Tag: Kate Bush

Music Break

Just a few tracks that have caught my attention of late.

The album version of Shiny Toy Guns’ Don’t Cry Out. The male vocalist is nasal, the female vocalist is basically just screeching, and the bells are out of tune, BUT IT ALL WORKS SO WELL!!!

This “Parallel Universe” mix of Kate Bush’s Running Up that Hill/A Deal with God by Matt One. Adding vocals from Placebo’s version works incredibly well and slipping in the guitar solo from Another Brick in The Wall is a masterstroke!

Going really far back for a couple of 80s tracks that totally passed me by at the time. The Great Commandment by Camouflage and the odd but compelling Screaming Jets by Johnny Warman, which I presume is where the 90s rock band got its name from.

And finally perhaps the most ludicrously happy piece of music ever recorded -, the theme song from the 1988 Crystal Light United States National Aerobic Championships. The fact that such a contest existed, that it was televised, that the opening is such unadulterated, unintentional camp, AND that they came up with such a banger of a tune for it is so incredible that I am simply lost for words. And on top of that, the singer – Ty Parr – went on to be a regular bit player on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which is just baffling in a truly wonderful way.

That’s it. Go find your own entertainment!

A Meal with God

A dozen turkeys,
Fresh orange peel and some veal,
Well kneaded dough and a dozen turkeys,
Do you want to hear about the meal I’m making?

You,
It’s you and me,

And if I only could,
I’d make a meal with God,
And I’d get him to set our places,
Be chopping up that cod,
Be chopping up that dill,
With no problems,

Come on, baby, come on, darling,
Let me seal this doughnut with you now,

Come on, angel, come on, come on, darling,
Let’s exchange the ingredients…

Hitting the Heights

It seems odd to me that AD&D’s Ravenloft setting never included a version of Wuthering Heights.

Think about it. You’ve got the perfect Dark Lord in the form of Heathcliff, torturing his household and tormented by his memories of Catherine. Catherine would actually be a ghost, tapping on the windows at night and increasing Heathcliff’s torment. The Domain would consist of the bleak, high moors, with a few scattered houses and a single village, and the borders would be sealed when necessary by raging sleet and hail storms.

It’s such a natural fit that its lack boggles the mind. Were there no English Majors at TSR?

While on the subject of Wuthering Heights, I don’t believe that it’s possible for any human being to sing as high as Kate Bush does in the first few bars of her song based on the book. Her pitch is either a post-recording effect, or she is some kind of alien masquerading as a human being.

(I know where I’m putting my money… :D)

Oh, can I also mention Kate Beaton’s brilliant take on the book?

Wuthering Heights: Part 1
Wuthering Heights: Part 2
Wuthering Heights: Part 3