Many artists have written songs about how wonderful our planet is, many have written about the dangers it faces from human action and conflicts.
Again this year, Hong Kong Beat presents a collection of songs about our home hoping that these messages will reach out.
While curating this playlist, two things occurred to me: first, there is much to celebrate about the Earth but there are few modern songs that do that; and second, maybe the reason for that, awareness in the minds of many artists wanting to sound warnings about what we are doing to create a precarious future.
There is a third as well, and that was the difficulty in choosing so few songs for a meaningful set, so I’ve made two ‘sides’. The first highlights how we are abusing the Earth and jeopardising our long term survival, the second celebrates the wonders of the Earth and how we should perhaps treasure them, as well as some songs of perhaps forlorn hope.
Side 2 brings songs that celebrate the wonders of the Earth, or a message of hope. One song raises what some see as a way out of trouble – extra-terrestrial salvation, but the following suggests that any visitors from other planets might see what we have done and decide that we aren’t worth it. We have to fix this ourselves.
While curating this playlist, two things occurred to me: first, there is much to celebrate about the Earth but there are few modern songs that do that; and second, maybe the reason for that, awareness in the minds of many artists wanting to sound warnings about what we are doing to create a precarious future.
There is a third as well, and that was the difficulty in choosing so few songs for a meaningful set, so I’ve made two ‘sides’ – the first highlights how we are abusing the Earth and jeopardising our long term survival, the second celebrates the wonders of the Earth and how we should perhaps treasure them, as well as some songs of perhaps forlorn hope.
The biggest thing to take away from side 1 is that most of these songs are classics in the pop, rock or R&B genres, but are around 40-50 years old! The message is that we have not been listening for a long time now and, to quote Marvin Gaye in 1971 “How much more abuse from man can she stand?”
This year, International Women’s Day has perhaps never had more relevance.
Hong Kong Beat expressing support for all women resisting and speaking out against harassment, abuse, neglect, discrimination.
Come on guys, if somebody treated you the way some men treat women, you’d floor them.
Show respect.
James Brown sang “it is a man’s world”, asserting things like ‘man made the car, the train, electric light, the boat, the ark’…
Unfortunately some men stop thinking at that point, as proof of their supremacy, but James went on to say “it would be nothing, nothing, not one little thing, without a women or a girl.”
He was right, but only to a degree, because, without a woman, none of us would be here. Period.
Men, this is the 21st century. It really is time for us to cherish and respect womankind as an equal.
Wishing all women a happy and hopefully fulfilling International Women’s Day and, although I know there are many parts of the World where this means nothing at all, just wishing that at least one more man will find enlightenment towards our better half.
(Dedicated to my dear wife and wonderful daughter)
James Brown sang “it is a man’s world”, asserting things like ‘man made the car, the train, electric light, the boat, the ark’…
Unfortunately some men stop thinking at that point, as proof of their supremacy, but James went on to say “it would be nothing, nothing, not one little thing, without a women or a girl.”
He was right, but only to a degree, because, without a woman, none of us would be here. Period.
Men, this is the 21st century. It really is time for us to cherish and respect womankind as an equal.
Wishing all women a happy and hopefully fulfilling International Women’s Day and, although I know there are many parts of the World where this means nothing at all, just wishing that at least one more man will find enlightenment towards our better half.
(Dedicated to my dear wife and wonderful daughter)
Love them, or hate them, talent shows like Pop Idol, Got Talent, X-Factor and The Voice, have been around for more than 10 years now, and spread to almost every country in the World.
Notorious more for the spectacularly un-talented acts that get the viewer’s attention, some of which even go on to get their own cult-celebrity status, like William Hung from American Idol; and even for the superb acts-that-should-have-won, but get cruelly cut by the whim of the voting viewers; nevertheless they have thrown up some great voices and acts in all kinds of fields, from singers to dance groups, comedians, impressionists and even dog acts. And, among the singers,there have been quite a number of chart topping hits around the World.
Before Christmas I was booked to provide music for a corporate client’s ‘Got Talent’ themed party, so prepared a set list for the cocktails part of the evening, prior to the company’s own staff getting up to do their thing. So this is Hong Kong Beat’s tribute to Talented Idols.
To many people, 2016 seemed to be a year that was relentless in seeing the deaths of so many icons of popular music and the arts. To be fair, it wasn’t the fault of the year, but simply that pop culture has been booming since the spread of the radio, then TV and, more recently, the Internet and social media; so that many of the icons of that boom have reached ages where there can be a fair expectation of old age or even premature deaths, especially given the lifestyles of some in those years.
Still, the passing of such icons as Bowie; Prince; the tragic deaths of indie rock band Viola Beach, some still in their teens; as well as some hugely influential promoters of the pop music World; have left us heading into 2017 with fingers crossed that it will be a kinder year.
The list below is long, and the roll call of those departed is noted under the track titles of this all-too-long sound track.
RIP so many talents, jam on…
NOTE – Songs in the set by Madonna, Manu Dibango and Ultravox represent other persons, as noted in the track list and below.
