Rhode Island DJ Music Mix – Songs of Home DJ Music Mix

After posting yesterday’s blog posting of Rhode Island DJ Songs of Home, I made a Rhode Island DJ Music Mix including some of the songs in the collection. This collection followed  Rhode Island DJ Songs of JoyRhode Island DJ Songs of Peace and Rhode Island DJ Songs of Thanks earlier this week. I may produce a DJ Mix of them as well soon. The DJ Mix is over an hour but you can listen to parts of it and still enjoy it.

Rhode Island DJ Music Mix - Songs of Home DJ Music Mix - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

Rhode Island DJ Mix – Songs of Home DJ Mix

      Songs of Home Mix - DJ Mystical Michael

Rhode Island DJ Music Mix - Songs of Home DJ Music Mix - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

Storytelling In A DJ Music Mix

POSTED BY  ON JULY 10, 2013
Stories are a staple of the human experience – from Homer to Dr. Seuss, the greatest storytellers have inspired us, taught us, and even pushed us into action. DJs often want to become something more than just a request-based party-rocker, but as musicians and artists in their own right. Today we dig deeper into the art of DJing and explore how being a better storyteller can dramatically enhance your sets.

Rhode Island DJ Music Mix - Songs of Home DJ Music Mix - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

WHY TELL STORIES? 

It’s important to first understand the difference between what a story is and what a story does. The most gripping stories aren’t just written or told, they are throughly designed with the audience at its forefront.

 “Stories are how we think. They are how we make meaning of life…Stories are how we explain how things work, how we make decisions, how we justify our decisions, how we persuade others, how we understand our place in the world, create our identities, and define and teach social values.”

– Pamela Rutledge, Psychology Today

The key word here is meaning. A good story is designed in such a way to make us empathize with certain point of views and thus change the way we perceive the world around us. Stories, as a result, are merely mechanisms of delivery, crafted in such a way to develop an intrinsic sense of meaning through emotion and metaphors.

We can look to the world of advertising as an industry perfecting the power of the story. Advertisers and marketers use stories to inspire emotions and ultimately bring wallets out:

This tearjerker of an ad not only displays Google’s search feature set (e.g. instant search, query auto-correction, integration with other Google services), but it also works to establish an emotional connection with the viewer through a carefully constructed narrative on love.

Rhode Island DJ Music Mix - Songs of Home DJ Music Mix - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

WHAT’S IN A STORY?

Now that we understand the power and weight of stories, how exactly can we, as DJ’s, harness it? Mechanically, a story can be described as a byproduct of the following narrative elements.

Plot
Characterization
Dialogue
Time / Pace
Setting / Context
These building blocks are used by storytellers to add depth and meaning to their stories. They don’t stand alone – these elements influence and feed off of each other. The characters in your story, for instance, are influenced by their setting in the same way that your story’s overall pace is determined by it’s underlying plot.

The complete post Storytelling In A DJ Mix for further details on DJ Music Mixing as an art form, more than just throwing songs together that match beats and tempo.

Rhode Island DJ Music Mix - Songs of Home DJ Music Mix - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

What did you like best about Rhode Island DJ Music Mix – Songs of Home DJ Music Mix?

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

Ask about my Rhode Island Wedding DJ & Rhode Island Party DJ Guarantee!

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Home

This is so much fun! It started as one simple list and now it keeps expanding to new titles and uploads. Today I offer you Rhode Island DJ Songs of Home. Rhode Island DJ Songs of Home are songs that have “Home” in the tittle. Like the other collections, I am not including Christmas songs in this collection. This collection joins Rhode Island DJ Songs of JoyRhode Island DJ Songs of Peace and Rhode Island DJ Songs of Thanks. Who knows where it will stop?

