Music

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Who Anne Murray Is To Me
Published by Toronto Mike on May 2, 2013 @ 16:30 in Memories, Music

Who Anne Murray Is To MeI'm still south of 40, so I don't remember Anne Murray's heyday with "Snowbird" and her other early and mid-70s hits. I missed the Anne Murray era, but I have very strong memories of her.

In 1977, Anne Murray released There's a Hippo in My Tub, and my parents bought it for me. I heard it all the time as a child.

hippo

My favourite tracks from the album were "Animal Crackers" and "Teddy Bears' Picnic". I friggin' loved "Teddy Bears' Picnic".

I'm not sure how the younger generation remembers Anne Murray, except from history books that remember her fondly as one of Canada's first big female solo singer success stories.

I remember her for the hippo in her bathtub.

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What Was the First Rock Song?
Published by Toronto Mike on April 16, 2013 @ 10:11 in Music

Hey Mike;

I'm teaching a music course in the TDSB; as a career musician, enjoying it immensely (no sound checks).

The other day, a bright kid comes with this question: "Mr. Corby, what was the first rock song?"

He was , of course not referring to rock...AND ROLL!!!! but to the rushing blast of real rock. I answered Hush (Deep Purple) or Born To Be Wild.

Personally, I am now thinking more My Generation or You Really Got Me. Only people of a certain age even understand this question.

Why don't you see what your crew can come up with?

Cheers,
Corby

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It's Really Love and Toot Sweet became Johnny's Theme
Published by Toronto Mike on April 9, 2013 @ 09:47 in Music

It's Really Love and Toot Sweet are Johnny's ThemeAnnette Funicello passed away yesterday. Disney had the young actress signed to a record contract when she recorded "It's Really Love".

"It's Really Love" was simply a reworking of a Paul Anka song called "Toot Sweet".

Paul Anka reworked the song a third time and came up with "Johnny's Theme", a song you've likely heard hundreds of times.

Paul Anka and Annette Funicello actually dated for a while in the late 50s. Now you know... the rest of the story.

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Chalk Circle
Published by Toronto Mike on April 1, 2013 @ 14:07 in Music

April FoolToday is the perfect day to share my favourite song from the first band I saw live in concert, Chalk Circle.

April Fool


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Dropkick Murphys - Fields of Athenry
Published by Toronto Mike on March 17, 2013 @ 10:39 in Music

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TTC Skidaddler
Published by Toronto Mike on March 7, 2013 @ 11:51 in Music, TTC ~ Toronto Transit Commission

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Drake ~ 5AM In Toronto
Published by Toronto Mike on March 7, 2013 @ 11:04 in Music

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Not the Top 10 One-Hit Wonder Bands from Toronto
Published by Toronto Mike on March 5, 2013 @ 10:37 in Music, Toronto News ~ Toronto Focus

Not the Top 10 One-Hit Wonder Bands from TorontoPerusing Twitter, I caught this tweet from my buddy Marc.

I had to click over to the blogto.com article to see for myself. Here's their list of the top 10 one-hit wonder bands from Toronto.

  1. Len - "Steal My Sunshine"
  2. Snow - "Informer"
  3. Alannah Myles - "Black Velvet"
  4. jackSOUL - "Can't Stop"
  5. Choclair - "Let's Ride"
  6. Love Inc. - "You're A Superstar"
  7. Toronto - "Your Daddy Don't Know"
  8. The Pursuit of Happiness - "I'm An Adult Now"
  9. Platinum Blonde - "Crying Over You"
  10. Boys Brigade - "Melody"

Right off the bat, having listened to radio in this city for over 30 years, I can tell you this is an awful list. Many of these artists are not one-hit wonders by any definition, and as we've discussed, the standards for one-hit wonders keep dropping.

Just off the top of my head, from my 680 CFTR days and Q107 Top Ten At Ten days, I can tell you Platinum Blonde had several big hits in Canada, The Pursuit of Happiness had a handful and Allannah Myles was all over the radio with "Love Is" before she even released her biggest hit "Black Velvet".

As I scratch my temple, I remember Snow making a comeback with the hit single "Everybody Wants to Be Like You". That means, just off the top of my head, I can confirm four of this top ten list had multiple hits in Canada.

What say you?

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Drake Started From the Bottom
Published by Toronto Mike on February 11, 2013 @ 11:43 in Music

Drake Started From the BottomI'm sharing Drake's new video because it includes a lot of Toronto.

Feel free to debate which bottom Drake is referring to. Yes, at some point during Aubrey Graham's childhood his mom moved him into a duplex in Forest Hill and he played Jimmy "the wheelchair guy" on Degrassi, but I don't think that's the bottom he started from.

Clearly, Shopper's Drug Mart is the bottom Drake started from.

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That Time I Watched an Entire Series Because of the Theme Song
Published by Toronto Mike on January 12, 2013 @ 10:08 in Music, Television

That Time I Watched an Entire Series Because of the Theme SongBack in 2007 I decided to check out an HBO show entitled John From Cincinnati. It wasn't bad, and I ended up watching all ten episodes, but looking back I think it was the theme song that kept drawing me back.

I just adored their use of "Johnny Appleseed" by Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros. It set the tone perfectly and I'm sure fooled me into thinking the show was better than it actually was. An amazing opening theme can do that.

I don't remember much from John From Cincinnati... I think he was supposed to be Jesus or something like that... but I'll never forget that tune from Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros.

 

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