UNCONVENTIONAL WORLD RECORDS

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.

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

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

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?

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

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)
Pawana (Search)
Gadis Misteri (Search)
Istana Menanti (Rahim Maarof)
Kerja Gila(Search)
Ukiran Jiwa (Awie)
Mahligai Syahdu (Hattan)
Senja Nan Merah (Awie & Ziana Zain)
Menanti (Ella)
Ghazal Untuk Rabiah (M. Nasir & Jamal Abdillah)
Takdir Penentu Segala (Jamal Abdillah)
Kekasih Awal Dan Akhir (Jamal Abdillah)
Tiara (Kris)
Aku dah bosan (Amy Search)
Cinta Sakti (Def Gab C)
Andalusia (M. Nasir)
Phoenix Bangkit Dari Abu (M. Nasir)
Cinta Dewa Dewi (Spider)
Bagaikan Sakti (M. Nasir & Siti Nurhaliza)
Aduh Saliha (Mawi)
Juwita Cinta Terindah (M. Nasir)
Angan dan Sedar (Mawi)
Nafas Cahaya (Misha Omar)
Dejavu (Syura)
Mantera Beradu (Malique & M. Nasir)

Source
Muzikrock.com

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.

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 …

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:

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!

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

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

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!

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?

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.

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.

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?

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:

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:

“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

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

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.

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.

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

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

“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):

Click here to see the video

And surely the most confident, as he simply brushed aside Simon Cowell.

Paul Marturano,32 auditioned for American Idol season 7 at Philadelphia, and sang a song he “wrote specifically for Paula Abdul”:

There is this girl I know, I follow her around.
She hasn’t noticed me, it really gets me down.
I broke into her house when she wasn’t there,
Took off all my clothes and tried on her underwear.
I’m always thinking of her.
I really think that I love her.
I’m not much of a talker,
so I guess that I’ll just stalk her.
Yeah, I’ll stalk her.
If she were a doggy, I would walk her.
If she were a blackboard, I would chalk her.
If I were Colombo, I’d Peter Falk her.
But I’m not, so I’ll just stalk her.
If she were at bat with a guy on first, I would balk her.
If she were Willona from Good Times, I’d be Jimmy Walker
If she were a bathtub, I would caulk her.

He was cut off right there as Simon said he’s being creepy, goodness knows what other things he had lined up if security hadn’t escorted him out.

Click here to see the video

Jose Feliciano was born blind, yet he could very well be the world’s greatest ever guitar virtuoso.

The folllowing is a video of him playing Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee”, one of the world’s most difficult pieces live during the Ed Sullivan Show in 1966.

He was 20 years old.

Originally written for the violin, the piece’s frantic runs of conjunct chromatic sixteenth notes challenges the musician to even cover the notes quickly enough. Hence, since its composition about 100 years ago, it has become a standard showcase for solo instrumental virtuosity.

Note that Feliciano’s pick fell off at 1:04 but he effortlessly switched to pizzicato!

He went on to release his first of many albums that year, sold millions of records and won 6 Grammy, the first of which was in 1969.

He is also the writer of “Feliz Navidad” (1970), one of the most-played Christmas songs of all time, and famously covered by Boney M.

Click here to see the video

…or the world’s most tasteless album / group.

There’s a 2-member “sick-brutal-death-metal” music group in existence somewhere in Europe called The Joseph Fritzls who is releasing an album apparently revering the worst father who ever lived, the Austrian sex monster Joseph Fritzl.

Album title: Who’s Ya Daddy?

There are 11 tracks, with incredibly sick titles like:

- Who’s Ya Daddy?
- 24 years
- Where’s my daughter?
- I’ll Hide You in My Cellar
- Incest Is Not That Bad
- KIDnapped (if ever there’s such a thing as a paedophile anthem, this would be it)

CD cover art:

I don’t know if they planned it or not, but the album’s supposed to be released in time for Fritzl’s trial.

It would be interesting to see what Fritzl thinks about that, but as for those on the other side, the disgusted reaction was understandable:

It’s nothing short of disgusting. To profit from their suffering like this is just plain sick. They must be as twisted as the real Josef Fritzl is.

Band members Mmit Woodmaster and Mojtra Ages say their songs are “aimed at fighting politics and racism”.

