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deadcactuswalking · 5 years ago

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 15th December 2019

This is a really easy week for me and I’m not making it anything more than just what we have, which is a simple collection of the top 10, some fallers and drop-outs, too many Christmas songs and one new arrival. Let’s get on with it.

Top 10

For an eleventh and what I’m assuming will be a final week, Tones and I is at #1 with “Dance Monkey”.

Up only one spot and not receiving enough of a boost to overthrow the #1, we have number-two, “Own It” by Stormzy featuring Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy.

Also up a single spot this week is “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa at number-three.

Those two are probably due to the slight fall for Lewis Capaldi’s “Before You Go” down two spots to number-four.

“ROXANNE” by Arizona Zervas is steady at number-five, meaning in the run to the Christmas #1, there are no Christmas songs in the top five...

That didn’t last long. “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey is up two spots to number-six, meaning if there isn’t a surprise release that overtakes any other song like last year, Carey could easily take it this year.

Also a contender is “Last Christmas” by WHAM! re-entering the top 10 at number-seven after a six-spot increase this week.

The Amazon Music exclusive song by Ellie Goulding, “River”, continues to profit off of false success propelled by its exclusivity in a desperate attempt to recoup any chart power, up six spaces to number-eight.

At number-nine, we have “everything i wanted” by Billie Eilish continuing to be mismanaged in some way down three spaces to number-nine. Seriously, this was released way too late to be a genuine success amongst Christmas songs, as has the new arrival this week, but somehow this one has some sense of longevity.

Memories by maroon 5 poopoo stinky poop

Climbers

Much like last week, there aren’t any climbers worth mentioning other than for the Christmas songs... except for these two: “Falling” by Trevor Daniel is up five spaces from its debut last week to #35 and somehow, “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi has rebounded seven spaces up to #27... curious happenings here on the UK Top 40.

Edit: “Don’t Rush” by Young T & Bugsey featuring Headie One is also up seven to #30

Fallers

Okay, so the Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” and “Heartless” are both in freefall off of their debuts last week, down five and 12 respectively to #17 and #22. Otherwise, “Lose You to Love Me” by Selena Gomez is down six spaces to #21, “This is Real” by Jax Jones featuring Ella Henderson has had the same hit down to #26, “Professor X” by Dave is down 13 spots to #40 and... KSI’s “Down Like That” (featuring Rick Ross, Lil Baby and S-X) took a big 20-space hit to #37. I bet he’s suddenly wishing he didn’t win that boxing match this particular month.

Dropouts

Like all Christmas weeks, it’s pretty much as far as we get on this chart to a bloodbath. I’m not even going to go in order, it’s pretty disastrous but somewhat understated, even if these songs are all either big hits or prematurely dropped off. “Ride It” by Regard featuring Jay Sean is out from #31, “Must Be” by J Hus is out from #28, “New Dior” by DigDat and D-Block Europe is out from #35, “Turn Me On” by Riton, Oliver Heldens and Vula is out from #25, “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” by Travis Scott is out from #30, and finally, “Nice to Meet Ya” by Niall Horan is out from #38.

IT’S CHRISTMAS INNIT

Okay, so our gains outside of the two (or three) in the top 10: “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl is up eight to #14 – that’s good, “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” by Band Aid is up eight to #15 – that’s not, “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens is up 10 to #16, “Step into Christmas” by Elton John has the greatest gain up 15 to #24, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé is up seven to #25, “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande is up two to #31, and if you count it, “Into the Unknown” by Idina Menzel and AURORA from the Frozen II soundtrack is down two to #38.

In terms of returning entries, “One More Sleep” by Leona Lewis is back at #29, as is “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee at #32, as well as “I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday” by Wizzard at #34, “Merry Xmas Everybody” by Slade at #37, as well as a certain entry I don’t think I’ve talked about yet...

#39 – “Underneath the Tree” – Kelly Clarkson

Produced by Greg Kurstin – Peaked at #24 in Scotland and #44 in the US

In 2013, Kelly Clarkson released a Christmas album and this was the big lead single... and it fared okay for what it was, peaking at #30 after initial release. Every couple years, we add an extra one or two songs to the Christmas canon – not necessarily new songs, but songs that hadn’t reached the UK Top 40 as part of its annual festive explosion until the year they re-entered at their highest yet, and I am glad to have this one adopted as part of the canon because, well, there’s a reason this is being compared to Mariah Carey’s all-time classic. This is a great song and really has all the elements of your favourite Christmas classics and carols: it’s got distorted Phil Spector drums, bombastic horn lines and a fantastic pop songstress, rivalling the likes of Darlene Love, carrying the whole thing like a sleigh ride. This is just pure joy in all the maximalist, commercialist merriment you can find out of holiday music. There are elements of doo-wop here, especially with the rhythm in the verses and her back-and-forth with the backing choir vocalists. It’s really nothing special and it plays everything about Christmas about as straight as possible, but it’s also got an epic sax solo and sweet, soaring strings, and is overall a great attempt at cementing Kelly Clarkson in pop history, as all Christmas songs are, really. Still disappointed “Christmas Lights” by Coldplay has yet to be added into the canon though.

