You've come a long way, baby...
and these jarring juxtapositions
offer indisputable proof!
Welcome to Vol. 4 of my series
Jarring Juxtapositions:
That Was Then -
Jarring Juxtapositions:
That Was Then -
This Is Now!
It is not my intention to pass judgement. (That's your job. :) This series
merely invites you to compare apples and oranges. Hard as it might
be for you to believe, I enjoy all of the female recording artists
you are about to see and hear. Join me on this jarring journey
back and forth through time as we compare the look,
the sound and the attitude of female singers
It is not my intention to pass judgement. (That's your job. :) This series
merely invites you to compare apples and oranges. Hard as it might
be for you to believe, I enjoy all of the female recording artists
you are about to see and hear. Join me on this jarring journey
back and forth through time as we compare the look,
the sound and the attitude of female singers
then... and now!
THAT WAS THEN
JANET LENNON
No one represents the innocence of the
1950s more than Janet Lennon of the
singing Lennon Sisters, regulars for
many years on The Lawrence Welk
Show. In June, 1958, on the eve of
her 12th birthday, Janet appeared
solo on the program and sang a
song that's wholesome as mother's
milk. Watch and listen as America's
sweet -"tart"... "Lil' Janet"... treats
us to a slice of-- "Huckleberry Pie."
Take me back!
Take me back!
"Huckleberry Pie" - Janet Lennon
(perf. on June, 1958, ep. of
The Lawrence Welk Show)
PLEASE ADJUST LOUDNESS
THIS IS NOW
JORDYN JONES
I promised jarring juxtapositions, and this has to be
one of the most shocking of the series as we switch
from young Janet Lennon to young Jordyn Jones.
The pint size hip hop rapper will twerk her way
into your heart with a cover of "BANJI," a 2013
single by Sharaya J executive produced by rap
star Missy Elliott. "BANJI" is an acronym for
“Be Authentic Never Jeopardize Individuality.”
Call me an old fuddy-duddy, but seems to me
Jordyn and her posse jeopardize the principles
of decency and decorum for girls their age.
It's a different world, my friend!
"BANJI" - Sharaya J cover by Jordyn Jones
(April/May 2014)
(April/May 2014)
THAT WAS THEN
PATSY CLINE
From the late 50s until her untimely
death in a plane crash in 1963,
country singer Patsy Cline was
one of the most popular artists
of The Nashville Sound. My
mother loved Patsy Cline.
"Walkin' After Midnight,"
Patsy's first major hit, was
mom's favorite. In this vintage
clip Patsy, accompanied by her
producer Owen Bradley on piano,
performs on Top of the Morning,
a TV show that originated from
the studios of WSM in Nashville.
Take me back!
the studios of WSM in Nashville.
Take me back!
"Walkin' After Midnight" - Patsy Cline
(Mar. thru May 1957, highest chart pos. #2 Country/#12 Hot 100,
live perf. on Top of the Morning, WSM-TV studio, Nashville)
THIS IS NOW
BUTCHER BABIES
Mama said nothing good ever happens after midnight and, in this day and
age, it's risky to go walkin' after midnight unless you happen to be Mr. T.
After all, you don't want to encounter "Mr. Slowdeath." You'll be happy
to know that our good friends Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey, the
dynamic duo better known as Butcher Babies, are back with an
uplifting song about sticking a needle in your arm to kill the
pain and winding up face down in a street paved with gold.
Steel toes crush dreams, and Butcher Babies crush
this song from their 2011 self-released EP.
age, it's risky to go walkin' after midnight unless you happen to be Mr. T.
After all, you don't want to encounter "Mr. Slowdeath." You'll be happy
to know that our good friends Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey, the
dynamic duo better known as Butcher Babies, are back with an
uplifting song about sticking a needle in your arm to kill the
pain and winding up face down in a street paved with gold.
Steel toes crush dreams, and Butcher Babies crush
this song from their 2011 self-released EP.
