Songs I'm Feeling Lately

I have no photo for you today, (if gas prices were not so exorbitant, I could drive farther in the service of hunting up some good pictures, but oh noooooo...) but I do have some songs I've been feeling lately.

Diane Keaton - Seems Like Old Times
The provenance of this, I have no idea. An online buddy sent it to me on a mix cd (Thanks again, Emily!) and I love it.

Elvis Presley - Change of Habit
It's not only from that cute movie he did with Mary Tyler Moore (I still want to be her when I grow up), but I love it because it seems like he finally cut all that obnoxious Elvis shit I can't stand and just sang the song. And musically, the song is kind of timeless ... upbeat lyrics, and the music doesn't sound dated.

Frank Sinatra & Bing Crosby - Well, Did You Evah
From the musical "High Society," in which Frank's & Bing's characters drunkenly mock the other guests and commiserate over what a lousy time they're having at the party. But in that shimmery, sophisticated way people do when Cole Porter writes their lyrics.

Joe Cocker - Bye Bye Blackbird
Again, thank you Emily! Siiiigh.

Sammy Davis, Jr. - Eee-O Eleven
From "Ocean's Eleven" - no, the real one.

Ella Fitzgerald - Ooo Baby Baby
Downloaded from Pimps of Gore. (I really need to get my links section fixed.) This is so odd, this song. It's a time warp ... Ella's voice singing a Smokey Robinson song.

She & Him - Sweet Darlin'
And thanks again, Emily. :) The mix was a hit with me.

The Ibstock Place School Singers - Dandelion
Ah, Emily? :) You know the drill. This sweet version of the Stones' song, sung by schoolkids, I assume (you know, it's August. It's too hot and I'm too damn lazy to click past the first page of Google results) is so, so pretty.

Enjoy!

Music

Lima, Ohio

Village People - Can't Stop the Music

Best of 2007, Pt. 4

October
Eileen Barton - If I Knew You Were Comin', I'd've Baked a Cake
Granted, the opening is a little grating (and shrill. Don't turn up the music till she's finished saying "look who's here!!") but once it gets rolling, this novelty song from 1950 is an addictively bouncy little swing tune.

Also, I like to bake cakes, so it makes a nice soundtrack for me. :D

Dave Brubeck - Blue Rondo a La Turk
A West Coast jazz classic from 1959, it's a musical breath of fresh air.

Yannick - Ce Soires La
A French, and even more disco, cover of the Four Seasons' "Oh What a Night." Of all the earworms I found this year, this one's the earwormiest.

And of course, this year's favorite Halloween carols:

The Atomic Fireballs - Man With the Hex
From the '90s swing revival - thanks for this one, Chris!

I Monster - The Blue Wrath
From the Shaun of the Dead soundtrack.

The 5 Jones Boys - Mr. Ghost Goes to Town
A scratchy, satisfying old doo wop tune.

Jonathan Coulton - RE: Your Brains
I think we've all had to deal with zombies in the workplace.

November
Evelyn Evelyn - Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn?
Amanda Palmer of Dresdon Dolls & Jason Webley are Evelyn Evelyn, and Webley explains their music like this: "...sounds like something the Andrews Sisters might have recorded if they had grown up in the circus listening to new wave music." That's a pretty good description, though at least this song I'd just call vaudeville.

Patrick Wolf - Pumpkin Soup
As melancholy and evocative as "Magic Position" was happy and cheerful.

Mika - Lollipop
Speaking of happy and cheerful, this is awfully joyous-sounding. Until you listen to the lyrics and realize that they're actually pretty bitter.

Nina Simone - I'm Going Back Home

Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I Am
I first heard this in an Old Navy commercial and fell in love with it. It's sweet and very romantic and right at home in the autumn.

Amy Winehouse - Cupid
Ok, last one (for this year, anyway), I promise.

December

Celia Cruz - Yo Vivire
Cruz's cover of "I Will Survive." I got this and the above "Ce Soires La" at one of my favorite music blogs, "Copy, Right?"

The Pierces - Secret
I first heard this during the debutante ball scene of Gossip Girl and had to have it.

The Puppini Sisters - Crazy In Love
Their signature take on Beyonce's hit.

Best of 2007, Pt. 2

April
Kevin Rowland - Thunder Road
He's best known as the lead singer of Dexy's Midnight Runners, and his cover of Thunder Road evidently so displeased Springsteen that he prevented Rowland from releasing it. I'd call this "Irish lounge" if I had to pick a genre, and I love this more than I can say.
Amy Winehouse - You Know I'm No Good
She needs to survive her insanity and addictions so that she can go on making fabulous faux '60s soul music for many, many years to come. She'll be well represented in these lists, but this one's my favorite.
Corinne Bailey Rae - Put Your Records On
The rest of the cd did nothing for me, but this did. This one and the one above remind me of the road trip my friend Angie and I took to Dayton; spring had finally sprung, so we grabbed our cameras and lit out for unknown territory.

May
Amy Winehouse - Rehab
This is likely going to be the song that everyone thinks of when they think of 2007.
Mika - Grace Kelly
This is another artist I first heard thanks to Angie. His songs are catchy as hell, but even so, I'd have to love him, because sometimes I think he might be Freddie Mercury reincarnated.

