UNCONVENTIONAL WORLD RECORDS

Michael Jackson’s Thriller, that 14-minute music video was first shown on MTV at midnight, 2nd December 1983, when MTV was 2 years old. It’s often called the greatest music video of all time. I call it the moment when I abandoned my books for TV.

It cost USD500,000 – an amazing sum at that time.

But it was worth it: demand was such that MTV played it twice every hour.

It had an unsurpassed effect on popular culture, “a watershed moment for the music industry for its unprecedented merging of filmmaking and music.”

It is probably the best selling music video of all time, with 9 million units sold.

The girl in the video is former Playboy centerfold Ola Ray, 23 at the time of the video’s release.

Partial video:

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The first IBM PC was introduced in 1981, but perhaps custom mouse pads were not available yet then. Coincidentally, the world’s first 24-hour TV channel showing exclusively music videos, MTV: Music Television started broadcasting at 12.01am on 1st August 1981 with John Lack’s voice speaking “Ladies and Gentlemen, Rock and Roll.” At that time, only a select few thousand on cable in New Jersey could view it.

The very first video shown was appropriately “Video Killed The Radio Star” by British group The Buggles.

A video of the first 10 minutes of MTV’s broadcast:

The 2nd song? Pat Benatar’s “You Better Run.”

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The 50+ yr old Grammy Awards, which celebrates “outstanding achievements in the music industry” is arguably the world’s top music-related awards.

There are many categories, but it is generally accepted that the top Grammy Awards are:

- Album of the Year, awarded to the performer and producers of an album.
- Record of the Year, awarded to the performer and producers of a song.
- Song of the Year is awarded to the writer/writers of a song.

When it comes to numbers, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra leaves everybody trailing far behind. With 60 wins, Sir Georg Solti is a distant second at 31. Perhaps even these 2 names don’t ring a bell with many youngsters today. Among instantly recognisable names, U2 and Stevie Wonder are at 22. The late King of Pop, Michael Jackson is at 13, as is former Beatle Paul McCartney. Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen is at 20 and Eric “God, Slowhand” Clapton at 17.

But how about the most winners of the hallowed top 3 categories?

The following persons have won Album of the Year three times: Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, David Foster, Phil Ramone and Daniel Lanois.

Paul Simon has won Record of the Year 3 times.

U2 and Henry Mancini have won Song of the Year twice each.

Christopher Cross was the undisputed king of the Grammys in 1981, where he won, and remains the only person ever to do so, all 4 “General Field” awards that year: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.

Michael Jackson won a record 8 Grammys in 1984, the most in one sitting by an artiste. It was equalled by Santana in 2000. In fact, Santana’s album Supernatural won 9 Grammys that year.

Drummer Hal Blaine played on SIX consecutive records that won Record of the Year.

Brian McKnight must be the most frustrated person ever to be nominated for a Grammy Award: he was nominated 16 times without winning a single one. Oooh, that’s so sad; someone give him a Nascar jacket as consolation!

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The first time Jon Bon Jovi was professionally recorded singing was a song called “R2-D2, We Wish You A Merry Christmas” and included in an album called Christmas In The Stars, produced 1980. Yup, everybody was Stars Wars crazy that time.

He recorded it under his birth name, Jon Bongiovi.

If you are familiar with his brand of music, listening to this is hilarious.

He was 18 at that time, and the group Bon Jovi would only be formed 3 years later.

But how did he end up on the record? Well, apparently his cousin Tony Bongiovi was the co-producer of the album and was in charge of the recording studio at which the album was recorded. Conveniently, Mr Bongiovi was working there at the same time, as a floor sweeper, and probably reading weight loss supplement reviews in his spare time.

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Back in 2007, the irreverently funny Jeff Dunham and his Sidekick Achmed The Dead Terrorist did their own hilarious version of “Jingle Bells”, or rather “Jingle Bombs”.

I think after this he will find it rather difficult to get cheap insurance on his life!

The song starts about 2 minutes into the following video, but the wait is worth it, as there are wisecracks about “Silence Night” and the guitarist doing drugs backstage, amongst other things:

Lyrics:

Dashing through the sand
with a bomb strapped to my back.
I have a nasty plan
for Christmas in Iraq.
I got through checkpoint A,
but not through checkpoint B.
That’s when I got shot in the ass
by the US Military…

[it's not funny!]

Oooh, jingle bombs, jingle bombs
Mine blew up you see.
Where are all the virgins
that Bin Laden promised me?
Oooh, jingle bombs, jingle bombs
U.S. soldiers shot me dead.
The only thing that I have left
is this towel up on my head.

I used to be a man,
but every time I cough,
thanks to Uncle Sam,
my nuts keep falling off.
My bombing days are done.
I need to find some work.
Perhaps it would be much safer
as a convenient store night clerk.

Oooh, jingle bombs, jingle bombs
I think I got screwed.
Don’t laugh at me because I’m dead
or I’ll kill you…

I KILL YOU!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

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Apparently this guy has been videoing himself lighting his acts of breaking wind for 15 years, some probably taken from places like cheap hotels new orleans.

Then from his library of sounds and sights, he patched them together to create the world’s most unbelieveable version of “Jingle Bells.”

It starts with a drum beat, then on to the holiday spirit:

What do you think – not really something to amuse the family with on Christmas Day, or is it?

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Celtic Woman, an all-female musical ensemble from Ireland, performed sometime 2007 a stirring rendition of “O Come All Ye Faithful” in The Helix Theatre, Dublin, Ireland:

I don’t know about you, but I have not seen or heard a better performance of that classic carol, ever. Of course I needn’t add that the ladies look fabulous, either using the best under eye cream or not. And that was on youtube, it must be many times better live!

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Veteran US heavy metal group Twisted Sister, perhaps most famous for their 1984 hit “We’re Not Gonna Take It” released A Twisted Christmas in 2006, featuring classic Christmas songs performed in heavy metal style.

