Morning Music Notes – Ground Control to Commander Hadfield
Star Wars Voted Third Best Orchestral Piece According to BBC Listeners
Yes, this poll is unofficial, and yes, voting is only from BBC’s Radio 2 listeners, but it’s still a list and still newsworthy (right?). Radio 2 listeners had their say on the most popular orchestral pieces, and the John Williams classic theme from Star Wars landed at number 3 (via Telegraph). Number 1 was the Elgar tune Pomp and Circumstance made popular by WWF wrestler Macho Man Randy Savage and number 2 was The Dambusters March composed by Eric Coates. The list was compiled as part of the 60th anniversary of Radio 2’s Friday Night is Music Night programme.
Kendrick Lamar Becomes Principal for a Day
No, he didn’t win some sort of weird online contest. However, Kendrick Lamar did get to become principal for one day at Mount Pleasant High School in Providence, Rhode Island (via Consequence of Sound). This is part of the Get Schooled Attendance Challenge. If I showed up to class every day, I would get a sticker. Rhode Islanders get Kendrick Lamar – life is clearly not fair.
Lamar told the kids, “Without education you don’t have anything. My teachers were great positive influences in my life. My middle school English teacher was probably the reason I became a rapper. He used to encourage me to write poetry and would challenge me, which helped me improve my vocabulary and made me enjoy writing.”
Check out some Pitchfork footage below.
Gotye Splits Royalties of Somebody That I Used to Know With a Dead Guy
The chart topping Somebody That I Used to Know has made Gotye an award winning millionaire. However, he would have even more money had he not made a royalty agreement to split the money 55/45 with deceased South American musician Luiz Bonfa (via Courier Mail). Now who the heck is Luiz Bonfa?
Luis Bonfa released a track called Seville back in 1967. Gotye (real name Wally DeBacker – I see why he uses Gotye) used the guitar hook at the beginning of the tune and a few other places throughout. DeBacker has said that the riff inspired the whole song, and as an unknown artist, agreed to split the revenues with the estate of Bonfa. Now, as a worldwide chart topping and an award winning song, DeBacker is wishing he did what all smart people do and just steal the riff for his own use.
Watch Commander Hadfield Cover David Bowie’s Space Oddity – FROM SPACE!
As if Commander Hadfield could get any cooler. For those unaware, Canadian Chris Hadfield has been in command of the International Space Station for the past several months, and is done his tour of duty today. He’s done some very cool things up there that required a lot of planning, such as playing live with the Barenaked Ladies, dropping the puck at the Leafs home opener, unveiling the new Canadian $5 and $10 bills, and tons of science experiments. And those who followed him on Twitter were treated to his extraordinary daily shots of various parts of the planet.
Yesterday, Hadfield released a YouTube video of his cover David Bowie’s Space Oddity. In the video, Hadfield strums the guitar he brought up to space (how fuckin’ cool is that, anyway?), floats around the International Space Station, and incorporates some stunning shots into the video that literally only he could have been in. Very cool. Check it out today, and welcome Commander Hadfield back to the planet later today. In terms of approval, David Bowie posted the video on his official Twitter account, and had one time Bowie live member Emm Gryner arrange the piano part. Very nice indeed.
Chris Hadfield – Space Oddity cover (original: David Bowie)
