I love this song. I love the sound and the lyrics. I also love that throughout the song they reference several other bands. I think it’s cool when a band tips their cap to their predecessors in a song. The old school video game graphics make this video a fun watch and listen. If you’re seizure prone I would caution you about visiting Dreamers website.
If you can survive the flashing graphics on their site, it’s interesting. They have issued a manifesto and have a form where you can join the Dreamers Society if you submit your name, email, and your dream. You can also find them on Twitter @DREAMERSjoinus This morning I listened their entire album and loved every song. Have a great Monday! ~Phil
Usually one hit wonder songs seem like the greatest musical discovery in our lives for a few months and then they fade away, only to later embarrass us when someone discovers them in our music collection and mocks us. Here are 10 of my favorite one hit wonder songs. What are some of yours? I’d love to hear them in the comments.
10. Banditos by The Refreshments, 1996 The video looks like it was home made on a Super 8 camera. Also, this song has one odd thing in common with one other song on this list. If anyone figures it out and puts it in the comments first, I will publicly declare you a genius right here on The Phil Factor.
9. Good Vibrations, Marky Mark and The Fun Bunch, 1991 No video here because I’m sure you all know this one. I wonder if The Fun Bunch is having as much fun now that Marky Mark has moved on to bigger and better things.
8. Somebody That I Used to Know, Gotye, 2011
7. Who Let The Dogs Out? Baha Men, 2000 This song is a particular favorite of mine because of something that happened in a courtroom, one of the greatest moments in legal history, when I was on a jury in 2015. Here is what happened:
This is an actual exchange I witnessed in the courtroom between a cross examining defense attorney and a sworn under oath witness:
Attorney: So, you let the dogs out?
Witness: Yes.
6. Stacy’s Mom, Fountains of Wayne, 2003 I find it impossible not to sing along. If you want to hear the song, don’t be afraid. The video is appropriate.
5. 1985, Bowling For Soup, 2004 Truth be told, I think I may have all this bands songs in my collection and they’re all hilarious. This one is the catchy and funny story of a suburban soccer mom who despises her minivan and wishes she were back in 1985 so that she might have a chance to “shake her ass on the hood of Whitesnake’s car.” Look it up and add it to your collection. You’ll thank me.
4. Jump Around, House of Pain, 1992 I first heard this song in a Pringles commercial in the 90’s. Here it is:
3. Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Deep Blue Something, 1996. I think I owned the cassette tape of this one.
2. Common People, William Shatner and Pulp, 2004. Pulp originally released this song on their own in 1995. When they re-released with Captain Kirk chipping in, it took them to new heights. If you don’t know it, give it a listen:
Gangam Style, Psy 2012. One of the weirdest most popular songs ever. The crazy video still cracks me up.
There is the Top Ten of one hit wonder songs that are actually in my music collection. So tell me in the comments, what are your embarrassing, dirty little secret one hit wonders that you sing aloud when you’re alone in your car?
I love live music. There’s not much better than the energy of a crowd enjoying a live performance. At this point in my life I’ve seen hundreds of bands live, many of them iconic. These are my favorite ten bands that I’ve seen live.
concertfix.com
10. Fall Out Boy: I first heard about them from a sampler CD that was being given away for free as I left a concert for another band. The video below isn’t them live, but I thought you’d want to hear their remake of the Ghostbusters song for the new movie soundtrack.
9. New Politics: They’re different. If you don’t know their music, check it out. The lead singer does backflips and break dances on stage.
favim.com Hayley Williams
8. Paramore: Fun music, great band, entertaining show. Lead singer Hayley Williams is not very large as far as human beings go, but on stage she has a powerful voice and never stops moving.
7. Nothing Personal: My son’s band. I couldn’t leave them off the list or my son would be hurt. He’ll still be mad that he’s ranked 7th. I just didn’t want to show nepotism and I want him to work harder to get to no.1.
