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Post by Blencs on Jun 9, 2014 8:20:16 GMT -5
On this date in 1936, Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops was born! One of the greatest voices in popular music, he and his comrades-in-song stayed together as a group for more than 43 years, with only the passing of Lawrence Payton changing the dynamic. Here from the 1985 Live Aid event are Levi Stubbs, Obie Benson, Duke Fakir, and Lawrence Payton doing a brief medley of a just a few of their many hits: Here's a 1993 performance of their first hit from 1964, which came nearly 10 years after they came together! Just an amazing tune, and has any singer ever gotten more out of a pause and one accented word: "Baby, I need your lovin'.....got.....to have all your lovin'..."There aren't many artists whose recording careers began with cutting shellac 78s yet lasted into the MTV era, but here are the Tops with a video of their last hit single, 1988's "Indestructible": Finally, Levi always refused offers to do things apart from the group; the one exception--during a break in touring, his turn as Audrey II in the 1986 film "Little Shop of Horrors", and even then he insisted that his screen billing read "Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops": Feed me Seymour, feed me all night long, Cus if you feed me Seymour, I'll grow up big and strong!!! One of my all time favourite films ever, EVER!!! The songs are awesome, I dreamed of playing Audrey 2 in a school musical so I could sing those songs. Alas it was never meant to be. I'll have to cover one in one of my bands :-)
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jun 9, 2014 9:19:37 GMT -5
Blencs said:
Feed me Seymour, feed me all night long,
Cus if you feed me Seymour, I'll grow up big and strong!!!
One of my all time favourite films ever, EVER!!!
The songs are awesome, I dreamed of playing Audrey 2 in a school musical so I could sing those songs. Alas it was never meant to be. I'll have to cover one in one of my bands :-)
Craig,
Steve was over at "The Archives" the other evening, and he walked in as I was watching the ending of the new "Director's Cut" DVD of "Little Shop of Horrors" that restores the original "Everyone Dies" ending from the film and the Off-Broadway play, and then tops it by adding an amazing sequence of huge Audreys rampaging through cities in a very Godzilla-like fashion. He was very shocked as he was familiar with the film, so this was all new to him!
The "happy ending" was added after preview audiences were appalled at the down-cast nature of the intended denouement, but that then required the excision of all that other marvelous effect work, too! The footage resurfaced (in work-print form) on the first DVD of "Little Shop", but that was pulled from stores before release, as producer David Geffen felt that since he didn't want people seeing this ending in the first place, why put it out there in such a raggedy form? That re-called DVD (a copy of which I do own!) used to sell for over $300 before the release of the new "Director's Cut" edition, and would still set you back about $50!
If you ever go ahead and cover any of these tunes, you must post them here!
ps) A Four Tops song you might want to take a crack at with a rock band would be 1974's "One Chain Don't Make No Prison", which has a gritty edge to it, and which opened with nice guitar work, I believe by jazz great Larry Carlton:
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jun 9, 2014 20:15:23 GMT -5
I just came across this odd new video for bit of improvisational music by a band called Blueblut, which features threreminist Pamelia Kurstin, guitarist Chris Janka, and drummer Mark Holub. Their album debuts in Europe on 21 June, and if can get my hands on one, you might be hearing more about this!
ps) I just found this, too! I'd imagine that this is Ms. Kurstin's little one, but that's a guess; what isn't in question is how adorable this clip is!
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Post by Blencs on Jun 10, 2014 8:05:12 GMT -5
That 4 tops song 'one chain don't make no prison' is a very good shout mr Reyer. I've submitted it for consideration to 'The Nile Delta Buskers' song hopper and am waiting on a judgement from the other 5 lads. Fingers crossed!!
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jun 10, 2014 8:53:59 GMT -5
That 4 tops song 'one chain don't make no prison' is a very good shout mr Reyer. I've submitted it for consideration to 'The Nile Delta Buskers' song hopper and am waiting on a judgement from the other 5 lads. Fingers crossed!! Thanks for the "Thumbs up!", Craig! That tune was covered by both Santana and the Doobie Brothers (among others), but it never had the same grit as the original, as neither of those groups could deliver the vocals with the same power as Levi and his partners! By the way, if you're searching out the tune for research, make sure you get the LP version (from "Meeting of the Minds") that clocks in at around 4:02.(It's included on their ABC Greatest Hits 1972--1978 ) I mention this because that mix has a very cool "false fade" that picks up with the background vocals building to a full-tilt finale! I couldn't find a video for the LP track, but here's a live version that might give you the flavor; the "fade" begins at 2:20--
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Post by Blencs on Jun 11, 2014 9:15:28 GMT -5
Off topic but I've just listened to you and bobby talk football (soccer) and am in a state of shock. Your legend grows that little bit more. Ps, keep an eye on Belgium and Rooney will score!!!
