Song of the Day for September 9th, 2010: "Jazzy" by knoe FM

And the song of the day is....Jazzy, by Australian hip-hop artist knoe FM. knoe Fm is a young MC from Perth, in Western Australia. There is not too much info about know FM on his pages, but you can check out his myspace page for more info. Also, this song is available for listening or as a free mp3 download at this webpage.  Actually you will have to go to that site to even hear the song, so make sure you do that, enjoy!

Song of the Day for September 8th, 2010: "So Bad" by Class A

And the song for today is.... So Bad by Australian hip-hop artist Class A. Class A is a hip-hop artist coming out of Melbourne, Australia who was voted the best Female MC there in 2008 and 2009. She has already shared the stage with big-time acts such as Talib Kweli, The Hilltop Hoods, Dilated Peoples, and more...and one can tell that she has "it," whatever "it" is. This song comes off of Class A's soon to be released (September 17th, 2010, to be exact) debut album titled Me, Me, Me and Him: The Secret Life of a Receptionist. If you like the song, it is still available as a free mp3 download at this web page. 

#57 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown!: "Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams (1985)

Aloha all, we are now presenting #57 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits, and #57 is.....Summer of '69, by Canadian singer/songwriter Bryan Adams. Bryan Adams was born on November 5th, 1959 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and has become the bestselling Canadian male recording artist of all time! Over the years he has won 15 Grammy Awards, 18 Juno Awards, as well as MTV Awards, ASCAP Awards, and American Music Awards. I would also mention that his music done for films have been nominated for Golden Globes and Academy Awards as well. Quite the talent, and I would guess that most Americans don't realize that he is actually a Canadian, in fact I have discovered that many actors, musicians, bands, and performers that people think are home-grown Americans are often from Canada, Britain, or Australia, which is quite interesting and not to mention a tangent, so allow me to digress. In April 2006 Adams was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and in 2008 he was ranked #38 on the list of All-Time top artists by the Billboard Hot 100 50th Anniversary Charts. He is no doubt a big player in the music biz, and he got his start there in 1977. Adams has sold somewhere around the vicinity of 100 million records worldwide. Summer of '69 came off of his 4th studio album titled Reckless, which was released in June 1985. According to wikipedia, the reference to '69 in the song is actually a sexual reference as opposed to the common perception that he is singing about 1969, which actually surprises me a little bit, as I was one of those people up til now that thought he was referring to the year. Later on down the same wikipedia page it states that Adams revealed in an interview with In the Studio that the song indeed is a reference to the year 1969 and the cultural revolutions and social movements that were taking place at that time, so pick your own interpretation or even both. Upon its release in 1985, Summer of '69 peaked at #5 on the US Billboard Top 100 chart, and it remains an 80's staple for pub cover-bands the world round. So, there is #57, and off we go to discover #56 and onwards....

Song of the Day for September 7th, 2010: "Met on Mars" by Mammoth Logic

And the song of the day is....Met on Mars, by Australian electronica duo Mammoth Logic. Mammoth Logic consists of Dave Crowe & Reid Jones, and they come out of the city of Adelaide, in South Australia. The electronic duo have been described as a mix of 'futuristic pop' with 'French-electro' with post-punk-rock, which is quite a mix indeed. This song came out just in the past few months of this year (2010), and they are set to release an album, so keep your eyes peeled for that. If you like the song then you should take note that it is currently available as a free download at this page.

Song of the Day for September 6th, 2010: "Gate Track" by Convaire

And the song is...Gate Track, by Aussie indie-pop group Convaire. Convaire formed in 2009 in Sydney, Australia, and consisting of members John Towey (guitars), sisters Liz and Jane Slattery (keyboards) and Dan Talbot (bass guitar). Gate Track was a single release in 2010, there is no youtube video for this track yet, but it is available for free download at this link. The band also has an EP release that is set to be released within the next year. Enjoy!

#58 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown!: "It's Like That" by Run D.M.C. (1983)

I've been gone a few days, but I am now back, and I am carrying with me the secret envelope that contains #58 of the countdown....and the song is....It's Like That, by the infamous 80's American hip-hop group Run D.M.C.. Run D.M.C. came out of Hollis in the Queens borough of New York City. Run D.M.C. formed back in 1981, and consisted of members Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, and Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizel. It's Like That appeared initially as a single on cassette release in 1983 which was accompanied by another track titled Sucker M.C.'s.  Run D.M.C. is considered by many to be one of the most influential hip-hop groups in music history, and along with other acts of the time (such as LL Cool J) they were pioneers of the new school of hip hop. According to wikipedia, they were the first group in the hip-hop genre to achieve a Grammy Award and a Gold Album, and Rolling Stone Magazine named them #48 on their list of Greatest Musical Artists of All Time. Finally, in 2004 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, (despite the fact that they were a hip-hop group) and they were only the second hip-hop group in history to have achieved this. There are heaps more trivia items about Run D.M.C. on their wikipedia page, so I suggest you look there for more info on the group. Also, there has been a very popular and well done remix version of It's Like That by Jason Nevins (released in 1997) which I also highly recommend checking out. However, the original is a classic so what I would truly recommend is getting a hold of both versions. Bam!