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Home - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Home

      Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home

Home” is a song written and recorded by American group Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. It was released in January 2010 as the second single from the album, Up from Below. The song came in at number 73 on Australian radio station Triple J’s 100 hottest songs of the past 20 years

      Hometown Glory - Adele - Adele
      Call Me (Come Back Home) - Al Green - Al Green
      She's Leaving Home - The Beatles - The Beatles
      You're My Home - Billy Joel - Billy Joel
      Phillip Phillips - Home

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Home - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

      My Hometown - Bruce Springsteen - Bruce Springsteen

My Hometown” is a single by Bruce Springsteen off his Born in the U.S.A. album, that was the record-tying seventh and last top 10 single to come from it, peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It also topped the U.S. adult contemporary chart, making the song Springsteen’s only #1 song on this chart to date. The song is a synthesizer-based, low-tempo number that features Springsteen on vocals.

      Take Me Home - Cash Cash Feat. Beba Rexha - Cash Cash Feat. Bebe Rexha
      You Remind Me Of Home Death Cab for Cutie - Death Cab For Cutie
      Hold On We're Going Home - Drake Feat. Majid Jordan - Drake Feat. Majid Jordan
      Take Me Home Tonight - Eddie Money - Eddie Money

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Home - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

      Can't Find My Way Home (Live 1971) - Eric Clapton w/George Harrison - Eric Clapton
      Home - Jack Johnson - Jack Johnson
      Don't Wanna Go Home - Jason Derulo - Jason Derülo
      You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To - Julie London - Julie London
      Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan - The Essential
      Bring It On Home - Led Zeppelin
      Home Again - Carole King - Carole King

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Home - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

      Going Home - Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen
      Back Home Again [Live] - John Denver - John Denver
      Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd - Lynyrd Skynyrd
      Home - Michael Buble - Michael Bublé
      Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue - Mötley Crüe

Home Sweet Home” is a power ballad by the American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. It was originally released in 1985 on the album Theatre of Pain, and again in 1991 for the Decade of Decadence compilation album. It has been recorded as a cover versionby several artists, and was released as a single by Carrie Underwood in 2009. The 1991 version had a new music video, different from the original version.

Along with “Wild Side“, “Home Sweet Home” is one of the rare Mötley Crüe hits to have Vince Neil credited with the songwriting, though he did play a part in writing many of their non-hit songs.

      Walking My Baby Back Home - Nat King Cole - Nat King Cole
      Mama I'm Comin' Home - Ozzy Osbourne - Ozzy Osbourne

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Home - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

      Take Me Home - Phil Collins - Phil Colins
      Home - Phillip Phillips - Phillip Phillips
      Nobody Home - Pink Floyd - Pink Floyd
      Home Sweet Home [Album Version] - Russell Howard - Russell Howard

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Home - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

      Bring It On Home To Me - Sam Cooke - Sam Cooke
      Take The Long Way Home - Supertramp - Supertramp
      Take Me Home, Country Roads - Toots and the Maytals - Toots and the Maytals
      Feels Like Home - LeAnn Rimes - LeAnn Rimes

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Home - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

      Homeward Bound - Simon And Garfunkel - Simon And Garfunkel

Homeward Bound” is an American folk song written by Paul Simon, performed by Simon and Garfunkel, produced by Bob Johnston and recorded on December 14, 1965. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart on February 12, 1966, peaking at #5 and remained on the charts for 12 weeks. It describes Simon’s longing to return home to his then girlfriend, Kathy Chitty, who was in London. It is uncertain exactly where the song was written: in an interview with Paul Zollo for SongTalk Magazine, Art Garfunkel says that Simon wrote the song in a railway station “around Manchester” while in an earlier interview for Playboy Magazine Simon stated that the railway station was in Liverpool. It is likely, however, that it was written at Widnes railway station during a long wait for a train, when traveling back from Widnes, where he had been playing; a commemorative plaque is displayed on the wall of the Liverpool-bound waiting room

What are your favorite Rhode Island DJ Songs of Home?

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

Ask about my Rhode Island Wedding DJ & Rhode Island Party DJ Guarantee!

