Friday, December 05, 2008

Songs and Cars and songs about cars....

Click here to listen to today's musical edition of Radio or Not (runtime 16:36)

I was totally remiss yesterday. I didn't record a Radio or Not show, nor did I write a blog entry. I was torn. I could have commented on the return of the Big 3 CEOs to the Senate, or part 2 of W's first "exit interview"... but nothing really moved me. Plus, I'm working on some other things that kept me occupied for most of the day, and I just let it slide...

Today as I was preparing, I kept hearing Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" playing in my head, as it's in the news... first, for garnering a load of Grammy nominations yesterday, and second, because Coldplay is being sued by guitarist Joe Satriani for plagiariazing the hook of that very hook-laden song.

So, today I decided to indulge the musicologist inside me and look at those two songs, along with some famously plagiarized songs of the past.

And then I moved on to the controversy over what to do with the auto industry. Instead of giving you my opinions, I thought I'd point you toward www.michaelmoore.com. He's done some great writing over the past few days on the subject, and has appeared on a few talk shows, including Countdown, discussing it. Instead, I thought I'd take a brief musical look at how important cars have been to Americana in song. Enjoy.

If you'd like to make suggestions for a part 2, by all means... post your ideas in the comments section below!

Have a great weekend....

Click here to listen to today's musical edition of Radio or Not (runtime 16:36)

7 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Tesla Motors of California recently announced that they were postponing the introduction of a new sedan because they couldn't get financing for the required production facility. As long as we're throwing billions at those Detroit dinosaurs, how about a relatively small loan to a company that is already producing and marketing a viable electric car?

Unknown said...

Here were my first thoughts.

Sammy Hagar -Trans AM (Highway Wonderland)

Beach Boys- LIttle GTO

Crazy about a Mercury "Mercury Blues", Yeah the brand had been killed but it is still Americana.

American Pie – Don McLean (How did you of all people miss this one?)

This is also a country music song about a guy that works at a Cadillac factory and knows he will never be able to buy one so he starts taking home parts and builds his Frankenstein Cadillac. It's a classic country song that I have on some disk or computer in my home just didn't have time to look. Can anyone offer help here.

With that being said, How about some truck music. Country music has lost of songs that talk about there Ford or Chevy Trucks. Add some country in. I don't have much knowlege of country music but I did find this on the web.

Artist/Band: Travis Tritt
Lyrics for Song: Country Club

Lyric

Well I'm a member of a country club
Country music is what I love
I drive an old Ford pick-up truck
I do my drink-in from a dixie cup
Yea I'm a bona-fide dancin' fool
I shoot a mighty mean game of pool
At any honky-tonk roadside pub
I'm a member of a country club

So lets not forget the trucks. If it wasn't for the trucks Ford would be out of business by now.

BTW: More music, can you make "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath the theme song for the Bush Administration?

elkojohn said...

"drove my Chevy to the levy
but the levy was dry"
always leaves me with a deep longing...

Unknown said...

John said...

"This is also a country music song about a guy that works at a Cadillac factory and knows he will never be able to buy one so he starts taking home parts and builds his Frankenstein Cadillac."

That's "One Piece at a Time" by Johnny Cash. (Composed by Wayne Kemp)

Unknown said...

More on the song theme, here's some lesser known ones (songs and cars). As a long time AMC fan, I've always love the "Beep Beep" (the Nash Rambler song) by the Playmates. The Rave-Ups have a song about one of my favorite cars, "In My Gremlin". Another one of my favorites is "Stickshifts and Safetybelts" by Cake. And a band Nicole and KSCA turned me on to, Southern Culture on the Skids, have several great car songs, including "Dirt Track Date".

BTW, John, GTO was not the Beach Boys, but Ronny and the Daytonas.

Unknown said...

CAviist/Hobbesian,

Thanks. I thought it was Johny Cash, It's on my Man in Black CD.

GTO- Thanks

Also great suggestions.