The Great HTF Music Challenge (1 Viewer)

[John Dirk]

The band originally went by the name "Chicago Transit Authority" but was sued by the real CTA in Chicago, IL over the use of the name so changed it to "Chicago.

...As if I needed another reason to hate Government, but anyway...

Chicago Transit Authority:
"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?":
Love this style of music and love this song. Nuff said.

"Beginnings":
Wasn't sure I was going to care for this one until the horns kicked in. Still not as good as others I've heard but solid nonetheless.

"South California Purples":
Now that's some strong instrumentation. Powerful horns, organ and guitar! This would have been an amazing song as an instrumental but the vocals add even more value. Great song!

"I'm A Man":
I don't generally care for this fast of a tempo, especially with this style of music. In this case the excellent instrumentation keeps my attention and then there's the drum solo to end all drum solos. By now everyone knows I "likes me some drums."

Damn you @BobO'Link - Now I have to purchase another album!

 

[John Dirk]

Here are the songs I know Huey Lewis for. I purchased their "Greatest Hits" compilation for these 4 songs and a couple of others...

Huey Lewis and the News - "If This Is It":



Huey Lewis and the News - "I Want A New Drug":



Huey Lewis and the News - "Hip To Be Square":



Huey Lewis and the News - "The Power Of Love":



IIRC "The Power Of Love" is the first thing I heard from this band when it was featured in the movie "Back to the Future."

I won't bother commenting on these songs individually as they're all well known to me and similar. I like Huey's overall sound and energetic presentation. He provided some great tunes in his day but they all tended to sound essentially the same.

 

[John Dirk]

Artie Shaw and his Orchestra - "Begin the Beguine":
Yea this is the kind of music I miss so much. I love technology and what it can add to music but songs like this never needed any help and still managed to sound amazing.

Louis Armstrong - "I Get a Kick out of You":
What a voice. None other like him.

Harry James Orchestra w/Helen Forrest - "You Made Me Love You":
I don't believe there is a Big Band song I wouldn't love. It's just a great genre that really celebrates musicianship. In this case the vocals add a nice touch.

Royal Academy of Music - "Rhapsody in Blue":

I watched this performance intently. Took me right back to High School. I'm the oboe player featured around the 8:58 mark. The piano solos were quite long. Even the other players seemed to get a little tired waiting for them to end. Also, I don't know that I've ever seen an orchestra that included a banjo player. Interesting... Excellent selection.

 

[John Dirk]

I'm always a little shocked when comments like these come up, as Huey Lewis & the News had already had 5 Top 10 hits before "The Power of Love" came along. Though from prior comments, I'm guessing you didn't listen to a lot of Top 40 radio, so the first exposure via a film soundtrack makes sense.

One of my favorite HL tracks was "Perfect World", their last Top 10 hit (#3 in 1988).



.
Also, "Jacob's Ladder," (#1 in 1987)

As stated above, I like Huey's work but he just didn't seem to be able to produce anything that didn't have the same overall sound he's known for. For me the songs all started to blend together and I sort of lost interest in him.

 

[John Dirk]

Fats Waller - "Ain't Misbehavin'" (from the movie Stormy Weather):
Great song from a great film. I think it would be remiss to not include the title track, so here' the great Lena Horne.



The Andrews Sisters - "Apple Blossom Time":
I don't think this qualifies as Big band but still some nice harmonizing.

Glenn Miller Orchestra - "In the Mood":
Now that's more like it. What's to say. Real music from real musicians! Love it. This man did amazing work in a very short [tragically so] timespan.

Benny Goodman Orchestra w/Gene Crupa (drums) and Harry James (trumpet) - "Sing, Sing, Sing":
Nice selection. You gotta give it up for that drummer.

 

[BobO'Link]

...As if I needed another reason to hate Government, but anyway...

Chicago Transit Authority:
...Damn you @BobO'Link - Now I have to purchase another album!

Just be careful purchasing this one... the *latest* "remaster" is a major step backwards (that would be the 2019 “50th Anniversary Remix” release). For some reason they felt they needed to make it sound like it would have on an AM radio of the late 60s. That means the bass and many of the sonics are almost completely lost.

You want the Rhino 2002 release.

 

[BobO'Link]

Fats Waller - "Ain't Misbehavin'" (from the movie Stormy Weather):
Great song from a great film. I think it would be remiss to not include the title track, so here' the great Lena Horne.



The Andrews Sisters - "Apple Blossom Time":
I don't think this qualifies as Big band but still some nice harmonizing.

Glenn Miller Orchestra - "In the Mood":
Now that's more like it. What's to say. Real music from real musicians! Love it. This man did amazing work in a very short [tragically so] timespan.

Benny Goodman Orchestra w/Gene Crupa (drums) and Harry James (trumpet) - "Sing, Sing, Sing":
Nice selection. You gotta give it up for that drummer.

I wanted to include The Andrews Sisters but was attempting to avoid the expected selection of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" - plus I couldn't find a live version that really makes the song shine (I wanted the version from its debut movie, "Buck Privates," but the youtube versions were somewhat lacking).

Watch Crupa carefully towards the end. That's *all* done "single stick" style...

Lena Horne, "Stormy Weather" - Love this song and especially her recordings of it. It was hard for me to *not* include it myself. Thanks!

 

[BobO'Link]

OK... I found a pretty good recording (ignore the bad cropping from academy to 16:9) so here's

The Andrews Sisters - "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" from the movie "Buck Privates":

 

[John Dirk]

Just be careful purchasing this one... the *latest* "remaster" is a major step backwards (that would be the 2019 “50th Anniversary Remix” release). For some reason they felt they needed to make it sound like it would have on an AM radio of the late 60s. That means the bass and many of the sonics are almost completely lost.