 

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Joy

I have enjoyed creating song lists of song with titles of meaning so much I have continued. Todays list is Rhode Island DJ Songs of Joy, a collection of songs with “Joy” in the title. This week inspired by Thanksgiving, I posted Rhode Island DJ Songs of Peace and Rhode Island DJ Songs of Thanks. This particular list had some fun titles to work with like Sol Seppy “Injoy”, Joni Mitchell ” The Only Joy in Town”, Lustral “Joy On A Stick” and Michelle Shocked “Shaking Hands (Soldier’s Joy)” I intentionally left out the religious song “Joy To The World” typically played around Christmas time, since it will be in a Christmas Collection near the Holidays.

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Joy - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Joy

      Joy - Apollo 100 - Apollo 100

Apollo 100 was a short-lived British instrumental studio-based group that had a hit with the Johann Sebastian Bach-inspired single“Joy” in 1972.

The recording of “Joy” as performed by Apollo 100 is a nearly note-for-note remake of the arrangement of Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (but with modern pop music flourishes like percussion and bass) recorded by the British band Jigsaw on their 1970 debut album Letherslade Farm.

Their first single, “Joy”, based on Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring“, rose to number 6 on the pop singles chart in the US. None of their subsequent efforts were as successful, and they broke up in 1973. “Joy” has subsequently been featured in the soundtracks of the films Boogie NightsOne Day in September, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Joy - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

      Ode to Joy - Ludwig Von Beethoven - Beethoven
      Enjoy Your Life - Chris Le Blanc ft. Liz June - chris le blanc ft. liz june
      Joy & Pain - Chris Richardson Feat. Tyga - Chris Richardson Feat. Tyga
      Enjoy The Silence - Depeche Mode - Depeche Mode

Enjoy the Silence” is Depeche Mode‘s twenty-fourth UK single, recorded in 1989 and released on 5 February 1990, it was the second single from the then upcoming album Violator.

It is one of the best known Depeche Mode songs, along with “Just Can’t Get Enough“, “People Are People“, “Strangelove” and “Personal Jesus“. It has been recorded by many other artists, including Tori AmosAnberlinBreaking BenjaminSusan Boyle, The Brains, FailureHybridKeaneLacuna CoilNada SurfSusanna and the Magical Orchestra, and Tanghetto. Today, many people consider this as Depeche Mode’s signature song.

      Tears Of Joy - Faith Evans - Faith Evans
      Pride N Joy [Xtra Clean] - Fat Joe Feat. Kanye West - Fat Joe Feat. Kanye West
      George Winston - Joy

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Joy - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

      Enjoy Yourself - The Jacksons - Jacksons
      The Only Joy In Town - Joni Mitchell - Joni Mitchell
      Joy ride (Album Version) - The Killers - The Killers
      07 Joy on a Stick
      Pride And Joy - Marvin Gaye - Marvin Gaye

Pride and Joy” is a 1963 single by Marvin Gaye, released on the Tamla label. The single, co-written by William “Mickey” Stevenson, Gaye and Norman Whitfield, and produced by Stevenson, was considered to be a tribute to Gaye’s then-girlfriend, Anna Gordy.

The song was also the third straight (and last) single to include Martha and the Vandellas in background vocals just weeks before “(Love is Like a) Heat Wave” made the girl group one of the high-tier Motown acts. The song was also Gaye’s first top ten pop single peaking at number ten on the chart and just missed the top spot of the R&B singles chart peaking at number two. When The Beatles first arrived in New York City in 1964, they requested Murray the K play the song on his radio station.

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Joy - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

      Joy Luck Club - Massive Attack - Massive Attack
      Overjoyed - Matchbox Twenty - Matchbox Twenty
      Shaking Hands (Soldier's Joy) - Michelle Shocked - Michelle Shocked
      (Flower Drum Song) I Enjoy Being A Girl - Pat Suzuki - Pat Suzuki

I Enjoy Being a Girl” is a show tune from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Flower Drum Song. It was originally performed in 1958, as the showpiece for the Linda Low showgirl character. The musical was a comedic love story about growing up Chinese in America, and the clash between the traditional values of the old country, and the modern ways of America.

