How many Beatles can you name?

There are two things I love:  music and hockey.  My sister-in-law sent me a video yesterday of a bunch of NHL players trying to name the four members of The Beatles.  The results were appalling.

P.K. Subban of the Canadiens, T.J. Oshie of the Blues, and Ryan McDonagh of my beloved Rangers were just a few of the players who couldn't name a single one.  Not one.

From the Flyers, Wayne Simmonds was able to guess Ringo, but he quickly stated that he's the only one he knows, while Claude Giroux took what was clearly a wild guess:  "McCarthur?"  I'm assuming he means McCartney.

My Rangers continued to let me down, unfortunately.  Goalie Henrik Lundqvist, a man who is in a rock band, mentioned Paul and then John, but John was guessed with the help of the woman behind the camera.

As the video proceeds, though, more and more Beatles are becoming known.  Justin Williams of the Kings, Patrick Kane of the Blackhawks and Andy Greene of the Devils mention John, Paul and Ringo.  Poor, George.  As stated by Brian Gionta of the Sabres a little bit later, "Sorry, George, I think you're always forgotten."  That's so sad.

In the end, there's only one player who successfully names all four of The Beatles without stumbling, and that's Blake Wheeler of the Jets.

[Source:  NHL]

Can't Get It Out of My Head

My top ten favorite album covers of the '60s, '70s, and '80s.  Well, only one is from the '80s.

10.  The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) - The Velvet Underground & Nico

I chose this as my number ten because I love the fact that they incorporated a professional artist into their cover.  The album was released in March 1967 and has since been considered one of the greatest albums of all time.

9.  London Calling (1979) - The Clash

I absolutely LOVE this cover, but I have places it so high on my list because Elvis Presley's Elvis Presley, which was released in 1956, is the same thing.  I know I shouldn't punish them being as though so many other artists have paid homage to the rock star, but I have based this list on originality.  It's still an awesome cover, though.

8.  Ramones (1976) - Ramones

I think this cover picture is so cool.  The four guys against a brick, graffiti-covered wall... all while being in black and white.  And they look so cool with their leather jackets and jeans and long hair that was oh so popular in the '70s.

7.  1984 (1984) - Van Halen

Scandalous.  A baby with angel wings smoking a cigarette with several more cigs on deck.  I also love "1984" written in roman numerals in the top left and right corners.  I just think the whole cover is very creative, like the songs on the record.

6.  Sticky Fingers (1971) - The Rolling Stones

I have this vinyl and I must say that it is a little different from the vinyl cover I am used to.  The cover contains a working "zipper" and "belt" and reveals briefs underneath.  And apparently the crotch photographed is not that of Mr. Jagger.  So whose crotch is this?  The world may never know.  I think it's more scandalous than 1984.

5.  The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) - Pink Floyd

I love the whole concept of this album cover.  I am unsure why they chose this, as I don't really see any direct connection between that and the music, but I'm sure they had a reason.  This is definitely one of the most iconic album covers of all time.  Everyone has seen it and knows it.

4.  Rumours (1977) - Fleetwood Mac

Rumours is such a bizarre album cover, but I love it.  I love Stevie's outfit along with their poses.  It has the same feeling of their Fleetwood Mac cover two years earlier.

3.  Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (1973) - Bruce Springsteen

I think I like this cover so much because it's a postcard from one of the best known towns in the state of New Jersey.  It's also the album cover of one of the best known musicians from the state of New Jersey.  Looking at this cover makes me feel like such a Jersey Girl.  I love it.

2.  The Beatles [The White Album] (1968) - The Beatles

So simple, yet such an impact.  The Beatles didn't need some over the top cover to get their points across.  They're The Beatles.  We have to remember that they are the biggest band that has ever walked the planet.  Do they really need some out of the ordinary cover?

1.  Eldorado (1974) - Electric Light Orchestra


Another album cover that is a shout-out to popular culture.  The album follows a character who dreams and travels through those dreams to different worlds and fantasies.  That's what happened to Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.  She wakes up to realize that she was in a descriptive dream.  It shows how great Jeff Lynne was at his job.

Proud of Your Boy

Just when I think I have learned so much about music I learn something completely new.