NEW ARRIVALS

#11 – “Adore You” – Harry Styles

Produced by – Peaked at #7 in Australia and #24 in the US

I didn’t like Fine Line at all, it was boring and it was a nearly 50-minute slog, full of vague, half-hearted impressions that not even Harry seemed invested in, with gross, blocky production and songwriting that I honestly often found aimless and awkward... and I listen to Weezer, so that’s really something coming from me. This song, and consequentially, Styles’ fourth UK Top 40 hit, is one of the best songs on that album, although my complaints still definitely ring true. Despite a viral marketing campaign, this song really isn’t all that interesting, despite a rocking groove that it definitely brings to the table with an admittedly very nice bassline... except it’s not full enough to make the verses feel finished, instead filling in blank space with echos and an abrupt pre-chorus. Harry sounds a lot better here, if just for the fact that I find his voice kind of amusing, especially when he goes on those pitch-shifted falsetto runs in the chorus. The guitars are pretty chill and laidback, and overall, it’s a pretty nice soft-rock tune that’s actually pretty danceable, and I really love the keys in the post-chorus... speaking of that post-chorus and/or bridge, the guitar solo is awesome, and propelled by Styles’ backing vocals, it reaches a great climax, even if the kick drums end up clipping in the mix immediately afterwards. It’s pretty cool, but I have little other opinion on this otherwise. It reminds me somewhat of “Instant Crush” by Daft Punk, but far from as good.

Conclusion

...Well, Best and Worst of the Week go to Harry Styles by default. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank – it’s the big one next week.

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rayraymitrano · 7 years ago

Video

This is extremely safe for our corporate oligarchy. "According to the Pew Research Center, more American adults report getting their news from television than anywhere else, including social media. Sinclair, the owner of Rochester's WHAM 13, is the largest local TV operator in the US and owns 193 local stations in 89 markets. A proposed merger with Tribune Media would bring Sinclair's reach to 72 percent of US households and 39 of the top 50 media markets, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City." - @roccitynews, Dec. 2017 "Not only does the merger prime concerns that consumers will be exposed to less media variety, but it's particularly disconcerting because for years Sinclair has regularly forced its station affiliates to run conservatively biased news and commentaries within local newscasts." "When people tune into Fox News...they expect the content to be conservative. When people watch local network news, however they are not expecting a slant. So by having conservative content on a trusted local network, McPherson says, Sinclair is exposing a broader audience to a conservative viewpoint using the "sheen of respectability" of a familiar news anchor. But, he says, the news may not meet basic journalistic standards of fairness, objectivity, and accuracy." No media is objective folks! Especially corporately produced, conglomerately run, "local" news media. Also, this is a great example of the power in art concepts. Support your local artists and arts education funding! "Template news" is nothing new, but this video artist framed it in such a way to strike emotionally powerful and resonating chords. #ArtPower And if you were not fortunate to have had a media literacy class in your grade-schooling or college; please, seek one out or others who have and get some critical, group thinking/activity going on this matter. #MedliaLiteracyForAll #MediaMatters #Corporate #Oligarchy (at United States)

#corporate #artpower #mediamatters #oligarchy #medlialiteracyforall

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whatdidisay · 7 years ago

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I Rate That

Christmas Carols and Christmas songs are different. The Oxford dictionary defines a Christmas Carol as a traditional or religious song sang at Christmas time. You know the ones I’m sure, “Silent Night”, “Joy to the World”, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” etc. And those are great. But with time becomes moderninity mainstream pop and artistic license. Although I have been a grinch as of late, ridiculing the sick freaks who dare to put their trees up before December 1st and every year although it is expected, when I walk into Kmart in October and see the store adorned with Christmas trees, decorations and apparel, I will always gasp in horror.

But Scrooge-like mentality aside, I have come to the conclusion that I WILL love Christmas this year. I have my reasons, like anyone I guess but I dare launch into that rant for the umpteenth time.

Instead, this blog is going to focus on an aspect I have always loved about Christmas, the music. Point is, whilst I love the classic carols Sia’s Christmas album (which by the way is straight fire), inspired me to recall some excellent and not so, excellent attempts at originals and some covers of Christmas tunes.

1. From the upbeat jingle bell laced poppy goodness of “Candy Cane Lane”, “Sunshine” to the bluesy “Snowman” and Siaesque take on weird and wonderful people in “Ho Ho Ho”, “Everyday is Christmas” is a refreshing take on the exhausted attempt at a Christmas that every pop star seemingly has these days. Whilst as of late, I have had my qualms with the Aussie songstress, this for sure has become my most overplayed album in the car, in the gym and much to my colleague's chagrin, at work as well. My favorite jam from the album has to be. “Puppies are Forever” which upon a closer listen to the lyrics, outlines a message for all potential Christmas present pet - owners that puppies indeed are “Forever”, not just a Christmas gift. Dare I say the album was even reminiscent of her old days when “We are Born” was high at the top of my playlist.

Good work Sia.

2. Two days ago I made a shocking discovery. As a true Destiny’s Child fan, I thought I was aware of all of their major publications. Heck, I even know that the third one is called Michelle. Imagine my surprise when baking Christmas cookies with a friend and she put on the Destiny’s Child Christmas album. EXCUSE ME?! Published in 2001, “8 Days of Christmas” consists of nine traditional Christmas songs and three originals. The music filled the kitchen and it dawned on me that this is exactly what would happen if R&B Fridays and Christmas Day had a lovechild. A beautiful, beautiful love child.

3. Ahhh Buble. The staple on everyone’s Christmas song diet. Buble Christmas is the warm feelings of a childlike wonder that arise the minute he croons “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’ through shopping center speakers. It's the perfect gift for husbands, wives, co-workers, and children. Fifteen songs that fit the bill of a classic Christmas album however in comparison to the unique spins the artists in the previous albums mentioned, I cannot help but feel that these Christmas classics are devoid of character and individuality. Maybe that's okay. After all, we all need that perfect vanilla album to mellow out the Christmas tree-decorating scene. It will always be a classic.

