Music Monday--The Beatles

Yeah, it's late, but we're busy doing taxes.

Music Monday--OK Go

OK Go is famous for their catch videos, like the Treadmill one that was a sensation a few years ago. Their latest song, "This Too Shall Pass" has 2 great videos:



and the marching band version

Music Monday--Louis Armstrong

I guess they have been learning this at school, as Alex has been singing this for the past week.

Music Monday--Nouvelle Vague

Music Monday--White Stripes

A great video

Music Monday--The Traveling WIlburys

In the late 80s, a few rock legends got together to form one of the first supergroups, The Traveling WIlburys. One of their first singles was the classic, "Handle Me With Care." Shortly after the album was released, one of the members, Roy Orbison died. Luckily this classic music survives.



More Traveling Wilburys on their YouTube channel

Music Monday--Jurassic 5

Old-school hip-hop that's not so old. "What's Golden" by Jurassic 5.

Music Monday--Andrew Garcia

A week or two ago on American Idol, Andrew Garcia appeared and gave a little tribute to departed judge, Paula Abdul. His version of "Straight Up" made you think, "Hey! That song is actually pretty good."

Music Monday-Alyssandra Nighswonger & Nouvelle Vague

Saw Alyssandra perform at an exhibit at my friend's art gallery:

Music Monday--Glee

Glee. Where do I begin? We both like watching the non-singing parts as the story is pretty funny and well written, though it does get quite campy. And Jane Lynch is hilarious as the coach of the cheerleaders. But sometimes when they start singing, it can pull me out of the story and sometimes make me cringe. What especially pulls me out is how the performances never sound live, but lip-synched, even though I know that the actors are the actual singers.

Regardless, it's still a good show, returning in April, that has done some catch versions of popular songs.

Music Monday--Carla Bruni

Carla Bruni, former supermodel and now First Lady of France, became a successful folk-singer in between those two jobs. An Italian by name, she lived in France as a child, so she has that tri-lingual thing down. Here she is singing "Quelqu'un m'a dit" which I believe translates to "Somebody told me".

Music Monday--Ramon Sampson

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

A slightly different Music Monday today. Guitar Center runs an amateur drummer competition every year, holding competitions in their stores, regional finals, and then finally culminating in a national Drum-Off in Los Angeles every January. Last Friday was the most recent Drum Off at the Wiltern Theatre. Ramon Sampson from Tennessee won. He's all of 19 years old. Maybe in 10 years Alexander will be performing.

Music Monday--Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys performing "Empire State of Mind (Part 2)" live

Music Monday--The Cosby Show

The Cosby Show is one of my all-time favorite TV shows, and viewing early episodes years later, it's amazing to see how well the show holds up. The fashion is obviously dated, but the writing, acting and jokes are really timeless.

Music was a big part of the show, as Cosby was a big jazz fan and had numerous guest stars from jazz and musical greats. This clip presents the classic lip-sync rendition of "The Night Time is the Right Time" by Ray Charles as done by the Huxtables for Cliff's parent's 49th anniversary:


The next year, for the grandparent's 50th, they did a little James Brown. Theo and Rudy pretty much steal the show:

Music Monday--Badly Drawn Boy

One of our favorites, Badly Drawn Boy singing "The Time of Times"

Music Monday--Holiday Chipmunk Edition

The original Alvin & The Chipmunks

Music Monday--Holiday Edition

U2's version of "I Believe in Father Christmas"

Music Monday--School of Rock

One night Alex woke up about an hour after going to bed for the night. This scene was coming on, so we let him watch it. After it was finished, all he said was, "that was cool."

Music Monday--Pink Martini

One of our favorite bands, Pink Martini, performing "Hey Eugene" on Letterman last year



If you haven't figure it out by now, Alex also sings this song too. He pretty much sings all the Music Monday songs.

Music Monday--Melody Gardot

One of my favorite new artists is the singer Melody Gardot. She has a beautiful voice that in time will put her up there with the great jazz vocalists. A victim of a hit-and-run accident a few years ago, she needs a cane and requires those dark glasses due to light sensitivity, but as you can see, that hasn't stopped her from making great music.

"Baby I'm A Fool" live on some Scandanavian tv:


and a bonus, her version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"