Welcome back to your weekly putting of some knowledge. I’m your host Sobek, I know less about music than I let on, and today we’re getting into the Baroque Era. Here’s some pretty music:
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2021 BBF Championship – Semi-Final Round 2
Hello, and welcome to The 2021 BBF Championship Semi-Final Round 2.
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Headers with the contestant names are links to their original BBF post.
Links are best viewed with a preview AP like Hover Zoom.
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Rock Around the Croc: Covers and Christmas
Big thanks to Pupster for the invitation to contribute to the blog. You guys make me laugh on days when I definitely need it, so I’m glad to have the opportunity to post officially.
I got the idea to do an occasional musical post because a while back, I think on a Sunday, no new post went up and I just started writing a bunch of essays about Renaissance music in the comments section. It was fun, and interesting to read the comments, and music is such a huge part of my life.
Let’s get this one kicked off with Celine Dion, and the best-selling Christmas album of all time:
I picked this one for a couple of reasons. First, because I love learning about the back stories of music, and this has one of my favorites. The song was written by Dee Snider, best known as the front man of Twisted Sister:
Snider is a classically trained baritone. His wife asked him to write a Christmas song for her, as a present. So he wrote one, and thought that was the end of it. Some time later, Celine Dion went into the same studio to record her Christmas album, and she came across the song. She liked it and wanted to record her own version, so she asked the producer to get the rights. The producer called Snider. Snider asked if she knew who wrote the song. The producer said she did not. Snider said “DON’T TELL HER!” So that’s how a Twisted Sister song ended up on a Celine Dion album.
The second reason is because Celine really does have an amazing voice. I like being able to appreciate some great element in a piece of music, even if it’s not music I would ordinarily listen to. The irony of starting with a Celine Dion song is that I’m not a big fan of Christmas music. I’ve never once gotten past Thanksgiving and thought “oh good, it’s time for Christmas music now!” I think it’s important when evaluating some music to understand what the writer or performer is trying to do and evaluate it on those terms.
I love finding surprise connections in music. The more you learn about music history and music theory, the more you know that all of music is one living thing. Pendejo Grande said he wants to hear my thoughts on the connection between Bach and Ozzy Osbourne, and I actually have something to say about that very topic (but for another week). There’s something to be said about music history, the personalities who make it, how instruments and instrumentation change over time, how audience attitudes affect what composers do, how composer attitudes affect what audiences do, and how music can be a common thread through life.
Exit questions:
What kind of music does everyone around you like, that you don’t? What’s your favorite cross-genre cover? Which Slayer song should Celine Dion cover?
What change looks like
The Official Sports Team of The Hostages
Honorary Hostage David Thorne – Epic E-mail Exchange
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