Amoeblog > Tag > diana ross

(Où l'on considère les chanteurs français.)

Posted by Job O Brother, March 22, 2011 04:32pm | Post a Comment

When you work at Amoeba Music there’s certain questions you answer over and over again:

“Where’s the restroom?”

“Why’s this one this price and this one this price?”

“Where can I find Edith Piaf?”

That last question is occasionally (to my endless amusement) pronounced as, “Where can I find Edith Pilaf?” to which I always want (but never) answer:

“We file her in-between Condoleezza Rice and Tim Curry. They all go great together.”

My internalized snarkiness aside, I’m all for Edith Piaf. Who could hate La Môme Piaf (her French nickname, literally translated as “That short woman in the black dress with the amazing voice but tragic make-up which someone should seriously having a talking-to-her about”)?

But I think too many people stop with Piaf and don’t investigate the chanson française of her peers, which is a shame because there’s so much to love. Below I offer some performers I think are à l'opposé de terrible.

border

(In which we bid a tearful goodbye.)

Posted by Job O Brother, March 7, 2010 01:06pm | Comments (1)

Today marks the final shift of one of my most favorite Amoebites of all time, the glamorous and enigmatic “Smithy.”

Dearly departed Smithy (artist's depiction)

Smithy is not her real name, though it is one of her nicknames, and that’s about as close to “the facts” as most of us are likely to get. Smithy shrouds herself in mystery, and even if all her acquaintances pooled their knowledge of her past, it would scarcely be enough information to provide a decent Wikipedia entry, to say nothing of a biography. I keep the snippets of personal detail that I’ve acquired in the past four years of working with her like a jealous secret; a precious baseball card that I never remove from its protective plastic.

I don’t even know what she’s going to be doing after she leaves Amoeba Music Hollywood. For all I know she’s gotten a job lion taming, apprenticing to a witch doctor, or going deep undercover for the CIA in Beijing. All seem possible; all would hold some amount of appeal for her.

See: Craigslist > job opportunties

One thing we, her co-workers, have been privy to is what she’s keen on in music and film. Even someone as secretive as Smithy has dorked out with the best of us music store geeks when the conversation’s turned to our product. This blog entry will be a brief exposé of some of Smithy’s pop culture paramours. In considering them, we may perhaps glean a little insight into this unknown soldier, but even if not, we’ll still get to hear some perfectly ginchy tunes.

"It's the MOST... Blackhistorymonthy tiiime of the yeeear...!"

Posted by Job O Brother, January 31, 2010 10:45am | Post a Comment

I know what you’re thinking: How can it be that it’s Black History Month again, already? It seems to come up faster with each passing year. No sooner do I finish cleaning up all the gift wrap and decorations from 2009’s BHM festivities when – BAM! – time to break ‘em out again for 2010.

But I am excited! I love draping my house in the traditional BHM crushed-velvet flour sacks, heated bear skins, and twinkling, sapphire, mailboxes. We gather together around the hot oil printing press and sing BHM carols, get tipsy on Pancake-Sausage Nog, and remind each other, with love in our hearts, not to forget to turn off the air conditioner before leaving the house. Oh, joy! Oh sweet, unmitigated joy!

Of all these rituals, my favorite is the singing of the carols. I thought I’d share some of them with you, and invite you to sing along with me! Just click on a song below and belt one out. If you’re at work, or reading this on your iPhone while standing in the check-out line at Trader Joe’s, or simultaneously looking at Internet porn (way to multi-task!) – no matter! Sing all the louder! Let everyone know: You’re Black and You’re Proud!

Purple People Covers

Posted by Mr. Chadwick, August 1, 2009 07:10pm | Post a Comment

ronnie & his ramblers present calypso bamba lp cover

nancy wilson something wonderful lp cover

hermanas navarro de todo un poco lp cover

The Wiz Tonight, July 16th @ New Beverly

Posted by Mr. Chadwick, July 16, 2009 12:50am | Post a Comment

Now that the MJ hoopla is starting to die, ease on down Beverly Blvd to see the young Michael strut his stuff(ing). Seeing The Wiz is one of my earliest memories. I saw it upon its release in '78-- when I was 3! I was actually a little apprehensive of going to the Wednesday screening, as I had caught this on TV a few years ago and kind of wrote it off. Seeing it back at a moviehouse really made a difference. It's certainly rough around the edges-- odd directing, histrionic Diana moments, extended dance sequences etc. However, Miss Ross' fellow travellers give stellar performances, the subway sequence is still freaky and MJ was still just an innocent kid-- he hadn't even released Off the Wall yet! Paired up with the cult favorite Return to Oz, it's a double well worth your $7...

New Beverly Cinema

7165 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036-2548
(323) 938-4038

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