Understandably, reaction from music fans are mixed, but probably the best comment is:

What the f**k somebody must have taken a dump in your brain!

…probably not the best choice to include as one of your company’s promotional business gifts…

Source
The Sun UK, 16th October 2008

IMHO, Paul Anka has the honour, in swing no less. I think this easily defeats Weird Al Yankovic’s spoof or even Kurt Cobain himself’s low-pitched version on Top Of The Pops. I’d bet that the audience never saw this song coming.

Click here to see the video

Mondegren director Buffalax is a comic genius. I haven’t watched a Hindi music video in its entirety for a very long time, until the day I saw this video. Usually I’d just skip, or fast forward the singing part. This has to be seen to be believed, guaranteed to make one laugh uncontrollably.

Buffalax added subtitles of the “written English approximation of the video’s original language sound,” then uploaded it on 18th August 2007. Since then the video has been viewed more than 8 million times and commented more than 25,000 times.

The song’s name is Kalluri Vaanil, a love song, sung by Prabhu Deva Sundaram in the Indian Tamil movie Pennin Manathai Thottu released in 2000.

As a result of Buffalax’s work, I think interest in the movie from outside India skyrocketed, stunning those involved in the making of the movie.

Click here to see the video

This is not your usual Christian Sunday Mass or service. This not even your usual Praise and Worship sessions typical of Evangelical meetings.

This is the Metal Mass, or Metallimessu in Finland’s Lutheran Church, the state religion.

Inside church buildings, worshippers scream out hymns as lead singers headbang onstage to extremely loud live heavy metal music, with the pastor and altar, both in white waiting on the sides.

Probably this kind of church service is only available in that country, the land where heavy metal is more mainstream than in others. In Helsinki, the capital, there are many heavy metal karaoke bars, clubs, live concerts and festivals. The radiowaves are filled with heavy metal songs. The Finnish Eurovision Song Contest and the Finnish Idol competition were won with heavy metal songs.

Good thing too, since this has caused churches there to be packed with young people.

Not to say all churches there are like this or in favour of it. Some are dead against it, while some heavy metal fans outside the church accuse the church of using their music to boost church attendances. But mostly response has been encouraging.

The first Metal Mass in the country was held in 2006 at the “Tuska” (in English, “Pain”) festival in Helsinki.

Here are some videos to showing a Metal Mass in action:

Click here to see the videos

Here are a few videos of guitarists performing taken when they were 8 years old or younger.

These little guys prove that one is never too young to be a virtuoso at guitar.

They can put much older guitarists to shame.

Forget Guitar Hero, play the real instrument: you and your kids!

First off Yuto Miyazawa, now 8 who was born 21st February 2000 in Tokyo. He’s been playing since the age of 3, have had “a few lessons”, but mostly it’s his sheer love of the guitar that drove him on. He’s into Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhodes, Eric Clapton, KISS and Metallica.

After making a name for himself in Japan, he went to the US in May 2008, playing at clubs in New York.

Here he is performing Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train”, Eric Clapton’s “Crossroads”, and Char’s “Smoky”. The first guitar he plays, the flying V is taller than him!

Click here to see the videos

Vivian “Rappin’ Granny” Smallwood was 73 and a grandmother to 14 and great-grandmother to 5 when she made waves in the 2006 season of America’s Got Talent, where she advanced all the way to the final round.

This is a video of her audition in which she was a huge hit among not just the audience but also the judges:

Click here to see the video

But what is a castrato?

A castrato is a man who was forcibly castrated at an early age in order to ensure that he would not experience the hormonal changes of puberty that lead to the lowering of the male voice. This meant that as an adult man he would sing like a modern soprano because he would’ve retained his boy soprano voice.

Alessandro Moreschi (1858 - 1922)

In 1903 the Catholic Church officially banned the practise of castrating for musical purposes

In the following recording he was already over 50 years old (some say he was in his 40s), hence rightly his voice sounded incredibly eerie.

Click here to listen to the recording

And hence probably the last song you’d expect these world-famous vocalists to sing at their concerts. But they did! As expected, all of these performances received very mixed reviews.

But first off, last year I mentioned U2 covering ABBA’s Dancing Queen. That was pretty surreal, but there’s more.

