Saturday, March 27, 2010

Song Stuck In My Head This Week - 27th March '10 - Ke$ha - Tik Tok

Sometimes you just get an upbeat party tune that sticks in your head and you can't quite shake and Ke$ha's 'Tik Tok' is one of them.

I first heard it last summer when I was in the US on holiday but it took til very late last year for it to hit the UK. The track has, since it's original US release, been number one in thirteen countries and has sold over 3 million downloads in the US.

The track itself is poppy and upbeat and has an infectious synth-melody that keeps going round in your head and makes you want to dance around like you're in the crazy party world she details in the lyrics.

Ke$ha has said herself that she doesn't take herself too seriously and thinks musicians should have more fun and be less pretentious and I, for one, agree with her. Sometimes in this world you need a little fun, especially with the current global economic problems that affect pretty much everyone, and people like her do provide it by giving you something to dance to and let your worries slip away even for just a brief time.

So why don't you give the song a listen, have a little dance and a bit of fun and enjoy!

Ke$ha - Tik Tok

Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy
(Hey, what up girl?)
Put my glasses on, I’m out the door - I’m gonna hit this city (Let’s go)
Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack
Cause when I leave for the night, I ain’t coming back

I’m talking - pedicure on our toes, toes
Trying on all our clothes, clothes
Boys blowing up our phones, phones

Drop-toping, playing our favorite cds
Pulling up to the parties
Trying to get a little bit tipsy

Don’t stop, make it pop
DJ, blow my speakers up
Tonight, I’mma fight
‘Til we see the sunlight
Tick tock, on the clock
But the party don’t stop no
Woah-oh oh oh
Woah-oh oh oh

Don’t stop, make it pop
DJ, blow my speakers up
Tonight, I’mma fight
‘Til we see the sunlight
Tick tock, on the clock
But the party don’t stop no
Woah-oh oh oh
Woah-oh oh oh

Ain’t got a care in world, but got plenty of beer
Ain’t got no money in my pocket, but I’m already here
And now, the dudes are lining up cause they hear we got swagger
But we kick ‘em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger

I’m talking about - everybody getting crunk, crunk
Boys trying to touch my junk, junk
Gonna smack him if he getting too drunk, drunk

Now, now - we goin’ til they kick us out, out
Or the police shut us down, down
Police shut us down, down
Po-po shut us -

Don’t stop, make it pop
DJ, blow my speakers up
Tonight, I’mma fight
‘Til we see the sunlight
Tick tock, on the clock
But the party don’t stop no
Woah-oh oh oh
Woah-oh oh oh

Don’t stop, make it pop
DJ, blow my speakers up
Tonight, I’mma fight
‘Til we see the sunlight
Tick tock, on the clock
But the party don’t stop no
Woah-oh oh oh
Woah-oh oh oh

DJ, you build me up
You break me down
My heart, it pounds
Yeah, you got me

With my hands up
You got me now
You gotta that sound
Yea, you got me

DJ, you build me up
You break me down
My heart, it pounds
Yeah, you got me

With my hands up
Put your hands up
Put your hands up

No, the party don’t start until I walk in

Don’t stop, make it pop
DJ, blow my speakers up
Tonight, I’mma fight
‘Til we see the sunlight
Tick tock, on the clock
But the party don’t stop no
Woah-oh oh oh
Woah-oh oh oh

Don’t stop, make it pop
DJ, blow my speakers up
Tonight, I’mma fight
‘Til we see the sunlight
Tick tock, on the clock
But the party don’t stop no
Woah-oh oh oh
Woah-oh oh oh


Saturday, March 20, 2010

Song Stuck In My Head This Week - 20th March '10 - Stockard Channing - There Are Worse Things I Could Do

Musicals, whether on stage or screen, often leave people with songs they will remember forever and 'Grease' is one which seems to resonate more than most. If you think of 'Grease' then the chances are that songs like 'Summer Nights', 'Greased Lightning' or ' You're The One That I Want', but for me the song 'There Are Worse Things I Could Do' was always the stand-out song.

Of all the songs in the movie I felt it was the most 'real' with sentiments that I could relate to. How life isn't always easy and that sometimes you feel you have to keep up a front so that people don't realise your vulnerabilities as that's how they can get to you.

Also, the fact that the song is performed by the character of Rizzo - someone seemingly confident and that you'd not perceive to have too many hang-ups - helps bring the point home even more.

I hope you enjoy this weeks song and I'll catch you all next time!