Song of the Day for Septmeber 4th, 2010: "Goliath" by The Brown Horn Orchestra

And the song is Goliath, by Australian skatronic/brass/beats band The Brown Horn Orchestra. The Perth-based Brown Horn Orchestra consists of members Nicholas Owen, Karri Harper Meredith, Jake Chaloner, Sky Eaton, Lyndon Blue, Ben Lanzon, Angelique Ross, Emcee Rezide, and Lauren Todhunter. They are the 2010 WAMi Award winning band with a wide variety and eclectic mix of sounds and musical styles that I would compare to another Aussie band called The Cat Empire. They also won the Campus Band Competition in 2009, and they have a highly anticipated LP set to come out in early 2011. For more info on the band check out their myspace page here. Also, this song is available as a free download at this link here. Enjoy!

Song of the Day for September 1st, 2010: "Up Against the Fire" by Elke (2010)

And the song is...Up Against the Fire, by Australian 5-piece indie-rock band Elke. Elke formed back in 2007 as a weekend recording band in the sunny city of Brisbane, Queensland (aka Bris-Vegas).  I don't have too much more information about the song or the band other than what I was able to find at this page (note that this song a and a few other Elke songs are available for free download here as well). Alas, youtube doesn't have this song posted quite yet, so if you wish to hear it go to the link in the previous sentence or check out some of their other songs and info at their myspace page here. I am off to the wilderness for 3 days or so, so no more posts til next week, shazam!

#59 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown!: "Who's Johnny" by El Debarge (1986)

Back to the 80's once again, and I have been sprucing up my 80's music collection (especially the dance hits lately) and always finding new (to me) great 80's dance music. Looking to do some 80's DJ work here soon, but that put aside we are at #59 of the countdown, and the song is....Who's Johnny, by American R&B/pop music falsetto singer El Debarge. Now if this song doesn't have that classic 80's synth-pop sound then I don't know what does. Eldra Patrick "El" DeBarge came out of Grand Rapids, Michigan and was the lead singer and focal point of the family group called Debarge throughout the early to mid 1980's. El Debarge is best known for Who's Johnny which appeared as track #1 on his self-titled album which was released in 1986 and would eventually reach Gold status. The record was released under Gordy Records, which was a sub-label of Motown Records, which also carried 80's African American artists Michael Jackson and Rockwell. Who's Johnny also appeared as a single on the classic 80's robot movie Short Circuit soundtrack, which was quite fitting seeing that the robot's name in the film was Johhny-5. The song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Hot R&B Singles chart that same year. The song brings back memories of being a kid and watching Short Circuit, who I reckon was way cooler than that new Wall-E character/film and clear Johnny-5 rip-off they came up with (although it was pretty good too).

Brief Movie Review for "Night of the Iguana" (1964)

4/5 Stars ****

Good and goofy movie! The character interactions (and the quality actors) are the key to this movie (as with most), but it really focuses on the characters and what seemed like mostly realistic emotional and not always logical way of dealing with the challenges in their lives. Richard Burton's character is classic, actually the first of his movies I've seen, and surprised he never got any James Bond roles. Definitely not your run-of-the-mill film or plot, so check it out, at least you'll get something different from the typical formulas, that is unless you are a formula person. Great poem there to btw.

Steve Judd's Global Forecast September 2010

Here's the global steve judd forecast for September 2010!

Song of the Day for August 31st, 2010: "Climbing Walls," by Strange Talk

And the song is....Climbing Walls, by Australian indie-pop band Strange Talk. Strange Talk were formed just this year in February and they come out of Melbourne, Victoria in the Land Down Under. Members are Stephen Docker (vocals), Gerard Sidhu (bass guitar), Travis Constable (drums), and Gillan Gregory (guitar). This is the only song I have heard by them thus far, and I reckon they sound a bit like another Melbourne band named Cut Copy, and also a little bit like Sydney band Empire of the Sun. Also the mp3 is available for free download at this very link.  That is a good thing by the way ;-)

Mentionable Mashups: "Wow I Scream for My Mama mashup" (feat Kylie vs Michael and Janet Jackson vs JT vs Will i am) by VJ Brewski

Hello again, here is another mentionable mashup that I came across by VJ Brewski. It features Kylie vs Michael vs Janet Jackson vs JT vs Will i am. Check out his page here for more good stuff!