dusty springfield - son of a preacher man

Another song that I've first heard on the famous morning radio show. Until then... well, I had heard of the name Dusty Springfield and assumed it was a man's name. It sounded like a country singer to me :))).

This is probably one of my favourite "oldie" song. Speaking of which, I have a dilemma as to how old a song must be to be qualified as an 'oldie' and what other criteria it must fulfil. You may or may not have noticed that I haven't put that label on Pink Floyd for instance. It just doesn't feel like an oldie to me. And then, there are the 80's songs. Run to You, recently posted, has been released about twenty years ago, but I wouldn't call it an oldie. I've heard kids going 'wow, that is an old song' about songs I've been dancing to at highschool reunions. Gosh... I think those songs are still young... it is me growing old :(

Take a look at this footage. Look how she enjoys what she's doing. Check out that dancing style. Listen to the simple orchestration, close your eyes and feel how alive this song is and how it communicates the mood. Don't see much of this these days :(

pink - god is a dj

And here I am, accomplishing the wonderful feat of uniting the recent concert theme with the Eastery-religiousy thingie. Because Pink is one of the artists who will be present at the B'Estival this summer. Now when I first heard Pink I wasn't all that impressed. There was a more R'n'B feel to her first album and I am not particularly into that style. I saw, I noticed (hey, you're bound to notice pink hair in someone), I thought 'cute, but not my cup of tea' and moved on. However, her later efforts... well, that's another story. Rock and dance influence, a rebel attitude, a talent for telling unpleasant stuff straight forward and a I-don't-really-give-a-fuck motto made it for me, publicity stunt or no. So, to keep with the theme, here is God Is a DJ, a cheer-happy-go-lucky song. If God is a DJ, life is a dancefloor, love is a rhythm and you are the music...

eurythmics - missionary man

Well, this is a band. Mad genius meets tough lady and make hits. :)))) I adore Annie Lennox, seriously. There are no 80s without Eurythmics. And this song goes well with the religious theme.

genesis - jesus he knows me

Ok, moving on to a little bit of an Easter theme for three or four days now. Or not necessarily Easter but semi-demi-religious at least. So first one... taking the mick out of TV evangelists are Genesis with Jesus He Knows Me. Of course the first Genesis song and vid I knew was I Can't Dance but this one is even more fun-making :) with Phil Collins as the money-making preacher. I am actually not really sure if I know any Genesis songs from the Peter Gabriel era. Oh, and Genesis will probably have another entry here with Ray Wilson as a vocal, as that really meant a shift in sound. And this might be blasphemy, but I loved the songs he made with Genesis more than any other tracks I've heard from the band.

jon bon jovi - miracle

So I've told you before how it all started. Am going back in time all of a sudden. I've taken out all my tapes, and cd's to listen to, I brought my cd with the discography to work tonight. Because someone on the forum I'm on decided to open a thread. It was like opening the door of a submarine while still underwater. I'm being swept off my feet once again. Added to that, an online acquaintance of mine whom I've been talking about the concerts I mean to go to said that the only one he would attend would be a Bon Jovi concert. I replied after five minutes of fantasizing of how that would actually feel... and if it wouldn't kill me.

This particular song is features on the Young Guns II soundtrack, along with Academy Award nominated Blaze of Glory. I remember how happy I was back in 1995 or so when MTV had an entire weekend dedicated to BJ and I actually saw the video to this, seeing I never knew until then that it had been released as a single. I had had lyrics of the song written on my (by now hopefully famous ;) ) huge paper sheet on my drawer door. It's an encouraging song to hear.

A penny for your thoughts now baby
Looks like the weight of the world's on your shoulders now
I know you think you're going crazy
Just when it seems everything's gonna work itself out
They drive you right back down

And you said it ain't fair
That a man walks when a bird can fly
We have to kick the ground, the stars kiss the sky
They say that spirits live, a man has to die
They promised us truth, now they're giving us lies

Gonna take a miracle top save us this time
And your savior has just left town
Gonna need a miracle 'cause it's all on the line
And I won't let you down
The river of your hope is flooding
And I know the dam is busted
If you need me I'll come running
I won't let you down... no, no

You're looking for salvation
You thought that it'd be shining like an angel's light, yeah
Well, the angels left this nation
And salvation caught the last train out tonight
He lost a hell of a fight

He said: "I'm just one man, that's all I'll ever be
I never can be everything you wanted from me
I've got big plans so big that any blind man could see
I'm standing in the river
Now I'm drowning in the sea"

