The Music Spot

Sergio says:

Hi folks!

I'm going to post a new song, one from the latest album by David Guetta, One Love, whose songs are recorded by David himself with a vocal collaboration. David Guetta is a French DJ and a music composer. From my point of view, he is one of the best house DJs ever.

This is one of his latest hits, a song called Sexy Bitch. The guest singer is American rapper Akon and it is being an awesome success (millions of hits on Youtube). Mind you, this is the most non-politically correct song on the blog!

January 8th

Morning guys! Today I celebrate the birthday of two remarkable people: Elvis Presley (who would be 75) ... and my son David, who turns 17. Although the latter is obviously much more important in my life, for the sake of the music spot on our blog I'm going to pay a small tribute to the former, the King of R'n'R who, more than 30 years after his death, remains one of the most popular icons in popular culture.

I was barely 14 when he died (or did he actually?) in August 1977, and I must admit that at that time he was not my cup of tea. In those days there were a lot of black and white films on TV featuring a young Elvis, but his days of glory were long past so the image that stuck in my mind was that of a tacky Vegas entertainer, a bit on the fat side, dressed in baggy trousers and sequined outfits, who had gradually lost his health and fine looks to drug and alcohol addiction. However, it cannot be denied that in his early years he was a great singer, endowed with a beautiful versatile voice.

It is easy for me to choose a song that epitomizes Elvis's rebellious spirit as a young performer: Jailhouse Rock. The catchy guitar riff, the rhythmic piano beat, the smart lyrics and, first and foremost, Presley's powerful voice make Jailhouse Rock definitely my favourite song. Enjoy!

It's funny, now that I come to think of it, to remember how Miguel "Mike" Rios used to sing the poorly translated Spanish version, El Rock de la Carcel: "Un día hubo una fiesta aquí en la prisión / La orquesta de los presos empezó a bailar ..." I mean, nothing compares to the masterly rhymed lyrics by Leiber/Stoller in the original, does it?

Whatever, I cannot help ending up this entry by embedding the famous 1957 TV special containing the dance scene of the namesake film. Gosh, those scandalous hip movements by Elvis "the Pelvis"!

Right folks. A freezing snowy weekend ahead so I'm in two minds about going to Zaragoza to watch Avenida play The Copa de La Reina. Anyway, I look forward to seeing you again back in class on Tuesday. Cheerio!

December 29th

Lourdes says:

After these hectic days, I propose to you a relaxing music trip. The only thing you must do is close your eyes and listen to this song by Mark Knofpler and James Taylor called "Sailing to Philadelphia. It´s the sound of the guitar that carries me to the sea and I can even feel the sweet caress of the wind. But to understand the lyrics I must explain to you that the song is about The Maxon-Dixon line which was surveyed in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America in 1767 by Charles Mason (a stargazer) and Jeremiah Dixon (a surveyor). This event gave Thomas Pynchon the excuse to write a novel based on the life of those two Characters, Mason and Dixon. So Mark knopfler was inspired by that book to create this fantastic song, in my humble opinion.





Thank you much for the lovely song, Lourdes, which I'd heard on BBC radio a few times before. It does sound like a breath of fresh air, indeed.

Now, I'd like to explain something about the lyrics. Maybe you don't know that "Geordie" is an English person born in the region of Tynesyde,

whose main capital is Newcastle,

and the neighbouring coal mining area (hence "the coaly Tyne") of County Durham. I guess it's not coincidence that Mark Knopfler, though born in Scotland, was raised in Newcastle, so he's - like Sting - a Geordie himself.

Now, I find it a bit funny, though I love his music (and velvety voice) so much, that James Taylor (a true American) plays in the song the part of another Briton, Charles Mason. Truth be told, he's very fond of England and sort of began his solo career way back in the late 60s when he moved to London and was helped by Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

C'mon guys, keep posting your songs!

December 14th

Antonio says:

I have to work on lots of things of English, so today I'll put down something about MUSIC.

I’m obliged to defend José Luis's taste because if he is to feel "guilty", I'm ALSO an "old fogey".

