Marching to the Beat of Your Own Drummer

You know who doesn't get enough respect? Marching bands. Yeah that's right. Marching bands, especially really good ones are laughed at. Why? The good ones are really entertaining and work really hard. Often, I enjoy them more than the football games they're playing at. Last week Big Poppa Hops' alma mater, Rutgers, played a tiny Virginia school called Norfolk State. The highlight according to both Big Poppa and Mama Hops? You guessed it - the halftime show. Yesterday I saw a posting about a highschool marching band playing "The Hand That Feeds" by Nine Inch Nails (view here - its not great but they're just in high school).

This got me to thinking about marching that play popular songs. I remember watching the Bayou Classic Battle of the Bands when I was a kid and seeing the Grambling Band play TLC's "What About Your Friends" (or was it Southern that played it?). It got the crowd fired up! So for you viewing pleasure here are some great clips of college marching bands. Before you laugh and call me a geek check them out.

The University of Arizona playing Radiohead:


Ohio State doing their famous "Script" (Michigan fans look away):


And because I didn't want to get My Buddy Brad angry, here is Michigan's band doing "Thriller":


You have to give alot of credit for the merging of marching bands and rock music to Fleetwood Mac. back in the late 70's they got the USC Marching band to help them with their song "Tusk". They even performed this live with the band on stage at their reunion concert. So if you're wondering where Kanye West and Jamie Foxx got the idea to bring on a marching band at the 2006 Grammys look no further than the video below:


For more amazing marhcing bands check out the Southern University Human Jukebox, the Norfolk State Spartan Legion, the Ohio University Marching 110 (doing Bon Jovi) and the Florida A&M Marching 100.

And for the record I was NOT in a marching band....ever. Though I did play the trumpet in my district band. I was terrible.

You Know You've Made It When...

Remember when I tipped you back off to The National WAY back in 2005 (if not go here)? Well they have officially made it big. You know how I know? No, its not the Barrack Obama ad posted using Fake Empire (watch it here if you're into that sort of thing). Frankly I think its a total misuse of the song and not something you should be associated with a Presidential campaign. It reminds me a bit of Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. and Reagan' s misuse of the song in the 80's. Anyway, that is not why I think The National have made it big.

This is why. Check out this photo I took at the duty free music store at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv yesterday:

Given the stores limited selection it was impressive. And no Mrs. Hops they didn't have a single Nine Inch Nails albumin the store... I checked. Though my co-worker did remember them coming to Tel Aviv on tour as it was a big deal. They only get about 5 decent concerts a year in Israel. I actually passed on the Deep Purple show at Hanger 11 while I was there. Apparently Israeli's will stay pay near $100 to see a group that had two hits 20 years ago.

That said I did see my second ever concert in Israel: Aerosmith in Tel Aviv way back in 1994. I even bought a concert t-shirt featuring the pierced cow udder. It was probably one of the worst concert purchases of my life. I'm pretty sure that shirt still exists some where in my parents' house - oddly enough Big Mama Hops wears it around the house when no one is around. I can pretty much guarantee she doesn't know one Aerosmith song so I dont know what the appeal could possibly be.

Is Philly Really Sunny?

Last weekend I was in Philly for a good friend's wedding and next weekend I'll be there again for a family function. Couple that with the premier of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" this week and it got me thinking about the City of Brotherly Love.

When I think of music in Philly it starts and stops with the old days of American Bandstand and the generation of that time which included Fabian, Frankie Avalon and Chubby Checker (all three went to the same high school by the way). Speaking of American Bandstand did you know the Mama Hops and her brother once were on the show? I bet you didn't. But then again how could you know that?

Once you get past American Bandstand what is left to represent the city? There are songs about Philly - most notably Streets of "Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen and "Philadelphia Freedom" by Elton John - but neither are natives. And does this video really capture the spirit of the city? I don't think so.



So which bands really represent Philly? I couldn't think of many musical groups even from there. Marah, G Love, The Disco Biscuits, Hall & Oates. Not exactly the guys you'd put on the tourist brochure. I'd buy the argument that that Boyz II Men might be the group most associated with the city but I don't think of Philly as "Has Been Central" - that title I leave to Atlantic City. Therefore, my choice for Mr. Philadelphia has to be Will Smith. Not only does he come from Philly, but he got famous rapping about Philly. Congrats Big Willie.

This should make all Philadelphians proud:


So Will Smith is the man - but I think the tide might be turning. I found a great video on the Interweb with this guy from Philly displaying some sick air guitar skills. Philadelphia - here is your new anthem:

I'm not there

In the spirit of my upcoming All You Need Is Hops Halloween covers show I thought you'd like to know about some Bob Dylan covers from the new Dylan movie. The I'm Not There Original Soundtrack will be Available October 30th - here is the track listing with the songs I'm most excited about in bold. You can hear selected tracks at the movie myspace page. The Cat Power track is great and obviously anything by Jim James (My Morning Jacket) is fantastic.

Disc 1
1. Eddie Vedder and the Million Dollar Bashers: "All Along the Watchtower"
2. Sonic Youth: "I'm Not There"
3. Jim James and Calexico: "Goin' to Acapulco"
4. Richie Havens: "Tombstone Blues"
5. Stephen Malkmus and the Million Dollar Bashers: "Ballad of a Thin Man"
6. Cat Power: "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again"
7. John Doe: "Pressing On"
8. Yo La Tengo: "Fourth Time Around"
9. Iron and Wine and Calexico: "Dark Eyes"
10. Karen O and the Million Dollar Bashers: "Highway 61 Revisited"
11. Roger McGuinn and Calexico: "One More Cup of Coffee"
12. Mason Jennings: "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll"
13. Los Lobos: "Billy"
14. Jeff Tweedy: "Simple Twist of Fate"
15. Mark Lanegan: "The Man in the Long Black Coat"
16. Willie Nelson and Calexico: "Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)"

Disc 2
1. Mira Billotte: "As I Went Out One Morning"
2. Stephen Malkmus and Lee Ranaldo: "Can't Leave Her Behind"
3. Sufjan Stevens: "Ring Them Bells"
4. Charlotte Gainsbourg and Calexico: "Just Like a Woman"
5. Jack Johnson: "Mama You've Been on My Mind"
6. Yo La Tengo: "I Wanna Be Your Lover"
7. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova: "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere"
8. The Hold Steady: "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window"
9. Ramblin' Jack Elliott: "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"
10. The Black Keys: "Wicked Messenger"
11. Tom Verlaine and the Million Dollar Bashers: "Cold Irons Bound"
12. Mason Jennings: "The Times They Are a-Changin'"
13. Stephen Malkmus and the Million Dollar Bashers: "Maggie's Farm"
14. Marcus Carl Franklin: "When the Ship Comes In"
15. Bob Forrest: "Moonshiner"
16. John Doe: "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine"
17. Antony and the Johnsons: "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
18. Bob Dylan: "I'm Not There"

Here are some downloads of tracks for your listening pleasure:

MP3's from the soundtrack:

Jeff Tweedy - “Simple Twist of Fate”
Sufjan Stevens - “Ring Them Bells”

and
Bob Dylan - I'm Not There (from the Genuine Basement Tapes)