Owner: Any Major Dude With Half A Heart URL:http://halfhearteddude.blogspot,.com Join Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:12:40 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: MP3 Blog Site statistics:Click here
Intros quiz: Love edition 2008-02-14 02:04:00 An Intros
Quiz, to mark everybody's favourite day of crass commercial exploitation, with a time-appropriate theme.
Every song in this lot of 20 intros of 5-7 seconds each has the word "love" in the title. All but one were hits in the UK or US (or both); the one that wasn't is a well-known album track from a famous album by a very famous singer.
Answers will be in the Comments by Saturday.
Love Songs For Every Situation: Love ends 2008-02-13 03:09:00 And after love comes the break-up. We'll deal with the long-term effects of that later. For now, let's get caught in the moment of the break-up.
Kris Kristofferson - For The Good Times.mp3
Few songs are as much in the moment as this: Kris is proposing break-up sex to celebrate what must have been a great relationship, and to signify that the split is amicable ("There's no need to watch the Read more:Love Songs
Love Songs For Every Situation: Being In Love 2008-02-12 01:17:00 Here's the trouble with Valentine's Day, apart from the crass commercialisation and pressure to spend a month's salary on a dozen frozen roses shipped in from Argentinia or wherever. Valentine's Day is just for the select few, the lucky ones who are experiencing love in a good way. It excludes those who yearn for love, those who have had their heart shredded to ribbons, those who love somebody Read more:Love Songs
Love Songs For Every Situation: Falling In Love 2008-02-11 10:35:00 I've said it before (sort of): Valentine's Day is crap. But that is no reason not to deal with the subject of love this month. All of it: the good, the bad, the shitty. And, oh man, love can be a real bastard. So over ten posts I'll aim to cover almost all emotions that accompany love: the butterflies that take residence in one's stomach, the giddiness of being in love, the betrayal and pure pain Read more:Love Songs
Valentines - Any Major Love Mix CD-R 2008-02-07 04:34:00 I am no great fan of Valentine's Day, and don't usually join in the hype. It seems time appropriate to post a Valentine's mix though -- especially for all the lovers out there who want to express their emotions via the time-honoured medium of the mix-tape, but lack the time or energy to bang a good one together. If I can prevent one fool in love from rushing out to buy a Valentine's Day comp Read more:Valentines
, Major
The iPod (non-)Random 10-track Experiment 2008-02-05 14:16:00 I'm about to wipe everything off my iPod
, and reload it (for housekeeping purposes). So, for the pure fun of it, here are the top 10 most-listened to tracks. I have arbitrarily decided to exclude anything from the Beatles' Love album, because I didn't listen to it more than once, though my nephews played it ad nauseam over Christmas. Where an artist was represented more than once, their Read more:Random
, Experiment
The Age of the Afro: '70s Soul Vol. 2 2008-02-02 12:49:00 Before we launch into the second part of the Age of the Afro series, let me thank the kind people who commented so generously and positively on the first installment -- and, indeed, everybody who posts comments. Any blogger, certainly the music writers, will agree that comments validate our efforts, and encourage us to carry on. So, on to the next lot of '70s soul classics.
Diana Ross - Ain't
The Age of the Afro: '70s Soul Vol. 1 2008-01-29 07:26:00 My brother is currently visiting me. He has noted with some amused disdain my facility to jump musical genres within minutes. So, one minute I might be listening to a song by AC/DC, then a Motown track, followed by Wilco and Dean Martin. And it's true, I love music so much, and for so many different reasons, I take joy in hearing a song I love, or even just like. But the one genre I will always
Intros quiz: Women edition 2008-01-26 12:11:00 The usual drill, with the focus this time on female singers from the '50s to the '00s. Almost all are solo artists. Intros
to 20 songs, about 5-6 seconds in length.
Answers will go up in the comments section by about Tuesday.
Intros Quiz - Women
Edition
The Locomotion: 60s Soul - Vol. 3 2008-01-18 11:33:00 The third and final part of the '60s soul series opens the way for my real passion: the soul music of the '70s, when the sharp suits, raw sexuality and growls of the '60s gave way to afros, falsettos and flamboyant outfits. In the meantime, enjoy the final eleven classics of '60s soul.