IMHO the best song off the album must be “Oh Come All Ye Faithful,” of which music videos were released. My favourite is the one which follows the same style as their music videos for “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock”: a married couple celebrates Christmas, then when the wife discovers that her husband’s gift to her is a CD of A Twisted Christmas, she loses her temper, then Dee Snider, the band’s lead singer, who looks like he’s due for a trip to an NJ Cosmetic dentist suddenly appears, followed by other members of the band, then the song starts:

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Rob Van Winkle (born 1967), more popularly known as Vanilla Ice, released “Ice Ice Baby” in 1990, which he wrote in 1983.

It is the very first hip hop single to top the US Hot 100 (Billboard) charts. It helped to introduce hip hop to a mainstream white audience.

It went platinum in the US and UK.

The album, To the Extreme reportedly sold 40 million copies worldwide.

But what happened next? His next album reportedly sold only 45,000 copies in the US and he attempted suicide by drug overdose in 1994.

Then MTV viewers voted the “Ice Ice Baby” music video the worst of all time in 1999.

He was then invited to a show in which he was supposed to good-naturedly smash the “master tape” with a baseball bat, but ended up not only destroying the tape but the soundstage too:

Truly a one hit wonder.

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As Good As New (1979)

A testament to the Andersson/Ulvaeus potency as songwriters: this was only released as a single in Mexico and Argentina, and overshadowed by other more famous songs in the same album, yet was STILL covered in Malaysia, Malay version no less:

Move On (1977)

With any other group, this is definitely single material – but with ABBA this was not even a B-Side:

Arrival (1976)

Incredibly beautiful instrumental, one of only 2 ABBA songs not to contain any lyrics:

Dum Dum Diddle (1976)

Has been my favourite ABBA number for the last 25 years. Released as a single only in Argentina:

Watch Out (1974)

The heaviest ABBA song ever?

Hey, Hey Helen (1975)

Apparently their first attempt at a harder sound. Still the hook is ever present:

Tropical Loveland (1975)

ABBA does reggae too!

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Megadeth, the American thrash metal band’s title track to its 1992 album “Countdown to Extinction” created history when it made the group win the “Doris Day Music Award”, by the Humane Society of the United States in 1993 because that song “spotlights species destruction and the horrific ’sport’ of canned hunts”.

Snarling Dave Mustaine and Doris Day? Perfect pairing eh?

Song:

Lyrics:

Endangered species, caged in fright
Shot in cold blood, no chance to fight
The stage is set, now pay the price
An ego boost, don’t think twice
Technology, the battle’s unfair
You pull the hammer without a care
Squeeze the trigger that makes you ‘Man’
Pseudo-safari, the hunt is canned
The hunt is canned

All are gone, all but one
No contest, nowhere to run
No more left, only one
This is it; this is the Countdown to Extinction

Tell the truth, you wouldn’t dare
The skin and trophy, oh so rare
Silence speaks louder than words
Ignore the guilt and take your turn
Liars’ anagram is “lairs”
Man you were never even there
Killed a few feet from the cages
Point blank, you’re so courageous
So courageous

All are gone, all but one
No contest, nowhere to run
No more left, only one
This is it; this is the Countdown to Extinction

“One hour from now
Another species of life form
Will disappear off the face of the planet
Forever, and the rate is accelerating”

All are gone, all but one
No contest, nowhere to run
No more left, only one
This is it; this is the Countdown to Extinction

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UPDATE 21 October 2009

According to Explor3:
- Jessa Belle (Bell) was featured on a Filipino TV show called Rated K in April 2009;
- She never completed school
- She married at 15
- She was abused by her husband
- She finally separated from him due to him having an affair
- She has children
- She picks up and sells bottles to earn a living
- She is practically an illiterate, hence her mispronounciation of the lyrics
- She admits to sometimes being hurt when laughed at everytime she sang

We hope she gets all the necessary assistance to turn her passion into something big; so big that her horde of fans would utilise a remote backup service to keep her videos safe and sound.

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Jessa Belle has all the makings of a singing star created by youtube. She obviously likes singing, and possesses a rather nice tone, unfortunately the list of positives abruptly ends there.

She apparently burst upon the scene earlier this year, but my first view of her was today: an attempt at classic rock ballad You’re All I Need by White Lion. It is the most unbelieveable cover of that song I have ever heard.

And it all starts getting even more surreal at 0:49 when a dog starts barking loudly. Luckily it did not howl. Later on it seems that she might be singing on a roadside as you can hear what sounds like a motorcycle passing by.

Still, even Mike Tramp might find this cute.

Apart from this song, she has also been caught on video attempting Madonna’s Crazy For You:

She also like to belt out a good rock number, like Zombie by The Cranberries:

Still, her favourite could very well be Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, as could be seen from the following passionate delivery:

Heck, even the uptempo number Low by Flo Rida, complete with dancers!!!

Wow, even Rihanna’s Umbrella:

Finally:

There must be many more on youtube…

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IMHO, it’s Jean Michel Jarre’s Magnetic Fields Part 5 (1981).

I was stunned when I first heard this more than 20 years ago – a very Malaysian/Indonesian sounding melody yet with a title like THAT.

Perhaps it’s a case of his business plan writers gone cuckoo, and I am not sure where he got the melody from – perhaps after going to Bali on holiday?

Listening to it again, I can almost imagine little magnetic men in little orbits doing an oriental jig…

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Idola Sabah (Sabah Idol) 2005 participant Ridah Annie Malanjang’s debut album was released in late 2008 I believe.

There was a rather popular song off that album entitled Lugai-Lugai, and while I thought it was okay, it did not have that special extra something that would make me listen to it over and over again.

It was a different matter a few weeks ago when I heard “Sopirosi-rosi”, another of her songs. Written by local songwriter Peter Peninting, I was instantly smitten by the melody the first time I heard it. Shame on me, it’s been in the charts for more than half a year before I noticed it!