You want the Rhino 2002 release.

Thanks for the heads-up. This would have seriously pissed me off.

 

[John Dirk]

OK... I found a pretty good recording (ignore the bad cropping from academy to 16:9) so here's

The Andrews Sisters - "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" from the movie "Buck Privates":

I've never heard the vocal version but we used to play the instrumental back in school. Nice trip down memory lane.

 

[BobO'Link]

I should have mentioned that "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was written for and made its debut in "Buck Privates" (Abbott & Costello's first starring film for Universal) where it also received an Oscar nomination for "Best Original Song."

It lost to "The Last Time I Saw Paris":



IMHO, yet another example of how "The Academy" doesn't always make the best choice. I find this one to be a rather mediocre, standard, cliche', type musical number.

 

[John Dirk]

I should have mentioned that "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was written for and made its debut in "Buck Privates" (Abbott & Costello's first starring film for Universal) where it also received an Oscar nomination for "Best Original Song."

It lost to "The Last Time I Saw Paris":



IMHO, yet another example of how "The Academy" doesn't always make the best choice. I find this one to be a rather mediocre, standard, cliche', type musical number.

Yes, I'm inclined to agree. Nothing wrong with it but it's certainly not a standout performance. Perhaps they chose it because it was the title track?

 

[sleroi]

Jennifer Lopez - All I Have - she has a pleasant voice, but not my kind of music. And LL Cool J feels lime a mismatch vocally and stylistically.

Allure - No Questions - I disnt care for LL Cool J in the beginning. Once Allure came in there was a nice soulfulness and I really like their voices.

LL Cool J - Im Bad - I know the music isnt always the point in rap, but here it was a real distraction. Instead of a drum machine it sounded like someone was banging on a metal trash can lid. It became all I could here.

Overall from these samples of his work instead of attitude I get arrogance. Unfortunately im not much of a fan so far.

 

[John Dirk]

Fugees (featuring Lauryn Hill), "Killing Me Softly with His Song" - I really like her voice and the chorus parts but not so much the treatment. Like with MC Hammer's version of "Have You Seen Her" if I walked in and one of my grandkids was listening to this I'd pull out Roberta Flack's version for them to hear. The instrumentation is quite lacking here and I miss it. It really sounds like it should have been done acapella.

Here's another one from Lauryn Hill since you enjoyed her voice in the previous selection. This one is part Rap and part song. Lauryn is one of the few artists who is highly regarded in both formats.

Lauryn Hill - Forgive Them Father​

 

[sleroi]

LL Cool J

Back to Cali - i loved the swanky intro. And I really liked the casual cadence of the rapping. The main stop and start beat behind the song again was a little distracting. But the subtle use of the horns throughout helped it. Overall I lind of liked it.

Mama Said Knock You Out - I liked the main hook, but he was rapping about rapping. So lyrically it did nothing for me and again he comes across as more arrogant than attitudinal.

 

[BobO'Link]

Lauryn Hill, "Forgive Them Father" - I really enjoyed the non-rap portions of this one. At least the rap bits were pretty short so didn't distract too much though they're there enough to make it one I'd not pick to listen to myself.

 

[sleroi]

Men at Work - Overkill - very 80s sounding, but in a good, fun way.

Phil Collins - Against All Odds - definitely overplayed in its day. Adult Contemporary/lite rock has never been my thing, so I dont care for this song too much.

I really like a lot of Collins' work with Genesis. And Then There Were Three, Duke, Abacab and Genesis are all fine albums. But other than the songs from Tarzan ive never cared for his solo music. I guess I should applaud him for making solo music that isnt just a carbon copy of his Genesis music. It just never clicked for me.




Kool & the Gang - Joanna - When this song came out I just wasnt into relaxing love songs. Havent heard it in years. It holds up much better than I thought it would. I was expecting lite rock drivel, but instead it has a nice, relaxing retro soul vibe. I enjoyed this song a lot.

 

[sleroi]

Grand Funk Railroad - Heartbreaker - nice, casually paced song. Held my interest the whole time. Liked the music and vocals.

Steppenwolf - Magic Carpet Ride - Great, fun song. Love the jam in the second half of the song.

Deep Purple - Highway Star - great song off just a great album. And it sounded great right after Steppenwolf with the similar organ/keyboards.

My favorite song off Machine Head is Pictures of home, even if they didnt really know how to end it.



And for the original vs cover game:



Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4 - just a classic. Not much more to add.

 

[BobO'Link]

Genesis, "Turn it on Again" - To my ears, by this point these guys had become just another 80s pop bad that was still called "progressive" or "art rock."

Genesis, "That's All" - I like this better than "Turn it on Again" but it's still not something I ever cared for. Both of these seemed to be on every time I'd hear a radio or flip past MTV/VH1.

Deep Purple, "Pictures of Home" - A great song. IMHO there's not a weak track on that album. Forget the "Made in Japan" live version abomination that got all the airplay following its release. *Machine Head* is the one to get and listen to. And that album also has a very fun and interesting "how it was made" back story which they turned into the song "Smoke on the Water."

Black Label Society, "Pictures of Home" - They take the burning 4/4 of the original and turn it into a lazy 3/4? Doesn't work at all for me. I found this one so lacking that I had to listen to Deep Purple's original again after it finished.

 

[John Dirk]

Mama Said Knock You Out - I liked the main hook, but he was rapping about rapping. So lyrically it did nothing for me and again he comes across as more arrogant than attitudinal.

I never cared for that part of LL's personality either although Rap is heavily based in bravado. One of the reasons Too Short is my all-time favorite Rap artist is that he is consistently humble.