March: Decades of Music

Image from the video of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean

We've got our monthly selection of music again, right under the wire. I always hate running late on this enjoyable feature. It seems stupid celebrating the sounds of one month in another.

Over the decades, the month of March has been full of good and interesting music. In fact, it was a bit hard winnowing my selections down to just nine songs. Some fun music was left to the side. So, we'll have to pass up on Snow's "Informer" from '93 and Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" from '98. Maybe we'll listen to them next time, in five years or so. ;-)

Another funny point about this month's post is that it would have been very easy to make it totally focused on Dance music. The whole reason why I changed the post titles, in January, from "Monthly Dance Party" was because it was too tough to put together a broadly enjoyable collection while just focusing on that genre. Well, it's all for the better; I can now honestly choose whatever sounds and videos catch my enthusiasm.

Interior art from Evanescence's album Fallen

Well, that's enough blather. Let's get to the music!!!

Friday Flowers: Lilac

Syringa Vulgaris: Common Lilac "Letha E. House"


Yeah, I have a whole bunch of flower photos to share with you all. This is one that I took last week while visiting the Descanso Gardens. There weren't many flowers in bloom, but this pretty little lilac was holding strong in the face of our California winter. ;-)

Purple is my favorite color. So, lilac has a special appeal for me.

Common Lilac


Very, very pretty.

I Would Have Gotten Away With It. . .

Scooby Doo, Where Are You! episode 15 "Spooky Space Kook" (1969)


On Saturday, September 13, 1969, Scooby Doo Where Are You! debuted on CBS. As a child, I spent countless hours watching this and subsequent Scooby Doo shows, even into the horrible Scrappy Doo era. Although the simplistic plotting and horrible jokes are not to my adult tastes, I still have a warm spot in my heart for the gang of Mystery, Inc.

Wikipedia has a solid synopsis of virtually every Scooby Doo episode:

Each episode featured Scooby and the four teenaged members of the Mystery, Inc. gang: Fred, Shaggy, Daphne, and Velma, arriving to a location in the "Mystery Machine" and encountering a ghost, monster, or other supernatural creature, whom they learned was terrorizing the local populace. After looking for clues and suspects and being chased by the monster, the kids come to realize the ghost is anything but, and - often with the help of a Rube Goldberg-like trap designed by Fred - they capture the villain and unmask him. Revealed as a flesh and blood crook trying to cover up crimes by using the ghost story and costume, the criminal is arrested and taken to jail, often saying something to the effect of "...and I would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for you meddling kids!"

The formula is a classic. ;-)

"Jeepers, It's the Creeper!" Episode 21, 1970


Those meddling kids!!!

"Hassle in the Castle" Episode 3, 1969

Remembering the King of Pop

Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988) by Jeff Koons

Michael Jackson was born on this date in 1958.

There are plenty of photos that I could have featured today, but I decided to showcase Jeff Koons' 1988 ceramic statue. It always makes me feel happy. ;-)



Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988) by Jeff Koons (Balloon Dog in the background)



Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988) by Jeff Koons


 Enjoy!!!

Bad Moon Rising

John Landis directed An American Werewolf in London, released on August 21, 1981.

Well, we have a nice cinema note to start our Spooky Sunday. Thirty years ago, An American Werewolf in London was released. Directed by John Landis, this horror comedy went on to become a box office hit and cult classic.

Werewolf films are notably horrible, but not in a good way. In general, they fail in terms of production quality and lack of talent. However, by taking these failures as a given and approaching the subject with humor, Landis creates a fun and exciting story. This movie is one of the few werewolf films that I can enjoy watching.

This movie had such an impact that Michael Jackson had Landis direct the Thriller video, including a classic werewolf bit.



Michael Jackson transforming into a werewolf in Thriller (1983)


Fun stuff!!!