Friday, October 31, 2014

Dionne Warwick - Message to Michael

One of her many Bacharach/David songs, from the era when the three of them created hits regularly.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Charlie Rich - I Feel Like Going Home

Sometimes this is how you feel. Complete with vinyl scratches.




Wednesday, October 29, 2014

The Marmalade - Reflections Of My Life

Classic soft-rock, very early Bee Gees-ish.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Jack Bruce - Theme For an Imaginary Western

RIP to one of the most influential bassists of the rock era. This is from his first solo album, Songs for a Tailor. The lyrics are by Peter Brown, who also wrote the lyrics for Bruce's songs in Cream.




Monday, October 20, 2014

Krugman on Amazon

I knew that Amazon was engaging in some pretty predatory behavior, but I'm still surprised at some of this. Krugman explains.

So far Amazon has not tried to exploit consumers. In fact, it has systematically kept prices low, to reinforce its dominance. What it has done, instead, is use its market power to put a squeeze on publishers, in effect driving down the prices it pays for books — hence the fight with Hachette....And on that front its power is really immense — in fact, even greater than the market share numbers indicate. Book sales depend crucially on buzz and word of mouth (which is why authors are often sent on grueling book tours); you buy a book because you’ve heard about it, because other people are reading it, because it’s a topic of conversation, because it’s made the best-seller list. And what Amazon possesses is the power to kill the buzz. It’s definitely possible, with some extra effort, to buy a book you’ve heard about even if Amazon doesn’t carry it — but if Amazon doesn’t carry that book, you’re much less likely to hear about it in the first place.

So can we trust Amazon not to abuse that power? The Hachette dispute has settled that question: no, we can’t.


Friday, October 17, 2014

Obama Action Figure

In Japan this actually exists. I support our president, but this is...unusual. H/t digby.


Thursday, October 16, 2014

Monday, October 13, 2014

Lesley Gore - Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows

As long as we're doing Marvin Hamlisch, here's his first commercial success as a songwriter.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Peter and Gordon - I Go to Pieces

At the height of their popularity in the late 1950s the Everly Brothers left a deep impression on a lot of English teenagers, which meant that a few years later there was music like this.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Nobel Peace Prize Awarded

Sometimes the world isn't such a bad place. Reuters has more.

Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating girls' right to education, and Indian children's right activist Kailash Satyarthi won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

Yousafzai, aged 17, becomes the youngest Nobel Prize winner by far.

Satyarthi, 60, and Yousafzai were picked for their struggle against the oppression of children and young people, and for the right of all children to education, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Jean Redpath - Five Scottish Songs

It takes a very, very good voice to sing this well unaccompanied. Pete Seeger and Roscoe Holcomb look on.

The songs are:
"The Beggar Laddie"
"Skye Fisher's Song"
"I Lost My Love"(seems to be actually a medley)
"Miss McLeod's Reel"
"Auld Lang Syne"

Friday, October 3, 2014

Krugman on Pimco and the Reign of Error

Here 'tis.

In 2008-9, a number of economists — yes, myself included — tried to explain the special circumstances of a depressed economy, in which deficits wouldn’t cause soaring rates and the Federal Reserve’s policy of “printing money” (not really what it was doing, but never mind) wouldn’t cause inflation. It wasn’t just theory, either; we had the experience of the 1930s and Japan since the 1990s to draw on. But many, perhaps most, influential people in the alleged real world refused to believe us.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

The Rolling Stones - 2000 Light Years From Home

This is apparently a clip from the time the song was recorded, the psychedelic year of 1967. Brian Jones plays the mellotron.