Though Flower Drum Song was among the least successful of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, the song “I Enjoy Being a Girl” has been widely used in other productions. It has become a familiar tune to many, as the song has been recorded by performers including Doris DayPeggy LeePat Suzuki, and Phranc. The song has been parodied by Sarah Jessica Parker in aGap commercial, as well as viral video works as “I Enjoy Being Al Gore”, and works based on Harry PotterXena and Battlestar Galactica. Comedian Rosanne Barr also parodied the song in 1990. Alvin and the Chipmunks performed the song in the 1983 Alvin and the Chipmunks episode “A Dog’s Best Friend Is His Chipmunk” (with new lyrics specifically for the episode).

The lyrics praise the traditional values of being a woman, who longs to be the object of a man’s affection. The song notably lacks in political correctness, especially after the rise of the women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s. It is often considered to be “camp” or “kitsch“, and has frequently been performed by drag queens.

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Joy - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

      Joyride - Roxette - Roxette
      O' Be Joyful - Shovels And Rope - Shovels And Rope
      Injoy - Sol Seppy - Sol Seppy
      Street Joy - White Denim - White Denim
      Farewell My Joy - Zorgina - Zorgina

Zorgina, the trio has recorded two albums since their founding —

“Polyphonics” released in 1996, and “Triplicate,” released last year.

The group’s debut album, along with their concerts, have won

many international acclaims.

      Circle Of Joy - Lisa Lynne - Lisa Lynne
      Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring - Johan Sebastian Bach - Bach

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring is the most common English title of the 10th and last movement of the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 (“Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life”), composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1716 and 1723. Written during his first year in Leipzig, Germany, this chorale movement is one of Bach’s most enduring works.

A transcription by the English pianist Myra Hess (1890–1965) was published in 1926 for piano solo and in 1934 for piano duet. The British organist Peter Hurford made his organ transcription for the chorale movement as well. Today, it is often performed at wedding ceremonies as well as during Christian festive seasons like Christmas and Easter Sunday slowly and reverently. This is however, apparently in defiance to the effect suggested by Bach in his original scoring, for voices with trumpetoboesstrings, and continuo.

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Joy - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

      Joy To The World - Three Dog Night - Three Dog Night

Joy to the World” is a song written by Hoyt Axton, and made famous by the band Three Dog Night. The song is also popularly known by its opening words, “Jeremiah was a bullfrog“. Three Dog Night originally released the song on their fourth studio albumNaturally in November 1970 (see 1970 in music) and subsequently released an edited version of the song as a single in February 1971 (see 1971 in music). The song is featured prominently in the film The Big Chill. It is sung by a child character at the beginning and the Three Dog Night recording is played over the end credits.

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Joy - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

I hope you enjoyed Rhode Island DJ Songs of Joy. Which Rhode Island DJ Songs of Joy did you enjoy most?

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

Ask about my Rhode Island Wedding DJ & Rhode Island Party DJ Guarantee!

 

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Peace

It’s now the day after Thanksgiving and I felt inspired to follow Wednesday’s post of Rhode Island DJ Songs of Thanks with Rhode Island DJ Songs of Peace. The title to every song on this list includes some version for he word “Peace”. There are a few versions of the same songs that stand out like Cat Stevens “Peace Train” and Elvis Costello “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love and Understand”.

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Peace - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Peace

      Peace Of Mind - Boston - Boston
      Peace Train - Cat Stevens - Cat Stevens
      (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding - David Broza - David Broza

 

(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” is a 1970s song written by English singer/songwriter Nick Lowe and recorded in the best-known version by Elvis Costello.

The song was originally released in 1974 on the album The New Favourites of… Brinsley Schwarz by Lowe’s band Brinsley Schwarz and released as a single; this version was included on Lowe’s 2002 compilation Anthology (along with the Elvis Costello version), and his 2009 compilation Quiet Please… The New Best of Nick Lowe, as well as 1991’s Surrender to the Rhythm: The Best of Brinsley Schwarz, 1996’s Naughty Rhythms: The Best of Pub Rock 1970-1976, and 1998’s Pub Rock: Paving the Way for Punk.

