Let's Go Crazy.

Everyone needs a little Prince in their life. Just admit it!!!
A strange character that's for sure. I remember thinking when i was younger that i couldn't really tell if he was a guy or a girl... lol.
having such a popular career spanning over decades just proves that he can keep up with the changing times. So many great hits under his belt; Kiss, Purple Rain, Raspberry Beret, When Doves Cry, 1999... just to name a few. Personally, I like to label him as the Flamboyant Rockstar!!
His clothes, his hair, his lifestyle were always crazy, but his songs were so good!
Let's Go Crazy isn't my favorite Prince song, yet it's still addicting!! I love listening to this one really loud in the car!
Incubus did a cover of this song recentlythat is really, really good!!! Be sure to check that out as well!
So Let's Go Crazy shall we??!!

~Penny Lane

We Built This City

So last weekend i took a little trip to Long Lake, NY to my families Lake House. One of the nights we were there we went out to dinner at the local bar, The Owl's Nest. As we were sitting there waiting for our food to arrive, a song came on the radio that sounded oddly familiar.... "We Built This City" by Starship.
If you've never heard this song you need to right away and if you havve heard this song you'd agree with me by saying that it definitely gives ya quite the chuckle! lol
As it registered to me what song it was, I looked to my mother and said, "is this song really on right now? am i hearing this correctly??!!" she answered and said, "yes you are! Isn't this we built this city on rock and roll??"
I started laughing out loud! How an obscure song like this would come on in a small town resturant out in the middle of nowhere i don't know! O man!
Today i found the video to put up on the blog.... Wow it got even better! Such a creepy, weird video but kinda great at the same time. There's this one part in the video where the lead singer and the rest of the band are standing infront of the Lincoln Monument just singing the song to the lincoln statue. All of a sudden the statue comes to life and yes you guessed right, Honest Abe himself starts singing along. I literally wet my pants when it happened!
Please watch this, if it doesn't make you laugh you're crazy!!

~Penny Lane

Kiss On My List

My Dad once told me that an album called "Abandoned Luncheonette" was probably his favorite album. He said he could listen to that album over and over, never getting sick of it. A time when you could actually wear out an LP HaHa, I only wish that was still true! At the time being young and nieve I was thinking, "Abandoned Luncheonette??? What kind of name is that for an album and who the hell sings it?!" My dad told me the group was called Hall & Oates. I of course at the time started hysterically laughing... Hall & Oates? What kind of name is that? Once i found out it stood for Daryl Hall & John Oates...(the name of the guys in the group) it seemed to make a little more sense. lol
I saw a picture of these two and again started laughing! The hair, the mustache, the crazy 80's styles they had going on.....
Once i listened to that album though, my opinion completely changed, i stopped laughing and began saying, "ooo i think i kinda like this!"
Every song on that album is great! You start at the begining and listen all the way till the bitter end!
A start off of "When the Morning Comes," which hands down is my favorite Hall & Oates song! A few others include, "Las Vegas Turnaround," "Lady Rain," and of course "Abandoned Luncheonette."
Everyone today mostly knows them from their songs being in movies such as, 500 Days of Summer, You Again, and She's Out of My League. Hits like Maneater, Sara Smile, You Make My Dreams Come True... all really, really good but nothing compared to their second studio album.
I've had the pleasure to say i've seen them live a couple times and it was great! Still sporting the mustache and long hair that seems to have become their trademark!
OooOO! and if you ever see them coming to a venue near you...make sure not to miss Hall & Oates Home for Christmas.... definitely not a show by them you'd wanna miss, right Dad?! HahHahHa

~Penny Lane

The Royal Scam - The Caves of Altamira

I find it more rare these days that an album comes out from a band and i can simply say, "I love EVERY song on this album."
Nowadays, i find myself buying 1 or 2 songs that i love from an album, but could really care less about the rest.
You would think that over the years music technology becoming so evolved that all music would progressivly have gotten better over the years... WRONG! Music seems to be getting progressivly worse! People with little or no talent are becoming stars and selling albums. Remember the days when bands and singers actually had to have talent to make it big?!?! HaHaHa unfortuanately i don't! I wasn't alive during that era, but thank god that music is still around today for me to listen to.
Don't get me wrong there are definitely exeptions that come along and remind us what great music really sounds like. A breath of fresh air!