Tell me what you think of the following.

Celine Dion & Anastacia performed AC/DC’s “You shook me all night long”, apparently described by Guitar Magazine as the worst cover of all time. Commenters particularly took offence with Celine duckwalking and having violins as accompaniment:

Still, some people said Shania Twain’s cover of the same song is worse:

Click here to see the video

Penang-based band Paku is the first Malaysian band ever to tour the United Kingdom.

According to their record label, Deathstar Productions, they are:

- the 1st Malaysian Band to Ever do a UK Tour (February - March 2007)
- the 1st Malaysian Band to be on and do a LIVE Set on British National Radio (BBC Radio Wales)
- the 1st Malaysian Band to Ever do a show in Wales and Northern Ireland.
- the 1st Band ever to be allowed to be introduced on a Premiership football pitch and have one of their songs played at the same time. That song, Insomniac, has apparently been played at every league and European game at Newcastle United FC since February 2007.

Paku and Deathstar were promoted to over 5 million listeners on BBC Radio Wales and Northern Ireland’s City Beat.

According to their record label, the reception they got was very good, and that other bands should consider doing the same thing.

They were supposed to go on a European Tour in September 2007: I haven’t checked that one out.

IMHO, it’s got to be in Saturday Night Fever (1977) starring none other than John Travolta. Of course some have called him “John Revolta, the dancing Thetan.”

Anyway, his role as hot dancing stud Tony Manero in the film earned him an Academy Award nomination, turned him into a superstar, and definitely chick magnet.

The movie poster:

A cut from the dance scene:

Someone has commented that he’d break his bones if he ever attempted some of the moves. Watch and learn from the master of disco

Click here to watch the dance scene video

Really bad singers abound, and this topic is a very subjective matter. So I think I’d limit myself to performances in nationally-known competitions or events, and which had been at least televised on TV (worldwide availability not a prerequisite).

The audition of American Idol Season 1 (2002) contestant Derek Stillings, 20 which Simon Cowell described as “The Worst Singer in America”:

The audition of American Idol Season 2 (2003) contestant Keith Beukelar, to which Simon Cowell described as “The Worst Singer in the World”:

Click here to see the rest of this post

Tijs Verwest, 39, better known as Tiesto, is arguably the world’s greatest living DJ, and certainly one of the world’s most famous trance DJs.

A native of the Netherlands, he’s the only DJ who has been voted the World’s Number One DJ three years in a row from 2002 to 2004 by the world’s top electronic dance music magazine, DJ Magazine.

He’s still active now, and still perennially in the annual top 10 list. For the 2007 list, he placed second behind Armin Van Buuren.

Although he has not clinched the top spot for several years, he’s still regarded by many as the greatest DJ in the world.

One of his biggest achievements is being the first DJ to play live at an Olympic Games. That happened at the 2004 Athens Olympiad opening ceremony.

Click here to see the video

Muchmusic.com did a take on this last month, but I think the 80s New Wave group, Flock Of Seagulls, and in particular its lead singer, Mike Score is the undisputed champion.

Score was also the keyboardist for the band, but he’s best known for his strange hairstyle, which was sometimes combed over his head and sometimes in a cat-like appearance by bringing the sides up.

However, by 1984, he ditched this style, preferring to grow out his hair making it longer in the back and combed it to the side.

Apparently, before making it big with their hit song I Ran (So Far Away), Score was a hairdresser. Therefore, his hairstyle was his very own creation, and hence, the blame lies squarely on him.

Source
Muchmusic.com
wikipedia

On 3rd Apr 2008, the BBC reported that Mariah Carey has broken Elvis’ US singles (Billboard Hot 100) chart record when she scored her 18th number 1 single with Touch My Body, from her new album E=MC2.

Elvis has had 17 US number 1 singles.

With that achievement, she’s 2nd on the all-time list, behind The Beatles’ 20.

Does that mean Mariah Carey is now a bigger star than Elvis ever was? I don’t think so. I think she still can’t be considered a bigger international star than Elvis because she has only topped the other important chart: the UK’s singles chart twice, and both times with cover versions: Without You, originally made popular by Harry Nilsson, in 1994 and with Phil Collins’s Against All Odds, which she sang with Irish balladeers Westlife in 2000.

