This week’s prompt for Song Lyric Sunday – one of Jim’s own, I think – is to play songs that have been preserved in the National Recording Registry. This necessitated some research! I had heard of this, but as the ‘nation’ was the USA it wasn’t something with which I was familiar. Wikipedia to the rescue: The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that “are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.” The Registry was established in 2000, and recordings have to have been made at least ten years prior to their inclusion. There is, as you might expect, a long list of entries, and it is a fascinating mix of music and other sound recordings, including for example some early efforts by Edison. There are many bands I like on the list, so my only problem was whittling it down to a manageable number. One thing that struck me was that the list isn’t just American recordings: it is sufficiently inclusive to recognise that contributions from elsewhere meet their criteria by what they have done for American cultural life. So of course I’m going with those – I’m playing three by some of the British entrants on the list.
Davis Bowie’s album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars is where I’m starting. Even that gave me a choice to make, as it is a great album with many great tracks. I’m playing my favourite:
And the lyrics:
My second tune for today is from an album of similar vintage. It is Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, and this is my favourite from it:
The album was released in March 1973, peaking at #2 here in the UK but topping the charts in the US and Canada. It is one of the biggest selling albums of all time, with more than 45m copies worldwide. It has gone 15x Platinum in both the US and the UK, for sales of 15m and 4.5m respectively: staggering numbers! Money was released as a single in the US in May 1973, in a shortened version which took out sax and guitar solos. It got to #13, and that shortened version is the one in this promotional video. The full length version of the song is even better, though.
Unlike today’s two other songs, my final selection is in the Registry as a song in its own right, not as part of the album it was on. By any criteria this is an all time rock music classic, and it gives me the chance to play this stupendous live performance. Yes, it is a cover, and no, it doesn’t include the original band members, but the three who are still with us were the focal point of the show, and in keeping with today’s theme the performers are mostly Americans:
That was, of course, Stairway to Heaven played by two of Heart and a cast of thousands, as part of the December 2012 event at The Kennedy Centre which honoured Led Zeppelin, among others. I have played this video several times before, and have devoted a whole post to it, as it represents for me everything that is good about music, particularly the emotions and joy it can bring us. The drummer was Jason Bonham, son of the band’s late drummer John Bonham, and his interchange with Robert Plant at the beginning is down to Robert having invited him to attend the show in his father’s stead, but Jason said he had to decline as he was already booked to play a show for that evening. The sheer delight on both their faces is wonderful. The song is still one of the most recognisable rock tunes, and is one of those that has been banned in many guitar shops as the owners are fed up hearing poor attempts at its intro by customers! It was released on Led Zeppelin IV in November 1971: this has become the band’s best selling album, at over 37m copies worldwide, 24m of those in the US and 1.8m in the UK. It went to #1 in the UK and Canada, and to #2 in the US and many other countries – surprisingly, perhaps, a little low given that 24m figure!
That’s all for today. I’m grateful to Jim, as always, for hosting SLS and for introducing me to the USA’s National Recording Registry and broadening my knowledge. And I’m pleased to see that we Brits have made some contributions over the years to the cultural life of the US – I think the same can definitely be said for the reverse of that!
See you on Tuesday 😊
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Hi Clive, the lyrics for Starman are quite weird. I’ve never actually read them before.
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Hi Robbie. I think they may have been chemically induced 😉
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Haha, yes, you are probably right.
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Three total classics, from (if your count Led Zep IV as the source of Stairway) three of the very best albums of all time. I remember the Bowie appearance on TOTP so clearly. It turned pop music on its head.
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I guess that’s why they found their way into the NRR. I remember that too – I knew the album was coming soon and held off buying the single until then. It felt like a long wait!
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It took me weeks to save the money for an album back then, but boy it was worth it. Opened my mind to so many possibilities and cemented a life-long love of Bowie
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I was lucky that I could afford a few records. I was in my third year of A-levels, and having done two the previous year I was only doing one subject. Plenty of time left to work some evenings and most weekends at the big local entertainment complex! The music we loved then stays with us, doesn’t it 😊
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I think we have been fortunate to live through the absolute heyday of music. Not simply in variety and quality but in its importance to life. I cannot imagine my life without a ‘soundtrack’, the excitement of queueing for a new release, TOTP, Whistle Test, The Charts – somehow music does not seem nearly so integral to the lives of younger people. I still ‘discover’ new bands and artists constantly. I listen to music everyday, regardless of what else I am doing. I hope it never changes…
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In complete agreement with all of that. Every generation thinks that theirs was the best for music when they were growing up. But ours was the clear winner!
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😁
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Three classics today. I watch that Heart tribute video to Led Zeppelin at least once a month. It’s one of my favorites. Not only is it a fantastic musical compilation, but there is something about politicians rocking out that I find amusing.
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They weren’t hard to choose! I love that Heart video too, and share your enjoyment of politicians trying to look cool 😊
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Wonderful choices – all three are so good! I’d heard the Starman song but not in a long time, the Money song is the only one I really know of PF, and the last video I’ve seen – so emotional watching the audience. Heart was excellent! 🙂
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Thank you, I’m glad you liked them. Starman is part of a terrific album, you should try it! I played Money as my favourite track from Dark Side of the Moon, as that is in the album the NRR, but they have many wonderful songs on other albums. Again, you should try them. I couldn’t resist that performance of Stairway – it is magnificent!
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I keep looking, lol I remember they used to have screens up and we often saw ourselves…. Often ….but I have not clocked myself as yet!
