“Pump It Up”, the 1978 song by Elvis Costello, originally appeared on Costello’s second album This Year’s Model, which was the first he recorded with the backing group the Attractions. The song was written in reaction to the excesses of the Stiffs Live Tour.
https://youtu.be/08ksGMy4hLo
Steve Martin does his famous Balloon Animals skit on The Muppet Show, a veritable landmark in comedy and television. He’ll make the animals, but won’t blow them up, ha!
https://youtu.be/HaMTXCHkZb0
Here’s a vintage 1983 clip of Mark Hamill talking about the future of Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars saga. Spilers, maybe.
For many music fans, our first experiences with debt entrapment were with Columbia House, the mail-order service that, once upon a time, would sell us 12 CDs for a penny and then force us to buy more at a crazy mark-up. Improbably, Columbia House only just shut down this past August. And now, it looks like it might already be coming back again, this time to capitalize on the vinyl boom. The Wall Street Journal reports that John Lippman, the man who bought the company out of bankruptcy this month, is hoping to relaunch it. “You can see a yearning and an interest to try a new format,” he says, and that new format he’s talking about is really an old one. Lippman, a former Lehman Brothers exec, bought the company at auction for about $1.5 million. He’s hoping to use social media to get millennials interested in buying big stacks of vinyl via mail.
Va Stereogum
Sesame Street’s return to television starts January 16 at new home HBO, and they’ve released a new trailer for the classic children’s series, which features famous faces who have appeared on the program in the past, including Jon Hamm, Pharrell Williams, Tina Fey, Usher, and Gwen Stefani.
In addition to the next five seasons of Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop will produce a Sesame Street Muppet spinoff series, as well as develop a new original educational series for children. HBO has also licensed over 150 library episodes of Sesame Street. The all new series will also be made available to PBS and its member stations after the first window. Episodes of Sesame Street will continue to be made available, uninterrupted, as part of the PBS KIDS service on PBS member stations.
This week saw LCD Soundsystem release a Christmas song with no advance notice. Radiohead also released a storming song, an epic track that was written and produced as the title track of the new James Bond film, Spectre. That opportunity eventually went to Sam Smith, but Thom Yorke and company released the song as a free download on their Soundcloud account. Nice Star Wars reference, too.
Last year we were asked to write a theme tune for the Bond movie Spectre.
Yes we were. It didn’t work out, but became something of our own, which we love very much.
As the year closes we thought you might like to hear it.
Merry Christmas. May the force be with you.
Willie Dynamite is a 1974 American blaxploitation film, starring Roscoe Orman, Diana Sands, Thalmus Rasulala, Joyce Walker, and was released by Universal Pictures. The eponymous Willie Dynamite is a pimp in New York City, who strives to be number one in the city. As he is trying to do so, a social worker named Cora, is trying to change his ways – as well as those of the women who work for him – for the better. It was the first film produced by the Zanuck-Brown Company.
Sony Pictures has released the international trailer for I Saw the Light the upcoming Hank Williams biography that stars Tom Hiddleston as the country star and Elizabeth Olsen as his wife. The film is based on “Hank Williams: The Biography” by music journalist Colin Escott and was adapted for film by Marc Abraham.
The film tells the story of Williams, the iconic, influential country singer and songwriter of the 1940’s and early 50’s whose meteoric rise and fall, including his death at age 29, has become part of American folklore. Writer-director Marc Abraham has created a compelling, historically accurate narrative of Hank’s career that examines his tormented creative genius and the turbulent domestic life that inspired him to write some of his best-known songs. By literally going back in time, you see Hank as he was, living his life on his terms, battling his demons and ultimately creating music for the ages.
LCD Soundsystem gave everyone an early holiday present by releasing with a tweet, their new single “Christmas Will Break Your Heart”, their first new song in five years. The band broke up in 2011, but could this be the start of a full-on reunion? Stay tuned.
LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy released the song with the following message:
Christmas Will Break Your Heart
https://t.co/ZcJK2gUPP2 pic.twitter.com/ZnDrBfNuNW
— lcdsoundsystem (@lcdsoundsystem) December 24, 2015
At a guess, almost every single one of you reading this blog knows the name Kellylee Evans. Many are fans, an astounding amount know her kindness in person. One of the Queens in jazz and as a human being, Kellylee lives this fragile life we all have with taste, class and ease. The equally strong, generous, and considerate jazz singer/fellow Toronto Music Advisory Council member Amanda Martinez just brought this turn of events of Kellylee to my, and others, attention. She needs our help. Let’s do this. Here’s Amanda’s note from the GoFundMe page she set up for Kellylee. I just donated. You should, too.
Kellylee Evans is known to many in Canada as the Juno award winner for best jazz album (Nina) and in France as a rising star. If you have seen her perform or met her, you have been charmed by her vivacious personality, stunning voice and endearing heart.
Two years ago Kellylee was hit by lightning – something rare that can cause brain damage like a stroke. For months she was confined to a wheelchair – not knowing if she would be able to walk again, but still kept performing in order to provide for her family.
Unfortunately by not giving her body a chance to properly rest this delayed her recovery and last month she hit her head resulting in a concussion. Many of the symptoms she had from her initial lighting strike reappeared. Her doctor insisted she cancel all tour dates and has instructed her to be on bed rest indefinitely. She’s been told to keep her eyes closed and not look at a computer, so working from her bed is not an option for proper healing.
Kellylee is in a critical situation, a single mother with three children to support. I am asking you to make a donation to this fundraising page to help her during this vulnerable time. I believe that jazz and music fans who have been blessed by her music will give back at the time she needs us the most.
Please consider making a donation to keep Kellylee and her beautiful three children strong and hopeful during this time of healing.
If you are new to Kellylee, I invite you to check out her music and see why she is such a life and musical force.
Funds will go directly to Kellylee and her family to cover daily expenses (groceries, shelter, daily and medical expenses)
Please feel free to share Kellylee’s music and this page with your friends.
With love and hope,
Amanda Martinez
