s. It was for some national children's hospital convention they had decided to have in Denver. Because Judy Collins grew up in Colorado, they thought it would be neat to have her perform for the convention. Though I'm sure we were a pretty poor follow up for the Boston Pops, we did play a few numbers with her. Just having been around her for that long, I have a few things to say about her... Some good things about her:
- She was born and raised in Colorado, and that's always a big plus.
- She has a clear voice, and she sings in tune.
- She pronounces Colorado correctly when she's speaking.
Some not-so-great things about her:
- She looks like a barnyard hippie who would be making tea in Boulder.
- All her music sounds the same - like music straight out of the '60s.
- Even though it was written in the contract that she would practice with us, she just sent out her pianist to sing in falsetto.
- For her first song, she didn't us any warning besides a backward glance. No wonder she didn't have much an orchestra to back her up...
- She doesn't pronounce Colorado correctly when she's singing (one of those singer things...).
It was a very strange experience, and I don't think it is one I would care to repeat. Judy Collins is definitely not my favorite pop star. I don't have any idea who is, but not her.
13 comments:
SWEET! Was it head bangin' fun?!
Not really. It was kind of like...well, not fun.
Yeah, it was head bangin'. :S
Yikes! That picture is frightening!
MOMMEEEEEEEEEE!
LOL -- barnyard hippie?
Judy Collins is definitely not my favorite pop star. I don't have any idea who is, but not her.
Well, at least you've narrowed it down by one.
OK, so if you had to choose one of the following, which one would you choose? And why?:
Christina Aguilera
Mariah Carey
Hilary Duff
Madonna
Britney Spears
Jessica Simpson
Aaron Carter
Justin Timberlake
Lindsay Lohan
Miley Cyrus
That last question was probably a bit unfair, as well as unpleasant. So, here's a more palatable list (please answer the previous question first, though; I'd love to hear what you say! LOL). Which of the following would you choose, and why?
4Him
Big Daddy Weave
Jeremy Camp
Casting Crowns
Steven Curtis Chapman
Sara Groves
Jump 5
Brothers Keeper
Rachael Lampa
Monk & Neagle
Nicole C. Mullen
Newsboys
Newsong
Bebo Norman
Stacie Orrico
Michael W. Smith
Sonicflood
SuperChick
Jaci Velasquez
ZOEgirl
Well, she is one of my favorites. Yes,I discovered her when I was in college in the 60's and have followed her for years. Music is so personal, I think, but I do understand that, appearances aside, she disappointed you by not honoring her contract. Still, I hope I am as vibrant as Judy when I turn 69.
Best wishes to you. E.
This is going to be funny-especially because I don't know who half of them are... This is going to actually be rather humiliating. Be prepared to laugh. :P
Christina Aguilera - don't know who she is (it is a she, right?)
Mariah Carey-if she's related to John Kerry, I don't like her.
Hilary Duff-Ahh! Someone I recognize! All I know is that she starred in some Cinderella movie and that she sings. I think she also has a clothes brand, but I'm kind of guessing on that one... I really don't know much about her.
Madonna-As in Mary?
Britney Spears-Sure makes the headlines a lot, but I really don't know much about her.
Jessica Simpson-I recognize her name... Have mercy!
Aaron Carter-I know I've seen his name...I think.
Justin Timberlake-dunno
Lindsay Lohan-I hate all Lindsays/Lindzees/Lindseys/Linzees.lol jk
Miley Cyrus-I know I should know who "it" is...
~~~
And now you know why I said "I don't have any idea who is, but not her.". I honestly don't know much about it. :P
And now for the others
~~~
4Him-dunno
Big Daddy Weave-dunno
Jeremy Camp-dunno
Casting Crowns-dunno
Steven Curtis Chapman-I think I've heard the name?...
Sara Groves-dunno
Jump 5-I've heard of them, but I don't know a thing about them...
Brothers Keeper-dunno
Rachael Lampa-dunno
Monk & Neagle-dunno
Nicole C. Mullen-dunno
Newsboys-Ahh! I've heard of them, and I actually know who they are! I think you already know my opinion of them, however. Gahh... x\
Newsong-this is too hard!