4. “A She & Him Christmas”. Late to the party, but did you know Zooey Deschanel is in a band? A great band. We all knew about her Christmas song abilities from the classic movie Elf. So, imagine my delight when I discovered she makes up 50% of a musical duo and they have the sweetest little Christmas album. The faraway guitar reminded me of a beach boys album and Miss Deschanel's swoopy and dainty voice compliments it perfectly. Highlights of the duo’s album include “Blue Christmas”, “Have Yourself a Merry Christmas” and “Silver Bells” which is an actually tolerable song played on ukelele.

5. Christmas by Mariah Carey. Perhaps the most overrated Christmas album of all time. Bet you can’t name any other song than “All I want for Christmas is You” on the album. And let’s be honest, it either reminds you of the epically talented yet unattainable 11-year-old girl in love actually or someone playing it continuously until you want to stick a candy cane in each eye.

Honourable Track Mentions

1. “Merry Christmas (The War is Over)” - John Lennon

2. “Santa Baby” - Kylie Minogue

3. “Last Christmas” - WHAM

4. “Do They Know it’s Christmas “- Band Aid

5. “White Christmas” - Bing Crosby

6. “Please Come Home for Christmas” - The Eagles

7. “Wonderful Christmas Time” - Paul McCartney

On that note, time to research pet Santa photos whilst listening to Christmas bangers, nibbling a Christmas cookie and writing cards with my spare hand. Happy Christmas and Merry New Year.

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itsworn · 7 years ago

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Artist Kenny Youngblood, the Michelangelo of Motorsports

Kenny Youngblood is a complicated guy. He’s most recognizable as the premiere motorsports artist. You’ve seen his work even if you’re not into art, because he’s done race-car graphics for more than 50 years, including a lot of early Funny Cars needing an artist’s touch to mimic headlights and grilles on flopper bodies. His art, posters, and prints have been around for decades, and you probably have some framed in your house. He also drove A/Fuel dragsters in the 1960s. He has managed numerous racing teams, including a couple of Top Fuel efforts. He started a Christian counseling ministry called Always An Answer. He says, “I love the Lord, but you’d have to knock me out and drag me to get me into a church.” See what we mean? He’s represented major companies with his hand-drawn, personalized, giveaway drawings at many races and events. He most recently put his online Fuel Coupe Magazine on hiatus, a project he churned out monthly for two years. And he’s an author. He’s finishing up his first book on relationships and has more on his list. He’s got lots of stories from the golden age of drag racing, too, so we’ve included a few along with how he ended up being the Michelangelo of Motorsports.

HRM] Let’s start by asking about your first dragster in the mid-1960s, an A/Gas dragster…

KY] A/Fuel! A/Fuel, please! When I started building my first dragster, I thought it would take a while, so I thought I’d start with A/Gas. It took a year or so to finish, so in my mind I’m going faster and faster, so by the time I finished it had to be with nitro.

HRM] Were you any good?

KY] I believe I was great at driving, but not so good as a mechanic. Deep down I knew it wasn’t what I was supposed to be doing. I felt like the kid with his hand in the cookie jar, but there was nobody else to drive the thing and it was like being in the Army—I did it, but I wouldn’t do it again.

HRM] But you love drag racing—isn’t driving the ultimate?

KY] Yeah, but that’s not what the good Lord wanted me to do. I got out of it in 1969. But I had another opportunity; with my partner from the 1960s, we built a beautiful nostalgia dragster in 2002. I was fitted for the car and it was tempting, but all along I knew I shouldn’t do this and Tom Poindexter drove instead. There’s nothing like stepping on that tire, putting my legs down into a slingshot, and sliding down into that seat with my legs over the rear end—it’s a real sensual experience.

HRM] That sounds like you feel you should have stuck with it?

KY] To me, there’s three kinds of drivers: there’s guys like me having fun and doing a good job. I really didn’t care who won or lost, and if they beat me it didn’t bother me; then there’s guys that want to win but don’t have the talent or the money; and then there’s what I call killer-instinct drivers, the Parnelli Jones, Shirley Muldowney, Don Garlits of this world that have to win. Second Place means nothing. They have a need for speed and an intense desire to beat the other guy, and that certainly wasn’t me.

HRM] What was your first dragster like—maybe a little crude?

KY] I found a used, sturdy Pete Ogden chassis with an Eddie Potter aluminum-tailpiece body, 150-inch. It didn’t have a motor plate, it just had a piece of body aluminum, which I thought was unusual at the time, but I left it that way. I’d go to Blair’s Speed Shop and buy parts and pieces. My technical knowledge came from advertising and articles I read in HOT ROD. If a product had a name I recognized, I’d buy it, but my enthusiasm far exceeded my knowledge. Unbeknownst to me, I was buying either the wrong parts or junk parts for the engine I was putting together.

HRM] Were you and the car any good?

