#Duet Song Festival King of Kings

[doodle-pops]

Lords of Gondolin | With A Musician Reader

Request: hi mina how have you been? i hope you’re doing ok c: i was wondering if you’d write a scenario about human!reader showing off her greatest musical creation to the elves? it’s a piano they’ve spent a decade workshopping & building to perfection. readers also made middle earth versions of the upright bass, acoustic guitar, & cello. they plan on making more instruments cause it’s their passion and how they want to be remembered by. for the lords of gondolin - @dicksoutformtl

A/N: I’m doing just fine! It was fun writing this request know that all of them would be impressed at reader’s craftsmanship. Enjoy!

.𑁍༊˚ Galdor

Galdor is thoroughly impressed by your craftsmanship in creating new and improved versions of some of the instruments they already have while crafting newly discovered pieces as well.

He would have known you were into the musical arts, hence why you were always playing or composing a new piece every few weeks. However, what he had never suspected was a entire batch of new instruments being presented to him.

He is enthralled and eager. While some instruments may not be a favourite to his ear due to the sounds they emit, you can bet he’s informing you of some upcoming festival where you can show off your creative talents.

Galdor is a proud elf Lord who would happily talk about what you’ve created to the others and recommend you to the King to play your pieces at balls. He wants everyone to be aware that you’ve made inventions and they’re groundbreaking.

There are moments when he’d sit around and listen as you explain to him how you created each piece and the inspiration behind them or watch as you play songs on them.

It touches him when he becomes aware of the purpose of your collection of paper in the corner of your room. They were all songs written to be played on these instruments about how much you like or care about him. He’s touched and appreciative.

.𑁍༊˚ Ecthelion

The musical master is too stunned to speak as he enters your humble abode and notices all the new “classical” instruments lying about. Ecthelion’s curiosity gets the better of him and he can’t help but strum the strings of the bass and cello, or press the keys on the piano and gasp at the new pitch echoing.

He becomes aware that these are not instruments that exist in Middle Earth and bombard you with a million questions. “How did you make this?” “Where did your idea come from?” “What inspired you?” “Who are you really?”

Ecthelion probably assumes that you’re not normal to come up with all these instruments since the Valar would have created their instruments for them…so are you a Maiar or Valar in disguise?

You will be followed around until you answer all of his questions with responses that tickle his brain the right way. And be prepared for him to request if you two can now play duets at festivals and balls. He wants you to be the musician couple.

Ecthelion will show you off, more than Galdor and some of the others because he’s proud and wants everyone to know how talented you are. He doesn’t care if the other Lords comments that you’re more talented than him, he would simply acknowledge and say, “Yes!”

And not to forget, he’s making sure that your name gets recorded in the history books as an important figure in music. He’s even more proud when he realises that you’ve outdone musical protégé like Maglor and Daeron.

.𑁍༊˚ Glorfindel

There is not a person without a ten-mile radius who hasn’t been alerted by him of your musical genius abilities. Even Lord Elrond would be shaken aggressively as he is being told about your creation. “Y/N has reinvented the world of music! There is no one as great as them!”

Goodbye Lindir or Ecthelion, hello to Y/N, the new musical protégé of Gondolin or Imladris. Get used to being announced at dinners or balls to play your newest pieces and having Glorfindel looking like a proud dad (if he had a camera, his look would be completed).

Anytime you’re making a trip to your music room, don’t go without Glorfindel or else he’ll barge in all grumpy, complaining that you forgot him. He wants to be present at each new masterpiece you’re making, whether it be a new instrument or song. He likes watching the look of concentration as you play each piece to conclude which suits the song best.

Be noted that he’s curious, so he is bound to touch the piano or cello and gasp as the notes ring out. I can see him being drawn towards the guitar and requesting that you teach him. I don’t know, but Glorfindel playing the guitar suits him (idk if it’s just me).

Cue Glorfindel wanting to join you whenever you’re playing and the guitar can be included. He’ll happily sit beside you and strum away lightly while you play the piano or violin.

Like Ecthelion, be prepared to be announced/talked about by Glorfindel any chance he gets. He’s not rubbing it in anyone’s face, simply expressing how proud he is of his little human creating instruments that “change everything”.

.𑁍༊˚ Egalmoth

Most proud of them all, however, he’s torn between wanting the world to learn about your skills and also keeping them hidden so he alone can know this secret and cherish it.

A bit stingy sharing your talents with the rest of the world because they should be for him to enjoy and praise. He does complain when people don’t praise you enough and encourages them to be louder.

I don’t see anyone surpassing him in terms of being the biggest cheerleader. This elf considers himself blessed to be around such a gifted person (you’re more gifted than his friends in his eyes). You’re a miracle worker creating new instruments unheard of or reinventing old ones.

He wants to learn about your pieces even though he doesn’t know about music deeply, he would to be told everything. Don’t worry if it sounds all foreign to him, he’s understanding.

Egalmoth would inquire if you would like more materials to make more instruments because he understands that it’s your passion. He would even ask if you would like to open up a school to teach others.

Like the others, he would request that you play at dinners when the Lords come over or if the King is hosting a dinner party. Might get annoyed if someone wants to collaborate with you because you sound great on your own.

.𑁍༊˚ Rog

This craftsman is enthralled, amazed, excited, and proud of your creation. You made these instruments all on your own! Rog cannot cease talking about how you designed and crafted all the instruments by yourself. This is one of the rare moments when he's talkative nonstop.

You’ve got one of the great blacksmiths hooked on your inventions and wants to know the process you took to create each piece. He’ll be teary if you mention that you used some of his instructions during his days of teaching you basic material crafting.

Learning more and more that everything was done on your own and you spent years making each puts a type of ride in his heart that’s unshakable. If you show him how each piece is played, Rog finds himself whipped and ready to boast.

It’s strange seeing the quiet blacksmith boasting and talkative, and it’s for good reasons, you. All the Lords know, the citizens know and the King as well. Very soon, you’ll be having a hearing with the King who was intrigued by your new inventions courtesy of Rog cheerful chattering.

Rog doesn’t mind whether you choose to play privately or publicly, the choice is yours and he’s pleased with either decision. He wants you to be comfortable, but he would ask if you could play him a piece so he could experience the beauty of your creations.

.𑁍༊˚ Maeglin

Curiosity caught his attention for a great purpose and it led him to discover new things worthwhile. Maeglin is enamoured and his curiosity is piqued tenfold. Questions rattle off the top of his head about all that he’s seeing and how did you manage to think about creating these pieces.

You’ll be seen as someone highly skilled and great in his eyes because you’re out here reinventing the world of music, something the elves are passionately known for.

“Can I come to watch?” “Can I sit and listen?” “Will you play for others to see what you’ve made?” He will stand in the doorway as you play your pieces and write songs suited best for each with a sense of pride in his chest. You’re a part of his House and creating all these great inventions to make a name for yourself. How could he not be pleased?

Definitely another one who would recommend you to the King to present your showstopping performances during balls. Whether you play with the orchestra or sole, Maeglin is supportive.

You’re Maeglin little songbird who he wakes up to playing your piano or guitar on the balcony or in the drawing room. You provide him with melodies that allow him to melt in and drive his tension away.

Masterlist

Taglist: @ranhanabi777 @lilmelily @rain-on-my-umbrella @mysticmoomin @asianbutnotjapanese @batsyforyou @mcwentfandomtraveling @stormchaser819 @aconstructofamind @hermaeuswhora @lamemaster @zheiya @addaigio @involuntaryspasms

[nayanogs]

mha boys and their singing voices! includes: tenya iida, denki kaminari, hanta sero, hitoshi shinsou, neito monoma tw: none requested: no a/n: anddd we're back! prob gonna post every 3-4 days depending on requests, speaking of requests THEY ARE ALWAYS OPENNN

tenya iida is.. what everyone expects? - another uncontrollable vibrato person smh (I hate baritones) - it doesn't sound BAD it's just.. why are you singing anaconda with a full chest belt and hand signals - JK.. but in all seriousness he's very.. stuck? with his voice. - never tries riffs or anything that is in the higher or lower part of his range. probably doesn't even know what his range is because he never pushes himself - which is CRAZYYY bc he is literally mister pusher.. but when it comes to singing he unintentionally shuts himself in a box - with all that being said he's definitely a joy to have around during karaoke because he WILL give the performance of his life whilst throwing up his choppy hand signals like gang signs. denki kaminari is like the bi male chappell roan or something - tenor through and through but was too embarrassed to sing high and then decided that life is short and shame is stupid - SCREECHES. - he has SO MUCH POTENTIAL but doesn't take singing seriously at all (unless it's anything to do with jiro) - he really just likes to make people laugh and if he did theatre he'd probably end up with some funny role - discovered vibrato and thought he was dying and went to recovery girl, came back and told everyone he was diagnosed with talent - nobody laughed - range is more high since he talks like a gay pop icon (SORRY) and is OBSESSED with growling but always fails and has a voice crack hanta sero does NOT sing in Spanish and if you think that ihy - i'm a proud hater of the hispanic sero thing.. nah that boy is italian through and through and we can fight to the death idc - you know that song "i'm dreeeaming of a whiiite christmass" he sings that song at literally any opportunity and he's SO GOOD AT IT?? - weirdly obsessed with holiday songs.. and it's the only ones he's good at too LMAO - never belts and always uses chest voice.. one time he hit the top of his register and accidentally switched to falsetto and thought he had a voice crack - sings with MINIMAL vibrato all the time. you can BARELY hear it and he has no idea he's doing it - his range isn't anything crazy but he also doesn't sound like you can just define him as a tenor or a baritone or bass.. he's kinda good doing anything - not any insane high notes like midoriya. he has legit walked out on a duet with him because he was NOT about to embarrass himself hitoshi shinsou nervously laughs and pushes away the mic when it's shoved toward him, but when he finally picks it up.. - doesn't really like singing any particular genre but his voice is like.. - ryan mccartan.. as JD in heathers.. THAT'S how he sings - it's kinda comical because he adds all these little sassy facial expressions but he sings about death or quirk discrimination and then everyone gets all sad - seems like he has performance anxiety but really doesn't give a fuuuck - pretty decent at riffing but hates doing it because denki cheers extra loud and it embarrasses him - STRONGGG falsetto, he plays guitar in his bedroom and all bedroom guitar players have a strong falsetto - never ever practices ever bc he truly dgaf (unbothered king) - range DEF on the lower side, like on the line of baritone and bass which sounds SO good when he plays guitar UGHSDKFJ i bet y'all thought i was gonna forget neito monoma... - this man is a STARR - DEFINITELY was a theatre kid (he literally wanted to do a musical/play for the festival) so he's got those vocals downn - absolutely refuses to use falsetto because his is super weak and just sounds a little funky from all of his belting - the facial expressions, the body language.. he puts his whole monussy into this shit.. - him and midoriya would be SUCHH a power duo during karaoke but that never happens LMAO he's too up in his head about himself - high

[avergehistoryenjoyer]

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s official! I’m writing a musical!

For those of you in the community who have known me for a while, this is nothing new, but I’ve been working on it for quite awhile, so I finally want to unveil what I have so far.

The show is officially called “Tyrant! The Story of Robespierre” or just “Tyrant!” for short, and here’s my first concept for the album cover below!

As for the actual story and songs, right now I’m planning on having 16 songs per act, and I’ll format the songs I’ve written or am currently in the process of writing! 

 Italic = work in progress

Bold = fully written

With that being said, this is the song catalogue and all I’ve gotten done so far!

