Once again sorry for the late post everybody, I'm back in school again and quite busy, I'll try my best to stay updated. I guess New Wave doesn't really count towards the style that I'm trying to go for here on my blog but I think exceptions can be made. It's a duo that some of you may have heard of, they are known as Flash and The Pan. The singer's style is relaxed and cool which will be evident in the songs I will post. Once again with this group they earned a quick flash of success with a few songs. Without further ado, here are a few of the classics:
Song: Midnight Man Album: Early Morning Wake Up Call
Song: Walking In The Rain
Album: Flash and The Pan
Song: California Album: Flash and The Pan
The duo consisted of Harry Vanda and George Young which were both former members of The Easybeats. They formed Flash and The Pan during the late 1970's. The band gained popularity in the U.S. with their single Hey St. Peter among other albums and had some success in Europe. Though they never had supporting tours in the U.S. their short lived fame never really spread. Another reason why the band never had long lasting success was because of the part-time nature of the band, they never seemed truly dedicated to it. That's all for today, stay cool everyone.
(Sorry for the late post everyone, I was busy yesterday and couldn't finish my post, so here it is)
Today I want to show you all the real father of electronic music, or someone who started before Kraftwerk. It was one man and his name was Bruce Haack (very fitting name). He had been working on electronic music equipment since the 60's and had built his own synthesizers and other equipment. He made quite a bit of music in his time and tried to get the public interested in electronic music by going on television shows and touring around. Haack would never sell his synthesizers or other equipment and thus was never given the credit for it. Here's a few tracks by the genius that is Bruce Haack:
Song: Party Machine
Album: Haackula
This version is edited down, the real one is much longer but it doesn't exist on youtube.
Song: Program Me
Album: Electric Lucifer
Song: Electric To Me Turn
Album: Electric Lucifer
Song: Stand Up Lazarus
Album: Electric Lucifer Book Two
Bruce Haack had an interesting beginning because of his ability to play anything on the piano from memory and experimented with peyote with Native Americans. Before he had been making albums, he had made children's music along with Esther Nelson. From there on he composed his album The Electric Lucifer which was an album where Heaven and Hell were having a battle and Earth being caught in the middle of it. He would go on to make quite a few more albums but would never gain in popularity. His contribution to electronic music was astounding but he wouldn't go down in history with the likes of Kraftwerk. So let's give this man the credit he deserves, tune in!
I suppose I'll continue for one more day with posting music that isn't disco or house. Many of you have probably already heard of this band, named Oingo Boingo, they aren't incredibly famous but they have a few hits such as 'Dead Man's Party' and 'Only A Lad' among others. This band doesn't really get the attention it deserves, almost every song on every album is excellent. The front man of the group, Danny Elfman, is a veritable god with a voice of an angel. The range and sound of his voice is superb and is almost supernatural, which might make sense because rumor has it Danny Elfman sold his soul to the devil. So, here are a few songs that were crafted by the band:
Song: Only A Lad
Album: Only A Lad
One of their better known songs though it's still a classic.
Song: Forbidden Zone Theme (Demo)
Album: Forbidden Zone
This is the beginning theme to an incredibly strange yet entertaining movie made by Danny Elfman's older brother Richard Elfman.
Song: No One Lives Forever
Album: Dead Man's Party
Song: Private Life
Album: Nothing To Fear
Song: What You See
Album: Only A Lad
Oingo Boingo started out as a cabaret style band that consisted of about 15 people and were called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Then during the 80's the band moved to this more New Wave style and the band's size shrunk to about 7 or 8. They stayed together until 1995 when they finally disbanded. Danny Elfman would go on to write music for major motion pictures (He was actually the singing voice of Jack Skelington in The Nightmare Before Christmas). Danny Elfman is the only one who became famous from his musical career, though Oingo Boingo would never gain the popularity it deserves. So tune into one of these fine songs and bask in the glory that is Oingo Boingo.
