Tag Archives: Blender magazine

♫ Dancing On The Ceiling ♫ (Redux)

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

I’ve played this one before, but it’s been a couple of years and tonight I just really needed something upbeat and kind of silly to make me smile, so hopefully Clive will forgive me!  Listening to this did bring a smile, even if only briefly, but I sure wish I knew his secret for defying gravity like that!  I was gonna try it, but the girls both nixed that idea!  I wonder if he had some kind of special shoes or an anti-gravity belt?

Written by Richie, Mike Frenchik, and Carlos Rios, the song became a worldwide top ten hit, but not everyone liked it.  Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine said …

“This isn’t entirely a good thing, since it means he indulges in silliness …”

Since when is a bit of silliness not a good thing?  Methinks Mr. Erlewine needs to lighten up a bit.  Apparently there were others who felt the same, though, for Blender magazine published a list of the “50 worst songs of all time”, with Dancing on the Ceiling listed at No. 20.

It is said that this video cost $400,000 to make!  The song charted at #2 in the U.S. and #7 in the UK.

Dancing on the Ceiling
Lionel Richie

What is happening here
Something’s going on that’s not quite clear
Somebody turn on the lights
We’re gonna have a party
It’s starting tonight

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

The room is hot and that’s good
Some of my friends came by from the neighborhood
The people startin’ a climb the walls
Ooh it looks like everybody is having a ball

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Come on!

Everybody start to lose control
When the music is right
If you see somebody hangin’ around
Don’t get uptight
The only thing we want to do tonight
Is go ’round and ’round
And turn upside down
Come on! Let’s get down!

So come on! Let’s get loose
Don’t hold back
‘Cause ain’t no use
Hard to keep your feet on the ground
‘Cause when we like to party
We only want to get down

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Say what?
Can’t stop now
Just getting started
Everybody clap your hands
Come on
Everybody let’s dance

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling baby baby
We gonna dance all night

Songwriters: Lionel B. Jr. Richie / Michael Henry Jr. Frenchik / Carlos Manuel Rios
Dancing on the Ceiling lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

♫ We Didn’t Start The Fire ♫

Posted on by under Global Issues, History, music, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I last (and only) played this one three years ago, but it’s one of those songs like John Lennon’s Imagine that is timeless.  The lyrics are a stream of consciousness list of more than 100 events that Joel felt his generation was not responsible for. Many of the references are to the Cold War (U.S. vs. Russia), a problem his generation inherited.

we-didnt-start-fire

Joel says he got the idea for the song after a conversation with his friend, Sean Lennon, son of Beatle John Lennon, on the event of Sean’s 21st birthday, .  The conversation went like this:

Lennon: It’s a terrible time to be 21!

Joel: Yeah, I remember when I was 21 – I thought it was an awful time and we had Vietnam, and y’know, drug problems, and civil rights problems and everything seemed to be awful.

Lennon: Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it’s different for you. You were a kid in the fifties and everybody knows that nothing happened in the fifties.

Joel: Wait a minute, didn’t you hear of the Korean War or the Suez Canal Crisis?

According to Joel …

I had turned forty. It was 1989 and I said “Okay, what’s happened in my life?” I wrote down the year 1949. Okay, Harry Truman was president. Popular singer of the day, Doris Day. China went Communist. Another popular singer, Johnnie Ray. Big Broadway show, South Pacific. Journalist, Walter Winchell. Athlete, Joe DiMaggio. Then I went on to 1950 … It’s one of the worst melodies I’ve ever written. I kind of like the lyric though.

Musically, the song does leave something to be desired.  Blender magazine rated this the 41st worst song ever in its 2004 article “Run for Your Life! It’s the 50 Worst Songs Ever!” Comparing it to “a term paper scribbled the night before it’s due.”

But the song carries a message, and that overrides the flaws in the composition, at least for me it does.