OK, putting aside my corny joke (even though I take this seriously) let me tell you about my likes regarding music, yet briefly:

I remember I started getting fond of music through The Beatles in 1998, when I was only 12, about to turn 13!!! Surely my career as a music listener would be for the "oldies", and that’s what happened. I continued to make a move into the 70's, 80's and 90's (especially 90's bakalao, with its "Maquina Total", etc). From then on, I progressed and "specialised" in 80's music, which I love, concretely Italo-disco (spaguetti mix), which is part of an authentic sound, normally sung by Italian singers plus several synthesizers. I could speak on and on about this genre by mentioning names of authors, etc., but I don't want to give you a "massy e-mail", so in defence of a knowledgeable guy, an old muso like JOSÉ LUIS, I dedicate with all my affection this piece of music. Mind you, it has nothing to do with Italo-disco, but rather it's a song which could bring back memories of the past to Jose Luis, because it's very symbolic (Jose Luis, do you remember your “glorious” days before getting a bad receding hairline?). The rest of you, mates, do you like it? Doesn't it happen to you, reminiscing when you were young, being at a group a friends, promises made, etc?

Thanks for the entry, Antonio. Now, I'd just like to say that surely I'm an old fogey ... and PROUD of it! I mean, I really don't know how you can possibly call yourself, being so young and tender, an old fogey or indeed what made you feel there's the slightest remorse in my music taste. What's more, I utterly hate Maquina and Bacalao (well, unless it's done al pil-pil, of course, ha ha!).

As for the Connells' song, it sounds just fine, but as the caption on the VH1 video reads, the band is a "one-hit wonder". The melody rings the bell, but it doesn't trigger any "glorious" memories, to be honest with you ...

OK, folks. Keep posting your songs, will you?

December 13th

Happy Sunday, folks!

Right, here's another song for our blog, this time specially dedicated to Asier. Why is that? you may wonder. Well, the story began last Friday, over dinner at El Barroco. We were talking about "his" song, Walk on the wild side, and last year's blog came up in conversation. So I mentioned that he should log on to it, as there's plenty of stuff he might like, like the glorious band I'm using today for the latest music entry, The Who. One of the greatest British acts ever. And I'm glad to say that, oddly enough for someone his age, Aiser likes them. Well, last year it was My Generation, which Pepsi used for its smart campaign on TV. This year is one of my favourite, if not the favourite, songs by the one-off English quartet, one of the most powerful, explosive bands I've seen on stage. A true rock anthem, containing the scream of all screams in rock history, yelled convincingly (specially the second time) by lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! Won't get fooled again, that's the name of this 1971 song, released just a year before Asier's WOTWS.

I remember telling him, as well as those around me, Ana, Miriam and Sergio, to read the lyrics carefully, as it is a song with a clear message. The Who's charismatic guitarist, Pete Townshend, wrote it about Revolution, perhaps after the social and political impact of May '68 in Paris. The first part deals with the revolt by the masses, then those in power are overthrown but in the end the new regime becomes more of the same thing (I love the line "Meet the new boss / same as the old boss"), which unfortunately happens more often than not, and we have plenty of examples throughout history, but still we "get on our knees and pray / we don't get fooled again". Pete once said that this was an"anti-establishment" song though revolutions don't change things in the long run and us citizens get hurt. Apparently, some years later Townshend clarified that WGFA was actually a cautionary message to the new breed of UK politicians who came to the fore in the early 70s, probably in the UK.

Musically, I love Pete's powerful guitar playing, Roger's brisk singing, Keith's energetic drumming, and John's tireless fingering on his bass, well everything. Then, I should highlight the use of the synthesizer, which they had to play off a recorded tape on their shows, as you can see on the Youtube clip of the live rendition of the song. And the lyrics are so meaningfully clever, who says rock is banal and superficial?

So, without further ado, this is the fantastic Won't get fooled again. Dedicated to our one and only philosopher, Asier (to all of you actually). Long live R'n'Roll!

December 10th

Asier says:

"Take a walk on the wild side" is a song about New York. With a simple melody, and simple but sincere lyrics, the “glam punk” band The Velvet Underground expressed a lot about the city where singer-songwriter Lou Reed had lived.

Only a small part of Manhattan’s spirit is reflected, and probably it is not a good song to show how ordinary people usually live in “the Big Apple”, but the hard situations the song is about are full of poetry. And we should not forget that these people are also part of New York, maybe even the essence of Manhattan. After all, Carry Bradshow’s adventures (Sex and the city) do not reflect the lives of all New Yorkers either.

