Thursday, January 1, 2009

New Year...New Music

It seems that lately, I've been blogging about music a lot. Well, if you know me, then you'll know that music plays a large role in my life. It always has...probably always will. So, don't be surprised if you see quite a few entries about a new group or a new song I've heard that I want to write about. Today is one of those days.

Last night, New Year's Eve, I made my famous white pizza for dinner, Sara made a cheesecake, we had chips, popcorn, spray cheese, pop...all the requirements for a New Year's Eve party, even if it was just the four of us sitting at home watching Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve (with Ryan Seacrest) and Carson Daly's New Year's Eve special.

As we sat in front of the fireplace, waiting for the arrival of 2009 by eating pizza and soda and snacks, we were switching channels on the TV always looking for the show that had the better music artist on. MTV screwed up this year. It was an all Miley Cyrus night. She has her place and I can stomach several of her songs, but does she warrant an entire night on New Year's Eve? What sealed the deal for MTV was they didn't have the normal midnight cover song. Ever year for as long as I can remember, I'd make sure to check MTV at midnight to see which band was covering what song. One of the best that I can remember was No Doubt covering REM's "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" in 2000. Well, MTV has let that die as well as any chances of retaining viewers older than 30. The final nail in their music coffin has been hammered. Next...

Dick Clark did pretty well with us by having Lionel Richie perform. I mean, c'mon...it's Lionel Richie. We didn't get just a track from a new album but a medley of all of his classics. Sadly, he dampened that pleasure (much to my daughter's enjoyment) by having the Jonas Brothers perform as well. So, he broke even with us. On second thought, he may be in the hole.

Carson Daly won the night. He shared the night with Luke Russert and some other female co-host less irritating than Kelly Pickler over with Dick and Ryan. His delivery was professional and calm and he seemed all-together less frantic than the group over on ABC. But that's not how he won.

He emerged victorious by giving us fresh, new music by a group called The Ting Tings. Sure, the name is enough to scare away any guy with not enough testosterone to walk into the music store and ask for the latest CD by The Ting Tings. But for me, the music performed by this group took me back to the 1980's. The sound was a blend of Duran Duran, Blondie, Chic, Franz Ferdinand and the White Stripes. Top it with a 1980's vibe and you have The Ting Tings. It was something new, and MTV hasn't delivered anything like it since they showed their last Buzzworthy video in the middle of the night sandwiched between another extremely long marathon of Real World or Road Rules many years ago.

So, today...I'm doing some research on the Ting Tings on youtube and I discover something else I'm not even looking for...a band called Alphabeat who also deliver music with a 70's/80's pop feel. Somehow, someway, they're similar enough in style or attitude or hair style or clothing choices that the youtube gods had the foresight to suggest one band when people like me are searching for the other. I saw the message that was being delivered to me from them, and it was good.

The Ting Tings are already beginning to forge their way into American ears and will probably be well known before Alphabeat has a chance to introduce themselves to us. So, I'm taking it upon myself to share new music with you, much like I did when I was a radio DJ. I'll start with The Ting Tings and the video for the song they sang last night, "Shut Up and Let Me Go". Then, the band I discovered by chance, Alphabeat and "10,000 Nights".

Thank you, Carson Daly, for having The Ting Tings on your show because without seeing them, I never would've tripped across Alphabeat. In less than one day, Carson, you have introduced me to two of my favorite songs of 2009. You win, Carson...hands down, not just for bringing me The Ting Tings, but also bringing me Alphabeat, even if by pure association. Oh, and also for sticking it to the pompous MTV execs who think they have their finger on the pulse of everything cool. They totally missed the target. Enjoy the music.

The Ting Tings - Shut Up And Let Me Go



6 comments:

@nnie said...

good to hear from you again! I love music too. In fact, I was cleaning out a big crate of old cassette tapes yesterday... tapes from high school and college.

Among them:
Lionel Richie
New Edition
Lisa Lisa and Cult JAm
Eagles
Michael Jackson
Foreigner
Cheap Trick
Club Nouveau (saw in conert)
Nu Shooz
Prince
Amy Grant
Steven C. Chapman
Whitney Houston
Garth Brooks (saw in concert)
and Midnight Star

It was such a blast from the past!

Anonymous said...

How ironic. Sounds like my New Year's night only it was a fireplace. It was a unit overlooking the water where the fireworks are always amazing as the city is the backdrop.
I love music, so I appreciate the run down of the night's music. And getting into the music industry seems to be a consistent growing thought. Recording Connection has been placing people successfully in the business for over twenty years. They use a matchmaking service for style, city, career, etc. http://www.recordingconnection.com

junebug said...

I liked the Ting Tangs "That's Not my Name" the best.

junebug said...

Ok - I just downloaded the whole TT album from itunes. :-)

Mike said...

Annie!

What a fun collection of music. I have Nu Shooz on CD. Only for a couple of songs but I like it. How was the Club Nouveau concert? Were they the opening act? If so, for who?

Mike said...

Junebug,

That's why I enjoyed my time as a radio DJ. I was able to expose people to music and maybe play something they liked well enough to include in their own collection. It's too bad royalties don't roll down hill to the people who turned you on to something. Glad you liked it!