#26 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown: 'Shake Your Foundations' by ACDC (1985)

G'day 80's Fans! Its time now to present #26 of Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown, and the song is....wait for it.....Shake Your Foundations by Australian hard-rock-legends ACDC. It was about time that ACDC appeared on the list, and none to late either as this song is one of my ACDC favorites of all time. Now, for some background ACDC...They come from Sydney, Australia and it all started there for them in 1973 when brothers Malcolm and Angus Young formed the band. In fact these 2 brothers were actually born in Glasgow, Scotland before their family moved to Sydney in 1963. A 3rd brother (George Young) was the first musician in the family as he learned to play guitar and joined up with The Easybeats, who were a successful Aussie band in the 1960's. According to their Wikipedia page, their sister Margaret Young gave them the idea of naming their band ACDC after noting having seeing the AC/DC symbol on a sewing machine. In 1974 the band was joined by lead vocalist Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott, who would lead the band to super-stardom in Australia and internationally. After Bon Scott died in 1980, he was replaced by Brian Johnson, who is the lead vocalist of the band to this day. As of 2010, ACDC sold more than 200 million records worldwide, and somewhere around 71 million in the USA alone. Back in Black (their most successful album from 1980) is estimated to have sold 49 million units worldwide making it highest-selling album by any band, and making it the second highest selling album in history behind the Michael Jackson's 1982 Thriller album which holds the throne at #1. Shake Your Foundations was released in 1985 on ACDC's 10th studio album titled Fly On the Wall. In 1986 the song was remixed by Harry Vanda and George Young and that version was released on the Who Made Who album, and then featured on the film soundtrack for Stephen King's classic action-horror film Maximum Overdrive (which I would highly recommend watching even just for the ACDC songs). And there was #26!

Today's Feature Song = 'Not In Love' by Crystal Castles (feat. Robert Smith) (2010)

Today's feature song is Not In Love (feat. Robert Smith) by Toronto-based Canadian electronica-band Crystal Castles. The song featured here involves guest vocals by Robert Smith, who is the lead-singer for a little band called The Cure. Crystal Castles have been active on the electronica music scene since 2004 and consists of producer Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass. They have released 2 studio albums, and Not In Love (feat. Robert Smith) appears on their Crystal Castles II album, which was released in April of 2010. It is the 3rd single release, and a remix version at that, that comes off of that album. Be sure to check out their website HERE, or their MySpace page HERE for more band and music information. Snap!

Feature Song of the Day = 'Pumped Up Kicks' by Foster the People (2011)

Today's feature song is Pumped Up Kicks, by Los Angeles-based indie-rock band Foster the People. The band has been active on the American rock scene since 2009, and it consists of members Mark Foster (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Zach “Reazon” Heiligman (MPC), Mark Pontius (drums), and Cubbie Fink (bass guitar, vocals). I was noticing the inspiring news coming out of Egypt this morning, and thinking that the people had finally won quite a big and symbolic battle that will no doubt resonate the world-round, and then I saw the song on my IPod came up was a Foster the People song (this one actually), and I thought, "how fitting for today's feature song!" Global Politics and social movements aside, Pumped Up Kicks comes off of the January 18th-release-self-titled EP, which can now be found and purchased on ITunes and Amazon.  So check out the band's website HERE if you like what you hear, or head to their facebook page HERE. Here's to a New-World!

#27 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown: 'To Cut a Long Story Short' by Spandau Ballet (1980)

VJ Samsonite here, and we are back presenting #27 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown, and the song is the 1980 release  To Cut a Long Story Short by British 80's synth-pop/new-wave band Spandau Ballet. Spandau Ballet formed back in the 1970's in Islington-London, UK (originally the band was called The Cut). The band came together as they were inspired by the arising of the New Romantic fashion/genre, and at that time they consisted of band members Gary Kemp (guitars), Steve Norman (guitars, saxophone, percussion), John Keeble (drums), Tony Hadley (vocals), and Martin Kemp (bass guitar). To Cut a Long Story Short was the first track and hit single off of their debut studio album titled Journeys to Glory, and was released in March 1981 (the single was released in November 1980). It would peak at #5 on the UK Singles chart, and at #15 on the Australian Singles chart that year. According to their Wikipedia Page the Journeys to Glory album was considered quite cutting-edge/avant garde upon its release in 1981. More recently the band reformed in 2009 and released a new album that year that won Best Comeback of 2009 in the Virgin Media Awards. And there it is, #27 in all its glory. Check back next week for #26!