Nonetheless, surely all we agree to choose “the” song about “the” city of cities: Frank Sinatra’s "New York, New York" (sung by Sinatra, I don’t think he wrote it). It is, without question, a very good song, but telling a different story. New York, New York is a positive, lively song. The city seems the place of opportunities, where dreams come true. The Velvet’s view is not that optimistic. The place it depicts is harshly difficult and morally depraved. Probably nothing can be more far away from traditional values. A transexual, a prostitute, a dealer… The song does not talk about a lovely or an easy place to live.

Reed’s deep voice relates how people live during the New York nights in the city that does not sleep, with all his harshness. If Sinatra’s music reminds of Broadway Avenue, The Velvet’s melody is melancholic, probably evoking Harlem, with the “colour” girls saying doo, doo, doo…

However, not truly a sad song, because I think it must be understood as a reminder of the strange beauty we can find underground, introducing Mannhatan as the best representation of that beauty.

Thank you so much for the review, Asier. I couldn't agree more with your choice, as WOTWS is arguably my favourite song by good old Lou Reed. I adored this 1972 classic hit instantly when I first heard it way back in the late 70s. Mind you, it was only the music that haunted me then, as I couldn't understand what the lyrics meant at first. But I found the bass rhythm, the string arrangement and the sax solo played over the fade-over absolutely fascinating, let alone Lou's "velvety" voice.

Well, Asier asks me to embed this Youtube clip of the song, which, suitably enough, contains the lyrics captions.

Then we have this live rendition of the legendary song 10 years later, in 1982, but I definitely prefer the studio version, don't you?

C'mon guys, keep posting your song on this blog! See you later.

November 28th

Lourdes says:

Hi Jose Luis and mates,

I have just listened to one of my favorites songs, Don´t Give Up, and here is my little contribution to the Music Spot with this romantic song by Noa called Now Forget. I've enjoyed it since the first time I listened to it 4 or 5 years ago. At that time, I used to drive alone many hours, so I soon learnt the easy lyrics of the song and sang a duet with Noa. Can you imagine the scene?

Joking apart, I really love Noa´s voice and I have listened to her in concert several times.I think it is easy to let oneself go with this warm tune. Nothing to add because the song says everything, don´t you think?

Thanks a million for your music entry, dear Lourdes. I was starting to wonder if any of you would ever again dare have a go on this blog. Anyway, Lourdes wanted me to insert a live rendition by the Israeli artist in her homeland in 2005, which I've done further down below. Unfortunately, though I've searched high and low for the song's "embeddable" lyrics scroller, I have been unable to find it, which is really odd! Sorry Lourdes!

But still you can find the scroller of Now Forget on this link. Instead I've included the goear.com clip for the studio version so that you can compare it with her gig performance.

Well done, Lourdes! So c'mon guys, keep blogging ...

November 21st

Hi folks!
Early this morning I was listening to my favourite radio station, BBC radio 2, and its flagship show Wake up To Wogan, hosted by veteran Irish broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan, who has been presenting the programme since the early 70s, can you believe it! Very much like "Just a minute", which you probably remember with mixed feelings, don't you?
Anyway, Terry Wogan's music selection has always been, by and large, rather appealing to me, as he usually airs popular classics of British and American music. As an example, this morning he played a song of truly mixed emotions, one that I've always loved since I first listened to it more than 20 years ago. Probably some of the not so young classmates will be familiar with it through one of these famous O.N.C.E. campaigns on TV and radio in the mid 90s. Any idea? Well, I'm talking about former Genesis lead vocalist, Peter Gabriel, and his fantastic Don't give up, sung as a duet with one of England's most celebrated female performers of the last decades, Kate Bush.
There's a lovely story behind the song that I'd like to tell you briefly. Apparently, Peter had suffered a nervous breakdown in the early 80s after his tense departure from the legendary rock band, which at the time shocked many fans across the world, including myself. The thing is that he decided to write Don't give up to thank the invaluable support he had from his family and friends throughout those troubled days. I guess his state of mind was a mixture of depression and yet hope, and these feelings are the ones that I am infected by whenever I listen to the song: Depression, when Peter sings with his piercing unmistakable voice. Hope, when Kate takes her turn at the chorus and comforts Peter, her voice a velvety pillow where he can "rest his (aching) head". I can't say Don't give up is exactly nostalgic or sentimental, but by all means incredibly moving. The song seems to depict a shattered, desperate person (do these adjectives ring the bell?) who cannot find a place in this society and begs for support and advice.
OK, enough waffle. Fancy listening to the tune, don't you? This is, as usual, the goear.com audio clip with the lyrics scroller - do not fail to read the song's words, OK?
Let me just say that I'd like to specially dedicate this heartfelt song to a friend who is suffering a lot and too often feels desperate, disappointed, neglected, ... shattered. That's why I wish to tell this good friend, loud and clear with this song, just DON'T GIVE UP, ever!