In contrast, Elvis has had 21 British number ones, beating the Beatles’ 17.

Here’s a list of all the acts to gain 5 or more UK chart toppers:

21 - Elvis Presley
17 - The Beatles
14 - Westlife
14 - Cliff Richard
12 - Madonna
12 - The Shadows
10 - Take That
9 - ABBA
9 - Spice Girls
8 - Kylie Minogue
8 - The Rolling Stones
8 - Oasis
7 - McFly
7 - Eminem
7 - Michael Jackson
7 - Elton John
7 - George Michael
7 - U2
6 - Blondie
6 - Queen
6 - Slade
6 - Robbie Williams
6 - Boyzone
6 - Rod Stewart
6 - Sugababes
5 - Britney Spears
5 - All Saints
5 - The Bee Gees
5 - David Bowie
5 - The Police

Here’s a list of all the acts to gain 5 or more US chart toppers :

20 - The Beatles
18 - Mariah Carey
17 - Elvis Presley
13 - Michael Jackson
12 - Madonna
12 - The Supremes
11 - Whitney Houston
10 - Stevie Wonder
10 - Janet Jackson
9 - Bee Gees
9 - Elton John
8 - Rolling Stones
8 - George Michael
8 - Usher
7 - Phil Collins
6 - Daryl Hall and John Oates
6 - Wings
6 - Diana Ross
6 - Pat Boone
6 - Paula Abdul

So, by combining the total number of #1 singles from arguably the two most important singles charts in the world, we can conclude that the most popular / best-selling act of all time is Elvis Presley at 38 (21+17) number one singles on both sides of the Atlantic, closely followed by The Beatles at 37 (17+20). It’s interesting to note that each of these two legendary acts are more popular “on the other side”, i.e. British band The Beatles has more no.1 singles in the US than it has in their native US; the opposite is true for Elvis.

In fact, Elvis and The Beatles are the only acts with more than 30 number one singles on both sides of the Atlantic.

Wow, that sure underlines the undisputable fact that Elvis remains the king of rock and roll, even in death. Everywhere, including of course the internet, his appeal endures.

Now the question is: who’s the 3rd most popular act in the world? Is it Mariah Carey? Nope. Actually, it’s none other than Click here to read more

Last month I wrote about the commonly held view that Queen’s Live Aid set in 1985 is the greatest live rock performance of all time, but after watching for the first time Jimi Hendrix’s set at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, I think Jimi at least equalled Freddie in terms of sheer entertainment value.

The Monterey Pop Festival is considered important in rock history, not least because it’s the precursor to the legendary Woodstock festival held 2 years later, where Hendrix headlined.

But, if not for his legendary performance at Monterey, his first-ever American show, he might not have made such an impact in the USA.

At Monterey, the 24-year old Hendrix’s set was 45 minutes long: a very fast arrangement of Howlin’ Wolf’s 1965 R&B hit “Killing Floor,” then an equally lively rendition of B.B. King’s 1964 R&B hit “Rock Me Baby,” Tim Rose’s “Hey Joe” and Bob Dylan’s 1965 Pop hit “Like a Rolling Stone.” The set ended with The Troggs “Wild Thing”, and Hendrix’s iconic act of burning his guitar on stage, then smashing it to bits and tossing pieces out to the delirious crowd who were watching Hendrix’s first-ever American show.

Watch how Hendrix performed “Wild Thing” in the following video: 40 years on, I think it’s still an incredible performance; for those wannabe rock stars, watch and learn from the master:

Click here to see the video

I took the following video on 19th February 2008, around 9pm from the Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur monorail station.

By my calculation the caucasian guy was playing 6 instruments at once:
- didgeridoo
- a one-stringed instrument, a strange guitar like contraption which can be played with one hand: you move its body sideways to invoke a note slide
- drum
- cymbals and a percussion instrument on his right leg
- tambourine on his left leg

There are several videos on youtube of locals (KLites) playing didgeridoo, but always *only* didgeridoo and not going to extremes like this guy.

He was selling CDs of his music.

Does anybody know the name of the guy?

Click here to see the video

Queen, and in particular Freddie Mercury’s finest hour was on 13th July 1985, during the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium, London, in front of 72,000 people (some say 80,000).

