Teen Town, Weather Report

Here is a chance to watch great bass player Jaco Pastorius at his best, playing his song Teen Town live on Midnight Special. He gets so carried away that he continues playing after the band stopped. Unfortunately, I had the chance of seeing Jaco at his worse, around 1986. I used to go to a club called Kenny's Castaways, which recently closed. They had a jam night, and once, Mr Pastorius appears, completely plastered, sits down and begins heckling all other musicians. The MC respectfully told him to shut up. A little later Jaco died.

SIMONINHA, TRIBUTO A MARTIN LUTHER KING

Wilson Simonal foi uma das grandes figuras da música brasileira dos anos 60. Vendia sacos de discos e seus shows lotavam. Ninguém tinha mais swing que ele, além de excelente voz. Infelizmente, uma coisa mal explicada até hoje levou-o a desgraça nos meios artísticos. Essa é uma das suas melhores músicas, num arranjo mais moderno e cantada pela seu filho.


Sim, sou um negro de cor
Meu irmão de minha cor
O que te peço é luta sim, luta mais
E a luta está no fim
Cada negro que for, mais um negro virá
Para lutar com sangue ou não
Com uma canção também se luta irmão
Ouvir minha voz,, lutar por nós
Luta negra de mais é lutar pela paz
Luta negra demais para sermos iguais

Minhas Férias com o Fantasma, Moraes Moreira

Esta á uma obscura música do disco "Pintando o Oito", de 1983. A letra, quase lógico, de Evandro Mesquita, discorre sobre um personagem antigo de histórias em quadrinhos, o Fantasma. Assim, muita gente mais atual provavelmente não vai entender as referências.

Apesar de todo delicioso besteirol (só não gosto da parte do gorila ser caso do ganso), a curta música é legal, curtinha, e merece ser ouvida. Não dá para identificar se é samba, pop, rock, ou que! Por isso mesmo gosto.

Favourite Shirt (Boy meet girl) Haircut Onehundred

This was one of my favorite videos from MTV's early days. A mixture of many things, including a short British rap, if there is such a thing, metals, hot percussion including Brazilian cuica, great and funky guitar work, nice bass line, solind drumming the video and the song rocks.

How I wish music like this were being done today.

99 Luft Balloons, Nena

Who says Germans cannot rock? Here is proof they can.

This is one of the best New Wave songs, and I do prefer the version in German. The English version is wishy washy.

This 1984 song has a great arrangement, with good synthesizer, bass and guitar parts. The playing is tight, and the singer very charming. The lyrics (in English and German) have social meaning, something that is barely found in today's music.

If you have never see it, now is the time.

Closet Chronicles, Live Kansas

Kansas was a very underrated band. A lot of their music from the 70's is of the highest caliber, and they were definitely the best America had to offer to the world of progressive rock.

Unfortunately this is only an audio version of the song, done in Long Beach, but at least it is a contemporary one.  Singer Steve Walsh had a very bad cold, but that was not a reason to cancel the show. Notwithstanding, he does very well.

For the longest time, I thought the song was prophetic, related to the Shah of Iran. Actually, such was the fate of many a king, however, the narration does fit well what happened to the former ruler of Iran.

It is worth hearing the studio version, which can also be found in Youtube.

Hold out your hand, Chris Squire

A great song from 1975, Chris Squire's solo album. Too bad the actual video was removed from You Tube and is nowhere to be found. Patrick Moraz plays organ in this song.

The rest of the album is also great, and deserves a listen. Chris Squire has re-released the album, I do not know whether any additional material was added.

Samba do Aviao, Mu Carvalho

Mu Carvalho tocando em festival em Montpellier, Franca, 2012. Por pouco não fui. Grande interpretação, embora a qualidade do video não seja muito boa. Este é um solo de piano. Armandinho Macedo também esteve presente no festival.

Sacramento, Middle of the Road

The song says "There is something about the weather, that everybody loves, they call it the Indian spring of Sacramento". Just for starters. This was not the age of video yet, and who know how much record companies spent on videos of any sort. So, not surprisingly, the Scottish band Middle of the Road, who was really popular in Norther Europe, rather than shooting the video in Sacramento, California, shot it in the canals of Amsterdam, Netherlands, in typical gloomy, grey weather.

It did not matter much. The song about California's capital was catchy, and Sally Carr, the looker that she was back in the day, kept everyone interested with tons of charm. Admittedly, her nasal voice was an acquired taste.

So, in spite of any shortcomings, this is one of my favorite videos.

Safety Dance, Men Without Hats

Here is a fun video from 1982. The synthesizer part is also nice, the beat catchy, and the whole video ambience is neat. Seems a throwback to the middle ages, or at least, whatever we perceive of the middle age. I remember dancing to this song a lot in discos. The song brings good memories.  

It used to play on MTV a whole lot.

Choro Feliz, Moraes Moreira e Waldir Azevedo

Uma joia do Fantastico de 1978. Um grande chorinho de Moraes Moreira, acompanhado do grande Waldir Azevedo, mestre do cavaquinho e do chorinho. Vale a pena ouvir. Melhor não falar muito.

Chame Gente, Carlinhos Brown, Armandinho e Luiz Caldas

Geralmente esa musica de Moraes Moreira e Armandinho é tocada num ritmo mais rápido, de frevo. Porém, ficou legal assim. Conheci Luiz Caldas e Carlinhos Brown pessoalmente, só falta o Armandinho. Está na minha lista no Facebook, e de vez em quando mando mensagens.

A música é de 1986, porém, continua a dar ibope.

Peek-A-Boo

Devo were serious, yet, funny. This must be their funniest video. The music is very catchy, and Devo certainly popularized the used the synthesizers as bass, among other things. I suppose they lasted as long as they were creative - which is not to say about a lot of other bands. The things Mark Mothersbaugh does in movie scoring these days is totally different from Devo's music