Ike & Tina Turner - River Deep, Mountain High.mp3
What a trio is credited this slice of soul heaven: the woman
Once Upon A Time In America OST 2008-01-16 00:31:00 When asked to choose my all-time favourite movie, I usually give three, representing different styles and decades. Casablanca, Singin' In The Rain, and Once Upon A Time In America
. The latter, Sergio Leone’s 1984 epic of crime, friendship and betrayal, should not really appeal to me. It is very long, at almost four hours. I tend to dislike movies that exceed the two hour mark by much. It is
Pissing off the Taste Police with Lionel Richie 2008-01-14 11:56:00 Before anyone presumes to judge me on basis of this thread, I ought to point out that most times, I’d gladly don a long leather coat and join the Taste Police
in seeking to neutralise the influence of LionelRichie
. It is unfortunate that the man is still recording music. He was a scandal when every professional football player would list him, along with Phil Collins (an singer who will never Read more:Lionel Richie
Music for Bloggers Vol.4 2008-01-08 05:21:00 After some months without, here's more love for blogs I enjoy. As always, if your blog isn't featured, but you think it should be, there will be more music for bloggers. I like an awful lot of blogs. Please open the links (in the red headings) by right-clicking and opening a new window or tab; I'd hate to lose you. In each entry, the first dedicated song is a new upload, the second has been Read more:Music
The iPod Random 5-track Experiment Vol.5 2008-01-07 04:39:00 When the mood grabs me, I scroll down to the Shuffle function on the iPod
and see where it takes me. Here's the first 5 that came up today:
Joshua Radin - Someone Else's Life.mp3
A song from my album of 2006. I really like Radin's calming voice, on this track almost a whisper. Comparisons to Nick Drake are easy when a dude sings quietly, accompanied only by his guitar, but Radin certainly is Read more:Random
, Experiment
Intros quiz: Rock edition 2008-01-02 12:58:00 Happy new year everybody. And to kick off 2008, a retro-heavy intros quiz: 20 intros of 5-7 seconds each of rock songs from the '50s to whatever we call this decade. Well, one from the '50s, two from the '60s, five from the '90s/'00s, the rest from the glory days of the '70s and '80s. Absolutely nothing obscure here. And no hair rock, as I realised after putting the thing together.
Answers will Read more:Intros
The new year cometh 2007-12-28 02:29:00 For the final post of 2007 we're looking to the new year. Ten songs which review the year gone by and anticipate the next. I don't like New Year's Eve much. I resent the pressure of having to have a good time as time hurtles forward another digit closer to the year of my death. Bah! Still, don't let me spoil it for you. And look, Ma, no U2!
Death Cab For Cutie - The New Year.mp3
The song that
Any Major Funk 2007-12-26 15:22:00 This mix might come in time for your New Year's Eve party: great disco/funk tracks from the glory years, 1978-82. The first 18 songs should fit on a CD-R, plus two hard-to-find bonus tracks: Instant Funk's "I Got My Mind Made Up" (whence the Sugarhill Gang sampled the famous "say what?"), and Sunfire's happiness-inducing "Young, Free And Single", a track it took me absolute ages to find.
I've Read more:Major
The Age of the Afro: '70s Soul Vol. 3 2008-03-14 02:20:00 After a hiatus of a few weeks, we return to the age of the Afro, the glorious times of sunny soul which talked about love and preached social-consciousness.
The Blackbyrds - Walking In Rhythm.mp3
If I were to set my alarm clock to wake me up with a song to start my day on a high, this might be it. "Walking In Rhythm", which was released in 1975, exudes just the right measure of confident
Perfect Pop - Vol.1 2008-03-17 09:35:00 Jim Irvin in the latest issue of that fine British music magazine The Word makes the point that when his fellow critics describe something as perfect pop, it probably is neither. "It'll be the work of a tone-deaf beanpole with a great haircut who sings like a rusty hinge while his mates commit acts upon musical instruments that the Spanish Inquisition would have thought twice about," he writes, Read more:Perfect
On current rotation 2008-03-22 04:45:00 When I started this blog, my idea was to flag new releases I enjoy while occasionally dipping into the archives of pop. As it has turned out, I've had greater fun doing nostalgia. But that means I've sometimes neglected the original purpose of this blog: to promote new music which I like. So, here are some songs from new releases (and one that is a year old) which I am listening to at the moment
Perfect Pop - Vol.2 2008-03-26 10:28:00 Here is the second installment of Perfect
Pop. For the criteria, look up the introduction to the first part of the series. One commenter rightly suggested the inclusion of The La's, which I happily already had on my shortlist. Tell us which songs you think constitute perfect pop.
