And we’re back!  I’m now halfway around the world coming to you live from Seoul, South Korea, and I’d thought to celebrate the occausion by posting one of my all time favorite movie music sequences ever!  Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice was one of the most bizarre movies of the 1980s, and all one has to do to get a taste of it is to watch the very end when he unleashes a ghost filled calypso dance party with Harry Belafotne’s immortal classic, “Jump in the Line,” blaring in all corners of the spirtual universe.  Belafonte, the legendary singer and civil rights activist, was co-musical director of the film alongside equally legendary Danny Elfman (Batman, The Simpsons, Oingo Boingo fame) and together they created a fantastically classic music landscape to one of the most insane movies ever.  Enjoy.

I have a special super group performance for part 65 of my youtube countdown.  It’s Mama Cass Elliot of the Mama’s and Papa’s fame, Mary Travers of Peter Paul and Mary fame, and Joni Mitchell of, uhh, Joni Mitchell fame, all together on some TV show singing the Bob Dylan penned “I Shall Be Released” in beautiful note for note harmonic perfection.  The ladies are dressed in full psychedelic folk glam, singing beautifully, especially Mama Cass who starts the song off for us.  The backing arrangement is a bit hokey, what with its horns and flutes creating a bit of an adult contemporary effect, but the ladies’ souls really carry the spirit of the song to spiritual heights.  The song is one of Bob’s greatest.  It’s a poem about a wrongly imprisoned man waiting for his rightful release.  It’s a gorgeous song with just a fantastic underlying theme of the desire for pure human freedom, subject matter Bob excelled at.  So, enjoy this gem, I know you will.

Part 5 of my youtube countdown continues with my favorite group ever, the Beatles. This outtake of “And Your Bird Can Sing,” is from the Revolver sessions, and features the boys overdubbing some crazed vocals. If you are a fan of human beings, there is no way to possibly hate this thing you are about to play. I love this take because it displays the incredible friendship they all had, as well as the joy they experienced in making all that wonderful music. By the way, this track is featured in the legendary Beatles Anthology Series, Volume 2. My favorite volume out of the 3, so pick that up if you don’t have it.  There is so much I could say about the Beatles, my love for them, and what they mean, but that’s all gonna come in a massive post/video extravaganza someday, not in my little youtube countdown, so enjoy this for now, and stay tuned as we have now crossed the 1/5 mark!

Continuing onto part 4 of my youtube favorites countdown, I can proudly announce that if you’re reading this, its your lucky day.  If you love hidden gems, long lost songs, and pure Detroit Motown Soul, then this is your Valhalla.  Smokey Robinson and the Miracles 1965 #14 hit, My Girl Has Gone.  Most new Miracles fans like myself are well versed with, “The Tracks of my Tears,” “Ooh Baby Baby,” and “Shop Around,” but I found one that NEVER gets any modern radio play, or usage in any new medium, and that is this gorgeous ballad.  One of the greatest breakup songs ever, featuring more brilliant lyrics from Smokey and the gang that are both utterly depressing and divinely uplifting from one line to the next.  Oh my God, the harmonies that shimmer with vintage perfection, the guitar lines that just drip with heart wrenching longing, and the melody that takes you to heights of musical ecstasy.  This is just simply one of my favorite songs, and an example of Motown Magnificence.