Monday, July 27, 2015

Hot! Live! Music!

* Elvis Presley, "If I Can Dream"
Also known as my mother's favourite song of all time, rivaled only by the ukelele version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow."  It's weird, Elvis is such a massive icon and pop culture figure that it almost obscures the fact that this guy could REALLY sing.


* Tori Amos, "I Ran"
Skip to the 1:37 point to avoid some inane concert patter and get to the good stuff.  Flock Of Seagulls, baby!


* Luther Vandross, "A House Is Not A Home"
Rembert Browne of Grantland recently broke down this iconic performance of Luther's from 1988, and I must say, Rembert's breathless praise is more than justified.


* U2 and Lady Gaga, "Ordinary Love"
So needless to say, this installment of Hot! Live! Music! will have a major U2 presence in the wake of their two Toronto concerts earlier this month.  To wit, here's U2 and (of all people) Lady Gaga playing together at a recent show.  Nothing says a musical tribute to Nelson Mandela than performing in your underwear.  


* U2/Soweto Gospel Choir, "Amazing Grace/Where The Streets Have No Name"
Speaking of U2 duets, let's cheat a bit as someone has mixed together U2's performances with those of the Soweto Gospel Choir.  It sounds UNBELIEVABLE.  This is one of my favourite clips of all time.


* U2, "Rejoice"
Here's a golden oldie from 1982, and insert the obligatory 'wow, they look so young' comments here.  If U2 were to randomly bust this one out on tour today, I think I'd just about lose my mind...they haven't played this song in over 30 years.


* The Dalton Brothers, "Lost Highway"
And after all that, let's end with the obscure Dalton Brothers, who opened for U2 a couple of times in the 80's and have never been heard from since.  They didn't even manage an original song, only covering Hank Williams here.  Not to speak ill of a lady, but Betty Dalton was one ugly woman.  You could put, say, Adam Clayton in a dress and come up with a better looking lady than ol' Betty.

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