The first time my father introduced me to Steely Dan's album "The Royal Scam," I remember thinking that i had never heard music like this before. Every song we listened to just had this "flow," easy listening at its finest! Donald Fagen's unique voice alongside the blend of jazzy, rock and R&B sounds just grab your ears from the start. To be honest, i can't tell what the hell he's talking about in most songs.... but i love it!!! The Royal Scam keeps you intrigued from the start of "Kid Charlemagne" all the way to the end of the title track "The Royal Scam."

Thanks to my father and his love of tunes with a bluesy, jazzy rock 'n' roll, i think i can truely say i know what really good music sounds like.

~Penny Lane
My hands down favorite song on the album ( tough, tough decision) has to be "The Caves of Altamira"

Going To California

I've never been the kind of person that could say, "This is my absolute favorite song of all time!!" but when this song comes on... every time i find myself thinking, "this might just be my favorite song."

I got into Led Zeppelin around my Freshman year of high school and i'll tell ya, i've never been the same since. From the first song my mother played for me, i knew i had been changed musically forever! Each part of this band comes together so magnetically that when they play, magic really does happen. Jimmy Page's unique guitar fingers, Robert Plant's sweet high voice, John Paul Jone's cool bass playing, and John Bonham's crazy drumming.

I FOREVER wanted to see them live and was always jelous that my mother got to (3rd row at The Garden that is! Ugh). Now i think to myself, maybe it's better this way... I would have much rather prefered seeing them in their prime, like when my mother saw them. Seeing them now just might ruin the imaginary concert playing in my head whenever i listen to them.

This is FOR SURE my favorite Zeppelin song, but even if i say that i will never decide or admit to having an all time favorite song.... this would def. be it, if that day ever came!!

~Penny Lane

River

Today's song goes out to my Mother. This song came on today at work and i was instantly brought back to the first time i really remember listening to Joni Mitchell.

Years ago falling in and out of sleep, horse trailer in tow, coming home from a horse show. My mom had on Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album in the car. As she was driving and singing along, thinking i was truly asleep, I started really listening to the lyrics of each song thinking, "who is this? I like this song, oo wait, this one too." HaHa
The song "River" came on next and I was instantly hooked. I wanted to automatically start hitting replay over and over. The melody of the song along with her amazing voice is so beautiful. Everyone knows that after hearing Joni Mitchell sing, no one can sing like her... no one. Try hitting those high notes in the car doing a little driving karaoke, tell me its easy then! HA. Granted, the songs meanings a little bit depressing... but besides the fact... it's beautiful!

To this day, Joni Mitchell will forever remind me of my mother. Great memories of all those long car rides we took together over the years and all the amazing music she introduced to me along the way. All my musical education comes from her.

For some reason.... i'll never be able to tell why.... i can't ever listen to this song without tearing up... happy tearing up of course.

Happy Day Beofre Your Birthday Mom!!!

~Penny Lane

Young the Giant - "My Body" (Official Video)

Another song added to my latest obsession list.... Young The Giant, "My Body."  I havn't figured out why i'm currently addicted to this song... it's just sooo  damn good!!  They have a sound that meshes up what i like from various artists.... i love when bands do that!  A little bit of The Cure meets Band of Horses and Temper Trap.

My Body tells me no!
But I won’t quit
I want more, I want more
My Body tells me no!
But I won’t quit
I want more, I want more

 

The beat is catchy, i'm loving the lyrics and the lead singer.  Something about the energy in his voice...

