This afternoon I reacquainted myself with some songs I loved when I was in middle school and the increasing crapulence of top-40 radio drove me from the dial. I took shelter in classics from an earlier age, among which were several songs by a band called Tommy James and the Shondells. Their big hits were “I Think We’re Alone Now”, “Crystal Blue Persuasion”, and two others of which I am decidedly more fond, namely “Crimson and Clover”, and, most of all, “Mirage”.
The “Crimson and Clover” you typically hear on the radio is trimmed of its awesome guitar interlude, and, I confess to also snipping a bit here to illustrate my favorite parts, especially the huge string bend at about 24 seconds:
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“Mirage” is one I almost forgot about forever, until it recently popped into my head, and I am glad it did; it’s a great song, though I wish it were about three minutes longer. It’s got harp glissandi and cool echo effects and a romantic story a middle school-age Dana really liked:
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And that doesn’t even get you to the excellent second verse or chorus.
Ah, nostalgia!
Filed under: Nostalgia, Popular Music on April 17th, 2008 | 2 Comments »
I’m feeling a bit of relief this afternoon, having just put an oral presentation and a final exam behind me. I think both went well.
My presentation formed the first part of our major semester project in my History of Consumption class. I’ll write a substantial paper on the same topic for the second part. The topic I chose is CD collecting, a subject close to my heart, and wallet. I tried to explain to the class briefly today how one might become a collector of recordings, and how the style and course of collecting might evolve over time, from collecting for repertoire to collecting for performer, and the intricacies of each. I used some audio-visual aids, including the clips I made of the Barcarolle from Tchaikovsky’s Seasons I posted some time ago. People seemed interested in my presentation, and I got more questions than I had time to answer. Afterwards, one girl even passed me a note that read: “I have 12 recordings of the Fanfare for the Common Man (it makes me cry).” It was sweet of her to share that with me, so I told her she might want to hear Copland’s Symphony No. 3, the last movement of which is built around the Fanfare. Also, the Lincoln Portrait might be right up her alley.
The final exam in my History of Architecture class had me a little nervous, but I did a lot of studying for it, so I felt reasonably prepared going into it. The studying paid off, too, since some of the buildings and architects I had just been reviewing over the last couple days were on the test, and had I not used Flickr as a resource to look at pictures of important buildings, I might not have been able to identify some correct answers.
This weekend I need to read a novel, drive to Orlando and back, Jacksonville and back, watch a rock show, review some source material to use in my paper, etc. Good times!
Filed under: Music, School on April 17th, 2008 | No Comments »