While The Beatles are famous for their music and creative lyrics, they were adept at placing obscure references and meanings within their songs.
Sometimes this subterfuge would be right in front of the listener without the audience even realizing it.
The Beatles most famous use of “hiding” a lyric is Continue reading
Hollywood press hoopla at work here.
This is the improbable news slug originally accompanying this publicity photograph: Continue reading
The band Van Halen share their name with its two founding members. So when speaking of Van Halen sometimes it’s important to distinguish if you are referring to the band or personnel. Frequently it was interchangeable. The band Van Halen or the guitarist Edward Van Halen. Infrequently was the reference to band co-founder Alex Van Halen.
Sitting behind a drum kit for over 50 years made it possible for Alex Van Halen to be in the background rather than the spotlight. Continue reading
Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard At “Gone With The Wind” Premiere
Hollywood, Calif. – The long-awaited Hollywood premiere of “Gone With The Wind” brought out many film celebrities and socialites, among those present were Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard (above). This is one of the very few times in months that Chaplin has been photographed at a premiere. photo: International News 12/28/1939
The news slug here implies that Charlie Chaplin had not been attending movie premieres in 1939. But maybe he just wasn’t photographed at them. Continue reading
Ian Gillan, Deep Purple photo: Jan Persson
We will conclude our overview of isolated vocals with a selection of songs from some of the most iconic hard rock and heavy metal bands.
What you may notice in listening to these cuts is that more than other types of rock, heavy metal has people who can sing and others who greatly benefit with the helping hand of compression and echo.
There were many bands to possibly profile and limiting the number of songs to a bakers dozen was a challenge. While we would consider including Metallica, Megadeth, Exodus, Anthrax, Slayer, Testament and other thrash bands, we left them out this time. Maybe we’ll revisit this subject in the future.
Starting things off is the band that many fans consider the inventors of heavy metal, Black Sabbath with Paranoid (vocals – Ozzy Osbourne)
In music polls, Led Zeppelin is consistently ranked as the one of the greatest bands in rock history. They also influenced practically every hard rock and metal band even if Zeppelin themselves did not call themselves a “heavy metal” band. This is their iconic 1971 song Rock and Roll (vocals- Robert Plant)
Most rock fans can name the song in three notes. If Deep Purple did not Continue reading
Vocalist Paul Di’Anno (left) & bassist Steve Harris (right) of Iron Maiden photo: EMI
Paul Di’Anno the original vocalist on Iron Maiden’s 1980 eponymous debut album and 1981 follow-up Killers, died today at his home in Salisbury, England at the age of 66. Di’Anno was fired (or quit according to Di’Anno) from Iron Maiden in 1981.
Di’Anno had numerous health issues over the past few decades and for the last several years Di’Anno would sing while seated in a wheelchair.
The first two Iron Maiden studio albums plus a 1981 live EP release, Maiden Japan, showcase the prowess of a young hungry band and the unabashed vocals of Paul Di’Anno. The albums represent the punk-metal hybrid that Iron Maiden was originally producing.
Without Di’Anno the band would jettison the punk edges in lieu of a more polished heavy metal sound.
How much and what Di’Anno contributed is difficult to quantify. Four words come to mind to describe early Maiden. Edgy. Raw. Unyielding. Powerful. It’s best to see and hear Di’Anno live.
Post-Di’Anno, Iron Maiden would rise to worldwide fame with their new singer Bruce Dickinson.
During his short time with Iron Maiden, Di’Anno managed to capture a large group of fans who would remain convinced Di’Anno was the not just the preferred vocalist Continue reading
It would be a stretch to say the Beatles are underrated considering they pushed the boundaries of rock ‘n’ roll to new levels. But to listen to how incredibly good they were as singers and at group harmonies when you listen to the vocals only, is pretty amazing.
As we did previously with other rock bands here are 6 songs by The Beatles with isolated vocal tracks.
First is the song that would catapult the Beatles to superstardom in the USA, I Want To Hold Your Hand from 1963.
I’m Looking Through You from 1965 is about Continue reading
Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend The Who photo; London Features, Neal Preston
With these versions where all the other instruments have been eliminated but the vocals, you can hear the singer’s voice as an instrument itself. These songs range from 1969 – 1980, all before the invention of pitch correction (aka auto-tune) which many music purists believe ruined music forever. These songs are from an era when singers actually had to be able to sing. Continue reading
Carole Lombard and Fernand Gravet (Gravey) starring in director Mervyn Leroy’s Fools For Scandal (1938) are apparently amused by something during a break in filming. The candid photograph taken by Otto Dyar perfectly displays Lombard’s exuberant personality.
During a war bond drive. Lombard, along with her mother, died tragically in a plane crash on January 16, 1942. She was 33.
Kyle Crichton’s biting memoir of literary. political and celebrity attachments,Total Recoil (1960) Doubleday & Company, gives a brief portrait of Lombard. Continue reading
Pin-Up Queen Gets On The Ball
Hollywood, Calif. – Vivacious Betty Grable, a “Mamma” of five months, romps with this frisky poodle as she gets back in the groove on her return to the kleig lights. The famous Grable gams will dance their way through 20th Century-Fox’s Technicolor musical, “Diamond Horseshoe” now in production. photo: Acme 8/19/1944
Gams. Talk about 1940s jargon. I don’t think I’ve recently heard anyone refer to a woman’s legs as gams except in the movies.
Supposedly Grable’s legs were insured for $250,000 dollars by Lloyds of London. It was a publicity stunt, but an effective one at drawing attention. Continue reading