I was looking through a list of songs on the website CollegeCandy and saw the song "21 and Invincible" by the band Something Corporate.  I was intrigued by the sound of the tune and just had to Google the group.  Apparently, Lauren Conrad's fiancé William Tell was a former member of this band!

You learn something new every day.

I also learned from BuzzFeed that "Part of Your World" was almost cut from The Little Mermaid.  How could they have even considered cutting that song from that movie?!

I swear my mind just keeps getting blown.

And I also learned, from that same article, that "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" was cut from The Lion King and Elton John told producers to put the song back in the film when he watched it with the piece removed.

I'm sorry the Disney facts are going to continue due to the BuzzFeed article.

John Lennon denied Disney's requests for The Beatles to provide the vultures' voices in The Jungle Book.  That would've been cool to hear their voices in that film!

A song called "Proud of Your Boy" was cut from the movie Aladdin but is in the Broadway musical.

Christina Aguilera's debut single was "Reflection" from Mulan.

Dancing Shoes

I have a whole list of songs I would like to cover...is that weird?  I guess I think my voice will improve enough to be able to sing some of them and that I will actually get around to covering them for YouTube purposes.  But let's be real:  we ALL know I will never get around to covering them.

That's why I am going to make a promise.  I will try my very best to cover a good number of the songs on this list by the end of the year.  Don't believe me?  Yeah, neither do I.

1. "Teenage Dirtbag" - Wheatus
2. "Let It Be" - The Beatles
3. "Dancing Shoes" - DEV
4. "These Four Walls" - Little Mix
5. "Towers" - Little Mix
6. "Little Talks" - Of Monsters and Men
7. "Half A Heart" - One Direction
8. "Hallelujah" - Carly Rose Sonenclar
9. "Dream A Little Dream of Me" - The Mamas & the Papas
10. "Don't Let Me Go" - Sam McCarthy feat. Harry Styles

In My Life

I finally got a chance to watch The Beatles 50th Anniversary special, The Beatles:  The Night That Changed America, and it was incredible.  The covers were amazing and Paul's and Ringo's performances were unforgettable.

My personal favorite was Ed Sheeran's cover of "In My Life."  I love Ed Sheeran.  His voice is angelic and his guitar playing is mesmerizing.  Here's his performance:

[Source:  YouTube]

So many people were unhappy with Katy Perry's cover of "Yesterday."  According to fans, her dress choice was odd and the fact that she changed the lyrics was horrid.  A little harsh?  I think so, but I have to say, I never like changing the lyrics to fit my gender.  Last year when I performed "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)," I did not change the lyrics "She's living in LA / With my best old ex-friend Ray," because that's not how Jim Croce wrote the song.  Especially at an event like that, I don't think Ms. Perry should have changed the words to the song.  But aside from that, I thought her performance was quite good.

Yoko Ono has been blamed for the breaking up of The Beatles for years.  It has been clear to at least my family that Yoko truly loved John Lennon.  During the whole special, she was dancing to the songs and the look on her face...you could see the love in her eyes for her John.  She wasn't the reason they parted ways.  Every band has to end and theirs ended at a time where the easiest person to blame was her.  Whether you want to believe it or not, Yoko Ono was madly in love.  She wasn't in it for the fame.

With A Little Help From My Friends

Happy Thanksgiving!!  We all get caught up in work, school, and everything else in our lives, that we forget about what we do have.  Today is the perfect day to say "thanks" for everything great in your life.  I always give thanks for my family, my friends, my good health, and music.  What would I do without music?  Not much, that's what!

I am thankful for all of the classic artists, as well as the new and upcoming.  There is a lot to be thankful for with the music industry.

[Source:  YouTube]

I'll Follow the Sun

Beatles '65.  This is an album wanted by many, yet difficult to find.

A family friend at church found out yesterday about my record collection (I am almost at 200) and today brought me his copy of the number one hit.  Another one for the collection woohoo!!!

