OLD MUSIC

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• I've never been able to explain this, but the viewership from Singapore is usually off the charts.  Perhaps someone from Singapore can contact me to explain why.  I will be there from December 23 until December 30, when we depart on the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Luminara for Hong Kong.  

Well, now on to the topic of today.  Many of us, especially me, are getting too old.  One indicator of aging is your choice of music.  I seem to gravitate to mostly rock/roll/popular music before 1990.  I somehow missed the period from 1990 till today. which just whipped through my life without making any impact on my mind.  Say I go back to 1930:

• I know every top ten song in the 30s.  And I wasn't even born yet.  The star of this decade was Fred Astaire.  He also dances a bit.

1. Judy Garland, “Over the Rainbow,” 1939.

2. Glenn Miller, “Moonlight Serenade,” 1939.

3. Artie Shaw, “Begin the Beguine,” 1938.

4. Bing Crosby, “Pennies from Heaven,” 1936.

5. Fred Astaire, “The Way You Look Tonight,” 1936.

6. Fred Astaire & Leo Reisman, “Night & Day,” 1932.

7. Kate Smith, “God Bless America,” 1939.

8. Benny Goodman, “Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)”, 1937.

9. Fred Astaire, “Cheek to Cheek,” 1935.

10. The Andrews Sisters, “Bel Mir Bist Du Schoen,” 1938.

• Same for the 40s.  Know them all.

1. Bing Crosby, “White Christmas,” 1942.

2. Vaughn Monroe, “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky,” 1949.

3. Glenn Miller, “In the Mood,” 1940.

4. Bing Crosby, “Swinging on a Star,” 1944.

5. Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters, “Don’t Fence Me In,” 1944.

6. Dinah Shore, “Buttons & Bows,” 1948.

7. The Mills Brothers, “Paper Doll,” 1943.

8. Dick Haymes, “You’ll Never Know,” 1943.

9. Les Brown & Doris Day, “Sentimental Journey,” 1945.

10. The Andrews Sisters, “Rum & Coca-Cola,” 1945.

• And 50s.  This is my favorite decade.

1. Bill Hailey & His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock,” 1955.

2. Bobby Darin, “Mack the Knife,” 1959.

3. Elvis Presley, “Jailhouse Rock,” 1957.

4. Nat King Cole, “Mona Lisa,” 1950.

5. Doris Day, “Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be Will Be),” 1956

6. The Kingston Trio, “Tom Dooley,” 1958

7. Anton Karas, “Third Man Theme,” 1950

8. Elvis Presley, “Heartbreak Hotel,” 1956

9. Doris Day, “Secret Love,” 1954

10. Les Paul & Mary Ford, “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You),” 1953

• The Beatles dominated the 60s.

1. The Beatles, “Hey Jude,” 1968

2. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” 1965

3. The Beatles, “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” 1964

4. Procol Harum, “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” 1967

5. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman,” 1964

6. Elvis Presley, “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” 1960

7. Elvis Presley, “It’s Now or Never,” 1960

8. Archies, “Sugar, Sugar,” 1969

9. The Beatles, “Get Back,” 1969

10. The Beatles, “She Loves You,” 1964

• Know all these 70s songs.

1. Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive,” 1978

2. George Harrison, “My Sweet Lord,” 1971

3. The Beatles, “Let It Be,” 1970

4. Abba, “Dancing Queen,” 1976

5. John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John, “You’re The One That I want,” 1978

6. John Lennon, “Imagine,” 1971

7. Queen, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” 1976

8. The Village People, “YMCA,” 1978

9. Mungo Jerry, “In the Summertime,” 1970

10. Blondie, “Heart of Glass,” 1979

• Into the 80s, fine.

1.  Pink Floyd, “Another Brick in the Wall (Part Two),” 1980

• The group first formed in 1965.
• The song deserves some elaboration, for there were 3 parts, going on for almost 10 minutes.
• #2 was the most popular.

2. Irene Cara, “Flashdance…What a Feeling,” 1983

3. Kim Carnes, “Bette Davis Eyes,” 1981

4. The Police, “Every Breath You Take,” 1983

5. Michael Jackson, “Billie Jean,” 1983

6. Stevie Wonder, “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” 1984

7. USA for Africa, “We Are the World,” 1985

8. George Michael, “Careless Whisper,” 1984

9. Survivor, “Eye of the Tiger,” 1982

10. Madonna, “Like a Prayer,” 1989

• However, in the 90s, I don't remember the #s 7 to 10.

1. Brian Adams, “Everything I Do (I Do it for You),” 1991

2. Whitney Houston, “I Will Always Love You,” 1992

3. Celine Dion, “My Heart Will Go On,” 1998

4. Sinead O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U,” 1990

5. Elton John, “Candle in the Wind ’97,” 1997

6. Cher, “Believe,” 1998

7. Coolio, “Gangsta’s Paradise,” 1995

8. P Diddy & Faith Evans, “I’ll Be Missing You,” 1997

9. Britney Spears, “Baby One More Time,” 1999

10. Spice Girls, “Wannabe,” 1996

• 
  I can't believe this, for not only don't I know the top ten in the 2000s (2000-2009)....I don't know the TOP 100 songs (from Billboard).  #1 is How You Remind Me by Nickelback.  Never heard of them.  So I went to Wikipedia and learned that this is a Canadian rock band which formed in 1995.  Went to You Tube to watch that video, and that was the first time I heard HYRM.

• 
  So turned to the video of Billboard's Hot 100 songs of the 21st century, which includes music from this year.  Of course I recognized people like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga, but not the songs they were performing.  I recognized something by Adele (Rolling in the Deep) and Pitt Bull.  Liked Moves Like Jagger by the Maroon Five.  Boom Boom Pow Pow and I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas, two of my favorites.  Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams.  Of course, Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson, to which I have in the past actually danced to on two cruise ships.  I watched the entire 17 minute video of this top 100.

Much of the above is music of the USA.  There is a Billboard Global, but you need membership.  Also, this source only began in 2019, so all the songs listed are current.  BTS has the most #1 hits with 7.

Is there a Billboard for classical music?  Something that tracks the best pieces or albums and publishes a regular ranking?

• Nothing, really.
• iTopChart does have something, but to access, you need to sign off on a bunch of declarations that will scare you, and not get much.

I'll close with three production from Netflix:

• Jersey Boys (2014)
• Got only 51/62 scores from Rotten Tomatoes, but enjoyed this film.
• I thought it was better than the Broadway show version, which I've seen on two occasions.  Certainly was a different script.
• Of course, the Jersey Boys is the group led by Frankie Valli.

• 
  Pig (2021)
• Great Rotten Tomatoes ratings of 97 and 83.
• Nicolas Cage plays a roughed up (looks beaten up through most of the film).  Fine performance.
• About a famous chef in Portland, Oregon who got disenchanted with the profession and became a recluse truffle hunter, who had a pig, which was stolen.
• 
  Eternaut (2025)
• Super Rotten Tomatoes scores of 95/89.
• This is a finely made series from Argentina about survivors of a deadly snowfall as the first stage of an alien invasion, released on Netflix 30April2025.

• 
  The special effects were terrific.  I don't think I have ever seen a movie from Argentina before.
• Eternaut was first attempted in 1968, but the project was cancelled because of the cost.

• 
  Resurrected on numerous occasions, but always with failure.
• Language spoken is Spanish.
• The final episode 6 ended with mostly questions because the conclusion will come in Season 2 with perhaps 8 episodes.  
• Looking forward to Season 2.

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