I think it’s definitely one of the best, if not the very best Kadazan/Dusun song of 2008/2009.

Here’s a preview:

If you like what you hear, please purchase the original.

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During my trawlings to find the world’s most technically challenging to play on the piano, the following have been mentioned:

Maurice Ravel – Gaspard de la nuit: Trois poèmes pour piano d’après Aloysius Bertrand. It has 3 movements, Scarbo being famous for its incredible difficulty. It is widely considered one of the most difficult solo piano pieces ever written. Here is Vladimir Ashkenazy, the Russian conductor and virtuoso pianist playing Scarbo:

Sergei Prokofiev – Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op 16, which “remains one of the most technically formidable piano concertos today.” The following video shows Yundi Li playing it with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra:

Sergei Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30. It is famous for its “technical and musical demands on the performer” and is considered to be “one of the most difficult concertos in the standard piano repertoire.” The following video shows Russian classical pianist Olga Kern playing the last 10 minutes of it at the 11th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition:

Others include:
- Ligeti
- Rachmaninov – 1st sonata
- Boulez – 2nd sonata
- Barraque – sonata
- Bartok – 2nd concerto
- Feux Follet – 2nd version of the transcendental etudes
- Vladimir Horowitz – Carmen Variations
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji – Opus Clavicembalisticum
- Villa-Lobos – Rude Poem (Savage Poem)
- Liszt – B minor Sonata
- Liszt – Pagannini etudes
- Brahms – concertos
- Busoni – concerto
- Rachmaninoff – Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini
- Alkan – Concerto for Solo Piano
- Busoni – Opus 39 Concerto
- Galina Ustvolskaya – 6th sonata
- Shostakovich – 24 Preludes and Fugues
- compositions by Charles Ives
- Godowsky – Sonata in E minor
- Scriabin – Sonata No7
- Sorabji – opus clavicembalisticum
- La Campanella
- Peter Maxwell Davies – piano concerto
- Mily Balakirev – Islamey: An Oriental Fantasy

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Emily Bear of the USA was born 30th August 2001. She’s a true prodigy: when she was a year old she could already sing lullabies in perfect pitch. At 3, she was already composing her own music. At 6 she played at the White House for President George W Bush.

People are already calling her the next Mozart. She could very well be the world’s best young pianist right now.

Here she is performing Solfeggietto by CPE Bach, a piece which most of us would find very difficult to perform to perfection:

Wow, it’s seems she was already playing pianos while still in baby strollers!

Newsreport:

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Requirement: must be done in a “proper” stage performance, preferably in a live setting, and obviously recorded for evidence and posterity.

Someone uploaded a video of what seems like a Russian navy choir performing “Let It Be” in late 2008.

The lead singer: a middle-aged man “who looks like Newt Gingrich” and who seems to be in dire need to pop a few weight loss pills dressed in a sailor’s uniform.

The passionately-delivered, heavily accented version won praises from the Russian cybercommunity.

Some have even compared the singer, whose name is yet unknown, to Susan Boyle of Britain’s Got Talent fame.

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The most difficult karaoke-standard song i.e. definitely can find in any karaoke bar is, IMHO, Nazareth’s Love Hurts… at maximum key. Yep, it is more difficult than working out which home insurance quote to go for.

One of our favourite music games is trying to sing this at the highest key possible on the karaoke machine, with usually hilarious results, typically at the point the words say “but they’re not foolin’ me”:

I dare anybody to do that, record yourself, then upload the result to youtube.

As for a Malay song, I think it’s Awie’s Di Penjara Janji. The chorus hits very high notes. Starting 2:06, try to sing along without going for falsetto

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While the Beatles were at the height of their success in the West, back in the USSR they were a forbidden influence. But that did not stop them from being heard.

Presiding over his “John Lennon Temple of Peace and Love” in St Petersburg, Kolya Vasin is Russia’s ultimate Beatles fan.

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IMHO, it’s the incomparable “Masihkah Ada Esok” by Freedom (1987), a duet between Shuaib Shaari and the late Seha (Norsehah Abu Bakar) who died in 2006.

The 2nd best is this.

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I used to hear this sung everywhere when I was a kid.

Song title: Shanghai Beach (上海灘)
Melody and arrangement: Joseph Koo Ka-Fai (b. 1933)
Lyrics: James “Uncle Jim” Wong Jim (1940 – 2004)
Original vocalist: Frances Yip

Theme song for Hong Kong period drama The Bund which had its original run in 1980 for 25 episodes.

That’s almost 30 years ago: you might even need to use pressure washers on those VHS tapes to remove all that grime and dust before replaying them.

In 1996, for the film Shanghai Grand, this song was covered by Hong Kong Heavenly King Andy Lau.

Lyrics and translation.

Frances Yip’s studio version:

An Andy Lau version:

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Michael Jackson, 50 was slated to perform 50 sold out concerts to more than a million people at London’s O2 arena from 13th July 2009 to 6th March 2010, supposedy his final concerts before retirement. That would work out to be 2 or 3 concerts a week.

He rehearsed at Staples Center, Los Angeles.

The following video of a rehearsal was taken 23rd June 2009, 2 days before his death. It was first released by CNN on 2nd July 2009.

Song: They Don’t Care About Us.

If they do decide to release the full video, the sales figures are surely going to puncture the roof, even any outdoor furniture used in the rehearsals would be snapped up in no time!

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UPDATE 22nd November 2009

The rhinestone-encrusted glove was sold at an auction in New York for USD350,000, 9 times the expected price. It was bought by Hong Kong businessman Hoffman Ma at Hard Rock Cafe on 21st November 2009 on behalf of a hotel in Macau, China where it will be displayed.

Source

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It happened on 25th March 1983, during the Motown 25: Yesterday,
Today, Forever television special.

