Who Can Forget...

...this immortal classic?

As soon as I posted the previous list, there were a ton more that occurred to both of us - the use of Ride of the Valkyrie during the napalm scene in Apocalypse Now, Wayne and the gang singing Bohemian Rhapsody in Wayne's World, and of course this classic bit from Airplane, which actually stemmed from me mis-remembering Jason's email citing the Ethel Merman bit in the Veteran's Hospital. However, I couldn't find a clip of that online, and this scene always sums up the whole movie for me!

Obsessive List 4: Sound+Vision

...Which besides being a David Bowie reference, encapsulates what this list is, again originating from the mind of guest blogger Jason. From his email:
"...by which I mean best songs from movies as they appear in the film, judged by a combination of song quality, visuals, and furtherance of the plot or theme of the film. And yes, musicals count."

I think this is a little more telling of a list than the previous ones, which has me excited. So, Jason's (partial) list first, and then mine.

1. Wise Up by Aimee Mann, from Magnolia
2. Stonehenge by Spinal Tap, from This is Spinal Tap
3. Tomorrow Belongs to Me by the cast, from Cabaret
4. The Next to Last Song by Bjork, from Dancer in the Dark
5. Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, from Rocky III
6. The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel from The Graduate
7. Fight the Power by Public Enemy, from Do the Right Thing
8. Springtime for Hitler by the cast, from The Producers
9. 2 Wicky by Hooverphonic, from Stealing Beauty
10. Thus Spake Zarathustra, by Strauss from 2001: A Space Odyssey
11. "Ode to Joy" from Symphony #9 by Beethoven from A Clockwork Orange
12. When I'm Sixty-Four by the Beatles, from The World according to Garp

One of the worst things about these lists is if you're not the one who came up with the idea, you don't get to use some of your favorites. If I could use some from the above list, I would definitely have included the bits from Magnolia, Spinal Tap, Rocky, 2001...probably all of them! However, I made it my goal to not only not double any of the songs from the above, but not use any of the movies either. So, below is a rough list of 20 (I had more, but how long can this list be?) and a bonus 2 special mentions:

1. As Time Goes By by Dooley Wilson, from Casablanca
2. Dueling National Anthems by the cast, from Casablanca
3. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Eric Idle and cast, from Monty Python's the Life of Brian
4. Tiny Dancer by Elton John and the cast, from Almost Famous
5. Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin, from Manhattan
6. Canned Heat by Jamiroquai, from Napoleon Dynamite
7. Killing Me Softly by Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult, from About a Boy
8. A Quick One...While He's Away by the Who, from Rushmore
9. War by Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, from Rush Hour
10. Johnny B. Goode by Michael J. Fox, from Back to the Future
11. Blue Velvet by Dean Stockwell, from Blue Velvet
12. Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head by Burt Baccarach, from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
13. Man of Constant Sorrow by the Soggy Bottom Boys, from O' Brother, Where Art Thou?
14. My Favorite Things by Julie Andrews, from The Sound of Music
15. My Pretty Irish Girl by Sean Connery, from Darby O'Gill and the Little People
16. Take My Breath Away by Berlin, from Ocean's 11
17. Layla (coda) by Derek and the Dominoes, from Goodfellas
18. A Perfect Day by Lou Reed, from Trainspotting
19. I Want Your Body by Nymphomania, from True Romance
20. Make 'Em Laugh by Donald O'Connor, from Singin' in the Rain

There are two glaring omissions (in my opinion) from my list, which is why they get special mention below. One obvious, one not so obvious. Sometimes it's all the music as a whole that makes a movie, not just an individual song. So a special mention to the films PULP FICTION and GARDEN STATE - two films that would have been a lot different had it not been for the careful and excellent song selection. Huzzah!

UPDATED: Obsessive List 3: Cover Songs

A 1-2 punch. It started with an email from guest blogger Jason, who sent me a list of some of his favorite music covers of all time. It was arranged in a neat little table that had the original artist as well as the covering artist. Was this some sly attempt to shame me with his musical knowledge? Impressing me by knowing not only that Hey Joe is a cover (I think everyone knows that), but that it was originally done by The Leaves (which I bet not nearly as many people know)? Who knows? It makes for a great list, so I hereby give you Jason's list of his all-time favorite cover songs (in no particluar order):