Act 1:

Tyrant! (Show opener) - immediately after his death

Address for the King - early childhood

Never shall we part - transition from childhood to adulthood, meets Camille

Song addressed to Miss Henriette - young adulthood

And So I Reminisce - trio song for the siblings

He Just Can’t Stop - lawyer career in Arras

Let Us Speak/We Swear - Estates general + tennis court oath

Camille’s Address (Bring It Down) - Storming of the bastille

Hey Ladies! (Theroigne’s song + Women’s March on Versailles)

Bienvenue aux Jacobins - Joins the Jacobin club and meets Danton, gets elected president of the club

Never shall we part (1st reprise) - Camille’s marriage to Lucile

Escape (Louis + Marie flee Paris, Champ de Mars massacre)

There’s Safety Here (Robespierre meets Maurice Duplay, moves into the Duplay house)

This Means War! (Speeches against the war and Brissotins, war gets declared anyways)

The Tuileries Tango (Storming of the Tuileries and overthrow of the monarchy)

Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité For All (Establishment of the republic, Robespierre at his height, his big “I want” song)

Act 2:

Incorruptible (Saint-Just’s debut and Robespierre’s election to the National convention)

So Ends the Reign of Tyranny (Louis’ trial and execution)

Bienvenue aux committee/ Bienvenue le Jacobins (reprise) (Appointment to the CPS)

Choose Your Side/And So I Reminisce (reprise) (Charlotte and Augustine’s fight, fracture in the family, duet with Élèonore, PLATONIC, NOT ROMANTIC)

Principio Ad Finem/ A late night’s walk (“darker” ‘I want’ song, NOT A VILLAIN SONG )

What is he doing? (Camille publishes his paper and says stupid stuff)

Never Shall We Part (2nd and 3rd reprises) (Max and SJ duet, Camille’s denouncement from friends to enemies)

A Meeting/Make Him a Monster (CPS meeting, Thermidorian villain song)

You’re Unwell (Eleonore and SJ duet, Max falls ill/ slowly loosing his sanity)

So Ends the Reign of Tyranny/ Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité for All (reprise) (Arrests and executions of Camille, Danton and their followers, closest thing to a villain song for Robespierre)

This Glorious Day (Festival of the Supreme Being, more Thermidorian conspiring)

Principio Ad Finem (reprise) (Max writes his 8 Thermidor speech)

My Final Bow (8 Thermidor speeches for the convention and the Jacobins)

We Swear/Let Me Speak! (9 Thermidor denouncement and arrest)

Requiem (Hotel De Ville siege, bullet to the jaw, death, 11th hour power ballad)

May You Ne’er Be Forgotten (basically charlotte’s ‘who lives who dies who tells your story’, her 11th hour power ballad, grand finale of the show)

I know that was a lot thrown at y’all, and obviously I’ve still got a long ways to go, but I’ll be working hard at it all summer, and I hope to have at least half of the first act finished by the end of this summer! I’ll keep working on asks too now that my schedule’s freed up, but I thought it’d be a fun announcement to share with all of you for Max’s birthday, and I can’t wait for you to see the rest of it! Love you all! ❤️❤️❤️

-Syd

[princesssarisa]

Sleeping Beauty Spring: "La Bella Dormente nel Bosco" ("The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood") (1922 Italian opera by Ottorino Respighi)

Name any famous story, and it's almost certain to have been adapted as an opera, whether or not that opera is often performed. Here we find an Italian operatic Sleeping Beauty, with a libretto by Gian Bistolfi, and music by the renowned composer Ottorino Respighi, best known for his tone poems Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome, and Roman Festivals. It was originally conceived and performed as a marionette opera, with the story enacted by puppets while the singers sang from offstage. While rarely performed today, it does have occasional revivals, some with singing actors performing the roles onstage as in any other opera, and others with marionettes. One complete sound recording is also commercially available, as is a filmed performance from the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari.

Divided into three acts, but fairly short at an hour and forty minutes long, this opera follows the familiar plot of the fairy tale, yet with interesting creative embellishments. Act I opens with an atmospheric nature scene where a nightingale, a cuckoo, and a chorus of frogs sing their evening songs, before the King and Queen's ambassador arrives in search of fairies to attend the newborn Princess's christening, and seven fairies heed his call. At the christening, the villainous Green Fairy curses the Princess to prick her finger at age twenty rather than fifteen or sixteen (some productions of Tchaikovky's ballet make the same change), and not to die, but to sleep forever. Twenty years later, in the old spinning woman's tower, the spindle itself is sentient and sings, as does a cat: the Princess dances a cheerful dance with the two of them, but when she pricks her finger, the spindle gloatingly reveals itself as an agent of the Green Fairy. The following scene begins comically, with pompous doctors trying to diagnose the sleeping Princess's "illness," but then gives way to lamentations by the King, the Queen, and their court. That is, until the kindly Blue Fairy arrives to put them all to sleep as well, and only now does she alter the curse so that it will break when the Princess receives "the kiss of love." In place of the traditional briars or thick forest surrounding the castle, giant spiders weave an enormous web around the castle to protect it.

Act III reveals an especially unusual and quirky change from traditional versions of the story. The Princess and her court have slept for three hundred years rather than just one century, and the action now takes place in the 1920s of the opera's premiere. The entourage of Prince Aprile (yes, his name means "April" – the libretto is full of springtime imagery) includes a club of rich Americans led by the comical "Mr. Dollar Cheque," who resolves to buy the sleeping Princess after they learn her story from a woodcutter. But Prince Aprile takes a more romantic approach and battles the last of the monstrous spiders, causing the web to fall away, and then wakes the Princess with a kiss. After the lovers sing a romantic duet, the newly awakened court joins the modern world in a playful dance finale, which starts as a minuet and ends as a foxtrot.

Respighi's music lacks any particularly "hummable" melodies, but its beauty stands out all the same, with a tone of shimmering fairy-tale Romanticism balanced here and there with moments of humor. The influence of many great Classical and Romantic composers can be heard, particularly from Wagner, but with a welcome lighter touch than the famous German composer brought to his operas. The "modern day" final act also includes passages of ragtime and jazz, which somehow never clash with the rest of the score's Romanticism.

Ultimately, this opera's blend of gossamer beauty and quirky playfulness give it a unique charm. Whether or not it's anyone's favorite opera, or anyone's definitive version of Sleeping Beauty, it most definitely deserves to be performed more often. At any rate, as both an opera lover and a fairy tale lover, I'm glad to have discovered it, and I plan to listen to it again before long.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @thealmightyemprex, @faintingheroine, @reds-revenge, @thatscarletflycatcher, @comma-after-dearest, @the-blue-fairie, @paexgo-rosa, @autistic-prince-cinderella

[scotianostra]

 Happy Birthday Scottish singersongwriter  KT Tunstall

Edinburgh born singer-songwriter KT Tunstall is one of Scotland's most successful musicians having sold over six million albums worldwide.

Kate “KT” Victoria Tunstall was born on this day 1975,  her birth mother was a  Hong Kong-born exotic dancer, who put her up for adoption her parents David and Rosemary Tunstall adopted her and raised her in St Andrews, she has always been aware that she was adopted. 

Strangely enough for a musician of her magnitude, KT Tunstall did not grow up in a musical household. Her parents’ only tape was a Tom Lehrer album on tape, leading Tunstall to discover the world of music entirely on her own , but it didn’t hold her back, KT was musical from an early age, learning to play piano, flute and guitar as a teenager.

KT moved to the USA, hungry for experiences and independence, she gained a scholarship to Kent School in Connecticut, New England. Whilst out there KT spent time on a hippy commune and formed her first band, The Happy Campers, she also spent a lot of time on busking in Burlington, Vermont.

After her time in the U.S she enrolled in a  music course at Royal Holloway College in London, before finally moving back to St Andrews, she joined a group of folk musicians from around the East Neuk  called The Fence Collective, which included the very talented Kenny Anderson aka King Creosote, in time she decided folk music was not for her and went on her way.

She began writing projects with Swedish songwriter/producer Martin Terefe and London-based Orcadian Jimmy Hogarth and London’s Tommy D. She started work on her debut album with her new band and legendary U2/New Order/Happy Monday’s producer Steve Osborne at the helm. ‘Eye to the Telescope’ saw her whittle down a massive catalogue of over 100 songs to just 12.

Luck played a part in her big break when due to another artist pulling out she appeared on  'Later With Jools Holland’ performing ‘Black Horse and the Cherry Tree’ it went on to become one of the most played songs of the summer. Her double platinum selling debut album 'Eye to the Telescope’ was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize. 

KT has now had 6 top 20 albums, the latest, Wax was in 2018, it reached number 6 in Scotland and 15 in the UK charts, her new album, Nut, is due out in September.

I remember her being interviewed on The Proclaimers, This is the Story documentary in 2017, where she chose their excellent song Scotland’s Story, commenting “Scotland’s Story just really struck me as quite a different song for them, that they were really saying something incredibly poignant and quite brave. It’s quite a critical song of the way that Scotland’s history is logged.

“Here we are in 2017 and it couldn’t be a more poignant, relevant song for what’s going on in the world and I just thought for right now, it’s an amazing song to sing.”

KT  has suffered hearing problems since 20n July 2021, she announced that she was having to pull out of her summer tour dates and permanently avoid lengthy runs of closely consecutive performances, citing issues with her right ear which were "exactly how the breakdown of my left ear began"  In July 2021, she announced that she was having to pull out of her summer tour dates and permanently avoid lengthy runs of closely consecutive performances, citing issues with her right ear which were "exactly how the breakdown of my left ear began"   Hearing problems have always been a worry to her; her brother  was profoundly deaf since

KT is touring just now, dates are all over the world, North America next month, then back home, she will n=be in Ireland, England and back in Scotland for the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival.

The song is a duet of Caledonia with Alan Cumming.

[exoplanetupdates-blog]

EXO Variety Masterpost (2016-2019)

2019:

Travel the World on EXO’s Ladder S2 (EXO)

Radio Star (EXO)

Knowing Bros (EXO)

Stage K (EXO)

My Little TV (EXO-SC)

Lee Soogeun’s Channel (Xiumin, Suho)

Stranger Things Promotions (Suho, Kai)

Heart For You (Xiumin)

I Live Alone (Xiumin)

Idol Producer S2 (Lay)

Go Fighting S5 (Lay)

Reknow (Lay)

Happy Camp (Lay)

Rave Now (Lay)

Yoo Heeyeol’s Sketchbook (Baekhyun)

Star Road (Baekhyun)

5 Bros (Baekhyun)

Life Bar (Chanyeol)

Heart For You (Chen)

Radio Star (Chen)

Dingo Music (Chen)

Amazing Saturday (Chen) 

RUN.WAV (Chen)

Studio Music Hall (Chen)

Sooro’s Rovers (Kai)

Under 19 (Kai)

Busted S2 (Sehun)

Coffee Friends (Sehun)

2018:

EXO Arcade S1 (EXO)

Knowing Bros (EXO)

Travel the World on EXO’s Ladder S1 (EXO-CBX)

Lee Soogeun’s Channel (Baekhyun, Kai, Sehun)

Happy Together (Baekhyun, Sehun)

Kingpin Match (Chen, Chanyeol)

The Return of Superman (Chanyeol, Kai)

It’s Dangerous Outside the Blankets S2 (Xiumin)

Life Bar (Xiumin)

Go Fighting S4 (Lay)

Idol Producer S1 (Lay)

Idol Hits (Lay)

Day Day Up (Lay)

Happy Camp (Lay)

Letters China (Lay)

The Letter (Lay)

Rave Now (Lay)

Salty Tour (Chanyeol)

Yoo Heeyeol Sketchbook (Chanyeol)

Star Road (Kai)

Busted S1 (Sehun)

2017:

Tourgram (EXO)

Knowing Bros (EXO)

Idol Men (EXO)

JYP’s Party People (EXO)

Amigo TV (EXO-CBX)

Marumaru to Shin Douga (EXO-CBX)

Korea From Above (Xiumin, Suho)

Let’s Eat Dinner Together (Suho, Chanyeol)

Hello Counselor (Suho, Sehun)

Master Key (Baekhyun, Chanyeol)

It’s Dangerous Outside the Blankets S1 (Xiumin)

Wednesday Food Talk (Suho)

Go Fighting S3 (Lay)

The Next (Lay)

Happy Camp (Lay) 

Fantastic Duo (Chen)

Happy Together (Kai)

The Taemin: Xtra Cam (Kai)

2016:

Exomentary (EXO)

Star Show 360 (EXO)

Infinite Challenge (EXO)

Abema TV (EXO)

Fantastic Duo (EXO)

MV Bank Stardust (EXO)

Sunshine Art (EXO)

Mini Documentary of Jae (EXO)

Yoo Heeyeol Sketchbook (EXO-CBX)

The Viewable SM (Chen, Chanyeol, Sehun)

Happy Together (Suho, Chen, Chanyeol)

Trip Without Manager (Xiumin, Chen)

My SMT (Xiumin, Chen)

The Return of Superman (Xiumin, Chen)

Idol Chef King (Suho, Baekhyun)

Sugar Man (Chen, Chanyeol)

Yummy Yummy (Kai, Sehun)

Go Fighting S2 (Lay)

S.M. the Artist (Lay)

Happy Camp (Lay)

Day Day Up (Lay)

We Got Married (Lay - cameo)

Duet Song Festival (Suho)

Radio Star (Chen)

God of Music (Chanyeol)

Running Man (D.O.)

