#1 - Dexy's Midnight Runners

A little over 2 weeks ago I presented a list of 46 “guilty pleasure” songs, nominated by my friends on Twitter,  and asked you to pick your favorites.  The votes are now in, and you have selected your Top Ten Guilty Tunes - those songs we most hate to love.

They are all in our iPods, I’m sure, bringing us  “the joy of awfulness”.

Let us now celebrate these 10 with this public group confession (I’ve linked to their videos for your further entertainment, and to really complete the picture, added some useless trivia):

1. “Come on Eileen” - Dexy’s Midnight Runners, 1982 (50% of the vote)  Did you know that this band was named after the drug Dexedrine, an upper that allowed the band to “dance all night”?  Too-Rye-Ay!
2. “Copacabana“ - Barry Manilow, 1978 (44%) This guilt-ridden tune actually spawned a made-for-television musical in 1985, starring Annette O’ Toole a Lola and Barry Manilow himself as Tony. Aye-aye-aye!
3. “White Wedding” - Billy Idol, 1982 (39%)  Legend has it that this rocker wrote this song because of his “displeasure” with his sister’s fiance. Ouch!
4. ‘Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go)” - Wham, 1984 (35%) The big question about the video of this song is “what’s up with the white shirts?” Apparently George Michael displayed “Choose Life” to implore his audience to avoid using illegal drugs and committing suicide. Jitterbug!
5. “Staying Alive” - Bee Gees, 1977 (35%) Barry Gibb was a hitmaking machine in 1977-78 - he wrote 4 consecutive #1 hits on the Billboard charts (this was one of them).   A record that stands to this day. Ah, ah, ah, ah!
6. “U Can’t Touch This” - MC Hammer, 1990 (33%) You know the best bit of trivia here is the fact that Mr. Hammer is on Twitter, and yes, we can touch him (you HAVE to watch his dancing on the video - pure joyful energy!).  Hammer Time!
7. ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun” - Cyndi Lauper, 1983 (32.5%) This song was actually written by a man (the lyrics were only slightly changed to give it a woman’s point of view).  Bonus useless trivia: the video only cost $35,000.  Some fun!
8. “Thriller” - Michael Jackson, 1984 (30%) This song even made Michael Jackson guilty, in that he put a disclaimer in front of the famous video disavowing any “belief in the occult”.  That video ended up selling 9 million units (that’s not a misprint). HaHaHaHaHa…..
9. “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)“- Rupert Holmes, 1979 (30%) Poor Rupert is so tied to this #1 Hit that he has remarked “No matter what else I do, my tombstone will be a giant pineapple”. Come with me, and escape!
10. “Karma Chameleon“-Culture Club,  1984 (30%) It’s hard to fathom more than 20 years down the road that in a span of 4 years this band had TEN US Top 10 hits - in fact, at the time they were the 1st British group since the Beatles to have 3 Top Tens in the US from their debut album . Karma, karma, karma!

There you have it - 10 songs that, until now, we’ve never put on any “favorites” list.  I know I feel better now getting the truth out - how about you? 

And yes, we also have a winner of the $300 prize package that I offered to those who took the time to vote (thank you all, once again):

AmyL  at EarnestParenting.com! (On Twitter - @earnestone)

Congratulations Amy!

About six weeks ago I wrote a poem dedicated to “all who I’ve come to know on this medium in my three years of blogging”, entitled “Dog Years Are Like Blog Years“.

Not long after that post went up, Amy Derby and I were bantering on Twitter about how I should find someone to write music to it. Amy suggested I chat with John Haydon.

I looked up John’s MySpace music site and gave his original tunes a listen. He was good. Darn good. On top of that he writes an excellent blog about Social Media for non-profits, CorporateDollar.org. (Oh, and he had already signed up to come to SOBCon09).

We started cyber-chatting ourselves and the next thing you know he volunteered to write the music to “Blog Years are Like Dog Years“, with the goal of having it ready by SOBCon09, so we could perform it live then.

