Summer Sun, Something's Begun

Jefferson Airplane enjoying the Summer sun

 HOLY SHIT. I have not posted in over a month, and to be entirely truthful, that scares me. There's so much pressure like "WHAT'S SHE GONNA WRITE NEXT" and "THIS NEXT POST BETTER BE GOOD" so please don't kill me if I'm not my usual Sam-y self.

Whether you'd like to admit it or not, Keith Richards was a total babe back in the day.

  Because I've been gone for so long, I decided to just make a spam post of pictures I've seen lately and update you on my life. I went and saw the Rolling Stones back in June (seems so long ago!) and they were lovely. They came on an hour late but I enjoyed it nonetheless, and it was definitely one of the best concerts I've been to. Ronnie Wood is a cutie patootie, by the way, he looked so short and adorable with his little high tops and skinny jeans. Keith Richards wasn't exactly babelicious but for his age he was definitely out there jamming and having the time of his life with the queen of sass, Mr. Mick Jagger, who changed his outfit every few songs and always wore something covered in sequins. For the encore of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" he wore a big fur cape, which he proceeded to toss to the back of the stage, almost hitting Charlie Watts. Poor old Charlie in the back, never being heavily into drugs or groupies like the best of the band. He seemed so cute in the back, like one of those cute little old men who you see and just go "awwww" to. I felt bad that he wasn't able to showcase more of his talent from the back of the stage.
  I also saw Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters exactly a week ago last Thursday, and in comparison to the other concerts I've seen, it was.... eh. Easily one of the worse shows I've been to. I was thoroughly disappointed because I really wanted to like it, but I just couldn't bring myself to sing along to anything. I know Plant isn't in Led Zeppelin anymore, but I'd have liked it if he played more than four or five Zeppelin songs. Half of the songs I didn't know (and I consider myself a pretty decent solo-Plant fan) and the songs that I did know were only in snippets or were to some weird-ass tribal beat. His voice was still there, but his god-like aura definitely wasn't.

Plant used to be a God, what happened?!

  Besides the concerts, I've had a pretty decent summer. I've been working at Dairy Queen and as of now I have $775 dollars in just POCKET money. I might get a bank card so I can shop more often on Etsy and Amazon and I'm considering buying an iPhone with all my new-found dough. But other than working, I haven't been doing anything this summer. I suppose that's better than doing something I don't want to do. Anyway, I hope you all are enjoying your summer and hopefully my next post won't be as boring or long from now! Enjoy ya summer xoxo

Fun, Fun, Fun 'Till Daddy Toom the T-Bird Away

You know its gonna be a good day when a package looking like this arrives in the mail.

So I ordered a bag off Tessa's LOVELY etsy and I was super psyched when it finally came in the mail! Shipping from Texas to Boston took a while and I was getting worried the package would never come. But when I came home from work I found this GIANT box covered in doodles on my counter and I squealed with delight.

Tessa has adorable handwriting and she wrote me an adorable sticker-filled note about how to be careful with the zipper on my bag. And she told me "you rule!" Confidence boost? Aha, YES.

There was a little bag of goodies inside which included stickers, a ring, pins, and various other little knick knacks. 

The bag itself! It's a dream, it looks brand new. I can't wait to use it for school next year!

  Other than getting this AMAZING bag, my week's been going pretty well. I get to see the Rolling Stones tomorrow night in Boston (AAHAHHAHHAHHHHHHHH!), have already bought out the front row to see a Led Zeppelin all-girl cover band called Lez Zeppelin (Whom I LOOOVE, if you ever see them coming to your city PLEASE go see them, I saw them last summer and they were phenomenal) and my dad just surprised me with Beach Boy tickets in Cape Cod so I'm SOOO happy! Looks like this summer will be concert-filled, too! Happy Tuesday everybody, enjoy your day. :)

Earrings I NEED

Dhani Harrison

Jim Hensen and his creations

Rainbow Brite

I Bless the Rains Down in Africa..

My favorite picture ever: Paul McCartney last week visiting Elvis' grave in Graceland and placing a guitar pick on it. 

Okay so this picture refuses to be rotated so there's my Jimmy Page pin! The lighting is horrible but I made it myself and I'm proud.

  Motivation seems to be something I lack constantly. For me, the last day of school is June 24th, and I'm counting down the days. 21 more, that means three weeks exactly. I have physics testing tomorrow and Wednesday though, so I'm dreading the next week. But besides that, things are going a bit better. I smoked pot for the first time this weekend, so.. yeah, that's new. I'm praying I don't become one of those people who talks about it constantly. But already trying a bit of it makes me feel a whole lot more connected to the musicians of the sixties and seventies that I love and adore.