[greatqueenanna]

Sorry for being salty, maybe I'm just disappointed a little(I used to be a Frozen fan), but the more I think the more I start to see the men of Frozen useless.

Your analyses on Hans also helped me to realize this. Anna and Elsa really need neither Kristoff nor Hans. The second you try to use them, to fit them in the possible plot of Frozen III the more you realize that it is all just turns out in an tiresome attempt to find them a place beside one of the sisters, to find them a job to do, to find them a decent role in a story of the sisters and magic and it's hard to do. It feels like it's just a duty and an effort. The latest Frozen book about the polar festival showed that it's easier to get Kristoff wounded and out of the plot for the most of the time than to find him an occupation and a place. After Frozen II Hans and Kristoff became even less than a sidekick–if you delete them it won't affect Frozen II or Frozen III in the slightest. I don't know, maybe it's a good thing like sisters before misters, but I'm cringing as I'm imagining as the directors are trying to fit Kristoff or Hans in a narrow plot box right now.

No hard feelings. You're allowed to feel whatever you want.

Well, first things first. Hans is a villain. He doesn't really count as one of the men of Frozen. And yes, if they want to bring him back, it has to benefit the main protagonists in some way because...they're the main protagonists. Unless you were doing some kind of spin-off, Hans would never have development outside Anna or Elsa.

When it comes to Kristoff, there are a few things we need to take into consideration, some things you're already alluded to, before we talk about what he could be doing in the next installment.

Kristoff is a secondary character. The film team has made it very clear that the main focus of the Frozen franchise is Anna and Elsa - even when the film focuses more on one sister, the other sister will always have major importance over any other characters. Kristoff's story will always have a secondary importance in whatever film and typically will involve his relationship with Anna in one way or another. That was always his purpose since the first film.

When it comes to novels, novelists hired by Disney are typically restricted in what they can write about. If they are always pushing Kristoff away, it's probably because the film team is still trying to figure something out with his character. They don't want a novelist giving him a backstory or a personality trait that they have to retcon or end up paying them for because it was their original idea. It's one of the reasons why a lot of novel stories and characters are not referenced in the films.

With this being said, there are plenty of stories available for Kristoff. Kristoff's past, his birth parents, The Ice Harvestor Sámi tribe, his views on becoming king, his views on Arendelle, etc. Something like his past and parents would be better suited for a t.v series or short film, but something like his views on being King could easily fit into F3 alongside a main plot.

For example, if Anna has to prove herself as Queen, or has a difficult task she needs to face, Kristoff stepping up and supporting her could easily lead to development on his part - starting out as him being nervous as to what is expected of him when he marries Anna. Thus, here the main focus is still Anna, but Kristoff is still developing on the side. Throw in a song or duet with Anna and you're good to go.

Also, it's good to note that the film team loves Kristoff and are good friends with his voice actor Jonothan Groff. They are such good friends, that Groff actually had the power to push for a personality change for Kristoff in the first Frozen film, much like Kristen Bell did for Anna - which continued into F2.

In fact, in F2, Anna and Kristoff's stories were one of the first things they knew exactly what to do with and were the easiest to develop for them. They even had to downplay Kristoff's story a bit because it was getting in the way of the main plot. This shows that it's actually very easy for the writers to write about both Kristoff and Anna. You can be sure that the first characters they are thinking about right now are Anna and Kristoff.

What they actually tend to struggle with is Elsa's story. And no, it's not because they hate Elsa or anything like that (because I know there are a lot of salty Elsa fans that love to say this). It's because she's a much more difficult character to write and she means a lot to many people for different reasons, so it's tough and stressful to get her story right without upsetting fans in the process. Anna and Kristoff are easier because they are more straightforward.

[thesuitelife547]

B1A4, OMG, ONF Google Drive Folders Masterlist (Updated December 6, 2022)

So if any of you have been on my Twitter, you may know that I have (a lot of) Google Drive folders holding different performances that I’ve subbed for B1A4, OMG, and ONF and this here is the Masterlist for them having the links to the folders and describing what they all contain. 

If anyone has any questions, feel free to reach out because I know this is a lot of stuff and it may be hard to find things. The only folder that doesn’t specifically have what’s in it is the Special Folder. But the first section is all of the live performances and then the second consists of the subbed videos that I have and that are uploaded.

I’ll be updating this from time to time, too, so this isn’t the final list and I don’t think it ever will be.

But let me know if you have any questions. Thanks to everyone and enjoy!

- Marisa

MUSIC

B1A4 https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cBfcm1GTR8RJAkG-CrxvMviAJLowLIbS Japanese albums (3, 4), Do You Remember, Follow Me, Listen to the B1A4, Japanese MV (Happy Days & You and I), Road Trip, Traffic Safety Song, Chu Chu Chu (Japanese), Immortal Songs 2 (It Will Pass, Like A Dandelion Spore, The Flight), The First Day She Cried, Smart Campaign Song, SBS Hope TV Logo Song, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15bTrPL772g-VfFpS8G1jo7nYpWg4DVTp The Class, BABA B1A4, Amazing Store, JYP Party People, Japan Showcase Live 2011 https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1q5_AtPhJAOZM2nRvG3HZvi5JH35wDzRR Baby I’m Sorry, Beautiful Target, Duet Festival, OK, Rollin’, Sugar Man, Sweet Girl, What’s Going On https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VIUtCPfey2EEr2nhnkn4h89jKy3758vh A Lie, Baby Goodnight, Mask King, Solo Day, Tried to Walk, 10 Years Later (Guerilla Concert), A Glass of water [Inkigayo & Music Bank], DMZ Special Stage, Lonely & Solo Day [MBC Gayo, Seoul Music Awards], FM Date, Solo Day & If Snow Comes [SBS Gayo], Together [Comeback Showcase], You Are A Girl I Am A Boy [Inkigayo, Music Core] https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bcZq2cD8mHdU_eazLp4Yc9iFzvLpflL0?usp=sharing Japanese Albums (1, 2, 5), 1000 Song Challenge (Bounce, By Chance, Confession, I Hate, I Must’ve Loved You, Love’s Battery, Lying on the Ocean, Night of the Moon, Only, Yellow Handkerchief, Young You), Immortal Songs 2 (Dance with DOC, Do You Know Rosie, Forgotten Season, In Case You Don’t Come, In Your Arms, Older Sister, One Love, One Ticket, Rain Falling in Myeongdong, Unconditionally, White Love), Japanese Singles B-Sides (BANA Day, Colorful, Drive, Fly Away, Glass of Water, If…, Ready To Go, Who Am I), Lonely, MV (Sunshine, White Miracle, With You, The Way To Find Love [Cinderella and the Four Knights], No Problem [Smart Prison Playbook], One More Step [Introverted Boss], Other World [Bad Guys], Tell Me [Manhole], The Day We Fall In Love), Only Learned Bad Things, Sandeul Solo Albums, ABC Song [Line Song], KBS Gayo Special Stages, Good Timing [Comeback Showcase, The Show], Here I Am [Lovely Horribly], In A Dream [Comeback Showcase, Kiss the Radio, Show Champion], Intuition [MCountdown], It’s Christmas [Haeyo TV], Lingering Inside of Me [The Tale of Noku], Love Then [Haeyo TV, Show Champion], Nothing Better [Sketchbook], Perhaps [Simsimtapa], Prince of the Sea [MBC Gayo], Road [Golden Disk Awards], Star [I Need Love], Stay As You Are [Haeyo TV], The Place Where You Should Be [Music Core], This Time is Over [Haeyo TV], Winter Story & White Christmas [Music Core], With You [Open Concert, Reply 1994 Music Special] https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18ezSSQ96Mq9cgcJVE9U9Bg9OXFTQj48m?usp=sharing Origine, Origine Comeback Showcase, Adult Diary [Start Up], B1A4 2017 Japan Tour ‘Be The One’ (17.06.16), Timing [Music Bank], Timing MV, Pick Up, Blue Whale [Kiss Episode 3] (19.03.19), The Love of Fingertips MV, Oppa MV

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RmO0jkWzjf_83jiMr0tWn3BjDe8ahI4C?usp=share_link

Special Folder [Raw] https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qVF0f3A15Zdts5lEEIOqUv-x20Yf11Pc?usp=sharing Special Folder OH MY GIRL https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jQk4pYiSWp29PrSt4eb_mlgOk_pyh1Rq?usp=sharing Banana Allergy Monkey, Coloring Book, Oh My Girl, OST (Fluttering Footsteps, I Know, Sarr), Pink Ocean, Secret Garden, The Fifth Season, Echo [Remember Me Showcase], Eternally, Listen to My Word [MCountdown], Walking With (feat. Sandeul) [Girl Spirit] ONF https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Z40a0KYH-WhJwGjRxf7lY1OPeigTzGxx?usp=sharing ON/OFF, ON/OFF First Showcase, Complete, Complete Second Showcase, OST (Not A Sad Song, Your Day), ON/OFF Japanese Single, Complete Japanese Single https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LH_OtNhAP84ErXL0TI2cLygTPX24BQM2?usp=sharing We Must Love, Go Live, Go Live Showcase, New World [Road to Kingdom], Spin Off, ONF: My Name, ONF: My Name Showcase, MK’s Soundcloud (You’re My Muse)

SHOWS

B1A4

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18RNNiAKZA_dzlXDD4Dz6_JvarndpSu4q?usp=share_link

BABA B1A4, Celebrity Bromance, Crime Scene, D+B1A4, I Need Romance, God of Music 2, Pikicast Episode 5 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-7Dztpvuz27rwrBzmjTpc6uEzikOelZH?usp=share_link

MTV Diary, PC Room Attack, 3 Minute Boyfriend [SNL], Dingo Test, 10th Anniversary - Road, Tei’s Dreaming Radio Clip (16.12.06), Bingo Talk [The Show] (16.12.06), Secretly, Greatly (16.12.11), Section TV (16.12.04), Snack MBTI, B1A4 x Javisi, Music Bank Stardust (16.10.05), Sandeul 1st Mini Album Music Documentary, Show Champion (16.12.27), The Kolor (20.10.22), Today, Too, You’ve Worked Hard Episode 12

ONF

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DehBbdwFwvXOgWqCujq1kDij4GkiUanU?usp=share_link

On The Run, Blind Date with ONF, The Kolor (20.12.03)

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 30/12/2023 (Christmas Garbage)

Content warning: Brief references to murder, racism and unlawful sex acts. Merry Christmas!