November 23, 1964 was the day the vinyl hit stores through their label, Capitol.  In America, the album went from the number 98 spot to number one.  The Beatles had their release at that position for eight extra weeks.  The track list goes as follows:

1. No Reply
2. I'm a Loser
3. Baby's in Black
4. Rock and Roll Music (written by Chuck Berry)
5. I'll Follow the Sun
6. Mr. Moonlight (written by Roy Lee Johnson)
7. Honey Don't (writeen by Carl Perkins)
8. I'll Be Back
9. She's a Woman
10. I Feel Fine
11. Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby (written by Carl Perkins)

It was released in both mono and stereo versions and holds eight out of fourteen songs from Beatles for Sale.  It also includes the song "I'll Be Back," which I believe is from A Hard Day's Night, and singles "I Feel Fine" and "She's a Woman" which were released as singles in November 1964, a month before the album was released.

October 23rd

On October 23...

1956, Dwight Yoakam, famous country singer, was born.

1962, Stevie Wonder, then 12-years-old, recorded his first single entitled, "Thank You For Loving Me All The Way."

1963, The Beatles headed to Stockholm, Sweden to begin their first foreign tour.

1966, The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded their first single "Hey Joe" at De Lane Lea Studios in London.

1976, Led Zeppelin made their debut on American television on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert.

1989, Nirvana performed at Newcastle's Riverside Club in England, their first show in Europe.

1993, Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" was his first song to reach No. 1 on the UK charts and stayed at the spot for seven weeks.

1993, English band Take That's second album Everything Changes was their first to reach No. 1 on the UK charts.

1995, Def Leppard scored a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for playing three gigs in three continents in only 24 hours; Tangier, London, and Vancouver.

Barracuda

I have our organ called the heart on my mind so I thought it would be appropriate to create a playlist all about hearts!

1. Heartbeat - Buddy Holly
2. Give One Heart - Linda Ronstadt
3. You'll Be In My Heart - Phil Collins
4. Heart of Glass - Blondie
5. My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion
6. Young at Heart - Frank Sinatra
7. Listen to Your Heart - Roxette
8. Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler
9. Heart Attack - One Direction
10. Hungry Heart - Bruce Springsteen
11. Straight From the Heart - Bryan Adams
12. Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Elton John and Kiki Dee
13. Piece of My Heart - Janis Joplin
14. Listen to Her Heart - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
15. Heart of Gold - Neil Young
16. When the Heartache is Over - Tina Turner
17. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Bealtes
18. Heartbreak Beat - The Psychedelic Furs
19. Jar of Hearts - Christina Perri
20. Heart Out - The 1975
21. Who Owns My Heart - Miley Cyrus
22. Heartland - U2
23. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart - Bee Gees
24. Change of Heart - Cyndi Lauper
25. Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley

Now that you have read over my playlist, do you have any idea why the title for this post is "Barracuda?"  Tweet me your answer @jordanblogger

Don't You (Forget About Me)

So it's the most dreaded time of year...school!  I start school on Monday so all I have been able to think about are movies that involve school like Napoleon Dynamite, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Billy Madison.  I am so obsessed with these four movies that I know pretty much every line.  But, aside from the hysterical scripts, these four movies have some great music.

Napoleon Dynamite - This movie has songs like "We're Going to be Friends" by The White Stripes, "Forever Young" by Alphaville, and "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper.  "Forever Young" and "Time After Time" are both songs you will hear when Napoleon is at the school dance, while "We're Going to be Friends" is the song for the opening credits.

The Breakfast Club - Okay, the only MAJOR song in this movie is "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds.  Is there anyone out there that doesn't think of this movie when you hear this song????

Ferris Bueller's Day Off - This is a fantastic soundtrack.  You have "Twist and Shout" by The Beatles, "Danke Schoen" by Wayne Newton, and "Oh Yeah" by Yello.  Those three songs really complete this movie.

Billy Madison - This movie is loved by everyone.  It's such a great "school" movie!  "The Stroke" by Billy Squier, "Renegade" by Styx, and "Telephone Line" by Electric Light Orchestra.  There are so many other songs I could have put but I wanted to limit it to three.  Sorry.