6. 3OH!3: I just saw them last night at the Alternative Press Music Awards. Flat out fun live. Always a crazy crowd and you can’t help but to jump to their music. Scroll down to yesterdays Phil Factor for a sample.
5. Motion City Soundtrack: I just saw them last month in Philadelphia on their final tour. Clever, catchy, pop lyrics. Their stage show is stripped down. No laser lights or explosions, just a great band playing great music with a lead singer Justin Pierre who was probably voted least likely looking rock star in high school.
polyvore.com
4. Panic! At The Disco: Their front man, Brendon Urie, is my son’s favorite performer. The bands music is kind of pop alternative rock and Brendon has a Broadway voice and a theatrical stage presence in their shows.
3. All Time Low: They’re a very popular alternative rock band that does a great job at being down to Earth and connecting with their fans. Their shows are full of witty banter with the crowd.
relix.com
2. Phish: I’ve only seen this modern day Grateful Dead type band live twice, but one of those times was a doozy. It was at an outdoor venue so as you can imagine, things get a little looser. At their shows the crowd is more entertaining than the band.
1. Green Day: If you’re a long time reader of my blog you know my love of Green Day. I’ve been a fan of theirs for their entire twenty-something year career. I think it’s cool that guys my age are still popular and playing cool music.
On Mondays I do my Music Monday in hopes of introducing people to music and bands they may not have heard before. Earlier this week when I was reading T. Wayne’s blog, JoyfulProcessBlog, I sort of borrowed the idea to have a music Throwback Thursday. Go check out his blog, it’s awesome. Here’s a classic song from the 80’s and a shout out to all my Canadian friends who remember it.
I love this band and on Saturday my son and I are going to Philadelphia to see Motion City Soundtrack on their final tour. One of my favorite parts of every show is that at some point during the show lead singer Justin Pierre turns around and takes a panoramic selfie with the audience behind him and later posts it on Facebook and Instagram. It’s always fun to try and pick yourself out.
Unlike so many of the bands of our childhood who have all had several retirement tours, I believe this band is really going to stop touring. They’re all young enough to pursue other projects and talented enough to do well at other things. If you’re not familiar with them, they’ve been together since 1997 and their first full length studio album was released in 2003. I first saw them in concert in 2005 with my oldest son and now I’m seeing them for the fourth time on their final tour eleven years later with my youngest son. The circle of life eh? Listen to the song and follow the quick, clever, catchy lyrics. I guarantee you’ll be hooked. Also, I hope that Justin Pierre reads this and agrees to interview for #ThePhilFactor. Have a great Monday! ~Phil
Yes, The Beatles made my list. Read on to find out which song.These are the songs that make my brain want to seize and I hit the change station button on the first note. I apologize that many of these are over twenty years old. That’s the last time I listened to pop music because most of it is terrible.
10. Rick Astley- Never Gonna Give You Up: A song so bad that it became a joke known as Rickrolling, to send your friends a link, tell them it’s something else and have them open it up to discover this piece of crap.
9. We are the World: A bunch of formerly good artists: Yes, I know it was done to raise money to feed the hungry or something, but I don’t care how hungry I am, this song will make me vomit.
8. The Beatles:Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da: I don’t care that it’s The Beatles. This song is stupid. Nonsense lyrics are always bad. Just ask The Police.
7. Diesel: Sausalito Summer Nights: This might be the worst ever. If you don’t remember it, click on the video below and listen to about 30 seconds. This song should be used as torture for prisoners of war, although I think the United Nations call that cruel and unusual punishment.
6. Just a Friend: Biz Markie: This is the Sausalito Summer Nights for a new generation. A shout out to my friend Jim Bernheimer who gave me the idea for this when a character in his book played this on a loop to torture someone they were holding captive.
5. Come on Eileen: Dexy’s Midnight Runners: I’m pretty sure the band was saying “Come on Eileen, don’t leave. Our music isn’t that bad.” Yes guys, it is.
