Oh boy! A whole new design! Today's Music Monday is all about new beginnings. Join Scott after the jump for a list of five songs, the Spotify playlist, and an invite to our Turtable.FM room! See you inside...
Surprise! Welcome to our new home! There still may be one or two kinks to work out but we hope you're mostly happy. Today Scott's hoping you'll join in the new site celebration and post your very favorite songs about forward motion. New beginnings, old beginnings, if you know a song that gets you started, here's the post where you can let us know!
But before you go any further, please remember our new Spotify playlist will be featuring a great selection from last week's Music Monday comments. The theme of this mix is R.I.P. Disco in honor of Robin Gibb and Donna Summer. It's a little short, but it's a well-deserved tribute to a pair of late musicians. As always, before you remember last week, you gotta check out our current Music Monday below. We'll let Scott take it from here...
Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Starting Something
It doesn't matter if you're a fan who adores him or a detractor who thinks he went nuts, nearly everyone can agree that Thriller-era Michael Jackson was basically an okay guy. With the Quincy Jones rhythms and the catchy Cameroonian chorus, his hit is a perfect way to begin anything, from a road trip to a blog post to a redesign.
Basia - New Day For You
Yeah, everyone hates on smooth Euro-jazz in public, but between you and me… her synth-bass ain't so bad, right? That having been said, it's not hard to imagine this cheesey pop-empowerment track appearing ironically during the opening credits of some Hangover-type comedy. At the very least, appreciate it as a historical artifact, since it was Top 5 on the Adult Contemporary chart back in 1987. I'm not saying it rocks, I'm just saying it Euro-jazzes. I'm sure you can tell the difference.
John Lennon - Just Like Starting Over
You could make an argument that Double Fantasy was John Lennon's first real grown-up album. This song, released before his death, was the last stage in a journey he started with Mother right after the Beatles broke up. The tragedy of his death doesn't change the hope in this song, and in a different world it would likely be remembered as the starting point for the next phase of his life. As it is, we just have to wonder what if.
Syl Johnson - Take Me To The River
Part of new beginnings is washing away the past and starting anew. This classic song (originally by Al Green but also covered by The Talking Heads and a singing fish) might help remind you that no matter how bad things used to be, there's always a chance to start fresh.
F'd Up - Queen Of Hearts NSFW due to the band's name and nothing else
On the other side of this maybe NSFW due to language link you'll find a band named after a dirty word, who wrote a wonderful song about two young people who meet for the first time, that is being screamed by children. No bad language in the song, of course, just the band's name. But this mix of defiant shouting and youthful optimism… hey, we all were young once. And captured in this song is the feeling of a world when every emotion was the most important thing you'd ever felt. The original song is here: maybe NSFW due to back hair but I personally think the video with the kids adds an extra layer and better captures the life-changing beginning that comes out of first love.
There's Scott's five, now let's see what you've got! Test out our brand-spanking-new forums by dropping a few beginning songs of your own into a post, or maybe just telling us how you feel about our new bloggy style. Please don't forget, the Turntable.fm room is up and running, and if you've got the the time, we'd love for you to stop by.