I decided to take a day off of blogging for new years, but don't worry because I'm back. For today I'm going to post some songs that are in a different field of what I have been posting. It's a duo from the late 1950's from New York who have a very unique sound. The name of the group is called Santo & Johnny, you may have heard some of their songs in some major motion pictures or elsewhere. I'm posting these songs so that we can all cruise into the new year nice and relaxed, so here they are:
Song: Sleep Walk
Album: Santo & Johnny
Song: Caravan
Album: Santo & Johnny
Song: Summertime
Album: Santo & Johnny
The duo have a very distinct sound because of the custom steel guitar that is used. They usually play slow and relaxed melodies but can also perform faster songs. The song 'Sleep Walk' would become their most successful song and essentially one of their only hits. Even though this band had a short spark of success, their other tunes are still great. Apparently the two are still active in music to this day though they don't play together anymore. Anyway, this is a great band to start off the new year, nice and relaxed. Happy New Year's everyone!
I think what I'm going to do on Friday's and possibly the weekends is post some pretty obscure songs that don't really have any information on them. A lot of these songs are some of my favorites but I can't make a full blog post about every one of them because there simply isn't anything on these artists. Well with all that said here's a few of my favorite songs:
Artist: Paradise Frame
Song: Paradise Theme
I just discovered this song today and I can already say it's one of my favorite songs. The only thing I know about this record is that it was made in Canada in 1978! The sound is very impressive for the time.
Artist: Brain
Song: D.I.X.O.
A very rare italo-disco/synth-pop tune with a spacey sound. The vocoder on this track is simply amazing and haunting at the same time.
I guess that's all there is for today, though I'm thinking of branching off on the weekends. What I mean is that on weekends I'll go off from just Disco and dance music and maybe cover some other stuff. Well, I guess we'll see, thanks for reading!
Methusalem is the name of the group and not much is known about it. It's an early 80's super rare (or once rare) disco album that had a quick spark of success and was re-relased on vinyl not too long ago. This band was more of a project than an actual band which included Ralf Nowy and Tom Muller. The craziest thing is that there really is only one album called Journey Into The Unknown, and just about every single song on it is excellent, I wonder what would have been if they had made more. Since there really isn't anymore information on this band and there really is only one album and two LP's I'm just going to rant a bit. So turn on one of these fine tracks and scroll down to read.
Song: Zombie
Album: Journey Into The Unknown
Song: Robotism
Album: Journey Into The Unknown
Song: The Black Hole
Album: Journey Into The Unknown
So I've been thinking a lot about this new year because new years is my favorite holiday or whatever. I like it so much because it's sole purpose is to party your way into the next year. I just don't know what I'm going to be doing this year and since things have been shaky for me recently I feel like I might just end up sleeping at home. I spent the last few new years in Europe and things were always so lively over there, back in the US though its so boring. So I propose this question to you dear readers, what will you be doing this new years? How do you want to herald in the new year? With that special lady, smash drunk, sleeping, or all of the above? Anyway, if you throw a party be sure to give Methusalem a thought. That's all for today, thanks for reading.
Some consider newer disco, or disco made anytime after its prominence in the 70's and 80's as Nu-Disco. Nu-Disco mostly attempts to re-create disco and italo-disco while also re-editing or re-pressing of actual disco era music. Though this band called Midnight Magic certainly captures the essence of disco perfectly while having their own unique sound. They have only been around for a few years or so and have already made a few classics. Here are a few:
Song: Beam Me Up
Album: Midnight Magic EP
Song: Calling Out
Album: What The Eyes Can't See EP
Song: Drop Me A Line
Album: Midnight Magic
Midnight Magic describe themselves as a nine person ensemble bonded by the unwavering desire to make you, the listener, and the rhythm become one; the secret love children of Donna Summer and George Clinton serving up an orgasmic feast of funk, disco, electro and soul. I would say that their description is pretty accurate, especially the part about making the rhythm and listener become one. Luckily since they are a new band and not one in the 80's you can still see them live. You can head over to their very own website at www.midnightmagicsounds.com to see where they are playing and their latest updates. That's all for now, keep dancing.
