Lulu & The Lampshades "You're Gonna Miss Me"

My wife, who teaches at an elementary school, had been out late the previous night.

The students and teachers had put on a talent show, and she'd attended to show support.  The next morning, she was talking about how 3 different groups of kids did "the cups song" thing.

What is "the cups song" thing?

Instead of answering me, she got a plastic cup out of the cupboard and went off to her computer.

She had a vague memory of how to do the cup thing, but needed to bring up a Youtube video, to re-train herself.

With just a little bit of practice, it all came back to her.  Here she is, accompanied by my son and a bowl of pasta.


See it on Youtube.

What the heck is that, and why are kids doing it?

Well, you can watch this appearance on David Letterman by actress Anna Kendrick, but the short version is this:  Kendrick had learned to do the cup trick from a viral video, and when the folks who were making the movie "Pitch Perfect" saw her do it, they wrote it into the movie.


See the Letterman interview on Youtube.

So if your kids know "the cups song" thing it's probably from seeing "Pitch Perfect" and then Googling this viral video, that Kendrick had studied.


See the viral video on Youtube.

But that doesn't explain how my wife knew how to do it.  She hadn't seen "Pitch Perfect," and wasn't aware of the song.

"How do you know the routine?"

She was a bit sheepish.

"It's from a drinking game.  We used to do this in college.  When you get to the last step, you send the cup to the person on your right.  If you mess up the routine, you drink."

A drinking game, of course.  Now appropriated by grade schoolers everywhere.

Next talent show?  Quarters!


PS.  One more fun version:

See the viral video on Youtube.

The Muppets "Sequestered In Memphis"

I had time off last week which, on the whole, was okay, but was full of doctors appointments, sick family members, a flat tire, a downed tree, power outages and other side tracks.

But through all those hassles, I kept thinking about this video, and smiling.

A radio/records person on my Facebook feed posted this and suggested that everyone play this song on 3/1.

3/1?  What happens on 3/1?

It took me a while to put it together, but, aha!  The government's "Sequestration" cuts take effect on 3/1.

So, in the face of crippling budget wacks, please enjoy these Muppets singing a Hold Steady tune.


See the video on Youtube.

Cassidy Lynn/Judd Fuller/Dana Radford "Gardener In The Graveyard"

I got this email from mvyradio's former News Director, Toby Wilson:

Hey PJ,

Former Islanders Judd Fuller and Dana Radford are one of the top 10 finalists for the CMT songwriter awards. The song is about the caretaker at Able's Hill Cemetery, and how he knows the history of all the people buried there.

So spread the word and help out some Vineyard-favorite musicians!

See all the contestants.

See what they'd win.

Hear the song:

Get More:

Bobby Rush "Down In Louisiana"

While we at MVY don't actively try to get ourselves an FCC violation, we don't freak out about the possibility of getting in trouble either.

I can't say this is true for many of our peers in radio however.

The fear of an FCC fine, for whatever reason, looms large, and that fear has created a kind of tense culture between stations and the record promoters who service them.

It seems perfectly reasonable to receive a new album that comes with a sticker on the cover that tells you, for instance, "Tracks 2 and 7 are not FCC friendly."

Okay, so maybe the songs say "Fuck" or "Shit" or something that you don't want to unwittingly put on your airwaves.  Perfectly reasonable to point that out.

But often, the CD comes with a one-sheet, that tells you the same information.  And you get an email, or two, with a reminder.

Seems like a bit of overkill. 

True, WMVY has never been fined for airing a swear word.  Maybe some of these other stations have been fined, and they are skittish.

Because WOE BE UNTO THE PROMOTER who sends out a CD only to discover, after the fact, that a song, or songs, on the record have swear words.

Expect that poor promoter to issue multiple Mea Culpas and emails, and a reminder via a phone call, that the album is un-stickered and you shouldn't play on the People's Airwaves lest the bureaucratic wrath of the Federal Communications Commission rain hellfire down upon you.

It's all a little much.  And while I might want to tease the promoters about it, surely they are just reacting to the over-reacting of some radio folks.

Which is what makes this so funny . . .

Upon returning from vacation, I found one of those standard apology/correction emails from Lindsay Reid of Thirty Tigers.  He was warning folks about the opening track on the new Bobby Rush record.  "My apologies on this, as I was told it was FCC clean."

