Category: Music
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In Memoriam: Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021)
Hi there, Dear Reader. It’s early afternoon here in my corner of west-central Florida on Saturday, November 27, 2021. It’s a chilly late fall day. The current temperature is 68˚F (20˚C) under sunny skies. With the wind blowing from the north-northwest at 7 MPH (11 KM/H) and humidity at 36%, the feels-like temperature is 67˚F…
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On Music: 10 Favorite Tunes to Get a November Weekend to a Good Start
Hello, Dear Reader. It’s late morning here in west-central Florida on Friday, November 19, 2021. It’s a dark and cool autumn day. Currently, the temperature is 74˚F (23˚C) under cloudy skies. With humidity at 87% and the wind blowing from the northeast at 9 MPH (14 KM/H), the feels-like temperature is 73˚F (23˚C). Today is…
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On Music: But…But…I LIKE Oldies!
When I was in my early teens – way back in the late 1970s – I knew that in a world where Funk, Soul, R&B, Pop, Hard Rock, Soft Rock and Disco were the dominant music genres, I was an odd duck. Even as a child growing up on two continents – I was born in…
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Music Album Review: ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)’
On June 4, 1982, Atlantic Records released Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Original Music Soundtrack) on vinyl LP and audiocassette. It featured music composed by a 29-year-old James Horner for Nicholas Meyer’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It was not, by any means of the imagination, a long album; it consisted…
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Parody Song: ‘The Nursing Home Song’
I don’t know if you remember, but one of the projects I worked on with my friend and collaborator Juan Carlos Hernandez was a comedy review called El Grande de Corona, which was a collection of skits – some musical, some not – loosely connected to the COVID-19 pandemic and other stuff that went on…
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Music Album Review: Runnin’ Wild: Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra Play Glenn Miller
Runnin’ Wild: Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra Play Glenn Miller (1996) Performed by: The Boston Pops Orchestra, Keith Lockhart, conductor Guest Artists: John Pizzarelli and The King’s Singers As Keith Lockhart points out, the Boston Pops is “the ultimate crossover vehicle from the symphonic world.” So what better subject than Glenn Miller for…
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Music Album Review: ‘By Request…: The Best of John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra’
In 1987, the Dutch record label Philips Records[1] (Philips Phonographische in Dutch) released By Request…: The Best of John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra, a compilation album featuring 12 themes or overtures, two “special events” fanfares, and one television theme[2] composed by Oscar and Grammy Award-winning composer conductor John Williams. At the time of…
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On Music: My Top 10 John Williams ‘Star Wars’ Themes
I have been a fan of John Williams’ symphonic scores ever since I saw the original Star Wars – aka Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope – in the autumn of 1977[1] For me, Williams’ swashbuckling, neo-Romantic themes and action cues sold the rest of George Lucas’s out-of-this-world space-fantasy about “a boy, a girl,…
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On Music: My Top 10 Favorite Movie Themes (Not Composed by John Williams)
If you are a regular reader of A Certain Point of View, Too or its Blogger antecedent, A Certain Point of View, or if you know me “in real life”, you’re probably aware that one of my favorite music genres is the symphonic film score. And although I didn’t start collecting movie soundtracks until I…
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On Music: My Top 10 Favorite Billy Joel Songs
Hello, Dear Reader, and welcome to another edition of On Music, the part of A Certain Point of View, Too where I share my favorite songs and other musical compositions across the various genres that I enjoy. Today I’ll be featuring my Top 10 Favorite Songs by Billy Joel, who happens to be (a) my…
A Certain Point of View, Too 