Strokes Singer Julian Casablancas To Sing About Ludlow Street on Solo Album [SPIN]
Check Out the IFC Music Movie Nights: “Film and the Folk/Punk Connection” [The Tripwire]
Today’s Piece of Bizarre News: Harry Potter’s Emma Watson to Star in Marilyn Manson Musical [IMDb]
One Week Only! The Dodos Streaming New Album, Time To Die, Online [NME]
The Dead Weather Playing at Jack White’s Third Man Record Store This Thursday in NYC [Prefix]
Wavves Broke His Wrist Skateboarding, But Still Playing Skateboard Benefit Show [Brooklyn Vegan]
New York Times Company Sells Radio Station WQXR to WNYC Radio [New York Times]
Black Keys Drummer Goes For The Obvious, Starts Side Project Called Drummer [Tiny Mix Tapes]
EMI Cutting Costs, Cutting Off Independent Record Stores [Prefix]
compiled by Erin Sheehy
April 5, 2009
EMI Australia Launches Its Own Music Blog, With A Twist
VIRTUAL JUNGLE
A branch of the music label titan EMI, EMI Australia, recently launched its own music blog, The In Sound From Way Out. The blog serves as a standard MP3 and music blog for EMI artists, with a few cool features thrown in.
MP3 blogs may be nothing new – they’ve been used by bloggers and music fans for years, as a way to share new music with readers and friends. But until now, the music industry has done little to join the MP3 blogging craze, despite its increasing popularity and ease of use.
The In Sound From Way Out serves primarily to promote EMI artists and gives ample opportunities for readers to purchase legitimate copies of featured music. But the blog has enough personal touch from its three contributors to make it a decent read. It’s also proof that the major labels are finally embracing new music models and Web2.0 ideals. Additionally, the blog features posts like this one, to give us an inside peak at the interaction between the artists and the label.
More on EMI Australia Launches Its Own Music Blog, With A Twist
March 14, 2009
Blue Swede | “Hooked on a Feeling”
HATE TO ADMIT IT, BUT…
“Hooked on a Feeling”
Blue Swede
1973 | EMI
“OOKA-SHAKA-OOKA-OOKA-OOKA-SHAKA!” My God. Webster’s defines “pop music” as any music that “features a noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and a conventional structure.” And apparently “pop music” also occasionally contains elements that are “out of left field.”
Such is the case with Blue Swede’s biggest hit, “Hooked on a Feeling.” Having been peripherally aware of the “dancing baby” phenomenon of 1996-97, I imagine that (and Reservoir Dogs) was my first exposure to the 1974 #1 hit single. Strange that the song itself has a much more interesting history than the group that originally recorded it.
“Hooked on a Feeling” was originally written by Mark James and released to immediate chart success (Billboard #5) by BJ Thomas, in 1968. It was covered in 1971 by Jonathan King, who added the “ooka-shaka” chants, and Blue Swede picked up the ball and ran with it in 1973. Blue Swede, a band transparently manufactured to back up Swedish singer Bjorn Skifs, kept Jonathan King’s “ooka-shaka” contribution and (I’m speculating) gave it a little European flair. In truth, Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling” was produced by Jonathan King himself. So maybe King is the one to blame for what sounds like a gang of angry, lovelorn cavemen and, later, the first of a million “internet phenomena.”
More on Blue Swede | “Hooked on a Feeling”
HATE TO ADMIT IT, BUT…
“Hooked on a Feeling”
Blue Swede
1973 | EMI
“OOKA-SHAKA-OOKA-OOKA-OOKA-SHAKA!” My God. Webster’s defines “pop music” as any music that “features a noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and a conventional structure.” And apparently “pop music” also occasionally contains elements that are “out of left field.”
Such is the case with Blue Swede’s biggest hit, “Hooked on a Feeling.” Having been peripherally aware of the “dancing baby” phenomenon of 1996-97, I imagine that (and Reservoir Dogs) was my first exposure to the 1974 #1 hit single. Strange that the song itself has a much more interesting history than the group that originally recorded it.
“Hooked on a Feeling” was originally written by Mark James and released to immediate chart success (Billboard #5) by BJ Thomas, in 1968. It was covered in 1971 by Jonathan King, who added the “ooka-shaka” chants, and Blue Swede picked up the ball and ran with it in 1973. Blue Swede, a band transparently manufactured to back up Swedish singer Bjorn Skifs, kept Jonathan King’s “ooka-shaka” contribution and (I’m speculating) gave it a little European flair. In truth, Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling” was produced by Jonathan King himself. So maybe King is the one to blame for what sounds like a gang of angry, lovelorn cavemen and, later, the first of a million “internet phenomena.”
More on Blue Swede | “Hooked on a Feeling”