The Elvis Costello & The Attractions version was first issued as the B-side of Lowe’s 1978 single “American Squirm” credited to “Nick Lowe and His Sound”. At the time, Lowe was Costello’s producer, and he produced this track as well. When the song became a hit, it was quickly appended as the last track to the U.S. edition of Costello’s album Armed Forces. It has appeared on most of Costello’s “Best of” compilations over the years, as well as on the soundtrack to the film “200 Cigarettes”. Live versions appeared on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Volume 7: 2002-2003, and 2012’s The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook, both by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked this version of the song as the 284th best song of all time.

      Peaceful Easy Feeling - The Eagles - Eagles
      Peace in The Valley - Eddie Spaghetti - Eddie Spaghetti
      Whats So Funny 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding - Elvis Costello - Elvis Costello

 

In 2004, “(What’s So Funny ’bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” was regularly performed as an all-star jam on the “Vote for Change” tour, which featured a rotating cast of headliners. The October 11 concert at the MCI Centre in Washington DC was broadcast live on the Sundance Channel and on radio. This version of the song featured Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, the Dixie ChicksEddie VedderDave Matthews, and John Fogerty with Michael StipeBonnie RaittKeb’ Mo’, and Jackson Browne.

      Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) - George Harrison - George Harrison

 

When discussing how he wrote “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)”, George Harrison states in his 1980 autobiography, I, Me, Mine: “Sometimes you open your mouth and you don’t know what you are going to say, and whatever comes out is the starting point. If that happens and you are lucky, it can usually be turned into a song. This song is a prayer and personal statement between me, the Lord, and whoever likes it.” “Give Me Love” continued the precedent set by Harrison in his 1970 single “My Sweet Lord“, where he blended the Hindu bhajan with Western gospel tradition, and the song repeats another Harrison hit formula by using a three-syllable lyrical hook as its title, like “My Sweet Lord”, “What Is Life” and “Bangla Desh“. In a further similarity with those earlier songs, he wrote “Give Me Love” very quickly; Harrison biographer Alan Clayson describes it as having “flowed from George with an ease as devoid of ante-start agonies as a Yoko Ono ‘think piece'”.

Harrison had embraced the theme of karma and reincarnation in the songs “Run of the Mill” and “Art of Dying“, both released on his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. With “Give Me Love”, the “starting point” that Harrison refers to in I, Me, Mine led to a statement expressing the singer’s vision for life in the physical world, a life devoid of the karmic burden of rebirth:

Give me love, give me love, give me peace on earth
Give me light, give me life, keep me free from birth
Give me hope, help me cope with this heavy load
Trying to touch and reach you with heart and soul

      Peacefully Cinnamon - Jahionz - Jahionz

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Peace - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

      Give Peace A Chance - John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon

 

Give Peace a Chance” is a song written by John Lennon in MontrealCanada (originally under the moniker Lennon–McCartney), released as a single in 1969 by the Plastic Ono Band on Apple Records, catalogue Apple 13 in the United Kingdom, Apple 1809 in the United States. It is the first solo single issued by Lennon, released when he was still a member of the Beatles and became ananthem of the American anti-war movement during the 1970s. It peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the British singles chart.

      I Gotta Find Peace Of Mind Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill
      Piece O' Peace - Michael Franti - Michael Franti & Spearhead
      Peace Cry - Various Artists - Reggae Gold 2001
      Path To Peace - Tuck & Patti - Tuck & Patti
      Peace On Earth - U2 - U2
      Love And Peace Or Else - U2 - U2
      Peace Train - 10,000 Maniacs - 10,000 Maniacs

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Peace - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

Is there any Rhode Island DJ Songs of Peace that need to be included? What is your favorite Rhode Island DJ Songs of Peace?

