Unit 4 + 2

I accidentally found this song while searching for a Jurassic 5 song by the same name on Grooveshark today. It just goes to show ya' everything happens for a reason. If I had never chosen Public Relations as my major, I would never have taken marketing. If I had never taken marketing, I would never have had a seven page research paper. If I had never had a research paper, I would have never come to a coffee shop in the middle of sunny summer day. If the coffee shop played their music loud enough for human ears to detect I would never have been forced to resort to Grooveshark. And finally, if I had never resorted to Grooveshark, I would have never heard this song...! So there you have it. The stars are aligned in my favor today. 

Unit 4 + 2 were a British pop band from the 1960s. They had but one major hit single. Their song "Concrete and Clay" topped the UK Singles chart for a week in 1965 and only made it as far as number 28 in the US. I love the upbeat, slightly Latin sound to this forgotten jam. Its just so dang happy, like a little ray of sunshine streaming into my headphones. The lyrics are totally cheeseball, but I'll have to admit, I really wouldn't mind if a boy wrote this kind of a love song for me.

You to me

Are sweet as roses in the morning
And you to me
Are soft as summer rain at dawn, in love we share
That something rare

The sidewalks in the street
The concrete and the clay beneath my feet
Begins to crumble
But love will never die
Because we'll see the mountains tumbleBefore we say goodbye

My love and I will be
In love eternally

<3 

Monkee Mania? Errrm no.

Can't say that I love The Monkees as much as I love The Beatles (I wouldn't trust anyone who does), but that certainly doesn't mean I don't care. I was introduced to The Monkees on the night of the epic slumber party that was my seventh birthday. After shot gunning a couple of sodas, eating our weight in pizza and blowing out the candles, it was time for presents. Knowing my love for musicals and oldies, the mother of a dear and now long lost grade school companion gave me The Best of The Monkees. A faithful fan I have been ever since, with only a minor glitch when I was disturbed to discover they were a "made for TV" band and may not have...in a strictly technical sense...played their own instruments. Needless to say I got over it. I mean, who really cares? Davy Jones and his ridiculous bowl cut alone were enough to keep me hooked. The video below is especially wonderful for containing the following: catchy lyrics, striped outfits, mutton chops and above all some of the best/worst white boy dance moves known to man.

BEATLE MANIA

To say that I love The Beatles is a gross understatement, if there even is a word to encompass my obsession, I believe the term worship is much more fitting. I will pay any price to add one of their albums to my record collection. I have two group and a set of their individual posters on my walls. Ringo Starr is the current and lasting background of my computer screen. I have named not one, but two dogs after Beatles songs: Lucy as in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and Penny from Penny Lane.  And as if all that weren't enough, I even painted a scene from the Yellow Submarine on the side of my car. Yup. I'm obsessed.

I thought I had heard every Beatles song ever made, I thought I was an expert, but I'm sad to say it isn't so. In March, I picked up a copy of the single Let it Be in a record shop in Brussels as a souvenir of my trip. Because I didn't have a record player handy while studying abroad in Spain, I had to wait until I got home to spin my new purchase. Although the A side will always be one of my favorite Beatles songs (if I can even say that...to pick a favorite Beatles song is like choosing which of your children you love the most), the B side is what really stood out. It was a song I had never heard before, this sneaky little song had somehow managed to fly below my Beatles radar for years, and if I hadn't just happen to buy that single, who knows how long I would have lived without it.

Personally, I think "You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)" is a pretty awesome song. The lead-in drums and piano are not in typical Beatles style. Only when the quirky repetitive lyrics chime in, you start to realize this must be a Lennon-McCartney studio goof around turned actual recording. The unexpected three part lounge lizard sound makes this song the perfect lighthearted relief to "Let it Be's" heavier vibe.