Random Musings

28 Songs that Changed My Life: The Foundations, “Build Me Up Buttercup” (3 of 28)

February 3, 2021 0 Comments

For most people these days, The Foundations’ 1968 classic, “Build Me Up Buttercup,” is just that quirky song that has appeared in a thousand movies and maybe gets played at a wedding now and then. For me, it’s long been the sound of what “carefree” feels like. I grew up with this song. It was a staple in my household, and as a result it became one of the first songs I loved. After all, what kid doesn’t latch onto catchy melodies? And this is a VERY catchy melody. Just hearing the title, I guarantee it’s already in your head! But over the years it has become more than just a childhood favorite. It’s a song that represents pure happiness; swinging your arms around and…
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Random Musings

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28 Songs that Changed My Life: John Coltrane, “A Love Supreme” (2 of 28)

February 2, 2021 0 Comments

Prior to my journey into jazz beginning (which largely started with Miles Davis and the legendary Kind of Blue), all I knew of John Coltrane was a fleeting reference in a U2 song. I assumed their reference to A Love Supreme was because it was some important or influential work, but I was young and not nearly as musically adventurous as I’d become, so I did as I often did and didn’t think much about it. Then jazz happened to me. I discovered how great escape it was. How it could put me at ease and transport me somewhere else. It began to influence my own freeform, meandering music. I’d first heard Coltrane on Davis’ classic records of the mid-to-late 1950s and it made me…
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Music, Random Musings

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28 Songs that Changed My Life: Public Enemy, “Night of the Living Baseheads” (1 of 28)

February 1, 2021 0 Comments

It’s no exaggeration to say that Public Enemy helped change how I view the world. Much like George Orwell’s 1984, it helped me clarify thoughts I’d had and refine my overall worldview, putting to words an sounds the way I saw politicians, authority figures, media, justice, and more. I’ve extensively written about Public Enemy’s impact on me, so here I’m going to skip the formalities and get right to the song. I still remember the day I first saw the video for “Night of the Living Baseheads.” The blaring horns, pounding rhythm, thought-provoking lyrics, and insane multimedia assault of a music video was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Growing up as a sheltered white kid in a tiny New Jersey town (which I helped…
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Music, Random Musings

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In A Silent Way is the semi-overlooked Miles Davis masterpiece you need in your life

December 18, 2020 1 Comment

When I first discovered the music of Miles Davis in the late 1990s, it was something of a musical awakening for me. It came during a time when I was setting aside the strident music “purity” of my youth — you know how some people will only listen to a specific kind of music and ONLY that kind of music? — and exploring new frontiers in sound. Miles Davis certainly provided that. His personal story was compelling, but he was more than an intriguing figure. He had the tunes to back it up. LOTS of them, an ever-shifting career filled with experimentation and attempts to push the boundaries of what he could do with his music. The man knew no rules. He CREATED rules, over…
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Music, Random Musings, Videos, Works by Eric

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BLOGGERS BEWARE: Green Cap Marketing, Aldwin Sturdivant, and the photo credit scam

December 16, 2020 6 Comments

Oh, the lengths scammers will go to. I received an email recently about a photo used on my site. Specifically, it was about a photo used in this article. The photo in question is this one, a photo from Wikimedia Commons which can freely be used, with proper attribution. The email came from the photographer, asking for a link back to his site. Here is the email, in full: Hi I hope you are the right person on this., I hope you’re doing well. I am very pleased to see that my creative work in https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Running_Man_Kyle_Cassidy.jpg is being used on this article found on your site: .http://ericsanjuan.com/get-more-exercise-day-to-day-with-these-stunning-hacks/. It means a lot to me that you selected my work. I prefer that you keep the image on as…
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Random Musings, Rants

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