Music for Private Investigators

Screencap from the music video for Beastie Boys' "Sabotage"

While performing surveillance, private investigators can sometimes find themselves in down times while waiting for their subject to appear. Some pass the time by listening to audio books, others by listening to talk radio, but music can often be the most common choice for auditory entertainment. And why not? Music has been known not only to make time pass quicker, but also to affect the mood of those who are listening. 

A song can motivate a person to work out; a song can create the ambience of a romantic night for a couple; and classical music is said to aid students while studying for tests.

But what about private investigators? The following is a soundtrack for the private investigator. Whether it's a P.I. sitting in a sweltering hot vehicle on a summer day, or sitting behind a computer screen, attempting to find the one tidbit of information that could make or break their client's case, the following songs could help set the tone of their day and bring them a little enjoyment.

1. Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" - Released in 1984, this song nearly hit number one on the music charts in the United States, only if it weren't for Van Halen's "Jump". It shouldn't be a huge surprise this song did so well. It was released by the Motown label and written and performed by Kennedy "Rockwell" Gordy, son of Motown's founder, Berry. 

2. Daryl Hall & John Oates "Private Eyes" - Released in 1981, this song may feature a cheesy music video featuring the band dressed in trench coats, but it was number one on the charts for two weeks. This song also featured G.E. Smith as the lead guitarist, known for being the music director and lead guitarist for the Saturday Night Live Band for a decade. 

3. Police "Every Breath You Take" - The biggest hit of 1983 and the only number one hit on Billboard's Hot 100 chart that the Police ever had. Even Sting has used the word surveillance in reference to this song, albeit it, in a more sinister matter than some fans took it. 

4. Peggy March "I Will Follow Him" - On the surface, this 1963 pop song seems more love song than anything else, but it's more than that. The main character of the song is determined to follow her subject known as "him" anywhere he goes. What may be a little disturbing is that this song was sung by a 15-year-old, making Peggy March the youngest female artist to have a chart-topping hit in America.

5. Dire Straits "Private Investigations" - This 1982 release was a number one hit...in the Netherlands. It's not a fast paced song, but it was inspired by Raymond Chandler's novels, so it makes this list.

6. The Coasters "Searchin'" - This 1957 hit is a song about a man searching for a woman. Not only is the topic private investigator relevant, it also mentions Sherlock Holmes and Sam Spade with the lyrics. This song has also been covered many times by bands such as The Beatles all the way to the Muppets (not really a band, but still).

7. U2 "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" - Okay, so maybe not the best title for a successful private investigator. Still, this 1987 release received two Grammy nominations and does have the repetitive title line that will be long stuck in your head past the end of the song. Now, if you could only get that annoying U2 album off of your iPhone. 

8. Foo Fighters "All My Life" - This 2002 Grammy Award winning song is about a person is so close to finding something. He's so close that he knows what he is looking for is just right there, almost within his reach. 

9. Beastie Boys "Sabotage" - This 1994 song featured one of the better music videos of all-time. The Beastie Boys parodied 1970's police detective television shows and the lyrics featured a screaming singer determined to find the answers despite someone working against him.

10. No Doubt "Detective" - This 2001 song was not released as a single by No Doubt, but it did feature someone who plays detective to find that the significant other may be cheating on them.

15 Songs Written for Another Artist

Promotional Photo of the Pussycat Dolls

There are many great music artists out there that write their own songs. Since the days when record albums started to gain popularity and purchasing music became a massive retail industry, there have been song writers that write songs for other music artists. More music artists write their own music than ever today, but there still have been some hit songs written by these writers that your average music fan has never heard of.

These songs are often written with a music artist in mind, but things don't always go as planned. Sometimes the artist doesn't like the song or it doesn't fit in with the music they are currently working on. At other times the labels get involved and pitch the song to another artist that they think the song fits better.

Here's a list of songs that most people know because they topped the music charts at some point. What you might not know is that these songs were made into hits by artists that they weren't originally written for.

1. "Disturbia" by Rihanna: One of the songs that solidified Rihanna as one of pop music's heavy hitters, it was originally written for her then boyfriend, Chris Brown. With the rumors of how much hell Chris Brown put Rihanna through, this may have been the best thing he gave her in their time together. The song fits her personality more and combined with the music video, it fit her like a glove.

2. "Telephone" by Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce: This was big hit that featured two of the music industry's biggest female pop stars. What people don't know is that Britney Spears was originally tapped to sing this song. There are even copies of her version that could be heard at such websites such as YouTube. Listening to it you'll probably agree that it was better that it was done by Lady Gaga.

