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Monday, Aug 14 2017, 6AM
Written by a white, Jewish high school teacher from the Bronx and a member of the Communist Party, Abel Meeropol wrote it as a protest poem, exposing American racism, particularly the lynching of African Americans.
A post-Civil War African-American freedom song often associated with the American civil Rights Movement and with Odetta, who recorded a version of it.
"Freedom Highway" refers to the murder of Emmett Till in the lines, "Found dead people in the forests, Tallahatchie River and lakes... whole world is wondering, what's wrong with the United States?" Emmett Till, an African-American youth visiting Mississippi from Chicago, was brutally murdered by white men, and left in the Tallahatchie River, for allegedly being impolite to a white woman.
Michael Kiwanuka is featured on the Island Records compilation ‘Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power’ in partnership with London's Tate Modern, which is running an exhibition of the same name through October 22nd. Find out more at www.islandrecords.co.uk
The song captures Simone's response to the murder of Medgar Evers in Mississippi; and the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four black children. On the recording she cynically announces the song as "a show tune, but the show hasn't been written for it yet."
This stands out as one of the few protest records that came out on the Motown label, attacking the Vietnam War, Nixon's government, and drug addiction.
The album is told from the point of view of a Vietnam vet returning to the country he had been fighting for, and seeing only hatred, suffering, and injustice. Gaye's introspective lyrics discuss themes of drug abuse, poverty, and the Vietnam War. He has also been credited with criticizing global warming before the public outcry against it had become prominent.
In June 1962, the song was published in Sing Out!, along with Dylan's description:
"There ain’t too much I can say about this song except that the answer is blowing in the wind. It ain't in no book or movie or TV show or discussion group. Man, it's in the wind — and it’s blowing in the wind. ... I still say that some of the biggest criminals are those that turn their heads away when they see wrong and know it's wrong. I'm only 21 years old and I know that there's been too many ... You people over 21, you're older and smarter."
Written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 based on an existing Carter Family tune called "When the World's on Fire", in (critical) response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." When Guthrie grew tired of hearing God Bless America on the radio in the late 1930s he sarcastically wrote "God Blessed America for Me" before renaming it "This Land Is Your Land."
King County executive Down Constantine had a message yesterday to the fascists: "To the white supremacists and fascists who gathered today at Westlake Center under the false pretense of patriotism the day after the violence that a similar group sparked in Charlottesville, I have a message to share on behalf of the people of King County:
We fought a Civil War against slavery, and you lost. We fought a World War against fascism, and you lost. Today, we stand united against the hateful rhetoric you have brought to our community. And you will lose again."
Concrete Blonde's cover of this song was featured in the film "Pump Up The Volume", which premiered on this day in 1990.
Harvey composed "The Camp" with Egyptian musician Ramy Essam – who rose to fame for his performances in Tahrir Square during the Egyptian Revolution in 2011. The video for features photos of refugee children taken by photojournalist Giles Duley for the upcoming book 'I Can Only Tell You What My Eyes See'. Watch here: youtu.be
From the soundtrack of the Movie "Dead man walking".
The chorus inspired the title to Stephen King's 1977 novel "The Shining".
Nov 28 and 29 @ The Paramount, AND live on the Morning Show Nov 29th at 9:30 AM! Free and open to the public ... More info on this and other upcoming live performances at www.kexp.org
Performing Monday & Tuesday October 9 & 10 at the Moore Theatre: www.thewarondrugs.net
Following up to 2014’s "Make My Head Sing", Jessica Lee Mayfield is back with the release of "Sorry Is Gone", an 11-track album that's out September 29 on ATO Records.
TORRES is the creative alter-ego of Brooklyn-based Mackenzie Scott. In describing the new album Three Futures, Scott says it “is entirely about using the body that each of us has been given as a mechanism of joy”.
After O'Connor shared a video last week discussing her struggle with metal illness, Fiona Apple replied with one of her own, saying "I wish I could be there. I wish I could be of some use to you… I'm your friend, that's all I want to say, and you're my hero."
