wynette and producer Billy Sherrill cut "Stand By Your Man" in just a few minutes to wrap up a 1968 album. Wynette, who wrote the song, never really liked it all that much, even though it became her signature tune. Feminists didn't like it, either, and the artist had to defend the song the rest of her life. "Star Dust" Written by Hoagy Carmichael in 1927 while he was attending Indiana University, the song started off as an up-tempo dance instrumental but later, as its popularity grew, lyrics were added and the rhythm of "Star Dust" slowed to a ballad. By the end of the 1930s, the tune was a certifiable American classic. "Symphony of Psalms" Igor Stravinsky wrote his "Symphony of Psalms" in 1929 for the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony. In 1999, Time magazine named it the best piece of the century. "Take Five" The best-selling jazz single of the century came very close to not getting released at all, but "Take Five" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet turned out to be one for the ages. "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" Gospel's most-recorded song held an important place in the culture of black Americans -- it was played at the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Take the 'A' Train" In 1938, Billy Strayhorn, a Pittsburgh soda jerk, drugstore delivery boy, and composer in his free time, knocked out this classic. When he swung a meeting with jazz great Duke Ellington, however, a professional composing career finally became a reality. With vision, Ellington turned his song, about one of New York's unreliable subways to Harlem and Sugar Hill, into a famed jazz standard. Talking Book (Album) Transformational Stevie Wonder album, a touchstone for the artist that he has often referred back to throughout his long career. It represents Wonder's professional and musical coming of age in the early 1970s when he abandoned the Motown hit-making formula that had defined his sound and witnessed the emergence of his more holistic approach to making records as a singer, writer and producer. Tapestry (Album) With her husband, Gerry Goffin, Carole King started out as a songwriter in the Brill Building, penning hits for artists Little Eva, Aretha Franklin, and others. King didn't sing her own songs until after her divorce, but when she did, she sold 15 million copies. "Theme from Shaft" In 1969, Isaac Hayes was the top songwriter for soul label Stax Records in Memphis when an opportunity came to audition for the lead role in a new movie about a tough black police detective. At first, he patiently waited for a call-back, but finally telephoned the production's casting agent who kindly told him the bad news -- Richard Roundtree had been chosen for the part. The good news was that Gordon Parks wanted Hayes to score the film, resulting in his number one hit. "This Land is Your Land" Woody Guthrie was originally from Oklahoma, but he loved traveling: he walked, hitch-hiked, and rode the rails all around the country. He was also a prolific writer, and scribbled the words to "This Land Is Your Land" down on a loose-leaf sheet of paper in 1940. Guthrie recorded the song for Mo Asch, founder of Folkways Records, in New York City in 1944, but the song wasn't released until 1951. By that time, "This Land Is Your Land" had become something of a leftist national anthem, sung at rallies, political events, and in schools. "Tom Dooley" This traditional folk song was made a hit by The Kingston Trio in 1958, but its roots hail from North Carolina nearly a century earlier. The title character was hanged for the murder of a woman named Laura Foster. The Velvet Underground and Nico (Album) Critics have long marveled at how the influence of this 1967 album is so remarkably out of proportion with its sales figures. The radical debut LP of the group was led by rock pioneer Lou Reed and pushed toward fame by pop art legend Andy Warhol. Warner Brothers Cartoon Music The musical scores of Carl Stalling, who worked for Warner Brothers during the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, were fast, complex, and adventurous, and borrow from a variety of genres including classical, pop, folk, and jazz. "We Shall Overcome" "We Shall Overcome" began life as a work song and was then adopted by organized labor before becoming a civil rights anthem in the early 1960s. "West End Blues" Joe King Oliver wrote the song, but it was Louis Armstrong's 1928 recording that put the it in the jazz pantheon. West Side Story (Musical) The work of four men, West Side Story married popular jazz and Latin rhythms with a classical score. Composer Leonard Bernstein, lyricist Stephen Sondheim, director and choreographer Jerome Robbins, and playwright Arthur Laurents all had a hand in the 1960s Broadway smash. "What'd I Say" Pianist/composer Ray Charles' famous 1959 song which, Charles maintained, was really "about nothing" -- the lyrics "don't make sense," he said, and reduced to a call-and-response exercise between soloist, singers, and audience. Improvised on stage one night while on tour in 1959, the song was considered his trademark. "What's Going On" This 1971 song begins with the friendly, bustling sounds of a Vietnam veteran's homecoming party, but, all the while, an uneasy vibe lurks beneath the good times. The veteran was Marvin Gaye's much-changed brother Frank and "What's Going On" reflected a similar change in the singer's career. His personal life and the nation's struggle to come to grips with divisive social issues made Gaye realize that singing simplistic love songs for Motown Records was something he could no longer do. "White Christmas" A big part of this Irving Berlin song's success was its inclusion on the 1942 playlist of Armed Forces Radio and it ushered in the era when performers became more popular than songwriters as the main creative vehicle for American pop music -- Tin Pan Alley had passed into history. "Wildwood Flower" The song, like many recorded by the country music group The Carter Family, was passed down from generation-to-generation, without the benefit of written lyrics. Though its words are peculiar, its melody has kept the song popular and it has been recorded by many artists over the years. The Wizard of Oz (Film Score) The film's songs were written by Harold Arlen, with lyrics by Yip Harburg, and the score by Herbert Stothart. "Over the Rainbow" was almost taken out of the film after several test screenings. http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/vote/list100.html ETA: This list should be amended by NPR to include something by Michael Jackson. Whittling it down to WHICH song would be the issue, I suppose. But no way MJ should be excluded when they put "4:33" on the list!! That's SAD!

