Category Archives: Music

Friday random ten: My year in music, part 2

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s Part One. These are some of the songs we got between July and December. 1. Problem – Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea 2. The Princess Who Saved Herself – Jonathan Coulton 3. Alienation’s For The Rich – They Might … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: End of the World

Posted on January 10, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

We’re all familiar with Skeeter Davis’ 1965 hit, right? OK, that may not be the song we think of when we hear the words “It’s the end of the world”. Let’s try the Pet Shop Boys, shall we? Still not … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: My year in music, part 1

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Among other things, 2014 was a year in which I acquired a lot of music. Some of this was music I wanted and got for myself, but a lot of it was music that one or both girls asked for. … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: The Elements

Posted on January 3, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

This is a bit of a rerun from last year, but it fits into this theme even though it’s technically not a cover but more of a remake and an update. Surely you know Tom Lehrer’s song “The Elements”: But … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: Aren’t the Cubs supposed to win the World Series this year?

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

So it’s the year 2015. You know, when Back To The Future 2 was set. I can’t quite wrap my mind around that, so here are some songs that speak to The Future and the kind of things we were … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: El Matador

Posted on December 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s get folky, shall we? When you think folk music, you’ll probably think about the Kingston Trio sooner or later. Of course, the Trio themselves didn’t consider themselves to be folkies, though they obviously had a huge effect on the … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: That was the year that was

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Tribune does a weekly feature in which they sum up the preceding week as a Spotify playlist. Here’s my attempt to sum up some of the big news stories of this year using tunes from my library. 1. … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Dumbledore

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

And now for something a little different. We love Weird Al Yankovic here. You know that Weird Al does a lot of original songs in addition to his trademark parodies. Well, what do you get when someone parodies one of … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: Yes, there are Christmas songs I like

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Quite a few of them, really. Here are ten from my collection: 1. Another Christmas Song – Stephen Colbert 2. Blue Christmas – Asylum Street Spankers 3. Christmas Wrapping – The Waitresses 4. The Eleven Cats of Christmas – Trout … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Driving Wheel

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

One of the giants of the blues, Albert King: I guess I discovered blues music in college, with Stevie Ray Vaughan, ZZ Top, and Robert Cray being my points of entry. That eventually led to Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: It’s the least wonderful time of the year

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Yes, it’s Christmas time again, and inspired in part by this Slate story on how bad Do They Know It’s Christmas? is, here’s a list of Christmas songs we, or at least I, could do without this year. 1. Do … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Don’t Worry Baby

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s the Beach Boys, not looking very beachy but sounding like they always do: I will never understand the 50s and 60s fashion of band members all dressing alike. It just looks so weird now. Anyway, a group that did … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: Who needs instruments?

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

There is much excitement in my household (read: Olivia is excited) for Pitch Perfect 2. In honor of that, here are ten a capella tracks: 1. Behind Closed Doors – Modern Barbershop Quartet 2. Corn Dogs – The Bobs 3. … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Downtown

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

A classic from Petula Clark: Remember how they used that song on Lost to introduce Desmond living in the hatch? Now here’s a typically offbeat cover of it by the B-52s: I can’t even think of a band that reminds … Continue reading →

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Friday video break: Black Friday

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I have no idea why I haven’t used this on Black Friday before: I love it when a band successfully reinterprets its own established work, as Steely Dan does here, turning the synth-driven tune into a slowed-down blues rocker. For … Continue reading →

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Thanksgiving video break: I’ve done this often enough to call it a tradition

Posted on November 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

And what a tradition it is: I plan to be in a turkey coma today, hopefully in front of a football game. Hope you have the Thanksgiving you want as well.