June
Blossom Dearie - I Won't Dance
A slower, softer version of the Louis & Ella classic.
Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folks
Yeah, I finally gave in. This one is like a Ceti eel; it wraps itself around your cerebral cortex and drives you mad.

Inscrutable Whimsy

Delaware, Ohio

Trio - Da Da Da

Big Red Taxi Sign

Delaware, Ohio

Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi

The Great Pumpkin

Yeah, ok, it's a little late, but what the hey.
Circleville, Ohio

Vince Guaraldi - Great Pumpkin Waltz

Queen Automotive

Delaware, Ohio

Queen - Don't Stop Me Now

(One of my all time favorite songs ever ever ever)

Stars Above

Ohio Theater
Columbus, Ohio

Frank Sinatra - Swingin' On A Star

Peck Auto Electric

Logan, Ohio

The Power Station - Some Like It Hot

Carousel

Delaware County Fair,
Delaware, Ohio

The Cardigans - Carnival

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Well, this is it. The big day! It's hard to believe this Halloween month is already almost over, and yet I can't wait until I can post a picture of anything I want ... :)

If you go to my Flickr site, You'll see this photo of a very well-known family crypt in Green Lawn Cemetery; it's not only the largest private crypt in Columbus, not only the resting place of a rich and prominent Columbus family, but also ... it's supposedly haunted!

From Andy Henderson at Forgotten Ohio (that link will take you to a page devoted to this crypt) "They say that, if you knock on the mausoleum's door, the spirits will respond with a knock of their own--and, if they're particularly active, a more substantial manifestation."

Well, neither my friend Susan nor I knocked. We didn't need to; for the first time I've ever seen, the inner door beyond the gates was ajar! I don't know why, but I don't look a gift horse in the mouth. I DO, however, most certainly look a gift mausoleum in the door. Or, uh, something.

So here it is, the interior (or part of it, anyway) of the Hayden Mausoleum:



As you can tell, I'm pretty excited about finally getting a decent peek inside.

And now for the musical portion of our program, what else for today but
the Citizens of Halloween with "This Is Halloween."

And here's the video of it, because it just doesn't get any better than this.



Finally, here is my Halloween "Mix" for 2007 - really, it's just every song I've posted this month, plus a few extra goodies thrown in.

Dane's Halloween Mix 2007

Thanks for all the fun this month, everyone - I enjoyed every post I read, every comment I read, every song I downloaded ... I appreciate both my visitors and my fellow bloggers.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The Echoing Trickle

Huntington Chapel
Green Lawn Cemetery
Columbus, Ohio

Imagine walking into a chapel/mausoleum in the middle of a sprawling old cemetery; the chapel is grandly beautiful, with windows by Tiffany. The moment you walk in, you hear a loud, echoing trickle. After a couple of turns, you find yourself in a newer area, again, grandly appointed.

Turn around and you see the fountain above, rusting, barely spitting out anything, but doing so very loudly.

Maybe it's the rust, or entropy obviously having its way with something in an otherwise immaculately maintained mausoleum, or just the water itself; sometimes, in the right context, even water can be eerie. Maybe it's the loud, insistent noise in such a ... deathly ... quiet environment. All I know, is that this is by far the most unsettling thing in the chapel.

Nick Cave - Red Right Hand
Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hell

Pearls

Green Lawn Cemetery
Columbus, Ohio

Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party
The Simpsons - Halloween Special Theme

Her Eyes Seem To Follow You

Green Lawn Cemetery
Columbus, Ohio

Thanks for the heads up on this one, Susan.

Voltaire - Cannibal Buffet
Like Jonathan Coulton, whose songs I posted last week, this guy sings songs from the intersection of horror and humor. This one, about a poor guy who washed up after a shipwreck on an island full of cannibals, is ridiculously catchy; I haven't been able to get it out of my head for two weeks.

...if you're wondering what's eating me
it's cannibals on the coast of Barbary...

Ok, so a few days ago, I posted the updated blog roll for the Halloween-a-thon. Well, having swiped it whole from Todd at Neato CoolGhoulville, I therefore used a list that didn't include him.
So I'm linking & plugging his site here.

Go see Todd. For reals. Everyday he seems to uncover a forgotten and happy part of my childhood. Maybe yours too.

Pumpkin Stack

Pumpkin Festival
Circleville, Ohio

Bernard Herrmann - Twilight Zone
Danny Elfman - Tales from the Crypt
Bernard Herrmann - Psycho theme
Los Straitjackets - The Munsters Theme

More Pumpkins

Glass Art Pumpkins
Pumpkin Festival
Circleville, Ohio

Book of Love - Witchcraft

Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell On You

Frank Sinatra - Witchcraft

Ella Fitzgerald - Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

Step Right Up

Win a Pumpkin!
Pumpkin Festival
Circleville, Ohio

Alice Cooper - Feed My Frankenstein
Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein
Rocky Horror Picture Show - There's a Light Over at the Frankenstein Place

Tales of the Crypt

More from Amaranth Abbey
Columbus, Ohio

Alice Cooper - Cold Ethel
Cliff Richard - Devil Woman

Finally Inside the Locked Mausoleum!

Amaranth Abbey
Columbus, Ohio

Phantom Planet - The Living Dead
Atlanta Rhythm Section - Spooky