KY] With the help of my partner, Fred Smith, we got the car running pretty good. One day we go to Irwindale and Fred had her tuned even better, and I knew we were going to go 180 mph. But not only did I not have a motor plate and had junk parts in my motor, back then fire boots weren’t mandatory—you had to have aluminized fire suits like a cooking bag, but I had on street shoes. I got to half-track pulling hard and I’m thinking about 180 mph and—wham!—the rods come out of the block, cut the pan in half, and I’m engulfed in flames. When it blew up, it was like, “What do I do now?” I waited until I got to the finish line and hit the parachute and it burned off. Then I hit the brakes and they’re hot Olds’ drum brakes and they didn’t work. Fortunately, I wasn’t going that fast. When you’re in a fire, it burns and stings like hell at first and then goes away because it burns the nerves. So with no motor plate, the fire is coming right at me like a chimney blowing up my pants leg. I get the thing stopped and skin is hanging from my sleeves and hands. The safety guy runs up and tries to unzip my fire suit and the zipper is hot and burns his fingers. Anyway, my ankles are cooked with third-degree burns. Steve Gibbs was the track manager at Irwindale and he came over to see me in the hospital and visited a couple of other times the week I was there. Back then, unlike today, your pit pass was your insurance policy, and it paid for any medical bills you incurred. About six months later, I’m healed up, but God works in miraculous ways because I got drafted to go to Vietnam in 1967. I had scars on various parts of my body, but the bad ones were right around both ankles, and they told me I couldn’t wear boots, so they wouldn’t take me. I believe the good Lord made that happen to keep me from going to Vietnam. If I had a motor plate, boots, or good parts, nothing would have happened—all three of those things had to be in place. But we weren’t done.

HRM] You didn’t stop after that?

KY] No. I think I hold the record for the longest start-to-finish run without crashing with no steering. While I was in the hospital, I designed another car. I couldn’t afford a Woody Gilmore car because that was top of the line, but a friend had a Woody chassis. I measured every tube and angle and did a blueprint drawing. I had Fred Crowe’s fabricator build the car from my drawings. It handled like a dream and we started racing again, although this time I got the best fire suit and boots, and if anything went wrong on a run, I’d shut it off faster than anybody because I didn’t want to have problems again. My inexperience almost got me again, but I dodged another bullet. This time I bought all the nice stuff, but I’m a bit of a fabricator myself. I needed a steering arm to go on top of the spindle to connect the draglink, so I made one out of 1/4-inch T6 aluminum to save some weight. But because the axle is laid back so far, if you turn hard left or right it slowly twisted the little steering arm I made. I didn’t know until I made the turn around to stage at Irwindale—the arm cracked and fell off. The draglink was laying on the tie rod. I dumped the clutch and, man, it took off, but started wandering around. I’m correcting and correcting and it’s not responding. I get to half-track and it starts taking a move to the guardrail. I’m correcting to the right and nothing is happening, so it was either get out of it or hit the fence. I lifted and it corrected back to the right, because we had the torsion bar tweaked to the right to compensate for the engine torque. Letting go of the steering wheel would slowly make it turn to the right by itself. I think I’m correcting it, so I hit the hammer again and go through the lights at more than 180 mph. I’m wandering through the lights going side to side wondering what is wrong. I hit the parachute, kill the motor, yank the steering to the right, and it just spins in my gloves. I got out of the car and my partner comes down and yells at me, “Why did you lift, you’re always lifting.” I pointed at the tie rod sitting on the ground and said, “Because of that!” He looks at it and says, “Well, Prudhomme wouldn’t have lifted.”

HRM] That was finally it for your racing career?

KY] Well, those incidents and a few others led to me thinking Fred wasn’t a good tuner and he thinking I wasn’t a good driver, so we split up. In the meantime, my buddy, Greg Messenger, had a B/Fuel Desoto dragster that belonged to Bob Brooks and he asked me to do the lettering after Dick Olson painted it. I painted a little hippie on the cowl because it was the late-1960s and dope smoking was cool. When he took it back to Dick for the clearcoat, Dick told me he was tired of waiting in line at Tom Kelly’s for lettering; at the time, Kelly was the man—still is, in my opinion. He asked me to do lettering there. That started everything for me. They did fiberglass repair and regular repairs, but did race cars, too. They built the “Beach City Corvette” and other cars right there.

HRM] Had you done lettering on the side before?

KY] I hadn’t taken any sign-painting classes, so I’m learning the hard way, watching guys like Jack Burr at Blair’s and Steve Fineberg, but things went well. One day there’s a call and the guy says, “Hey, it’s ‘Jungle.’” So it’s Jungle Jim and he wants me to letter his car, but I had to do it at his shop. In those days, lots of racers match-raced and then came out to the West Coast for the winter and worked on their cars over by Disneyland. They were building Liberman’s car at Jack “Bear” Green’s shop, and those two were both shaky characters. At Bear’s shop is Jungle’s old, beat-up Nova body and next to it the new one. He tells me he wants it done exactly like the old one with the big Jungle Jim in gold leaf. Tim Beebe and Tom McEwen show up—their shop was right across the street, they called it the “cave.” That day a bunch of drag racers were playing cards at the cave. They’d got paid in cash for match racing and they had wads of cash. So Jungle started playing cards and every 20 minutes or so he’d check in to see how I was doing. I got done and it came out beautiful—Jungle walks in and says, “You’re going to have to take that off.” I ask, “How come?” He says, “I told you I wanted it to be just like the other car.” I said, “It is.” He says, “No, it’s a quarter-inch too low.” On the side of the body, there was a break line in the door and the bottom of the “J” on the “Jim” on the old car was right to that break. Sure enough, on mine it was a quarter-inch below that line. Technically, he was right, so I say, “OK, you’re right, I’ll take it off.” I get out the paint thinner and start taking it off and he whips out this giant wad of cash and says, “Here’s for your gold leaf that you’ll need” and hands me more than I was going to charge for the whole job. I tell him I’ll get more gold leaf and come back Monday and redo it. So Monday I go back to the shop and walk into the office. He’s leaning back in a chair with his hands against his head and sees me and just about falls backward. I say, “Hey, Jungle,” and he says, “I didn’t think you’d come back.” I don’t know whether he was testing me or what, but if he was I must have passed because he became my new best friend. He’d call me all of the time and in the middle of the night.

