Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers "Gravity"

At what point does a song that references another song, lose you?

We live in a day and age of samples and remix and such, so the idea of one song sounding like another isn't especially foreign.

But in the singer-songwriter and rock world, if your song sounds too much like another tune, well, sometimes you're written off.

Or maybe, it's just that if you don't acknowledge the similarity, you're written off.

Because the melody rip-off worked well for The Old 97s, who openly admit the the melody of "Champaign Illinois" was lifted directly from Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row."

But people (radio programmers, at least) have been less forgiving on Stephen Kellogg And The Sixers' new song "Gravity," which seems to reference the Simon & Garfunkel tune "Cecilia" pretty directly.

So they did an interesting thing. They re-recorded Stephen's delivery for that one vocal hook. And traces of the original single have all but disappeared from Youtube, leaving only this new, less-"Cecilia"-like version.

Instead of going down, the notes go up, and it's changed enough that it doesn't sound like a rip-off.

Does it work?


You can hear the original vocal line at the 20 second mark on this promotional video.

Check out the 20 second mark on Youtube.

But now all the online videos have been replaced with the new version. You can hear the new hook at 25 seconds.

Hear the song on Youtube.

And check out "Cecilia" and "Gravity" right next to each other.

Hear the comparison on Youtube.


Hear the S&G original on Youtube.

Free Dar Williams, Stephen Kellogg, Brett Dennen and more

"HATS!!! FIVE DOLLARS!!! GET YOUR FIVE DOLLAR HATS, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!! FIIIIIIVVVVVVVVEE DOLLASSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!"

We were headed into Baltimore's Camden Yards to see the Red Sox versus the Orioles.

Screaming at the top of his lungs, was a guy with a table full of Major League Baseball caps.

"GET YOUR FIVE DOLLAR HATS!!!"

My buddy Tom said, "Hold up, I'll get something for the kid."

"Give me a hat. How much?"

"TWELVE DOLLARS!"

The real story: He had a couple hats for $5, most were $12.

So let me say to you "FREE MUSIC! FREE MUSIC! CLICK BELOW FOR FREE MUSIC!!!"

Is it "Free?" Well, they want your email address, so they can put you on their mailing list. But the mailing lists are for the bands listed. So if you like the bands, you probably wouldn't mind some info on them from time to time, right?

Disclaimer: This offer is from Vanguard Records, a great independent label, dedicated to REAL artists. This offer comes from them, not me or mvyradio. If you don't like what the songs are, or what else comes in your mailbox, I can't help you. End of my Holiday Disclaimer Of Joy.

Enjoy the free-ish-ness!

Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers "Shady Esperanto"

How old were you when MTV came to your town?

Me, I was probably just the right age. I was a 7th grader when I watched the cable guys hook up a box to our TV, and flip on Quarterflash singing “Harden My Heart.”

It’s hardly a new thought for me to note that you don’t see videos on MTV these days. Music seems to be such a tiny, inconsequential part of their programming.

But it can’t be underplayed, at least in my life, how influential MTV was in the early-to-mid-80s.

While memory sends you back to the One-Hit-Wonder anomalies like Flock Of Seagulls, The Buggles and Dexy’s Midnight Runners, MTV was also my first glimpse of more than a few important artists.

Elvis Costello’s “Oliver’s Army,” Nick Lowe’s “Cruel To Be Kind” and U2’s “Gloria” were just a few of the songs and videos that had profound effects on my future listening (and hey, my vocation, too).

You go back and look at these videos, and yes, they are pretty chintzy-looking, especially compared to the high-gloss videos of MTV’s 90s heyday.

But these videos and the song in them, won me over with their charm. There’s a sincerity in there ineptness.

All this to say that I can’t tell you the last time I was won over to a song’s charms, with the aid of a music video. Certainly, it’s been more than a decade.

But it happened last week.

Stephen Kellogg’s “Shady Esperanto And The Young Hearts” song is something that’s been on the bubble of songs mvyradio is likely to add. I thought it was a fun song, something right up my alley. But every week, we’d add into rotation something that was a little more “mvy-sounding.”

I got sent the link to the “Shady Esperanto” video last Friday, and I’ve been humming the song ever since, and laughing at the video.

It’s by no means the funniest viral video I’ve ever been sent (hello Dramatic Groundhog), or even the funniest music video I’ve seen. But I can not deny it’s low-budget charm. It’s just so exuberantly goofy.

And for full disclosure, I went to UMass, so I have a soft spot for the video’s location and extras.

I loved the song before I saw the video, but after seeing the video I said to myself, “What are you waiting for? Spread this joy on the radio.”

Hear Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers "Shady Esperanto And The Young Hearts"

See the low budget video, a buoyant live performance, the old school MTV music videos for “Oliver’s Army,” “Cruel To Be Kind” and “Gloria,” and behold the mesmerizing power of the Dramatic Groundhog.