Euro-style melodic melodrama: It's admittedly an acquired taste. A taste I acquired when my parents and I moved to Latin America when I was 3 years old. Lots of Spanish-language covers of Italian songs during my most impressionable years, oh yes.
Fast-forward to the mid-2000s, and Italian songbird Laura Pausini, who has a huge Latin American following and almost always records alternate Spanish-language versions of her albums, gifted the world "Io Canto"/"Yo Canto" -- an entire album of 70s, 80s, and 90s Italian golden oldies.
Out of 16 tracks, there's only one I always skip over (and that's Track 9, "Y Mi Banda Toca Rock." Because it so *does not* rock.)
I love the other 15 almost equally, but if I had to pick just one, it'd be Track 16, "Por El Camino" (which roughly translate to "Follow Your Own Path".) I think it's a brilliant, heart-stirring, and more than anything, *uplifting* gem of a song.
^^That's cool. The whole "Andalusian prog scene", of which Triana were arguably the leading representative, didn't have nearly the international impact as, say, the Italian scene, but it does make sense that it would have had some presence in South America.
The lead singer has a bigger, fuller voice than any of the ladies from the Go-Gos or the Bangles. That's quite refreshing.
Yeah, that tape was in heavy rotation when I got my own place in the late 80s (after arriving on the West Coast). It alternated frequently with Al Stewart's *Last Days Of The Century*. The not-quite-out-of-the-garage vs. the slick, radio-friendly thing. Somehow I managed not to get whiplash. (Like when I'd alternate 1930s Count Basie and Throwing Muses. )
(BTW, your MST3K connection: the Aquanettas were named after the *actor* Aquanetta, who appears briefly in that timeless rock-climbing dog: *Lost Continent*.)
Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on DeviantArt! Drop by and tell me that I sent you. *updated often!*
The lead singer has a bigger, fuller voice than any of the ladies from the Go-Gos or the Bangles. That's quite refreshing.
Yeah, that tape was in heavy rotation when I got my own place in the late 80s (after arriving on the West Coast). It alternated frequently with Al Stewart's *Last Days Of The Century*. The not-quite-out-of-the-garage vs. the slick, radio-friendly thing. Somehow I managed not to get whiplash. (Like when I'd alternate 1930s Count Basie and Throwing Muses. )
(BTW, your MST3K connection: the Aquanettas were named after the *actor* Aquanetta, who appears briefly in that timeless rock-climbing dog: *Lost Continent*.)
OMFG, the one who says "Sacred mountain taboo!" over and over again? She rivals the jazzman from the "Killer Shrews" movie for Most Racist Caricature Ever Seen In a Bad Movie Roasted On MST3K.
Who would have ever expected a third-string teen-bubblegum singer to emerge, in adulthood, as one of the most compelling and accomplished artists of her generation?
I've been a Mandy Moore fan since 2003, shortly after she ditched the peroxide and the glittery lip-gloss, and recorded an album of 70s and 80s covers (all but one of them originally recorded before she was born) behind her label's back. The result, "Coverage," cost her a recording contract but won her a cult following. By the end of the 2000s, she had released two commercially disappointing/aritstically-successful follow-ups, "Wild Hope" and "Amanda Leigh." Then she ended up married to uber-creep alt-rocker Ryan Adams, a talentless poser whom she has subsequently (post-divorce) accused of emotional abuse, and who appears to be a serial manipulator of young, vulnerable female musicians. Bastard.
Moore's acting career was restored a few years ago by the success of "This Is Us," and now she has finally released a new album, "Silver Landings," co-writing the songs with several collaborators including her second husband, Taylor Goldsmith.
"This Is Us" had the mixed blessing of showcasing her covering yet another mellow 70s favorite, Lowell George's trucker anthem "Willin'", which is unfortunately best known for Linda Rondstadt's atrocious version.
I would say that if Moore truly has a forebear from her parents' generation, it would have to be the late Nicollete Larson, whose talent far outweighed her ambition, resulting in her only having one real hit. But what a hit!
So if you like that kind of thing (and I most certainly *DO*), then "Silver Landings" is the album for you. I give it a strong 8 on a scale of 10, due to its haphazard sequencing, opening with one of the weakest tracks; overall, I'd say it has four great songs, four half-decent ones, and two duds.
"Come From Away" soundtrack. Just went to see it today (Second last performance before Australia stops meetings over 500) and loved it. Fantastic musical, one of the best I have ever seen. Now listening to it again.
Ann, that's a funny coincidence. I'm hooked right now on a YouTube re-mixer guy from the Midwest, who had "Lotta' Love" on his list of re-dos.
When that song first hit, I thought N.L. was singing, "You know I need a lady, not solitude." I remember thinking that was kind of daring for a "normal" radio song. Then my sister ruined everything by correcting me.
(There are quite a few of these songs that I'm hearing for the first time. We got all the crossover stuff on FM radio back in the Seventies, but there was no all-dance station I knew of. Plus by 1979 I was still only 13 years old, so not hitting too many discos. Heh.)
Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on DeviantArt! Drop by and tell me that I sent you. *updated often!*
The lead singer has a bigger, fuller voice than any of the ladies from the Go-Gos or the Bangles. That's quite refreshing.
Yeah, that tape was in heavy rotation when I got my own place in the late 80s (after arriving on the West Coast). It alternated frequently with Al Stewart's *Last Days Of The Century*. The not-quite-out-of-the-garage vs. the slick, radio-friendly thing. Somehow I managed not to get whiplash. (Like when I'd alternate 1930s Count Basie and Throwing Muses. )
(BTW, your MST3K connection: the Aquanettas were named after the *actor* Aquanetta, who appears briefly in that timeless rock-climbing dog: *Lost Continent*.)
OMFG, the one who says "Sacred mountain taboo!" over and over again? She rivals the jazzman from the "Killer Shrews" movie for Most Racist Caricature Ever Seen In a Bad Movie Roasted On MST3K.
Heh. I think *Master Ninja* doesn't get enough credit [sic] for its really obnoxious racism, except maybe from the folks who do the "It's Just A Show" podcast.
Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on DeviantArt! Drop by and tell me that I sent you. *updated often!*
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(Like when I'd alternate 1930s Count Basie and Throwing Muses. 