My thanks to Keith and Ellen for reminding me of this song and its message …

We Didn’t Start the Fire
Billy Joel

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, “The King and I” and “The Catcher in the Rye”

Eisenhower, vaccine, England’s got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc

Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu falls, “Rock Around the Clock”

Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn’s got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland

Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev
Princess Grace, “Peyton Place”, trouble in the Suez

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, “Bridge on the River Kwai”

Lebanon, Charlse de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide

Buddy Holly, “Ben Hur”, space monkey, Mafia
Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go

U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, “Psycho”, Belgians in the Congo

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Hemingway, Eichmann, “Stranger in a Strange Land”
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion

“Lawrence of Arabia”, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson

Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollah’s in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan

“Wheel of Fortune”, Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China’s under martial law
Rock and roller cola wars, I can’t take it anymore

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Songwriters: Billy Joel
We Didn’t Start the Fire lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ Dancing On The Ceiling ♫ (Redux)

Posted on by under music

It’s been a year-and-a-half since I’ve played this one and … well, I think we could all use this upbeat tune tonight, and the bit of silliness that comes with … Dancing on the Ceiling!

I initially had a different song on the schedule … a real downer, but a good song nonetheless.  Then last night, a friend suggested that to pick my mood up, instead of listening to sad music, I might try Lionel Richie’s Dancing on the Ceiling.  I did, and it worked … who can cry when they’re listening to this?  I figured you guys could use a little pick-me-up too, so here it is!  I do have one question, though … how the heck does he dance on the walls and the ceiling?  I was going to try it, but … gravity stepped in and I figured I might end up with some broken bones.

Written by Richie, Mike Frenchik, and Carlos Rios, the song became a worldwide top ten hit, but not everyone liked it.  Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine said …

“This isn’t entirely a good thing, since it means he indulges in silliness …”

Since when is a bit of silliness not a good thing?  Methinks Mr. Erlewine needs to lighten up a bit.  Apparently there were others who felt the same, though, for Blender magazine published a list of the “50 worst songs of all time”, with Dancing on the Ceiling listed at No. 20.

It is said that this video cost $400,000 to make!

Dancing on the Ceiling
Lionel Richie

What is happening here
Something’s going on that’s not quite clear
Somebody turn on the lights
We’re gonna have a party
It’s starting tonight

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

The room is hot and that’s good
Some of my friends came by from the neighborhood
The people startin’ a climb the walls
Ooh it looks like everybody is having a ball

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Come on!

Everybody start to lose control
When the music is right
If you see somebody hangin’ around
Don’t get uptight
The only thing we want to do tonight
Is go ’round and ’round
And turn upside down
Come on! Let’s get down!

So come on! Let’s get loose
Don’t hold back
‘Cause ain’t no use
Hard to keep your feet on the ground
‘Cause when we like to party
We only want to get down

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Say what?
Can’t stop now
Just getting started
Everybody clap your hands
Come on
Everybody let’s dance

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling baby baby
We gonna dance all night

Songwriters: Lionel B. Jr. Richie / Michael Henry Jr. Frenchik / Carlos Manuel Rios
Dancing on the Ceiling lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

♫ We Didn’t Start The Fire ♫

Posted on by under music

This Billy Joel song was mentioned twice in comments recently, by Keith and Ellen.  The lyrics are a stream of consciousness list of more than 100 events that Joel felt his generation was not responsible for. Many of the references are to the Cold War (U.S. vs. Russia), a problem his generation inherited.

we-didnt-start-fire

Joel says he got the idea for the song after a conversation with his friend, Sean Lennon, son of Beatle John Lennon, on the event of Sean’s 21st birthday, .  The conversation went like this:

Lennon: It’s a terrible time to be 21!

Joel: Yeah, I remember when I was 21 – I thought it was an awful time and we had Vietnam, and y’know, drug problems, and civil rights problems and everything seemed to be awful.