HRM] You did a lot of lettering and airbrush work at different shops, then what?

KY] About 1970 Don Kirby, another painter I did work for, wanted me to meet Bob Casner. Bob was a marketing genius and had a great idea. He wanted to put a creative group together under one roof to service motorsports. A racer could get a proposal, photography, press kit, rendering, all of that. He rented a place in Long Beach and I was his artist. It was called Racing Graphis—Bob was German and graphics in German is “graphis.” Everybody always corrected us telling us graphics was spelled wrong. Bob knew everybody, Mickey Thompson, Parnelli, all of the big racers. He was my mentor and taught me how to collect on bad checks and important things like that. I had two jobs for a long time; I’d get up early and go to Racing Graphis, then go to Kirby’s race shop and letter cars in the evenings. In the morning, I’d do the same thing. I knew at some point I’d have to make a choice, and as much as I liked painting cars—and I still love the smell of a paint shop in the morning—my artistic talents would be better spent on the drawing board, so I told Don and soon he brought Nat Quick in to take over for me. I moved into my own studio in Santa Ana and there have never been enough hours in the day to do what I like doing. I guess I was the first fulltime artist doing art and graphics for motorsports.

HRM] When did you start doing the limited prints and posters?

KY] In 1978 I started doing the paintings. I had done some paintings in the 1960s and never had a problem selling them. I thought there was this popularity of motorsports and drag racing that if someone had a choice of what they could hang on their wall it would be a race car instead of a flowerpot or landscape. I started making prints of some of the paintings of cars I lettered. I had done the art-gallery thing and thought it sucked, so I started a mail-order deal selling direct to the customer. It was great and the more time I gave to it the better it did. Finally, when it started to trend off a bit and the economy changed, I sold the print inventory I had in the late-1980s and moved to Vegas.

HRM] That’s when you started the personalized art for corporations?

KY] I came up with the idea to get corporate sponsors to use my art as giveaways. John Ewald was working for Firestone at the time, and they were doing 18 to 20 shows a year. I showed him my idea for doing four or five prints with Firestone on the tires, and then go to shows with markers, personalize it for each person, and give it to them. I started doing that and people lined up out the door waiting to get my drawings. Everyone liked that I was giving somebody something personal. I call it the “ultimate marketing tool” because people take them home and frame them with the client’s logo on them. It appeals to all ages, and even though people don’t know me, they watch me do it for them and it’s personal. So far I’ve worked for three of the top companies in America: Toyota, Firestone/Bridgestone, and PPG Paint. I still do paintings for affluent clients, what I call “Monuments on Canvas” (MonumentsOnCanvas.com). They’re expensive, and it’s tough finding customers for expensive stuff—you’ve got to find the guy that can afford it, but also likes art, and they’re becoming few and far between.

HRM] And you have a counseling ministry?

KY] Yes, I’m a drag-racing Jesus freak. It’s called Always An Answer (AlwaysAnAnswer.org). I’ve been counseling for 40 years. That’s the one thing on my bucket list, to get the good information out there. In this computer age, you can reach the world, so I want to take advantage of that.

HRM] You’ve been involved in drag racing for decades, so what would you do to make drag racing better?

HRM] It’s a simple answer and it amazes me that this is the last thing they’ll do, but the first rule of business is the law of supply and demand. When you give people what they want, the business thrives. It’s the same thing for racing: Give people what they want. Unfortunately, it seems like the last person racing organizations think about is the person who paid the money to sit his butt in the stands, so that’s the general problem. This is why we’re seeing the tremendous resurgence of nostalgia drag racing, because it’s what people liked in the beginning that is lost—Cacklefest, push starts, cars that look like real cars, Fuel Altereds, Gassers. It’s giving people more of what they want. When you look at drag racing now, they have taken away so much of the things that made it so great. A few months ago, we did an interview with Don Prudhomme in Fuel Coupe magazine, and I asked him what he thought about modern-day nostalgia Funny Cars. He said, “Yeah, it’s good, but they need to be putting on more of a show like we used to do, like doing dry hops.” Back in the day, there were no rules about how many burnouts you could do, so Funny Cars came up and did a long, smoky burnout and they backed up and did a dry hop. You had two cars doing a dance, and that was part of the entertainment. Then it went away. Did it go away because NHRA got letters from fans complaining? No, they did it because they wanted to get home sooner. Same with Fuel Altereds. Were fans sick of them? No, they took them away because they said they were unsafe. Well, everything out there is unsafe.

HRM] Can it go back?

KY] Sure! Will it? Doubtful.

HRM] Why did you stop doing your online magazine, Fuel Coupe?

KY] Fuel Coupe was a labor of love. I did it for two years and loved it. It was paying for itself and making some money, but the reason I stopped was because it took a week out of my month to put together, and also because I hate deadlines. I put myself under a deadline every month, and that pressure for me is just no fun, so I did it for two years and that’s that.

HRM] Is there a certain team or driver you like today?

