In every lifetime, there are hills and valleys – high point and low points. This set of songs, and the ones in the two volumes to come, will cover all the bases. Enjoy? ~ JH
1) Tauren Wells ~ “Hills And Valleys”
2) Nneka ~ “Valley”
3) Led Zeppelin ~ “Over The Hills And Far Away”
4) Marina And The Diamonds ~ “Valley Of The Dolls”
5) The Weeknd ~ “The Hills”
6) The Head And The Heart ~ “Down In The Valley”
7) Julie Andrews ~ “The Sound Of Music” (The memorable refrain goes: “The hills are alive with the sound of music…” Close enough for government work.)
8) Caedmon’s Call ~ “Valleys Fill First”
9) Mark Knopfler ~ “Hill Farmer’s Blues”
10) Jimi Hendrix ~ “Valleys Of Neptune”
11) Celtic Woman ~ “Hills Of Ireland”
12) The Civil Wars ~ “From This Valley”
13) Passenger ~ “House On A Hill”
14) Big Country ~ “Thirteen Valleys”
15) Nightwish ~ “Over The Hills And Far Away”
16) Stevie Nicks & Chris Isaak ~ “Red River Valley”
17) The Tallest Man On Earth ~ “Over The Hills”
18) The Monkees ~ “Pleasant Valley Sunday”
19) Emmylou Harris & Mary Black ~ “Green Rolling Hills”
20) Widespread Panic ft. Derek Trucks ~ “Surprise Valley”
21) Coldplay ~ “Violet Hill”
22) Elvis Presley ~ “Peace In The Valley”
23) David Bowie ~ “Up The Hill Backwards”
24) Mississippi John Hurt ~ “You Got To Walk That Lonesome Valley”
It's that time of year again...when I drag out a classic Christmas song we all know and love and find a number of different versions of it and gather them all in one place. (Hint: Right here.) And the key word is "different." Herein you'll find the song rendered by human voices alone, you'll hear full orchestra, mass choir, hip-hop, dubstep, metal core, boys' choir, and alternative versions, just to name a few. I dare ya to listen! Oh, and enjoy! ~ JH
1) Pentatonix (Gorgeously intricate rendition by the current kings [and queen] of a cappella.)
2) Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Actual title: “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24”) (Classic orchestral/heavy metal medley of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and this particular carol.)
3) Family Force 5 (I don’t even know how to describe this one. Weird? Terrible? Inventive? Slightly off? Perhaps it’s all of the above.)
4) BarlowGirl (One of my favorite “girl groups” sings one of my favorite carols in a medley with “Sing We Now Of Christmas.” Breathtakingly beautiful!)
5) DeStorm Power (There just *had to* be a hip-hop version of this song out there somewhere, right? Yup. And this is it.)
6) Capital Kings (And a dubstep version, apparently.)
7) August Burns Red (Then there’s the metalcore rendition that you’ve all been waiting for. No? Well, maybe you should listen anyway. It’s rather awesome!)
8) Celtic Woman (It almost seems like the song was written for them to sing. Great stuff!)
9) Sesame Street Cast ft. Jennifer Hudson (A Dreamgirl and Muppets. What else is there to say?)
10) David Hicken (Never heard of this guy before, but he tickles the ivories quite adeptly.)
11) Straight No Chaser (Because we needed a more traditional a cappella version of the song, I suppose.)
12) Mormon Tabernacle Choir (And a mass choir with handbells version, of course.)
13) Libera (Something about a choir of boys dressed like wingless angels just screams Christmas! And weird. It most definitely also screams weird.)
14) The Piano Guys (Like the TSO song above, this is a medley of “Carol” and “God Rest Ye.” I dunno why he calls himself “The Piano Guys,” but he sure can play a mean cello!)
15) Jessica Simpson (This is what happens when a singer of generally vapid pop songs bothers to actually record “real” music. She should do so more often.)
16) Fallulah (Slower, darker, and vaguely menacing. Definitely different. In other words, I like it.)
17) Kenny G (Medley of “Carol” and “We Three Kings.” Leave it to a saxophonist to provide a breath of fresh air to an oft-recorded tune. Pun fully intended. And fully awful.)
18) Josh Wilson (I’ve seen this guy work his magic in concert. This may sound like the work of a full band, but I’ll bet you he played nearly every note and instrument you hear all by himself.)
