With the recent stories about the release of an audio recording of Britney Spears singing without auto-tune, one might imagine getting similar secret recordings for other famous singers. Some folks have put together some funny “shreds,” imagining bad vocals by famous singers. For example, check out how one might image how the Beach Boys sound singing without any audio enhancements (posted on YouTube by coozco).
For the shred of a more recent song, check out SamRick‘s take on One Direction singing “Story of My Life.”
You can find other shredding videos on YouTube for more laughs.
Who would you like to hear without any special effects? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Since Hurricane Sandy hit New York, it has been quite difficult to find gasoline, as stations are still closed because they do not have power and those that are open run out of gas quickly. I have seen long lines and closed stations around and outside the city.
So, today, New York City and Long Island began a gas rationing plan like New Jersey previously implemented. Drivers with license plates that end in an even number can buy gas on even-numbered days, and those with vanity plates or plates that end in an odd number can buy gas on odd-numbered days. For the most part, it should cut down the length of lines at least. And it is hard to complain too much about the temporary rationing when so many people in the area were hurt much worse by the hurricane.
The rationing reminded me of when I was a kid in the 1970s and there was gas rationing across the country. Hopefully, our regional gas problem will end quickly, but the 1970s the problem lasted long enough for The Kinks to record a song about the problem. In The Kinks’ blues-influenced “A Gallon of Gas,” the singer finds himself successful enough to finally buy a Cadillac but then discovers he cannot get gas for it. He goes to his “local dealer” to buy some gas but is told that while a number of drugs are available for a reasonable price, there is no gasoline.
There’s no more left to buy or sell; There’s no more oil left in the well; A gallon of gas can’t be purchased anywhere, For any amount of cash.
You also may track down a live performance of the song from “Rockpalast Night” in Essen in 1982. The Kinks released “A Gallon of Gas” as a single only in the U.S. in August 1979, and the song appeared on their 1978 album, Low Budget. While the song’s title may be aimed at the U.S. market, I believe the song uses the gallon measurement instead of the liter/litre because at the time the U.K. had not yet converted gas sales to the metric system, although I have found conflicting reports of the actual year the U.K. made the change at gas stations.
Bonus Gas Songs: There does not seem to be a lot of songs inspired by gas shortages, but another 1970s gas song is John Mayall’s “Gasoline Blues,” from the album The Latest Edition (1974). More recently, Britney Spears released a song called “Gasoline” on Femme Fatale (2011), although for some reason I don’t think the song has anything to do with gas prices and gas shortages (“Your touch, burning me / It’s too much, gasoline”).
What are your favorite gas-related songs? Leave your two cents in the comments.
The Harvest Moon is the full moon that falls closest to the autumnal equinox and gained its name because in the days before electricity, the moon aided farmers harvesting when the sun was not up. What mainly distinguishes the Harvest Moon from other moons is that this time of year there is less time between successive moonrises than usual.
For more information on the Harvest Moon and its special appearance, check out the EarthSky website. If you prefer a video explanation, check out this video:
The Harvest Moon is also responsible for inspiring a classic Tin Pan Alley song from the early 1900s. There is some dispute about the song’s authors, but “Shine On, Harvest Moon” was originally credited to the couple of Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth, who were married at the time they wrote the song but later divorced. Both Bayes and Norworth had other successes, including that Norworth wrote the lyrics to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” but during their lives they were probably most famous for “Shine On, Harvest Moon.”
The song has been performed by a number of artists on TV and in film, including an appearance in the 1944 film Shine On, Harvest Moon, as well as on an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club by a young Britney Spears. Johnny Cash sang it with Emmylou Harris on TV too. My favorite performance, though, is by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, who always lit up the screen during one of their musical performances. Check out Laurel & Hardy singing “Shine On, Harvest Moon” below from the film The Flying Deuces (1939).
Here is wishing you a good weekend as the Harvest Moon shines down on you.
Will you check out the Harvest Moon this weekend? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On March 20, 1982, Joan Jett and the Blackheart’s “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” hit number one on Billboard’s pop chart. After the breakup of Jett’s band The Runaways, she previously had a modest hit from her first post-Runaways album Bad Reputation (1980) with a cover of Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me.” But the title track of her second album, I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, gave Joan Jett & the Blackhearts one of the all-time classic songs about rock music.
A British group named the Arrows had released “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” in 1975, but the song was not a hit in the U.S. Jett heard the song when she was touring with the Runaways, so years later she recorded her own version, taking it to the top of the U.S. charts. By then, the Arrows had disbanded.
But of course, nobody comes close to the rock ‘n’ roll talents and attitude of Joan Jett, who still performs and heads her own record label, Blackheart Records. Rock on.
What is your favorite Joan Jett song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(1974). More recently, Britney Spears released a song called “
(2011), although for some reason I don’t think the song has anything to do with gas prices and gas shortages (“Your touch, burning me / It’s too much, gasoline”).
