Goodyear

downtown Columbus, Ohio

Michael Buble - Come Fly With Me

Music - Weekly Mix #5

This week's mix has an actual theme. Weekly Mix #5 is entitled "Everything Old Is New Again" and features songs from the last 30-odd years that sound much, much older.

The Puppini Sisters – Wuthering Heights

Not the same version as last week's. A little longer, a little richer vocal performance. Oh my God, I love this song and this group.
If you really, really want it, you can get the CD through Amazon, but it's an import, and will set you back $40.49.

Christina Aguilera – Candyman

Yes, again, and this is the same version as last time. Still in love with it.
Buy Back To Basics.

Michael Buble' – Sway

A third one I've posted before. Beginning to notice a theme to my taste? I don't love Buble' like I love Connick, but then my love for Harry goes back a long way. He & I have been through so much together. Anyway, Mike. My friend griff feels that the musicianship on this track whips the musicianship on Dean Martin's version's ass. I agree, wholeheartedly. He feels, however, that Dean's vocals win over Mike's, and while I would give Deano the vocal win on any other song, I cannot award him a win here. There's something about Buble's voice – on his best songs, anyway – that's crisp and bright, and I always prefer those qualities, even over the richness and depth Dean brings. This is all simply a matter of personal preference, however.
Buy his debut album.

Harry Connick, Jr. – Sweet Georgia Brown

Speaking of Harry. His Eleven cd, recorded when he was yes, eleven years old, is totally underrated. The songs are all short, and there aren't many of them, and they are without any of his vocals (in this one instance, not a huge loss – it's not like it would have been the voice we know and love), but still. It's happy, upbeat, kick-ass Dixieland swing. You must give it a listen.
Buy Eleven

Jae Millz – I Like That (You Can't Take That Away From Me)

Jae Millz combines rap with Ella Fitzgerald's "You Can't Take That Away From Me" and creates something reminiscent of C + C Music Factory's old sound.
Buy the Take The Lead soundtrack

Gabin – Doo Uap Doo Uap

Or, French for "doo wop." Another modern song that samples Ella ("It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing"). Makes an interesting companion piece to the above.
Buy Gabin

Emiliana Torrini – Miss Celie's Blues

From what I gather (this is the only song I know of Torrini's) she's a Tori Amos-alike. That's ok though, because she betrays that not here. This is Shug's song from The Color Purple; Torrini sings it with style, sass and sweetness.
… I've looked everywhere and can't find it on CD. Enjoy.

Cherry Poppin' Daddies – Zoot Suit Riot

Swing's revival ten years ago made me very, very happy. Imagine my annoyance and puzzlement at the bizarre attitude I hear periodically that it's "hokey," "over," or "it's been done." Yeah, so has rock and roll, but no one rolls their eyes over that. Vive La Swing. This particular song from swing's decade-old revival features a shout-out to Brian Setzer & his orchestra, and that's just cool.
Buy Zoot Suit Riot

Big Bad Voodoo Daddys – You & Me & The Bottle Makes 3

From the Swingers soundtrack. …I suppose I should probably force myself to watch this someday. I'm just not a Vince Vaughn fan.
Buy their eponymous cd

The Brian Setzer Orchestra – Jump, Jive & Wail

This is what everyone calls "the Gap khaki commercial song." You know the one. Brian, a former Stray Cat, does swing music these days. A lot of it. It's damn good. I applaud him for bringing it back, doing what he loves, and never giving up.
Buy The Dirty Boogie

Bette Midler – Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

Bette covered this Andrews Sisters song back in 1973, which never fails to mildly surprise me when I remember. To me, it never sounds old. It just doesn't date. Doesn't sound like '40s swing, doesn't sound like the '70s, doesn't sound like '90s swing. It's timeless.
Buy Experience the Divine: Bette Midler's Greatest Hits

Andre Williams – Jailbait

Ok, so I'm cheating. This goes all the way back to '56. You ask me, it sounds a hell of a lot older than that. For lack of any better musical term, it sounds very … noir. It's also hilarious. Be aware, a lot of his more recent stuff is like, filthy. And not in the cute Christina Aguilera way. As a reviewer on Amazon said of another Williams album, "This is music to get drunk and pick up strippers and steal a firetruck and rob a bank to."

Buy Mr.Rhythm

The Mamas & The Papas – Dream A Little Dream Of Me

This has always sounded vaguely '30s to me.
Buy Greatest Hits: The Mamas & The Papas

The Honeydrippers – Rockin' At Midnight

This project of Robert Plant's dates from 1985 but sounds more like the early '50s. It's not exactly what you'd expect from him.
Buy The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1 (before you ask, no, there's no Vol. 2. Dammit.)

Squirrel Nut Zippers – Hell

Oh my God, the horns. The horns.
The HORNS!!!1!
Ahem. Anyway, the Squirrel Nut Zippers have a public service announcement to make:

In the afterlife
You will be headed for the serious strife
Now you make the scene all day
But tomorrow there'll be Hell to pay

So, um, be good for goodness' sake.

Buy The Best Of The Squirrel Nut Zippers As Chronicled By Shorty Brown

Reel Big Fish – Hungry Like The Wolf

Okay, so technically ska. Still. Come on, it's close enough. It's also a hilarious "tribute," I suppose, to Duran Duran's New Wave masterpiece. Not to mention very good driving music.
Buy Duran Duran Tribute Album

Queen Latifah – When You're Good To Mama

From the Chicago soundtrack, conclusive proof that Latifah is a totally scorching jazz baby.

Buy the Chicago soundtrack

Michael Buble' – Come Fly With Me

Yes, more Buble'! This is a nice, crisp-like-a-green-apple cover of Frank's classic; remember what I said earlier, about Buble's sound on his best work? I would argue that the two songs I've put on this mix are his best work.
His debut again.

Harry Connick, Jr. – It Had To Be You

From 1989's When Harry Met Sally soundtrack, a sweeping, romantic big band arrangement of the 1920s standard.
Buy When Harry Met Sally. I mean it. Best investment you'll make.

And that's it for this week's mix, a mostly modern look at the good old days.

Music - Compare & Contrast #2, Sway

I'm too lazy to write anything halfway coherent, so I'll do another compare and contrast.

"Sway."

Dean Martin's 1954 original

What purports to be a Dean Martin/Julie London remix; I don't know where I got it.

Something called "Mucho Mambo" by "Shaft." Yeah, I don't know.

Michael Buble's 2003 version

Prepare a 3 page essay regarding which one is your favorite and why. Cite your sources, and you better believe I'm checking margin widths.