Success? Be Careful What You Wish For; "Karen" Tops List; Molly Burch's Holiday Song Top Debut (SNS week of 11/22/2020)

 Trudging along a few days late.  It's several days after Thanksgiving and hope you and yours had a nice one in spite of all that is going on 

A couple weeks back, one of my musician friends who I admire greatly (and has put out great music) had posted something (later deleted) about quitting performing; that it's not about the talent one has, but what matters if the kids out there like it or not which define you.   

No doubt, it's probably the lament of the thousands of aspiring artists out there who, in spite of their love of performing, at the same time are frustrated that their music isn't heard, falling on deaf ears.   Heck, if you put all of your heard and soul into your performance, both live and in the studio, of course you want to be noticed.   I think that pretty much applies to everything in life, no matter what occupation you do, you want that "pat on the back".     With COVID-19 all but curbing many of the major live performances, no doubt that is added to the frustration.

This singer has been through a lot this year.    She has also paid her dues, has gotten songwriting awards, and has put out several albums.   Her music is beautiful, but, if you haven't lived outside her general area, chances are you haven't heard her music.    

But, unfortunately, talent and acceptance don't go hand-in-hand, especially when it comes to modern-day pop music.    Sparse beats and production, worn out raps, screeching singers have become the norm, and that is what the kids are buying these days.    Heck, on my list this week, only one artist is in both mine and Billboard's Top 10 (Harry Styles).    Meanwhile, what I think is awesome music has, indeed been ignored.   

Of course, this musician's fans have begged her not to quit.    But sadly, artists who have performed with similar style have found little or no success, with a couple notable exceptions, and there are many other artists have "dumbed down" their songwriting, and singing skills.  Taylor Swift is a perfect example of that; just listen to her early stuff to appreciate how talented she is; and then listen to her lame later material that has become so popular.

So, should my friend "dumb down her skills"?   Is it worth going for broke to please the teens who were weaned onto hip-hop and sparse pop?  Do you really want to compromise your gifted voice and playing for the sake of pop acceptance?    Sure, that is what you want to ultimately achieve, but it should really be done on your OWN terms.    Sadly, Ms. Swift isn't the only one doing this; some really great artists who debuted with awesome material have tried to move more to the mainstream with subsequent releases and still weren't able to quite grab that brass ring.   And if you somehow stumble into that success, is it worth being in the gossip columns and being oft-discussed, both pro and con?

My advice to this friend is not to quit at all.   Even if  you're not on the charts, you have an awesome following.    Your music really isn't for teens anyway.   Try for the Adult Contemporary or Adult Top 40 charts if you wish, but don't compromise your artistry.    You are a beautiful person, and don't let anyone discourage you.   I look forward to hearing some new music from you soon.

NO COMPLAINTS TO THEIR MANAGER:  Call them indie-rock, surf-rock or even neo-new wave but Surfer Blood takes the top spot on the most recent playlist chart with "Karen".  The band, who hails from Florida ends the three-week reign of "Midnight Sky" by Miley Cyrus.    The song becomes the fourth song to grab my number one blog spot to have a girl's name in the title, following "Elizabeth's Theme" by Dirty Beaches, "Oh Paige" by The Hounds of Winter, and "Jeannie Becomes a Mom" by Caroline Rose.

While I've always loved the name Karen---I have many cool friends during my life that have that name---given the fact that this is 2020, no doubt this probably isn't a love song to a woman with that name.  In the liberal pop culture that is defining the current times, a "Karen" is supposedly a middle-age white woman who calls a manager or the police when something isn't going her way.  Therefore, it's a derogatory term in this day and age.    I tried looking at the lyrics to the song to see if this is the case here.   To be honest, the lyrics---which are pretty much repetitive throughout, namely "Got a got a, got a a guitar", and words like "you're singing in the shower", or "strumming softly on the bed", really have nothing to do with someone being a "Karen".   Looking at the comments on the YouTube video really doesn't reveal anything except the possible of someone calling the manager at one of their shows, to which the band replied "We'll never tell".    

Which is just as well.  I love the song, and for me, it's a love song to all the REAL Karen's out there.   Now, of course, my wife's name is Barbara.   I pray that nobody comes up with a derogatory term for THAT name!

Elsewhere in the top 20, there isn't much change.   There is a jam-up at the top six, and who knows what will hit the top next week.   "Mariana Trench" by Bright Eyes is the only new entry into the top 20, but right behind at #21, is Bakar's awesome "1st Time".

CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE:   We have our first batch of holiday songs to hit the list this week.  That includes the Top Debut, "Holiday Dreaming" by Molly Burch at #57.    I've been a big fan of this Austin, Texas singer for a little over a year, and there have been ads promoting her holiday album which had actually come out in 2019.    I love her voice, and the ambience of her recordings---her "Only One" peaked at #2 early this year here---so I was ecstatic when I heard "Holiday Dreaming", which is much in that vein, something that always conveys to me the holiday spirt of November and December (in which last year, "Only One" was rising up my playlist).    Sadly, Ms. Burch isn't a household name, and so far hasn't gotten any airplay, but that has never stopped me from moving a songh up my SNS 100 chart.    It's also the newest entry on this year's edition of my holiday Top 100 coming in at #97 and getting some positive feedback when I had posted it recently.   Look for a quick ascent up the list, possibly becoming only my third holiday entry to hit the top spot.  We shall see. 

The other holiday entry this week is Meghan Trainor and Seth McFarlane's take on the classic "White Christmas".

Also new this week is a blog debut from one of my longtime friends, Gia Ness.   While I will devote an entire blog to her very shortly, as she has had a big musical background, she nowadays performs with her ukulele, as part of "Tiny Bubbles Ukulele".   She has released an album of covers, Incidental Music.  Her take on The Beatles' classic, "Across the Universe" debuts at #72 this week.

Garage rockers The Mystery Lights enter with "It's Alright", my follow-up to their top 10 "21 and Counting", which was from their 2016 debut.    The new one is from their 2019 sophomore outing, Too Much Tension.   They retain their mid-1960's garage sound while adding more psychedelic and classic rock aspects to the experience to this mid-tempo romp.   It has a good chance to equal the performance of "21...".    Finally, Foo Fighters return with "Shame Shame".  It's a notable departure from their past material, Dave Grohl and company covering some new ground with a little more artistic flair and emotion into the song.  It's the lead single from their forthcoming Medicine at Midnight set, due in February 2021.   The band hit #1 here with "Rope" back in 2011.  

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO?  The addition of Gia Ness to my playlist and the upcoming holiday season led me to check on the whereabouts of Us Commoners, a mid-Hudson Valley musical project featuring Wayne Nuessle and Bernadette Marnell-Palumbo.  It was five years ago that they debuted with "Christmas and Hanukkah".  The video was in a bar-like setting with many patrons listening in, including Gia, her husband Rick and their kids; among many others.   The band even shared my blog about them, which you can read here.  That song reached #13 that season on my blog, and was followed with "Fallin'" and "The Hot Spot", both which hit #3.   Their final entry was 2017's "The Long Road Back Around".

And then, they disappeared.   Vanishing was their YouTube account, as well as their Facebook page, abd their website domain name.   I couldn't find their videos on YouTube, but they do appear on Vimeo, thanks to Jerek Zabczynski, who directed their videos.    It's a shame, they had a good thing going.

Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist

November 22, 2020

This Week	Last Week	ARTIST-Title	Weeks on List
1	3	NUMBER ONE: SURFER BLOOD "Karen" Album: Carefree Theatre	12
2	1	Miley Cyrus - Midnight Sky	11
3	2	Devon Gilfillan - The Good Life	11
4	4	Shannon Marsyada - A Love That Doesn't Hurt	17
5	5	Animal Island - Tonight	13
6	6	Real Estate - The Main Thing	12
7	7	Elle King - The Let Go	12
8	10	Fleet Foxes - Can I Believe You	8
9	13	Black Pumas - Black Moon Rising	10
10	12	Dan Croll - Away From Today	12
11	14	Iration - Right Here Right Now	13
12	16	Mabel - Mad Love	9
13	11	Pickwick - Never Gonna Be Enough	12
14	8	Harry Styles - Watermelon Sugar	14
15	18	The Backseat Lovers - Kilby Girl	19
16	19	Fleshtones - Alex Trebek	3
17	9	David F. Porfirio - Driving at Dusk	15
18	20	Tennis - Superstar	7
19	15	The Mystery Lights - 21 & Counting	15
20	22	TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK: BRIGHT EYES "Mariana Trench" Album: Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was	8
21	34	Bakar - 1st Time	3
22	17	Michael Kiwanuka - You Ain't The Problem	15
23	25	The Blue Stones - Let It Ride	6
24	27	Phoebe Ryan - Ring	9
25	29	Cage the Elephant - Skin and Bones	5
26	31	Christina Alessi & the Toll Collectors -  Where the River Flows	5
27	36	The Avalanches - Wherever You Go	5
28	21	Morgan Wallen - 7 Summers	10
29	37	Chris Stapleton - Cold	4
30	24	Pretenders - Didn't Want to Be This Lonely	10
31	33	New Order - Be A Rebel	6
32	26	Christina Alessi & the Toll Collectors - Whatever Gets You Through	8
33	32	Tame Impala - Is It True	13
34	23	Winnetka Bowling League - Come to the Beach	16
35	38	Phoebe Ryan - Try It Sober	7
36	28	Screen Age - Blue Eyed Addiction●	28
37	47	Deep Sea Diver ft. Sharon Van Etten - Impossible Weight	5
38	44	Of Monsters and Men - Visitor	6
39	58	MOVER OF THE WEEK: BRITTANY HOWARD "You'll Never Walk Alone" (Single Only)	2
40	30	Guards - So It Goes	20
41	49	David F. Porfirio - Evening At the Pier	3
42	63	Winnetka Bowling League - Congratulations	2
43	35	My Morning Jacket - Feel You	18
44	54	Fitz - Head Up High	3
45	42	Django Django - Spirals	7
46	40	Eliza and the Delusionals - Pull Apart Heart	26
47	53	Caamp - Officer of Love	4
48	41	Black Pumas - I'm Ready	6
49	69	Elise Farnsworth - Pixie Dust	2
50	39	Sea Wolf - Blood Pact	16
51	51	The Shins - The Great Divide	4
52	62	Meg Myers - Any Way You Wanna Love	3
53	52	Eliza and the Delusionals - Sentimental	6
54	66	Middle Kids - R U 4 Me	4
55	43	The Jayhawks - This Forgotten Town	18
56	75	Jade Bird - Headstart	2
57	---	TOP DEBUT: MOLLY BURCH "Holiday Dreaming" Album: The Molly Burch Christmas Album	1
58	65	Bon Jovi -ft. Jennifer Nettles - Do What You Can	6
59	57	All Time Low ft. Black Bear - Monsters	8
60	45	Karen Wallo - Rain Away My Sorrow	15
61	67	Dermot Kennedy - Giants	5
62	46	Elise Farnsworth - In the Morning Light	19
63	72	Lana Del Rey - Let Me Love You Like a Woman	3
64	48	The Regrettes - What Am I Gonna Do Today	21
65	60	Delacey  - Chapel●	31
66	77	Arlo Parks - Hurt	2
67	50	Bakar - Hell N Back	21
68	83	Donna Missal - Just Like You	2
69	56	Donna Missal - Let You Let Me Down●	27
70	79	Lake Street Dive -Making Do	2
71	84	The Strokes - The Adults are Talking	2
72	---	Gia Ness - Across the Universe	1
73	55	Delta Spirit - How About It	19
74	68	The Beths - I'm Not Getting Excited	9
75	---	The Mystery Lights - It's Alright	1
76	61	James Bay - Chew  On My Heart	13
77	64	The Regrettes - I Love Us	7
78	80	Royal Blood - Trouble's Coming	5
79	82	Kurt Vile ft John Prine - How Lucky	4
80	59	Bebadoobee - Care	7
81	74	Pepper - Change●	30
82	---	Foo Fighters- Shame Shame	1
83	70	Ava Max - Kings and Queens	7
84	---	Meghan Trainor ft. Seth McFarlane - White Christmas	1
85	71	The Rolling Stones ft. Jimmy Page- Scarlet	10
86	73	Kathleen Edwards - Hard on Everyone	6
87	89	Donna Missal - How Does It Feel	22
88	78	The Go-Go's - Club Zero	9
89	76	AJR -Bummerland	5
90	81	The Strokes - Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus	8
91	90	Fuhm - Send Out the Clown	4
92	85	Nothing But Thieves - Real Love Song	10
93	86	Gary Clark Jr -Feelin' Like a Million	14
94	87	Machine Gun Kelly - Bloody Valentine	10
95	88	Saint Motel  - Preach	10
96	91	Tennis - How To Forgive	17
97	92	Walk Off the Earth - Further We Go	8
98	100	The Outcrops - Lost Days●	35
99	Re-ENTRY	The Rolling Stones - Living in a Ghost Town	29
100	Re-ENTRY	Gary Clark Jr - Pearl Cadillac●	28

 

Songs with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.   ● Songs with 25 or more plays on iTunes/iPods ▲   Songs with 50 or more plays.