No doubt, the record had gone out un-stickered, some radio person played it and let Lindsay know that there WAS a swear word on it.  So it would have seemed . . . 

Hilariously, less than 24 hour later came the correction to the correction.

The song IS FCC clean.  But check out the lyrics below.

Dirty?  Nah.  Incomprehensible?  Hell yeah!

Listen in at that 1:10 mark, and you'll hear why folks thought Rush was swearing . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.

Way Down In Louisiana

Down In Cajun Land

Folks got somethin’ goin down there

That you might not understand

Diggy on the Scooby di lord

Diggy on the Scooby doo

Doin’ anything girl that you wanna doo

You ol Pooky Poo You

Oh’ what I’d like to do to you

Get Hip to the consultation to the Boolawee

Way Down In Louisiana

Down In New Orleans

Folks got somethin’ goin down there

Queue fauex cootsie tootsie

Diggy on the Scooby di lord

Diggy on the Scooby doo

Little Girl what I, what I’d like to do to you

You ol Pooky Poo You

Oh’ what I’d like to do to you

Get Hip to the consultation to the Boolawee

Golly golly Miss Molly

Everything is Copasetic now

Girl look at you, You ol Pooky Poo You

What I’d like to do to you You ol Pooky Poo You

Oh’ what I’d like to do to you

Get Hip to the consultation to the Boolawee
Get Hip to the consultation to the Boolawee

JJ Fad "Supersonic"

Here's another Weekend Post:

When I was searching for yesterday's "Supersonic," this one popped up too, and it made me laugh, thinking of the early days of MTV.  I love how positively quaint (if garish), the whole thing is---the hair, the outfits, the "attitude."  It was a cute song . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.

Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show.  They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are wonderful to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.

Oasis "Supersonic"

Here's another Weekend Post:

I was thinking about what a big dang hit this one was, and how I never seem to hear it any more.  "Wonderwall" and "Champagne Supernova" are floating out there, but this one seems to have slipped throught the cracks . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.

Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show.  They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are wonderful to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.
 

Steve Miller Band "The Joker"

All this week, words I learned because of songs.  Today's word is:  Pompatus

You can spend hours googling the word "Pompatus" but in my day, if you wanted to know the origin of a word, you had to rely on Urban Legend and the "playground talk" of your peers.

Maybe Steve Miller made it up.  Maybe he lifted it from a 50s song.  Maybe it's a variation of pompous.  Maybe it means nothing.

Is "pompatus" truly a word?  I still don't know.  But I learned it in a song . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.


PS.  "Googling Pompatus" might be an awesome title for my first book.


Steve Miller Band
The Joker
Some people call me the space cowboy, yeah
Some call me the gangster of love
Some people call me Maurice
Cause I speak of the pompitous of love
People talkin' 'bout me, baby
Say I'm doin' you wrong, doin' you wrong
Well, don't you worry baby
Don't worry
Cause I'm right here, right here, right here, right here at home
Cause I'm a picker
I'm a grinner
I'm a lover
And I'm a sinner
I play my music in the sun
I'm a joker
I'm a smoker
I'm a midnight toker
I get my lovin' on the run
Wooo Wooooo
You're the cutest thing
That I ever did see
I really love your peaches
Want to shake your tree
Lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey all the time
Ooo-eee baby, I'll sure show you a good time
Cause I'm a picker
I'm a grinner
I'm a lover
And I'm a sinner
I play my music in the sun
I'm a joker
I'm a smoker
I'm a midnight toker
I sure don't want to hurt no one
Wooo Woooo
People keep talking about me baby
They say I'm doin' you wrong
Well don't you worry, don't worry, no don't worry mama
Cause I'm right here at home
You're the cutest thing I ever did see
Really love your peaches want to shake your tree
Lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey all the time
Come on baby and I'll show you a good time

Barenaked Ladies "Brian Wilson"

All this week, words I learned because of songs.  Today's word is:  Pedagogue

I immediately got the reference to The Beach Boys when I first heard this Barenaked Ladies tune.  I knew about the sandbox, and the weight-gain and other parts of the Brian Wilson legend.

But it wasn't until years later that I learned a little about Wilson's relationship with Dr. Landy, and that made me want to understand further what Dr. Landy (in the song) tells the narrator.

ped·a·gogue 
Noun
A teacher, esp. a strict or pedantic one.

