Sean declares...

The best new artist of 2008!

Here is her first hit live, Mercy!

Warwick Avenue... what music videos used to be - powerful emotion! You'll cry right along with her... wait for the part where she breaks the wall and pushes off the camera at one point.  You can tell this song was about someone real. Here is a link to the the live performance which shows you her raw talent.

Final song to listen to is Distant Dreamer. This is my favorite song on the album!!! Just incredible vocal and powerful words for anyone who keeps dreaming..

"Even when you see me frown, my heart won't let me down, because I know there's better things to come."

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Sean rings out his ears and puts the vomit bowl away...

Last night's (April 8, 2008) American Idol seriously disappointed and almost made me blow chunks. I am all for taking twists on songs that truly are great and either perform them straight out or re-imagine them. Last night, two songs that I would put in my personal top 20 list either underperformed or just torn to shreds... Robbie Williams' 1998 hit Angels and Queen's The Show Must Go On.  Part 1 will address the dismal thrashing of The Show Must Go On.

Carly Smithson delivered a horrible version of The Show Must Go On that I fear will discourage people from trying to hear what this great and honest song tells. Inspirational in that it does what William's Angels does also - keep fighting and don't let them see you cry until you win.

"Inside my heart is breaking, my make up may be flaking, but my smile still stays on... The Show Must Go On!"

Here are two great versions. First is a video (sorry couldn't find a live version on YouTube) is from Queen. The second is from Baz Luhrman's film Moulin Rouge, with Jim Broadbent and Nicole Kidman giving a great dramatic rise to the song (ignore the French dubbing at the beginning). Enjoy and don't even think about Carly's huge drive off a high cliff.

Here are the lyrics to this song about going on when obstacles get in your way and pain is a factor.

Empty spaces - what are we living for?
Abandoned places - I guess we know the score..
On and on!
Does anybody know what we are looking for?

Another hero - another mindless crime.
Behind the curtain, in the pantomime.
Hold the line!
Does anybody want to take it anymore?
The Show must go on!
The Show must go on!
Inside my heart is breaking,
My make-up may be flaking,
But my smile, still, stays on!

Whatever happens, I'll leave it all to chance.
Another heartache - another failed romance.
On and on!
Does anybody know what we are living for?
I guess i'm learning
I must be warmer now..
I'll soon be turning round the corner now.
Outside the dawn is breaking,
But inside in the dark I'm aching to be free!

The Show must go on!
The Show must go on! Yeah!
Ooh! Inside my heart is breaking!
My make-up may be flaking!
But my smile, still, stays on!
Yeah! oh oh oh

My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies,
Fairy tales of yesterday, will grow but never die,
I can fly, my friends!

The Show must go on! Yeah!
The Show must go on!
I'll face it with a grin!
I'm never giving in!
On with the show!

I'll top the bill!
I'll overkill!
I have to find the will to carry on!
On with the,
On with the show!

The Show must go on.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Sean encourages you to listen to this...

Enjoy!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Audio: Share the most embarrassing song on your mp3 player.

Sean says...

I love cheesy songs and sadly this is probably the cheesiest groaner of them all!  I give you Charlene's "I've Never Been To Me"!  Anti-women's liberation song or gay man's rallying cry thanks to the film The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of The Desert?  Take your choice I just think its a horrible train wreck worthy of listening as The Valley of The Dolls is worth watching over and over again. Unintentionable camp at its best!  Runner's up are Maureen McGovern's "The Morning After" and Shirley Bassey's "Moonraker" (which I will perform one day as a spoken word event). I love them all but thank goodness for the earphones on my iPod or I would be laughed out of dodge. Enjoy!

Charlene - I've Never Been To Me

Hey lady, you lady, cursing at your life
You're a discontented mother and a regimented wife
I've no doubt you dream about the things you'll never do
But, I wish someone had talked to me
Like I wanna talk to you.....

Oh, I've been to Georgia and California and anywhere I could run
I took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun
But I ran out of places and friendly faces because I had to be free
I've been to paradise but I've never been to me

Please lady, please lady, don't just walk away
'Cause I have this need to tell you why I'm all alone today
I can see so much of me still living in your eyes
Won't you share a part of a weary heart that has lived million lies....

Oh, I've been to Niece and the Isle of Greece while I've sipped champagne on a yacht
I've moved like Harlow in Monte Carlo and showed 'em what I've got
I've been undressed by kings and I've seen some things that a woman ain't supposed to see
I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me

[spoken]
Hey, you know what paradise is?
It's a lie, a fantasy we create about people and places as we'd like them to be
But you know what truth is?
It's that little baby you're holding, it's that man you fought with this morning
The same one you're going to make love with tonight
That's truth, that's love......

Sometimes I've been to crying for unborn children that might have made me complete
But I took the sweet life, I never knew I'd be bitter from the sweet
I've spent my life exploring the subtle whoring that costs too much to be free
Hey lady......
I've been to paradise, (I've been to paradise)
But I've never been to me

(I've been to Georgia and California, and anywhere I could run)
I've been to paradise, never been to me
(I've been to Neice and the isle of Greece while I've sipped champagne on a yacht)
I've been to paradise, never been to me
(I've been to cryin' for unborn children that might have made me complete)
I've been to paradise, never been to me
(I've been to Georgia and California, and anywhere I could run)
I've been to paradise, never been to me

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Audio: Share a song you could listen to all day on repeat.

