FIRST there was Bohemian Rhapsody, a biopic centering on the late Freddie Mercury, frontman of the band Queen. Then came Rocketman about the life of Elton John. Both movies dealt with the personal and social struggles of rising stars as well as their continued hardship in dealing with fame amidst personal issues. And while both of those movies attracted much buzz and good reviews, they were a bit different in its presentation, particularly the latter which seemed to be dressed up as a Broadway musical of sorts.
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| "Yesterday", about a singer inspired by the work of The Beatles, debuted in theaters last week. |
Next came Yesterday, which is about a Beatles-inspired musician named Jack Malik (played by Himesh Patel) who lives and breathes the Fab Four (as many still do), and is a singer/songwriter in his own right, as well as doing covers of his inspired band. However, the audiences he played to were minimal, and he has decided to call it a career. Suddenly there is an extensive power outage, and at the same time, he is involved in an accident. When he comes to in a hospital and subsequently recovers, he realizes that the whole world has forgotten about the Beatles...or more specifically, never knew they existed. After getting over the shock, he then decides to make those songs his own, claiming that he wrote them, and getting very popular with fans in the process.
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| 'Yesterday' star Himesh Patel, in a scene with pop star Ed Sheeran |
Aside from the many Beatles songs featured, the movie also features two artists familiar to my blog readers. Ed Sheeran, you most likely know all about; he has a significant role in the movie, playing himself as he allows the protagonist, Jack Malik, to perform at Wembley Stadium to a packed house of fans, even outstaging himself. However, the movie also features indie/folk rock singer Michael Kiwanunka as the leader of his back-up band. Kiwanunka reached #1 on my blog with "One More Night" in late 2016, as well as two other follow-up songs "Cold Little Heart" and the title track from his second album Love and Hate, and is an artist worth checking out. He hails from London and has made Billboard's "Triple-A" chart regularly. His first album, Home Again, was released in 2012. He has a wide range of influences, from Wham! to Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, The Band, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, and Jimi Hendrix.
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| Indie rocker Michael Kiwanunka appears in "Yesterday', plays in the band backing Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) |
The movie seems to have started a new trend: movies inspired by rock stars, as next month, another such movie, Blinded By the Light will debut in theaters. The movie is similar as an aspiring musician gets inspired by, in this case, Bruce Springsteen.
That pretty makes four major motion pictures that were inspired by real-life rock musicians, and it begets the following: Is this an effort to bring rock back into prominence as a current, viable musical genre, or it is just a tribute to a by-gone era? Given that these subjects of these movies deal with rockers from the 1960's and 70s, it appears to be the former, given the audience for these are those from the baby boomer era primarily. While Yesterday does feature prominent current artists (Sheeran and Kiwanunka), it's pretty much faithful to the era in which the Beatles prevail; the movie takes you to Strawberry Field, Penny Lane, and Eleanor Rigby's grave, for example.
Rock music seems to be more of a nostalgic thing in 2019; myself and my "contemporaries" discuss music from the sixties and seventies with regularity as nothing can beat that era of music. But, can a rock band succeed in this era? I'm not counting those bands that have sacrificed rock credibility to sound more pop (read: Panic! at the Disco, Twenty One Pilots, Imagine Dragons), but those which feature the guitar as primary instrument. Or are rock's subgenres pretty much exhausted? If that's the case, then we've made a lot of memorable music during that vintage period. Perhaps if there are more biopics and inspirational movies such as the four mentioned about, and include a good staple of current musicians making the music appearing in them, then yes, it has a chance to survive.
TRIPLE PLAY: Look what's back at the top spot. The Black Keys take back the number one spot for the third time with "Lo/Hi", garnering its fifth non-consecutive week there. That drops Lil Peep's "I've Been Waiting" back to #2. That marks the sixth time in three months that these two songs have been 1-2 (or 2-1) on my list. Advancing to #3 is "Sucker" by Jonas Brothers. That's the highest song by a pop artist on my list in a year and a half. It's still in Billboard's top 10 after debuting at #1 on the Hot 100 16 weeks ago.
The next number one will probably come from the group at positions 4 thru 6: "Shy" by The Big Takeover, "Like Nothin'" by Telekinesis, and "Kombucha" by Winnetka Bowling League. None of these are on any Billboard chart, which perhaps is not surprising. And you wonder why I do this blog and create a currents playlist each week of my favorite songs!
NEW AND BRIEF: English rockers Band of Skulls have the Top Debut this week with "Love Is All You Love". It's a vintage mid-to-slow tempo rocker and invokes an earlier time, but is a fresh, soulful excursion. Sounds like a winner to me, coming in at #77. The band has made my list several times before, most notably "Light of the Morning" in 2010. I once again dip back a couple years for the next Kungs single, "More Mess" which features Olly Murs and Coely. Unlike the prior three singles from his debut Layers, this 2017 single has yet to find an album home. A good song, although not as immediately apparent as his prior work. Vampire Weekend follows up their alt-rock topping (and SNS mid-charting) "Harmony Hall" with "This Life". Foals and Cayucas follow up their recent SNS Top 20-ers with "In Degrees" and "Real Life", respectively; Maybird, best known for their SNS #1, the trippy "Turning into Water", are back with "Gonna Love Your Mind"; as hinted last week, Blanco Brown's country/hip-hop hybrid, "The Git Up" debuts at #90; the song is apparently the latest line dance which invites people to take up the challenge to do so. The record is rather infectious. And finally, with her prior album's "Idontwannaknowyouanymore" making its way up my list, I take another shot at Billie Elish's current album for "Bad Guy". It's more sparse pop, and not surprisingly, sits at #3 on the Hot 100. Incidentally, Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus' "Old Town Road" racks up its 13th week at #1. The record is sixteen weeks, by the way Here, the song moves 93-81.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
June 30, 2019
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 2 |
NUMBER ONE:
Album: 'Let's Rock'
(5 weeks at #1)
|
14 |
| 2 | 1 | Lil Peep and IloveMakonnen f Fall Out Boy - I've Been Waiting | 13 |
| 3 | 5 | Jonas Brothers - Sucker | 12 |
| 4 | 6 | The Big Takeover - Shy | 6 |
| 5 | 9 | Telekinesis - Like Nothin' | 5 |
| 6 | 10 | Winnetka Bowling League - Kombucha | 4 |
| 7 | 3 | Nick Waterhouse - I Feel An Urge Coming On | 11 |
| 8 | 7 | Beck - Saw Lightning | 8 |
| 9 | 11 | Meg Myers - Running Up That Hill | 8 |
| 10 | 4 | Tame Impala - Patience | 10 |
| 11 | 14 | Pageants - Will-O'-the-Wisp | 6 |
| 12 | 13 | Elton John and Taron Egerton - I'm Gonna Love Me Again | 7 |
| 13 | 12 | The Holiday Band - Yours | 8 |
| 14 | 27 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
"Low"
Album: X
|
5 |
| 15 | 19 | Thomas Rhett - Look What God Gave Her | 8 |
| 16 | 22 | The Blue Stones - Be My Fire | 8 |
| 17 | 26 | Lana Del Rey - Doin' Time | 4 |
| 18 | 15 | Too Much Sylvia - Got the Rhythm | 9 |
| 19 | 8 | Fitz and the Tantrums - 123456 | 12 |
| 20 | 25 | Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho | 7 |
Songs with the greatest increase in
favorite points over the previous week. ver the prior week.
● Songs
with 25 or more plays on my iPod.
▲ Songs with 50 or more
plays on my iPod.
¨ Songs with 100 or more
plays on my iPod.
The “Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100” is a list
of current and recent song playlist which I am listening to.
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