KY] I’m a huge Don Schumacher fan, and I know he’s hard to love. I tell people I’m his only fan, but I love and respect the guy because he’s a great white shark, he’s a total business man. He wants to win and dominate. When I was crew chief for Gillman, I realized there was a higher goal than winning. If you go to a race, everybody out there wants to win. But there’s a higher goal, and that’s total domination. That means not only winning today but winning every race forever—you win everything. That’s total domination. You can say, “Well, that’s not going to happen,” which is true, but I believe if your goal is total domination you’re going to win more than the guy whose goal is just to win. The first person I heard use that total domination phrase was Austin Coil. I believe when the dust settles, if he lives long enough, Don Schumacher will be the last man standing. Nobody wants it more than John Force, but Force is too emotional, whereas Schumacher is strictly a business machine. Force is an amazing guy and I have great respect for him and nobody wants it more than he does, but my money is on Schumacher.

HRM] Finally, what words of encouragement do you have for young artists interested in drawing or painting cars?

KY] First thing I tell budding artists is there will always be a place for hand-done, traditional artwork, and if that’s what you want to do, keep doing that. Today almost 100 percent of everything is digital, so you’ve got to know Photoshop and other digital software because that’s how things are done today. For a guy that has a good eye, even if he’s not great at art, the computer becomes your tool. Just because you can’t draw doesn’t mean you don’t have an eye for it—a lot of people that can’t draw a straight line know good art. That’s why I always listen if somebody has a critique about something I’ve done because they might see something I missed. I also tell them the creative process is fixing what’s wrong. When you start a painting, it’s completely blank, so you start drawing things onto it. I believe the good Lord tells us to darken this or highlight that, so we start fixing what’s wrong, and when we can’t see anything else wrong, we say it’s done. So the bottom line is the artist must always look at his work critically because if they don’t they won’t see what’s wrong and can’t get better. I look at my work critically and know the parts I don’t like. Practice makes perfect and every time you do a drawing it’s an aggregate of everything you’ve learned. People tell me they want to get into doing art and I’ll ask to see something they’ve done, and they’ll say, “Oh, I don’t want to show you, it’s not very good.” I’ll look at it and sometimes it is good, and they have talent and they’ve been looking at their work critically, which they should. You need to keep things in perspective—you’re always going to find people that can do things better than you, but there’s more that can’t do it as well as you, so you need to remember that.

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celtfather · 8 years ago

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2-Hours of St. Patrick's Day Music #300

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast! We are happy to bring some great Celtic Music from Garry O Meara, String Theory, Emish, Prydein, Plastic Paddy, Patrick D'Arcy, Kilrush, Andrew McKee, Beltaine, Finbar Furey, Black 47, Drone, Wild Colonial Bhoys, Thomas Patrick Kenny, Seamus Kennedy, The Muckers, Mitchell and Vincent, Abby Green, The Led Farmers, Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfetones, The Brayzen Heads, Spencer Murray & Pipeslinger, Brobdingnagian Bards, The Elders, NUA, Jim Cope, Battlelegs, Black Market Haggis, Sisters of Murphy, In For A Penny. Listen. Like. Share. Then download 34 Celtic MP3s for Free! http://celticmusicpodcast.com/300/

Subscribe to the Celtic Music Magazine. This is our free newsletter and your guide to the latest Celtic music and podcast news. Remember to support the artists who support this podcast: buy their CDs, download their music on iTunes, see their shows, and drop them an email to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast.

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes today!

Today's show is brought to you by Celtic Invasion Vacations

Every year, I take Celtic music fans on an adventure of a lifetime. This is not your typical wham-bam-thank you m'aam tour. We travel in small groups. We explore the Celtic history of different regions. We don't need to see everything, because this is a vacation. Instead, our invasion brings out the relaxation and magic of our adventure. In 2018, you can join me on a Celtic Invasion of the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Sign up to the mailing list at celticinvasion.com.

Notes:

* Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. My name is Marc Gunn. I am a musician and podcaster. You can share this show and find more episodes at celticmusicpodcast.com. And you can support this show on Patreon.

We have a big feature on iTunes this week. So if you're new, I want to welcome to the incredible world of Celtic music. We celebrate St Patrick's Day all year long.

Every week, you get an action-packed, hour-long show full of Celtic music. Many of these bands are small, independent artists whoh don't have the financial support of a giant record label. They can't afford a publicist. So I bring you their music for free... with the hope that you might find a new favorite band and buy their music.

If you enjoy what you hear. Please support the artists. You can also support this pdocast by sharing it with your friends.

* CELTIC PODCAST NEWS:

As always, I want to send out a HUGE thanks to the patrons of the podcast. Your generous pledge of as little as $1 per episode pays for the production of this podcast as well as my time in producing the show. You will enjoy a personal podcast feed where you can listen to the show before regular subscribers, occasional extended editions of the show, and my deepest thanks. When we hit a milestone, you get a 2-hour special.

Thanks to our newest patrons: John OConnor, Keriann Noble, Mary Botkin, Samuel G, Donald McLeod, and a extra special thanks to our newest Celtic Superstar, Nancie. Thank you all for your generosity! Become a patron today!

If you haven't downloaded your Free Irish & Celtic Music Podcast app, go to iTunes or Amazon and do so today.

Listen to past St Patrick's Day episodes on our website. You can also find other St. Patrick's Day shows to check out, including St Patrick's Day Podcast and Pub Songs Podcast. I posted a 2-hour St Pats Special there last week.

Best Irish Drinking Songs Lyrics

Finally, I hope you listened to show #298: 17 for St Patrick's Day. Because you can download all 17 of those songs and tunes right now. Click here to read the article and download the MP3s.

