Friday Music

OK, so now that I’ve got the biggest parts of a major logjam off my desk, I’m going to try to do better with the whole “regular blogging” thing — and what better way to start than by returning to Friday Music?

To start off, an earworm from the new Heineken beer commercial — the one with the guy making the grand entrance to a fabulous party. The song, marvelous in its bizarre, Euro-tinged, over-the-top swankiness, is from a Danish pop group (who cameo as the house band at the end of the commercial). Warning: This will become one of your new favorite songs. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour – “Golden Age.” I definitely need to track down more from this group.

Stick with Things European for a moment — J’adore la “pop” Français. (I loves me some French pop music). Here is some *very* jazzy pop from one Isabelle Geffroy, who records under the nickname “Zaz.” Zaz- “Je Veux.”

Might as well use jazzy pop as a natural segue into actual jazz — some classic late-50s New York City hipster jazz from the legendary Cannonball Adderly: Cannonball Adderly – “One for Daddy-O.” Solid, man.

Moving back into the modern era, here’s an excellent remix of a track by neo-soul vocalist Adele, one of the many AmyWinehouse-alikes that came out of Britain in the past few years. Having heard the original track, I have to say that I really prefer this remix: Adele – “Rolling in the Deep (Villa Remix).”

Been listening to a bunch of 80s stuff recently — not the pop hits, but the stuff that I liked that never went as far. This track from 1989 for example, from Shona Laing. This is the album cut, which keeps in the minute-and-a-half orchestral intro, which isn’t for everybody — but I’m a purist. Shona Laing – “Soviet Snow.”

This was one of the last of Cyndi Lauper’s runs at the pop chart in the 80s, a tie-in single from the soundtrack to the psychic-comedy bomb Vibes, which starred her and Jeff Goldblum. Never saw the movie, but I loved the song. Cyndi Lauper- “Hole in My Heart (That Goes All The Way To China).”

This track was all over MTV in the early 80s — but never really got any airplay on the radio. I’ve always been a sucker for sci-fi themed music, especially when I was a young teen, so this one was right up my alley. I especially love the reference to the distant future of 2010! Planet P – “Why Me.”

David Bowie’s follow-up albums to his smash album “Let’s Dance” were not quite as big — and now Bowie himself disavows his 80s output, which is a shame because that’s the period that grabbed me as a fan, and introduced me to his earlier stuff. This was the lead single from the next album, 1984’s “Tonight” — which featured one of those long-form mini-movie “event” music videos, if I remember correctly. David Bowie – “Blue Jean.”

So there ya go. Back at it. I’ve been quite busy, but things are looking up — in fact here’s a little musical clue about one of the things that’s been keeping me so busy — a licensing arrangement that I’ll be announcing officially in the next couple of weeks…..