Tag: 70’s

  • Earworm Wednesday: It’s That Song From That Cartoon!

    I will admit that “Me and My Arrow” by Harry Nilsson re-entered my life this week due to a Spotify generated playlist, not from my own music knowledge. And if you don’t know, this song is part of a cartoon that Nilsson created and wrote in 1970 called The Point! I remember seeing it on cable, sometime in the 80’s, and what stuck with me about the show was the wise man, or dude, who tells the hero that, “not having a point, is a point.” That little piece of philosophical logic has stuck with me my whole life.

    As to the song, “Me and My Arrow,” when I heard it this week, it struck me as familiar, but I couldn’t place it. I had to look it up, and I think where I truly remember it from is an episode of The Simpsons that used it. But when I read it was from the cartoon The Point!, then it all came back to me. Just a little gem of my childhood. And I had no idea that the great Harry Nilsson was responsible for it all.

    Oh, and what just stuck in my head is the whole thing. I’ve been humming it all week.

  • Earworm Wednesday: It’s Blondie!

    I woke up this morning and “Heart of Glass” was in my head. And I think I wrote about Blondie and “Heart of Glass” before, but you know what, I think I’m going to do it again.

    I think for most people my age, when you say disco, the Bee Gees and Saturday Night Fever are the first things that pop into your head. For me, it’s been “Heart of Glass” since I first head it. Which is funny because me and just about everyone else would never say that Blondie is a disco band – punk and new wave, clearly.

    Then, when I was in my 20’s, the song took on a whole different meaning. Instead of being a silly disco song, I started to appreciate the juxtaposition of the tragedy of loss of the love in the song, with the upbeat infectious driving dance beat. To me, it encapsulates the feeling of monumental life altering infatuation that could evolve into love, but deep down you know its doomed, but these feelings are so intoxicating that you can’t say no to them. You embrace the coming train wreck, though you know better.

    Give me a year, I’ll probably write about this song again.

  • Earworm Wednesday: If You Look Past the Haircut and the Butterfly Collar, This Song is Awesome!

    As a kid from the 80’s and a teenager in the 90’s, any song that slightly resembled 70’s disco or adult contempory music was just the worst. And for that reason, this song got thrown onto my own personal dustbin of awful music.

    I can now admit that was a mistake when it comes to Michael McDonald’s “I Keep Forgettin.’” This song has a way better grove and flow to it than I gave it credit for. (I mean, Warren G did sample the hell out of it for “Regulate.”) The part that gets stuck in my head is just the first line of the song, and the way McDonald just breaks up the words; a little in front, then behind the beat.

    The video is cheesy as hell, though. If you like teased and feathered hair; than have I got a video for you!

  • Earworm Wednesday: Vicki’s Hook was Wormier Than Reba’s

    I’m not saying that Vicki Lawrence is a better singer than Reba McEntire – good Lord, no. What I am saying is that Vicki’s original 1972 version of “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” has a catchier earworm of a hook, as compared to Reba’s version from 1991. That’s all. I mean, judge for yourself.

    And then…

  • Earworm Wednesday: It’s Ringo’s Turn

    Now, I will go to the mat and fight on any hill available to me when I say that Ringo is one of the truly great rock drummers of all time. C’mon, let’s go!

    But this song does drill into my skull and won’t leave which is rather annoying.

    And I guess it was time to pick on another Beatles and cut Paul some slack…