1. Death Letter by The White Stripes, original by Son House
2. All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix, original by Bob Dylan
3. Hazy Shade of Winter by The Bangles, original by Simon and Garfunkel
4. No Quarter by Tool, original by Led Zeppelin
5. Ziggy Stardust by Bauhaus, original by David Bowie
6. Forward to Death by Nomeansno, original by Dead Kennedys
7. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These) by Marilyn Manson, original by The Eurythmics
8. I Put a Spell on You by Creedence Clearwater Revival, original by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
9. Crossroads by Cream, original by Robert Johnson
10. Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin, original by Kris Kristofferson
11. Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix, original by The Leaves
12. I Can't Quit You, Baby by Led Zeppelin, original by Willie Dixon
13. We've Gotta Get Out of This Place by Jello Biafra w/ DOA, original by The Animals
14. Kick Out the Jams by Henry Rollins w/ Bad Brains, original by MC5
15. Respect by Aretha Franklin, original by Otis Redding
16. Head On by The Pixies, original by Jesus and Mary Chain
17. The Passenger by Siouxsie & The Banshees, original by Iggy Pop

I will eventually get Jason to do a little commentary or intro for his list; in the meantime, my list is below. The only rule I gave myself is I couldn't double any of his. Again, in no particular order:

1. Walking With a Ghost by The White Stripes, original by Tegan and Sara
2. Mr. Tambourine Man by The Byrds, original by Bob Dylan
3. Imagine by A Perfect Circle, original by John Lennon
4. Memories Can't Wait by Living Colour, original by Talking Heads
5. Killing Me Softly by The Fugees, original by Roberta Flack
6. Day Tripper by Jimi Hendrix, original by The Beatles
7. People are Strange by Echo and the Bunnymen, original by The Doors
8. I Fought the Law by The Clash, original by The Crickets
9. Walk This Way by Run DMC, original by Aerosmith
10. Across the Universe by Fiona Apple, original by The Beatles
11. Whipping Post by Frank Zappa, original by The Allmann Brothers
12. Higher Ground by Red Hot Chili Peppers, original by Stevie Wonder
13. Needles and Pins by The Ramones, original by The Searchers
14. In Between Days by Ben Folds, original by The Cure
15. I Put a Spell on You by Them w/ Van Morrison, original by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
16. Gloria by Patti Smith, original by Them w/ Van Morrison
17. I Love Rock and Roll by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, original by The Arrows
18. Comfortably Numb by Scissor Sisters, original by Pink Floyd
19. I Heard it Through the Grapevine by Gladys Knight & the Pips, original by Marvin Gaye
20. Proud Mary by Tina Turner, original by Creedance Clearwater Revival

I'll try to get a few samples up here in the next few days!

UPDATE #1: Yesterday I was driving to Queens from the new place to pick up some meat for a barbecue (say what you want; I'm still leery of buying my meat in Long Island for fear of swallowing that which I despise), rocking the wife's car with the windows down and the stereo blaring. Before I got to the deli I heard two songs that made me smack my head and exclaim "Damn! Why didn't I put those on my list!" So, see the above for #19 and #20.

UPDATE #2: It took a day or so, and now you can see why: Sean has jumped into the fray with his own list of favorite covers, and in typical Sean fashion he couldn't narrow it down to less than 100! So, for your listening pleasure (yeah, you can download these puppies), here are Sean's 100 Rocktastic Covers:

Click here for creamy goodness part 1!

Click here for creamy goodness part 2!

Click here for creamy goodness part 3!

No Internet Sucks, Too

Due to the incredible frustration of Long Island in general and Cablevision/Optimum in particular, I am still without any internet in Casa de Voss. So it's bits and pieces during the limited free-time at work to write in this.

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UPDATES: Well, finally moved into the new place. Owning a house is the single-most frustrating, aggravating, time-consuming, wonderful and exciting thing in the world. Every day something comes along that needs to be done. We're still without phones, internet, or television. There's no sink in the downstairs bathroom, no pictures or curtains on the walls yet, and the kitchen hasn't moved from "place where we keep food and drink" to the "centerpiece of the Italian home" we want it to be.

But the furniture's there, the lawn's been cut, and the Sunday ritual of sitting down to some wheat and blueberry pancakes, coffee and the New York Times is in full force, only now moved out to the deck so we can enjoy the beautiful mornings surrounded by the jungle of plants that line our backyard. See? there's always a silver lining!

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The kidney thing is now going to the final stages. I have an appointment for an MRA next week. This is where they check the blood vessels by my kidneys to see which one they're going to take. After that, I can schedule the surgery. So needless to say there are lots of things I have to prepare and be ready for in the next few weeks. My brother keeps slipping further in health, so I'm trying to use that as my impetus to make this go as quickly as possible - hoepfully it'll go so quickly I won't have time to break down, which happens often when I try to get my head together with regards to making plans for my wife in case anything goes wrong.

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So many more things - movies and music to critique, pictures to post, essays to write. Unfortunately, right now I have to prep some materials for a 2-day meeting tomorrow, so please consider the lilies until I can get some more free time.