Another reason why DGU is famous is that not just one, but two videos, were filmed for the promotion of the single: The first shows a single take of Peter and Kate hugging each other tightly in a warm long embrace, against the backdrop of the sun entering total eclipse and then re-emerging at the end of the song. Just beautiful!

If this wasn't enough, for whatever reason a second more elaborate videoclip was created some time later. But on this occasion the focus is totally different: we can see Peter and Kate's faces superimposed over the now black-and-white, then sepia tones of a short film portraying men and women living tough economic times. There's the dole queue, a couple bitterly arguing, a run-down town ... The final close-up of a candlelight against the windscreen wipers is poetic enough. And boy, do I love the closing bass guitar! Take a look:



Well, which do you prefer? Personally, I can't make up my mind, why should I anyway? What is undeniable is that Don't give up is a six-minute gem from an equally fantastic album, So (I still treasure the old cassette!), featuring some other masterpieces. A must-hear album indeed, which mixes musical quality and commercial success, and to my modest mind Peter Gabriel's most complete solo album to date.
OK folks, this is all for now. I look forward to your entries, either musical or regarding any other topic. Hey, there are still many of you who haven't written a single word. What are you waiting for?

November 17th

Cristina Hernandez says:

I’ve chosen one of the songs I like most. It’s “I’ll be waiting” by Lenny Kravitz.
I recognise I’m not a great fan of Lenny but I’ve liked this song since the first time I listened to it. In fact, I think this song is really different from Lenny’s ordinary style.
The rhythm is rather slow but in my opinion, it has a high intensity that transmits melancholic feelings, mainly with that piano throughout the song and the violins from the middle to the end of it.
As far as I’m concerned, the black and white video he filmed reinforces this idea because in it Lenny appears dressed in black alone while composing the song and playing both the piano and the guitar in an extremely dark studio. And when he both arrives and leaves, he’s wearing a thick black coat with a big turned up collar. But I also notice some optimistic flashes mixed with romantic intentions.
Something that improves the song is Lenny’s voice. It makes it even better, if that is possible at all. It’s so characterisitic, a bit husky, with some high-pitched sounds, unmistakable. Any of his songs you listen to, you know it’s him. Lenny’s voice stamps a personal mark on all of them.
I believe “I’ll be waiting” expresses intimate feelings but with a positive energy that I really like.

Hello folks!

These days we've been focusing on the language of reviews, both for music and books, and you have have been posting on this blog various songs to illustrate the language, which is great.
As for me, well, I usually embed old songs and that's why I guess my students more often than not think of me as an old fogey (=carroza), which surely I am - and indeed I don't mind- , because I absolutely adore the music of the 60's, 70's and 80's, which I was brought up on.
But today, though I don't want this to be a regular ocurrence (ha ha!), I'm going to publish something, say, modern. You see, I was reading The Guardian online this morning (incidentally there's an interview with Rafa Nadal if you're interested in either tennis or Rafa himself) when a headline caught my attention: The Strokes take top spot in NME's top 50 albums of the noughties (the 2000s, that is). So, I decided to have a look to see who was in the list and, together with the likes of familar names in the world of modern British music (Amy Whitehouse, Blur, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys ...) I found out that none of them took spot #1. Nope. According to the veteran magazine New Musical Express (which has been around since the 1950s, way before the Beatles arrived at the scene), it's a band from NY who deserves the accolade: right, The Strokes. I've only heard their odd song on the radio, but I thought I should include them in this music spot as representatives of a trendier kind of today's music. So there you go, the top band of the 2000s no less: there's the goear.com clip of Is This it (from the reputed namesake album), the lyrics scroller and a YouTube live rendition of the song during a gig in Ireland (funny how they make the audience chant the universal "oe, oe, oe, oe!").
Personally, I don't think much of their music. OK, the Strokes sound modern - yet a bit dull - to me, and I definitely prefer the song in concert, which does some justice to their stage presence. I reckon I just don't like the metallic, kind of robotic voice of the lead singer (by the way, someone by the name of ... Julian Casablancas??) in the studio version. What do you think guys?
Anyway, let me end up saying that, however much young blood, so to speak, I listen to, I'll stick to the classic rock bands of my youth. Sorry, but it's difficult to get rid of my "old fogey" stigma! And, if I may say so, I refuse to.