Michael Jackson, then 24 years old, performed “Billie Jean” and chose that event to introduce to the world his signature dance move – the moonwalk – which has since been copied innumerable times since.

That event was seen by 47 million viewers during its first broadcast.

Starts 1:23:

What an astonishing display of dancing at the highest level, it should inspire the overweight to consider looking for the best weight loss supplements in order to look good trying out those nifty moves.

This move has since become ubiquitous and even mandatory – fans would expect it to be performed by him at every single concert anywhere – and would unquestionably roar their approval, even if it was performed for only a few seconds.

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On 15th November 2006 at the World Music Awards in London, Michael Jackson gave his final public performance, when he performed We Are The World with a choir of 50 children to an audience of 5,000.

His performance came after collecting the Diamond Award for having sold more than 100 million albums, the past winner of which included Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart and Bon Jovi.

The awards ceremony was televised to 160 countries.

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Rest in peace, Michael Joseph Jackson, the King of Pop.

Reported sequence of events leading to his death on 25th June 2009:
(i) morning: collapsed at a house in Los Angeles.
(ii) 12:21pm: The Los Angeles Fire Department got a 911 call.
(iii) 12:30pm: The Los Angeles Fire Department arrived. Jackson was not breathing, no pulse detected. Someone was performing CPR, the paramedics took over while at the same time…
(iv) Rushed to UCLA Medical center. Jackson fell into a coma, died shortly after. There is a large crowd outside the hospital.
(v) 2:26pm: pronounced dead. Cause of death: cardiac arrest.
(vi) 26th June: autopsy scheduled.

He is survived by 3 children. The news of his death overshadowed the death of another cultural icon, one of the original Charlie’s Angels, Farrah Fawcett who died a few hours earlier, at 9.28am at another hospital in Santa Monica, also in the state of California.

Achievements:
(i) One of the biggest names in entertainment history, on par with the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
(ii) His album Thriller (1982) is the world’s top selling album of all time: 109 million copies sold worldwide.
(iii) His other albums are also among the world’s best sellers of all time: Off the Wall (1979): 20 million, Bad (1987): 30 million, Dangerous (1991): 32 million & HIStory (1995): 20 million.
(iv) one of the few artistes to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame TWICE.
(v) multiple world record holder, including:
- most number of Grammy Awards: 13
- most number of US Hot 100 number one singles as a male solo artiste: 13
(vi) more than 750 million albums sold worldwide.

It’s only natural that his death made headlines around the world, not least amongst bloggers.

Earlier this morning:

He was in not one but FOUR of the top 10 stories in Google Blog Search.

He was in not one but FIVE of the top 10 stories in Alexa.com, a web stats tracking company.

He was the top story in Technorati.

He was the top story in Digg, and already one of the most dugg of all time, at more than 14,000. Probably only Kevin Rose’s DVD key posting at almost 50,000 diggs got more.

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If you think music is a rather recent “invention”, then consider the fact that scientists in Germany’s Tubingen University have found, apparently last year, 35,000 year old flutes made of bone in the Hohle Fels cavern in the southwest of that country.

That corresponds to the time that modern humans began colonising Europe.

The most well-preserved of the flutes was assembled from 12 pieces of griffon vulture bone scattered in a small plot. Together, they made a 8.6 inch (22 cm). It has 5 finger holes and two “V”-shaped notches on one end: apparently the mouthpiece:

Fragments of 2 other flutes were also found, believed carved from mammoth tusks.

The total number of flutes found is 8: 4 made of mammoth ivory and the others from bird bones.

This would suggest that music-playing was part of daily life as far back as 40,000 years ago!

I wonder what melodies they played!

The scientists wrote why music is important:

Music could have contributed to the maintenance of larger social networks, and thereby perhaps have helped facilitate the demographic and territorial expansion of modern humans relative to a culturally more conservative and demographically more isolated Neanderthal populations.

Even more tantalazingly, Prof Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London said:

I think the occurrence of these flutes and animal and human figurines about 40,000 years ago implies that the traditions that produced them must go back even further in the evolutionary history of modern humans – perhaps even into Africa more than 50,000 years ago.

We might well be on the path to discover the music Adam and Eve sung to!

Source
The BBC, 25 June 2009

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As I mentioned earlier, Indonesia has many excellent songwriters. At the very top of the pile, the crème de la crème, are people like Rinto Harahap, Charles Hutagalung, and A Riyanto, whom I will be focusing here.

Rinto and Charles were members of the legendary band The Mercy’s (1972-1978).

However even these two combined could not produce an album whose musical standards surpassed everything (at least in Indonesia, or even Malaysia) that has been done before or since. Produced in 1973, it is still my favourite album in the Malay-Indonesian language.

As soundtrack to a film of the same name, all the songs there were written by A Riyanto (1943 – 1994).

Here’s a list of songs from that album and other songs he’s written:

Angin Malam- Broery Marantika

Cari Kawan Lain- The Favourite’s Group

Malam Minggu Yang Mesra- Broery Marantika (the video is Jamal Abdillah’s version)

Rinduku Tiada Yang Tahu – Endang S Taurina

Bunga Dan Kumbang – Endang S Taurina

Hati Lebur Jadi Debu – Jamal Mirdad (a cover version by Hetty Koes Endang is arguably the more popular version)

Kau Yang Sangat Kusayang – Rano Karno

Biarkan Bunga Berkembang – Broery Marantika

Kasih Sayang- The Favourite’s Group (video shows 6ixth Sense’s version)

Nasib Pengembara- Emillia Contessa

Mimpi Sedih- Emillia Contessa

Penghibur Hati- Emillia Contessa & Benjamin S.

Layu Sebelum Berkembang- Emillia Contessa

Setangkai Anggrek Bulan

Tetty Kadi – Senandung Rindu

Others

Kecoak Nungging – sung by Benjamin S (Akhir Sebuah Impian OST)
Bertamasya (instrumental number) (Akhir Sebuah Impian OST)
Endang S Taurina – Apa Yang Kucari
Endang S Taurina – Dia Yang Kucari
Endang S Taurina – Kejamnya Manusia

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After Rinto Harahap, a very very close second, almost a dead heat, comes the late Charles Hutagalung (1948-2001).