Gonna take a miracle top save us this time
And your savior has just left town
Gonna need a miracle 'cause your heart's on the line
And your heartbeat is slowing down
Your feet are grounded still you're reaching for the sky
You can let 'em clip your wings 'cause I believe that you can fly

Well my eyes have seen the horror of the coming of the flood
I've driven deep the thorny crown into the soul of someone's son
Still I'll look you in the eye 'cause I've believed in things I've thought
And I'll die without regret for the wars I have fought

george michael - killer / papa was a rolling stone

This is another major artist having a concert in Romania this year. Unfortunately, I won't be in the country when this is happening, otherwise I might seriously consider attending this one too :) I've been meaning to do a George Michael blog for some time now, but kept wondering what song to use. This came on late one night on VH-1 and I said this must be it. I don't generally like covers. There are few that can stand up to the original or maybe surpass it. This is two covers in one and it sounds great. It's Adamski's Killer and The Temptation's Papa Was a Rolling Stone in a medley, with a cool black and white video, taking the mick out of consumerism a bit and featuring some sexy lip scenes with piercings ;)

placebo - twenty years

They were bound to show up again on the blog and I couldn't have found a better excuse than the concert series :) I don't know why out of the entire set they played, Twenty Years is the one song that always takes me back in time to that particular August night. "There are twenty years to go, with many friends I hope, though some may hold the rose and some may hold the rope..." I will just copy-paste part of an entry in my personal blog here:

the opener is infra-red, one of the best if not the best track of the album... "someone call the ambulance, there's gonna be an accident", well, i at least am high, this is no night to consider sore throats, "i'm coming up on infra-red, there's no running that can hide you, cause I can see in the dark...". next up is meds, another killer track, no it's brilliant, though i somehow miss the chick's voice... "baby, did you forget to take your meds?", nope, that's not the issue, there is no med that can put up with this, and then because i want you. so do we. then the screams get even louder when black-eyedstarts, yep it looks like the right people came to the concert, then song to say goodbye and what can be cooler than spending money on a ticket to hear a dude sing you "you are one of god's mistakes, you're crying tragic waste of skin" to some hypnothizing chords, and no, i am not a masochist, i'm just a darn happy fan.

but it can get better, next is special k, the first placebo song i ever heard, with that wonderful video with the mini-sub. then the inevitable technical problems, "this being a totally live show things are bound to go wrong, and right now they just did", guitars changing, and yes, the show must go on, there starts another special... special needs this time. "just nineteen, a sucker's dream, guess I thought you had the flavour, just nineteen and dream obscene with six months off for bad behaviour" and no, i am not nineteen, but i can rise up to any hysterical bsb-fan or whoever it is they are worshipping these days.

then, again off the meds album there is drag, "you're always ahead of the pack, I drag behind", no you don't, they are really on top and they are here, live, in font of me and i still don't believe it, then every me and every you, people sing it out loud, as someone said, well not some anyone, but the seraph in person, it's the placebo song of which every loser (aka manele listener) knows. of which, yes, but which - i doubt. however, who's there knows and sings. then there's one of a kind, "on top of the world you get nothing... done" and then see you at the bitter end and placebo exit stage. people scream, shout, clap on seats for around five minutes, i still don't know whether what followed was an encore or just the resuming of the concert after technical trouble. fact is, placebo are back on stage, and what can be heard is running up the hill, a kate bush cover. brian introduces the band, after which nancy boy follows, "got the muse in my head, she's universal", yes she is, but placebo leave again.

the public screams again, i am caught somewhere between fear and hope, it can't have been all, but what if...? no, people keep shouting, it can't be over, and this time i'm sure it's an encore, yes, placebo are back, steve, the guitar player heads through the crowd, brian apologises for being late and for the technical problems, thanks the public for their patience and the incredible atmosphere, promises that "they'll be back soon", i know it's a nice thing to say but i can't refrain from hoping, and i still do... next up is twenty years, and yes, after that they are gone for good.

faithless - why go

Another band I am sorry not having seen live, because I think they put up a show to behold are Faithless. And funny thing is, I could've made it to a gig in Budapest and catch Placebo there too the next day had I known of a trip on which a colleague went. I don't like all of Faithless' stuff, but they have some amazing songs. I find this one very uplifting and with a video to match. :)

bryan adams - run to you

And since we've started with concerts... first one I've ever been to was Bryan Adams. That's what being high must feel like. Loads of memories connected to this one. I still have the concert poster on the door of my room. One of my fave Bryan Adams songs, though it's hard to pick just one was Run to You, I really love the beat of this one. And... I love what Bryan does as a photographer too. He really seems the type of guys who does what he does for fun and believing in it and that is inspiring.