3. "I'm a Slave 4 U" by Britney Spears: A pop hit that Britney Spears did end up releasing was "I'm a Slave 4 U" which was written by the Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo). The song that helped Britney shed the teen pop princess image was originally written for Janet Jackson who has released songs in the past with kinky undertones. There have also been rumors that the song was offered to Jennifer Lopez before Britney got her hands on it. It is not known why Janet Jackson passed on this song, but Britney benefitted from this decision.  It is Britney's only song to ever chart on Hot R&B/Hip Hop charts.

4. "Rock Your Body" by Justin Timberlake: Another hit song written by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo was not originally intended for Britney's famous ex. The song was originally given to Michael Jackson for his Invincible album, but the singer passed up on this song along with other tracks that the Neptunes wrote for him. Two years later they sold the song to Timberlake.

5. "Call Me" by Blondie: Blondie's biggest release ever, it wasn't meant for them originally. The theme song for the movie American Gigolo, it was brought to Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac by the song's writer. Due to a contractual conflict, Nicks was unable to work on the song. The producer then to Debbie Harry. The rest is history.

6. "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith: The biggest hit by the legendary band Aerosmith was the hit soundtrack song for the 1998 hit movie, Armageddon. It was written by Dianne Warren who originally wrote the song for Celine Dion. It's not known why Dion never performed it, but it turned out to be a windfall for Aerosmith.

7. "Umbrella" by Rihanna: The beneficiary of another song that another A-list music artist passed on, Rihanna took this song and made it one of her most successful releases of her career. This song put her on the music map and put her in the eyes of the mainstream media. People don't realize that the song was never written for her. It was written for Britney Spears with the intention of reviving her career while she was going through a tough time in her personal life.

8. "Don't Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls: Originally written by Sir Mix-a-Lot, Busta Rhymes, and CeeLo Green for music artist Tori Alamaze, the song was actually released to little fanfare. Alamaze had conflicts with her record label and signed over the rights to the song to void her contract. The song was then offered to the Sugababes and then to Paris Hilton who was trying to kick off a music career, before it fell into the laps of the Pussycat Dolls.

9. "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson: The lead single on Clarkson's album Breakaway, the song was power-pop song that empowered women all over the country. Little do people know that Clarkson was not the first choice for the song written by Max Martin. It was first offered to Pink, but she turned it down. Then it was offered to Hilary Duff, but Duff was unable to vocally hit the high notes in the song. Finally legendary producer Clive Davis got involved and convinced the writers to offer it to Clarkson. She made it her own when she tailored it to her personality by adding heavier guitars and harder drums.

10. "Holiday" by Madonna: This song was originally written for Phyllis Hyman, then to Mary Wilson of the Supremes fame. Supposed to be an R&B song originally, it was remastered to fit Madonna's debut album, giving the future music legend her first mainstream hit.

11. "Black Widow" by Iggy Azalea: Originally a song intended to be released on Katy Perry's Prism album, the song was axed because she felt it didn't fit in with the other songs. Perry presented the recorded version of the song she wrote to her friend, Iggy. From here, Iggy recorded her own version of the song with the help of Rita Ora. The song became Iggy's first number one hit single.

12. "Miss Independent" by Kelly Clarkson: Fresh off of winning American Idol, Clarkson had a previous hit that was given to her by the producers of the show. "Miss Independent" was her first single from her first album release which boosted her credibility as a pop star. The song was written for Destiny's Child, but the turned it down. Then the song was reworked by Christina Aguilera and originally intended to be released on her album, Stripped. The song was never completed in time and found its way to Kelly Clarkson.

13. "We Found Love" by Rihanna: The hit song written by Calvin Harris was recorded by Rihanna with the help of Harris and hit number one on the pop charts. Although it was never confirmed by Harris, Nicole Scherzinger of Pussycat Dolls fame, claimed that she was offered the song first for her solo career.

14. "Happy" by Pharrell Williams: Ever the overachiever, Pharrell wrote another song for another music artist that eventually became a massive hit. He wrote the song for CeeLo Green, but CeeLo's record label nixed it even though Pharrell thought Ceelo's version of the song was better than even his. Pharrell then released his own version of his song which became the main soundtrack song for Despicable Me 2. The song charted for 47 straight weeks and to this date is Pharrell's best performing song.

15. "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry: This was Perry's first mainstream hit. Before this song, Perry was a semi-known Contemporary Christian singer. No one foresaw that she would break out to be one of the biggest A-list pop stars of the past decade and that her image would go from conservative to the latex dress wearing woman who would go on to top every magazine's sexiest list.