Well, I got the finished product yesterday from John, and I quickly decided I couldn’t wait for SOBCon to share it with everyone.

So, John and I present to you for your downloading pleasure, the world premiere of our “new single” (right click and do “save as”):

Blog Years Are Like Dog Years

(Music performed, written and sung by John Haydon, lyrics by Starbucker).

Here are the revised lyrics so you can follow along:

(Copyright 2009, John Haydon & Terry Starbucker)

You start like a child, eyes open wide
To possibility, of what lies outside
Guided by teachers, showing the biz
Tom, Phil & Rosa, Trevor and Liz

Thoughts on a page, feeling your way
Wondering if folks want to hear what you say
Before too long, you begin to be seen
By Mike, Ben & Lisa, Chris & Christine

You put names to faces, as SOBs
Fast moving forward, like a steady breeze

Then you blossom - a child of thirteen
Still not assured, trying not be mean
But more friends arrive, and things start to click
Thanks Mary, Maria, Jodee and Rick

You grow strong, a young blogging adult
Independent and tough, with cause to exult
And those who raised you, begin to lay low
Like Easton, Tim, Ellen, Kammie and Joe

All these good people, sharing their views
Too many to count, too many to choose

Blog years are like dog years
Flying through posts like a bat out of hell
Leaving mentors to rush ahead
The lure of bigger numbers always in your head

But I shall never forget, those who held my hand
In those childlike days of this new land
But now I’m an old man of the blogosphere
And you will always be welcome here

You put names to faces, as SOBs
Fast moving forward, like a steady breeze

Thank you John, for taking the time to do this - I am so grateful. It just makes the sentiment I meant to convey that much more meaningful.

Friends, download and enjoy - and see us perform it live at SOBCon09!

Don’t forget to check out John’s other musical treats at his MySpace page.

Some days I can get pretty carried away with my music obsession on Twitter - OK, almost every day.

Thankfully, there are a bunch of other people on Twitter that support this obsession, by engaging in virtual conversation about which Bob Dylan song is his best work (mine is “Lay Lady Lay”), or if the best 80’s hair band was Twisted Sister (not for me, I’d say Def Leppard).

Today I reached the apex of this musical madness, and decided that Twitter needed a “soundtrack”. Why not? Every other meaningful cultural phenomenon had some kind of music associated with it, right? (I suppose you need to buy off on Twitter being such a thing, but just for fun lets just say it is)

So leave it up to yours truly to assemble this grab bag of tuneful tracks to tickle your fancy as you wile away your valuable hours on the cultural phenomenon known as “Twitter”.

1. “Follow You, Follow Me” by Genesis. Phil Collins could see the future. He could feel it in the air that night.
2. “I Will Follow You” by Night Ranger. And you thought “Sister Christian” was the only cool song they did!
3. “Tweeter and the Monkey Man” by The Traveling Wilburys. Tweeters always travel with Monkey Men - at least according to this supergroup
4. “I Will Follow” by U2. (contributed by Matt Midgette) Was there any doubt about this one? Bono is just the coolest rock star ever. Well, maybe Sting is, but he didn’t write a good enough song with “follow” in the title.
5. “I Wanna Be Sedated” by the Ramones (contributed by Amy Derby). This is in honor of all the compulsive Twitterers who crank out Tweets nearly 24 hours per day. You know who you are.
6. “What Are You Doing” by Rush. Ah yes, the question that launched a billion Tweets. This time from the high voice of Geddy Lee, who’s timbre I (somewhat) duplicated in my high school rock band. You had to be there.
7. “I Send A Message” by INXS (contributed by Matt Midgette). INXS was so hot back in 1987. I wasn’t. Tough year.
8. “What I Like About You” by The Romantics (contributed by Amy Derby). Yes, Twitts keep us warm at night, yeah. Just like the song says.
9. “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You” by the Bee Gees. Did I tell you i do a pretty good Barry Gibb imitation? “Heeeeeere we are - in a rooom fulla straaaangas”
10. “I’ve Been Searching (so long)” by Chicago. Now that the people search function has been inexplicably disabled on Twitter, this a must-add to the soundtrack.
11. Bonus Track: “Get Off of My Cloud” by the Rolling Stones (contributed by Amy Derby). Hey (hey) You (you) step away from the computer!

