25 January 2021 - Noel Harrison - The Windmills of Your Mind

There's a lot you can say about Noel Harrison.   He was the son of Rex Harrison.  A champion of the giant slalom, Harrison went to two Olympics.

And his performance of this song won the 1968 Oscar for Best Original Song.  Featured in The Thomas Crown Affair, it is by far the biggest hit he ever had.  Here's a little bit of trivia for you - the 1967 Oscar for Best Original Song went to "Talk To The Animals" from Doctor Dolittle.   The performer on that song?  Noel's father, Rex Harrison.  

Enjoy one of the greatest songs written for a movie (according to the American Film Institute - that isn't just me making up superlatives).  

22 January 2021 - R.E.M. - Crush With Eyeliner

When Michael Stipe wrote this song, it is said he was inspired by the over-the-top style of the legendary New York City band The New York Dolls.  The song is fuzzy and glam-pop inspired....

...but can we talk about the video for a second?  Michael Stipe famously hated to lip-sync his songs for videos, and he was pretty bad at it.  So, for this video, he set it at a Japanese karaoke bar and had other people do the lip-sync for him!

I don't like posting stuff from Top of the Pops, because that show has a famous policy against live performance, instead forcing artists to lip-sync.  They aren't usually that fun.  But combine that with how terrible Michael Stipe is at lip-syncing, mostly because he hates it... well, yeah, it's entertaining this time.

Contrast this with live R.E.M., who are clearly enjoying the performance more....