Songs that have Different Meanings than You Thought

Screencap from Lady Gaga's music video "Poker Face"

Ever have a favorite song, memorized the lyrics, and sing it out loud while you're in your car or in your shower. Maybe you even sing that song occasionally in front of an inebriated audience at a local bar's karaoke night. Listening to that song countless times, you may think you're an expert about the meaning of that song.

Well, everything may not be as you thought. Here's a list of some hit songs that many people have heard over and over again, but never knew the real meaning of the song. It may make you think twice when you listen to that song the next time.

1. "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan: The song that everyone associates with the sad, abused dogs commercials now was once a hit song that peaked on the charts when the movie City of Angels hit movie theaters in the late '90s. People associated the song with the angel that gave up his immortality to be with a woman that he cared for. Schools played the song at proms and homecoming dances so couples could waddle back and forth slowly in each other's arms.

What if you found out the song the overdose death of musician? The Smashing Pumpkins' Jonathan Melvoin, a touring keyboardist, overdosed on heroin in 1996 and passed away. He died while Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlain tried to revive him, but it didn't work. With ties to Prince, The Wrecking Crew, and the punk band, The Dickies, despite Melvoin passing without much mainstream notice, he was well known within the industry. So much so that McLachlan wrote "Angel" in his memory.

2. "Zombie" by the Cranberries: The hit song released in 1994 was a popular song that helped solidify the Cranberries as one of the top grunge acts. It was so popular that it won "Best Song" at the 1995 MTV Europe Music Awards.

How many times have you listened to this song and thought of the 1916 Easter Rising? The majority of people outside of the United Kingdom probably have no idea what that even was.

In 1916 there were skirmishes between England and those in Northern Ireland who wanted to establish an independent Ireland. Over 500 Irish people were killed and another 2,600 were injured when the British shelled Dublin, leaving the inner part of the major city in ruins.

Almost 90 years later Delores Riordan paid tribute to this historical event by writing "Zombie", not knowing that it would be perhaps the most recognizable song that the successful band released.

3. "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind: This upbeat pop-rock song had tons of teenage girls singing in unison together while hitting parties and driving to the local mall. If those same people knew what the song was really about, they may have thought twice about singing it publicly with their friends.

Stephan Jenkins, the writer of the song and singer for Third Eye Blind told Billboard Magazine, "It's a dirty, filthy song about snorting speed and getting blow jobs." Just the type of song you want your sixteen-year-old singing with her friends.

4. "The One I Love" by R.E.M.: A song that many couples mistook for a love song, Michael Stipe once remarked that it would amaze him when he would perform the song and see couples making out in front of him.

Stipe has said that the song has a darker theme about people using other people and then ditching them when they were no longer needed. The song even uses the line, "a simple prop to occupy my time," which refers to the people that were used.

Stipe told Rollingstone Magazine, "I've always left myself pretty open to interpretation. It's probably better that they just think it's a love song at this point."

5. "Born in the U.S.A." by Bruce Springsteen: Many mistake this as being a patriotic rock song to the point that even President Ronald Reagan requested to use the song during his 1984 campaign.

What many people fail to notice is that the song is about a Vietnam veteran and there mistreatment once they came back home from the war. Many of Springsteen's songs are about the average Joe and in this case, a soldier that did his job and came back home to a country full of people that didn't respect the man.

6. "Like a Virgin" by Madonna: The song that was made infamous when Madonna sung it at the first MTV Music Awards while writing on the floor in a wedding dress, has been most often associated about a woman losing their virginity. Lyrics such as, "touched for the very first time," contributed to this belief.

The song in fact was written by a man named Billy Steinberg who has said that the song is about coming off a bad breakup and starting a new relationship. He also stated that the song was not even originally written for a female singer.

Madonna even added later on, "...how can you be like a virgin?"

7. "Royals" by Lorde: While most people believe the hit song is inspired by British royalty. References to driving Cadillacs and jewelry only solidify this image.

What most people don't know is that the inspiration of the song is a photo that Lorde saw in National Geographic Magazine of Kansas City Royals Hall-of-Famer, George Brett. In this picture he is surrounded by a mass of fans that are holding out items for him to autograph. This image of being adored by the masses inspired Lorde to write her hit song.

8. "Ticket to Ride" by the Beatles: In a seemingly innocent song, people often believe this Beatles hit was about riding on trains in Europe.