Yawn, it’s a Christmas episode. It’s not even Christmas anymore - the tracking week included Christmas Day. “Last Christmas” is #1, of course it is. Skip this one is my personal advice. Christmas Christmas Christmas. REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

So, there are a few new arrivals today, but it’s also a week of mostly just festive music the week after festive music mattered so I’ll have a bit of a different approach, one I’m sure will be made up for with next week’s: Less than a fifth of this week’s chart are non-Christmas songs, I’m going to be mostly in chart nerd form rather than expressing much of my opinion, which is kind of how this series has been moving towards lately? Next episode will be the rush of new and old songs thanks to the end-of-year gains and Christmas collapse, so that will be more of a classic episode when it comes to dishing out intros and opinions on different genres and artists, the usual. For now, well, let’s just run down what we have here. Rounding out the top five are Brenda at #5, Ed and Elton at #4, Mariah at #3 and Sam bloody Ryder still hogging up #2.

Let’s continue with rounding up the Christmas songs. The songs entering the UK Top 75 for the first time this year in this week, but have already entered the top 75 previously, are “Cozy Little Christmas” by Katy Perry at #70, “Mistletoe and Wine” by Cliff Richard at #69, “Please Come Home for Christmas” by the Eagles at #68, “Santa’s Coming for Us” by Sia at #66, “Santa Baby” by Kylie Minogue at #64, “Christmas Wrapping” by the Waitresses at #62 (one of my personal favourites) and “My Only Wish (This Year)” by Britney Spears at a new peak of #59, “Come on Home for Christmas” by George Ezra at #56, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas” by Perry Como at #54, “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” by Bruce Springsteen at another new peak of #47, and “Christmas Tree Farm” by Taylor Swift at #46… and speaking of new peaks, “What Christmas Means to Me” by Stevie Wonder at #76, “Jingle Bells” by Meghan Trainor at #48, “Santa Baby” by Eartha Kitt at #44, “Little Saint Nick” by the Beach Boys at #43, “A Holly Jolly Christmas” by Burl Ives at #40, “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole at #34, “Winter Wonderland” by Laufey at #26, “Sleigh Ride” by the Ronettes at #20 and “DJ Play a Christmas Song” by Cher at #18, as well as Jorja Smith’s cover of “Stay Another Day” at #16 and “Let it Snow” (three times) by Dean Martin at #13 and finally, it took a while but “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande reached the top 10 at #8.

I questioned the point in listing the notable dropouts - songs exiting the UK Top 75, which is what I cover, after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40 - since they’ll all be back next week but hey, if I can list a bunch of Christmas songs by dead people in succession, why not secular songs by those very much still with us? With that said, we bid adieu to that terrible cover of “I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday” by “Creator Universe”, and then bid a probably temporary farewell to “Stop Giving Me Advice” by Lyrical Lemonade, Jack Harlow and Dave, “You’re Losing Me” (From the Vault) by Taylor Swift, “Surround Sound” by JID featuring 21 Savage and Baby Tate, “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims, “exes” by Tate McRae, “Northern Attitude” by Noah Kahan with Hozier on the duet version, “Runaway” by Ye featuring Pusha T, “Can’t Catch Me Now” and “vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo, “On My Love” by Zara Larsson and David Guetta, “Water” by Tyla, “Strangers” by Kenya Grace, “I Remember Everything” by Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves, “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift and finally, “Sprinter” by Dave and Central Cee. So, yeah, big bloodbath this week but one that involves a revival for the next.

So, time to “review”, isn’t it? We have some new arrivals, most of which are Christmas songs, let’s trodge through them.

NEW ARRIVALS

#74 - “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” - Dean Martin

Produced by Lee Gillette

So, firstly: I’m going to be getting the vast majority of my info from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, the Official Charts Company’s archive: it may sometimes be inaccurate or awkward in its formatting but I know charts well enough to notice when something doesn’t seem right - for the most part - or when it contradicts with Wikipedia or other sources. You can find the vast majority of this info elsewhere, I’m not doing intense research, but hey, it’s good to have a little backstory and that’s what most of this episode will be: stories. We start with a fictional one, that of Rudolph’s.

Now he may be a tradition now but he’s more recent than you think, pitched in 1939 by a retailer in New York known as Robert L. May. He’s a newly-created Christmas character that is a bit of wholesome children’s content with a good message, insanely basic character design and therefore incredibly intuitive marketing strategy. The song came 10 years after the character, and whilst Gene Autry probably recorded the most well-known version, it’s never charted in the UK. In fact, Dean Martin’s version, which debuts this year at #74 - it’s its first week in the top 100 even - is the first version to chart, despite American success of versions by Autry, Bing Crosby and even the Chipmunks and the Temptations, both inspiring 60s vocal groups. This 1959 cover from A Winter Romance, the same album with “Let it Snow” on it, is a completely fine, very cliché Christmas-sounding tune with a weird German accent for Santa’s dialogue. Whilst it may be somewhat surprising the song’s not charted, I do understand. I sang “Rudolph” as a child in assemblies at school, sure, but I’m a much later generation than a lot of the people listening to Christmas music this time of year in this country, and it’s always felt like a specifically American export, especially that stop-motion TV special that may have re-popularised the tune. The only other “Rudolph” song to chart is Chuck Berry’s 1958 classic, “Run Rudolph Run”, which peaked at #36 in 1964 and is currently at #49. When it peaked, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles, another rock-and-roll classic, was #1. Mr. Berry of course would later go on to film women peeing, so maybe someone should make a festive rock and roll remix to “Ignition”.

#72 - “Carol of the Bells” - John Williams

Produced by John Williams

Spotify actually credits more than OCC does here: John Williams is listed here as he’s the only performer listed on the chart itself but on streaming services, the lead artist is actually Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych, the Ukrainian composer for the song, originally arranged as a very non-Christmas piece “Shchedryk”, which I guess is still about Winter as when translated, one can read lyrics about how a swallow flies into a home promising wealth for the upcoming spring. It’s connected to a folk holiday in Ukraine celebrated on New Year’s Eve known as “Malanka”, somewhat similar to Christmas in its festivities but with a depth of its own traditions unique to eastern Europe, and it wasn’t even the intended holiday of Leontovych’s original composition, first performed in Kyiv in 1916. An American composer, importantly one descending from the Rusyns of modern-day Ukraine, heard the composition, which made its way to New York in the 1920s, and wrote English lyrics relating to Christmas though, interestingly, Peter J. Wilhousky is nowhere to be seen in the artist credits for this version, being relegated to a writing credit on Spotify.

There are many versions of this song but by far the most popular is the rendition by John Williams, an icon in film scoring who arranged the song alongside a children’s choir performance for the 1990 film Home Alone, which has aged pretty well - mostly because it’s practically just slapstick of a kid torturing these two idiots - and has become a Christmas classic, particularly in eastern Europe, where its release lined up pretty nicely with more lenient restrictions on western films, so it became one of the first western family films seen by many children beyond the Iron Curtain just as it fell, which does make the use of Leontovych’s composition come full circle in a way. Personally, I’ve always found this song a tad eerie and intense, but Williams’ version of “Carol of the Bells” is the only one to have charted in the UK, and it first reached the top 100 in 2018. Additionally, the main theme from Home Alone, “Somewhere in My Memory”, spent one week at #69 in 2019. The #1 that week was “Sweet but Psycho” by Ava Max, and John Williams has charted a few times with singles and many, many other times on the albums chart, for his work in film scoring. Last year, the Home Alone soundtrack made its very first appearance there at #100, and this year, probably assisting with the new peak of this song, the actor who played the boy Kevin McCallister, Macaulay Culkin, received a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the film itself was inducted into the Library of US Congress’ National Film Registry.

#71 - “Entrapreneur” - Central Cee

Produced by Chris Rich and Caleb Bryant

Alright, let’s cut the Christmas crap for a second as we do have a new song from Cench charting, and whilst Jeezy has made that awkward pun before, this is still a completely fine, maybe even pretty good, drill track with a very energetic performance from Cench here and despite some very odd mixing that makes the percussion feel stiff and the bass less present than it should be, I still think it hits hard amidst the soaring strings and keys at the back of the mix that is surprisingly dynamic at times, it almost feels like it’s going for a cloud rap vibe but instead of fully submerging the listener, Cench submerges any need for the instrumental by bringing a lot of charisma, some funny lines and a whole lot of triumphant flexing that given the motivation in his voice here and some genuinely likeable lyrics, actually feels pretty deserved. Sure, he sticks to the same flow, but it’s one that works and seems to serve his best interests lyrically as he can fit all of his wordy bars into it, so I’d say this is ultimately a success.

#67 - “Deck the Halls” - Nat King Cole

Produced by Lee Gillette

Another Lee Gillette production in the same week, huh, I guess the guy was the go-to for soulful Christmas tracks. I’m never going to complain about hearing Nat King Cole’s rich voice… except for this song, misspelled as “Deck the Hall” on Spotify, where it feels like everything’s a bit too fast for the guy, I almost feel bad. It’s a very spritzy and string-heavy song that just ends up too chintzy to give Nat King Cole any time. Hell, I’ll be honest - this one sucks, it’s way too busy and barely anyone could pull off this dead-on-arrival fa-la-la-la song anyway unless you’re a cartoon character but I haven’t seen the Animaniacs chart in my lifetime so this is a carol I’ve never preferred. As for this song’s chart history, this is its second week on the chart, and only this version has ever charted to my knowledge, debuting at #84 last year. That’s not to say people haven’t recorded and performed this song that aren’t named Nat King Cole because by God, they have, though not nearly as much as a song we’ll be talking about in a few paragraphs’ time. As for the original composition, it dates back to the traditional Welsh carol “Nos Galan”, which is actually about New Year’s Eve and both its tune and lyrics were written around the 1700s, but English lyrics by Scotsman Thomas Oliphant in 1862 brought us the carol we know today, so this one is a bit more historied than Rudolph, especially with popularising the now universal phrase of “’tis the season”. I don’t even like the slower, original Welsh version of this, it’s just a pestering little song to me. Never done well to my knowledge. Next.

#63 - “This Christmas” - Donny Hathaway

Produced by Ric Powell and Donny Hathaway

This is a pretty weird one because yes, this version of the song has never charted in the UK’s top 100 before. That much is true… but I have reviewed it, and in 2020 in fact, so dig up that old episode, right? Well, maybe not, because the only reason I reviewed it is because a Jess Glynne version charted that year, and it was an Amazon original version, that I ended up comparing to the original, one of my favourite ever Christmas songs, in complete despair and almost disgust. Hathaway has a buttery but unabashedly joyful voice, he came up with that iconic gleeful horn line and that clever, sleek title-drop in the verses, and like I said in 2020, lest we forget the bongos. It’s a detailed, beautiful song that was first released in 1970, with the B-side “Be There”, which is probably why OCC questionably lists this song as “This Christmas Be There”. Said B-side is the other holiday single tacked onto his self-titled album and whilst not as catchy or canonical, it is more of a melodramatic tune with just as many intricacies, it’s really an underrated gem to be honest. It took a while for “This Christmas” to latch on, only really resurging in 1991 when included on a reissued Christmas compilation record. It didn’t chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 until 2020 and has finally made it to the UK’s singles chart in its original form. The malformed Jess Glynne butchering made it to #3 in 2021, and “Last Christmas” was #1 that week too. It briefly returned in 2021 but only peaked at #52 that year and has not appeared again so I’m assuming the UK has come to their senses and made the correct decision about which one to enjoy from this year onward.

#60 - “Jingle Bells” - Frank Sinatra

Produced by Voyle Gilmore

It is a disgrace that Meghan Trainor’s version outcharts Frankie, but there is some solace in knowing Trainor’s version may be like Jess Glynne’s “This Christmas” and end up as a one-year-only success. It’s not like it matters though, “Jingle Bells” may be the most-recorded song in human history, and is definitely at least one of them, even though it was never explicitly about Christmas… though the song was originally titled “This One Horse Open Sleigh” so part of me thinks that James Lord Pierpoint, the song’s writer and Confederate soldier - yikes - had at least Father Christmas in mind when composing the jingle. Pierpoint even wrote music for the losing side in the Civil War and ended up on the opposing side of his father in the Union Army - Jesus, the less we know about the guy who wrote the song, the better, what a loser. Anyway, like 70,000 Goddamn people have dashed through the snow to get to the studio and record this track, so it’s safe to say the song has reached beyond its obscure writer at this point. It’s been broadcast from space, for God’s sake.

