Dancing To The Beat Of “B”!

I’ve been celebrating great music one letter at a time – either a group or Artist with that letter of the alphabet – or a song title: either way, it’s fun to celebrate great music!

I’m looking at the letter “B” today – for whatever reason, this seemed like a letter for classic music from classic bands and Artists….like one of the greatest Singer/Songwriters of all time!

In 1984, Prince released his masterpiece, “Purple Rain”. It continued the title track, “Let’s Go Crazy’, and this “song with a B”:

“Baby, I’m A Star!”

It’s a song that you can’t sit and listen to – the driving beat and energy force you on your feet to sing along to these lyrics:

“1,2,3,4
Hey, look me over
Tell me do u like what u see?
Hey, I ain’t got no money
But honey I’m rich on personality
Hey, check it all out
Baby I know what it’s all about
Before the night is through
U will see my point of view
Even if I have 2 scream and shout

Baby I’m a (star)
Might not know it now
Baby but I r, I’m a (star)
I don’t want to stop, ’til I reach the top
Sing it (We are all a star!)”

Here is the amazing live performance from the 1985 Grammy Awards!

Wow! What a mesmerizing on-stage performer Prince was – one of the all-time greats.

Next up is a band that came out rocking in the 70’s – they blew the doors off music with their debut album:

Bad Company “Bad Company”

The title track told the rock community that a new group was in town, kicking ass and taking names – lead singer Paul Rodgers was from the band Free, and when he found a new group to play with, this debut was an immediate classic!

Songs included “Can’t Get Enough”, “Feel Like Making Love”, “Seagull”, “Moving On” and of course:

“Bad company
I can’t deny
Bad company
Till the day I die
Until the day I die”

Here is the lead track from the debut album, performed live with great vocals by Paul Rodgers:

I love classic rock! Speaking of classics…

Next up is a band that could make a dozen “B” lists just on their own.

The Beatles could be included on this list in so many ways – but fifty years ago, this one album changed music forever. 50 years ago, “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” revolutionized music – and album covers, and here is one of the great album tracks.

The Beatles “Lovely Rita”

The story of a young man who “nearly made it” with Rita, the meter maid…until of course the ending of the song, which sounds like rock music’s first recorded orgasm.

Here is a terrific live performance by Paul from 2015 – with a bit of that orgasmic interlude:

Such a great song – and the 50th anniversary remastered special editions of this masterpiece are amazing – you can read more about this landmark album here:

From a classic of the 60’s to a modern classic – time to check in with Eminem:

“Business” by Eminem

I love the raucous, combative music of Eminem, with incredible beats by Dr Dre – which you can see him performing live here:

“The Eminem Show” resonates as much today as when it was released in 2002 – can you believe its been 20 years?

Next up is a performer who had an incredible career on his own, but also had a wine-quelled collaboration with one of the world’s most theatrical bands!

David Bowie with Queen “Under Pressure”

Queen could be all over this alphabetical list of great music, as could Bowie – and together they created one of the classic songs of our time.

Here is a great mashup on Youtube which mixes live performances from both artists to capture the essence of the song!

Click here to read the raucous story of how he teamed up with Queen and the madness behind the song “Under Pressure”:

Next up is a band that also survived, off and off, for fifty years – and released what appears to be their swan song:

The Beach Boys “Summer’s Gone”

Their last song as a group is from the last album “That’s Why God Made The Radio” – the hauntingly beautiful “Summer’s Gone”, here are the last lyrics sung by the band:

“Summer’s gone
It’s finally sinking in
One day begins
Another ends
I live them all and back again

Summer’s gone
I’m gonna sit and watch the waves
We laugh, we cry
We live then die
And dream about our yesterday…”

It’s a beautiful song with some distinctive vocal harmonies, performed here live by Brian Wilson:

Read about this song, from their last and no doubt final album, here:

What is it about bands at fifty?

I guess it’s that music now allows bands to take our their greatest hits for whole generations of fans, like this classic band and the song that nobody names correctly:

“Baba O’ Reilly” by The Who

Yes, fans know the name, but if you hear this on classic rock stations you could think it was called “Teenage Wasteland”.

“Out here in the fields
I fight for my meals
I get my back into my living
I don’t need to fight
To prove I’m right
I don’t need to be forgiven

Don’t cry
Don’t raise your eye
It’s only teenage wasteland”

Filmed on B-Stage at Shepperton Studios on 25 May 1978 in front of an invited audience including members of The Pretenders, Generation X, the Rich Kids and the Sex Pistols and included in Jeff Stein’s documentary The Kids Are Alright.

I love that song!

Oh, and how could I do “Songs With A ‘B'” and not include by friend Kelly Clarkson?

This album was a massive success, led by the worldwide hit “Since You’ve Been Gone”, but I love the autobiographical lyrics of the title track:

“Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I’d just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be
And if I’d end up happy
I would pray

Trying hard to reach out
But when I tried to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I prayed (I would pray)
I could breakaway”

Here is the video:

Kelly opens every episode of her daytime talk show with a song – click here to see what she sang recently:

Finally the “B” song I’m leaving you with is this classic:

“Band On The Run” by Paul McCartney & Wings

Many consider it Paul’s greatest achievement – the third Wings album created under the worst of circumstances…here is the original promotional film for the title track:

The fact that Paul was able to complete this album at all is astounding…read about what he went through trying to record this in Africa:

If you want to see who I profiled on the “A” list of music, look no further than these guys:

See all of my “A” list, including Abba, Aerosmith and Todd Rundgren too, right here:

Let me know your favorite “B” songs or Artists!

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Categories: 70's Music, Art, Classic Rock, kelly clarkson, Music, Obscure Music, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, TV Show

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