See the lyrics below


Hear the song on Youtube.

"Brian Wilson"

Drove downtown in the rain nine-thirty on a Tuesday night,
just to check out the late-night record shop.
Call it impulsive, call it compulsive, call it insane;
but when I'm surrounded I just can't stop.
It's a matter of instinct, it's a matter of conditioning,
It's a matter of fact.
You can call me Pavlov's dog
Ring a bell and I'll salivate- how'd you like that?
Dr. Landy tell me you're not just a pedagogue,
cause right now I'm
[Chorus]
Lying in bed just like Brian Wilson did
Well I'm lying in bed just like Brian Wilson did.
So I'm lying here, just staring at the ceiling tiles.
and I'm thinking about what to think about.
Just listening and relistening to Smiley Smile,
and I'm wondering if this is some kind of creative drought
because I am
[Chorus]
And if you want to find me I'll be out in the sandbox,
wondering where the hell all the love has gone.
Playing my guitar and building castles in the sun,
and singing "Fun, Fun, Fun."
[Chorus]
I had a dream that I was three hundred pounds
and though I was very heavy,
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me, I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me, I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me because I'm
[Chorus]
Drove downtown in the rain nine-thirty on a Tuesday night.
Just to check out the late-night record shop.
Call it impulsive, call it compulsive, call it insane;
but when I'm surrounded I just can't stop.

The Beatles "The Ballad Of John And Yoko"

All this week, words I learned because of songs.  Today's word is:  Mac

Oh, did I torture my parents with questions about The Beatles.  I didn't understand that my folks wouldn't know every little thing about every little song.

And as I became more accustomed to their later work, I found myself running into things my parents were definitely not quite ready to address, like slang.

But for whatever reason, my folks DID know what a Mac (short for Mackintosh) was.  The "Man In The Mac" was a much clearer vision in my mind, as soon as they explained it was another work for raincoat.

To this day, however, we don't really know the meaning of the acorns tied in a sack.


Hear the song on Youtube.

The Ballad Of John And Yoko

Standing in the dock at Southampton
Trying to get to Holland or France
The man in the mac said, "You've got to go back"
You know they didn't even give us a chance

Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me

Finally made the plane into Paris
Honeymooning down by the Seine
Peter Brown called to say
"You can make it OK
You can get married in Gibraltar, near Spain"

Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me

Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton
Talking in our beds for a week
The newspapers said, "Say what you doing in bed?"
I said, "We're only trying to get us some peace"

Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me

Saving up your money for a rainy day
Giving all your clothes to charity
Last night the wife said
"Oh boy, when you're dead
You don't take nothing with you
But your soul, think!"

Made a lightning trip to Vienna
Cating chocolate cake in a bag
The newspapers said, "She's gone to his head
They look just like two gurus in drag"

Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me

Caught an early plane back to London
Fifty acorns tied in a sack
The men from the press said, "We wish you success
It's good to have the both of you back"

Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me

Til Tuesday "Believed You Were Lucky"

All this week, words I learned because of songs.  Today's word is:  Acquiesce

At my old radio station, we had a 45 of this Til Tuesday song, and the lyrics were right on the paper sleeve.  My old roommate/co-worker would always comment that he was impressed with a songwriter like Aimee Mann, who would use "acquiesce" in a pop song.


ac·qui·esce  
Verb
Accept something reluctantly but without protest.

See the lyrics below.



Hear the song on Youtube.

"(Believed You Were) Lucky"
So I guess I'll give it up
Yeah I guess I will
What's the use in pushing
When it's all uphill
I can't be appointed
Keeper of the flame
Without two to carry
It won't burn the same
Oh, it seems obvious to me
But then again
Could be
You just never felt that way
I wish you believed in life
Believed in fate
Believed you were lucky
And worth the wait
'Cause life could be lovely
Life could be so great
It gets so embarrassing
So I acquiesce
And I'll change my mind again
You change your address
Oh, it seems logical to me
But then again
Could be I was simply not that smart
I wish you believed in life
Believed in fate
Believed you were lucky
And worth the wait
'Cause life could be lovely
Life could be so great
There must be some other door that they are saving
Behind which my happiness lies
I won't be wasting my words
To tell you hopes that I had -
We can just leave it alone for now
I wish you believed in life
Believed in fate
Believed you were lucky
And worth the wait
'Cause life could be lovely
Oh life could be fucking great