Way Back 2025

May 8, 2025 - Brief Topics: Jones' "Help," Elliot's "Dream," Brewer's "Hoop"

Two pleasant 1960s pop standards offset the action and violence in current box office hit The Accountant 2: "Help Yourself" by Tom Jones and "Dream a Little Dream of Me" by Mama Cass Elliot (with The Mamas and the Papas billed as the backing group). And did I actually hear "The Hula Hoop Song" by hip-swirling late-'50s pop culture diva Teresa Brewer on American Idol? On an audition segment where the contestant was more interested in hooping than advancing in the singing competition?


April 20, 2025 - Soulful Classics by Wendy Rene and Etta James Occupy Pop Culture's Fringe

One song going back a half-century had a three-minute moment at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival these last two weekends: before singer Clairo started her set, Wendy Rene's classic 1964 Stax recording of the often-sampled "After Laughter" (with Booker T. Jones on organ) played in full. Meanwhile, beware of deadly inanimate objects: Etta James' energetic "Something's Got a Hold on Me" takes on a harsher context in the trailer for Final Destination Bloodlines, already getting a strong push through TV promos. Will we hear other vintage hits when the movie is released?




Something's Got a Hold on Me

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