Off the Wall was the stunner for me. MJ and QJ made brilliant music together. But my hands-down all-time favorite MJ song -- Man in the Mirror. And I'll never forget watching the Motown special when he sang Billie Jean, did the moonwalk, and brought the house down. All the sensational stuff of the past 15 years never interested me. However, I was never able to understood why such a good looking person would intentionally put his face under the knife so many times. It continued long after becoming absurd. I suppose if you have immense wealth, and control, nobody can tell you, "No." An amazing talent, and a tortured life. Too sad for words. Rest in peace, Michael.

That celebrity deaths in threes thing is truly eerie: Ed McMahon Farrah Fawcett Michael Jackson

Just saw on HuffPo that TMZ is reporting that Michael Jackson died of a heart attack.

Well, he IS a star ... like a rock! I can report that I was good and did NOT go to the Clapton/Winwood concert last night and did the birthday dinner like a good MIL. However, I'm not sure I feel that good about doing the right thing now that I've found out Big Abe was on drums last night, as in Abe Laboriel, Jr., Paul McCartney's drummer. Damn! I wish I did not know that.

This potential thread title is OFF THE HOOK!!! ************************ Yesterday .... not great for holier-than-thou hypocrisy, was it? ETA: merrieeee, I believe you have to download TweetDeck (you can find it in a google search), and then designate "Clay Aiken" or anyone/anything else as a Search object. You'll hear "tweets" when new info pops up.

This one gets its own spotlight post for Clay sprinkling sugar all over the sexy....

I don't know how this will size, but I love the feetZ~ and everything else.... If RCA had put this one on the CD cover, the picture alone would have sold another mil...

I suppose it goes without saying that this is just my opinion. So-called Christianity without love and tolerance and realizing "there but by fortune go us all," has ceased to be Christian and needs to stop using the name in vain. I left the evangelical church many years ago over an idolatry issue -- a congregation idolizing a "pastor" who called himself "The Colonel" and ruled like Il Duce. If you didn't agree with him, you were going against God's Law -- and there was always a scripture to be interpreted via various convolutions to prove it. I abhor the Taliban mentality of all fundamentalism. Whether practiced by Christians, Muslims or Jews, fundamentalism is dark, dangerous and ugly, and historically has been the gateway to bigotry and violence. Fortunately, lights do flicker on and people have been known to wake up and walk away from the strict dogmas that stress the abolition of sin and the adoration of piety. I came out of it. I believe everyone will eventually -- in one lifetime or another! I mean, nobody ever expects the Spanish Inquisition!!!

Clay's been doing the currently hip summer casual style for years. Shoot, he may be the primary trend setter for it. ****************** Congrats to the luckiest family!!!! Oh Lord, Houston is hotter'n a burning stump. Desertrose, you had RAIN yesterday? As the crow flies you can't be more than 4-5 miles from me and it's so dry here that the trees are whistling for dogs. A great day to go to the beach and sip those little pastel drinks with paper umbrellas, plastic swords and orange slices. It's a BOAT DRINKS DAY!!!

Now that you've exonerated Clique -- let me take this opportunity to condemn them again. June is my renewal at the fanclub and I did so with no problem, at least that's what I thought until I saw that they ran the charge through twice at my bank. So I was out $78.08 instead of $39.04. I sent emails twice, both with URGENT in the subject line, and didn't get a response. Nada. So I called Bank of America and got their phone number and someone actually answered the phone. They checked, agreed that indeed they had charged me twice in error, and said they'd fix it -- in a couple of weeks. It took them one day to get it OUT of my bank, and who knows when I'll actually be reimbursed! It's not such a big deal that this happened if it gets fixed, but nobody EVER responded to my emails. That I find unacceptable. Do they employ only one or two people? Clique get no kisses from me 'til they ... FIX IT!

