Music Monday-Dave Brubeck Quartet-Take Five

This is a continuation of last weeks Music Monday. In the Song New Frontier Donald Fagen mentions Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck. Take Five was written by his long-time musical partner, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond. The Dave Brubeck Quartet was formed in 1951 following a near-fatal swimming accident which incapacitated Brubeck for several months.

Music Monday-New Frontier

The sound of New Frontier by Donald Fagen may not seem to fit the Populuxe theme of this blog. The theme of the video does though. As does the song lyrics, the album cover and many references made by both. To start the singer says they're going to have a wingding. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the word meaning a wild, lively, or lavish party was first known to be used in 1944. This wingding is going to be held in a bomb shelter. Then we have a girl with a touch of Tuesday Weld. She is wearing Ambush, a perfume created in 1955, and she likes to Limbo. Also mentioned in the song is Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck. The album cover shows Fagen dressed as a crew cut Mid Century deejay complete with vintage microphone and turntable. He is smoking Chesterfield King cigarettes and using a nifty Googie ashtray. Beside him is the cover of the 1958 jazz album Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders. As for the video I'll leave you to see the Jazzy goodness for yourselves :)

Music Monday-Lonely Teardrops

Ok this post is pretty late in the day, but that's Monday for you. Actually that's just me. I'm about as organized as a room full of squirrels on caffeine. Anyway I thought it might be nice to finish your Monday with some good oldies music.

For the first song I've chosen Lonely Teardrops sung by Jackie Wilson. Looking it up on Wikipedia shows some cool trivia I had never heard before. This song brought in the bucks used to form Motown Records! Here is a quote.

"Written by Berry Gordy, Gwendolyn Gordy (Berry's sister) and Roquel Billy Davis, going under the pseudonym Tyran Carlo, the single, alongside Wilson's debuting five consecutive singles between 1957–58, turned Wilson into an R&B superstar and influenced the later careers of Davis, who joined the staff of Chess Records while Gordy used the money from the song's success to form Motown Records within a year."

How cool is that? Well I hope you enjoy the music and maybe this will become a weekly post.