Bebo Norman-ditto
Stacie Orrico-same here
Michael W. Smith-what do I write for all these people I don't know?
Sonicflood-and groups?
SuperChick-like this one?
Jaci Velasquez-and this one?
ZOEgirl-I may have heard of this one...
~~~
Gahh...
Naive me.
JJ, I think you need to educate me...
LOL -- believe me Abs, you don't want to be educated about that first list.
Ugh...so many painful memories of hearing '90s pop music on Radio Disney for 20 hours a week at gym.
*shudders*
Well, if you truly want to be "informed", you have to hear this song at least 50 times. And that's just a start...
The first group are all secular (i.e., very worldly) pop stars. I put it there as a joke. In this case, ignorance equals innocence, and you are better off not being familiar with them, as 'Deaf Beth' said. Although I'm surprised that you haven't even heard of Madonna (I'm guessing you watch little or no TV, which is also for the best), it's better that you haven't. Miley Cyrus is supposed to be a Christian, though I'm not too sure. Her dad is a famous country singer (Billy Ray), and he is supposed to be a Christian, too (though from what he seems to be allowing her to do, I have doubts). Compared to the others on the list (esp. Britney Spears and Madonna, who are both very immoral), Miley Cyrus is tame, though accusations have recently come against her as far as her (revealing) dress in public photos. Her audience is mainly very young (i.e., little) girls.
Although I've never heard that she is a Christian (I don't think she is), Hilary Duff is, from what I've seen and heard, probably the most 'moral' of that group. She has a 'good girl' reputation.
The second list is composed of all Christian singers/groups. Since you mentioned the term "pop star" in your post, I tried to find Christian 'pop' artists. However, if you prefer classical music, my guess is that you probably would not like most of the contemporary Christian vocal artists/groups in that list. Michael W. Smith is quite famous, and Steven Curtis Chapman is the one whose adopted Chinese daughter recently was killed at 5 years of age.
(JJ....ugh! They used to call me that at one place I used to work at...bad memories...)
All right, Jeff, let another jj take a crack at educating the Abmeister. I think the lists you provided were a little to tame for our resident Le Sorelle Sister. If you had listed…say…Ted Nugent, KISS, Van Halen, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones and, most definitely, The Beatles, she would have been all over it! Well…at least she would have heard of most of them—right Abbey? I’m nothing if not persistent! One of these days I’ll get you girls to “Rock Out”!
As for Christian music, Abbey, I know I’ve at least mentioned Phil Keaggy and even Amy Grant to you, but you should have heard of those others. You’d better start paying more attention to the world you live in—we may start singing some contemporary Christian songs on Sunday morning if you don’t watch out!! And I’ll be sure to tell April to blame you for that!!
p.s. No, I’ll never let the exclamation point go!!!!!!!
See ‘ya Sunday (or Saturday)
jj
"(JJ....ugh! They used to call me that at one place I used to work at...bad memories...)"
LOL-never realised you too were a JJ. I was actually talking to the real JJ.
"I think the lists you provided were a little to tame for our resident Le Sorelle Sister."
Yeah, I actually did recognize more on Jason's list than Jeff's, though it may just be from listening to you tell us how great they are and how we need to start playing more of their stuff in quartet... Believe it or not, I'm getting closer to considering it after having someone request "The...uh..let's see. Canon in D? Do you know that one?" for the billionth time. I've not only heard of more of your groups, Jason, but, thanks to you, I even kinda know one of the Beatles' songs! Whew. Impressive.
"You’d better start paying more attention to the world you live in—we may start singing some contemporary Christian songs on Sunday morning if you don’t watch out!!"