Both members of the legendary Indonesian band The Mercy’s, they shared songwriting duties, and in fact, I think he wrote the bulk of the band’s greatest and most popular songs, such as:

Tiada Lagi [quite possibly their signature song]

Usah kau harap lagi

Jauh Disayang

Semua Bisa Bilang

Dalam kerinduan

Untukmu

Biarku Sendiri

Baju Baru

Hidupku sunyi

Penebus Dosa [I just heard this for the first time just now, and was absolutely smitten]

Well, what do you think? Who is the better songwriter?

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IMHO, he’s the greatest of all of them, the M Nasir of the Indonesian songwriting scene. I would even say that among songwriters in the Malaysian-Indonesian language, Rinto Harahap is at the very top.

Of course he’s got stiff competition – Indonesia has many excellent songwriters, like Charles Hutagalung, Obbie Messakh, Bartje Van Houten, Ebiet G Ade, Arie Wibowo and more recently, Ahmad Dhani (Dewa19). And it has to be mentioned that A Riyanto composed all the songs in the monumental Achir Sebuah Impian soundtrack, not even Rinto could top that.

Rinto was a member of the legendary band The Mercy’s, of which the late Charles Hutagalung was also a member.

Here are some of his best compositions, you can bet you can find these in all karaoke bars in this region:

Betharia Sonatha – Kau Tercipta Untukku

The Mercy’s – Oh Adinda Sayang

Diana Nasution – Benci Tapi Rindu

I’is Sugianto – Nasibku Nasibmu

I’is Sugianto – Jangan Sakiti Hatinya

Christine Panjaitan – Tangan Tak Sampai

Diana Nasution – Aku Tak Tahan Lagi

Rita Butar Butar – Seandainya Aku Punya Sayap (probably the greatest ever Indonesian female vocalist)

Betharia Sonatha – Aku Ingin Cinta Yang Nyata

Hetty Koes Endang – Dingin
Christine Panjaitan – Jangan Simpan Tangismu
Betharia Sonatha (?) – Masih Adakah Rindu
The Mercy’s – Dendang Melayu
Nur’Afni Octavia – bila kau seorang diri
The Mercy’s – Ayah
The Mercy’s – Love
The Mercy’s – Tak sedetikpun

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Mohamad Nasir Mohamad, popularly known as M. Nasir, born 1957 is a singer, composer, producer, actor and film director, but I think it’s in songwriting, especially in the 1980s that he really excelled and surpassed even the legendary P Ramlee in that respect. He has won the most prestigious songwriting award in Malaysia a record 4 times (if you count Isabella (1989) which was credited to Search, but in fact he wrote).

IMHO, among his best ever compositions are:

Sandarkan Pada Kenangan (the best version of which was done by Jamal Abdillah & Siti Sarah):

Nur Nilam Sari (Awie & Search)

Sejati (Wings)

Dari Kekasih Kepada Kekasih (Hattan)

Srikandi Cintaku (Bloodshed)

Fantasia Bulan Madu (Search)

Isabella (Search)

Kejora (Search)

Gadisku (Search)

Others:

Hingga Akhir Nanti (Alleycats)
Sekuntum Mawar Merah (Alleycats)
Kerana Kau (Alleycats)
Mustika (M. Nasir)
Mentera Semerah Padi (M. Nasir)
Meniti Titian Usang (Search – co-written with A Rahim)
Pelesit Kota (Search)
Setelah Hujan (Search)
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Source
Muzikrock.com

Popularity: 1% [?]

This video is now coming to 4 years old, but it never gets old; rather its visitor counter keeps turning and new comments get added almost every day until today.

It was taken 30th August 2005. The wildly popular Malaysian reality show Akademi Fantasia season 3 had just ended, with Felix Agus placing second. Felix sang Lefthanded’s 1987 classic slow rock number “Tiada Lagi Kidungmu” in one of the episodes, reigniting interest in the song.

The gentleman in the video is a hardcore fan of Felix and happened to like singing that song too. So he did, and what a scorcher it is, where he single-handedly rewrote textbooks on the art of singing:

To compare, this is a video of Nash singing it, albeit at a lower key, apparently in 2007:

Why lower key? 20 years later he can’t reach the high notes anymore? This is him singing the original version:

And this is Felix singing it during Akademi Fantasia 3 [sometime 2005], with Nash himself in the audience:

I have done a simple comparison of the keys at which they sang with my guitar just now. Doing an E-style chord fingering and noting the position of my index finger on the fretboard, I found that the gentleman sang on the 5th fret (hence an A key on my guitar), while Nash 2007 sang on a a lower key: 4th fret. Felix sang on the 6th fret, but Nash’s original, sung 20 years ago, was on the 8th fret!

Anyway, well, what do you think? Has Nash (the vocalist of Lefthanded) been well and truly defeated?

P.S. The songwriter of Tiada Lagi Kidungmu is Arie Wibowo. Is this the same Arie Wibowo who wrote the total Indonesian classics Singkong Dan Keju and Madu Dan Racun?

P.P.S. My personal favourite version of Tiada Lagi Kidungmu is that duet between Nash and Shanty Rein.

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Being a rock music fan, where I would only ever listen to music with guitars in it, I still find it amazing that one of my favourite albums is Enya’s Watermark, and my favourite song there is arguably Cursum Perficio. It caught me the very first time I heard it, and never let go until today, 20 years later.

Listening to it immediately brought to my mind tremendous, Biblical-scale events, so much so that I’ve called it the perfect soundtrack for the Apocalypse, Armageddon or the Second Coming.

If ever there was a song playing when the heavens opened up for the Second Coming, this would be very appropriate, dont u think so?