Live Aid is, until now still the world’s largest televised pop concert. Queen were onstage for 20 minutes, and were generally considered to have stolen the show. Live Aid was shown to 170 countries, and seen by 1.5 billion people.

Mercury’s performance, and Queen’s set has been described as “the greatest gig in the history of rock”.

I think that is rightly so, because he singlehandedly managed to get ALL 72,000, right to the last person at the back of the stadium, to sing along, to clap hands, to sway in unison to “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions”

Queen performed 5 songs:

- “Bohemian Rhapsody” (partial only. Why? Because no tape playbacks or
soundchecks were allowed, to save time)
- “Radio Ga Ga” (in which Freddie got the ENTIRE stadium to clap in
unison to the chorus)
- “Hammer to Fall”, (during which he danced with a cameraman)
- “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”,
- “We Will Rock You” (partial) (in which Freddie got the ENTIRE stadium to sing along, word-for-word)
- “We Are the Champions” (in which Freddie got the ENTIRE stadium to sing along, word-for-word)

At any gig, no matter how small, it will usually impossible to get every member of the audience to do this.

Click here to see the performance

Who else but the late Freddie Mercury (1946-1991), lead singer of world-famous group Queen? Born Farrokh Bulsara, his parents were both Parsis from the province of Gujarat in India. He was born in Zanzibar, an island off the coast of eastern Africa because his father worked with the British Colonial Office.

Mr Bulsara legally changed his name to Freddie Mercury sometime in the early 1970s.

As well as an acclaimed rock vocalist and world-class showman, Mercury was a formidable songwriter, having composed international hits and all-time classics like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Are the Champions”.

At the age of 17, Mercury and his family fled Zanzibar, because of the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution, and moved to Britain. He became a British citizen.

Just look at this list of achievements, can any other Asian mega/rock/pop star beat this:

- Queen has apparently sold 300 million albums;
- As of 2005, Queen albums have spent a total of 1,322 weeks (27 years!) on the UK album charts; even more than The Beatles or Elvis Presley!
- Their album “A Night At The Opera” (1975), which contains “Bohemian Rhapsody” is ranked number 230 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
- Their compilation album “Greatest Hits” (1981) has sold 25 million copies worldwide.
- In 2006, Time Asia named Mercury as one of the most influential Asian heroes of the past 60 years.
- Their performance during Live Aid (1985) is considered the greatest gig in the history of rock.

I’ve always been a sucker for one-of-a-kind performances, especially when they involve world-class celebrities.

In early 1999, Shania Twain performed, together with The Backstreet Boys, one of her best-loved songs, and a favourite at weddings, “From This Moment On”.

The Backstreet Boys might’ve been dissed left and right, but there’s no doubting that they can really sing:

Click here to see the video

Elton John went up on stage with Shania Twain and sung, together, 2 of their biggest hits: “You’re Still The One” and “Something About The Way You Look Tonight”.

What a contrast in styles, and Elton demonstrated yet again why he’s one of the world’s greatest living musicians by infusing his very own style into any song, and Shania showed how unfair life can be: she’s a top-selling country singer who, at the same time, looks like a supermodel. Mutt Lange, you da man…

I think any music lover would be entranced by this one-of-a-kind performance:

Click here to see the video

I think’s it must be the famous “Dueling Banjos” scene from the film Deliverance (1972).

I first saw the movie in 1986, 14 years after it was made, and thanks to YouTube i saw the scene again almost 22 years later.

The scene shows Billy Redden, 16 as Lonnie, an intellectually challenged and inbred boy but extremely gifted banjo player, playing the instrument with Ronny Cox, who plays a guitar.

It was acutually played by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandel. Weissberg is considered to be one of the best five-string banjo players ever.

Billy Redden in 2004, 32 years after Deliverance

The piece was originally composed in 1955 by Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith and Don Reno, and was originally known as Feuding Banjos in 1955.

Click here to see the video

What can be more amazing than playing 2 guitars at once, in BOTH hands?

In April 2003, Guitar One Magazine named Michael Angelo Batio the fastest guitarist of all time.

Here he is playing a Double Guitar, apparently his invention.

Click here to see the video