Hi everyone:
This is a sequel for the blog entry I wrote earlier this week in which I offered to everyone a tribute concert in memory of Neil Armstrong. The videos offered there represented a wide variety of musical styles and tastes, and I hope you all enjoyed it. Or if you’re only just learning about it now, use the link above to head over there at any time. In addition to both of these tribute concerts, I invite you all to visit We Reach the Moon – a blog entry that I wrote in July 2009. It offers an affectionate look back at July 20, 1969 and my own account of watching the moon landing at my grandmother’s home in the small Quebec town of New Carlisle.
There are a lot of songs about the moon, space travel and related subjects. Just do a search on Google or similar search engine using “moon songs” as your query, and you’ll see what I am talking about. What I offered last time was only a small sample of what one can listen to – more about that later on. So with that in mind, I thought it might be fun to keep the concert going and sample some more videos. As I did before, I want to offer a broad cross section of musical styles, including rock and roll, jazz, folk, classical music, country, and blues.
Just like last time, admission to this concert is free. The concert venue is right here on this computer. You can access it at any time, and watch as many or as few videos as you want, and in any order you like. You can share both of these blog entries via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn… you name it. I would love it if both of them are sent around the world – and maybe beyond too!
Also like the previous presentation, although I have tried to keep this to a minimum, there may be some videos that offer commercials before the music and/or pop-ups that advertise a number of products and services. These can be easily disabled. If you encounter any technical difficulties or other problems, while I do apologize for any inconvenience you might experience, please note that all I am doing is offering these videos for your enjoyment. I have no control over their content or how they are presented.
One change from my “Fly Me to the Moon” concert is that aside from doing so here in this prologue, I won’t offer comments this time – I will let the videos themselves do the entertaining for you. In total there are something like 40 videos offered this time, featuring artists as diverse as The B52’s, Elton John, Hank Williams Sr., Bruno Mars, Dolly Parton, Queen, Chris de Burgh, The Byrds, Norah Jones, and The Beatles. I have also brought back a couple of the artists who were involved in that first concert, as Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald do a great duet on “Moonlight in Vermont”.
As a Canadian, I am delighted to say that once again we are well represented here. For example, William Shatner does a terrific version of Elton John’s “Rocket Man”. Michael Buble does a very smooth rendition of “Moondance”. Neil Young performs a beautiful acoustic version of “Harvest Moon”. My last video is none other than the legendary Stompin’ Tom Connors singing “You Might Think It’s Goofy, But the Man in the Moon is a Newfie”.
Also in keeping with what I did last time I have sometimes offered more than one video of the same song. For example, even though “Bad Side of the Moon” was written by Elton John, I first heard it on the radio performed by a group from my hometown of Montreal, April Wine. It was only later on that I discovered that Elton had done it first. So I thought it might be fun to include both of them doing it.
Another pairing that I wanted to include is Chris de Burgh’s beautiful “A Spaceman Came Travelling” – which is sometimes played every year during the Christmas season because many people see the birth of Jesus in its song’s meaning. So I included his version of the song with a very haunting performance by Gregorian. A final one is to combine David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” (or as some people like to call it “Can You Hear Me Major Tom?”) with a song by Peter Schilling entitled “Major Tom”. That’s because many people (including me) like to think of Schilling’s song as a sequel or continuation of Bowie’s. Why not watch both of these videos and then make your own decision?
As I mentioned before, it would be impossible to feature every single song or other music that refers to the moon or to space travel in general. So following my last video offering, I will offer links to a few Web sites that discuss “moon songs”, and include references to many of the songs found in both of these presentations.
I hope you enjoy both of these musical tributes – and while the “trigger” for both of these entries was the death of Neil Armstrong, I hope that in a broader sense both of these video concerts are interpreted as not just for Neil Armstrong but can also honour all the incredible men and women who have contributed to the space programs of all nations, from the earliest explorations in the 1950’s, through the manned missions of both the USA and USSR which culminated in the Apollo missions to the moon, right through to the present day efforts of many nations – most notably the International Space Station. Also as noted before, let me invite all of you to visit We Reach The Moon – 40 Years Later. OK, enough from me, let’s go to the videos. Time to blast off and do our own exploring. Enjoy!
Walking on the Moon – The Police
Rocket Man (I Think It’s Gonna Be A Long, Long Time) – Elton John
Captain James T. Kirk (aka William Shatner) does his own take on “Rocket Man”
Moon Over Bourbon Street – Sting
Space Oddity (Can You Hear Me Major Tom?) – David Bowie
Major Tom (Coming Home) – by Peter Schilling
Everyone’s Gone to the Moon – Jonathan King
There’s a Moon in the Sky (It’s Called the Moon) – the B 52’s
Moonshadow – a live performance by Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens “Moonshadow” – an animated short film
Mr. Spaceman – as performed live by The Byrds on The Smothers Brothers Show
From Here to the Moon and Back – Dolly Parton
Moondance – as performed by Michael Buble
Moonlight in Vermont – Ella Fitzgerald with Louis Armstrong
Moonlight in Vermont – Jane Monheit
Shame on the Moon – Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival
39 – an acoustic performance by Brian May
There’s A Moon Out Tonight – by The Capris
Moon Song – performed by Norah Jones
Bad Side of the Moon – performed by April Wine
Bad Side of the Moon – Elton John
Talking to the Moon – Bruno Mars
Rusalka (Song to the Moon) – by Antonin Dvorak
Howlin’ at the Moon – Hank Williams Sr.
A Spaceman Came Travelling – by Chris de Burgh
A Spaceman Came Travelling – as performed by Gregorian
In the Misty Moonlight (Any Place is All Right, Long As I’m With You) – performed Dean Martin
I’m the Urban Spaceman – by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
(You Might Think it’s Goofy, But) The Man in the Moon is a Newfie – Stompin’ Tom Connors
As promised, here are some links to Web sites that talk about “moon” songs. Feel free to visit any of them and perhaps they will inspire you to try your own space concert:
Moon Songs to Celebrate July 20 – Moon Day
Top 10 Songs About the Moon – from a Yahoo Blog
A Selection of Songs About the Moon – With Lyrics
Watch 10 Moon Song Videos in salute to the March 2011 Super Moon
I hope you enjoyed this tribute concert by way of video to Neil Armstrong. As well as my other offering Fly Me to the Moon. And for more about Apollo 11 and the very first moonwalk (sorry kids, it wasn’t Michael Jackson!), have a look at: We Reach the Moon 40 Years Later, As always, thanks for reading this blog entry.
Until next time!
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