Lennon: Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it’s different for you. You were a kid in the fifties and everybody knows that nothing happened in the fifties.

Joel: Wait a minute, didn’t you hear of the Korean War or the Suez Canal Crisis?

According to Joel …

I had turned forty. It was 1989 and I said “Okay, what’s happened in my life?” I wrote down the year 1949. Okay, Harry Truman was president. Popular singer of the day, Doris Day. China went Communist. Another popular singer, Johnnie Ray. Big Broadway show, South Pacific. Journalist, Walter Winchell. Athlete, Joe DiMaggio. Then I went on to 1950 … It’s one of the worst melodies I’ve ever written. I kind of like the lyric though.

Musically, the song does leave something to be desired.  Blender magazine rated this the 41st worst song ever in its 2004 article “Run for Your Life! It’s the 50 Worst Songs Ever!” Comparing it to “a term paper scribbled the night before it’s due.”

But the song carries a message, and that overrides the flaws in the composition, at least for me it does.

My thanks to Keith and Ellen for reminding me of this song and its message …

We Didn’t Start the Fire
Billy Joel

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, “The King and I” and “The Catcher in the Rye”

Eisenhower, vaccine, England’s got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc

Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu falls, “Rock Around the Clock”

Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn’s got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland

Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev
Princess Grace, “Peyton Place”, trouble in the Suez

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, “Bridge on the River Kwai”

Lebanon, Charlse de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide

Buddy Holly, “Ben Hur”, space monkey, Mafia
Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go

U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, “Psycho”, Belgians in the Congo

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Hemingway, Eichmann, “Stranger in a Strange Land”
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion

“Lawrence of Arabia”, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson

Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollah’s in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan

“Wheel of Fortune”, Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China’s under martial law
Rock and roller cola wars, I can’t take it anymore

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Songwriters: Billy Joel
We Didn’t Start the Fire lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ Dancing On The Ceiling ♫

Posted on by under music

I initially had a different song on the schedule … a real downer, but a good song nonetheless.  Then last night, a friend suggested that to pick my mood up, instead of listening to sad music, I might try Lionel Richie’s Dancing on the Ceiling.  I did, and it worked … who can cry when they’re listening to this?  I figured you guys could use a little pick-me-up too, so here it is!  I do have one question, though … how the heck does he dance on the walls and the ceiling?  I was going to try it, but … gravity stepped in and I figured I might end up with some broken bones.

Written by Richie, Mike Frenchik, and Carlos Rios, the song became a worldwide top ten hit, but not everyone liked it.  Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine said …

“This isn’t entirely a good thing, since it means he indulges in silliness …”

Since when is a bit of silliness not a good thing?  Methinks Mr. Erlewine needs to lighten up a bit.  Apparently there were others who felt the same, though, for Blender magazine published a list of the “50 worst songs of all time”, with Dancing on the Ceiling listed at No. 20.

It is said that this video cost $400,000 to make!

Dancing on the Ceiling
Lionel Richie

What is happening here
Something’s going on that’s not quite clear
Somebody turn on the lights
We’re gonna have a party
It’s starting tonight

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

The room is hot and that’s good
Some of my friends came by from the neighborhood
The people startin’ a climb the walls
Ooh it looks like everybody is having a ball

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Come on!

Everybody start to lose control
When the music is right
If you see somebody hangin’ around
Don’t get uptight
The only thing we want to do tonight
Is go ’round and ’round
And turn upside down
Come on! Let’s get down!

So come on! Let’s get loose
Don’t hold back
‘Cause ain’t no use
Hard to keep your feet on the ground
‘Cause when we like to party
We only want to get down

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Say what?
Can’t stop now
Just getting started
Everybody clap your hands
Come on
Everybody let’s dance

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling baby baby
We gonna dance all night

Songwriters: Lionel B. Jr. Richie / Michael Henry Jr. Frenchik / Carlos Manuel Rios
Dancing on the Ceiling lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc