Blur - Girls and Boys

Music Appreciation

If I were asked to name one song that defined the lifestyle ambience of the late 90's, I would have to choose Blur's "Girls & Boys." 

In the 90s, Blur was a Britpop band that eventually reinvented themselves to be more alternative rock and mainstream.  From their Parklife album, released in 1994, their discoesque "Girls & Boys" found an audience in the states and popularity reaching 59 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. 

When I moved to Austin, 13 years ago, I remember hearing "Girls & Boys" as a background track on 101X The Morning Show with Sara and Jenna--I believe they used this as their intro and promos.

"Love in the 90s, is paranoid." This was perhaps more apparent living in Austin and bar and club hopping on 6th Street and the Warehouse District, where "Girls who are boys, Who like boys to be girls, Who do boys like they're girls, Who do girls like their boys," was the norm.

Source: Wikipedia

Tony! Toni! Toné! - Feels Good

Music Appreciation

I grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, deep South Texas, where the majority of the population is Hispanic, a few Anglos, and we knew the handful of Blacks in our community.

During the time I was in middle and high school, clothing style defined you--similar to today. I recall shopping with my mom at JC Penny and choosing all the "cool" clothes I had seen on MTV. 

Yes, I had the baggy pants and the oversized colorful shirts.  One mustard color long sleeved shirt had a hootie with drawstrings. I remember wearing a rayon dress shirt with baggy black slacks and a gold neck chain to a school dance. Although now embarrasing, at the time, it looked great and felt good. 

In 1990, R&B and new jazz swing group Tony! Toni! Toné! released Feels Good.  The song hit gold and made the top 10 of Billboards Hot 100. 



Source: Wikipedia

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The blue in blue jeans

Blue jeans are a part of American culture.  James Dean wore them and defined cool.  Brooke Shields wore them tight and made them look good.

The indigo color in blue jeans, however, would have not been possible without the help of German chemist Adolf von Baeyer.

Baeyer devised a method to create synthetic indigo dye--the color blue used for blue jeans--which earned him a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1905.

Sources: http://science.howstuffworks.com/dictionary/famous-scientists/chemists/adolf-von-baeyer-info.htm; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_dye; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_von_Baeyer

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Taco - Puttin' on the Ritz

Music Appreciation

"If you're blue and you don't know where to go to why don't you go where fashion sits, puttin' on the ritz."

I was my son's age (seven) when I first saw strange-looking men in tuxedos dancing like mannequins in Taco's "Puttin' on the Ritz" music video. 

Originally written in 1929 by famous American composer Irving Berlin, Puttin' on the Ritz gives us insight of Harlem nightlife of the 20s. 

In recognition of the era and the composer, Taco's 1983 version of Puttin' on the Ritz, incorporated other Berlin recordings.  The music video also included Fred Astaire's tap-dancing sequence of Puttin' on the Ritz that was performed in the movie Blue Skies.

Source: Wikipedia

Tears for Fears - Everybody wants to rule the world

Music Appreciation

Remember the days when having a mullet or a rattail was cool?  Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith from the new wave band, Tears for Fears, sport these hairstyles which everyone--at the time--loved in the 80s. 

Rad hairstyles aside, Everybody Wants to rule the World, released in 1985, reached the number one and two spot on the U.S. Billboard charts.

A Native American doodle

A few days ago, I was cleaning out an old box that had random papers and notes I had been collecting for years.  Yes, I admit, I am a pack rat.  Not a hoarder.  Just a pack rat. 

Anyways, I found an old spiral bound notebook that had a few notes and doodles of when I was an intern in DC.

"Headdress" Sketched in 1996

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

Music Appreciation

For the past year, I have been sharing music videos that somewhat had an impact in my life from Harry Belofante to George Michael to Collective Soul.

Let's start this year with a fun music video.

Mike Myers introduced us to two guys broadcasting from a basement on late-night cable public access television in Aurora, Illinos. "Party on Wayne!" "Party on, Garth."

However, it was the film in 1992, Wayne's World, where Myers and Dana Carvey's characters, Garth, reintroduced Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. It sounded new to my generation, although the song was about 20 years old.

Bohemian Rhapsody perfectly describes Freddie Mercury's music masterpiece. Recorded in 1975, the song encompasses a ballad, an opera and heavy rock.

Sources: Wikipedia; Youtube

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