Gahh...if you start making us do that, I'll...uh..well, I'll do something. Roll my eyes? Lead the congregation in not being able to read all the dotted rhythms, count the rests, and find the notes? I'll do something, and I'll do it loud. I don't have perfect pitch-especially when it comes to contemporary music. I read by interval, and contemp music is too hard to figure out. :S End of rant. And I just know that you're going to choose something this Sunday just to get on my nerves, right? Oh, and when you start cracking out the guitars and drums, I'll be watching PC's face. :P
Jeff, thanks for the attempt to educate me. I'll have to make flash cards to learn them all of them. :P
Beth, thank you too for trying to properly educate me. lol
"Ugh...so many painful memories of hearing '90s pop music on Radio Disney for 20 hours a week at gym."
So that's why you know all about it. And is that why Steve knows every song on Cozy101?
LOL-never realised you too were a JJ. I was actually talking to the real JJ.
Oops! Sorry, JJ!
Jeff, thanks for the attempt to educate me.
You're welcome!
Oh, and, you might be interested to know that Stacie Orrico (born in 1986) got her start in 1998 at the age of 12 by attending a Christian music festival Praise in the Rockies, held in her then-home state of...Colorado.
I think the lists you provided were a little to tame for our resident Le Sorelle Sister. If you had listed…say…Ted Nugent, KISS, Van Halen, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones and, most definitely, The Beatles, she would have been all over it!
Maybe so, but since she mentioned "pop star," I listed pop singers and groups. If she had said "rock star," I may have listed some of the ones you mentioned instead. But you are quite correct: my first list is very tame compared to the likes of KISS, with their wild makeup and long tongues, or even the Beatles, who popularized backmasking (even though many, including one of my brothers, believe they are the most talented band of all time, and that their music has never been equaled).
And, speaking of backmasking:
"Artists who have been accused of backmasking include Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Electric Light Orchestra, Queen, Styx, AC/DC, Judas Priest, High School Musical, The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, Jefferson Starship, Black Oak Arkansas, Rush, Britney Spears, and Eminem.
Electric Light Orchestra was accused of hiding a backward Satanic message in their 1974 album Eldorado. The title track, "Eldorado", was said to contain the message "He is the nasty one / Christ, you're infernal / It is said we're dead men / Everyone who has the mark will live." ELO singer and songwriter Jeff Lynne responded by calling this accusation (and the related charge of being "devil-worshippers") "skcollob", and stating that the message "is absolutely manufactured by whoever said, 'That's what it said.' It doesn't say anything of the sort." The group included several backward messages in later albums in response to the accusations.
In 1981, Styx was accused of putting the backward message "Satan move through our voices" on the song "Snowblind", from Paradise Theatre. Guitarist James Young called these charges "rubbish", and responded, "If we want to make a statement, we'll do it in a way that people can understand us and not in a way where you have to go out and buy a $400 tape player to understand us." In 1983, the band released a concept album, Kilroy Was Here, satirizing the Moral Majority.
A well-known alleged message is found in rock group Led Zeppelin's 1971 song "Stairway to Heaven". The backwards playing of a portion of the song purportedly results in words beginning with "Here's to my sweet Satan". But Swan Song Records issued a statement to the contrary: "Our turntables only play in one direction—forwards". And Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant denied the accusations in an interview: "To me it's very sad, because 'Stairway To Heaven' was written with every best intention, and as far as reversing tapes and putting messages on the end, that's not my idea of making music." Another widely-known alleged message, "It's fun to smoke marijuana", in Queen's song "Another One Bites the Dust", is similarly disclaimed by the group's spokesperson."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backmasking
Many years ago, I attended 2 or 3 different 'backmasking' seminars, where they played the songs listed above, backwards. Some of the words (backwards) are hard to understand, and others are easy to understand. In the seminars, they claimed that Satan was the one who masterminded the backward messages, and some of the singers and producers claimed that they didn't have the technology (back then) to make their songs have understandable sentences when played backwards. Years ago, my brother had the Queen album, and we had an old LP, which you could turn backwards by hand (and, after practicing it for a while, we got to where we could do it at just the right speed), so, at our house, we played "Another One Bites the Dust" backwards. To me, it sounded like, "Marijuana, marijuana, start to smoke marijuana."
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