Youtube user mehmetazk added even more esotericly:

I agree with you. Back in 1998, when I first heard it and listened to it very thoroughly it reminded me of the Crusades, but then the first half of the song reminded me of Napoleon’s sad defeat at Waterloo. The second part reminded me of Marshal Grouchy’s refusal to appear at Waterloo (to Napoleon’s rescue) with his 33,000 despite being urged by his generals: Gerard, Vandamme and Exelmans, to do so, when they all heard the terrible sound of gufire from the fields of Waterloo.

Wow!

… I can almost feel my undermount sink shaking …

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No, not the Huey Lewis & The News song. And not the Frankie Goes To Hollywood song, but rather the Jennifer Rush song, that famous power ballad co-written and originally recorded by Jennifer Rush in 1985.

That year, it spent 5 weeks at the top of the British charts, becoming the first single by a female soloist to sell one million copies in the UK. Even until today, it is still among the UK’s best-selling singles of all time.

It has been covered by several artists like Laura Branigan, Céline Dion and even Air Supply.

But what do you think about this cover by Nana Mouskouri, the First Lady of European Music, the Greek singer who’s sold more than 300 million records worldwide in more than 50 years?

This is apparently of her singing it live:

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By world-class I mean: the band must be well-known throughout the world, with at least one of their songs a regular staple at any karaoke bar the world over, and have sold at least 30 million albums worldwide.

The first Asian to be lead vocalist of a world-class rock band is of course the incomparable Farrokh Bulsara, better known as Freddie Mercury of Queen fame.

Please correct me if I’m wrong here, but only the second Asian ever to have achieved this feat is Arnel Pineda, the lead vocalist of Journey since December 2007. Never mind the fact that Journey’s heydays have been over for at least 20 years.

Now perhaps some members of the younger generation have never even heard of this group, but there’s no denying that Journey is a world-class rock band, with the following achievements:

(i) Escape, their 1981 album has been certified 9 times platinum, and I remember was described by Kerrang magazine (top UK rock magazine) as the greatest AOR album ever made.

(ii) Arguably their most famous song, “Faithfully” (released 1983) has enjoyed lasting popularity, and was a popular prom song in the US in the 1980s.

(iii) Neal Schon and Steve Perry are widely recognised as virtuosos in their respective fields, Schon on guitars and Perry on vocals.

One could not help wondering that had it not been for youtube, at 40 years of age Pineda would’ve resigned himself as a cover act.

A true success story made in youtube, the following is apparently the youtube video that was seen by the remaining members of Journey sometime in early 2007 and eventually clinched it for Pineda.

Amazing, I think that equalled Steve Perry’s original.

Pineda’s first ever live concert as lead singer of Journey was on 21st February 2008 in Chile – televised for an audience of 25 million.

This was how he sang “Faithfully” live then:

The following video is of Steve Perry in 1983 singing Faithfully live. Who’s better? You be the judge.

Apparently Steve Perry was voted the 2nd best rock vocalist of all time, behind the greatest Asian rock superstar ever, Freddie Mercury.

Perhaps comparing Arnel’s version with Steve’s studio version of the
song is too much, but I need to get it out: Steve is THE balladeer
here:

The following video is of Steve Perry singing Faithfully live in 1994, 11 years after the original:

Still awesome!

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Avant-garde American composer John Cage (1912-1992) is perhaps most famously known for 4′ 33″ which he “composed” in 1952.

In it, there are 3 movements of which are performed without a single note being played.

It has been described and explained as follows:

The content of 4′ 33″ is meant to be perceived as the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, rather than merely as 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence.

Here it is being “played”. Notice how the musicians turned their pages and how seriously they all took it.

It has became one of the most controversial compositions of the 20th century.

Here’s another guy “playing” it on piano:

A smart alec made a tutorial on how to play the piece:

In 2002, it was in the spotlight: a bizarre copyright dispute.

Mike Batt placed a 1-minute silence on his CD, called it A Minute’s Silence, and then declared that it was a Mike Batt & John Cage composition.

Source
The BBC, July 2002
Wikipedia

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As Slow As Possible was composed by John Cage, arguably the most influential American composer of the 20th century.

It was originally a 20-minute piece for piano, but later expanded by some crazy group of theologians, musicologists, philosophers, composers and organists to an unbelieveable 639 years.

Yes, that means the song will take 639 years from start to finish.

It was first played sometime in 2003, on a church organ in Halberstadt, Germany.

The first 3 notes will last for more than a year!

Needless to say, it won’t be of much interest if you’d actually sit down and listen to it.

In fact, for the first 17 months, all that was heard was the sound of “the organ’s bellows being inflated”.

Question: But why 639?
Answer: The Halberstadt organ was 639 years old in the year 2000.

Source
The BBC, Feb 2003

Popularity: 2% [?]

They Live by Night is a Swedish music group.

“Catching Up” is a song off their second album released October 2008.

The music video won the best video category at the 2009 Swedish MTV / Grammy Awards.

It’s slow – as in movements in slow motion.

As you heard, the music is nowhere near slow!

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Enya is one of the very few musicians whose songs I dig despite their lack of use of guitars.

On Your Shore was never released as a single, and I think it should have.

It’s off Enya’s second album, Watermark released 1988.

I think it’s the world’s greatest super slow song ever; other slowies would’ve made me nod off, this one still sounds fabulous 20 years on.

What do you think?

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Hee Ah Lee (born 1985) of South Korea was born with 2 fingers on each hand, due to a medication her mother took.

However, her performances on the piano were so unbelieveable that people thought it’s an elaborate hoax.

However, the truth is she’s real, and an internationally acclaimed pianist to boot.

Check this out:

She was also born with disfigured legs and slight brain injury.

This condition is called “1st grade Congenital Limb Deformity.”

