Yusuf Islam, commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam.
His early 1970s albums Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat went Triple Platinum in the United States. His album Catch Bull at Four sold half a million copies in the first two weeks of release and was Billboard’s number-one LP for three consecutive weeks. He has also earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in consecutive years, for “The First Cut Is the Deepest”, which has been a hit single for four different artists.
Cat Stevens converted to Islam at the height of his fame in December, 1977, and adopted his Muslim name, Yusuf Islam, the following year. In 1979, he left his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. He has been given several awards for his work in promoting peace in the world, including 2003’s World Award, the 2004 Man for Peace Award and the 2007 Mediterranean Prize for Peace. In 2006, he returned to pop music under the name Yusuf, with his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled An Other Cup. His newest album, Roadsinger, was released on May 5, 2009.
Happy Friday! It’s time to get pumped up for a great weekend. We are trying something new this week. Your Daily Song Fix will be bringing you three links that we find amazing or hilarious. We live and breathe the internet and technology so be sure to check out these links to hear about things that no one else delivers. Of course we will still be posting a song, so you’ll get your fix.
1.Please Rob Me is a hilarious but scary website that crawls Twitter to figure out when people tweet out that they won’t be home (giving you the optimal chance to rob them). The intentions are good – to raise awareness about what information you should not be sharing with the public.
2. Are you interested in starting your own business? Are you seeking information on a certain topic? Mixergy.com is where you want to be. In Andrew Warner’s words – “Imagine having a mix of experienced mentors teaching you their expertise. That’s my mission with Mixergy.com.” Andrew asks the best interview questions I have seen …it’s almost like he is reading your mind.
3. A funny Dave Chappelle and Martin Lawrence clip that most people haven’t seen:
Mumford & Sons are an English folk rock band from London. Their debut album, Sigh No More, was released on October 5th, 2009. In 2010 they released “The Cave” which hit 70 on the
UK singles charts and 33 on the Australian music sales charts.
The band has a really nice indie folk sound without disregard for pop elements. While I would consider their music chill and melodic, there are times when it sounds very full and powerful. Thanks to Emmanuel for the song recommendation. Enjoy!
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is an ensemble band led by Alex Ebert, vocalist of the power pop group Ima Robot. After breaking up with his girlfriend, moving out of his house, and joining Alcoholics Anonymous, Ebert began work on a story about a messianic figure named Edward Sharpe. According to Ebert, Sharpe “was sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind…but he kept getting distracted by girls and falling in love.”
The band’s first full-length recording, Up from Below, was released on July 7, 2009. “Home” was voted number 15 on the Australian Triple J Hottest 100, 2009 countdown, the largest music poll in the world. Shout out to my sister, Neekole, for recommending this song.
The Clash AKA “The Only Band That Matters,” released their self-titled debut album in 1977 (does anyone have the stat on how many debut albums are self-titled?). It was a hit around the UK as The Clash established themselves as a freedom fighter band in their native country.
This track, Police and Thieves (a regular recording room warm up song) was chosen over the Bob Marley’s Dancing Shoes to round out the album’s song list. The song was originally written and recorded by Junior Murvin and Lee “Scratch” Perry 1976 and appears on a variety of albums including: the classic 1980 soundtrack for the film THE ROCKERS (where I first discovered this song) and Lee Perry’s This Is Reggae Music, vol 3.
Murvin’s first comment regarding The Clash recording was: “They have destroyed Jah work!” I am sure he came around because the song jams. In the end however, I believe Murvin’s version is superior and is well worth exploring.
This guest post is from Marcus James, a music producer based in the UK.
For the last 3 months I was lucky enough live in New York City and experience a great music scene!
I was turned onto this 3-piece indie/rock band by my hugely enthusiastic roommate, who also happens to be their lighting specialist for live shows. The Chicago natives, currently signed to Wind-Up Records, have been gaining a strong reputation in America through heavy touring. They won the 2007 New York’s Songwriting Circle contest for the song “Oscar Wilde.”