Feature Song of the Day = 'I Can Show You' by Tim and Jean (2010)

Today's Feature Song is I Can Show You, by Australian indie-electro-pop duo Tim and Jean. Tim and Jean are Tim Ayre and Jean Capotorto who come out of Perth, Western Australia. They started up a MySpace page and ended up entering Triple J's Unearthed High School competition for unsigned bands, in which they made it to the finals with their song Come Around. They were later then selected to by that radio station to play at the Parklife Festival. They have not yet released an official album or EP, but they have played internationally and in America when they were a supporting act for Moby. If you like what you hear on this post then go check out their MySpace page HERE for more songs and band info, or you can also check out their Unearthed page HERE which includes a free and legal 128kbps-mp3 download of their song Come Around (which is also available for purchase at HQ in the ITunes store. They do sound a bit like Passion Pit, especially the keyboard style they play in this song, so if you are a Passion Pit fan you will probably dig the musical styles of Tim and Jean. Check it!

Today's Feature Song = 'Crazy For You' by Best Coast (2010)

Today's feature song is Crazy for You by American indie-garage-pop trio Best Coast. Best Coast are based in Los Angeles, California and its members are Bethany Cosentino ( songwriter/lead vocals), Bobb Bruno (multiple-instruments) and Ali Koehler (drums). This song appears as the second track of of their Crazy for You album, which was released in July, 2010 on the Mexican Summer Record Label. The album peaked at #36 on the US Album Charts upon its release. If you like what you hear and you want some more band info and songs to listen to then come off it and check out the Best Coast MySpace page HERE. Something tells me they like cats...

Brief Book Review for 'A Course in Miracles' by Dr. Helen Schucman (1976)

Book = A Course in Miracles (1976)

Author = Dr. Helen Schucman

5/5 Stars *****

Today I am briefly reviewing a course/curriculum (just one part of a Universal Curriculum) called A Course In Miracles (ACIM) (first published in 1976), which includes not only the preface and text, but also the workbook for students, manual for teachers, clarification of terms, and supplements. This book/course is for those seeking a structured path and curriculum to find inner-peace in their daily life. I just finished the entire course, which took me over a year, as the workbook has 365 exercises, to be completed one a day over the course of a year. This book has helped me tremendously and in ways that are hard to describe with words or mental concepts. The course is really geared towards those of a judeo-christian background, and much of the language in the book is written in judeo-christian terms, however, you don't have to be of this background to benefit from this course. I was better able to understand the course after watching Eckhart Tolle's review and introduction to the book on the January 2011 issue of Eckart Tolle TV, which I would recommend watching first if you are considering doing this course. There really isn't that much else to say other than the course really speaks for itself and is one of the many pathways to discovering at least a few first inklings of stillness within yourself, although if it doesn't work for you then it doesn't work for you, and vice-versa. That all being said, the course is also available in digital formats etc, so head on over to the ACIM website HERE if you fancy more information. I highly recommend this course and give it 5/5 Stars!! Enjoy!

#28 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown: 'How Will I Know' by Whitney Houston (1985)

Now, at #28 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown is How Will I Know by American recording artist/legendary vocalist/former fashion model/actress Whitney Houston. Now it is kind of interesting that when I think of Whitney Houston I don't generally associate her with the 1980's but I do more so with the 1990's, but the fact is that How Will I Know what a #1 in 1985 on the US Billboard Hot 100, the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the US Adult Contemporary chart, and the Canadian Singles chart; while it reached #5 on the UK Singles chart, #3 on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart, and #2 on both the Norway and Sweden Singles charts. So, essentially this song was quite big and it would be the 3rd single from her debut album titled Whitney Houston, which was also released in 1985. Whitney Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey USA in 1963, and she was actually the relative of many prominent soul-singers including her mother Cissy Houston, her cousins Dione and Dee Dee Warwick, and her God-mother Aretha Franklin (a.k.a. the Queen of Soul). Houston's 2nd album titled Whitney (1987) became the first by a female artist to debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart. She also appeared in a few Hollywood films, her first one being The Bodyguard in 1992 co-starring with Kevin Costner, the soundtrack of which would win a Grammy Award for Album of the Year and contained her song I Will Always Love You, which would become the best-selling single by a female artist of all time.  All of that said Whitney Houston is also the most-awarded female artist of all-time according to the Guinness Book of World Records, holding 16 Billboard Music Awards, 2 Emmy Awards, 6 Grammy Awards, 22 American Music Awards, which are amongst a total of 411 career awards as of 2006. She has sold somewhere around 170 million albums and singles worldwide. There is quite a bit more of this sort of awards-trivia knowledge, so if you really want to know more go to her Wikipedia page HERE. Now, can you see why I simply could not leave her off of this countdown? So there it is, and now we are onwards and downwards to #27 next....

