Q: How many musicians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: 0. They like it dark.
Music is the key to being human
From bone flutes to electronica, Mozart to Stormzy: Nicholas Kenyon and Michael Spitzer take two anthropological journeys into sound
Recorded music did not exist before 1877, when Thomas Edison invented his wax cylinder phonograph. Until then, the only music available to us was performed music. Today, thanks to our paraphernalia of laptops, iPhones, wireless earbuds, file-sharing software and the playlist culture of Spotify, music is omnipresent and unavoidable.
During lockdown, music played on in the confines of our homes — but in the emptied-out concert halls, wretchedly, it died. Nicholas Kenyon, managing director of the Barbican arts centre in London, believes that music’s “convening power” is so great that it will not be long before we gather again to listen and applaud in public.
Kenyon’s book The Life of Music is a wonderfully engaging survey of the classical repertoire from the 12th century to the present day. In scholarly pages, he looks at the birth of new schools (“adventures”) in music down the ages, as it responded to war, political persecution and pandemic.
The Rolling Stones released three albums consisting primarily of covers before recording one with their own original material.
Mercury’s Child is a Sydney rock-n-roll covers band who perform rock-god classics from the 70’s to now with energy and musical precision.
Gail’s vocals and dance, Loris and Dale’s rhythm section combine with Alex and Peter’s guitar and keys. We play legendary songs by INXS, Pretenders, Divinyls, Doobie Brothers, Angels, Beth Hart, Billy Idol, Icehouse, Angels, AC/DC and many more.
Sydney Rock'n'Roll Band Mercury’s Child is taking Northern Beaches of Sydney by storm. With influences such as AC/DC and a solid dance tempo they are a force to be reckoned with in the dancing scene. Their style of music is Rockabilly mixed with Rock n Roll.
A dash of swing and since the band singer Gail is the dancer herself they understand that the one very important thing to the success of keeping the dancers on the floor is a solid dance tempo.
With great dance tempos the band are sure to have the floor packed all night. The band is able to provide their own sound and also have Public Liability insurance so they are ready to go.
Historical note as Alex McMichael is named after his grandfather Alex Anderson:
Mr Alex Anderson smoked a pipe, took and kept lots of notes and always carried a book. Frequently a bible, often poems by Tennyson or a biography of Abraham Lincoln. He played hockey in his youth and loved sea journeys often to learn about other schools. Boys described him as having a “quiet and gentle dignity.”
- Rock Star starring Mark Wahlberg who had a small group that performs cover songs from a fictional band called Steel Dragon. He eventually became the lead singer of the said band when a recorded performance was seen by the band members.
- The Wedding Singer features Adam Sandler as a cover singer who performs for wedding parties.
- Detroit Rock City is the story of four teenagers in the 1970s who are in a Kiss cover band called "Mystery."
- Full House the character, Jesse Katsopolis is the frontman and guitarist for "Jesse and the Rippers" which was a local rock band who mostly did Beach Boys and Elvis Presley covers.
- Saving Silverman features three friends who are diehard Neil Diamond fans, and they form a cover band called "Diamonds in the Rough."
- In an episode of The Simpsons, Otto Mann hires a cover band called "Cyanide," which he says is a tribute to Poison. In another episode, "Covercraft," Homer and several other characters form a band that covers the fictional 1980s band Sungazer, with Apu as the lead singer, but when the real band's lead singer dies, the remaining Sungazer musicians make Apu their singer.
- In the American Dad! episode "Finances with Wolves," Klaus the goldfish swaps brains with the lead singer of an Earth, Wind and Fire cover band.
Articles of Note
Michael Dirda is back to browsing bookstores. Among his first purchases are Memoirs of an Oxford Don and The Ultimate Spider-Man memoirs
Among the most reproduced books in English are the Bible, the works of Shakespeare, and The Compleat Angler, a 17th century fishing manual
The Hitler and Stalin Loving Socialist Whose Statue No One Will Touch | Frontpagemag.
An Irish Independent article last year inquired,”Should the Irish Tolerate a Memorial to a Nazi Sympathiser.” No such question seems to have been asked of the most prestigious leftist educational institution in the UK which still venerates a monster who supported Mussolini, Hitler, Lenin, and Stalin not because he didn’t believe they were killers, but because he did.
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