The fact that neither Tina Turner nor Carole King aren’t ALREADY in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tells me everything I need to know about that group.

“Both” is the correct answer, in this dog’s opinion.

Peaking at #9 behind Belinda Carlisle was R.E.M. with their very first Top 10 single “The One I Love.” https://youtu.be/j7oQEPfe-O8

I met Bill Medley once, probably seven years ago. A friend of mine was playing guitar for Ronnie McDowell, a country singer known for his tributes to Elvis Presley.

One night, Ms. Virgindog and I were walking down Lower Broadway here in Nashville and we walked by a parked tour bus, which isn’t an unusual site here. I heard my name and turned around. It was our friend calling from the bus door. He invited us on board.

So we sat inside chatting with him and Ronnie McDowell’s wife for a while. Soon McDowell himself got on the bus with Medley right behind him. Normally I stand up when I shake hands with someone, but there was no room to do that on the bus. With the luggage rack above me, I would have had to put my face right in his. A little awkward for a first meeting.

There’s not much more to the story except that Ms. Virgindog doesn’t usually get star struck. That night, she was downright flustered. “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” is one of her favorites, and his speaking voice isn’t far from his singing voice. He was utterly charming. If she hadn’t lost the power of speech, she might have said something fangirlish.

But these are actual Nike shoes, they’ve just been customized by this streetwear company. So they’re kind of like a conversion van company, or that company that sold custom-painted iPods, which seems to me like a legally above board practice

Both are correct. But that then makes “Head Over Heels: an 11/10.

https://youtu.be/jQyazt4RDTM

I’m sorta with you. Why not both?

I also just need to proclaim that “Eyes Without a Face” is actually a 10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OFpfTd0EIs

Sorry, but the Go-Go’s song that earns a 10 is “Our Lips Are Sealed”, not “We Got the Beat.” Who’s with me on this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3kQlzOi27M

Thanks to our friends Stobgopper and MookNana for the springboard. Here’s one for all those silly dads that can laugh at themselves, and for the families that love them.

Have a safe and fun weekend, everyone. Be careful, take good care of yourselves and each other, don’t make me come up there, and…

… good on you all.

Is she okay? She sounds like she has throat cancer or something.

Got to give this one hit wonder clown credit for finding a way to extend his 15 minutes of fame. His team hit all the right targets with this calculated nonsense.

jesus christ, i’m really starting to hate stereogum.

…Who?

Just perform the songs yourselves–problem solved.

I never much liked this song — and I’ll get in to why — but there are some notable compositional elements worth taking a look at.

The song is in mostly Mixolydian mode and contains the following scale degrees: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7. “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” is in E Mixolydian, so this means the tune is formed from the following notes: E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D natural (not sharp). [Great examples of Mixolydian mode include Miles Davis’ “All Blues” and Madonna’s “Express Yourself.] In medieval church music, this was one of the four modes used in Gregorian chants. But that’s a topic for another discussion.

In the song’s pre-chorus, it briefly modulates to A Mixolidian (an A Major scale with a G natural), before returning to E Mixolydian via a B7sus harmonic “pivot” going into the chorus.

None of this is particularly remarkable, but there is something they do in the chorus that’s quite interesting. The first two chords in the chorus are E and C# minor (the I and vi, respectively). Very typical. However, the third chord is a D Major. There are three notable things about this:

(1) It serves to emphasize the Mixolydian feel already established, because the chord clearly expresses the lowered 7th degree of the scale.

(2) The melody on the words “time of my life,” uses the notes A, G#, and F# — which, over a D Major chord, form a Lydian harmonic structure because the G# is a raised 4th degree of the D Major scale. This suddenly changes the feel of the song to make it sound hopeful, and wondrous. A great example of how this works is “Yoda’s Theme” from John Williams’ score, which does the same thing. This modulation makes the song really take off and feel like it’s going somewhere exciting. Check out “Yoda’s Theme” and you’ll likely hear this Lydian feel I’m talking about.

(3) The D Major chord also functions as what we call a “Neapolitan” chord in this musical context. Going from C# minor to D Major is an exciting and unexpected modulation. It’s one I use often in my own music. The roots of this harmonic movement can be traced to 17th- and 18th-Century Italian opera, and also to Ludwig Van Beethoven. Check out the third bar of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” Op. 27, No. 2, I (1802). You’ll hear similar harmonic movement as we here in this Neapolitan third chord of “I’ve Had the Time of My Life.” [In Beethoven’s case, he’s using a “Neapolitan 6” chord.] Pretty cool, huh?

What I don’t like about the song is that after the chord lands on the D Major chord in the chorus, which is exciting and makes the listener feel like the song is going to take off and go somewhere new, it simply returns to E Major chord, which is the root (I) chord… in other words, we’re back home. Huge disappointment. The lyrics on this part are “…never felt this way before.” With words like this, shouldn’t the song land in some new harmonic territory that takes us on an exciting journey? Ever since I was a kid, I felt like this song was a musical epitome of disappointment. They build up this wonderful expectation, and then go nowhere. It’s a horribly missed opportunity. If you ask me, instead of returning to the E Major, they should have gone to a G#7 (or even G#7b5). That would’ve made the song so much better. And it would’ve complemented the lyrics better.

Also, I hate the DX7 synth piano. Just had to mention that. (No surprise, right?)

Other thoughts?