Before the Beatles became world famous they toured Germany, practicing their craft and refining their sound. One of the German cities they spent a lot of time in was Hamburg. In the city of Hamburg, prostitutes carry "tickets" or otherwise known as health cards to show that they were STD-free.

9. "Can't Feel My Face" by The Weeknd: A pop song by the man whose hair might go down in the history books along with the Flock of Seagulls haircut, most people believe it's a love song. The lyric, "I can't feel my face when I'm with you, and I love it," leads people to believe this.

In reality, the song is about a cocaine addiction in where the person who is the subject of the song can't feel his face because he's feeling the effects the cocaine is having on his body.

10. "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga: With the catchy, cool title, lyrically it misleads people to believe that it's a song about Gaga hooking up with a guy.

Later Gaga came out and admitted that the song is about her fantasizing about being with a woman while she's hooking up with a guy. The "poker face" reference is about how she hides her true feelings in the middle of having sex with the unsuspecting man. He never knows what she's thinking about because she's hidden it well.

The Radio Experience is Dying

Photo by Daniel Millhouse

With technology advancing leaps and bounds on what seems like a yearly basis, one form of media that used to be considered the coolest of all, radio, is now dying and is unrecognizable compared to what it once was.

It took several decades for radio to hit it's peak, but once rock'n'roll gained popularity it seemed like it would never bottom out. Radio represented youthful rebellion to teenagers and college-aged kids.

Elvis.

Jerry Lee Lewis.

Little Richard.

It was the medium that reached out to the kids. They looked forward to listening to the radio to catch the newest hits. This was where radio DJ's gained celebrity status. They were the gatekeepers of "cool" for the youth. Their personalities were big and some DJ's such as Wolfman Jack became just as famous as many of the music artists they were playing.

In the last decade and a half, radio has seen rough times. A combination of new technology, streaming, and the deregulation of media have nearly killed off radio entirely.

With devices such as iPods and smart phones being produced, many people are turning to these devices for their entertainment needs. The rise of the computer hasn't helped either. Computers are now in nearly every household, and can store and play music easier than ever before.

What has hurt radio is the act of streaming. Not necessarily on the small scale it was a decade ago, but the way it is now with Pandora, Spotify, and iHeart radio. With services like this you can simply type in the name of an artist and listen to their music or the music of similar artists. You can do this for free as long as you listen to the occasional advertisement or pay a small amount of money to listen to your music commercial free.

The problem with this is that there are no DJ's. It's robot/computer controlled. The kids are missing out on the personalities that once hosted their favorite music and everything is becoming more generic. The fun is gone.

Also with streaming, you are now just a target to these large companies. A local DJ used to be able to play a local artist who might be performing somewhere nearby and talk about how you could see them if you liked the music. With streaming, you discover the music the corporations tell you to listen to. If you're lucky, you may get to listen to new music from a local artist to you, but most people aren't that lucky. Plus unless the artist advertises with the company, then you won't know where to find them unless you search for them yourself online which most kids don't do while listening to streaming music.

Streaming on the internet didn't initially start off as a bad thing either. Radio stations such as KRock-Echo gained the attention of a million plus listeners a month, remaining commercial free in the process, and having world famous DJ, Scott Free, host the music. He played new artists, independent labels, and songs by artists that were great, but not necessarily their hit songs that the labels picked out for you to listen on mainstream radio. This had the feeling of early rock'n'roll radio in the fifties mixed with new technology. Unfortunately this didn't last long.

Radio lost it's soul. AOL Music, Pandora, and other streaming services ditched DJ's shortly after the United States deregulated media, forcing thousands of DJ's out of work.

When radio deregulated, it was the death knell for DJ's. Many stations would lose their flair, robotizing their on-air play and eventually homogenizing music as a whole. For kids today to discover new music, a major corporation would either have to tell you what to listen to or the kid would have to do some work and find the new artist they don't know exists yet. Most kids won't do the legwork though. They rely on entities such as American Idol and The Voice to tell them who the good, new artists are.

Technology is a good thing. When it advances, it usually improves the quality of humanity's life. Unfortunately radio is one of the casualties and kids will never know again what it's like for radio to become an experience, not just background music while they do their chores or homework.

RIP Prince...Another Legend Passes

Screencap of Prince from his movie Purple Rain

At this point in time it does appear that God is trying to create a super band as another music legend passed away in 2016.

Prince Rogers Nelson, one of the few people who could get away with being called by only a single name (and at one time just by a symbol) mysteriously passed away in the elevator of his Minnesota home at age 57. News sources such as Fox News are reporting that he died of the flu while other sources are stating flu-like symptoms as a possible cause.