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jun 11, 2014 10:09:13 GMT -5
Off topic but I've just listened to you and bobby talk football (soccer) and am in a state of shock. Your legend grows that little bit more. Ps, keep an eye on Belgium and Rooney will score!!! Craig, A close friend is an ex-pat Brit who's an Arsenal rooter, and he drew me into watching the "beautiful game". During the last World Cup, he was the owner of a lovely local gastro-pub (where Bobby, Jacqui, and myself met during "Quiz Night"!) and he'd open up extra early and fill the place--it was pretty raucous for England v. USA, as you could imagine! During the last Premiere League season, besides the Gunners I was pulling for our pal Huw's Cardiff City side (who sent me the opening game program!), and thanks to listener-now-friend Sarah Miles, I've spent the last two seasons supporting BHA in the Championship, and due to her graciousness I'm the proud owner of a Brighton & Hove Albion coffee mug, direct from the Amex! ps) I'll watch Mr. Wayne Rooney, but I hold out little hope for him scoring...at least on the pitch! rrr
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 14, 2014 18:27:51 GMT -5
I just found this video (well, audio mostly, except for some stills) clip in order to send it off to an unbelieving friend, but here's the wicked Wilson Pickett doing what some consider the definitive "Hey Jude" (Check out the guitar work by Duane Allman, and the cool back-and-forth with Pickett, particularly from the 2:40 mark on!)
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Post by wylietimes on Jul 16, 2014 22:46:08 GMT -5
Too 5
1: My favorite band is Wilco and I dig their whole catalogue. In an effort to have variety I will pick A Ghost is Born.
2. State Radio: Us Against the Crown. Political and fun band that split off from Dispatch. I went swimming in the ocean with the band after a Stone Pony show.
3. Mumford and Sons: Sigh No More. Love the album. I used to dig a ton of metal mostly. Bands like this make my day lately.
4. Cage the Elephant: Self titled. Tracks flow smoothly and it is loud and I'd love to see them live.
5. 30 Seconds to Mars: A Beautiful Lie. Amazing band live and this follow up album was even better than the first I really enjoyed.
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RomeArrow
Fearless Defender
Karma Police
Posts: 22
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Post by RomeArrow on Jul 19, 2014 9:11:34 GMT -5
1. Revolver – The Beatles 2. Sam Cooke (he needs to be somewhere on this list, but I’ve only ever listened to “best of” albums) 3. Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys 4. Thriller – Michael Jackson 5. OK Computer - Radiohead
I'm pretty "vanilla" compared to a lot of lists here. But...I could listen to any of these albums I've listed on loop all day long.
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 19, 2014 12:45:09 GMT -5
1. Revolver – The Beatles 2. Sam Cooke (he needs to be somewhere on this list, but I’ve only ever listened to “best of” albums) 3. Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys 4. Thriller – Michael Jackson 5. OK Computer - Radiohead I'm pretty "vanilla" compared to a lot of lists here. But...I could listen to any of these albums I've listed on loop all day long. Drew, Classics are "classic" for a reason, and I'd bet that quite a few of our respondents have copies some of your selections in their own collections, too!
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Post by furordivinus on Aug 23, 2014 6:17:55 GMT -5
Top 5 albums:
1. Slayer - Reign in Blood 2. Dr Dre - The Chronic 3. Wintersun - Wintersun 4. Pearl Jam - Ten 5. Minor Threat - Complete Discography
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Post by Bob Reyer on Aug 23, 2014 7:09:54 GMT -5
Too 5 1: My favorite band is Wilco and I dig their whole catalogue. In an effort to have variety I will pick A Ghost is Born. 2. State Radio: Us Against the Crown. Political and fun band that split off from Dispatch. I went swimming in the ocean with the band after a Stone Pony show. 3. Mumford and Sons: Sigh No More. Love the album. I used to dig a ton of metal mostly. Bands like this make my day lately. 4. Cage the Elephant: Self titled. Tracks flow smoothly and it is loud and I'd love to see them live. 5. 30 Seconds to Mars: A Beautiful Lie. Amazing band live and this follow up album was even better than the first I really enjoyed. Bobby, Sorry that I'm so late to this; I must have been under a rock! A nice mix of artists...and an even better story about swimming! I managed to make the long trek from Long Island to the Stone Pony about 25 years ago, and it was worth the trip to stand in that place where so much music history was made!
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Post by Bob Reyer on Aug 23, 2014 7:14:47 GMT -5
Top 5 albums: 1. Slayer - Reign in Blood 2. Dr Dre - The Chronic 3. Wintersun - Wintersun 4. Pearl Jam - Ten 5. Minor Threat - Complete Discography Tom, I was a bit thrown by the listing of "Complete Discography", but in checking it out, as Minor Threat had only one studio album, this is more on the order of a "bonus edition" of that release; otherwise, you would have come up with a great way to add dozens of albums to the list in one fell swoop!
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 28, 2014 13:28:21 GMT -5
1. Violator - Depeche Mode 2. Technique - New Order 3. Revolver - The Beatles 4. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles 5. Post - Bjork
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