lss: muppet babies opening theme

was doing some mindless channel-surfing one day in search for something worthwhile to watch. in the nanosecond that i clicked over to the next channel, the music and schedule from the previous one made me backtrack. the channel i skipped was disney junior, and it was showing the new muppet babies show that time.

funny how seeing a reboot of a show could bring back so many childhood memories of spending (philippine) summer vacations in the states, specifically those balmy afternoons spent watching the original muppet babies in my aunt's house. while i don't remember which channel i watched it and what episodes there were, i do remember always waiting for 3pm on weekdays to watch it whenever we didn't go anywhere. i even remember arguing with my cousin one time because she wanted to see some afternoon talk show. don't blame my kid self; i just had to have my muppet babies fix!

however, the one thing i remember best from the show is the opening theme, which has a '50s/'60s sound to it. i always looked forward to listening to it when 3pm rolled along. i thought it was a special treat since there were always back-to-back episodes everyday, which meant i could listen to the song twice, or four times each day if i count the ending credits. 

funny how even then i already have an affinity for the oldies, even when applied in a cartoon theme.

here's a video of both the 1985 and 2018 muppet babies opening themes. i think the new version is awesome too! 

weekend playlist: sam cooke

so i got the nth warning text from the ndrrmc due to the torrential rains brought about by the combo of the southwest monsoon and tropical depression. accuweather reports 26 degrees celsius tonite. photos and videos of flooded areas are shared all over fb all day. endless traffic in several districts. in a nutshell, it's just another regular stormy day in the metro, with everyone trying to cope the best they could.

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the nippy weather is no match for the warm fuzzies that's been raging in my heart lately however, thanks to sam cooke. in truth, the only song of his that i've listened to was you send me many years ago. the song made it into my ever-updating golden oldies playlist as i thought it was the sweetest sound i've ever heard. still do; it invokes lovely images of '50s and '60s soda fountains and diners, jukeboxes, poodle and balloon skirts, and such. i also think it's a good song to slow dance to, so...



twistin' the night away:
it was a fanfic i read recently that, well, brought me to this particular song of sam cooke's since it was mentioned there. i loved how it was written into the story. and because i'm such a sucker for oldies, i just had to search for it, and what do you know, i fell in love with it. so much so that i now sing and play it on my uke. 



(i love you) for sentimental reasons:
now this song i first heard in the movie the parent trap, where linda ronstadt's version was used in the yacht dinner scene. it's another romantic song worthy of a slow dance. then my heart did a million flips when i listened to sam cooke's version of it. sounds very much like you send me, with too many 'i love you's' and 'loving' for comfort. but it was sung oh, so, smoothly, like warm cream over whiskey. was actually lulled to sleep the other night listening to it. with a goofy grin, of all things.



y'all know already what to do with those play buttons on the vids, yeah? enjoy!

gosh all this rain is turning my brain to mush. just sayin'. good night!

lss: chega de ficar by aaron bingle

never thought i'd say something like this, but what the hey. once upon a time brought me here. ha.

this song was used at the pilot episode scene where emma entered the restaurant to meet her blind date. the first few beats of this song totally got me right away so of course, i just had to search for the title and artist. it was perfect for setting the scene before there was any interaction between emma and ryan. i thought also that it suited the restaurant's atmosphere really well. it reminds me of the upscale malls here in metro manila that play tunes like this. if i didn't know any better i might have heard this song already.

just hit play!

music video: her morning elegance by oren lavie

this video is such a joy to watch.


lyrics:

Sun been down for days
A pretty flower in a vase
A slipper by the fireplace
A cello lying in its case

Soon she's down the stairs
Her morning elegance she wears
The sound of water makes her dream
Awoken by a cloud of steam
She pours a daydream in a cup
A spoon of sugar sweetens up

And she fights for her life as she puts on her coat
And she fights for her life on the train
She looks at the rain as it pours
And she fights for her life as she goes in a store
With a thought she has caught by a thread
She pays for the bread and she goes

Nobody knows

Sun been down for days
A winter melody she plays
The thunder makes her contemplate
She hears a noise behind the gate
Perhaps a letter with a dove
Perhaps a stranger she could love

And she fights for her life as she puts on her coat
And she fights for her life on the train
She looks at the rain as it pours
And she fights for her life as she goes in a store
With a thought she has caught by a thread
She pays for the bread and she goes

Nobody knows
Nobody knows

And she fights for her life as she puts on her coat
And she fights for her life on the train
She looks at the rain as it pours
And she fights for her life as she goes in a store
Where the people are pleasantly strange
And counting the change as she goes

Nobody knows
Nobody knows

Nobody knows

let's hang on! v2

it's been exactly a week since i first heard the song let's hang on! by frankie valli and the four seasons. exactly a week since it got stuck in my head and won't leave even after i've listened to several versions of it over and over and over.

not that i'm complaining, no, far from it. i just love the melody of the song that i actually made a playlist of it. please humour this old girl as she rhapsodises some more on her current lss that has no plans of letting up.

two of the first three versions that i posted in my previous entry (salazar and nancy boyd and the capello's) were released in the '80s while the one from shooting party was released in 1990. salazar's version came out in 1980 and to me it still has tones of 1970s style disco music. nancy boyd's disco version was released in 1987. i love that particular video of it on youtube since everyone seemed to be having fun especially the two backup singers. hahaha.

1990 saw the release of shooting party's version of let's hang on! and quite like salazar, this song sounds like it's from the 80s. yet among all the covers of the song that i've listened to, this one sounds very much like the original, from the vocals to the beat.

barry manilow's cover of the song is a nice surprise. another release from the 1980s, it has a very upbeat tempo and it has all the characteristics of most of the songs that were released in that decade. very 80s. i know, how profound.



the last version in my playlist is that of the manhattan transfer's. it is also the latest cover released in 1995. i enjoy listening to this as it has a latin flavour to it and best of all, frankie valli himself also sang with the group. my favourite line "got a lot o' love between us" sounds so melodious to my ears.



with all these awesome covers, i really would like to hear a version of let's hang on! in this millennium. i imagine the song should have tones of the current musical style.

a toast to the song that started it all.

lss: let's hang on! by frankie valli and the four seasons

i didn't realise that the video for sherry baby that i clicked on youtube last night was actually a mix for frankie valli and the four seasons' songs. i almost skipped this song since i haven't ever listened to it yet and to be honest i just have this thing that i tend not to listen to an unfamiliar song of any fave artist of mine. strange but yeah.

at any rate, my gut told me that i would be missing out on a great song if i moved on to the next video, so i stuck with it. thank you Lord for guts. now i have this awesome song playing over and over in my head since last night up until probably next week LOL.

i guess what got me hooked to this song is this very catchy tune in its chorus particularly in the line "got a lot of love between us". yes, yes, i'm really weird like that but who cares.

let's hang on! was released in september 1965. composed by bob crewe, sandy linzer, and denny randell, this song that was popularised by frankie valli and the four seasons reached the number three position in the billboard hot 100 singles chart. so far this is the only four seasons song i know that has been covered by several artists like jan & dean, barry manilow, and the manhattan transfer, to name a few. the videos below though are of other artists who did their own covers of this song, all released in the '80s.

no analysing the nitty gritty of each version will ensue here; simply hit play and enjoy!









but! i think somebody should go and make a version of let's hang on! in this millennium. if producers were able to do it with amy grant's baby baby with tori spelling, then this would be a possibility as well. it would be really interesting to know how it will sound like.