Whatever the reason, it feels almost unbefitting of such a rock legend to die by something that used to get me out of school for a day or two. People can die from complications due to the flu, but you usually think of people from third world countries or someone in their 90's.

Prince may have been known for being a singer, but he was so much more. Once, when asked how many instruments did he know how to play, he responded, "Thousands." On his first album he is credited with playing 27 different instruments. Now while some people might think this is just boasting, Prince was actually able to back this up. When people think of guitar legends they think of names like Hendrix, Van Halen, Satriani, but Prince is also on the level of these greats. He also played the bass, the piano, drums, the Linn drum, and much more.

Also not known to everyone is that Prince was one of the greatest song writers of his generation. He had released 104 singles in his life, 27 of which hit number one on the music charts. What a lot of people don't know is that he would constantly write so much music that he would give it to other artists to use. He wrote a large portion of Morris Day & the Time's music, and music for Sheila E., Sheena Easton, Vanity 6, Stevie Nicks, The Bangles, Sinead O'Connor, Chaka Kahn, Madonna, Pattie LaBelle, Tom Jones, and Alicia Keys.

For The Time he wrote "Jungle Love". For Stevie Nicks he wrote the music for "Stand Back" and she based her lyrics of his hit song "Little Red Corvette". For the Bangles he wrote "Manic Monday". Sinead O'Connor covered his "Nothing Compares 2 U". Alicia Keys recorded his song "How Come You Don't Call Anymore". For Chaka Kahn he wrote "I Feel for You". He even wrote the entire soundtrack for Tim Burton's Batman.

He was the most overall successful music artist in the 1980's, and tenth most successful in the 1990's. Overall he sold over 100 million albums in his lifetime, won 7 Grammy's, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award. In 2004 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "There are many kings…but there is only one Prince," said Alicia Keys when she inducted him in.

During a contract dispute with Warner Bros. Prince changed his name to the unpronounceable symbol know as Love Symbol #2 (pictured right). During this time he would be referred to as "The artist formerly known as Prince." He claimed that they took his name, trademarked it, and used it to make themselves money. Later he changed it back to Prince and would sign with Arista Records.

Anyone that lived through the '80s and/or '90s usually can name at least one song that they like even if they weren't a fan of Prince. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" was his first hit single and was released in 1979, but he had so many more. "1999", "Little Red Corvette", "When Doves Cry", "Purple Rain", "Raspberry Beret", "Kiss", "Batdance", "Partyman", "Thieves in the Temple", "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", and more in '80s and '90s. This doesn't include songs like "Guitar" which shows off how good of a lead guitar player he was and "Musicology" which came out in the 2000's.

On February 4, 2007, Prince played the halftime show for Super Bowl XLI which many called the best halftime show ever. He performed "Let's Go Crazy", "Baby I'm a Star, "Purple Rain" and then performed cover songs of "We Will Rock You" by Queen, "All Along the Watchtower" by Bob Dylan, "Best of You" by the Foo Fighters, and "Proud Mary" by CCR. An estimated 140 million people watched the performance on TV.

He was so musically inclined that he had his whole house wired so he could record music from any room of his home whenever he felt inspired.

A lot of people didn't know that Prince was a philanthropist and supported many social awareness issues. He wrote a song called "Baltimore" after the murder of Freddie Gray and the riots that followed. He's donated millions of dollars anonymously to build libraries, help people start businesses, and save families from losing homes.

When asked why he never moved to Los Angeles or New York instead of living in Minnesota, he would cite that the state was his home and that it was where he belonged.

Another aspect of Prince's life that he was well known for was the amount of women he dated. Madonna, Carmen Electra, Apollonia, Kim Bassinger, Vanessa Marcil, Susana Hoffs, Misty Copeland, Ananda Lewis, Heidi Mark, and Marvin Gaye's daughter, Nona. His music was often centered around romance so it was no surprise that he found it easy to woo some of Hollywood's prettiest women.

With his death, it should be interesting now to see what the future holds for Prince's music. One of the oddities of his career was that he recorded so much music that he would produce albums that he would only keep for himself and lock away in a vault at his home. There's rumored to be hundreds of unreleased songs that people who helped him work on these songs said should be hits as well. He also recorded multiple music videos and made several movies that have yet to see the light of day. So with his death, the public could possibly see a flood of his work finally be released in the coming years.

Whether you're a fan of rock, R&B, pop, funk, or soul, Prince's work certainly reached you at some point. His work has inspired other music artists after him including Andre 3000, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, and more. He even inspired the costumes of the Hamilton: The Musical.

