Just picked up this great collection of forgotten soul and r&b from the ’50s and ’60s put together by Paul Weller and a guy called Keb Darge. I love idea of this whole secret world that I don’t know that much about, centered around this wonderful music. Purchase on Amazon here: Real R’n'B and Soul (Lost and Found 2).
Here’s a great little video about the scene:
More info on the collection here. (It seems to only be ONE disc on American iTunes and TWO in the UK, which is unfortunate.)
If you are a jaded hipster or a myopic, close-minded geek, you probably hate musicals. You are wrong. Musicals are awesome. In fact, personally I wish real life was like a musical. Real life is boring and stressful and lame. Morrissey had it right when he said “everyday is like Sunday, everyday is silent and gray.”
But in a musical, life is anything but silent and gray. Life is beautiful and colorful and full of wonder and surprise. See what I mean in the below, musical recommendations from The GiNCHY GUiDE.
1. “You Make My Dreams Come True” from 500 Days of Summer -
What an excellent use of the form. The filmmakers knock it out of the park in just the same way star Jason Gordon Levitt does in this clip by employing an unexpected musical number to convey the feelings one feels when in love. And god, when was the last time Hall & Oates was this cool? Watch at your own risk if you have never been in love as you might not get it and will therefore slip back into jaded myopia. (Also, clip is best experienced during the course of the film, though it contains no spoilers).
2. “It’s Oh So Quiet,” Bjork -
The opening perfectly illustrates the grayness of real life while the rest of the video shows us the magical possibilities that life can hold if we simply break into song for no reason whatsoever.
3. “New York, New York” from On the Town -
Ah, the promise of a new day. I can’t think of a better way to paint such a picture than with a musical number. This should just be in every commercial for travel to New York. The wife and I had the idea to re-cast this one as a modern version with Hugh Jackman, Harry Connick Jr. and Jack Black. (Well, the wife suggested Ewan MacGreggor as the third, which is fine, but I think you need a “funny guy”). At any rate, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and the other guy do an admirable job in their own right.
4. “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off” from Shall We Dance -
So watching this season of So You Think You Can Dance has you thinking tap dancing sucks, right? Wrong. Dig Fred & Ginger in this little clip from my favorite of their pairings. It’s Gershwin for goodness sake.
5. Everyone Says I Love You -
I think Woody Allen is pretty hit or miss, but I think this film is one of his best efforts in recent years. It’s at least more enjoyable than Scoop.
6. “Summer Nights” from Grease -
If you are of a certain age, you probably grew up with this movie and its soundtrack playing in the background of your childhood, either on vinyl or beta video tape, like I did. A near perfect “late period” (1978) musical that I consider one of the last greats. Excellent songs and performances and just everything a musical should be.
7. “Abraham” from Holiday Inn -
Musicals aren’t always sunshine and love songs. Sometimes they are inadvertently political like in this clip from the Bing Crosby Christmas classic. This thing is painful to watch, but don’t disregard the entire film based on this song. It actually has some excellent songs, including the amazing “White Christmas” and Fred Astaire’s explosive 4th of July tap routine.
8. “I’ve Just Seen a Face” from Across the Universe -
I think I was hoping that this one would mark the triumphant return of the musical in modern times, but I guess it just wasn’t to be… yet. Still, Beatles music makes for a stunning addition to the musical movie ouevre. Which is probably obvious, but did no one ever think of it before? In any case, I would imagine it works better than that Billy Joel musical.
9. “Town Called Malice” from Billy Elliot
If Footloose taught us anything it’s that when you are frustrated with life, just dance it out. Little Billy proves it once again, except with better music. Because as we all know, everything is better with a little Paul Weller thrown over it. On a side note, the movie also features plenty of T.Rex tunes.
10. “Good Morning” from Singing in the Rain -
It was hard to pick a tune from this straight-up brilliant entry on the list. So I just went with “Good Morning.” Could have done the title track, or “Make ‘Em Laugh.” The whole thing is ridiculous.
11. “Keep Muddlin’ Through” from Damsel In Distress -
Long story short, musicals are FUN. And what could be more fun than the world around you erupting into a song & dance number while you are actually in a fun house. Check out what director George Stevens does with Fred Astaire and George Burns & Gracie Allen in this dizzying clip.
This list could go on and on. Check out American in Paris, the Gay Divorcee, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Glee, or just about any Marx Brothers movie, as they all seem to devolve at one point or another into a musical number.
Just picked up this great collection of forgotten soul and r&b from the ’50s and ’60s put together by Paul Weller and a guy called Keb Darge. I love idea of this whole secret world that I don’t know that much about, centered around this wonderful music. Purchase on Amazon here: Real R’n'B and Soul (Lost and Found 2)