November 16th

Javi says:

“With or without you”, by the highly acclaimed group U2, is one of my favourite songs. It was released in the eighties from the album “The Joshua Tree”. This song reminds me of my youth when I used to bar crawl in Gran Via. The music triggers a mix of feelings in me.
On the one hand, the sadness of their music (one of the members of the band had suffered a romantic crisis) touches me, especially The Edge’s guitar, who stamps his personal style on the song; on the other hand, Bono’s tuneful yet forceful voice impresses me. I am extremely moved by the growing intensity of the song whenever I listen to it.
The Edge’s guitar and Bono’s voice complement each other to achieve a perfect duet, a one-off in the history of music. It is obviously a universal song.

November 11th

Ana "Cleo" says:

“What’s a woman” is a song by Vaya con Dios that probably you know. I admit it’s not a new song, but it’s my favourite while taking a shower, waking up, ironing ... even I sing and listen to it when I walk in the street (only kidding); it’s a deeply nostalgic song.

Vaya con Dios is not a new musical group, in fact it’s a bit old, but I love Dani Klein’s voice: it’s so powerful, sweet and sweeping that I never get tired of listening to her. In my opinion she’s the driving force of Vaya con Dios, a Belgian group founded in 1984 by her and two other guys. They’re well-known in Germany, and after their success with this song and “Nah neh nah” in Holland too, even though at the beginning Dutch people didn’t want to accept them because of the fact they are from Belgium (you know the rivalry between the two countries).
At first their style was influenced by gypsy music and jazz, but afterwards, when only Dani remained from the original line-up, their style changed and the band became more popular in Europe.

Regarding Dani’s personality, I find her extremely attractive; on her website you can read a huge amount of interviews. She’s a very interesting woman: she knows herself pretty well and knows perfectly what she’s looking for, not only about music but life in general ...
In one of her interviews she speaks about inspiration and love and says that artists distinguish themselves by their sensitivity, which makes them more susceptible to the cruelty and the beauty as well. With respect to love, she says that you can find it in different persons at different moments, and she gets the conclusion that living with the same partner your entire life is rather unnatural. Maybe her statement can be controversial, but I wonder if she’s not partly right.

She has always been afraid of solitude, and this feeling and many others you can notice in her songs; that’s why I adore her, because she’s intensely authentic.

Fantastic work, Ana! It comes just handy for the subject of music reviews we're talking about at the moment.
Now, this is the song's videoclip by courtesy of DailyMotion.com (which features a young Dani Klein back in 1990) and a bit further down below you can find the lyrics scroller plus a live rendition in 2006, this time on YouTube. C'mon folks, keep sending in your music reviews!

November 4th

Ana Isabel says:

When I was a child I faithfully watched “Fame” every week, and since then my golden dream, well-known by the whole family, was that I wanted to be a black girl and sing and dance as only a black person is capable of doing. That’s why some time ago, when I listened to Alicia Keys for the first time playing the piano and singing at the same time she became my idol. I studied piano but I have never been capable of singing and playing at the same time, so I started to play the guitar.

By chance one day I saw her singing on MTV: she is a sweet girl and she seems so simple and shy that I was surprised by her powerful black voice, extremely deep, both soft and hard, which almost instantly captivated me.

Anyway, I have been thinking of which Alicia Keys’ song I could choose, and deciding on one has turned out very difficult to me, so I have chosen two of them: the first one, entitled “If I ain’t got you” is more intimate, touching and, in my opinion, more representative of the real Alicia Keys.