Sorry to disagree with those who think Clay is not and never will be cool, but I must. He's the coolest breeze in my world. There's nothing that does it for me more than natural sensuousness. I love Clay's smart mouth, independent spirit, disinclination to compromise, and seeming distain for the commercially cool -- or cool by fiat of anyone else -- but the sensuous is all over him, and it trumps overt sexual for me every.single.time. Betcha he still can't stop rubbing feet! Clay has a full body and soul connection that is real and transferrable. Yeah, he's so freaking cool I can't stand it! And nobody in the world need agree with me, because it wouldn't affect how I experience Clay Aiken. In fact, I'm remembering a guy I knew a long time ago whose opinion I trusted in most matters. Once had a discussion in which he said something I've remembered: "Cool is something you can't see through." I can't see through Clay. He remains a maze, a mystery, elusive and in your face all at the same time, and he has this voice .... for which I have no words. That's fucking COOL!

That is definitely kewl. And lin, I think there are quite a few back-to-back birthdays at FCA .... including you and me, kid! (Libras don't kick butt, we kiss it and make it better. ) Rain? Thunderstorms? What the heck is that? Well, scarlett and merrieeee, sounds like we should open a restaurant called eHP in the Raleigh area. We could say it stands for "everybodyHavePie" or "extraHealthyPortions" or "empanadaHotPockets" -- we could figure a way to draw him in. Oh yes, by our sterling reputation for excellence, I'm sure.

Looks like Subo showed out again. Simon must have his hands full with her. On my mind: Clay at lunch ... with friends ... and starstruck fans ... a second book by Clay ... this one about Christmas ... pattern? ... second album about Christmas ... cicadae going wild outside my window ... MY GOD IT'S HOT HERE! ... must be 100 in the shade ... energy level less than zero ... must be time for ice cream ... been dieting recently ... completely support my decision to have the Blue Bell anyway .... Homemade Vanilla, Butter Crunch, or Birthday Cake? ... Homemade Vanilla maybe slightly less heinous? ... but I have hot fudge and whipped cream in the fridge ... life is short ... I'd work at O'Charley's with ya, merrieeee ... Lord, I have cherries too ... did I mention it's unbearably, insufferably HOT! no more yard work for me until November.

Happy Birthday, ANSA! I miss your consistently brilliant posts here. I hope your day is special and beautiful! My virtual twitter message: Putting on socks to get rocked

Happy Birthday, Couchie!

Topic: I'd like to be doored by Clay! I love that he mentioned that Clay looked great -- I thought the twitterer looked pretty hot himself! I have the sneaky feeling that Clay has a lot of "irons" in the fire and I don't begrudge him this vacation period AT ALL. I think he may be traveling at warp speed very soon, if not already. I never saw JN2, so I'd love it if he produced a Christmas TV special that could be syndicated every season. I'd love a new book by Clay, and since he said on OFC that he didn't write the first one, maybe he really wants to write one (or already has) that is in his own words, or more in-depth about his experiences. I have no doubt in my mind that he'll be recording this year. Broadway's a possibility -- but I'd love to see a limited run Clay Aiken performance show (a la Liza, or Lily Tomlin, or Will Ferrell) more than a long running musical or play. They give out Tonys for those limited runs too! He'll be touring sometime sooner or later. I saw last year's Idol winner, David Cook, on LKL this week, and he told Larry he's been touring venues circa 1,000 and less -- mostly on college campuses. Larry asked him if he would like to tour the larger venues and Cook said "sure" but he has to work his way up to that level. Clay's last pop tour, DCAT, he was drawing 2,000 - 8,000 depending on venue size, and people said OH NO!!! And Clay was getting serious money for those shows -- I know I paid in the $100 range for each of the shows I saw. (Except Tulsa, and that one was cheaper, because it was an already-defunct venue -- even though the parking lot was verra, verra, niiiice). Clay played some GREAT venues. He packed 'em in in Houston: Sold out the Hard Rock in Orlando: Sold out in West Palm Beach: In fact, I saw a story later in the WPB news that said the Kravis Center was sold out twice that summer season -- Clay Aiken, and Kathy Griffin. Anyway, I agree with Insider on this one!