Music

Jingle Bell Rock Robbery

Music / By

In a not-so-surprising tale, Jingle Bell Rock singer/songwriter Bobby Helms never received royalties for penning the Christmas classic in 1957.  So reports the Los Angeles Times about the song streamed over 600 million times on Spotify. In the following years, many more rock musicians found that the music industry didn’t always play fair, to say the least.

“Have a Cigar” – Pink Floyd

“Well, I’ve always had a deep respect, and I mean that most sincerely

The band is just fantastic, that is really what I think

Oh by the way, which one’s Pink?”

– Jet Cannon

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crypto Thriller

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It’s close to midnight

Something evil’s lurking in the dark

Under the moonlight

You see a sight that almost stops your heart

Michael Jackson’s Thriller aired for the first time on MTV this day in 1983. On the same day in 2001, following revelations of massive accounting fraud, Enron filed for bankruptcy protection. So beware. More crypto bankruptcies could be deja vu all over again.

And no one’s gonna save you.

  • Jet Cannon
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Song Bird

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Per Rolling Stone, Christine McVie, the  longtime co-lead vocalist, keyboardist, and songwriter for Fleetwood Mac, died Wednesday, Nov. 30, at the age of 79. Rest In Peace.

It’s a Miracle

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The Mirror reports, “Photographer stunned after capturing wave that looks exactly like Queen legend Brian May.”

It’s a sign of something. Not sure what.

  • Jet Cannon

wine by train

Food and Drink, Music / By

Per Costco Connection, “In 2012, multiple-Grammy Award-winning band Train added winemaking to their creative repertoire with Save Me, San Francisco (SMSF) Wine Co. Ten years and 11 million bottles later, SMSF is bringing a limited reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Item 1701833) to select Costco warehouses in California. Proceeds from sales support Family House San Francisco, a nonprofit organization that provides housing to families of seriously ill children receiving treatment for life-threatening illnesses.”

  • Jet Cannon
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Never Ending Fall

Food and Drink, Music / By

The band Never Ending Fall has taken to TikTok with their Costco Kirkland brand liquor versus the name brands blind tests.  Thank you for your service!  Read more in The Seattle Times.

The short answer is that the Costco booze is as good as, or comes close, to the name brands in most cases.  So if you’re not trying to impress your friends, you can save a significant amount of money by hitting the warehouse.  Or better yet, put your friends to the test.  We did one blind test with a dedicated vodka drinker and he picked the Kettle One as smoother.  Without hesitation.  But we’ve noticed he’ll happily drink the Kirkland if we just hand him a glass without saying what it is.  So it’s close.

– Jet Cannon

Great Balls of Fire

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Jerry Lee Lewis is gone.  RIP.

“Arrogant. Brash. Loud. Jerry Lee Lewis was one of the wildest rock stars to ever take the stage. The image of Lewis madly singing “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On” and “Great Balls of Fire,” standing behind his piano, often with one foot on top of it, is quintessential rock. At 84, his last album was a resurrection of sorts, as Lewis had been through it all, more than once. Jerry Lee Lewis’s life had been marked by loss, addictions, scandal, and some of the craziest stories in rock n’ roll history. Goodness, gracious…”

Read more in Factinate.  It’s quite a story.

– Jet Cannon

Invisible Airwaves Crackle with Life

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Buzzed Boomers will remember listening to music on their very own transistor radios.  Often made in Japan, they were relatively inexpensive.  Our first transistor radio had four transistors in it.  Four.  Those transistors and battery power allowed for a big leap in portability over tube radios.  

Now hardware-maker Nvidia announces  a processor unit with 77 billion transistors, meant to unify nearly all computer-controlled automation in self-driving vehicles.  77 billion?!  Did someone count them?

– Jet Cannon

Photo:  Collectorsweekly

Russian Idiot

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On this day in 2004, the Bay Area band Green Day released its iconic American Idiot, which later won a Grammy Award for best rock album and was adapted into a rock opera.

We’re hoping for a new release titled Russian Idiot with which we will pair some fine French vodka.  (BTW, Green Day cancelled their scheduled concert in Moscow this year.)

– Jet Cannon

Photos:  Cheatsheet.com and stubhub.com

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Drugs Do Make you play better

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Fifty years since what was arguably the best year ever in rock album releases.  Machine Head,  The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, Exile on Main St., Black Sabbath – Vol. 4, and Schools Out to name The Pick’s top 5.  For the other 25 albums in their 30 greatest rock guitar albums, read here.

 

– Jet Cannon

Where Nobody knows your name

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When you’ve played on songs by Elvis, Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, Sonny and Cher, Barbra Streisand, Jan and Dean, The Monkeys, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, The Righteous Brothers, The Carpenters, Simon & Garfunkel, The Tijuana Brass, The Mamas & The Papas, The Ventures and The 5th Dimension you’d think people might know your name.  But for the majority of certain 1960’s studio musicians, known as The Wrecking Crew, we don’t recognize their names.  Glen Campbell is the likely exception.  

The Wrecking Crew guitarist Bill Pitman recently passed away at age 102.  Watch this trailer to see a bit of a rockumentary about the amazing musicians known as The Wrecking Crew.  Bill, Rest In Peace.

 

– Jet Cannon

 

Photo: NYtimes.com