February 2015 – I'm With The Band Wives

Two weeks in a row I sacrificed my sleep to watch award shows. Last weekend, SNL40. This weekend, the Oscars. I needed to know what went down so the next day I could be one of the cool kids. I already gave you my take on SNL40 (see post Miley Cyrus, Seriously?) last weekend and then was ready this weekend to catch some Oscar buzz.

One of the things I was wondering about was how the songs were selected. You know, the ones that played presenters on and offstage. With over 80 years of film music to choose from, I thought it was interesting that they seemed to pinpoint obscure love songs from movie soundtracks from the 70’s and 80’s. Almost every song had personal memories for me. But no one can top Carly Simon at the Oscars.

There were two Carly Simon songs, Nobody Does It Better from The Spy Who Loved Me, and Let The River Run from Working Girl. I didn’t care so much about the Bond song (Pierce Brosnan is the only Bond I really like) but it was cool that it was played. Working Girl is another movie on my guilty pleasure list. Poor girl with a heart of gold makes good AND gets the guy. It doesn’t get better than that in Hollywood. Let The River Run is one of the most musically rich songs I know! For me it is full of hope and longing and perseverance. I crank it up and dance every time I hear it.

Continue reading “Carly Simon at the Oscars” →

I checked out the 40th anniversary special for Saturday Night Live last night. I found it to be the same as all of my experiences watching SNL each and every other episode. There were some great skits, characters, and performances, as well as some I could do without. I am sure that others had encountered this as well week after week.

It was great to see two of my favorite Pauls there representing the early SNL years, Paul McCartney and Paul Simon. When they burst into I’ve Just Seen a Face, I sang along with a huge smile (they should’ve seen MY face!) and was completely entertained. Paul McCartney later performed one of my all-time faves, Maybe I’m Amazed, and then Paul Simon did a hauntingly beautiful version of Still Crazy After All These Years.I was transported to another time and place with each of these songs, listening fondly and remembering.

It didn’t seem scripted and it seemed to embody much of what SNL tried to achieve during the last 40 years. With all those years of music to choose from, I was expecting some more great clips and performances from hoards of other musicians. Imagine my dismay when at the end of the special I had not been treated to other time altering performances, but instead watched Miley Cyrus performing a Paul Simon tune, and Kanye performing, well, I am not sure.

Continue reading “Miley Cyrus? Serious?” →