This band was also really great live!  I saw them open for Incubus last weekend, they def. got the party started! hahaha  I've listened to the rest of their album and currently downloading more!!!  If you've never given this band a good listen, do yourself a favor.... LISTEN!  You may just think they seem like another indie rock group... another Temper Trap or Death Cab... but their sound is fresh and contagious!  Now that i think of it... Their song "Apartment" sounds like The Cure!

 

~Penny Lane

Between the Lines

I got into Sara Bareilles a couple years ago when her album "Little Voice" came out in 2007.  Her songs have always seemed to me to be catchy , pop kinda love songs.  She has a great voice, one that sounds like it comes right out of soulful blusey singer from the 60's. 

Over the years, I've bought every album she's come out with and ended up loving every song.  Since i'm a sucker for sappy songs about heartbreak and pains of love, her song "Between the Lines" spoke to me immediately of course!  I love how Sara puts together the lyrics of this song, a different twist on explaining love gone wrong.  A song that speaks about loving someone you can't really have or loving someone where timing just doesn't seem to be on your side.

Sooo if you're a hopeless romantic like myself and songs just like this one slways speak to exactly what you're going through, then this one's for you from me! 
ooo and p.s.  Don't give up on being a hopeless romantic..... it makes life more interesting even when you thinks it's a curse.  Lol

~Penny Lane

Back To Black

When i first heard Amy Winehouse's "Back To Black" I thought it was just another sappy heartbreak song. I should have known better that Amy Winehouse dosnt write those kinda songs! Once i got addicted and put it on replay a couple times, i realized how much of an angry tone it had..... then i loved it even more.  The classic jazzy sort of beat hooked me from the begining.  A burlesque type song!  Once you add Amy's sultry deep voice it sets the tone for this bluesy, girl scorned kinda song.   It's really a shame that she had to die so young with so much talent.  I love to listen to this song when i'm feeling a little bit down, sorry for myself and i need a kick to get me a little angry....(if ya know what i  mean girls...) So here's a little girl power for anybody that gets that feeling... don't go back to black.... get even! hahahha

~Penny Lane

A Certain Shade of Green Acoustic

Does a song ever make you smile? I mean genuinely smile....
Some songs make you smile just for remembering a specific moment in time. A place or thing that made you laugh, have fun, or remember a happier moment.
"A Certain Shade of Green" (the acoustic version) by Incubus makes me smile every time it comes on my I-Pod. Not just a smile because i love this band or happy that my shuffle is good at reading my mind, but a smile because the lyrics and the beat of that song put me into a sort of musical trance!
I've always felt that if a band could actually make me feel something with a certain song just by hearing it for the first time or the 50th time, then they've accomplished putting you on that certain musical high. This song makes me really appreciate how such a loud strong song (which is it's original nature) could be turned into a mystic, smooth sort of jam song.

So whether you hear songs that make you think of happy moments, sad moments, or just moments in time.... do yourself a favor, stop and take time to let yourself slip into the musical moment.... i know for a fact it will put a genuine smile on your face...

Enjoy
~Penny Lane

In The Summertime

Question....Who dosn't love this song? Or this viedo... look at those chops and afros! In the spirit of the Labor Day weekend i thought this song would be an appropriate end to the summer :(.  Mungo Jerry... what an awesome name for a group... this song will forever remind me of Wedding Crashers.. and summertime!  Such a peppy song with some great lyrics.  The first time i heard this song i thought it was a spoof... i made fun of it for a while and then yes... i downloaded it and became addicted. 
Happy Labor Day!!
~Penny Lane

Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend

Last night, me, myself and a big glass of wine watched Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. A timeless classic with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. If you have no idea what movie this is you might know the famous song that came from it.... "Diamonds are a girls best friend."
I have such a love for old movies from the 50's and 60's and it had been a long time since i first watched this with my mom. The outfits alone in this movie were spectacular. I wish girls still dressed like that, it was such a glamorous time.
So now ya know where Madonna got her idea for the music video "Material girl"..... total replica of this 1950's classic. Such a great song... Enjoy!

~Penny Lane