After listening to their debut album Ordinary Riches I was immediately blown away by Genevieve’s voice. It is beautifully charismatic, moving from delicate to forceful moments and hitting everything in between. My favorite tracks from the LP are “Even In The Dark”, “New Letters” and “Pressure.” The excellent production nicely blends delicate moments with powerful ones and crafts a sound which ebbs and flows throughout the record. Ok, not every song totally blows me away, but the ones that do, really do!
After spending much of 2009 touring, Company of Thieves appear to be gaining a solid fan base. I’ll be excited to see them over in Europe and I have a hunch they’ll make a fairly big splash if they can play a few high profile festivals next summer. One key factor about Company Of Thieves’ music is that it can quite easily appeal to the kids as it can the kids parents; this line was coined off… you guessed it, my roommate.
Howdy, y’all. I’m Danny. Our gracious host asked me to do some guest posts for Your Daily Song Fix, and I’m happy to oblige. Lately, my tastes have tended toward old blues and country music, so I’ll be delivering that pre-war flavor you’ve been looking for. I hope you enjoy my first pick.
Booker T. Washington “Bukka” White was a blues guitarist born in Houston, Mississippi in 1906. Between 1930 and 1940, he recorded for the Victor and Vocalion labels, as well as for folklorists John Lomax and Alan Lomax. A young Bob Dylan covered this song, “Fixin’ to Die Blues,” for his debut album in 1961. That recording prompted John Fahey and Ed Denson to contact White (by sending a letter to “Bukka White (Old Blues Singer), c/o General Delivery, Aberdeen, Mississippi”), and White continued to record until his death in 1977.
“Fixin’ to Die Blues” was recorded in 1940 for the Vocalion label (which later became the OKeh label; thanks to Stefan Werz’s extensive Bukka White Discography). Robert “Washboard Sam” Brown accompanies White on (you guessed it) the washboard. Brown’s washboard and White’s alternating bass picking pattern create a chugging, locomotive rhythm that supports White’s trainwhistle slide guitar licks and his powerful singing. Check out some of White’s performances on YouTube to get better idea of his strength as a performer.
This song is about a relationship between two best friends. Stephanie and Paulette are references to characters in Grease 2. From what I have read, everyone fights over Stephanie whereas Paulette tries hard and craves approval from the other characters. I guess that says something about the friendship described in this song…
I previously posted “Sleepyhead” by Passion Pit and have another great one to share. “Little Secrets” is another great song off their album, Manners, released on 2009.
This great post about “Genius Of Love” by Tom Tom Club was written by Taylor Rock, a music enthusiast who has been powering some of the greatest Daily Song Fix picks. Feel free to say hello in the comments!
Tina Wymouth and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads founded Tom Tom Club in 1981. Later that year, their hit song “Genius of Love” appeared on the band’s self-titled debut album. It was originally recorded in the Bahamas with Tina and Chris laying down drum and bass tracks, respectively. Tom Tom Club features an extremely talented patchwork of musicians including Tina’s sisters, veterans of Talking Heads’ tours and young Bahamians and Jamaicans. “Genius Of Love” gained breakthrough fame in the clubs when a 12-inch version was released in 1982. This particular version of “Genius of Love” was recorded live and appears on the re-release of the Talking Head’s album, Stop Making Sense.
Tom Tom Club is credited as a pioneer of new age, fresh funk and freestyle music as their beats have been sampled by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Ziggy Marley, Mariah Carey (random!) and many others. It is rumored that Chris Frantz persuaded Tina Wymouth to learn bass for the formation of the Talking Heads with David Byrne when the trio moved from Providence, Rhode Island to Manhattan in 1974. Both graduates of Rhode Island School of Design, the couple continues to play music and record today from their Connecticut studio, The Clubhouse.
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Your Daily Song Fix will post a new song every day that is unknown, forgotten, or underplayed. We listen to and really love most types of music. If you know of a song we should feature, do not hesitate to tell us regardless of the genre. You can tell us at dailysongfix:gmail:com. In the mean time, subscribe to Your Daily Song Fix via Email or RSS and enjoy the music!
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