  Besides that, nothing really has been going on. I'm stressing over projects and finals, I worked seven hours straight yesterday (11-6), and I'm just really tired and sore right now, I guess. A lot of various images and thoughts have been swirling in my mind. I'm obsessed with Monty Python's Flying Circus right now, which has really helped me focus on schoolwork. (Can you sense my sarcasm..? Heh, I'm hilarious, I know.) The Beatles are an ever-growing obsession point in my mind once more, which is also grand, as listening to music makes it difficult for me to focus as well. I'm also loving this guy who makes super cool soap box cars. OH! and I have my Rolling Stones concert in NINE days. NINE! Super psyched about that. Okay yeah keep calm carry on blah blah blah xxx

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So yeah that's life, enjoy some songs I've been obsessing over lately:

1. "MacArthur Park" by Richard Harris
2. "Wild Thing" by The Troggs
3. "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley
4. "The Rover" by Led Zeppelin
5. "All of My Friends Were There" by The Kinks
6. "Doom and Gloom" by the Rolling Stones
7. "Africa" by Toto

Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?

  The other day at work, during a particularly busy hour, Rod Stewart's go-at-disco hit, "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" came on the radio. Of course only my (almost 30) boss and I knew the song, and my other coworkers looked at me like I was crazy. But it got me thinking.. a lot of musicians who were previously known for playing rock, soul, and blues decided to take a wham at the trend of "disco" music in the late seventies. This includes artists like Rod Stewart ("Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"), The Rolling Stones ("Miss You"), Barry Manilow, ("Copacabana") David Bowie, ("John, I'm Only Dancing"), Paul McCartney and Wings, ("Goodnight Tonight"), Elton John & Kiki Dee ("Don't Go Breaking My Heart") and Blondie ("Heart of Glass"). What made these musicians "sell-out" and decide to do disco? The answer is simply that they wanted to appeal to a broader audience, and since disco was popular at the time, they decided to try making their own disco hits. Some were successful, some weren't; but nonetheless, we can all go back and laugh at rock stars trying disco. Especially Rod Stewart. So, I've decided to give outfits of some glam and disco musicians! Enjoy.

Link

David Bowie

  Who else on a glam, glitter, and disco appreciation post than David Bowie? Bowie is the ultimate KING of glam, wearing the greatest, craziest, most glitter-soaked outfits in history. He was glitter before Ke$ha! Although I didn't capture too many of his beautiful outfits here, he definitely has more that are worth checking out, as well as a bajillion beautiful, glitter-soaked songs. 

Link

The Glimmer Twins

  Everyone knows The Rolling Stones, but not everyone appreciates how great both Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were fashionably. Their duo name is the glimmer twins- and I definitely believe that fits. Their outfits in the late sixties (mainly 1967) were STUNNING, but today we're focusing on their late seventies glam looks. They dressed in sparkles, loose shirts, and many, many scarves. One of my favorite jackets is the one Keith Richards wears in the "She's So Cold" music video, even though it's from the eighties (pictured bottom left.). I just love them!

Link

Rod Stewart

  I personally am not a big fan of Rod Stewart (although I do appreciate him), his "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" music video is what inspired this post. Just watch it; It's blonde, it's flamboyant, and it's the sassiest, most fake-disco thing I've ever seen. Just watch the video below to see what I'm talking about. His pants are incredibly tight, his hair incredibly tousled, and the music incredibly hilarious. The song itself is a parody of disco, but I still love it nonetheless. 

Enjoy various music videos by the artists above :)

Satisfaction & Stairway: A Review of the Greats. Part One.

  What defines a "great" song? A song that all of us know, hum the guitar solos to, and practically recite the lyrics in our sleep. A song that is just so timeless, so great, and simply incredible to listen to. We all know what I'm talking about: the greats. But who critiques what is already considered so great? Me. The answer is me. Today, I am going to take some of the greatest songs of all time (by Rolling Stone magazine, me, and various internet sources) and give my honest opinions. So sit back, relax, and let nostalgia take over.

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones

Writer: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
Producer: Andrew Loog Oldham
Released: May 1965, London
14 weeks; No. 1
  The Rolling Stones are still touring today (in fact, I'm seeing them for my birthday!) after over fifty years of being together as a band. Fifty! Any band that still tours after fifty years, let alone is even together, is definitely considered great. But is what is considered the Stones' most famous songs, often nicknamed "Satisfaction," really as great as it is made out to be? Yes. The answer is yes. In my opinion, this song isn't so much lyrically great as it is musically, but that doesn't knock it down even a tad. Every single time this song comes on the radio, I found myself air-guitaring the opening riff (which EVERYONE seems to know, for some reason) and even singing to it. Singing a riff! You know a song is great when you can sing a guitar riff. It's catchy, danceable, and definitely deserves to be considered a "great."

"Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan
Writer: Dylan 
Producer: Tom Wilson  
Released: July '65, Columbia
12 weeks; No. 2
  Bob Dylan is known as possibly one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century. Known as the "king" of folk rock, Dylan changed us all with just his acoustic guitar, harmonica, and that strange, strange voice. (It wasn't until the famous Judas!/Electric guitar incident that people began to look at him for things other than folk rock.) "Like a Rolling Stone" is considered one of his best songs, and in actuality- it is. In my opinion, at least. Of course I love millions of other Dylan tunes, like "Ballad of a Thin Man," "Lay Lady Lay," etc- "Like a Rolling Stone" really is a great song. I love everything about it, from how Dylan's voice echoes through stereo when you play it to how jumbled and disorganized it sounds, and yet somehow still works. "Al Kooper, who played organ on the session, remembers today, 'There was no sheet music, it was totally by ear. And it was totally disorganized, totally punk. It just happened.'" (RollingStone.com/) And I think that's why it's so good.. the rambling of Dylan and the crazy instrumentation make this song both enjoyable and fun to listen to.

"Hey Jude" by The Beatles
Writers: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Producer: George Martin
Released: Aug. '68, Apple 
19 weeks; No. 1

  *Takes a deep breath, clearing my throat and preparing for a ton of hate from Beatlemaniacs alike* I DON'T LIKE LISTENING TO THIS SONG ON MY OWN TIME! Whoo. There, it's finally been said. Worshipping The Beatles as much as I do, I must have listened each song dozens of times. Of course, their more popular songs, like "Blackbird," "Yellow Submarine," "Let it Be" and "Hey Jude" receive more airplay and mention than some of my personal favorites, like "Happiness is a Warm Gun," "Lovely Rita," and "Long, Long, Long." Don't get me wrong; I very much enjoy "Hey Jude." I just don't like listening to it in my own free time, because of how much airplay it receives. When it comes onto the radio, I of course sing along, jam out, and obsess over the song. But it's just so overplayed that I become sick of it. While "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Satisfaction" are both very famous, I find they don't get as much radio play as "Hey Jude," and therefore, I'm not as "sick" of them. I do love "Hey Jude," but I feel like it's just been played over and over to the point of tiring me out.

"My Generation" by The Who
Writer: Pete Townshend
Producer: Shel Talmy
Released: Nov. '65, Decca
5 weeks; No. 74

  I used to love the Who. But after I saw their concert in November I realized that in my opinion, the band was a bit overrated. (PLEASE, I NEED TO POINT OUT THAT THESE ARE ALL MY OPINION) I do enjoy a lot of their songs, but from listening to and obsessing over them so much in the previous year to seeing their concert, seeing them live was just.. well, a let-down. That being said, I am somewhat bias to review a Who song because of my current opinion on them. But let's get this straight; I love Roger Daltrey's stuttering, Entwistle's quick bass solos, and basically the whole song. Although I don't consider this the GREATEST SONG OF ALL TIME I do like it well enough to put it on this list, and give it a mention. It's not the Who's best song in my opinion, but I do like it and consider it one of their few songs I don't find overrated.

"Stairway to Heaven" by Led ZeppelinWriters: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant
Producer: Page 
Released: Nov. '71, Atlantic
Non-single, no chart information
  NO! NO NO NO NO NOOOOOO. I love Zeppelin, but Stairway is NOT their only song! They have plenty of other songs that are just as great, and maybe even better! I am beyond sick of people saying Stairway is their best song (as well as "Kashmir," which I don't like at all, actually) and I'd appreciate it if people looked into the band before adding their input on Stairway's greatness. Yes, the solo is amazing. Yes, Plant's vocals are both beautiful and haunting. But no, it is not my favorite Zeppelin song, and not their best in my opinion.

"Light My Fire" by The Doors
Writers: Robby Krieger, John Densmore, Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek 
Producer: Paul Rothchild
Released: June '67, Elektra 
17 weeks; No. 1  The position I have on "Light My Fire" is similar to how I feel about "Hey Jude." I love the band, and thoroughly enjoy the song- it's just that hearing this song over and over has started to bore me. I absolutely love the Doors, and they're even one of my favorite bands. I love Morrison as a singer, Densmore as a drummer, Krieger as a guitarist, and Manzarek as a keyboardist. I even saw them live in October of 2012. (Well, minus Densmore because he doesn't tour anymore and obviously Morrison.) It's just that hearing this song constantly has started to annoy me. Especially because this song, like Stairway, is lengthy. Don't get me wrong- I like this song. But the instrumental part of it just.. bores me to pieces.