Sean says...

Dreaming by the group Blondie.  The song is both rallying cry for me about always pursuing your dream be it love or just life and nostalgia reminder. The drums are amazing!  My sisters and I used to lock ourselves in their room and listen to Blondie's Best of album over and over. My memories about us dancing and singing like crazy "tweens" together is what I think propels this song forward in my memory all these years.  This will be my entrance song at our wedding since it's pretty much my favorite song of all time. <smirk> Now if I remember it right, this was my song; Holly's was The Tide is High (although our "spotlight" dance at her wedding included One Way Or Another which Mikelle joined in on); and Mikelle's was Rapture because she liked the rap part (...and he shoots you dead and he eats your head). Enjoy!

Blondie - Dreaming

When I met you in the restaurant
You could tell I was no debutante
You asked me what's my pleasure
A movie or a measure?
I'll have a cup of tea and tell you of my dreaming
Dreaming is free
I don't want to live on charity
Pleasure's real or is it fantasy?
Reel to reel is living rarity
People stop and stare at me We just walk on by - we just keep on dreaming
Feet feet, walking a two mile
Meet meet, meet me at the turnstile
I never met him, I'll never forget him

Dream dream, even for a little while
Dream dream, filling up an idle hour
Fade away, radiate

I sit by and watch the river flow
I sit by and watch the traffic go
Imagine something of your very own
Something you can have and hold

I'd build a road in gold just to have some dreaming
Dreaming is free
Dreaming
Dreaming is free
Dreaming
Dreaming is free 
 

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Sean says...

Kylie

So thanks to fellow Vox neighbor Mark and my real life friend Randy, my Kylie Minogue obsession has been rekindled again!  Unfortunately, Kylie's new album "X" doesn't seem to be coming to the US stores anytime soon. The only chance I have at it is either on-line or by getting my "triumvirate" member and best mate's in-laws importing it from Australia!  So thank god for YouTube!  Screw iTunes' intercountry blocks! 

Kylie, I would argue, is the World Queen of Pop.  She has been around 20 years, has Top 10 and 20 hits around the world, and says she lives in Los Angeles because its one of the only places on the Earth that she wouldn't be recognized (except of course West Hollywood as many of us know - wink). Why in the world she never took off in the USA I will never know. She isn't the greatest singer, she doesn't give into the raunch that Madonna does sometimes, and she usually stays out of the gossip rags but she is just a great constant. My friend and fellow fan Jim tells me its probably because she is mainly seen as a dance music star here. But in the end she survives and gives us the gift of her light song. And she is really incredible with her gay fans.

Enjoy!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Stefan says...

When my birthday rolled around last July, my beloved Sean surprised me with a wonderful gift: my very first ipod!  Yeah, I know I'm about five years behind the rest of the world!  I didn't have the opportunity to really use it before our trip to Vegas; now I'm hooked...loving this device!

For those of you who share my enthusiasm for music (and for my penchant for being a fan of many musical genres), what is on your ipod right now?  What are the top ten songs you have found yourself replaying over and over again during the past week/month?  Let's compare notes!

For me, I recently created a playlist of songs that are sampled from other songs, including the original, or remixes.  Here is what is on that playlist:

-"Genius of Love" (Tom Tom Club) & "Fantasy" (Mariah Carey)

-"Jamie's Crying" (Van Halen) & "Wild Thing" (Tone Loc)

-"Hanky Panky" (Tommy James & the Shondells) & "Hanky Panky" (Joan Jett)

-"Best of My Love" (The Emotions) & "Emotions" (Mariah Carey)

-"Highway to Hell" (AC/DC) & "Highway to Hell" (a funkified remix by Sepalot & Amos)

-"Disco Inferno" (The Trammps) & "Disco Inferno" (Tina Turner)

-"Do It Again" (Steely Dan) & "Mentirosa" (Mellow Man Ace)

-"Firecracker" (Mass Production) & "Me So Horny" (2 Live Crew)

-"Forget Me Nots" (Patrice Rushen) & "Men in Black" (Will Smith)

-"The Glamorous Life" (Sheila E.) & "Don'tcha Wish Your Girlfriend was Hot Like Me" (Pussycat Dolls)

-"Riders on the Storm" (The Doors) & "Rapture Riders" (a mashup with "Rapture" by Blondie)

-"Rock You Like a Hurricane" (The Scorpions) & "Rock You Like a Hurricane" (Scorpions w/ the Berlin Philharmonic)

-"Money-That's What I Want" (The Beatles) & "Money-That's What I Want" (Barrett Strong)

-"Smokin' in the Boys Room" (Brownsville Station) & "Smokin' in the Boys Room" (Motley Crue)

-"Stone Cold Crazy" (a remixed version with Queen and Nine Inch Nails)

-"Stuck in the Middle With You" (Steely Dan) & "All I Wanna Do" (Sheryl Crow)

-"Train Kept a Rollin'" (Aerosmith) & "Train Kept a Rollin'" (Goss, Eugene, & Rich)

-"Youngblood" (Bad Company) & "Youngblood" (The Other Side)

Read and post comments | Send to a friend