The UK Number Ones Blog Favorite Single: Atomic (Blondie) 1980
Stewart at UK#1s Blog asked his followers which UK #1 song was their favorite. There were so many to choose from but, I am a kid/young teen of the late 70s, early 80s and this was a no-brainer for me. This is, hands down, my favorite Blondie song. Just as a side note, my second choice was Cathy’s Clown by The Everly Brothers.
Released on February 23, 1980, Atomic was the ninth track on side two of the album Eat to the Beat, Blondie’s fourth album, produced by Mike Chapman. Written by Debbie Harry and Jimmy Destri, it was the third single released and the band’s third #1 in the UK Singles Chart. A rock, disco and new wave fusion, Atomic is described as “a cool, electronic enhanced dance number (PDF). Debbie Harry’s laidback vocals blend into the musical wood work.”
‘Atomic‘, which featured King Crimson‘s Robert Fripp on guitar and Ellie Greenwich on backing vocals, was lyrically meaningless and was described in Record Mirror as ‘vapid and irritating…the best thing about this single is the live [cover] version of David Bowie‘s ‘Heroes‘ on the B-side (12″ UK single).’ “Jimmy Destri wrote this song…” Debbie claimed. “He was trying to do something like ‘Heart of Glass‘ and, then, somehow or another, we gave it the spaghetti western treatment. Before that, it was just lying there like a lox. The lyrics, well, a lot of the time, I would write while the band were just playing the song and trying to figure it out. I would just be kind of scatting along with them and I would start going ‘Oooooooh, your hair is beautiful‘.”
1000 UK #1 Hits
Jon Kutner & Spencer Leigh
May 26, 2010
Page 452
Atomic didn’t do as well in the US. It only made it to #39 on Billboard’s Hot 100, debuting on May 17, 1980 and peaking on July 5, 1980. It may be ‘lyrically meaningless’ but, it is certainly not vapid and irritating. It has a great beat and an energy that is hard to deny. Debbie’s vocals do, indeed, blend well with the ‘musical wood work.’ The single Call Me from American Gigolo had an instrumental version on the B-side and Debbie did some vocal blending with that, too.
The late Gia Carangi was dancing in the video.
Music Monday: Magnificat 1733
D Major
Language: Latin
Performed: Leipzig 1733
Image Source: Digitalisierte Sammlungen
Two hundred, ninety years ago…Johann Sebastian Bach performs a revised version of his Magnificat in D major, BWV 243, ending the mourning period for Augustus II the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.
Johann Sebastian Bach‘s Magnificat, BWV 243, is a musical setting of the biblical canticle Magnificat. It is scored for five vocal parts (two sopranos, alto, tenor and bass) and a Baroque orchestra including trumpets and timpani. It is the first major liturgical composition on a Latin text by Bach. In 1723, after taking up his post as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, Bach set the text of the Magnificat in a twelve movement composition in the key of E-flat major. For a performance at Christmas he inserted four hymns (laudes) related to that feast. This version, including the Christmas interpolations, was given the number 243.1 in the catalogue of Bach’s works.
Likely for the feast of Visitation of 1733 or another feast in or around that year, Bach produced a new version of his Latin Magnificat, without the Christmas hymns…instrumentation of some movements were altered or expanded and, the key changed from E-flat major to D major for performance reasons of the trumpet parts. This version of Bach’s Magnificat is known as BWV 243.2 (previously BWV 243). After publication of both versions in the 19th century, the second became the standard for performance. It is one of Bach’s most popular vocal works.
In Leipzig, the Magnificat was regularly part of Sunday services, sung in German on ordinary Sundays but more elaborately and in Latin on the high holidays (Christmas, Easter and Pentecost) and on the three Marian feasts Annunciation, Visitation and Purification.
Apart from an early setting of the Kyrie, on a mixed Greek and German text (BWV 233a), all of Bach’s known liturgical compositions in Latin were composed during his tenure as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, from 1723 until his death in 1750. Compared to Lutheran practice elsewhere, an uncharacteristic amount of Latin was used in church services in Leipzig. An early account of Bach showing interest in liturgical practices in Leipzig dates from 1714 when he noted down the order of the service on the first Sunday in Advent during a visit to the town.
