DEATH OF A PARTY: As you have probably know by now, the long-running soap opera known as "Woodstock 50" has died a merciful death. On July 31, one day after I wrote last week's blog, organizer Michael Lang pulled the plug on what was left of the planned festival. He had blamed the cancelation on Dentsu Aegis, one of its investors, when it backed out on its investment and announced it's cancellation, even though Lang stated it wasn't the case. Things did seem to spiral downhill from there.
With that out of the way, it's time to turn to the celebration of the actual, "real" Woodstock, which took place in August 15-18. 1969 and which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, properly taking place at the original site, now occupied by the Bethel Center for the Arts, and will feature original performers Santana, John Fogerty (who performed with Creedence Clearwater Revival), Arlo Guthrie, and Edgar Winter (who performed with his brother Johnny), as well as other acts from that era.
You really don't need a "Woodstock 50" to remember the original. It's been very popular and much talked about for half a century now. Crosby, Stills Nash & Young had a hit the following spring with "Woodstock" which was written by Joni Mitchell, who wasn't at the festival but captured the essence of it. Melanie, who did perform, hit with "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" around the same time. And then came the iconic documentary simply titled "Woodstock" that came out in theaters (and will return to theaters this month for the anniversary). Much of the music featured in the film, also comprised the three-vinyl record soundtrack (as well as a sequel record, called Woodstock 2).
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| The cover of the original soundtrack of the documentary Woodstock with music from the original festival. |
That soundtrack album's cover photo pretty much told the story....a mountainside of hippies, scattered all over with blankets, mud from the frequent rainstorms that pelleted Yasgur's Farm over that weekend, with a couple embracing on the right side of the cover. In that era of free love, probably nobody gave that any second thoughts, that maybe they were together for a short time, or just met at the concert. That couple was Bobbi Kelly and Nick Ercoline, both 20 years old at the time. A coupl3 years ago, a picture of them---still very much together, surfaced on the internet, pictured along with the cover of that soundtrack album. They got married two years after the festival, and are planning on returning to the original site during the 50th anniversary celebration there at Bethel Woods. In fact, the Bethel Center for the Arts have invited the couple to be ambassadors for that weekend and to greet the visitors who come to celebrate, be it checking out the grounds, the museum, or to see some of that weekend's shows.
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| Nick and Bobbi Ercoline in 2018, the couple pictured on the album cover, now married 49 years. |
The original Woodstock was definitely about peace, love and music. Fifty years later, that still holds true for Bobbi and Nick Ercoline. Good for them!
On Tuesday, August 6, PBS broadcast as part of its "An American Experience" series, "Woodstock: Three Days that Defined a Generation", a two-hour documentary on the hardships of getting the festival off the ground, having to move venues and set up stages just days before the festival began, and the decision to go with building the stage rather than fences; thus it became a free concert. Clips of performances by Richie Havens (who had to improvise a new song, "Freedom" because he unexpectedly had to take the stage first because the others were delayed by traffic), Santana, Sly & the Family Stone, and of course, Jimi Hendrix's closing take on "The Star Spangled Banner" on that muddy Monday morning to end the festival.
I'm sure it will be repeated as PBS usually does. Definitely catch that, as well as the original movie returning to theaters.
SAME OLD TOWN ROAD: "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, extends its record on Billboard's Hot 100 with its 18th straight week at #1. Its fifth remix, which featured a member of South Korean band BTS helped to maintain its unprecedented run at the top.
But, while the song continues to set records with Billboard, it now also tops my SNS 100 which is my personal playlist of current and recent songs that I listen to. It moves 2-1 in its 7th week on my list, and has a comfortable lead over the #2 song, "Low" by The Driver Era, which lead last week. So, the question is, how long can "Road" stay on top of my chart? Unlike popular music, I can only tolerate a song for so long....my record for longest #1 is "only" 8 weeks. The country trap song is a nice change-of-pace from what I normally listen to, but eventually another alternative-based song---and there are many of them rising---may knock it out, sooner more than later, but we shall see.
Since "Road" has been at the top of Billboard since before Memorial Day, it is a lock to become Billboard's "Song of the Summer". Heck, even if the song just went away now, it probably wins that honor. As for my own person summer song, which I have been keeping track of since I started this blog in 2010, while I haven't computed it yet, it's probably between "Lo/Hi", and "I've Been Waiting", but with a few more big weeks under its belt, could "Road" win honors on SNS too? Based on my primary methodology, it usually favors songs that are big at the beginning of the summer since even when the song wanes, it racks up points, as opposed to newly added songs which have to take time in building up points. I didn't add the song until the week of June 23 (thus missing a month of the summer0, and this is only the third week that it has amassed over 100 points. Contrast that with "I've Been Waiting", which has 16 consecutive weeks over 100 points and "Lo/Hi" that had 17. The latter song finally drops under the 100 mark this week. What is keeping "Old Town Road" from being even bigger is the tepid (if that) response to my friends who post music on Facebook; it's not getting the buzz like other popular songs this decade have been getting, such as "Blurred Lines", "Uptown Funk", "Happy" and the like.