Sinatra, or more accurately Gilmore, extends the song with an unnecessary spelling section from a choir, but otherwise the 1948 recording is a lot of fun with a classic, swingin’ performance from Frankie as one would expect, especially when he has some fun with the cadence of the track, even if he doesn’t do it all too much. The song is such a staple that it’s been implemented into other Christmas standards for years, and not just “Jingle Bell Rock”, which I consider so separate to be its own song so I’ll wait for another cover of that next year before I get into that chart history, but also it’s a motif heard in Bing Crosby’s “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas”, the guitar… solo(?) in Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song” and even Joni Mitchell’s “River”. As for the original, I mean, it’s been covered by everybody from Herb Alpert to the Beatles to the Barenaked Ladies to Barney the Dinosaur to Eric Clapton to Gladys Knight to Pearl Jam to the Wiggles to CBeebies’ Goddamn Alphablocks but the versions that charted are as follows.

The first version of the original “Jingle Bells” to chart in the modern chart was… a reggae version by Judge Dread, who if you know anything about him, is not exactly a wholesome Christmas artist, and of course, it’s actually a vulgar, laddish version using the melody to talk about having sex on Christmas with some girl. I’ve talked about Judge Dread on this blog before in my special episode from 2021 about songs banned by the BBC, in which I included a lot more of his story. To be completely honest, his version is a lot of fun, especially with how carelessly he delivers it all, and it peaked at #64 for two weeks in 1978, during which “Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord” by Boney M. was #1. It’s currently at #51. In 1981, a novelty version by the Hysterics that lasts for only less than a minute and a half, peaked at #44 for three weeks. Subtitled “(Laughing All the Way)”, it is simply a guy laughing obnoxiously to the tune of the song as a cartoon-sounding pop-rock version plays under him. It is profoundly stupid. “Don’t You Want Me” by the Human League was #1 during these three very cursed weeks in British history. In 2005, whoever the Hell was behind the Crazy Frog mashed up the song with “U Can’t Touch This”, which apparently warrants it a separate Wikipedia page, and it peaked at #5 whilst Nizlopi’s “JCB”, a personal nostalgic song for me, was #1. Another EDM version by Basshunter peaked at #35 in 2008, when Alexandra Burke’s cover of “Hallelujah” was #1. It’s safe to say that both 2000s Eurodance versions of “Jingle Bells” are cheap and ridiculous. Last year, Sam Ryder’s Amazon-exclusive version from an Amazon-exclusive Christmas film charted at #41 - “Last Christmas” was of course at #1 that week - and this week, we see both versions by Meghan Trainor and Frank Sinatra charting. He originally recorded it in 1948 but it only started charting two weeks ago. Oh, and of course, Batman smells and Robin laid an egg.

#58 - “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” - Mariah Carey

Produced by Walter Afanasieff and Mariah Carey

Mr. President, a second - okay, more accurately, third - Mariah Carey Christmas song has hit the canon… and I have no idea why you’d listen to this slightly-oversung, dull 1994 rendition over the Darlene Love original, which has a slightly similar story to “This Christmas” though arguably more organic. It wasn’t a single when added to Phil Spector’s Christmas compilation album - he would later murder a woman, of course - but the track, released in 1963 and featuring Cher on backing vocals, who would later cover the song as a duet with the surprisingly-still-alive (especially if she knew Spector, sheesh) Ms. Love, 60 years later - yes, that’s this year - on her own Christmas album. Sadly, that one didn’t chart but Carey’s instead. Love’s version gained popularity simply because in the late 80s, talk-show host David Letterman just liked the song and continued to invite her year upon year to perform it on his show, which is adorable.

In the UK, the original version didn’t chart until after Bublé’s - sigh - which didn’t last, peaking at #47 for two weeks in 2011 and briefly coming back in the bottom-feeder region in 2015. When it peaked, the #1 was “Cannonball” by Little Mix, and then “Wherever You Are” by the Military Wives and Gareth Malone, that year’s Christmas #1. Love’s version first charted here in 2017, though her other Christmas song, “All Alone on Christmas”, featured on the Home Alone 2 soundtrack - starring a man who I’m pretty sure James Lord Pierpoint would have voted for - peaked at #31 in 1992, during which the #1 was predictably Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”. “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” would eventually peak at #22 in 2018 and is currently charting at #31, whilst Carey’s version reaches a new peak this year after first charting in 2021, and with that, we are done with 2023’s Christmas episodes of REVIEWING THE CHARTS. Also, did you know U2 had a version of this? …Why?

Conclusion

This wasn’t really a conventional episode, was it? I can’t really fairly give Best of the Week out, or the worst for that matter, because these are songs I hold very few notable opinions on and spent most of the time just talking about their origins and their chart success. With that said, screw “Deck the Halls”, thank you for reading and I’ll see you next… year!

[kickmag]

Watch: Trailer For Luther Vandross Documentary

Giant Pictures shared the trailer for Luther: Never Too Much today. Marvin Gaye referred to Vandross as our "greatest balladeer" when someone tried to give Gaye that accolade. Dawn Porter directed the film and conducted interviews with Dionne Warwick, Jamie Foxx, Mariah Carey, Roberta Flack, Richard Marx, and Fonzi Thornton. Decades of archived footage of Vandross is in the film that debuted at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Vandross started his career as a teenager singing with the dance music group Shades of Jade. In the 1970s, he sang backup for Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Barbara Streisand, and David Bowie.  His voice was also heard in several jingles for Kentucky Fried Chicken, NBC, Juicy Fruit, Burger King, and Mountain Dew.

In the '80s, he was a featured vocalist with the group Change, and they had a hit with "The Glow of Love." He went solo, and in 1981, Never Too Much was released, and the title track went to number one. His first four albums went platinum, and he lit up the R&B scene with several classic songs like "Don't You Know That," "Bad Boy/Having A Party," "Since I Lost My Baby," "Give Me The Reason," "Wait For Love," his duet with Cheryl Lynn, "If This World Were Mine," and many more. Whitney Houston once compared Vandross's voice to "silver because it cannot break." The singer died in 2005 at the age of 54 after experiencing complications from a stroke. In the 19 years since his passing, music fans, critics, and artists have agreed that his voice is the standard for the male R&B singer. Luther: Never Too Much will have preview showings at AMC theaters on October 30th and open nationwide on November 1st. 

[lizzygrantarchives]

Billboard, August 22, 2019

With her new album, 'Norman Fucking Rockwell,' the singer makes her most adventurous and candid music yet -- and leads Billboard's list of the 38 most-anticipated things about music this fall.

YOU’VE GOT TO CLIMB THE HILL BEHIND the Chateau Marmont to get to the office where I’m meeting Lana Del Rey, which feels appropriately on the nose on this early-August day: The hotel is Hollywood’s ultimate nexus of glamour and doom, the keeper of 90 years of celebrity secrets that touch everyone from Bette Davis to Britney Spears. It shows up in the homemade visuals for Del Rey’s breakout single “Video Games” and in the lyrics of songs like “Off to the Races.” She lived here while writing her Paradise EP in 2012. Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski lived here, too, in Room 54, before moving to Cielo Drive where — exactly 50 years ago, as of midnight tonight — the Manson Family arrived.

But these kinds of connections are standard in the Lana Del Rey multiverse, where nods to Bob Dylan, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Elton John and Henry Miller can coexist in a single chorus and not feel overdone. (No, seriously: Play her 2017 duet with Sean Ono Lennon, “Tomorrow Never Came.”) And if the Lana of five years ago radiated significant Sharon Tate circa Valley of the Dolls energy, the 34-year-old singer-songwriter has more of a Summer of Love thing going on now. The songs she has previewed from her fifth album, the exquisitely titled Norman Fucking Rockwell, are far more Newport Folk Festival than femme fatale — meandering psych-rock jam sessions and slippery piano ballads that shout out Sylvia Plath. The narrative thread throughout all of this can lead listeners down an endless rabbit hole of references, but you can sum it up like so: The music Lana Del Rey makes could only be made by Lana Del Rey.

That means songs like the nearly 10-minute-long “Venice Bitch,” the most psychedelic tune in her catalog, or the title track, a ballad rich with one-liner gems like, “Your poetry’s bad, and you blame the news” — songs that represent the best writing in her career yet have almost zero chance of radio play. Norman Fucking Rockwell, out Aug. 30, is a “mood record,” as Del Rey describes it while perched barefoot on a velvet couch in the new office of her longtime management company, an airy pad way up in the Hollywood Hills with platinum plaques scattered about that no one has gotten around to hanging up yet. There are no big bangers, just songs you can jam out to during beach walks and long drives. This is not exactly a surprise: Del Rey’s only top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 was a raving Cedric Gervais remix of her song “Summertime Sadness.” But in the streaming era, when success often means getting easily digestible singles on the right playlists, making an album that’s meant to be wallowed in for 70 minutes isn’t just inspired — it’s defiant.

Yet it’s an approach that has worked for Del Rey: Her songs, even the long, weird ones, easily rack up tens of millions of streams, and overall they have amassed a solid 3.9 billion on-demand streams in the United States, according to Nielsen Music. Collectively, her catalog of albums has sold 3.2 million copies in the United States, and all of her full-length major-label studio albums have debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 1 or No. 2. The first of those, 2012’s Born to Die, is one of only three titles by a woman to spend over 300 weeks on the Billboard 200. (The other two: Adele’s 21 and Carole King’s Tapestry.) Born to Die also has spent 142 weeks on Billboard’s Vinyl Albums chart — more than Prince’s Purple Rain, tied with Michael Jackson’s Thriller and just behind Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. It’s an indication that, as broad as her fan base is, it also runs deep, with a ratio of hardcore devotees to casual ones that even stars with inescapable radio hits might envy.

Credit Del Rey’s strong aesthetic and singular throwback sound that, as it has moved away from its initial pop and hip-hop influences, has kept young fans interested and allowed them to grow up with her. “When we sign [an artist], it’s not necessarily what everyone was listening to, but they had real vision,” says Interscope chairman/CEO John Janick. “Lana’s at ground zero of that. There have been so many other people who’ve been inspired by Lana. She’s massive, she has sold millions of albums, but it always has been on her terms.”

This has been Del Rey’s deal from the jump. “Some people really are trying to get in the mix of the zeitgeist, and that is just not my MO — never cared,” says Del Rey, cradling a coffee with sky blue-painted fingertips. “My little heart’s path has such a distinct road that it’s almost taking me along for the ride. Like, ‘I guess we’re following this muse, and it wants to be in the woods. OK, I guess we’re packing up the truck!’ It’s truly ethereal, and it’s a huge pain in the ass.”

Del Rey’s instincts are what led Interscope to sign her to an international joint-venture deal with U.K. label Polydor in 2011 and what compelled her managers Ed Millett and Ben Mawson to create their company, TaP Music, with Del Rey as their first client in 2009. “It was at that moment of peak piracy when no one in the music business was making money, so labels just weren’t taking risks,” recalls Millett. “You’d play one of her songs at an A&R meeting, and they’d be like, ‘You know what’s selling at the moment? Kesha.’ But we were lucky with Lana because she knew exactly who she was. Our job was about making sure everybody understood that.”