When Lee was a pre-schooler her mother decided to take her for piano lessons because:
(i) it would help her strengthen her hands so she could hold a pencil;
(ii) if she could master the piano, she could master anything.

However, for half a year one piano school after another turned them down.

Then, a year later Lee won the grand prize in a piano concert for Kindergarten students.

At age 7 Lee won a national level competition: the National Handicap Conquest Contest. She received her award from the Korean President.

Lee is 22 now, and has had many awards and appearances.

Her first album: “Hee-ah, a Pianist with Four Fingers” is slated for release in June 2009.

She said it was no plain sailing learning the piano, but added: “as time went by, the piano became my source of inspiration and my best friend.”

Truly inspiring stuff.

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I saw the end of an episode of Akademi Fantasia 7 last night and was pleasantly surprised that Anggun performed a song live. At 34, her tone was as excellent as ever, and she looked beautiful too.

That got me looking back at, in my opinion, her best ever song, which is A Rose In The Wind, and its Indonesian version, Kembali, released 1998.

It was written by Erick Benzi (a French producer/songwriter who had previously worked with the likes of Celine Dion) and Nikki Matheson.

What a refrain, and what a voice!

The Indonesian version [which I liked better]:

The song is part of her album Snow On The Sahara (1997). The title track reached number 1 in Italy, Spain and several Asian countries. It is her biggest ever hit single.

Next, A Rose In The Wind was released, which to me is a better song than Snow On The Sahara. Obviously many disagreed, as the best it showed for was a no.17 in Italy. A different story though, for its Indonesian version, Kembali. It was a big hit in Southeast Asia.

The album has sold a total of over a million copies worldwide, and is apparently the highest selling album by an Asian artist outside Asia, ever. No, not even Rain did better.

Then, in 1998 she trained her scope on the notoriously difficult market to break, the US market.

The album was released there in May 1998.

To promote it, she went on an extensive tour for almost a year, including supporting performances for Bruce Hornsby and Natalie Merchant.

She also participated in Sarah McLachlan’s Lilith Fair, and performed on The Rosie O’Donnell Show.

She was given large media coverage on Rolling Stones, Billboard and CNN.

As a result, three of her singles, Snow On The Sahara, A Rose In The Wind and Life On Mars entered the hallowed US charts, the Billboard Hot 100. Apparently, Anggun is the first Asian artist ever to make it there.

The album sold 200,000 copies in the US. By Malaysian standards, that is a lot!

Apparently, it is still the highest selling album by Asian artist in the US.

In 1998, she was the first Asian artist to be nominated in Victoires de la musique, the French Grammy Awards.

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Anybody with at least a little interest in music would knows this number, perhaps even remember it by heart!

“Always on My Mind” was written by Johnny Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson Thompson and first published in 1972.

It was originally recorded by Brenda Lee, unfortunately the single only made it as far as no. 45 on the country charts in 1972.

After her, there has been more than 300 covers.

Willie Nelson’s version released 1982 must’ve been the most prominent, because in 1983, the songwriters finally won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Country Song; additionally Nelson’s recording won Best Male Country Vocal Performance. It also reached the top of the country charts and number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Then there was that version by the King himself, Elvis Presley in 1972, which also became a big hit, selling more than half a million copies in the US.

And that unforgettable Pet Shop Boys version in 1987 which I remembered buying the single. It was the UK’s Christmas number one that year. It also did even better than Willie Nelson’s version in the US, reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. In November 2004, The Daily Telegraph (a UK newspaper) put this version at no 2 in their list of the 50 greatest cover versions of all time.

Others who covered this song include Michael Buble, Fantasia Barrino and BB King.

So with many big names there, it would be a daunting task for anybody to even attempt a new recording.

Until 17th March 2009, when Anoop Desai, 22 covered it on American Idol Season 8, then produced the following studio version:

So, do you think Anoop Desai bettered the earlier versions?

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The “Wall of Sound”, that music production technique for pop and rock music recordings was developed by producer Phil Spector in the 1960s.

Working with audio engineers, Spector created a “dense, layered and reverberant sound” by having “a number of electric and acoustic guitarists perform the same parts in unison, adding musical arrangements for large groups and/or orchestral musicians, and then recording the sound using an echo chamber.”

“Be My Baby”, the 1963 hit song for The Ronettes, written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich and produced by Spector, is by general consensus considered THE definitive “Wall of Sound” song.

It was a huge hit, reaching no.2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and no.2 on the UK charts.

It is also critically acclaimed, listed at no.22 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

In 1999 it was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame.

In 2006, it achieved what is probably the ultimate honour for any pop song recording: being added into the United States National Recording Registry.

It is arguably the most influential pop song of all time.

The song has been covered many times, and the drum into has been replicated on many a pop song.

Here it is:

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Being 82 years old, you’d expect Owen Brown of Weobley, Herefordshire, UK to have a more sedate musical taste.

Classical music, maybe.

But no, the oldest rocker in town likes the heavy stuff.

He’s got a respectable collection of headbanging music, in vinyl no less: real heavy metal / hard rock stuff like Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Judas Priest, Megadeth, Kiss, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Saxon.

So what is it that he likes so much about “the Devil’s music”? He said it’s the rhythm, good drumming and guitars.

What does his wife of 60 years think of his hobby? She’s not a fan of Bruce Dickinson, Eddie Van Halen, Rob Halford, Dave Mustaine or any of the rock stars, but Owen said, “she don’t mind some of it.”

I think I can connect to this guy if I ever meet him.

Rock on grandpa!!!

Video of his BBC interview:

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“Careless Whisper”, that 1984 classic by Wham! (of course fronted by George Michael) is one of the most successful singles of the 1980s, reaching the top of the charts in more than 20 countries, selling about 6 million copies worldwide, and has been countlessly covered.

It has been played so many times that I got sick of it, until I heard this version by Seether, a South African-American rock band a few days ago.

I think this could even be better than the original!

It was released 3rd February 2009 and made available as digital download.

