This popped up on my iPod yesterday while I was listening at work. I’d bought it a while ago. It was featured in an episode of The Greatest American Hero, one of my favorite shows, and it puts me in a very sentimental, if somewhat melancholy, mood.

It also sort of inspires me, too. I don’t want my dreams to exceed my grasp and I don’t want to chase a  piece of the corporate pie. I have many goals and dreams I want to reach my own way. I have many like-minded friends, my closest friends. However, I have known people that have pretty much stayed right where they’re at or have fallen behind. And I’m not sure where they are today. I think all of us do.

You just have to keep motivated and working towards those dreams. No one will give them to you.

Some of My Old Friends (sung by Joey Scarbury)

Some of my old friends
Have fallen behind
Seems like their dreams
Just exceeded their grasp
With too much to do
And too little time
How quickly the years go past

Some move up, some move out
And some stay right where they are
Some give in, some give out
And some never even get that far

Climbing the ladder of social acceptance
Chasing a piece of the corporate pie
Keeping an eye on the minutes and seconds
How quickly the time goes by

Some move up, some move out
And some stay right where they are
Some give in, some give out
And some never even get that far

We were gonna make our mark
We were only shooting in the dark
Some of us were on our way
Where are they today?

Some move up, some move out
And some stay right where they are
Some give in, some give out
And some never even get that far

So, a friend of mine was telling me about going through some of her old collectibles to sell. I decided to go look through the garage for my old baseball card collection. Well, after about 5 minutes of staring at a virtual mountain of crap behind a barrier of flotsam beyond a wall of garbage and recycling containers, I decided the baseball cards would probably remain hidden until I completely clean out the garage.

I couldn’t leave empty handed, so I rummaged through the closest accessible box. I found two unopened VHS tapes, A Bug’s Life and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original, not the lesser Depp one I refuse to acknowledge exists in my happy Wonka World). Those are either goin’ up on eBay or getting donated to some charitable children’s organization that is somehow still stuck in the 80′s and never heard of dvds.

But the REAL treasures I found were a Dave Brubeck cd, a Blues Traveler cd, and… wait for it… a Three Dog Night cd. SCORE!!!!

I can’t get enough of it!
I can’t get enough of it!
I can’t ever let you go
I feel like I need you so

It was the Naturally cd that I think I posted about a while back. Yes, the one with Fire Eater. Time to get my jam on!

These tunes are headed for my Web Workin’ Playlist, which, if you’re nice to me, I might share here someday.

Back to my tunes…

Joy to the World!
All the boys and girls
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea
Joy to you and me

Got this stuck in my head today… and I haven’t even been watching [Adult Swim].

If you’re curious, the song is Kansas Intermede by Jean Soullier & Fabrice Ploquin.

I loves me some banjo, bass, ‘n drums. The graphic totally reminds me of those old Peechee folders I used to have in school. I have no idea why, because I don’t think Peechees ever had unicorns on them. Or atom bombs, for that matter. LOL.

When I was younger, I would often go to the library and check out records, cassette tapes, and when cds came along, I checked those out too. I would listen to any music that looked and sounded remotely interesting. My musical tastes were widely varied and somewhat eclectic. It was during that time that I developed a love for Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66.

Here’s one of my favorites. It’s One Note Samba from the album “Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66″. My dad had a plethora of Herb Alpert records that I often borrowed, so s’natural I’d gravitate to Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66.

Ella Fitzgerald did a great scat version of this, but this is the version I love most. It throws a little of Herb Alpert’s Spanish Flea in during an instrumental/scat in the middle of the song.

If you pay attention to the lyrics, you can see this is more than just about a song. It’s a story. What I take from it is the profound last line… better play the note you know. In other words, be yourself, stick to what you know. Don’t waste time and words trying to be someone other than yourself because in the end, it comes to nothing. There is much more that can be taken from the meaning of this song, but I’ll leave that to you, the reader.

This is just a little samba,
Built upon a single note
Other notes are bound to follow,
But the root is still that note
Now this new one is the consequence,
Of the one we’ve just been through
As I’m bound to be the unavoidable consequence of you

There’s so many people who can talk
And talk and talk and just say nothing,
Or nearly nothing
I have used up all the scale I know, and at the end I’ve come to nothing,
Or nearly nothing

So I come back to my first note,
As I must come back to you
I will pour into that one note,
All the love I feel for you
Anyone who wants the whole show,
Re mi fa so la ti do
He will find himself with no show,
Better play the note you know

That’s right, that’s right
I’m sad and blue
Cuz I can’t do the boogaloo
I’m lost, I’m lost
Can’t do my thing
That’s why I sing, gimme gimme dat ding!

Any of you Benny Hill fans might recognize this catchy little tune by the Pipkins as one of several in a medley used during his chase scenes. The following video starts out with the tune the Muppets made famous… Mahna, Mahna, followed immediately by Gimme Dat Ding!

Foggy Mountain Breakdown by Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, and the Foggy Mountain Boys. One of the bestest bluegrass songs evah. (Not to be confused with Bluegrass Breakdown, a great song in its own right.)

Fire Eater by Three Dog Night
Do yourself a favor and get this. If you can find it, get it on vinyl. It’s on their album Naturally. Then, prepare to lose yourself in the jam…

For the whole 3 people who read this blog, I thought I’d throw out a blog challenge. List the last 5 songs you’ve listened to. I’m currently listening via iTunes. But if you were listening to the radio or a CD or whatever, what were the last 5 songs you listened to?

For me:

1. C’est La Vie – Robbie Nevil
2. The Captain of Her Heart – Double
3. Sunshine Superman – Donovan
4. I Love L.A. – Randy Newman (I was feeling a little homesick.)
5. Call Me – Blondie

And in case any of you are interested, next up in the queue is “Brazil” by Django Reinhardt. I know, I know. “Who?” you might ask. Expand your musical horizons!! There’s always some great stuff out there you’ve never ever heard of.

Just from the title of this post, I’m sure I’ll be getting lots of people actually looking for tips on how to be a millionaire. Well, unfortunately, that’s not what this post is about. If I knew how to be a millionaire, I would be too busy enjoying it to be posting about it, now wouldn’t I?

No, this post is about the SONG “How To Be A Millionaire” by ABC. I’ve always loved this song and several lyrics come to mind lately considering the state of the economy.

For example:

I’ve seen the future
I can’t afford it
To tell you the truth, sir
Someone just bought it

…

Larger than life
And twice as ugly
If we have to live there
You’ll have to drug me

…

Hardly surprising
If you might consider
Loyalties go to
The highest of bidders

Seems these lyrics haven’t really gone out of date, have they? LOL. I think they’re all pretty much applicable to our current economic predicament.

Out of curiosity, I checked YouTube and YES, they have ABC’s How To Be A Millionaire video. That was a neat blast from the past. And yes, I checked out iTunes and found the song available there. Woo hoo!

No, when I say “The Sinister Minister” I’m not talkin’ about the professional wrestling manager, James Mitchell. I’m talkin’ about the song by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones! I ran across “The Sinister Minister” last week on iTunes when I was looking for some mood music. I wanted something a little funky, a little dark, a little mischievous for a story I was working on. Well, this song fit the bill. Once I heard it, I had to download it.

The Sinister Minister was very conducive to my creativity. I wrote about 8 pages one night (which is a lot for me). I just looped it and started cranking on the story. By iTunes’ count, I’ve played it 162 times already (and yes, it’s playing in my rockin’ Bose® around-ear headphonesright now!) and counting.

Take a listen and let me know if you love this song too!

Hey, here comes play #163! Hehehe…