The Last Play at Shea

This is an absolutely amazing documentary about the history of Shea Stadium.  The Beatles were the first band to perform at a stadium and it became legendary, especially since it wasn't just any band - it was The Beatles.  The whole documentary is based around Billy Joel's 2008 performance.  There were two concerts filmed over July 16 and July 18 with a combined total of 110,000 fans.  These two performances were the final two before Shea Stadium was demolished.  This film was first presented in front of 20,000 people at Citi Field, the stadium that replaced Shea.
The musicians that appear in the film are Billy Joel, Tony Bennett, Garth Brooks, Roger Daltrey, John Mayer, Paul McCartney, John Mellencamp, and Steven Tyler.  The 25 songs performed are:

1. Prelude/Angry Young Man
2. My Life
3. Summer, Highland Falls
4. Everybody Loves You Now
5. Zanzibar
6. New York State of Mind (with Tony Bennett)
7. Allentown
8. The Ballad of Billy the Kid
9. She's Always a Woman
10. Goodnight Saigon
11. Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
12. Shameless (with Garth Brooks)
13. This Is the Time (with John Mayer)
14. Keeping the Faith
15. Captain Jack
16. Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)
17. The River of Dreams/A Hard Day's Night
18. We Didn't Start the Fire
19. You May Be Right
20. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
21. Only the Good Die Young
22. I Saw Her Standing There (with Paul McCartney)
23. Take Me Out to the Ball Game
24. Piano Man
25. Let It Be (with Paul McCartney)

This movie is incredible.  It is done so well and as a music rookie, I find it to be very inspiring.

My favorite albums (old ones)

I know for some of you it may be depressing to think that these albums are now considered "old", but may I remind you that I was born in the '90s so they're old to me! Here's the list of my favorite "old" albums:

1. Nightout - Ellen Foley
2. Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
3. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel
4. Abbey Road - The Beatles
5. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
6. Who's Next - The Who
7. Hotel California - The Eagles
8. The Band - The Band
9. Let It Be - The Beatles
10. At Folsom Prison - Johnny Cash
11. Tommy - The Who
12. Parallel Lines - Blondie
13. Déjà Vu - Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
14. Surrealistic Pillow - Jefferson Airplane
15. Heart Like A Wheel - Linda Ronstadt
16. A New World Record - ELO
17. The Definitive Collection - ABBA
18. Aqualung - Jethro Tull
19. Bat Out of Hell - Meat Loaf
20. Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits
21. Late for the Sky - Jackson Browne
22. The Eagles - The Eagles
23. Synchronicity - The Police
24. Tres Hombres - ZZ Top
25. If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears - The Mamas and the Papas

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you all have had a wonderful two days. I will be returning to my blog starting tomorrow - the past week or so has been very hectic and I apologize. But for right now, I thought I'd share with you one of the things I received for Christmas. This Beatles book I got has some of the coolest things I have ever seen. This pack came with a DVD, posters of the band, and a bunch of little pieces of paper. The pieces of paper are copies of tickets from concerts of theirs from the 1960s, copies of handwritten set lists, and old gig posters. All of this is inside an amazing book that speaks of the members of The Beatles and tells their journey as the best band of all time.

Give thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!  I am thankful for a lot of things: my family, my friends, my house, my school, and of course music.  There are many classic artists I am thankful for (in no particular order):

1. The Beatles - They revolutionized rock music
2. The Rolling Stones - They ARE rock music
3. Buddy Holly - He created rock music
4. Beethoven - His music changed the way we see some music
5. Michael Jackson - He's the "King of Pop"
6. Elvis Presley - He's the "King"
7. Bruce Springsteen - He's the "Boss"
8. Queen - One of the most relevant bands of all time
9. Elton John - His lyrics are incomparable
10. Led Zeppelin - A lot of singers covered their songs
11. Bob Dylan - Was an idol for a lot of singers
12. Frank Sinatra - He owns New York 

Today in history

On this day, November 19, Carl Perkins recorded "Blue Suede Shoes".  The song was at No.2 in the US and No. 10 in the UK.

The Beatles, in 1962, played gigs at three different venues.  They started off with a show during lunch at the Cavern Club in Liverpool.  Soon after, the band traveled Smethwick Baths Ballroom in the Midlands and later at the Adelphi Ballroom, West Bromwich in Staffordshire.

In 2001, Mick Jagger released his solo album Goddess In The Doorway.  On the first day of sales, 954 copies were sold.

In 2006, a guitar played by George Harrison was set at £100,000 at an auction in London.  The guitar was used in The Beatles' first album Please Please Me.