19) The Calling (To all these other renditions, I add this post-grunge/alternative rock offering. You’re welcome?)
20) Richard Carpenter (The only thing this one’s missing is Richard’s sister Karen’s velvety vocals. One thing it could do without is all the cheesiness. But I guess it was the '70s...so there ya go!)
This may seem like a fairly straightforward, albeit odd, subject for a blog post, but it's actually a bit more nuanced than at first it seems. Herein lies a collection of songs with the word "Bean" (or "Beans") and/or "Frank" (or "Frankie") somewhere in the name of the artists OR the titles of the songs. Enjoy! ~ JH
1) Bean ~ “Cops And Robbers”
2) Frank Sinatra ~ “For Once In My Life”
3) Sunflower Bean ~ “Easier Said”
4) Frank Ocean ~ “Swim Good”
5) Weezer ~ “Pork And Beans”
6) Frankie Valli ~ “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”
7) Shoshana Bean ~ “Cold Turkey”
8) Cake ~ “Frank Sinatra”
9) Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band ~ “Big-Eyed Beans From Venus”
10) Frank Turner ~ “Recovery”
11) Joanna Newsom ~ “Sprout And The Bean”
12) Frank Black ~ “Headache”
13) Sashi and the Wild Beans ~ “True To Yourself”
14) Frankie Avalon ~ “Venus”
15) Khalil Fong ~ “Red Bean” (I don’t know what he’s singing about, but it sure sounds nice.)
16) Frank Zappa ~ “Muffin Man”
17) Carla Bean ~ “Magic Box”
18) Frank Stallone ~ “Far From Over”
19) Johnny Cash ~ “Look At Them Beans”
20) Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush ~ “I’m A King Bee”
21) Celtic Woman ~ “Bean Phaidin”
22) Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers ~ “Why Do Fools Fall In Love?” (Shall we call this “research,” then?)
23) Peggy Lee ~ “Day In, Day Out / Boston Beans”
24) To Be Frank ~ “Somebody Like You”
25) Beanie Sigel ft. Melissa Jay ~ “Feel It In The Air”
For some strange reason, there's been a lot of talk about people named Hillary and Donald of late. Can't figure out why. Anyway, here's a bunch of songs by people who share their names. If you reach the end of the post, you might even hear "tunes" (that's putting it politely) by Hillary and Donald themselves. Enjoy! ~ JH
1) Hilary Duff ~ “Chasing The Sun”
2) Donald Fagen ~ “New Frontier”
3) HillaryJane ~ “Chimneys”
4) Donald ~ “Over The Moon”
5) Hilary ~ “Kinetic”
6) Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers ~ “Encourage Yourself”
7) Hillary Lindsey ~ “This One’s For The Girls”
8) Donald-D ~ “Notorious”
9) Hilary Hahn ~ “Grand Caprice On Schubert’s Der Erlkönig, Op. 26”
10) Donald Malloy ~ “Storms”
11) Hillary Reynolds Band ~ “Crossing The Line”
12) Donald Rubinstein ~ “Love Of Mine”
13) Hillary Scott & The Scott Family ~ “Thy Will” (In case you were wondering, yes...that IS the "lady" from Lady Antebellum!)
14) Donald Cumming ~ “Game Of The Heart”
15) Rachel Hillary ~ “Hollow Soul”
16) Donald Byrd ~ “Blackbyrd”
17) Celtic Woman ft. Lynn Hillary ~ “My Lagan Love”
18) Childish Gambino ~ “So Into You” (Birth name: Donald Glover)
19) Hillary McBride ~ “Brave”
20) Donald Richards ~ “Nevertheless I’m In Love With You / Tenement Symphony”
21) Hillary Capps ~ “Love Love Love”
22) Donald O’Connor ~ “Make ‘Em Laugh”
23) Hilary Weeks ~ “Beautiful Heartbreak”
24) Don Henley ~ “Heart Of The Matter” (Birth name: Donald Hugh Henley)
25) Hilary Pradia ~ “Pretty Girl Anthem”
26) Donald Brown ~ “Take The A-Train”
27) Hillary Keane ~ “Klutz”
28) Don McLean ~ “Vincent” (Birth name: Donald McLean III)
29) Hillary Rodham Clinton & Rosie O’Donnell ~ “The Telephone Hour”
30) Saturday Night Live Cast ft. Donald J. Trump ~ “Hotline Bling Parody”