There you have it - my thanks also to CanadianChristine for helping me along with her Blip.com posts of the songs as I posted them to Twitter.

Somehow, I’ll package these one day on a CD or on an iTunes playlist so they can accompany as many Twitterers as possible - or at least the crazy ones like me.

Remember, don’t stop the music! And see ya on Twitter.

November 12 Update: “Twitter, The Soundtrack” is now available on iTunes! (thanks Amy Derby) Download it and (of course) may it inspire you to pithy and voluminous Twitting.

Here’s the link:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=296461061

A couple of weekends ago I was on the second floor of our house brushing my teeth and I heard the sound of our piano being played - it was my wife, playing some “Czerny Studies” (basically very pretty finger exercises). This was unusual because even though my wife had taken piano lessons for six years in her adolescence, she hadn’t touched our piano for several years.

It turned out there was a good reason she chose to play this particular afternoon - and his name was Emil Liebling. Liebing edited these Czerny studies into the book that my wife was using that day. Since I thought these studies sounded so great I casually picked up the book once I came downstairs and skimmed through it. I stopped at the Preface and began to read Liebling’s thoughts and instruction on the studies. I was mesmerized. I hadn’t read such literate and fluent prose about teaching in many, many years (or maybe ever).

So who was this person? Here is is bio (courtesy of the Music Encyclopedia):

Liebling (lep’-ling), Emil. 1851-1914. Born in Pless, Germany, of Russian parentage, this talented musician came to America when quite young to become a leader in the art. He was one of four brothers, all of whom have become prominent in musical affairs. After arriving in this country, in 1867, Emil Liebling taught music in Kentucky and Chicago. Returning to Berlin he studied under Kullak and Ehrlich, and composition under Heinrich Dorn. In Vienna he studied under Dachs. He also taught in Kullak’s Conservatory of Music from 1874 to 1876. Mr. Liebling’s attainments along other lines are equally advanced. He is an accomplished linguist and as a writer he is a fluent and forcible contributor to American musical journals. He spent the summer of 1876 studying under Liszt at Weimar. Returning to Chicago the same year he impressed his audiences with his finished execution and a practically unlimited repertory. The concerts he gave in Berlin brought him enthusiastic praise from the severest of critics. He is as exceptional as a man, an artist, and a musician, possessing the most charming personality. He is a good common-sense business man, a famous composer, a pianist and teacher of world-wide fame, a most entertaining and instructive lecturer. Among his compositions are a valse de concert, Florence; a gavotte modern, Albumblatt; Serenade, Spring Song, Menuetto, Scherzoso, Lolita and Concert Polonaise.

A very fascinating man, no question. And his writing was indeed impressive, AND forceful. Almost forceful to the point of being overbearing, but I read this as more genuine passion than arrogance. Here is the core of what really grabbed me, and I’ve underlined what I consider to be the key lessons (I’d advise downloading this to a picture viewer and enlarging it - believe me it will be worth it!):

It didn’t take me long to figure out that Liebling was teaching me something quite valuable that went beyond mastering the piano - he was imparting great wisdom on how leaders should teach. Here were the three key lessons:

1. Liebling said this in flowing French - teachers should never instruct “sans raison et sans plaisir“; translated, “without reason and without pleasure“. We simply can’t be arbitrary and unfocused with our teaching, and it darned well better be fun, or else what you are trying to teach will not be learned.
2. This was my absolute favorite - “An ounce of demonstration is worth a pound of explanation”. You have to talk the talk, AND walk the walk, by rolling up the sleeves and showing how it’s done. I’m stealing this one (in fact, I’ve already used it with my team twice!).
3. Lasty, the indispensable “application of common sense“. Everyone must be taught at a pace and intensity that works best for them, and a good teacher should be able to calibrate this correctly, by simply using good ol’ common sense.