4. Smoke on the Water: Deep Purple: Ugh. This three chord monstrosity has stood the test of time. I think it’s the first song every 10 year old learns at their first guitar lesson. You can’t go into a guitar store without hearing somebody playing it.
3. Stars are Blind: Paris Hilton: Do I really need to make any commentary for this? To be honest, I’ve never heard this song, but I’m pretty sure it deserves to be here.
2. What Does The Fox Say: Ylvis: It may have been hilariously funny but it is a terrible piece of music. What the hell though. Those Norwegians need something to smile about.
1. Stone Temple Pilots: Plush: Where ya’ going with that mask I found? And I feel, and I feel. When the dogs begin to smell her, will she smell alone? WORST SONG LYRIC IN THE HISTORY OF PLANET EARTH.
If you have ideas or suggestions of songs that you find equally reprehensible please add them in the comments. Have a great Tuesday! ~Phil
A catchy heavy alternative rock song that starts slowly and will having you singing along by the end. Yes, it’s my son’s band, Nothing Personal, and they recently released their new full-length album, Unforgettable. So sue me for being a proud dad. This is the last Music Monday I’ll do on them for awhile.
The album is available for download at all the online music retailers. Have a great Monday! ~Phil
I’ve recently begun taking piano lessons. Yes, I’m a grown man plinking my way through “Mary Had a Little Lamb” like a 6 year old. It’s a little humbling to hear the toddler in the next room at the music studio flying through Mozart’s Concerto #7 like she’s Billy Joel while I try to remember which finger is supposed to be on the C key. I have no idea if there is a Mozart’s Concerto #7, but I’m sure that little kid in the next room does.
There were really not a lot of funny pictures on the internet about playing piano. Either no one finds it funny, or the people who understand it don’t have a sense of humor. I’m guessing both. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with music people, well, maybe, but it’s more that their heads are so full of the information needed to read music that they don’t have room for anything else. Below is what ‘music people’ find hilarious, apparently:
See what I mean?
The piano playing is alright, but I’m convinced that whoever invented the system for writing and reading music was an autistic savant toddler.
At some point I will be expected to understand something like this. I told my piano teacher that she was wildly optimistic. In my head I was thinking “delusional,” but I didn’t say it. That music in the picture above is so complex that our military should use it to send secret messages to their spies. Forget coming up with complex secret codes. Just write songs to each other and the enemy will never crack that code. I’m pretty sure that I won’t. Justin Bieber hasn’t. There’s aliens from the future who travel light years to get to Earth and they don’t get our music. Remember Close Encounters? (if you click the link it will take you to the music scene in the movie)
Right now I’m learning to read and play using sheet music that has the letters of the notes written right on the notes, like this:
At some point I’ll be expected to know what the notes are without the letters written on them, so I said to my teacher, “Why can’t they just write all music with the letters on the notes all the time? Or why not just write a list of the letters in the order that we need to hit them on the keyboard?” She said, “You did not just ask me that.” Later she explained that if they did that the notes would have to be big enough for us to read the letters and thus, music would require larger or more pages. Really? We’re afraid of extra paper?
You know what I think it is? It’s a conspiracy. I think that a couple thousand years ago all the musicians, there was only about 12 back then, got together and decided that they didn’t want to let just anyone in their club, so they devised a maniacally complicated system by which to write music. Initially it was done just so they could exchange secret code notes making fun of the non-music readers. In fact, several esteemed music historians believe that Beethoven and Mozart were really just making fun of Napoleon their entire careers. They were actually the Weird Al Yankovics of their time.
Don’t expect me to ever post a video of me playing piano, but I’ll keep you posted on my progress. I’m pretty sure that the more I understand, the more I’ll make fun of, which is pretty much my m.o. in life. If you have ‘music people’ in your life, feel free to share this with them by hitting the Facebook, Twitter, or re-blog buttons below. Have a great Saturday! ~Phil
Self-proclaimed grand poobah of leisure, parapsychologist, author of several humorous suspense novels and one of the longest running blogs in the world, The Phil Factor.
thephilfactor.com
