Day # 2 of the 30 day Music Meme

[shadowkat]

"A song you like with a number in the title..."

Figure 8 from Schoolhouse Rock and "The Squid & the Whale" soundtrack. I love this song.

Here's the Squid and the Whale version.

And

Watch on YouTube

It brings back memories of childhood - I watched Schoolhouse Rock as a small child, also the melody has a kind of nostalgic soft feel to it. It also reminds me of ice skating as a child - although I was never quite that talented.

There's a weirdly melancholy but comforting feel to it. Also the last two lyrics of the song always send a chill up my spine.

Comments

[cjlasky7]

I'm going to save my Schoolhouse Rock song for an upcoming category-- but rest assured, it's coming....

My selection: "Take Five"

Just the biggest selling jazz single of all time...


https://youtu.be/vmDDOFXSgAs

[shadowkat]

Good one! (BTW are you doing separate posts on your selections or just as responses? I ask because I couldn't find your posts.

My difficulty with this meme - is I can't remember the names or titles of songs. For instance? Yes, of course I've heard Take Five numerous times, but I didn't know it was called that. I honestly had no idea what the title was.

Figure 8 on the other hand - I can remember, because the title is endemic to the song. Kind of like 8 Days a Week or the other one I considered, "One is the Loneliest Number" - which is a song I don't really like - so it won't work, since "like" is kind of important.

For me? This is less about picking great songs, and more about picking song titles I can remember. I had to google the first one, because I was drawing a blank and could only think of the one everyone else had chosen - Tangled Up in Blue.

I strongly considered Whiter Shade of Pale. But I'm not sure that really counts.

[cjlasky7]

I pick songs I love, and I hope I can get other people to enjoy them too. The title doesn't have to be especially "on the nose" as long as it fits the category.

Actually, "Take Five" is descriptive of the track, because it refers to the time signature--5/4, or five beats per measure instead of the usual four.

Dave Brubeck was the first jazz artist to explore unusual time signatures in a way that was still accessible to the general audience. Many others have taken that baton and run with it to wild new vistas. (But you should talk to beer_good_foamy about those guys. He knows much more about this than I do...)

[atpo_onm]

Whew... tough one. Several obvious ones come to mind, "Eight Days A Week" being the first, but that's way too obvious/insanely popular, so, my memory being totally unhelpful at this point, it was off to the library and sifting through possible LPs / CDs.

I was sure that Joan Armatrading had a tune called "Down to Zero", but couldn't find it, so I suspect that was actually a lyric, not a title. Drat, zero would have been a cool number.

Finally after much searching-- Pop Sing 89 by REM, from their Green album.

This vid is supposedly the "official" one, and after watching it, I suddenly realized that there were several censor-y floating black bars present when it was on MTV that are not present in this version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBGBi_INGjE

Here's two others, because-- why not?

"Long Tall Cool One", by Bruce Hornsby, from his Harbor Lights album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4te8nu7iF1E

And.... for sheer number of numbers:

"3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds", Jefferson Airplane, Surrealistic Pillow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylLdszMHkLo

[cjlasky7]

Down to Zero is the first track on Joan Armatrading's 1976 self-titled album. It is a gorgeous little tune. (I think I prefer Armatrading in folkie mode rather than aspiring pop queen.)

https://youtu.be/Brp8Va8XVQw

"Pop Song '89" is fun, but it's such a rip of "Hello, I Love You" I'm surprised what's left of the Doors didn't sue...

[shadowkat]

Really hard to sue - or to prove copyright infringement, you have to show it is substantially similar - and that test is not an easy one. Someone tried to sue Cassandra Clare for ripping off some fantasy novel for her works, and couldn't prove it even though it was similar, it wasn't substantially.

This song, which I'm listening to now is kind of like a lot of songs. The Doors weren't as innovative as they like to think they were. And a lot of the chords sound the same across songs. It's actually why I like the Beatles better than the Stones, the Stones tended to borrow heavily from other styles, while the Beatles came up with their own.

I had someone at work who is a semi-professional musician, and had worked as one, also is a lawyer, explain it to me once - that there are variations on chords, etc. But unless it is substantially unique? No claim. Also the costs involved in proving it - not worth the effort.

[cjlasky7]

Difficult to prove... but not impossible. We all know about George Harrison and his My Sweet Lord/He's So Fine legal troubles. He lost big on that one.

Recently, Marvin Gaye's estate sued Robin Thicke for boosting "Got to Give It Up" for "Blurred Lines"--and they won.

Michael Stipe has said in interviews that PS89 was a commentary and update on HILY, so there's not much debate about that. So... did Ray Manzarek, Robbie Kreiger and John Densmore just give REM a pass because they're just that cool?

Historical note: It is ironic that I'm talking about the Doors suing, when Ray Davies swears Robby Kreiger ripped off the guitar riff for HILY from "All Day and All of the Night."

[shadowkat]

Historical note: It is ironic that I'm talking about the Doors suing, when Ray Davies swears Robby Kreiger ripped off the guitar riff for HILY from "All Day and All of the Night."

If I were to guess? That's most likely why they didn't do it. The difficulty with copyright infringement in art - is you can end up shining a light on your own nefarious actions.

It really depends on how motivated the rights holder is, and if they have the funds/legal representation to back them. I'm not kidding when I state it is expensive.

I totally understand why Marvin Gaye's estate went after Robin Thicke - that's cheapening the brand with a pop rendition. George Harrison - I don't know about.

The Doors really kind of fell apart after Morrison died, and he was the motivating force behind them. And if there's a potential claim that they ripped off folks, they may wisely not want to draw attention to themselves.

[cjlasky7]

I think you'd find the details of Harrison v. Bright Tunes fascinating.

[atpo_onm]

Down to Zero is the first track on Joan Armatrading's 1976 self-titled album.

I thought so!! But I couldn't find the LP to prove it, and I know I have it, bought it when it was first released.

I have too many records, except... I dismiss that possibility, sorry. Does not work in my universe.

It's here somewhere...