* I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK:

What are you doing today while listening to the podcast? You can send a written comment along with a picture of what you're doing while listening. Email a voicemail message to [email protected]

Dan Cunningham emailed me on Facebook: "Thank you Marc for your podcast and all you do for the Celtic community. I've been an advid fan for years We receive your podcast on TuneIn and it's tradition that my wife and I listen to the new podcast every Saturday morning during our breakfast. My wife Cindy and I live in the North land of Minnesota and we both look forward to the weekends and the Irish and Celtic music podcast. God bless."

Google changed their voicemail service. I can longer download the audio files. Fortunately, their voice-to-text feature is pretty good.

I got a voicemail from Heidi Jane: "Hey Mark, I just wanted to say thank you very much for including me. It's really an honor, and I'm just grateful. It's a good time of year to remind me to tell people about your podcast. Thank you so much and happy Saint Patrick's day. I'm really glad that you are doing this for everybody and for the music. It's very noble and wonderful. Take care."

Jason Roberts sent: "Hey mark, I've been a listener since pretty much the beginning and I just want to send a huge amount of congratulations out to you for your 300 episodes. I record audio and produce learning video for my job in the computer world, so I truly understand the huge effort that goes into planning and recording your audio and producing these podcast sessions. I also dabble with playing guitar and my favorite music to play is Irish trad music. You're an inspiration along with all the artist that you help, and I wish you the best on your next 300 episodes. Hey, man when you finish this next podcast. Take a few minutes and enjoy a pint or three of the black stuff."

This Week in Celtic Music

0:07 "The Jolly Beggarman/Whiskey Before Breakfast" by Garry O Meara from Pickin' Time

5:10 "Dowd's #9/ Bag of Spuds/ The Tamlin" by String Theory by String Theory

8:52 "P Stands for Paddy" by Emish from Sinners Make the Best Saints

14:28 "Backdraft" by Prydein from Loud Pipes (Save Lives)

18:16 "Muirshin Durkin" by Plastic Paddy from Lucky Enough

20:47 "Song & Hop Jig: The Whistling Thief / The Rocky Road To Dublin" by Patrick D'Arcy from Wallop the Spot

25:11 "Charlie on the MTA" by Kilrush from The Basement Sessions

29:05 "Sailor's Wife Set" by Andrew McKee from The Irish Bard

31:40 "Two Hours After St. Parick's Day" by Beltaine from Jump at Samhain's Fire

35:08 "Up By Christchurch And Down By St. Patrick's And Home" by Finbar Furey from Colours

39:25 "St Patrick's Day" by Black 47 from Last Call

43:24 NEW PATRONS OF THE PODCAST

44:07 "Branle Double" by Drone from Drone v Awen

46:29 "Merry Ploughboy" by Wild Colonial Bhoys from Century

50:13 "Raglan Road" by Thomas Patrick Kenny from The Music of Turlough O'carolan and Other Irish Treasures

53:30 "The Irish Pub Song" by Seamus Kennedy from Tricky Tongue Twisters

56:10 "Old Dun Cow" by The Muckers from The Muckers

1:00:09 CELTIC PODCAST NEWS

1:01:03 "Morgan Rattler - Lads of Alnwick" by Mitchell and Vincent from Circling the Square

1:07:38 "She Moved Through the Fair" by Abby Green from Why Should I?

1:11:05 "The White Set" by The Led Farmers from Katie

1:14:42 "Song of the Celts" by Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfetones from Let Ye All Be Irish Tonight

1:18:16 "Whiskey in the Jar" by The Brayzen Heads from Floored

1:21:52 "Clawhammer Reels" by Spencer Murray & Pipeslinger from Sound & Fury

1:24:37 "Finnegan's Wake" by Brobdingnagian Bards from The Holy Grail of Irish Drinking Songs

1:28:01 CELTIC FEEDBACK

1:31:10 "The Miners" by The Elders from Story Road

1:35:28 "YK INN" by NUA from FLOW

1:40:17 "Irish Rover" by Jim Cope from King of Balleyhooley

1:43:26 "Wild Rover" by Battlelegs from Lost My Shoes

1:47:58 "Whistling Postman Set" by Black Market Haggis from Better Than It Sounds

1:51:59 "Green Over Red" by Sisters of Murphy from Working Stiffs Unite

1:58:50 "Parting Glass" by In For A Penny from Every Day Should Be St Patrick's Day

VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20. It's easier than ever to do. Just list the show number, and the name of one or two bands. That's it. You can vote once for each episode help me create next year's Best Celtic music of 2016 episode.

The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather. To subscribe, go to iTunes or to our website where you can become a Patron of the Podcast for as little as $1 per episode. Promote Celtic culture through music at celticmusicpodcast.com.

Check out this episode!

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celtfather · 8 years ago

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St. Patrick's Day Celtic Top 20 #299

This extra-long St. Patrick's Day special highlights the Best Celtic Music of 2016 as voted on by you in the Celtic Top 20 with music from The Gothard Sisters, Heidi-Jane Schwabe, Ockham's Razor, Black Market Haggis, Stanley & Grimm, Sarah Marie Mullen, Skeleton McKee, Burning Bridget Cleary, Innisfall, Reel Treble, Liz Schettner, Faerydae, Corktown Popes, Rachel Hair Trio, Young Dubliners, Niteworks, Spirited Lads, Michael DeAngelis, Syr, Steel City Rovers. Listen. Like. SHARE. Then download 34 Celtic MP3s for Free! celticmusicpodcast.com/299/

Subscribe to the Celtic Music Magazine. This is our free newsletter and your guide to the latest Celtic music and podcast news. Remember to support the artists who support this podcast: buy their CDs, download their MP3s, see their shows, and drop them an email to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast.