Stockard Channing - There Are Worse Things I Could Do

There are worse things I could do,
Than go with a boy or two.
Even though the neighborhood thinks I'm trashy,
And no good,
I suppose it could be true,
But there are worse things I could do.

I could flirt with all the guys,
Smile at them and bat my eyes.
Press against them when we dance,
Make them think they stand a chance,
Then refuse to see it through.
That's a thing I'd never do.

I could stay home every night,
Wait around for Mr. Right.
Take cold showers every day,
And throw my life away,
On a dream that won't come true.

I could hurt someone like me,
Out of spite or jealousy.
I dont steal and I dont lie,
But I can feel and I can cry.
A fact I'll bet you never knew.
But to cry in front of you,
That's the worse thing I could do.


Saturday, March 13, 2010

Song Stuck In My Head This Week - 13th March '10 - Stina Nordenstam - Little Star

Stina Nordenstam and Nirvana are two musical acts that have extremely different genres of music. Yet, for me, they will always be linked. When watching coverage about the death of Kurt Cobain on MTV at a friends house in April '94, they had a featured artist of the day who happened to be Stina Nordenstam and I was just captivated by her music and have followed her work ever since.

Stina is a reclusive musician from Sweden who, over the years, has released music that she wanted to make whether people liked it or not that was utterly irrelevant to her as, for her, it was all about the music and the expression of what she was feeling.

Some of her work, like this track from her second album '...And She Closed Her Eyes' is a lot more accessible than, say, her third album 'Dynamite' or her eclectically performed covers album 'People Are Strange' but I love every bit of it.

Having not toured since her first album 'Memories Of A Color' in 1991, I would be totally shocked if I ever got the chance to see her perform but the music she has released so far is enough to keep me happy. My only hope is that she releases something new in the not too dim and distant future as it's been a few years since her last album.

The song this week is the first song of hers I ever heard back in 1994 called 'Little Star' which had a brief moment of fame when it was featured on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann's 'Romeo+Juliet' in 1996. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and that you check out more of her stuff!!


Stina Nordenstam - Little Star

Little star, so you had to go.
You must have wanted him to know.
You must have wanted the world to know
Poor little thing and now they know.

Little star,
I had to close my eyes.
There was a fire at the warehouse.
They're always waiting for a thing like this.
Came driving from all over town for you, little star.

Little star, so you had to go.
You must have wanted him to know.
You must have wanted the world to know
Poor little thing and now they know.

Laudamus, Adoramus Te, Domine
Laudamus, Benedicimus, Domine Deus.
Laudamus, Benedicimus, Domine Deus.
Cum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris

For you, little star.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Song Stuck In My Head This Week - 08th March '10 - Kenickie - People We Want

Hello all! Apologies for the lateness of this week's blog but I had the bad news on Thursday that I'm being made redundant so my mind has been somewhat elsewhere!

However music has, as always, improved my mood and I've spent a lot of time the last few days listening to songs from my youth and remembering happier times.

When I was in my late teens there was one person who was a particular idol of mine and I loved the music her band made. Nowadays Lauren Laverne is better known for her work on things like 'The Culture Show' and her radio show on 6 Music (and if you want to help save it go here for the facebook group with all the info) but back then she was the lead singer of the glorious Kenickie.

Kenickie made some really fantastic pop music and, as they were all only a couple of years older than me, it was stuff which I could really relate to. Over the years my love for the music they made in their far too brief career has stuck with me and can always make me smile and I believe that their albums 'At The Club' and 'Get In' should be in everybody’s cd collections.

From their first album 'Get In' is the track 'People We Want'. It's one of the slower tracks as opposed the feisty pop that they normally produced but it always sounds good in the sunshine to me and makes me smile just as much. I hope you like it too!!!


Kenickie - People We Want

She's eating lipstick and drinking champagne
She's dancing home
She is taking cocaine

All our lives
Rolled into one
All our lives
We watch them gone

She's watching telly in somebody's house
She's feeling smelly
It's time to go out

All our lives
Rolled into one
This life
Is taking too long

If we go home
What happens now
If we stay on
We could be
The people we want

It was a shame when the papers found out
Her real name
What the joke was about

All our lives
Now they are one
This life
Is taking too long

And happy hour had lasted all night
She thought for once
She had found someone right

Well its nice
To be loved by someone
This love life
Is taking too long

If we go home
What happens now
But if we stay on
Could we be
The people we want