RIP David Bowie

Screencap: David Bowie as Tesla in The Prestige

In the world of music thousands of people try to add their two cents into the world, but only a rare, select few ever get the chance to really change it. These rock stars are often a combination of music talent, likeable personality, style, and charisma...David Bowie had this all and more. He was one of the few music artists that could not only transcend music genres successfully, but also dive into the acting world without appearing to be a stunt casting.

Unfortunately, the world lost Bowie on the night of January 10th, 2016. He battled cancer for 18 months according to his Twitter account, before succumbing to it with family and friends at his bedside.

Starting out his solo music fame with "Space Oddity" in 1969, he became one of the pioneers of a new sub-genre of music called Glam Rock. Introducing his alter-ego Ziggy Stardust with his release of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, the album was intended to be the soundtrack for a TV or film production of the same name, but never produced. Hits such as "Starman" and "Suffragette City" sprang from this album which Rollingstone Magazine ranked as the 35th best album of all-time.

Later on his Diamond Dogs album, he released the hit song "Rebel Rebel" which would go on to be one of the most covered songs of all-time. It was his good-bye to glam rock song. The song featured a riff that was reminiscent of songs by Rollingstones or even Iggy Pop. The song could even be cited as being a precursor to the Grunge Rock movement that would take place years later and fall under the category of early punk.

Not long after, Bowie would release "Fame" which would be the first time he broke onto the Billboard Hot 100 charts (pop music), hitting number one. Unknown to most people, he recorded this song with the help of John Lennon who received song writing credit, played guitar, and was the backing vocals to Bowie in this hit song.

In 1976, Bowie would dive into the world of acting as well, starring in The Man Who Fell to Earth with Rip Torn and Candy Clark. This would bolster his confidence in his acting abilities, leading him to star in movies throughout his career.

Before the end of the '70s, he would release other hit singles such as "Sound and Vision", "Heroes", and "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)".

Not to be outdone, Bowie was even more successful in the '80s. He released singles that included "Ashes to Ashes" and "Fashion" before combining his efforts with Freddie Mercury of Queen for the hit song "Under Pressure", which would be one of the most significant songs of the decade and featured one of the most famous bass lines of all-time. The song regained fame after Vanilla Ice sampled from it for his hit song "Ice Ice Baby".

After "Under Pressure", Bowie collaborated with Bing Crosby to release one of the most iconic Christmas songs of all-time, "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy". To this day, it is hard to avoid this song every December. It solidified his status as one of the greatest music artists of all-time.

Less than a year later, Bowie released Let's Dance which would feature three hit singles, "Let's Dance" which would be accompanied by one of the most famous music videos ever, "China Girl", and "Modern Love". This is where he firmly planted his music in the New Wave genre with the platinum hit sensation.

In 1985, he would once again collaborate with a fellow musician, this time Mick Jagger, to release a cover of the song "Dancing in the Street". This song would chart in nearly every genre from rock to pop.

In 1986, he would star in the hit movie Labyrinth as Jareth the Goblin King. The movie would feature puppetry from the Jim Henson Workshop and would be the first major role for star actress Jennifer Connelly.

He would go on to collaborate with other music artists in the '90s as well, most famously with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails for the single "I'm Afraid of Americans". Other collaborative works include "Hallo Spaceboy" with the Pet Shop Boys and "The Buddha of Suburbia" with Lenny Kravitz.

In the 2000's, Bowie would stay in the eyes of pop culture, appearing as himself in the movie Zoolander and winning an MTV Movie Award. He then would go onto his one of his most famous movie roles as Tesla in the Christopher Nolan movie, The Prestige which would also star Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johansson, and Michael Caine.

His last top ten hit was in 2013 with "Where Are We Now?".

Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, won two Grammy Awards, and was ranked the 23rd best singer of all-time by Rollingstone Magazine. In 1999, Bowie was made a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, but turned down being knighted in 2003 by the British Empire. In total he sold an estimated 140 million record albums.

Born as David Jones, he had to change his name to avoid confusion with Davey Jones of the Monkees. Bowie is survived by his wife, actress/model Iman; his son, director Duncan Jones; and daughter Alexandria.

The Best Soundtrack Songs of Film

Many components go into making a movie good. A movie needs a good foundation provided by a screenplay. It needs good casting to put the right people into roles that will make the movie standout. Of course it also needs good directing and a good actors to be cast, but one thing that can often be overlooked is the soundtrack. Music can set the scene of a movie, even when the viewer doesn't realize that the music is setting the tone.