The video for this song is essential viewing: www.youtube.com
Marley wrote the song while touring Haiti, after being deeply moved by its poverty and the lives of Haitians. Marley often played the song at the end of live performances, and it was the last song he ever performed live, in Pittsburgh on he last song Marley ever performed on stage, on September 23, 1980.
This track was played for WOXY's 1983 FM debut.
Fun fact: This was the first R.E.M. song to feature a horn section. One retrospective of R.E.M.'s work called it "oddball...approximated southern funk via Peter Buck's chiming Rickenbacker chords".
LA band that was influenced by the roots-centric approach of early folk-rock and country rock acts, in particular the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Buffalo Springfield. They would later prove to be a major influence on the alt-country movement that would rise up only a few years after the band split up.
David Lowery describes the "meaning" (or lack thereof) of the song: "We regarded Take The Skinheads Bowling as just a weird non-sensical song. The lyrics were purposely structured so that it would be devoid of meaning. Each subsequent line would undermine any sort of meaning established by the last line. It was the early 80′s and all our peers were writing songs that were full of meaning. It was our way of rebelling. BTW this is the most important fact about this song. We wanted the words to lack any coherent meaning. There is no story or deeper insight that I can give you about this song." 🎳
Over the Rhine is an Ohio-based folk music band, headed up by husband-and-wife team
Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist. The band's namesake and place of origin is the Cincinnati, Ohio neighborhood Over-the-Rhine, which has changed significantly in the last decade. The band has helped take away the negative connotations of the area, opening peoples’ eyes to the ragged beauty of those streets.
Over the Rhine has shared the stage with Bob Dylan, John Prine, Adrian Belew, Squeeze, Ani DiFranco, My Morning Jacket, Hem, and toured as "adjunct" members of Cowboy Junkies.
Writer Dave Thompson described the song as having been "adopted as the anthem of America's disenfranchised Gothic community." Watch Joren Cull's hilarious Brief History of Goth here: www.youtube.com
Inspired by a day trip the band members took to Mexico on the Fourth of July, 1982. Moved by some of the more downtrodden elements of the area that he had seen, lead singer and guitarist D. Boon wanted to write a song in sympathy with the people of Mexico. (And yes ... you might recognize this as the theme to MTV's Jackass..)
Butter 08 was a side-project including Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto, Russell Simins of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Rick Lee of Skeleton Key and director Mike Mills.
Minneapolis band that included Dan Wilson and John Munson, who would later go on to be founding members of Semisonic. The band originated when Harvard University English student Matt Wilson teamed up with Elaine Harris after she responded to a notice posted by Wilson seeking "wicked percussion hands." 🥁
The song was written about the previous generation of rock stars who swore that they would die before growing old. AllMusic considers it to have "the best and most satisfying chord progression and melody the Clash ever came up with."
From his 1989 debut solo album following the breakup of Hüsker Dü.
The Circle Jerks were one of the preeminent hardcore punk bands in the late 1970's LA scene. 🤘 🇺🇸 🤘
Huge, huge influence on bands like No Doubt, Sublime, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Goldfinger... Fun fact: The music video for "Party at Ground Zero" was directed by Henry Selick, who would go on to direct Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas." The video is an homage to The Masque of the Red Death, with Death bringing about a nuclear explosion when he removes his mask. You can watch it here: www.youtube.com
Featured in the film Grosse Pointe Blank, sampled by Moby, AllMusic calls it "one of the defining moments of early-'80s new wave dance".. What CAN'T this song do? 🔛
The Afghan Whigs will be in town October 18th at the Showbox: theafghanwhigs.com
There are some great photos of Sharon Jones' performance for this recording at www.flickr.com
The song is a protest song about the commercialization of radio broadcasts and the restrictions that prevented many punk songs from being played. Includes a reference to the BBC's ban of the Sex Pistols' 1977 single "God Save the Queen".