What happens if these principles are consistently applied? In Liebling’s own words, applied to the piano student, the “accomplishment….will mean to the student a fluent and reliable technic, brilliancy, versatility and endurance, and…..prove an “open sesame” to all the works from Bach to Beethoven”

Or, taken in the broader context, better teaching leads to lasting learning that can open the gates towards taking on even bigger challenges, and succeeding.

Now THAT’s a great lesson. From a 100 year-old preface to a piano studies book by a very talented teacher who probably had no idea that his beautiful writing would effect a 21st Century blogger so deeply and so beyond the subject matter.

Thanks Mr. Liebling, and thanks too to my wife for choosing to play the piano that day.

Remember those carefree and wonderful 80’s? In a culture which promotes nostalgia seemingly nonstop and where “oldies radio” is usually the highest rated fare, I had a remarkable run of “blankness” about that period of time.Sure, I’d get a bit of a twinge when Duran Duran came on my iPod, or better still, Flock of Seagulls (yes, I have “I Ran” on my iPod…….), but I hadn’t taken a full fledged dive into that decade for many months……..that is, until I recently watched the movie “Music and Lyrics”.

“Music and Lyrics” was a light and frothy comedy starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. Grant played a music “has been” who used to be in a “Wham-like” (I bet I never use that adjective again) group in the 80’s, and was in the present day trying to revive his career as a songwriter. I won’t give away too much more of the plot, because it wasn’t the story itself that pushed my 80’s memory button. It was a “mock video” they did which tripped the switch. Take a look and you’ll see what I mean:

I keep cracking up every time I see the brilliant overacting, the split screens, the cut aways, the bad dancing - and I see my 80’s flashback as clear as a bell………

It’s 1984, and I’ve just bought the brand new “cool” car, the Pontiac Fiero - in red. I’m one cool dude as I drive my 80’s self around San Antonio to the sounds of (among many others) Depeche Mode, Hall and Oates, Prince (”Purple Rain”, of course!), Duran Duran and yes, Wham! This was before CD players so I had to make my own cassette mix tapes. I spend a lot of my free TV time watching those cool new videos on MTV, marveling at the excellent production values (!). I also admire those cool dudes on “Miami Vice“, cruising in that Ferrari in their pastels. One of my favorite movies at the time was “Flashdance”, another feel-good story of overcoming the odds to a pre-programmed soundtrack of synthesizers (an 80’s staple). My fashion look was typical of its time, with a moustache and a very questionable wardrobe.

Yipes.

Although I just went with the flow of the times, it almost seems like we were on a different planet compared to the lives we lead now. Could that much change in 23 years? I guess so. Maybe that’s why the specific memories are so easy to bury - too big of a disconnect.

I will say this too- I’m better at picking cars now. That Fiero I had - it was a big fat lemon. The engine block cracked in less than 12 months (it was a rear engine car, so you should have heard the “whooshing” noise it used to make as the radiator water labored its way around the vehicle), so by 1985 I acquired a nice, safe and reliable Toyota Cressida.

So I’ve spent a few days looking back, and now I can’t get that “fake” 80’s song from Music and Lyrics out of my head, called “POP! Goes My Heart“:

“I said I wasn’t gonna lose my head, but then

POP! Goes my heart.

I wasn’t gonna fall in love again, but then

POP! Goes my heart.

And I just can’t let you go,

I can’t lose this feeling.”

Thanks Hugh and Drew for the nostalgia trip - even if it was in a Fiero, it still was a fun ride to go back in time. Now I can’t wait for the inevitable 90’s parody……..