Laurelanne.com

A medley of 90s dance hits on a ‘melodica.’

Laurelanne — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:12:44 +0000

Benny the Jukebox posted this amazing display of melodica mastery on Youtube. Not familiar with a melodica? It’s also known as a ‘blow-organ’ and a ‘key-flute.’

It’s also know as a ‘hooter,’ from which the popular 80s band The Hooters got their name. I remember all of these songs from college! Check it out.

Which President would wow the crowd on karaoke night?

Laurelanne — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:25:44 +0000

President Obama wows the crowd at a fundraiser by crooning a few lines from an Al Green classic. Pretty good! But I could give him a few pointers!

Eddie Van Halen Gives 75 Guitars To Public Schools

Laurelanne — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:02:20 +0000

Guitar virtuoso Eddie Van Halen has donated 75 electric guitars from his personal collection to the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports music education in public schools across the country.

Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation will distribute the guitars to music programs in public schools throughout the Los Angeles area where there are not enough instruments to meet the demand of students enrolled, per Van Halen’s request.

“Music is the universal language. It has the ability to transcend and convey every human emotion that exists without saying a word. Music kept me off the streets and out of trouble and gave me something that was mine that no one could take away from me. Music education and families are dealing with the economic times, and I wanted to help them. If I can help a kid discover a liking, or even a passion for music in their life, then that’s a wonderful thing. Music has provided a good life for me and hopefully it can help make life better for others with this donation.” Said Van Halen.

Scientists discover ‘hit song’ equation

Laurelanne — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:09:35 +0000

“…you can dance to it” really is a big part of the recipe.

A team of scientists say they’ve discovered an equation that predicts whether a song will be a hit.

Researchers from the University of Bristol claim their “hit potential equation” can predict a Top Five single with 60 per cent accuracy by analysing factors such as volume, tempo, timing and harmonic complexity.

To test the formula, researchers used songs from the last 50 years of the Official UK Singles Charts, taking into account 23 song elements, to determine if the track could climb to the top of the charts or if it’s unlikely to enter the Top 40.

According to Dr Tijl De Bie, senior lecturer in artificial intelligence at Bristol University, “The goal was to find out if we could come up with an equation that distinguishes between a hit and something that dangles at the bottom of the charts.

“We can expect to get it right in about 60 per cent of cases. It’s not perfect.”

The research shows what makes a popular song has evolved over the past 50 years. If a track that was easy to dance to it was much more likely to become a hit from the 1980s onwards, whereas before the 1980s danceability was not relevant to hit potential.

“Musical tastes evolve, which means our ‘hit potential equation’ needs to evolve as well. Indeed, we have found the hit potential of a song depends on the era. This may be due to the varying dominant music style, culture and environment.”

Reported by NME Music News.

The Top Earning Women in the Music Biz

Laurelanne — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:03:50 +0000

Taylor Swift made $45 million last year, but only managed to come in second to cash queen Lady GaGa who pulled in an astounding $90 million! Lots of surprises on this list and others not so surprising. The earnings estimates were compiled with the help of data from Pollstar, RIAA and others, as well as extensive interviews with industry insiders including lawyers, managers, concert promoters, agents and, in some cases, the musicians themselves. The totals encompass all pretax income earned from May 2010 to May 2011, before subtracting agent and manager fees.

Here are the top three female earners in the music business.

Read the whole list here.

If Elvis never died

Laurelanne — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:43:46 +0000

Interesting article I missed from back in January that seeks to trace the career path of ‘The King’ had he not passed away in 1977. He would have turned 76-years-old this year. ‘He died before a lot of us were even born, so all we know of the man are songs and video clips from days that seem completely foreign to us now. Because of that, it’s easy to forget that he had a lot of years ahead of him and could very well still be around today were it not for that fatal drug overdose in 1977.’

So what does writer Adam Tod Brown think Elvis would have done from 1977 to now? He would have recorded the Bruce Springsteen-penned ‘Fire’ for one thing. Nice trivia here: Bruce actually wrote the song for Presley to record!

He would have had horrible albums in the 80s trying to be relevant in a decade that just wasn’t friendly to artists from his time. He would have made a comeback on ‘MTV Unplugged,’ become a member of The Traveling Wilburys and more. Fascinating to consider the career he might have had post-1977.