Lyrical: State Names (Part One)

These are songs that contain States names in the lyrics or title.

“I’ve Been Everywhere” is a rapid-fire novelty song originally written in 1959 by Australian country singer-songwriter Geoff Mack, who crafted it as a tongue-twisting travelogue listing dozens of towns across Australia, but it was later adapted to American geography in 1962 by Hank Snow,

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Connie Francis, Alan Bergman, Dave Cousins, and David Kaff Dies

Four more music related deaths to report.

These artists have recorded #1 hits, sang in movies, written books; was a award winning lyricist with his wife; founded the folk-turned-prog-rock band Strawbs; and was a classically trained pianist-turned rock keyboardist for the British progressive rock band Rare Bird and played Viv Savage in Rob Reiner’s, This is Spinal Tap movie.

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The Monkees – Doyle’s Space: Music Hall of Fame

The Monkees, once derided as artificial, ultimately earned critical reevaluation for their enduring catalog, artistic resilience, and cultural impact, culminating in a richly documented legacy of hit singles, successful albums, and beloved performances spanning more than half a century.

The musical journey of the Monkees began with four young men from disparate backgrounds, each with varying degrees of musical and performance experience, who came together through a unique convergence of television and pop music. Before their union as a group, each member had carved out individual paths that would ultimately shape the dynamic of the Monkees.

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Record Producer Richard Perry Dies

Perry’s first significant commercial success was “God Bless Tiny Tim,” which reached No. 7 on Billboard’s Pop Albums chart.

Richard Perry, born on June 18, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, was a distinguished American record producer whose career spanned several decades and encompassed a wide array of musical genres. From an early age, Perry exhibited a profound interest in music, influenced by his parents who were both music teachers and instrument manufacturers.

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The Monkees – Doyle’s Space: SitCom Hall of Fame

Airing on NBC for two seasons (58 episodes), the show chronicled the fictional misadventures of a struggling rock band.

The Monkees was my favorite sitcom as a child. Before video recording, I would use my Radio Shack Cassette Recorder to capture the audio of each episode. I didn’t have an external microphone, so I would stack up books and place the recorder by the TV speaker. I would then re-play the tape over and over and sing along to each episode’s songs.

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Songs and Beverages (Part One)

Musically, it features a slow, brooding tempo with haunting guitar riffs by Jimmy Page and emotionally charged vocals by Robert Plant.

Names of beverages in songs are sometimes used to symbolize emotions through a state of mind. There are no shortage of songs that have this affliction. I’m going to talk about a few of my favorites in these posts and maybe list some of the low hanging fruit as we go along. I hope you enjoy!

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Covers – White Christmas

A white christmas is something we rarely get here near Atlanta, Georgia. The tune though has been around all my life. The song “White Christmas” was written by Irvin Berlin[1] for the 1942 musical film Holiday Inn[2]. The composition won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 15th Academy Awards.

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Steve Harwell Dies

Steven Scott Harwell, the band Smash Mouth’s lead singer, was born on January 9, 1967, in Santa Clara, California. Greg Camp formed Smash Mouth in 1994 with Harwell, Kevin Coleman, and Paul De Lisle. They first succeeded with their 1997 song “Walkin’ on the Sun”.

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Bob Feldman Dies

My boyfriend’s back he’s gonna save my reputation
(Hey-la-day-la my boyfriend’s back)
If I were you I’d take a permanent vacation
(Hey-la, hey-la, my boyfriend’s back)

Robert C. Feldman, commonly known as Bob Feldman, was a prominent American songwriter, record producer, and musician. Robert was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 14, 1940. He was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home and briefly studied to become a cantor.

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Meco

Meco’s Star Wars Theme proved so popular that it outsold the original William’s score. It also became the first number one hit for Casablanca / Millennium Records and went platinum.

Domenico Monardo is best known as Meco (sometimes Meco Monardo). He is an American musician and producer born in Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania November 29, 1939. Building model ships, science fiction, and movies were his childhood hobbies. His dad played the trombone in a small Italian band but young Meco chose the slide trombone.

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