Today's show is brought to you by Celtic Invasion Vacations

Notes:

If you're new to this show on iTunes or elsewhere, I welcome you. My goal is to bring together small indie Celtic bands with Celtic music fans. So each week, I share an hour-long episode packed full of amazing indie Irish and Celtic music. Most of the bands, you have probably never heard of. Yes, there some that are turning heads in the Celtic music scene. But most are small. They don't have a record label. They can't afford a publicist. But the music is just as good. They deserve to be heard.

So if this show moves you, please do us all a BIG favor and SHARE IT on social media. Or tell a friend. Help spread the word.

Now with every episode I ask you to vote for your favorite bands in that episode. At the end of the year, I compile all of your favorites into this show--the Celtic Top 20. These are the Top 20 Celtic bands that you thought were the best in 2016.

When you're done listening, go cast your vote. Then listen to past episodes and to the same. You can do all of that on the website at celticmusicpodcast.com/vote/.

* CELTIC PODCAST NEWS:

We have a new YouTube Channel. To subscribe, follow this link.

If you haven't downloaded your Free Irish & Celtic Music Podcast app, go to iTunes or Amazon and do so today.

I have a free internet concert this Sunday, March 12th at 7:30pm CST. It's concert window. You can register to watch for more details. It's FREE!

I want to send out a big thanks to the patrons of the podcast. Your generous pledge of as little as $1 per episode pays for the production of this podcast as well as my time in producing the show. You will enjoy a personal podcast feed where you can listen to the show before regular subscribers, occasional extended editions of the show, and my deepest thanks. When we hit a milestone, you get a 2-hour special. Thanks to our newest patrons: Dieter Zimmerman, The QUASOR Podcast, Georg Macku, Sue Campbell, Jon Chamberlin. Thank you all for your generosity! Become a patron today!

Finally, I hope you listened to show #298: 17 for St Patrick's Day. Because you can download all 17 of those songs and tunes next Wednesday March 15th. Just subscribe to the Celtic Music Magazine to get notified about it.

* I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK:

Next episode will be released the St Patrick's Day is our 300th episode. So I want to ask you for your phone calls that I can include in that and other upcoming shows. Please call in.

What are you doing today while listening to the podcast? You can send a written comment along with a picture of what you're doing while listening. Call 678-CELT-POD to leave a voicemail message. That's 678-235-8763.

jdemonz reviewed the show on iTunes: "Great diverse selection of Celtic music. Very uplifting. I like listening to it in the mornings to start my day."

Gypsy Lee from Piatt, IL posted on Facebook: "So glad that I found this podcast! I often listen to it whilst drifting off to sleep. At the moment, I'm listening to it whilst cleaning my art studio. Thank you for all the lovelies, as it reminds me of my dear Granny, whose family came through the Appalachian Mountains from County Wicklow to settle in Illinois in the 1800's. Many blessings"

Anthony Becker posted a comment to SONIC IMPULSE and tagged us: "Heard your music on Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. Album purchased! Page liked! Hope to hear more of this amazing music in the future!"

He did the same with Ed Miller: "I heard Ed Miller on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast and had to immediately buy an album. Now I see this page with amazing photos of Scotland! Reminds me I need to get there someday soon."

Kersti Luik commented on Patreon: "Great show, as usual. Listened while cleaning up my place. I had time to actually listen to it, not just hear it, as when I do my school work. All the best greetings to you and our fellow invaders. So sorry I have been too busy with my studies and had no time to contact, but I'm thinking about you all :) Longing to see you one day!"

This Week in Celtic Music

0:37 "Hummingbird" by The Gothard Sisters from single

5:37 "Passing Train Juniper Jig" by Heidi-Jane Schwabe from Bonus Tracks

10:22 "Are You Alright, Liz" by Ockham's Razor from Job's Comforter

15:13 "Shandon Bells Set" by Black Market Haggis from EP

18:50 "Fiddler's Green" by Stanley & Grimm from Another Round

22:48 "Planxty Irwin" by Sarah Marie Mullen from We Brought the Summer With Us

27:44 "Strathmartine Mains (Love and Freedom)" by Skeleton McKee from Leave The World Laughing

30:02 CELTIC PODCAST NEWS

32:01 "Chloe's Passion" by Burning Bridget Cleary from These Are the Days

36:07 "I Know My Love" by Innisfall from Innisfall

39:30 "Spotted Dog/The Swallow's Tail/Donegal Lass" by Reel Treble

41:38 "Up High" by Liz Schettner from Up High (EP)

46:44 "The Fiery Warlocks" by Faerydae from Changeling

50:21 "Tonight It's Joy" by Corktown Popes from And Also With You

54:52 CELTIC FEEDBACK

57:20 "Angel" by Rachel Hair Trio from Tri

1:01:06 "Seeds of Sorrow" by Young Dubliners from Nine

1:04:08 "Obair Oidhche" by Niteworks from NW

1:09:06 "Bold O'Donahue" by Spirited Lads from Spirited Lads

1:11:40 "Lost in Cork" by Michael DeAngelis from Son of a Dunigan

1:16:52 "I Drove My Father to Drink" by Syr from Home

1:21:18 "Guinness For Two" by Steel City Rovers from Grand Misadventures

Check out this episode!

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