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Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City

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Archives for May 9, 2017

The thirty-day song challenge

May 9, 2017 by Terry Teachout

In the wake of the thirty-day movie challenge comes a new meme that I find—perhaps not surprisingly—irresistible. As before, I’ve opted to do it in a single sitting, so here goes:

1. A song you like with a color in the title
Steely Dan, “Black Cow” (Becker-Fagen)

2. A song you like with a number in the title
The Dominoes, “Sixty Minute Man” (Ward-Marks)

3. A song that reminds you of summertime
Otis Redding, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” (Redding-Cropper)

4. A song that reminds you of someone you would rather forget about
Patricia Elliott and Victoria Mallory, “Every Day a Little Death” (from A Little Night Music) (Sondheim)

5. A song that needs to be played loud
The Pixies, “Gigantic” (Deal-Francis)

6. A song that makes you want to dance
D’Angelo and the Vanguard, “Sugah Daddy” (D’Angelo-Q-Tip-Foster)

7. A song to drive to
Dwight Yoakam, “Long White Cadillac” (Alvin)

8. A song about drugs or alcohol
Doc and Merle Watson, “Let the Cocaine Be” (traditional)

9. A song that makes you happy
Marvin Gaye, “Got to Give It Up” (Gaye)

10. A song that makes you sad
The Band, “Rockin’ Chair” (Robertson)

11. A song that you never get tired of
Louvin Brothers, “Cash on the Barrelhead” (Louvin-Louvin)

12. A song that you love from 2011
Paul Simon, “Rewrite” (Simon)

13. One of your favorite Seventies songs
Rod Stewart, “Every Picture Tells a Story” (Stewart-Wood)

14. A song that you would love played at your wedding
Fred Astaire, “Something’s Gotta Give” (Mercer)

15. A song that is a cover by another artist
Pomplamoose, “Single Ladies” (Put a Ring on It) (Beyoncé-Nash-Harrell-Stewart)

16. One of your favorite songs from a movie
Aimee Mann, “Save Me” (from Magnolia) (Mann)

17. A song that features your favorite artist
Nancy LaMott, “Two for the Road” (Bricusse-Mancini)

18. A song from the year you were born
Johnny Cash, “Get Rhythm” (Cash)

19. A song that makes you think about life
Diana Krall, “Black Crow” (Mitchell)

20. A song that reminds you of your mom
Louis Armstrong, “Winter Wonderland” (Bernard-Smith)

21. A favorite song with a person’s name in the title
Ry Cooder, “FDR in Trinidad” (McLean)

22. A song that motivates you
Erin McKeown, “Air” (McKeown)

23. A song that you think everybody should listen to
Mabel Mercer, “The World Today” (Roy)

24. A song by a band/group you wish were still together
Dave’s True Story, “Blue Nile” (Cantor)

25. A song by an artist no longer living
Ray Price, “Invitation to the Blues” (Miller)

26. A song that makes you want to fall in love
Ani DiFranco, “Anyday” (DiFranco)

27. A song that breaks your heart
Bob Dylan, “Not Dark Yet” (Dylan)

28. A song by an artist with a voice that you love
Luciana Souza, “Doce de Côco” (Bandolim)

29. A song that you remember from your childhood
Petula Clark, “Downtown” (Hatch)

30. A song that reminds you of yourself
Frank Sinatra, “Lonely Town” (from On the Town) (Bernstein-Comden-Green)

* * *

The Pixies perform “Gigantic” in concert:

Lookback: on living in modern houses

May 9, 2017 by Terry Teachout

LOOKBACKFrom 2007:

It is, I suspect, no accident that so many modernist buildings have either been torn down or are at risk of demolition. Most of them are respected but not loved, and even a truly great building like the Farnsworth House inspires an austere, even chilly kind of awe in most of its visitors, myself most definitely included. Wright’s houses are different. Some, to be sure, are more problematic than others, but those who are fortunate enough to live in Usonian houses know better than anyone else how lovable they can be….

Read the whole thing here.

Almanac: Chekhov on creative artists and the superego

May 9, 2017 by Terry Teachout

INK BOTTLE“By all means, golubchik, finish the play. You feel that it is not turning out as you should like, but don’t trust your feeling, as it may deceive you. One usually dislikes a play while writing it, but afterward it grows on one. Let others judge and make decisions.”

Anton Chekhov, letter to Maxim Gorky, September 24, 1900

Terry Teachout

Terry Teachout, who writes this blog, is the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal and the critic-at-large of Commentary. In addition to his Wall Street Journal drama column and his monthly essays … [Read More...]

About

About “About Last Night”

This is a blog about the arts in New York City and the rest of America, written by Terry Teachout. Terry is a critic, biographer, playwright, director, librettist, recovering musician, and inveterate blogger. In addition to theater, he writes here and elsewhere about all of the other arts--books, … [Read More...]

About My Plays and Opera Libretti

Billy and Me, my second play, received its world premiere on December 8, 2017, at Palm Beach Dramaworks in West Palm Beach, Fla. Satchmo at the Waldorf, my first play, closed off Broadway at the Westside Theatre on June 29, 2014, after 18 previews and 136 performances. That production was directed … [Read More...]

About My Podcast

Peter Marks, Elisabeth Vincentelli, and I are the panelists on “Three on the Aisle,” a bimonthly podcast from New York about theater in America. … [Read More...]

About My Books

My latest book is Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington, published in 2013 by Gotham Books in the U.S. and the Robson Press in England and now available in paperback. I have also written biographies of Louis Armstrong, George Balanchine, and H.L. Mencken, as well as a volume of my collected essays called A … [Read More...]

The Long Goodbye

To read all three installments of "The Long Goodbye," a multi-part posting about the experience of watching a parent die, go here. … [Read More...]

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