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Saturday video break: Don’t Stop Believin’

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

You’re not too cool to sing along. Admit it. That was recorded in Houston, as you could tell from the pandering lyrics edit. The copyright says 2005, but that’s got to be at least 20 years off. My guess this … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: Numerology

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

After the letters come the numbers. 1. Eat For Two – 10,000 Maniacs 2. Somebody’s Been Sleeping – 100 Proof 3. Land of the Laced – 100s 4. Sex – The 1975 5. S.I.M.P (Squirrels In My Pants) – 2 … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Don’t Look Back

Posted on November 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a “same name, different song” fourplay. First, Boston: If you’ve ever listened to a classic rock station, you’ve probably heard that song. Now here’s one you probably haven’t heard, from Bruce Springsteen: That’s a live version of a tune … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: Catch some Zs

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Who knew I had ten artists in my collection with Z names? 1. Mellowmas 2010 – Zach Curd 2. Goodbye Girld – Zapruder Point 3. Dream Machine – Zen Archer 4. Too Much – Zendaya 5. Dragonfly – Ziggy Marley … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

British Invasion time with Eric Burden and The Animals: I’m guessing a lot of people are familiar with the Elvis Costello version. Here’s a somewhat stripped down live recording of it: The version with which I am most familiar is … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: Y not?

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Sure, why not? 1. Maps – Yeah Yeah Yeahs 2. Oh Yeah – Yello 3. Yours Is No Disgrace – Yes 4. The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?) – Ylvis 5. I Wonder – Yma Sumac 6. How ‘Bout … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Dimples

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The great John Lee Hooker, y’all: And the Spencer Davis Group, featuring a very young but still completely recognizable Steve Winwood: The recording I have is by Winwood as a solo act, but I couldn’t find a video for that. … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: It must be Halloween

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I know I’m in the late stages of a recurring theme for Friday Random Tens, but how can I not break out of it when Halloween falls on a Friday? 1. Creepy Doll – Jonathan Coulton 2. Scarecrow – Steeleye … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: W for the win

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Almost done with the alphabet, at which point I’ll have to come up with a new gimmick to get me through a few weeks. But until then, the W names. 1. Dance Hall Days – Wang Chung 2. Casey Jones … Continue reading →

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Classic hip-hop

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I got a good chuckle out of this. News 92 FM, which until last week was the home of veteran newscasters J.P. Pritchard and Lana Hughes, is now Boom 92.1 FM, home of Geto Boys, Beastie Boys, Snoop Dogg and … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Desperado

Posted on October 18, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

A live performance by the Eagles during one of their reunion tours. Can someone explain to me why music writers seem to all hate these guys? I don’t get it. Anyway, the country roots of this song are easy to … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: V for Victory

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’m never sure with these higher-scoring Scrabble letters if I can get ten artist or band names out of them, but V presented no problems. 1. Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love – Van Halen 2. And It Stoned Me – Van … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Danny Boy

Posted on October 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I have no idea who might have done this originally, so I nominate the King’s Singers for the canonical version: The main problem with this song is that it’s so easy to do an over the top schmaltzy version of … Continue reading →

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Friday random six: U too?

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, six songs by U-named bands is all I got: 1. The Electric Co. – U2 2. Still…You Turn Me On – Uncle Seth 3. I’m In Heaven – Universal Funk 4. Ffuny Ffriends – Unknown Mortal Orchestra 5. Stay … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Daniel

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

A little classic Elton John: Wilson Phillips did the honors on the “Two Rooms” tribute CD: That song wasn’t written for them, of course, but it sure sounds like it could have been.

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Friday random ten: T for two

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Or for ten, as the case may be. 1. Puttin’ On The Ritz – Taco 2. Sweet Child O’ Mine – Taken By Trees 3. Slippery People – Talking Heads 4. Kingdom of Rain – The The 5. In Walked … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Dancing Queen

Posted on September 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

All hail ABBA: Did they know how to craft pop music or what? It’s not a surprise that the concept of a jukebox musical, where all the songs are taken from a single artist, has had its best success with … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: Call me Steve

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Just not Steve Jobs. I mean seriously, just try to do a Google search of “Steve” without tripping over a zillion Steve Jobs links. 1. Nothin’ To Do But Today – Stephen Stills 2. Copperhead Road – Steve Earle 3. … Continue reading →

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