Tell me what you think.

Click here to hear the song

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Naturally 7, a 7-piece American vocal group do much more than mere acapella.

They imitate the sound of musical instruments like the drums and guitars with their voices as well as singing.

Truly good stuff, like the following 2 totally live-performed covers of Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight – remmber, they were performed without any instruments!

Performed on a street in London August 2008

Performed in a subway in Paris sometime 2006

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If there’s a Grand Slam for the arts, this would be it.

Of course there’s that Holy Grail: add a Nobel Prize to the end of the list but apparently nobody has ever done that yet.

If there’s a membership card for this level of achievement, there would’ve been only 2 ever issued, for Richard Rodgers (1902 – 1979) and Marvin Hamlisch (b. 1944).

Richard Rodgers

Rodgers of course was part of the famed Rodgers – Hammerstein songwriting partnership, who was responsible for the world-famous and much-loved The Sound of Music musical which started in 1959 and later turned into that legendary movie.

Rodgers & Hammerstein

Rodgers wrote more than 900 songs and 40 Broadway musicals and also created music for films and TV. His other famous collaborator was with lyricist Lorenz Hart.

Academy Award

1. 1945 : Best Song – “It Might As Well Be Spring” from State Fair

Emmy Award

1. 1962 : Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composed – Winston Churchill-The Valiant Years

Grammy Award

1. 1960 : Best Show Album (Original Cast) – The Sound of Music
2. 1962 : Best Original Cast Show Album – No Strings

Tony Award

1. 1950 : Best Musical – South Pacific
2. 1950 : Best Producers, Musical – South Pacific
3. 1950 : Best Score – South Pacific
4. 1952 : Best Musical – The King and I
5. 1960 : Best Musical – The Sound of Music
6. 1962 : Best Composer – No Strings

Special Award

1. 1962 : Special Tony Award “for all he has done for young people in the theatre and for taking the men of the orchestra out of the pit and putting them onstage in No Strings”
2. 1972 : Special Tony Award
3. 1979 : Special Tony Award, Lawrence Langner Memorial Award for Distinguished Lifetime Achievement in the American Theatre

Pulitzer Prize

1. Special Award and Citation in Letters for Oklahoma! in 1944
2. Pulitzer Prize for Drama for South Pacific in 1950

Marvin Hamlisch

Academy Award

1. 1973: Best Music, Original Dramatic Score – The Way We Were
2. 1973: Best Music, Original Song – The Way We Were
3. 1973: Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation – The Sting

Emmy Award

1. 1995 : Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Direction – Barbra Streisand: The Concert
2. 1995 : Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music and Lyrics – Barbra Streisand: The Concert
3. 1999 : Outstanding Music and Lyrics – AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies
4. 2001 : Outstanding Music Direction – Timeless: Live in Concert

Grammy Award

1. 1974: Song Of The Year – The Way We Were
2. 1974: Best New Artist Of The Year
3. 1974: Best Pop Instrumental Performance – The Entertainer
4. 1974: Album Of Best Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special – The Way We Were

Tony Award

1. 1976 : Best Musical Score – A Chorus Line

Pulitzer Prize

1. Drama for A Chorus Line in 1976.

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The BBC reported on 6th Feb 2009 that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin denied dancing to Abba hits during a private live concert hundreds of kilometres north of Moscow by Abba tribute band Bjorn Again on 22 January.

During the concert, he allegedly:
- danced in his seat during Super Trouper
- clapped vigorously
- raised his hand on cue during Mamma Mia
- shouted “Bravo!”

So what if he likes Abba?

That means he’ll lose his macho man image, exemplified by him being a former KGB spy and a black belt in judo?

Or that he’d be less macho than Russian President Dmitry Medvedev who is a fan of the arguably more macho British rock band Deep Purple.

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Tom Araya (born 1961) is the bass player and lead vocalist of arguably the world’s top thrash band, Slayer.

From the band’s name, you’d be right to guess that they never sings mushy tunes in the style of Backstreet Boys or even Foreigner, but rather about vampires, serial killers, war, drug addiction and of course Satan, concentration camps, demon possession and well, basically anything dark and doomlike.

He also wrote some of the band’s material, like 213 (about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer) and Dead Skin Mask, about Ed Gein.

Add to that Satanic symbols used in the band’s album art, like in the album Reign In Blood (1986), whom many regard as the greatest thrash metal album of the 1980s, certainly at least on par with any of Metallica’s best:

Tom Araya onstage. Note the pentagram at the back:

Click here to read more and see a video of Slayer in concert

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You’ve got to give it to the Timorese (Indonesian people of the Eastern Flores Islands).

They sing songs that are closest to their lives, even painful experiences.

For example, the song “Tragedi Wai Boleng” by Timorese pop star Johan Lama Kuma is about a real-life tragedy, where not one but five people drowned at sea.

Amazingly, they used the actual footage of bodies being carried from the sea and laid on the ground while a big crowd gathered round, as video background.

Can you imagine this being played loudly and sung at a nightspot by drunken revellers, with the video being projected on a big screen???

Click here to see the video

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“I will always love you” has become one of the standards for female vocalists’ auditions.

It was written by Dolly Parton in the 1970s.

Technically, it went up to a whole new level, and gained worldwide fame in 1992 when it was covered by Whitney Houston, becoming her highest selling single ever.

However, Charice Pempengco, 16 of the Philippines, who for some people is already the best singer in the world, did probably the greatest ever live (albeit, shortened) version of the song, on the UK TV show “The Paul O’Grady Show” which was aired 8th April 2008.

In fact, she was not yet 16 during that performance; her 16th birthday was on 10th May 2008.

What do you think, have you seen/heard anybody sing this song better (apart perhaps Whitney herself in her prime):

To make a fair comparison, the following is supposedly Whitney Houston’s best live version (during the 1994 Grammy Awards):

Here’s another one:

Who do you think is better?

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