That battle for understanding has followed Del Rey for much of her career. “People just couldn’t believe she could be so impactful without some svengalis behind her. I still think there’s a tinge of misogyny behind all that,” says Millett, referencing the endless debates about Del Rey’s creative autonomy. “She realized very quickly, being at the center of that storm, you’re not going to win.” So she went deeper into her own weird world, and somewhere between her third and fourth records — the haunted jazz of 2015’s Honeymoon and the new-age folk of 2017’s Lust for Life — it felt like people finally got it. Or, at least, the people who were meant to get it got it. After all, Del Rey never had intended to make popular music, even if she now headlines festivals. It just kind of happened that way: a poet disguised as a pop star.

In many ways, Norman Fucking Rockwell feels like a fulfillment of the groundwork she has spent nearly a decade laying: She is now free to be Lana, no questions asked. “People want to embrace her lack of formula,” says Millett. “And now she can do whatever the hell she wants because people have accepted that, well, she’s brilliant.” Though she has sold out arenas in the past, the North American leg of her upcoming fall tour has her playing amphitheaters and outdoor venues that feel especially suited to the style of her music. And if her songs feel lighter, it’s because Del Rey does, too.

“I mean, God, I have never taken a shortcut — and I think that’s going to stop now,” she says, feet kicked up on the coffee table. “It hasn’t really served me well to go by every instinct. It’s the longer, more arduous road. But it does get you to the point where, when everyone is just copying each other, you’re like, ‘I know myself well enough that I don’t want to go to that foam rave in a crop top.’ ”

Although that does sound kind of dope, now that she’s thinking about it. “Yeah, never mind,” she says, laughing. “Google ‘nearest foam rave.’ ”

IN PERSON, DEL REY’S VIBE isn’t noir heroine or folk troubadour so much as friend from college who now lives in the suburbs. Her jean shorts, white T-shirt and gray cardigan could’ve easily been snatched off a mannequin at the nearest American Eagle Outfitters. A couple of times in our conversation, she lets out a “Gee whiz!” like a side character in a Popeye cartoon. Between the tour announcements and Gucci campaign shoots, her Instagram consists mostly of screenshot poetry and Easter brunch pics with her girlfriends. For the most distinctive popular songwriter of the past decade, she appears disarmingly basic.

“Oh, I am! I’m actually only that,” agrees Del Rey, eyes gleaming. “I’ve got a more eccentric side when it comes to the muse of writing, but I feel very much that writing is not my thing: I’m writing’s thing. When the writing has got me, I’m on its schedule. But when it leaves me alone, I’m just at Starbucks, talking shit all day.” Starting in 2011, when her nearly drumless, practically hookless breakthrough single “Video Games” blew up, the suddenly polarizing singer found it hard to move through the real world unbothered. But something changed a few years back; she’s not sure if she chilled out or if everyone else did. In any case, she’s happiest among the people, whether that’s lingering in Silverlake coffee shops or dipping out to Newport to rollerblade. “I’ve got my ear to the ground,” she says with a conspiratorial wink. “Actually, that’s my main goal.”

Somehow this only makes Del Rey weirder and cooler: the high priestess of sad pop who now smiles on album covers and posts Instagram stories inviting you to check out her homegirl’s fitness event in Hermosa Beach. You could feel the shift on Lust for Life, which enlisted everyone from A$AP Rocky to Stevie Nicks and traded the interiority of her early songwriting for anthems about women’s rights and the state of the world. She even seemed down to play the pop game a bit, though by her own rules: She worked with superproducer Max Martin on the title track, even as it quoted ’60s girl groups and cast R&B juggernaut The Weeknd as the long-lost Beach Boy.

Among those entering Del Rey’s creative fold on Norman Fucking Rockwell is Jack Antonoff, the four-time Grammy Award-winning producer who has become a go-to collaborator on synth-pop heavy hitters for the likes of Lorde and Taylor Swift. Enlisting Big Pop’s most in-demand producer doesn’t seem like a very Lana Del Rey move, and she knows it.

“I wasn’t in the mood to write,” she admits. “He wanted me to meet him in some random diner, and I was like, ‘You already worked with everyone else; I don’t know where there’s room for me.’ ” But when Antonoff played her 10 minutes of weird, atmospheric riffs, Del Rey could immediately picture her new album: “A folk record with a little surf twist.” In the end, Antonoff wound up co-producing almost the whole project, alongside longtime collaborator Rick Nowels and Del Rey herself.

Most of Norman Fucking Rockwell follows similar whims — or, as Del Rey puts it, “Divine timing.” Though artists like Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande have taken the creation of pop music to a more informal and impulsive place — Eilish recorded her debut album with her producer brother Finneas O’Connell in his childhood bedroom, while Grande wrote most of Thank U, Next in a weeklong blitz — Del Rey’s approach seems even more casual. “She doesn’t follow any kind of plan beyond what she feels is right, and it works every time,” says Millett.

That includes the cover of Sublime’s sleazy 1996 hit “Doin’ Time” — essentially the “Summertime Sadness” of the Long Beach, Calif., ska band’s discography — recorded out of pure fandom, yet somehow a perfect complement to the album’s beach bum vibe. “We were involved in executive-producing the [recent] Sublime documentary because their catalog is through Interscope, and Lana was talking about how big a fan she was,” says Janick. As it happened, her earliest producer was David Kahne, who had worked with Sublime in the ’90s. “So she ended up doing that cover, which turned out amazing. But then she felt like it fit the aesthetic of the album.”

The album title was just something she came up with when she randomly harmonized the name of the American illustrator while recording “Venice Bitch,” though she recognizes that she and Rockwell — an idealist whose cozy depictions of Boy Scouts and Thanksgiving turkeys graced magazine covers for half the 20th century — have both explored big questions about the American dream in their work. And then there’s the artwork she has been using for the record’s singles: bizarrely casual iPhone photos that feel a bit tossed-off because, well, they are.

“Every time my managers write me, ‘Album art?,’ I’m just like, send!” she cackles, pantomiming taking a selfie. “And they just send the middle-finger emoji back to me.”

THE WEEK OF OUR INTERVIEW, JUST a few days after two consecutive mass shootings took place in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, Del Rey recorded a song called “Looking for America.” She hadn’t planned to write it, but the shootings affected her on a “cellular level,” as she phrased it in an Instagram preview, which also included a sharp disclaimer: “Now I know I’m not a politician and I’m not trying to be so excuse me for having an opinion.” Over Antonoff’s acoustic guitar, she sings softly, “I’m still looking for my own version of America/One without the gun, where the flag can freely fly.”

The quiet protest song is a move you can hardly imagine her making five years ago. It wasn’t until Lust for Life, she acknowledges, that she felt brave enough to have an overt political opinion. “It is quite a critical world, where people are like, ‘Stick to singing!’ ” she says. “They don’t say that to everyone, but I heard that a lot.”

With that sense of permission has come a kind of peace and an acceptance that evaded Del Rey in her early career; she has never indulged her critics, but it’s nice to be understood. “Sometimes with women, there was so much criticism if you weren’t just one way that was easily metabolized and decipherable — you were a crazy person,” she marvels, noting a shift in the perception of female pop stars that happened only recently (one catalyzed in large part by her own career arc). She recently recorded a song for the soundtrack to the upcoming Charlie’s Angels reboot with Grande and Miley Cyrus — stars who also have faced criticism for the ways in which they don’t conform to the expectations of women in the spotlight.

Her newest songs are some of her most personal, particularly the album closer, “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have — but i have it” (a title only Del Rey could pull off). It also hovers anxiously on the margins of the #MeToo movement, though never in such broad strokes. “It was staggered with references from living in Hollywood and seeing so many things that didn’t look right to me, things that I never thought I’d have permission to talk about, because everyone knew and no one ever said anything,” she says in a tangle of sentences as knotty as the lyrics themselves. “The culture only changed in the last two years as to whether people would believe you. And I’ve been in this business now for 15 years!

“So I was writing a song to myself.” She exhales deeply, sinking back into the sofa. “Hope truly is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have, because I know so much.” Del Rey pauses. “But I have it.”

Del Rey has been thinking a lot about hope and faith lately. She has been going to church every Wednesday and Sunday with a group of her girlfriends; they get coffee beforehand, and it has become something to look forward to. She likes the idea of a network of people you can talk to about wanting something bigger — just another extension of her fondness for pondering the mysteries of the universe. (Fittingly, she studied metaphysics and philosophy at Fordham University in New York.) “I genuinely think the thing that has transformed my life the most is knowing that there’s magic in the concept of two heads are better than one,” she says.

That has crept into her music, too. Del Rey says she hadn’t realized until recently how isolating her creative process had been for so long. These days, studio sessions feel more like cozy jam sessions, according to Laura Sisk, the Grammy-winning engineer who worked closely on the record with Del Rey and Antonoff. “Something I love about Norman is how much of the energy of the room we’re able to record,” says Sisk. “We often don’t use a vocal booth, so we’re sitting in a room together recording, usually right after the song was written and the feeling is still heavy in the room.”

Even the cover of Norman Fucking Rockwell, Del Rey says, was designed to cultivate a sense of community. For the first time in her discography, she’s not pictured by herself. She’s on a boat at sea, one arm wrapped around actor Duke Nicholson (a family friend and grandson of Jack), the other reaching out to pull the viewer aboard. As she explains the idea, Del Rey rifles through her sizable mental rolodex of quotations and offers this one from Humphrey Bogart by way of Ernest Hemingway: “ ‘The sea is the last free place on earth.’ ” A place, in other words, where you can finally just be you.

Del Rey says her album covers tend to be self-fulfilling prophecies — whatever energy she puts out tends to shape the next chapter of her life. She’s eager to see how this one, with its open arms and sense of adventure, manifests itself. “We’re going somewhere,” she says with a mysterious grin. “I don’t know where we’re going. But wherever it is, my feet are going to be on the ground.”

Originally published on billboard.com with the headline Lana Del Rey on Finding Her Voice and Following Her Muse: ‘I Have Never Taken a Shortcut’, and in the August 24, 2019 issue of Billboard with the headline Lana Del Rey Speaks Her Mind.

[wave2tyun]

My getting into Ateez is much more recent than getting into skz but I love them an incredible amount anyway, I always have a Mingi photocard in my clear phonecase!! Anyway, here we go‼️😼

Treasure ep.2: Zero to One

- HALA HALA (deep in my heart deep in my soul!! I'm gonna say this to a lot songs but incredible pre chorus+chorus, vocals from the gods fr)

- Say My Name (ateez present!! really fun sound with a cool chorus, also choreography so sick!! A to the Z😁)

Treasure ep.3

- Aurora (summer vibes, calmer fun sound? the instrumentals with the vocals are very pretty together)

- Wave (more fun summery vibe (that also is very noticeable from the mv), Hakuna Matata ya!!)

The World ep.1: Movement

- Guerrilla (WE'RE THE GUERRILLAS‼️ very intense and cool song and music video)

- Cyberpunk (SEXY ASS SONG, vocals and rap? So good!! INCREDIBLE high notes)

The World ep.2: Outlaw

- Bouncy (slow it down make it bouncy😎, I own this album irl it's very good, cool title with a cool choreography)

- Dune (really sick raps, incredible vocal powerhouses, they're just really talented🥺)

- DJANGO (my favorite from this album, has a really good chorus, call me DJANGO!!)

- OUTLAW (chorus is SICK AF, oh my god... it makes me just wanna dance, like always Hongjoong and Mingi just incredible rappers)

The World ep.fin: Will

- Crazy form (newest title track, 미친 폼😎, great song over all, this has been on loop for days)

- We Know (the chorus is so so so cool, I'm so in love with it)

- Silver Light (I'm always so in love with the pre chorus+chorus bits, this one's no exeption!!)

- Matz (duet between two oldest, Matz is their duo name, Hongjoong rap god! Seonghwa gorgeous gorgeous man <3)

- It's You (woosansang trio, a love song I'm pretty sure? maybe a bit sexy song vibes? (I haven't looked at the lyrics yet actually😅), in any case just a very good song!!)

