Since nothing on TV piqued my interest last night, I turned to another of the music videotapes I made years ago, #26, circa 2000. All but two of the tracks were from PBS. I caught U2 tearing it up on
SNL, doing
Beautiful Day, and Santana at his very best on
Corazon Espinado (Pierced Heart), featuring Mana`, on the Latin Grammys. That song, from the smash "comeback" album
Supernatural, was a huge hit in the Spanish speaking world and to me sounds very similar to the most popular track on the disc,
Smooth, which features Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 on lead vocal. I believe there is at least one appearance by Santana on each of the tapes I recorded, which is no surprise, as I am amazed by the passion with which he plays and the tightness and clarity of his band. There wasn’t a single song on this tape that I regret recording. Sinatra made several appearances and was at the top of his game in all of them. He did a charming duet with a young Natalie Cole, a smooth as silk medley with Antonio Carlos Joabim, and dynamite vocals fronting the Count Basie and Nelson Riddle orchestras. There was the wonderful insanity of Iggy Pop on
Sessions at West 54th. Before his band broke into
The Passenger, he invited everyone to join him on stage and “dance like an idiot.” He looked toward one guy and beckoned: “C’mon, mother….” There was plenty from the PBS do wop shows: the Skyliners, Cleftones, Crystals, Orioles, Classics, Edsels, Diamonds, Maurice Williams and the Fabulous Zodiacs, and the Jive Five, who performed a song with which I was completely unfamiliar at the time:
What Time Is It? It reached only #67 on the Billboard chart in 1962. My eyes now glaze whenever it pops up on a CD I burned for my car. It was so touching to see the lead singer, Eugene Pitt, after his stunning vocal, walk off the stage using a cane. I also bagged Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers rockin’ out at the start of a convert video, smokin' back to back on
Jammin’ Me and
Runnin’ Down a Dream. So what did I choose as a highlight amongst all the great performances on this tape? One that blew me away because, as far as I know, the guy had only one hit, and “he stole the show,” as my friend Dougie put it at work the following Monday morning after it was first broadcast. Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=591RBZHgrI4
Exchanges received its first customer review. My thanks to Daniel Walsh, who had this to say:
"I might be a bit biased as I worked where the Author did for many years
as well.He is a devoted family man who happened to work down at a place
that was as addictive as it was frustrating.If you ever wanted to know
what it was like to be there in the midst of the action then this book
is for you .If you are a hard working person just trying to raise a
family with all its ups and downs then this book is for you.I truly
enjoyed this wonderfully written book." My thanks also to whomever purchased the print version at Amazon. After a two-day hiatus due to global cooling, the floating book shop will return tomorrow.
Vic's 4th Novel:
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