A Brief Review for 'Paths of Glory' (1957)

Movie = Paths of Glory (1957)

Director = Stanley Kubrick

5/5 Stars *****

This movie is one to watch, although it is not for the light-hearted as it is a war-movie. Kubrick does a brilliant job showing us another side of war not often talked about or shown in movies, and by that I mean the internal politics that ravages the very structure of the military itself. Like all human organizations, when the big egos clash their is a price to pay and it is usually in the form of sacrifice by the lower-ranking infantry. Of course the powerful do this all in the petty search of their own egoic and short-lived personal glory. I must disagree to those critics (most of them) who say it is an anti-war film, it is a war-film, and it depicts situations of war that are not uncommon, so if having a hint of realism means a war-movie is anti-war then maybe they are right. I won't say any more here, other than that Kirk Douglas and George Macready both do an excellent job in their roles and so cheers to them both. Good one to watch for sure.

Today's Feature Song = 'Breaker Breaker' by Peter, Bjorn, and John

Today's feature song is Breaker Breaker by Swedish indie-rock band Peter, Bjorn, and John. Peter, Bjorn, and John have been active on the rock-music scene since 1999, they are based out of Stockholm, Sweden, and consist of members Peter Morén (vocals, guitar and harmonica), Björn Yttling (bass guitar, keyboards and vocals) and John Eriksson (drums, percussion and vocals). Breaker Breaker is a single that will appear on their latest album titled Gimme Some, which is set to be released in the USA on March 28th, 2011. Check out their website HERE for more band information.

Feature Song of the Day = 'Finale' by Funeral Party

Today's feature song is a littlet track called Finale, by American four-piece indie/alternative-rock band Funeral Party. Funeral Party have been active on the music scene since 2004, they originate out of Whittier, California USA, and consist of members Chad Elliott (vocals and keyboards), James Lawrence Torres (guitar), Kimo Kauhola (bass guitar), and Tim Madrid (drums). According to their Wikipedia page they decided to form the band after hanging out together in the local park, and they named the band after a song by The Cure. Finale is a single, and it was released in December of 2010. It also appears on their upcoming debut studio album titled The Golden Age of Knowing, which is set to be released in the USA on March 29, 2011. You can, however purchase the single on ITunes or Amazon at present. If you like what you've heard then head over to their band website HERE for more band info. Hoorah!

Mentionable Mashup of the Week = 'I Got More Than a Feeling' by MadMixMustang (MMM)

This week's mentionable mashup is I Got More Than a Feeling by VJ/mashup artist MadMixMustang (MMM). This mashup features the 1976 hit More Than a Feeling, by American rock-band Boston. It is mashed with the more contemporary 2009 #1 hit I Gotta Feeling, by American hip-hop/pop group the Black Eyed Peas. This is quite a mashup, and if you like what you hear then I recommend heading on over to MMM's website and have a listen to some of the other mash-ups residing there.

Feature Song of the Day = 'I Wrote the Book' by Beth Ditto

Today's feature song is I Wrote the Book, by American singer-songwriter Beth Ditto. Beth Ditto (Mary Beth Patterson) is based out of Portland, Oregon, USA (originally from Searcy, Arkansas, USA) and is most well known for her work with indie-rock group Gossip. I Wrote the Book comes off of her upcoming 2011 debut solo and self-titled EP. If you like what you hear be sure to check out her work with Gossip at their MySpace page HERE.