The second, “No one”, is better-known and more modern, but her torn voice doesn’t cease to amaze me.

Thanks so much, Ana, for the two songs. Personally, I like Alicia alright, but I tend to feel that she's kind of disappointed me a little bit since her such promising beginning with her debut album Songs in A Minor. I mean, probably since then she's been engulfed by worldwide success, which came, as someone might say, "too early, too soon". Indeed she's immensely talented but I don't think she's using that talent to develop her full potential, though of course that's only my modest opinion. OK, guys, keep sending in those great tunes!

November 2nd

Miriam says:

I would like to say something about the latest song Jose Luis has uploaded. I have listened to it and I like it, it is good. But I didn't know it, I think I am too young.

Anyway, I would like to share with you one group I found this summer when I went to Brighton. I used to go to a pub for a drink and they played this band called Phoenix, so I asked the barman and he showed me the group and I bought the CD.

Maybe you won't like them, but I would ask you to listen to Phoenix, who remind me of lots of things.This is their hit single "Lisztomania".

Then, this is a rendition of the song on the famous American Show "Saturday Night Live". Regrettably, it's a plain lip-synch, right? You see, I barely knew the band's name (they're French, aren't they Miriam?) but they sound fresh and lively. I quite like them!

By the way, great to see the comments at the end by Ana & Ana. Way to go, guys!

November 1st

Hi again!
You know, there's something I hadn't done on this blog just yet (and frankly I don't know why!) The thing is that on last year's class web I had included a special section called my music blog, where I inserted now and then (and so did the students, well, not many of them) my favourite songs, because you can't possibly imagine how important music has been, is and will ever be in my life. Moreover, I've always believed that, had it not been for my ruling passion for rock music, I wouldn't have felt attracted to English the way I did. I mean, in my early teens, when I used to listen to the likes of Queen, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and stuff - I was lucky enough to have some "trendy, progressive" mates who initiated me on that kind of music - I desperately wanted to make out what those guys were singing, so I would play their songs on and on, all day long, to the shock of my mother and the whole neighbourhood. And that's how my love of English began.
What I mean is that if there's the one thing I couldn't do without is MUSIC, which I listen to all day, every day. So yesterday morning I was embedding Ana Navarro's latest contribution to our blog while tuning to BBC Radio 2, when this fantastic song came up which I hadn't listened to for some time and I really enjoyed: Fleetwood Mac's 1982 classic hit Gypsy, which I'm sure you must have heard before as it's still a radio favourite across the world.
Let me just tell you a little bit about this British-American superband that started as an influential blues-rock band in the late 60s but later became the ultimate pop-rock act (incidentally, they're back on the road these days, I hear). To me they epitomize the most elegant POP music, combining commercial success and musical quality and I always recommend their 1988 Greatest Hits album as an essential in any record collection.
The first time I heard the song I didn't know very well what its lyrics really meant, until a few years later I watched an interview with Stevie Nicks, one of the band's female lead singers and the song's composer. She wrote Gypsy in the late 70s, seemingly reflecting on the old days, before FM was set up, when she struggled to make ends meet in a humble flat in San Francisco and had to sleep on a matress on the floor. So Gypsy is kind of a quest for a time before worldwide success happened. Then, one of Stevie's closest friends died of leukemia around that time so she decided to add a famous line ("I still see your bright eyes") and the song became a heartfelt tribute to the friend's passing.
The thing is that Gypsy has always moved me and made me kind of melancholic. I don't know if it's Stevie Nicks' haunting voice, the soft music, the emotional lyrics. Well, you judge for yourselves.
Then, there's the delightful video, mixing colour and black and white, and one of the most expensive music clips produced at the time. It depicts a very intimate atmosphere (I love Stevie's reflection on the mirror) and some sections at times remind you of those old films and musicals of the early 20th century, where you can see the full band playing different characters while wearing elegant costumes. Very classy indeed!
I do hope you enjoy Gypsy on this All Saints' Day. Now, would you you like to include your own songs - in English, that is - on this blog? Give it a go, guys! You just need to name the title and attach the related text by mail and I'll do the rest, OK?
Have a lovely Sunday!