- Youth (yungi duet song, another calmer one, almost kind of nostalgic feeling)

- Everything (gorgeous beautiful instrumental, very calm especially compared to most songs on the album, Jongho aka maknae solo)

ZERO: fever pt.1

- THANXX (gracias😎, one of my favorite mvs, they're all so pretty😣💞)

- Inception (a love song :0, they're all so pretty and talented!! I love the bit after the first chorus)

ZERO: fever pt.3

- Deja Vu (really 😳 choreography, sexy song)

- Eternal Sunshine (completely opposite vibes to Deja Vu, fun summer vibes song)

Other:

- Pirate King (debut song, really cool!! their pirate lore is really cool btw, their storyline is very confusing though, good luck if you ever want to understand it👍)

- Halazia (the first comeback I was there for I think? Yeosangs low notes are incredible, firehair Mingi <33 (I have him in my phonecase btw))

- I'm the One (Fireworks) (MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!! OH MY GOD)

- Black Cat Nero (incredible instrumental super cool choreography, I reccomend watching the halloween performance video, starts with a dramatic piano bit and then turns rock... does this one count as ateez's furry song? 🤔 probably not lmao)

- Wonderland (another sick mv, on my my wayyy‼️, incredible raps)

-The Real (really cool vibes, one of my favorite mvs, don't really know why it's just cool to me I guess, Pink Seonghwa!! :'D)

And also once again lots of other great songs waiting to be discovered!!😁 + fun fact: Mingi and Hongjoong are the rappers of the group and they have 'rapper tags' (Mingis "Fix on" and Hongjoongs giggle, you can usually tell who's rapping by that!) enjoy!! 💞💞💞💞

-🐾

THANK YOUUUUUU!!!!! :DD💖💓💘💞💘💓💞💘💞💓 the ateez playlist is done and ready to go‼️‼️😼 i put a mingi pic as the cover for this one because when they went to that festival.........🫣 my tl was FULL of him and i was enjoying every single second of it🤭 i'll let you know my thoughts + favorites from them as well!!! i love rereading your little comments before playing the songs and omg i'll make sure to look out for their rapper tags as well���😼

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 25 December 1952

Our first Christmas charts week, and our first chart with actual Christmas music - two songs of it, in fact. The Number 1 must not have been Christmassy, though, as our first new addition to the charts only hit Number 6. So they clearly weren't feeling that Christmassy. Oh well.

White Christmas - Mantovani (peaked at No 6)

A familiar Christmas song, and I just assumed coming off the back of a Bing Crosby duet that it would be his version, but no. This is Mantovani's version. It's lush and actually quite nice - I might add it to my Christmas playlist!

It's instrumental, but the song's so familiar that it still feels Christmassy, even without the lyrics. That might also be thanks to the sleigh bells at the start, to be fair. They're the only mis-step, I think, as they're just distracting, and they don't add much to the song. The church bells a little later have a similar effect, but they're buried deep enough that they don't jar as much, at least.

The whole thing has a very lush set of strings, that are almost too shrill, but they don't hang around for too long, and underneath there's something hazier that's quite pretty. I can't quite tell if it's real or synthesised, either, which I didn't expect.

The oboe is great, later on - I like how it changes the vibe enough to keep the piece fresh. It doesn't ever get samey.

Key change! I love a good Christmassy key change, and this one, about two minutes in, is both rousing and then leads to a fabulous cascade of strings on what would have been "bright" in the lyrics.

And then it gets quiet before a big, soaring string ending - nicely done, Mantovani! Overall, quite a classy Christmas piece of music that is overblown, but gets off with it, by dint of being festive.

Because You're Mine - Nat King Cole (6)

Ooh, our first repeat song? We already saw this one, from none other than Mario Lanza. That version was used in a film, while this wasn't, and was apparently much less successful. Still, it's enough to get it into the charts, and I actually think I might prefer it? It's certainly the more approachable version, less opera and more crooner-ish.

The lyrics are just as lame as they were the first time round, but there's not much Nat King Cole can do about that. He sings them with less gusto, which doesn't fit in the context of the film (which was about an opera singer) but does make them seem a little less extreme.

Different lyrics pop, here, with Nat's approach. I really like the pause, for example, on "I'll only live [pause] for the kiss that you alone may give [pause] me". It gives some of the drama of the original, without having to resort to pure volume.

There's also an extra solo, I think, or possibly an instrumental part of the original was just toned down and made into a strings and piano bit. In general, the piano in this is pretty and much clearer than in Lanza's.

It still has the mandatory Big Ending, but this verison of the song is overall a lot more likeable, at least for me in 2023, than the original. I don't know what audiences in 1952 thought, but I like this well enough. Not my favourite song ever, but an improvement on Lanza's version.

Faith Can Move Mountains - Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads (7)

Our first appearance for Johnnie Ray, a legit rock and roller with a pretty sad personal life and a reputation for emotional delivery. Seriously, he was known as the "Prince of Wails" - what a brilliant nickname!

This song is no exception, he sounds desperate throughout, even as the song itself is theoretically quite upbeat, the idea being "I can do anything, as long as you have faith in me". It's a spin on a Biblical concept of faith that can move mountains, used for a very secular purpose here. It's also yet another song that's about an insecure man begging his love to confirm that they do, indeed, love him.

This would be getting a bit stale, if I didn't know that Johnnie Ray was, in fact, a closeted gay man, which gives the song a bit of an interesting twist here. The lover (who has no pronouns, note) is being asked to trust in Johnnie Ray, to open themselves up for a relationship with him, trusting that it will let him "move mountains". In that light, "tell me again you love me / Kiss me and I'll be strong" seems more like the singer psyching himself up to face a world that might not be as accepting of his love. A stretch of interpretation, sure, but one that improves the song, for sure.

Other than this point of interest, it's a workaday song. It's a bit "cooler" than a lot of the more operatic numbers we've had. Not because it's actually pop or rock, but the "oooooh" introduction and backing at points border on doo-wop, while Johnnie's emotional delivery is far from note perfect, which adds a sort of raw edge to it that I've not seen until here.

Don't get me wrong, though. This is still quite a lame duck of a song, with the mandatory Big Ending rounding it off particularly unconvincingly.

Silent Night, Holy Night - Bing Crosby (8)

It's Bing Crosby singing Silent Night. I'm not sure what else you would expect from this. It's exactly what you would expect, given that description.

There are some Disney-title-song backing singers, plus a celeste tinkling away, and a bunch of strings, as a result of which, the whole thing gets pretty soupy in the second verse. Bing doesn't help matters by insisting on slowing down and putting big pauses on some notes - he doesn't sound like he's paying much attention to it, to be honest.

The end result is soporific, but it's supposed to be. It's Silent Night, for goodness' sake. If any carol is allowed to put you to sleep, it's this one, which is theoretically a lullaby.

Not stellar, overall, but it's Silent Night. I like Silent Night. So this one gets a pass, despite Bing and the backing singers' best efforts.

Takes Two to Tango - Louis Armstrong (6)

I have to say, I never really got the appeal of Louis Armstrong's gravelly voice, but it's certainly distinctive.

This track is fun, but surprisingly, not a tango. There are a couple of nods to Latin rhythms, but they're pretty peremptory. Instead, we mostly get a jazzy sort of walk-along plod, with a walking bass and a banging trumpet interlude. The trumpet interlude is for sure the best part of the song.

Lyrically, it's not doing a whole lot. Louis wants to invite his lady for a dance. He sounds charming enough with his "Hey, baby", in an older gentleman kind of way. I'd probably humour him.

It's light-hearted in the middle, outlining all the things you can do on your own ("You can sail on a ship by yourself, / Take a nap or a nip by yourself, / You can get into debt on your own, / There's a lot of things that you can do alone!") before pointing out how it takes two people to properly fall in love. Which, fair enough, I guess.

Actually, is there a bit of innuendo there? Or am I reading too much into that "lot of things that you can do alone"? Louis certainly sings it with gusto, but he does most things with gusto, so the jury's out on that on.

I do like this song. It's good-humoured, about as witty as it needs to be, and the trumpet solo is fabulous.

Walkin' to Missouri - Tony Brent (7)

And with this we get to the first artist who I hadn't even heard of. Tony Brent, mystery man. His name, I have to say, is bland.

Awww, it's a cute story-song, about a metaphorical robin who can't afford to fly, so ends up walking back home to Missouri. It's a bit hard to parse what's going on, but from what I gather it's a sort of prodigal son scenario where this "robin" has gone to the big city, lived the high life, then traipsed home feeling a bit sorry for himself.

It's never moralising. The "real bird of paradise", who's "good lookin' but fickle in the heart" emerges instead as the villain of the piece - is this the first song about getting your heart broken by a wicked hussie?

Meanwhile, the song is fairly gentle to this robin, pointing out how when he comes back "His dreams are battered, his feathers bent" and urging the listener to give him a crumb or two "Because you could have made the same mistake". Which is a nice, gracious line to tread. No judgement, just a gentle head-shake.

Googling tells me that this is a cover version of a Sammy Kaye original, and that the original got big because it was recorded around the time of the 1952 presidential election, and the losing candidate, Truman, did, in fact, have to return to his hometown in Missouri.

It's a zippy little number, with a fun set of xylophone trills and some sax, which improves most songs. The backing singers have some nice close-harmony moments, too, and there's something cool about Tony's delivery - it's big, but not operatic. More jazzy, perhaps? It's definitely grown on me over the course of a few listens.

Overall, then, an eclectic set of Christmas charts, but some real gems in there. Nothing classic, but it's fine - and nice to see some Christmassy tunes!

Favourite song of the bunch: Walkin' to Missouri

[newmusicradionetwork]