Rhode Island DJ Songs of Peace - Rhode Island Wedding DJ

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

Ask about my Rhode Island Wedding DJ & Rhode Island Party DJ Guarantee!

 

Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come

Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come. Sam Cooke born Samuel Cooke 1931-1964. Since I posted the Otis Redding video and review the other day I asked, “Why Otis Redding, why not Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come?”

Answer was simple, “I was motivated to write about Otis due to the release of the Kanye and Jay-Z song as a professional DJ.” Then it occurred to me, “Why not Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come too!”

 

His contribution in pioneering Soul music many believe led to the rise of Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Al Green,Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and popularizing the likes of Otis Redding and James Brown. Cooke had 29 top-40 hits in the U.S. between 1957 and 1964.  Cooke was also among the first modern Black performers and composers to attend to the business side of his musical career. He founded both a record label and a publishing company as an extension of his careers as a singer and composer. He also took an active part in the American Civil Rights Movement.

martin luther king jr Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come

On December 11, 1964, Cooke was fatally shot by the manager of the Hacienda Motel at the age of 33. At the time, the courts ruled that Cooke was drunk and distressed, and that the manager had killed Cooke in what was later ruled a justifiable homicide. Since that time, the circumstances of his death have been widely questioned.

Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come was Released Posthumously.

Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come was played upon the death of Malcolm X, and was featured in Spike Lee’s film Malcolm X. Rock star Rod Stewart once revealed to VH-1 that as a teen in the UK, he would lock himself in his room and spend hours studying Cooke’s vocal phrasings.

  • In 1986, Cooke was inducted as a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.]
  • In 1999, Cooke was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him #16 on their list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”.
  • In 2008, Cooke was named the fourth “Greatest Singer of All Time” by Rolling Stone.

 Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come Music Video with A Powerful Slideshow

There are enough names and recognition included in this post to not add my appreciation for him personally. I would like to say that some of my favorite and most influential artists, film-makers and leaders seem to be connected to Sam Cooke and his legacy. That would be plenty to include him in our music video archive but his music is what moves me the most, especially Sam Cooke A Change Is Gonna Come and its message.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ 

John Lennon Imagine

John Lennon Imagine. I remember the bittersweet night of being a professional DJ at a club in Randolph, NJ on a Monday night, it was December 8,1980. The club was mostly packed, especially for a Monday night in winter. The dance floor was jamming and everybody was having a good time. A young woman came up to the DJ booth and begged me to play Bruce Springsteen. I explained that the dance floor was full and she would have to wait till it thinned out, otherwise everybody would probably stop dancing. She finally convinced me to play him while she was standing there. I had the record in my hand when one of the bouncers ran up and told me John Lennon had just been shot and killed. I dropped the record on the floor of the DJ booth. After the song playing was over, I turned on the mike and announced his death. I asked for moment of silence and then played “Imagine” before returning to my regular set, although not regular at all. It is the moment I think of the most when I get behind my turntables, then CD Players and now MacBook. Growing up, he was hero my hero with his music and desire for peace.

John Lennon Imagine Music Video

The next day, as Program Director of the local college radio and DJ, I stated that we only play John Lennon Imagine and music by John Lennon for the next twenty-four hours.

The Beatles and John Lennon Imagine Icon

 

BMI named John Lennon Imagine one of the 100 most-performed songs of the 20th century. The song ranked number 30 on the Recording Industry Association of America‘s list of the 365 Songs of the Century bearing the most historical significance. It earned aGrammy Hall of Fame Award and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. A UK survey conducted by the Guinness World Records British Hit Singles Book named it the second best single of all time, andRolling Stone ranked it number 3 in their list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time“. Since 2005, event organisers have played it just before the New Year’s Times Square Ball drops in New York City. Dozens of artists have performed or recorded versions of “Imagine”, including MadonnaStevie WonderJoan BaezElton John, and Diana RossEmeli Sandé recorded a cover for theBBC to use during the end credits montage at the close of the 2012 Summer Olympics coverage in August 2012. “Imagine” subsequently re-entered the UK Top 40, reaching number 18.” Wikipedia

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

It is interesting how songs change their cultural shape and form over time. When Steam released the song “Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” in 1969, I doubt very much Gary De Carlo thought it would be a song used as a way to hate and taunt people fifty years later. It is actually a love song in a way, not your traditional love song but still not hateful or a way to give somebody ‘the finger’ through music.

