Many readers may be aware of this bit of music history but it was news to me.
A finnish rock band called the Leningrad Cowboys was the fictional invention of a Finnish movie Director for the 1989 movie Leningrad Cowboys Go America. The band in the movie was a real group (the Sleepy Sleepers) who knew a good thing when they saw (and heard) it. They continued to play and tour as the Leningrad Cowboys - in several venues (including the MTV Music Awards show in 1994) appearing with 70 - 150 members of the Red Army Choir. I am not making this up. There were several additional movies and many concerts until, twenty years later, they have made it to my desktop.
My featured clip, for your enjoyment, is "Sweet Home Alabama" I am slow to the party, but I still remember a Lynyrd Skynyrd classic when I hear it - even when performed by the Soviet Red Army Choir - which still exists and performs, by the way - as we will see.
"Sweet Home Alabama" is performed by the Leningrad Cowboys (and several cowgirls, by the way) and the Red Army Choir (in force) in English (with a Russian Close)
Enjoy. I can scarcely contain my excitement. But seriously - the music is good, the players are talented and the visual imagery is unusual. Nice hair too.
And for those who can't get enough excitement on a Monday morning, I will provide an additional link to the same group (again backed by the Russian Army) performing "Stairway to Heaven". Very acceptable guitar work and vocal. The Choir kind of gets in the way on this one.
Detente was never like this. Cheryl - I think this one is for you.
The internet is full of fun and unexpected treasures to be discovered from time to time. This one comes to me from the Kim Komando site. Kim is a computer advisor with her own nationally syndicated radio program and a series of web sites and email newsletters filled with uncommonly good advice.
Kim also features a Video of the Day in one of her newsletters. Today she included a you-tube clip of an enchanting remake of “Africa”originally sung by the 1980’s rock band ToTo. The original song was nearly left our of the Toto IV album because the band had become almost tired of it in rehearsals and it was very different from the normal sound of the band with unusual instrumental and percussion tracks. But the song hit #1 on the Billboard charts in February 1983 and became the most recognizable song from the band and was featured in all the bands tours until their eventual break up in 2008.
This video version is performed by Perpetuum Jazille – a Slovenian a cappella jazz choir (?!!) with 40– 50 members. The video opens with the band recreating an African rain storm with their hands (and occasional thunder from their feet). You will enjoy the show. (approx 6 min 17 sec). A group since 1983, Perpetuum Jazille is the only Slovenian jazz choir. (Slovenia is located between Austria and Croatia in Eastern Europe). They have four albums (none available on Amazon – I am working on a European order). They have several of their songs streaming on their MySpace page. No instruments here – all effects and percussion are voice.
I have previously posted this song from Tom Rush from You-Tube. But it seems appropriate to bring it back out of retirement. (Tom is 68 by the way – just had a birthday on Feb 8)
The You-Tube version of the Remember Song has been viewed 3.7 million times – several times by me since I can't remember the song.
You all will let me know if I should start using larger type faces for this group, won’t you ?
Interesting web site, great music and a message of diversity and unity. I am embedding the video, but I recommend you click to bornagainamerican.org and watch it on their site.
The video is a remix of a number of performers and groups performing the song at various iconic locations around America. It is a powerful message (6min 18sec). If you sign the pledge at their site, it is a thrill to see your name as a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
For several years in these pages I have greeted the Fourth of July and other patriotic holidays with versions of the Gettysburg Address or the Declaration of Independence or other memories that I thought were appropriate for the day. This year, it is time to remind all of us that Freedom is not Free. We – as our fathers before us and our children who come after us - must pay the heavy cost of Freedon – over and over again in each generation to protect what has been achieved for the citizens of the United States.
It is my experience that when politics drives decisions of national security, that young men and women of this Country die. I am watching the withdrawal of American forces from front line assignments in the major population centers of Iraq. It is a first and perhaps necessary step in transferring the responsibility for Iraq’s security to the Iraqi people and their government. But I hope we are not going to lose the momentum and progress for a safe and secure Iraq and a safer and more secure world that our military forces paid dearly for for the past seven years.
When I watch the current administration and the Congress waffle in the face of history and follow foreign and domestic policies that, in my view, may not protect our personal and national interests, I hope that President Obama understands the terrible weight that he carries on his shoulders for our future and that of the world. This is not a masters thesis or academic exercise. This is the real world.
On June 28, 1966, I entered the US Army for three years of military service. A year later, on the same date, my closest friend died in an unremarkable rice paddy in a remote and, to many, unimportant country called Viet Nam that school kids today can’t even find on a map. His name is recorded on a granite wall in Washington DC (panel 22E Line 076) He was loved by his family and friends and is still remembered in vibrant living colors by those who knew him . I hope we remember our obligation to all of the fallen heroes that have paid with their lives to keep us (and US) free to live in this remarkable country. It is truly said that those who do not remember history and learn from it are likely to repeat it.
This is a music clip that I have featured previously. The story line is simple and powerful. The images are from World War II, Korea, Viet Nam and present day and are familiar to me. Our flag flies high over our Country – particularly on the Fourth of July. Do not forget how we got here and the price that has been paid by others on our behalf.
I have seen several versions of this video. This one is my favorite. The musical artist is John Ondrasik.
For this Fourth of July and many more to come – May God bless America.