As to next week’s theme it was really after the week we had to do any artists who were on America’s got talent….which we hardly ever get to see ( even if we had wanted to) ….it has plenty of scope I think 💜
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Keep looking!
American Idol, I think? It’s on ITV2 here but I don’t think I’ve ever watched anything on that channel – it’s for people whose age matches their IQ.
I don’t think I missed TOTP from the first – 1.1.64 – until I went to uni in October 1972. But we didn’t have a tv and I was already losing interest in the singles chart anyway. Should be fun researching it – I’ll let you know if I see you 😉
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Yes you’re right it was American Idols and I have never bothered to look for it.
I did enjoy it … I was blond back then not red!! 💜💜
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I’ve seen your wedding photos so I know who to look for! We didn’t have a colour tv until 1971 so I saw most of it in monochrome anyway 😉
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Oh! The game is up our dancing will be under scrutiny….😮
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Only if I can find you! You’re probably safe 🤣
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Lol 🤣🤣🤣
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I shared Heart’s performance as a blog post because it is simply phenomenal…and Ann and Nancy Wilson came on my wife’s show for an hour of “songs & stories” with Kelly Clarkson..the trio sang some of Heart’s biggest hits and the sisters told stories about life in the record industry..they are incredible!
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Likewise, I think I’ve reprised the post too, but I don’t have your Kelly Clarkson connection 🤣
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It’s really an amazing performance and the reaction of the band in the audience is heartwarming
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Everything about it is just perfect.
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There is a time for oferstatement — and a time for understatement: Good choices!
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Thank you, glad you liked them 😊
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I am not sure if I posted a reply or lost it! I will try again.
It is testament to the three tracks you posted today that they are as good today as they were back then.
I used to go to Top of the pops regularly back in the day… My friend and I thought we were good dancers….we thought we were??
But in our defence we’re were not robots!
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It didn’t come through so I guess it’s in cyberspace somewhere. The three tracks were chosen well by the NRR people, and they do all sound good many years on.
I’m sure you and your friend were among the better audience dancers! Some of them weren’t so much robots as clueless – dancing along to the likes of Roger Whittaker couldn’t have been easy 🤣
Interesting theme coming up for next week. Well done for suggesting a good counterbalance to this week’s American one. Are there any videos of you in the audience?
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Oh, for fuck’s sake! The listing is under The Beatles … not Beatles. C’mon, NRR; that’s not how it’s done! How about Beatles, The??
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🤣🤣
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😂 Alphabetizing 101. I plead my case.
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It’s well known to us over here that you guys can’t spell properly. It seems you have the same affliction with alphabetising (note the ‘s’) 🤣
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😂 🙄 😎
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I can still remember the first time that I listened to the Pink Floyd song Money and the guy that had the album said that he had to play it at maximum volume because there were so many different sounds in the song, and he didn’t want to miss any of them. His amplifier overheated after that song and my eardrums were blown out, but it is a really great song. Who knew that Americans preserved British music? Great selections, Clive.
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A great song and album. If ‘Money’ didn’t kill his amp I think ‘ The Great Gig In The Sky’ would have done it! I was rather pleasantly surprised to find so many non-American acts in there, and impressed that the Register is open to recognising that others have contributed to your culture. Glad you liked the choices.
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I’ve no idea which song I’ll choose yet. The NNR is new to me also Clive.
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Good luck with the search – there are loads in there!
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All excellent picks, Clive. The National Registry offered up a list of amazing songs; it was almost too difficult to make a choice.
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Thank you, Nancy. I know what you mean! I made the choice a bit easier by deciding to go just for British acts but there were still plenty more of those I could have played.
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Which reminds me …. I already asked Jim but will toss my question out here as well. Why are there no Beatles (other than Lennon’s Imagine) or Rolling Stones songs on the National Registry? I found that shocking so I’m assuming it has something to do with legal/recording/copyright etc issues.
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I guess it comes down to the people who make the decisions. The Beatles are there, with the Sgt Pepper album, and the Stones with the Satisfaction single. To be honest, I doubt there would be any such issues: wouldn’t most be honoured to be included?
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Not sure how I missed those two titles; I checked the list alphabetically by artist and nothing came up for either group. Thanks for pointing that out; I need to take another look to see how I could have missed them.
Definitely, I think anyone would consider being inducted a great honor.
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I used the list on the Wikipedia page for the NRR. If it had an order to it I couldn’t see it, so I just kept scrolling down 🤣
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What a ground-breaking album. It sounds as great today as it ever was.
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A true classic. I love it as much now as I ever did 😊
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Rise and fall of Ziggy was a great jumping off point, followed by another great and topped off with pure dessert, nice Clive
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Glad you liked them, Ernie, and good to see that WP treated your comment with more respect than the last one!
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I love how Heart does Stairway to Heaven! And the reaction from the members of Led Zeppelin is priceless.
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It’s incredible, isn’t it. Their reactions help make it even more special.
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Fantastic ‘Stairway to Heaven’ video. Isn’t a shame we all have to get old?
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It’s amazing, isn’t it! Sadly, that happens to us all!
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Indeed.
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I can imagine how that guitarist felt with Jimmy Page watching every move, lol.
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Talk about pressure! But he nailed it 😊
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Stairway is still a powerful song even after the 4,562nd time hearing it. Great cover.
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It’s a wonderful performance, isn’t it. The big production really brings out the best of the song.
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