Bach assumed the position of Thomaskantor on May 30, 1723, the first Sunday after Trinity, performing an ambitious cantata in 14 movements, Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75, followed by a comparable cantata, Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, BWV 76 the next Sunday.
Wikipedia Summary & History
VOTD: Fancy Feet
Let’s see if WordPress has fixed its video services. I tried to upload this video to YouTube but, it is trying to block the viewing to certain countries. Why, I don’t know. I hope everyone can see this. Snatched from Telegram. ~Vic
Update: Apparently, it is the Brave Browser that is causing trouble. The video works fine in Firefox. *sigh*
Video of the Day
Thoughts Thursday: Ponderings
Snapshots Sunday: New Mexico
This is somewhat of a companion piece to Walsenburg and Fort Sumner. These were shots taken after we left Fort Sumner and were on our way to Walsenburg. We passed by the Raton-Clayton volcanic field, which includes the Capulin Volcano National Monument. The Marine was in a hurry to head north and wasn’t interested in stopping for a volcano. ~Vic
December 2008
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Word Wednesday: Teddy
Teddy is also a name, a shortened version of Edward, Theodore or Theodora. Apparently, this didn’t occur to the Cambridge Scholars. Can you use it in a sentence? Entertain me…~Vic
“My poor Teddy Bear is falling apart from too much love.”
POTD: Occaneechi Sunset
Setting sun through the Occaneechi Native American site. ~Vic
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Picture of the Day
Strange Saturday: Biting Drink Cans
New heading… I have retired some others.
This guy makes my teeth hurt. ~Vic
A Czech Republic man showed off his powerful jaws by biting 36 drink cans in half in one minute, earning a Guinness World Record.
René Richter, appearing on Italy’s Lo Show Dei Record, took on the Guinness World Record for most drink cans ripped in half with the teeth in one minute.
The aluminum cans were filled with water for the attempt and Richter was allowed to use only one hand, and his teeth, for each can. [He] chomped through 36 cans in the allotted time, successfully setting the record.
Ben Hooper
UPI Odd News
January 11, 2023
VOTD: The Power Of Nature
The channel stated that this was in Kansas. When? I don’t know. But…yikes. ~Vic
Video of the Day
Tale Tuesday: Odd Headstones
Image Credit: Mac Armstrong
Kaushik Patowary
Amusing Planet
09-19-2017When Canadian doctor Samuel Bean lost his first two wives, Henrietta and Susanna, within 20 months of each other, he decided that the best way to honor them would be to create a tombstone dedicated to a hobby they both enjoyed…solving puzzles. The doctor had them buried side by side in Rushes Cemetery near Crosshill, Wellesley Township, Ontario and a single gravestone was placed over their graves. The gravestone bore a puzzle, one that kept historians stumped and amateur cryptologists busy for the next eighty years.
A replica of the gravestone can still be seen in Rushes Cemetery. The original stone was badly weathered and was replaced with this durable granite replica in 1982. The stone is about three feet high and features a finger pointed skyward with the words “Gone Home” above the two women’s names. Underneath the names is a grid carved with 225 seemingly random numbers and letters.
Without doubt, Dr. Samuel Bean must have received many requests to reveal the meaning of the cryptic message but, he would have none. Then, in 1904, while [on holiday] in Cuba, Dr. Bean fell overboard from a sailboat and drowned. The secret of the coded gravestone was forever lost.
POTD: Crimson Clover
In the Fabaceae family, Trifolium Incarnatum is also known as Italian Clover.
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Picture of the Day
Addendum: This just naturally reminded me of Tommy James and the Shondells (throwing no shade on Joan Jett). I couldn’t resist… ~Vic
Foto Friday: Critter Collections 8.0
I haven’t posted any critter shots in 3 1/2 years. Previous post, here. ~Vic
05-31-2019
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05-31-2019
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04-30-2019
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Brighter shot than the original.
05-17-2019
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Different angle from the original.
05-31-2019
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Where is the spider?
10-13-2018
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