for King + Country Drops “What Are We Waiting For” Deluxe Edition Today

Multi-GRAMMY® Award winning and RIAA Platinum-selling Curb | Word Entertainment recording artist for KING + COUNTRY drops the deluxe edition of their GRAMMY® nominated and American Music Award winning album, “WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?” titled “WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? +” today – purchase here. The expanded 17-track collection includes the duo’s four most recent consecutive #1 singles: the Gold-certified “TOGETHER (feat. Kirk Franklin & Tori Kelly),” “RELATE,” “For God Is With Us” and “Love Me Like I Am.”;  two brand new originals:  the long-awaited title-cut, “What Are We Waiting For?” and “Better Man”;  as well as two previously released duets: chart-topping “Love Me Like I Am (feat. Jordin Sparks)” and GRAMMY®-nominated “For God Is With Us (feat. Hillary Scott)”. The duo recently released their epic music video for “What Are We Waiting For (The Single),” which was filmed in the Mojave Desert, California.  The video takes the listener on a journey as the larger-than-life track challenges listeners to be the change they wish to see in the world; hoping to inspire a message of unity, action and optimism.  View Video Here. The synth-heavy deluxe album finds brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone pledging to be the best versions of themselves for their wives, who each inspire them to strive for excellence every day. Acknowledging their faults, the men aspire to greater heights and stronger bonds, tracing a pattern of bold harmonies across more than three minutes of atmospheric rock.  Says the Smallbones:  “When you announce an album, you’re announcing a new era. In some cases that era lasts for a year and a half to two years, and as artists you realize in that time there’s going to be new iterations that come about. The deluxe album takes everything that took place in that time, and ties it all in a bow. We feel that ‘WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? +’ is the culmination point of the last two years. It’s the ultimate version of the record.” Track listing for “WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? +” Includes: - What Are We Waiting For? (The Single) 2. RELATE 3. Broken Halos 4. Love Me Like I Am (feat. Jordin Sparks) 5. Unity (feat. Dante Bowe) 6. For God Is With Us (feat. Hillary Scott) 7. Hold On Pain Ends 8. Unsung Hero 9. Harmony (feat. Sleeping At Last) 10. Shy 11. Better Man 12. TOGETHER (feat. Kirk Franklin & Tori Kelly) 13. Seasons 14. Cheering You On 15. Benediction 16. Love Me Like I Am (Album Version) 17. For God Is With Us (Album Version) for KING + COUNTRY’s “What Are We Waiting For?” album received a GRAMMY® nomination earlier this year for “For God Is With Us” featuring Hillary Scott of Lady A;  and was given their first-ever American Music Award win for “Favorite Inspirational Artist,” garnering the hit single feat. Jordin Sparks, “Love Me Like I Am”, which hit the Top 10 on both Billboard and Mediabase’s Adult Contemporary charts.  The duo also recently announced the “A DRUMMER BOY CHRISTMAS | THE 2023 TOUR EXPERIENCE” – their highly-anticipated annual holiday spectacle that features an extraordinary production, blending festive visuals and stunning lighting and staging effects, for a high-octane show that the brother duo have become known for. With 13 sold-out arena shows in 2022, this year’s Christmas tour will span 16 cities with tickets in high-demand at some of the largest venues across North America and Canada. A DRUMMER BOY CHRISTMAS | THE 2023 TOUR EXPERIENCE” kicks off on Nov. 25 in Chicago, Ill. and travels coast-to-coast visiting arenas in major markets including Phoenix, Seattle, Houston, Las Vegas, Portland and Minneapolis, among others. Visit www.forkingandcountry.com to purchase tickets. It was also recently announced in The Hollywood Reporter that “Unsung Hero,” Joel Smallbone’s directorial debut film from for KING + COUNTRY Entertainment has been picked up by Lionsgate with a theatrical release date of April 26, 2024. Titled from the duo’s song of the same name that was dedicated to their parents, the biopic follows the Smallbone family’s immigration from Australia to the United States. ABOUT for KING + COUNTRY for KING + COUNTRY is one of the music industry’s most respected and decorated duos.  Brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone have been awarded four GRAMMY® Awards, an American Music Award, a Billboard Music Award, 10 GMA Dove Awards, and 17 K-LOVE Fan Awards.  Their 12 No.1 songs have produced an astonishing 2 billion career streams.  The RIAA Platinum-selling act’s live show has been hailed as a must-see concert event that continues to wow sold-out crowds whether in the U.S., Australia, Germany, Netherlands, or New Zealand.  for KING + COUNTRY’s WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?, released this year, became the duo’s second Top 10 album on the Billboard 200; following their RIAA Gold certified album, BURN THE SHIPS, which also debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart. The duo has had seven consecutive No. 1 songs including “For God Is With Us,” “joy.,” “TOGETHER” (feat. Kirk Franklin & Tori Kelly),” and the 11-week Platinum smash, “God Only Knows.”  The global hitmakers have collaborated with a diverse list of artists including Jordin Sparks, Hillary Scott, Dolly Parton, NEEDTOBREATHE and Timbaland, amongst others. Joel and Luke Smallbone are committed to numerous philanthropic efforts focused on human trafficking, children in need, as well as numerous programs in support of the arts.  For more information about for KING + COUNTRY visit:  www.forkingandcountry.com. ABOUT CURB | WORD ENTERTAINMENT In 2016, Curb Records acquired Word Entertainment, combining two of the music industry’s most respected brands, and more than a century of collective experience.  Today, Curb and Word are two of the world’s leading independent music companies.  Owned and operated by Mike Curb, the Curb | Word family includes the labels: Curb, Word, Squint, Fervent, Sidewalk, MCC and IVAV, as well as Curb Publishing, Word Publishing, 25 Live, Curb Films, Word Films, Word Entertainment, and Curb Sports, representing top artists and entertainers in Country, Christian, Pop, Rock and Hip-Hop.  For more information visit www.curb.com. For media inquiries, please contact: Lori Lousararian-Hakola lori.lousararian@rcpmk.com Tracy Cole tracy.cole@rcpmk.com Lesley Burbridge lesley@14prandentertainment.com Jessie Lowe jlowe@curb.com Read the full article

[princesssarisa]

Types of songs in "A Christmas Carol" musical adaptations

When a story has been adapted into so many musicals, it's easy to notice patterns in the songs that usually feature. These are the song types from all the musical adaptations of A Christmas Carol I know.

In chronological order, the musicals are: the 1954 Bernard Hermann operetta for CBS TV, the 1956 NBC TV musical The Stingiest Man in Town (later remade in animation by Rankin/Bass in 1978), Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, the 1970 film Scrooge, The Muppet Christmas Carol, the 1997 Nickelodeon animated film, Alan Menken's A Christmas Carol: The Musical, and 2022's animated Scrooge: A Christmas Carol.

*Fourth wall-breaking chorus invites the audience to celebrate Christmas/hear the story ("Holly-Ho," "Sing a Christmas Carol," or "Tell Me a Tale About Christmas")

*Londoners sing happily about celebrating Christmas Eve (e.g. "On This Darkest Day of Winter," "Santa Claus," "Jolly Good Time")

**Subtype: Happy Christmas Eve solo for Fred, with chorus (e.g. "An Old-Fashioned Christmas," or "I Love Christmas")

*Bitter and greedy Scrooge song (e.g. "Ringle, Ringle," "I Hate People," "Nothing to Do with Me," or "Tell Me")

*Londoners sing about Scrooge's meanness (e.g. "The Stingiest Man in Town," "Father Christmas," or "Scrooge")

*Happy Christmas Eve song for Bob Cratchit, sometimes with Tiny Tim too (e.g. "Christmas Children," "One More Sleep Till Christmas," or "You Mean More to Me Than Anything")

*Jacob Marley lament/warning song (e.g. "I Wear a Chain," "Marley and Marley," or "Link By Link")

*Lonely solo for Scrooge as a child (e.g. "Alone in the World," "When Shadows Fall," or "A Place Called Home")

*Festive Fezziwig party song (e.g. "December the Twenty-Fifth," "Mr. Fezziwig's Annual Christmas Ball")

*Happy love song for Belle and Young Scrooge – either a duet or a solo for Belle (e.g. "What Shall I Get My Lad for Christmas?" "Golden Dreams," "Happiness," or "A Place Called Home")

*Sad breakup song for Belle and Young Scrooge – either a Belle solo, a Scrooge solo, or a duet (e.g. "It Might Have Been," "Winter Was Warm," "You," "When Love is Gone," "Cross This Bridge," or "Later Never Comes")

*Ghost of Christmas Present song (e.g. "A Very Merry Christmas," "The Song of the Christmas Spirit," "I Like Life," "It Feels Like Christmas," or "Abundance and Charity")

**Subtype: Londoners sing of celebrating Christmas Day, joined by the Ghost of Christmas Present (e.g. again, "It Feels Like Christmas," or "Christmas Together")

*Heartwarming Christmas song for the Cratchits and/or Tiny Tim (e.g. "And Bless Us Every One," "Yes, There Is A Santa Claus," "The Lord's Bright Blessing," "The Beautiful Day," or "Bless Us All")

*Ensemble for people in the Future disrespecting Scrooge in death (e.g. "Thank You Very Much," or "Dancing On Your Grave")

*Scrooge sings of his resolve to be a better man (e.g. "Mankind Shall Be My Business," "I'll Begin Again," "A Thankful Heart," "Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Today/God Bless Us Everyone")

*Happy reprises of earlier songs in the final scene (virtually every version does this)

Songs where I can only think of one example each

*Duet for Scrooge and Fred of contrasting world views ("Humbug" from The Stingiest Man in Town)

*Ghost of Christmas Past song ("The Lights of Long Ago" from the Alan Menken musical)

*Tender song for Scrooge's mother in the past ("God Bless Us Every One" from the Alan Menken musical – one of the only versions of the story where Scrooge's mother even appears)

*Tender song for Scrooge's sister Fan ("Christmas Wishes" from Scrooge: A Christmas Carol)

*Duet for Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present about Tiny Tim ("One Little Boy" from The Stingiest Man in Town)

*Festive song for Fred and his party guests ("Santa's Sooty Suit" from the 1997 animated film)

*Solo for Fred about the birth of Jesus ("Birthday Party of the King" from The Stingiest Man in Town)

*Reprise by Scrooge of his lonely childhood song at his own grave in the Future ("Alone in the World (Reprise)" from Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol)

[takeoffphilippines]

Acer brings together the best musical performances for an epic experience at Acer Day 2023: #AceYourWorld concert

MANILA (August 7, 2023) – It was a double celebration as Acer Philippines marked Acer Day 2023 and its 20th anniversary on August 6 with an epic concert at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

The line-up made the Acer Day 2023: #AceYourWorld concert a dream concert, with Acer brand Ambassadors Sarah Geronimo, Donny Pangilinan, Belle Mariano, international superstar Sandara Park, and a powerhouse cast of artists that included, Sunkissed Lola, December Avenue, Zach Tabudlo, Sponge Cola, Mayonnaise, Ben&Ben, and Ely Buendia.

“We chose a line-up that Filipinos of different generations will enjoy so everyone can watch the concert and have a great time,” said Acer Philippines Senior Marketing Manager Princess Laosantos.

It was a full house at the SM MOA Arena and on Facebook, with an estimated 15,000 attendees watching in person and online.

Hosted by Robi Domingo, Acer Day 2023, which had the theme #AceYourWorld was indeed a night to remember. The artists performed their biggest hits, turning the concert into one big party with fans dancing the night away. Predator Gaming brand ambassadors also joined in on the fun, and Acer treated concertgoers to many activities where they got to take home prizes such as Acer products.

Sarah G. performed two songs— “Cuore” and “Alam”— to open the concert in the biggest way possible.

For her part, Sandara Park, together with the GForce Dancers, sang “Festival,” the lead single to her self-titled solo debut mini album. It was her first time performing the song live before a Philippine audience. She also performed “T Map,” “In or Out,” and “I Am the Best.”

The country’s favorite young love team DonBelle brought kilig to the concert with a duet of the song “Byahe” by John Roa.

Although currently on their world tour, kings of P-pop SB19 prepared a video greeting to their Acer family.

Sunkissed Lola kept the ball rolling with “Pasilyo,” “Pakisabi,” “Damag,” and “Makalimutan Ka.” pop-alternative rock group December Avenue followed up with their hit songs, “Kahit ‘Di Mo Alam,” “Bulong,” “Dahan,” “Eroplanong Papel,” “Ilang Beses Kita Mamahalin?,” “Wala Nang Iba,” “Huling Sandali,” “Kung ‘Di Rin Lang Ikaw,” “Saksi Ang Langit,” and “Sa Ngalan Ng Pag-Ibig.”

Next up was rock band Mayonnaise, who delighted the audience with “Bakit Pt. 2,” “Synesthesia,” “Kapag Lasing Malambing,” “Tayo Na Lang Dalawa,” and “Jopay.”

Filipino singer-songwriter Zach Tabudlo brought the house down with three of his hits— “Give me your forever,” “Pano,” and “Binibini.”

Finally, Sponge Cola took the stage with “Pasubali,” “Tuliro,” “Kay Tagal Kitang Hinintay,” “Kunwari,” “Bitiw,” and a special rendition of “Jeepney,” and “Puso.”

Gen Z favorite Ben&Ben gave the crowd eight songs, including “Ride Home,” “Sa Susunod na Habang Buhay,” “Leaves,” “Kathang Isip,” “Pagtingin,” “Araw-araw,” “Maybe the Night,” and “Paninindigan Kita.”

To end the evening on a high, Ely Buendia took the stage with iconic Eraserhead songs, “Alapaap,” “Toyang,” “Pare Ko,” “Spolarium,” “Ligaya,” “Magasin,” “Superproxy,” “With a Smile,” and “Huling El Bimbo.”

Fans got tickets to the concert through social media contests held on Facebook and Twitter or when they purchased from Acer’s Back-to-School promo! Every promo purchase entitled the customer to a concert ticket and a Php 500 pledge to the GreenEarth Heritage Foundation.

“This concert is not just an anniversary celebration but a way for Acer to give back to the community by staging a memorable event that brings all the hottest musical acts in town,” said Sue Ong-Lim, Acer Philippines General Manager.

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