The Troggs - Wild Thing.mp3
A bit like "Louie Louie", featured in the first part of this series, there is something
Any Major Funk Vol. 2 2008-04-01 02:34:00 In December I posted a funk/disco mix-tape (meaning the songs don't fade into each other), covering the golden era 1978-1983, and fitting on one CD-R. It was downloaded more than 1,300 times, and received the grand total of one comment. But that commenter was so pleased with the Any Major
Funk mix, he or she asked for a follow-up. So, for that kind soul, here's Any Major Funk Volume 2, which had
iPod Random 5-track Experiment Vol. 6 2008-03-31 09:49:00 To end off the month, here the five random tracks my iPod
threw out for your pleasure. Actually, I'm cheating, because it listed a couple of tracks I recently posted...
The Band with Neil Diamond - Dry Your Eyes.mp3
From The Last Waltz. Neil Diamond must have retained some of the cool he had rightfully acquired before going all lamé on us (cf. Pissing off the Thought Police with Neil Diamond), Read more:Random
, Experiment
Perfect Pop - Vol. 3 2008-04-04 04:16:00 The inquiry into what makes perfect pop perfect continues. My pal Andy thinks: “I think ‘perfect pop’ can't be too alternative. It has to be very mainstream, on top of everything else. And probably fairly breezy. Populist and lightweight.” Somebody else suggested: “Perfect
pop should feel timeless yet completely of its time as well, creating a wonderful paradox.” Another Andy also considered the
Intros Quiz - 1978 edition 2008-04-07 16:32:00 As usual, 20 intros, 5-7 seconds each, this time of hits from 1978 (or released in 1978 and perhaps peaking in the charts in early 1979). All of these were hits in either the US or the UK or both. The last quiz covered 1973; no prizes for guessing which year we'll cover in May...
Please don't leave your answers in comments. The correct answers will be posted in the comments by Thursday or Friday Read more:Intros
Perfect Pop - Vol. 4 2008-04-10 09:22:00 And on to the fourth part in our quest for Perfect
Pop. I am very grateful for the many comments; I really appreciate the views, ideas, nominations and feedback (and feel greatly encouraged by the many kind words). So, here are ten more perfect pop songs, presented with the usual caveat that this exercise is entirely subjective.
The Monkees - Daydream Believer.mp3
It took me four posts in this
The Redskins: An insane thing 2008-04-13 04:28:00 Having just discovered the excellent The Songs That People Sing blog, I stumbled upon a post from February which featured the Redskins
' remarkable cover Billy Bragg's Levi Stubbs' Tears. I don't know how I knew that version -- I thought it might have been a b-side to a single, but have found no evidence for it -- but I really wanted it. Sadly, the link was dead.
But thus reminded of the Redskins Read more:insane
The Disco Inferno 2008-04-18 09:37:00 An splendid piece on disco, by the excellent Simon Price on The Quietus site, makes reference to mind the Disco Sucks movement which found full expression in the record burning bonanza at Chicago’s Comiskey Park in July 1979 (pictured). Price’s suggestion, not a new one, that the the Disco Demolition Night in particular was fuelled by racism and homophobia has some merit.
The negative reaction Read more:Inferno
Perfect Pop - Vol. 5 2008-04-23 02:05:00 Thank you for all the comments. I really, really appreciate them. It's great just to hear somebody say that they are happy to have found a long-forgotten song or discovered a favourite new artist through this blog. The many kind words and encouragement are a most welcome bonus.
It's also great to see people still getting to read older posts. One comment came in yesterday responding to a Read more:Perfect
Two of us 2008-04-22 09:45:00 My friend Liz, who works for a London magazine publisher, e-mailed to tell me that she had spotted my Doppelgänger while doing a page layout (apparently he's more heavy-set than I am, which is a relief).
I find the idea of a double very spooky indeed (as would, presumably, my look-alike). I once saw a spitting image of myself sitting at a bar. It was disconcerting observing this incredibly
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