There are two types of music that makeup the soundtrack of a movie. The film score is background music specifically created to accompany a movie and help set the mood, many times on a subconscious level. Even so, there are a number of composers so good, that their music stands out for beyond just background music. Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Danny Elfman, and more recently the Nine Inch Nails front-man, Trent Reznor, have done excellent jobs in their roles.

Even then, a great soundtrack song, dropped into the right moment of a film, can set not only the mood, but make a scene or even the movie itself more memorable. In some cases, years after the movie is released, a song from a soundtrack could be more remembered than the movie it was used for. The following are examples of some of these songs that have played integral roles in making a movie standout.

1. "After Dark" by Tito & Tarantula: From the movie From Dusk till Dawn, this song was the one that played during Salma Hayek's memorable scene as an exotic dancer in the nightclub full of vampires. Not only was "After Dark" the perfect song for Santanico Pandemonium to dance to while memorizing the crowd, it was part of the experience that introduced Salma Hayek to mainstream American film and vaulted her career from that point on. Tito & Tarantula also played the night club band in the movie that played the song and eventually transformed into vampires. While the band never made it big in mainstream music, their song will forever be remember for helping launch the career of Salma Hayek and elevating Robert Rodriguez into mainstream while giving George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino acting careers.

2, "Dead Souls" by Nine Inch Nails: Not only is Trent Reznor gifted in scoring films, but with his band Nine Inch Nails, he set the tone for the movie with his song "Dead Souls" in the movie The Crow. When Eric Draven comes back from the dead and comes to terms with his second chance to avenge his and his fiancée's death, he runs along the rooftops of the city, displaying his athletic abilities and chance taking that will making him the anti-hero that viewers will cheer for. The Crow became one of the most successful comic book movies at the time and helped elevate the goth, industrial, and nu-metal music movements in the music industry. With a soundtrack that included The Cure, Pantera, Henry Rollins, and Stone Temple Pilots, it was the Nine Inch Nails song that helped cement the feeling that Eric Draven was a superhero of sorts and a character that people would dress as every Halloween over twenty years later.

3. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers: Originally released in 1988 by the Scottish duo, the song saw little success initially. It failed to chart in the top ten in the UK, never found any success in the United States, and oddly topped the charts in Iceland, New Zealand, and Australia. Five years later, it was launched into the mainstream media when it found itself in the movie Benny & Joon which starred Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson. During the movies run in the theaters, it reached the top ten in both the US and Canadian charts and was certified as a gold selling single. Even though a gold single is considered successful, the song found itself playing at sports events and being inserted into other soundtracks of entertainment including Doctor Who and Pitch Perfect. The song grew to be more memorable than the movie itself.

4. Bring Me to Life by Evanescence: Another song that traveled farther than the movie it was featured in was "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence. Featured in the Daredevil movie, the song hit top ten in fifteen different countries and won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Before the release of "Bring Me to Life", Evanescence had never seen national success in their previously released music. Once they collaborated with Paul McCoy of 12 Stones, Evanescence vaulted into the mainstream and singer Amy Lee became a mainstream gothic/hippie darling. The song set the scene for Elektra's breakout as a superhero and helped cement Jennifer Garner as not only a television actress, but as an actress than could potentially carry a movie on her own.

5. Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees: Initially a song that wasn't included in the movie Saturday Night Live until post production, the Bee Gees song not only became the hit of the movie's soundtrack, it became the unofficial song of disco. It also helped vault John Travolta into mainstream movies and led the soundtrack that was the highest selling soundtrack of all-time (until The Bodyguard surpassed it). The soundtrack won a Grammy and the album was certified 15x Platinum.

6. You're the One That I Want by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John: Reeling in from the success he had from Saturday Night Live in 1977, John Travolta went on to star in Grease and sing the hit song along with Olivia Newton-John. The song plays as Travolta and Newton-John lip sync to it in the finale of the movie, as they finally end up happily ever after. This scene ended up being the most famous scene from Grease and even sparked Halloween costumes with girls dressy up as the "bad girl" Sandy. Counting it's releases and re-releases, the soundtrack for Grease became the top-selling soundtrack of all-time with over forty-four million copies sold.

7. #1 Crush by Garbage: The Garbage song is the only Garbage song to end up number one on the American charts despite all their success. The song that singer Shirley Manson was worried about because she didn't think fans would understand that it is about a stalker, was also called "disturbing" by Garbage's own drummer and producer, Butch Vig. Despite the reservations by the band, the song was perfect for the Romeo + Juliet that starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes. "#1 Crush" reached number one on the Modern Rock Charts and won Best Song from a Movie at the MTV Movie Awards in 1997.