 

I think the first seeds of the negative perspective of the song  Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye originated with cheerleaders leading this song as a way to say ‘goodbye’ to the fans and players of the other team that they beat after a game; pretty simple and harmless stuff. It may be indicative of todays culture that this simple song, Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, has gone from a number one hit on Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 to a cheerleaders chant to a way to disrespect a person or group with anger and force. The artist literally meant for the person to actually kiss the man goodbye, like a real kiss. He says, “I still love you girl, I still need you girl”. These are not words of hate or taunting…

Steam Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye Music Video

Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye was meant to be the ‘B side’ of Gary’s first single because he did not like it. The record company wanted him to release it as an ‘A side’ single so Gary changed it from his real name to Stream, to not be identified with the song personally. Bananarama released a cover of Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye in 1983, which also enjoyed commercial success. The video of Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye has a woman punching a man in the face, as a way to ‘kiss him goodbye’. This may be when the song changed from a soft, playful tune to one of hate and anger. This goes in line with the current climate in the USA that supports women taking their anger out on men physically, as if it will solve the cycle of violence of men towards women.

Reaction To Women Abusing Men In Public

Hate and violence do not quell hate and violence, they expand it. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught us this many years ago (click the link for the entire speech).

“…Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Martin Luther King Famous Quotes Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

Bananarama Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye Music Video

Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye gained another round of popularity following the success of the film, Remember The Titans. The film’s last scene includes the men humming the chorus. The song itself was played earlier during the film as well.

Again, Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye is not a song about violence or taunting.

Here is the exact quote from the last scene from allsubs.org:
Older Sheryl: "People say that it cant work, black and white; well
  here we make it work, everyday. We have our disagreements, of
  course, but before we reach for hate, always, always, we remember
  the Titans."


DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Let It Be. Is it Still Not Time Yet?

Due to the recent events locally and globally of violence and more violence, I keep coming back to “Let It Be”, The Beatles Classic song. I know it can be overused but that does not take away from its value and profoundness. “Let It Be” was written by Paul McCartney but credited to Lennon-McCartney, as were other Beatles songs written by either Paul McCartney or John Lennon.

The Single version includes orchestration and backing vocals overdubbed on 4 January 1970—under the supervision of Martin and McCartney—with backing vocals that included the only known contribution by Linda McCartney to a Beatles song. There was the album version for the album of the same name Let It Be, the Single version, the Anthology Version and The Naked Version of the song.

 Paul’s mother had told him “It will be all right, just let it be.”

The song came to Paul McCartney during the very intense period around the recording of The White Album. Paul claims that he was thinking of his mother often then. His mother, Mary, died when Paul was fourteen. He was referring to her and felt like he connected with her when he references “Mother Mary”. He later said, “It was great to visit with her again. I felt very blessed to have that dream. So that got me writing ‘Let It Be’.” He also said in a later interview about the dream that his mother had told him “It will be all right, just let it be.”

 

“Let It Be” was the last song released as a single before Paul’s announcement to leave The Beatles. John Lennon had already done so before this time. The song, “The Long and Winding Road” was actually released as a single after Paul’s decision to leave the band.

 

“Let It Be” reached number one on The Billboard Hot 100 Charts for two weeks in The USA but only number two in The U.K. It is interesting to note how many songs have achieved such greater success commercially but few over time as “Let It Be”.

The Beatles Let It Be Music Video

Personally, there are only a handful of songs that touch and effect me as “Let It Be”. It is one of the songs that I reach for when needing inspiration, hope, direction and connection.

The Betles Icon Let It Be Rhode Island Wedding DJ

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