Part of that reason might be the relatively weak radio play on the song. This week, on Billboard's "Radio Songs" chart, which measures airplay across all genres and formats, the song is only #17, dropping from #14 last week. It peaked at #2 a few weeks ago, not bad, of course, but disappointing for a song which shattered the long-running Hot 100 records. It appears that it's the younger generation streaming the heck out of this that it's keeping it at the top.
"Old Town Road" continues to keep Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy" at #2 and that is actually approaching a record in its own right. It is in the runner-up spot for the 8th week without hitting the top, and is two weeks from that record, which is 10, shared by "Work It" by Missy Elliot in 2002, and Foreigner's "Waiting For A Girl Like You" from 1981. That contrasts with my list, my longest-running #2 song without hitting the top is "Someone That I Used to Know" by Gotye, which stayed at #2 for 12 weeks here!
Finally, with "Road" ascending to my top position, it becomes the ninth song to top both lists, and the first since Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" in early 2018. Sheeran owns two of those songs, Adele has three of them. The others: fun, Pink, and Lorde.
Meanwhile, "Bad Guy", which does have a post from a friend to its credit, does move up to #59 this week. It also ascends to the top of the alternative chart as well. Still not an overt fan of the song, I am keeping it on my list as it is very popular.
Elsewhere on my list, The Black Keys' following up to "Lo/Hi", "Go", moves from 7 to 3, while Blanco Brown's "The Git Up" rallies from 10-4, making two "country trap" songs in the top 4. On the Billboard 200, it's still having problems, moving back down to #16 on the new Hot 100. It's probably unlikely that it will be the one to unseat "Town" on Billboard (maybe it will here); then again, who knows when the Lil Nas X will actually fall from the top.
GROWN-UPS BEHAVE: Five new songs this week, but the Top Debut is technically not "new" at all. "I Think We're Alone Now" has been a hit several times, first by Tommy James & the Shondells taking it to #4 in 1967, then Tiffany scoring a #1 song with it twenty years later. Other versions have been recorded, most notably by San Francisco power pop band The Rubinoos, who reached #45 with it in 1977. Lene Lovich covered it in 1978 but didn't chart, and UK girl group Girls Aloud had a top five hit across the pond in 2003. Bands ranging from The Turtles and Gary Lewis and the Playboys, to The Killers have also recorded the song.
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| Pop/rock legend Tommy James has released a new, slower, acoustic version of his 1967 Shondells hit, "I Think We're Alone Now" |
And now we've come full circle. The highest debut this week goes to a slowed-down, acoustic version of the song by none other than Tommy James. In its second week on Adult Contemporary at #28, it debuts on SNS at #64. In contrast to the teen-oriented original, James slows and strips it down considerably, and it comes off very well. In a way, it's like a whole new song, updated for a new generation. James has performed this version at concerts in recent years and now it's on his new album Alive. It is the second single from the album; the first, "So Beautiful", reached #15 here. Unlike that song, which utilizes auto-tune and other current pop techniques, this song, despite it being "acoustic" has a more fuller sound and because of it's familiarity, should make a nice showing on my chart.
Also added this week is "Rylan", by The National, a comeuppance from their recent "You Had Your Soul With You"; Black Pistol Fire, from Toronto, Canada by way of Austin Texas, with "Pick Your Poison", New Jerseyan and local artist Christina Alessi, with "The Truth's Upon Us"; she tours my area frequently with her band The Toll Collectors; and Illenium & Jon Bellion, two separate artists collaborating (a la Marshmello and Bastille), with "Good Things Fall Apart".
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
August 4, 2019
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 2 |
NUMBER ONE:
Album: 7
|
7 |
| 2 | 1 | The Driver Era - Low | 10 |
| 3 | 7 | The Black Keys - Go | 8 |
| 4 | 10 | Blanco Brown - The Git Up | 6 |
| 5 | 3 | Winnetka Bowling League - Kombucha | 9 |
| 6 | 6 | The Big Takeover - Shy | 11 |
| 7 | 9 | Lana Del Rey - Doin' Time | 9 |
| 8 | 4 | Meg Myers - Running Up That Hill | 13 |
| 9 | 19 | The Horrors - Point of No Reply | 8 |
| 10 | 12 | Molly Burch - Candy | 15 |
| 11 | 15 | Shannon Marsyada - Caught Falling | 5 |
| 12 | 5 | Telekinesis - Like Nothin' | 10 |
| 13 | 21 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
(Single Only)
|
4 |
| 14 | 14 | The Lumineers - Gloria | 13 |
| 15 | 17 | Amber Arcades - Something's Gonna Take Your Love Away | 8 |
| 16 | 11 | Elton John and Taron Egerton - I'm Gonna Love Me Again | 12 |
| 17 | 20 | Phantogram - Into Happiness | 8 |
| 18 | 8 | Pageants - Will-O'-the-Wisp | 11 |
| 19 | 23 | Band of Skulls - Love is All You Love | 6 |
| 20 | 13 | Lil Peep and IloveMakonnen f Fall Out Boy - I've Been Waiting● | 18 |
|
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Songs with the greatest increase in favorite
points over 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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