8. When Doves Cry by Prince: Prince's first number one hit in the United States, the song was featured in Purple Rain which also starred Prince. This single was the top-selling single in the United States in 1984 according to Billboard Magazine and solidified Prince as one of rock music's most important artists in the 80's. Rollingstone Magazine lists "When Doves Cry" as the fifty-second best song of all-time, Spin Magazine listed it as the sixth best song of all-time, and VH-1 listed it as the fifth best song of the decade. One of the odd aspects about the song, especially considering how well it was received in dance clubs, is that it features no bass line. Most dance music features bass lines that give those dancing to it a rhythm to move to.

9. Mrs. Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel: Obsessed with Paul Simon's work, director Mike Nichols kept insisting the Paul Simon write him a song for his movie "The Graduate". Originally called "Mrs. Roosevelt", Nichols had Simon change it and inserted it into his hit movie. The song worked great and despite the lyrics not really following the storyline of the movie, it set the tone for the inexperienced Benjamin Braddock played by Dustin Hoffman and his seducer played by Anne Bancroft.

10. The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News: The song written for and performed by Huey Lewis and the News, gave the band their first number single in the United States' Billboard Hot 100 charts and their second number one single on the rock charts. It was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards as well. The song is played several times throughout the famous movie trilogy including a scene when Marty McFly is auditioning for a Battle of Bands show and one of the judges complains the song is, "just too darn loud." That judge is comically played by Huey Lewis himself.

Photo is a screencap from the movie From Dusk till Dawn

Internet Kills Experience of Retail For Today's Youth

Tower Records...photo credit on bottom

 

As technology advances, businesses fade away and the electronics that occupy teenagers changes constantly. When you reach adulthood and raise your own children, they grow up with electronic gadgets that make the devices of your generation look like they belong in "The Flintstones".

Now this may sound like only a problem for the older generations, but I disagree. One might say that the older generations get gypped because they didn't get to grow up with the technologies that the millennials are growing up with now. Many of these advancements make life easier, which older generations didn't get to utilize while they grew up. Especially when it came to entertainment media.

 The way I see it though, it's the youth of today that have been robbed. In a world of instant gratification, the current generation of kids have been robbed of experiences that we, the people of older generation, look back on fondly.

Today's youth can download a song, movie, or book instantly on various devices thanks to the internet, but for those of us who grew up in past decades, sometimes the search made obtaining the prize much more gratifying.

With the invention of software programs like iTunes, record stores began to fall, one by one. The experience of sifting through bins of records and cassettes (yes, not CD's) and finding the gem that you didn't even know existed, made the whole experience feel like it was worth it. Youth of older years would spend hours at record stores, share their music tastes with fellow kids, and often grow up with much more appreciation and ownership of the music artists they enjoyed.

Today, kids have been robbed of this experience. They can sit behind a computer or even a cellphone, pick a specific song they want, and never share the experience of sharing music with anyone beyond their social network. Even the corporate record stores such as Tower Records are gone. Beyond the random indie music store and the limited music selections that Target, Best Buy, and Walmart stores offer, there are no more brick and mortar locations to buy music in person.

The movie industry isn't fairing much better either. A victim of the same circumstances, many rental locations disappeared after a surge in the '90's. Similar to searching for a record in a music store, the experience of searching for a VHS tape on a weekend night has vanished. Searching shelf by shelf, glancing at past movies you never heard of, but had cool box covers, you give a random movie a shot because the description sounded like something you and your friends might enjoy. Now this experience is gone as well.

With technology like Blu-ray in existence, physical movie media is holding on just a little longer than the music industry is. Red Box locations have replaced Blockbuster Video stores, but soon may find themselves being purged when more people grasp onto services like Netflix, Hulu, and iTunes.

Best yet, is the reactions you get when today's youth gets their hands on old forms of media that existed before they were even born. Show a kid a LaserDisc and they'll look at you funny. Show a kid an 8-track and they'll have no idea what they're even holding. Vinyl records have a niche market out there thanks to club DJ's, but otherwise, many of the old forms of entertainment media has been lost on the youth.

Never again will a kid have to remember to rewind a video tape before returning it to the video rental store. Never again will a kid have to flip over a music cassette to hear the music on side two. And I doubt that ever again, will a kid holding a large boombox on his shoulders or over his head, a la John Cusack style, ever be something that the "cool" kids do again.

Tower Records photo uploaded by Caldorwards4 at Wikipedia.com