Keith Emerson 71 – pioneering innovative keyboardist with progressive rock giants ‘Emerson, Lake and Palmer’.
Marni Nixon 86 – the ‘greatest ghost singer’ frequently dubbed as the singing voice for the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Deborah Kerr, Natalie Wood, Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn in many of the most famous musicals.
Leandro Gato Barbieri 83 – Argentine jazz musician and songwriter. Best known to many for the soundtrack to ‘Last Tango In Paris’.
Papa Wemba 66 – pioneer in blending African music with jazz and rock styles.
Henry McCullough 72 – musician and guitarist with ‘Paul McCartney’s Wings’.
Dale Griffin 67 – drummer for glam rock band ‘Mott The Hoople’.
Rick Parfitt 68 – The Wild Old Man Of Rock & Roll and ‘the Quo’ in ‘Status Quo’.
Jimmy Bain 68 – bass guitarist of rock bands ‘Rainbow’, ‘Thin Lizzy’ and ‘Dio’.
Matt Roberts 38 – Indie rock band ‘3 Doors Down’ founding member and guitarist.
Tom Searle 28 – songwriter and guitarist for British metalcore band ‘Architects’.
Kris Leonard 20, River Reeves 19, Tomas Lowe 27, Jack Dakin 19 – all members of indie band ‘Viola Beach’, tragically killed together in a car accident at the start of a promising career.
Paul Kantner 74 – co-founder of 60s psychedelic rock pioneers ‘Jefferson Airplane’ and later ‘Jefferson Airship’.
Signe Tole Anderson 74 – the original female vocalist for ‘Jefferson Airplane’.
John Berry 52 – original member and inventor of the band name for ‘Beastie Boys’.
Glenn Frey 67 – co-founder of ‘The Eagles’ and writer of many of their hits, as well a successful solo career.
Prince 57.
Robert Stigwood 81 – manager, producer and promoter of many era defining artists such as Cream, Eric Clapton, and Bee Gees; producer of culture defining movies Saturday Night fever and Grease, as well as a string of hit stage rock musicals, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair and Evita. Founder of the Robert Stigwood Organisation (RSO) entertainment empire.
Pete Burns 57 – lead singer of 80s new-wave band ‘Dead or Alive’.
Phife Dawg 45 – rapper and co-founder of hip-hop band ‘A Tribe Called Quest’.
Billy Paul 80 – pioneer soulful singer of modern R&B.
George Michael 53 – iconic and prolific singer of 80s and 90s pop music culture as part of ‘Wham’ and later as as a solo artist.
Bernie Worrell 72 – The Wizard of Woo, acclaimed keyboard wizard with the ‘Parliament-Funakdelic’ empire.
David Bowie 66.
Vanity (Denise Matthews) 57 – Canadian dancer, and as part of ‘Vanity 6’, disco-funk music protege of Prince.
Colonel Abrams 67 – 80s and 90s R&B and disco hit artist.
David Mancuso 72 – DJ and dance culture pioneer, founder of the New York loft parties that gave rise to the disco and, later, house music movements. In 1972 he discovered an obscure track by Cameroonian musician Manu Dibango that went on to be one of the most genre defining tracks of the disco and funk genres, and was widely sampled in many later hits.
Rod Temperton 66 – musician with the UK funk band ‘Heatwave’, but also writer for so many iconic dance tracks including, among many others, ‘Thriller’, ‘Rock With You’, ‘Off the Wall’, ‘Stomp!’, ‘Give Me The Night’, ‘Razzamatazz’, and ‘Yah Mo B There’.
Leonard Cohen 82 – visionary songwriter and poet.
George Martin 90 – the man who brought the Beatles to the mainstream, but was also responsible for so many hit tunes by other artists, some you would never guess!
Prince Buster 79 – Jamaican ska pioneer.
Scotty Moore 84 – guitarist from Elvis’ original backing band ‘The Blue Moon Boys’, and who played with Elvis throughout his career.
Bobby Vee 73 – clean cut American pop idol of the 60s, whose break at 15 came as a last minute stand in at a scheduled concert by Buddy Holly, who had just died in an air crash, simply because he knew all the words.
Lee Andrews 79 – leader of 50s doo wop group ‘Lee Andrews & The Hearts’ (and father of Khalib Thompson of the highly influential hip hop band The Roots).
Sharon Jones 60 – ‘The Godmother of Soul’. Big voiced soul revival singer with ‘The Dap Kings’.
Merle Haggard 79 – country music icon. You don’t know country if you don’t know the words to all of Merle Haggard’s songs.
Black (Colin Vearncombe) 53 – 80s English singer-songwriter.
Maurice White 74 – founder of disco funk giants ‘Earth, Wind & Fire’.
Greg Lake 69 – founding member of ‘Emerson, Lake and Palmer’ and pioneer of the progressive rock genre.
Hong Kong Beat’s gig set warming up the floor on October 15th 2016 at Volar HK for the 4th White Party in aid of exploited women and children’s charity, Hagar International.
Hong Kong Beat 