"Mr. Slowdeath" - Butcher Babies
(Jan. 2012 single from 2011 EP Butcher Babies)
SONG BEGINS AT 1:18
THAT WAS THEN
MARIANNE FAITHFULL
Now let's shift gears again and enjoy English singer, songwriter
and actress Marianne Faithfull performing a song written by
U.S. folk and blues singer/songwriter and political activist
and actress Marianne Faithfull performing a song written by
U.S. folk and blues singer/songwriter and political activist
Malvina Reynolds. Reynolds' most famous song, "Little
Boxes," was a 1962 hit for Pete Seeger and in the new
millennium was used as the theme song for the TV
series Weeds. My featured Reynolds composition,
"What Have They Done To the Rain," was
written as part of a campaign to halt
Boxes," was a 1962 hit for Pete Seeger and in the new
millennium was used as the theme song for the TV
series Weeds. My featured Reynolds composition,
"What Have They Done To the Rain," was
written as part of a campaign to halt
nuclear testing in the atmosphere,
a practice that was producing
a practice that was producing
fall-out.
Take me back!
Take me back!
"What Have They Done To the Rain" - Marianne Faithfull
(from May 1965 album Marianne Faithfull)
(from May 1965 album Marianne Faithfull)
THIS IS NOW
IN THIS MOMENT
The rain keeps falling and the blood keeps spilling. Here, in startling contrast
to the purity of Marianne Faithfull's vocal performance, is metal scream queen
Maria Brink and her band of beasts, In This Moment, to clobber you with their
usual assortment of disturbing sounds and images. It's the official video
for "Blood," the lead single from their 4th album of the same name.
for "Blood," the lead single from their 4th album of the same name.
Electronica elements introduced on
the single and album ushered in a
fresh new sound for the band. Co-
written by bandmates Maria Brink
and Chris Howorth along with
producer Kevin Churko, "Blood"
was the first ITM single to chart on Billboard, reaching #9 on
both the Mainstream Rock and
Active Rock charts. Hold onto
your hat. When this valley girl
cranks it up and explodes, the
utter fury of her heavy metal
assault will rock your world!
the single and album ushered in a
fresh new sound for the band. Co-
written by bandmates Maria Brink
and Chris Howorth along with
producer Kevin Churko, "Blood"
was the first ITM single to chart on Billboard, reaching #9 on
both the Mainstream Rock and
Active Rock charts. Hold onto
your hat. When this valley girl
cranks it up and explodes, the
utter fury of her heavy metal
assault will rock your world!
"Blood" - In This Moment
(June thru Aug. 2012, highest chart pos. # 9 Mainstream Rock,
#9 Active Rock, from June 2012 album Blood)
#9 Active Rock, from June 2012 album Blood)
Can you take me back
where I came from
where I came from
Can you take me back
Brother can you take me back?
Brother can you take me back?
Have a Shady day!
Hey, bud, just wanted to let you know thanks for the well wishes, and to invite you to the Time Machine Christmas Party/Beauty Contest. Prospective live date is the 20th (Friday before Christmas) so I can bah humbug thereafter to the end of the year. Much of what Time Machine has recently warped into is inspired by you, and I give you all the credit for encouraging me to throw characters into the mix and let them drive me nuts! BTW, I would have Miss Faithful in the mix had she shown up over there, but rules is rules, eh? Have a great holiday season, hope to see you then, and BYOGranny!
ReplyDeleteHi, Chris!
DeleteBy golly, good buddy, you take early bird honors this week, and I am very happy to see you! Thanks for being the first brave soul to experience the jarring juxtapositions of tween hip-hopper Jordyn Jones, Butcher Babies and Maria Brink with sweet innocent Janet Lennon, Patsy Cline and Marianne Faithfull.
Thank you for inviting me to your yearender Time Machine. I will make a point of being there. I can't help wondering who or whom will pick the winner of your Beauty Contests now that your lovable pooch Scrappy is no longer with us. I will remember him always, Chris.
It is a great compliment to know that some of my blogging antics inspired the evolution of your Time Machine feature. That makes me happy.
Once again thank you for dropping in for a holiday visit, good buddy Chris. I wish you and Laurie and your entire family a happy Christmas and all good things in 2020. See you aboard the Time Machine!
You know I'll listen to pretty much anything, Shady, but I have to admit I'm not too fond of your "now" picks this time around.... particularly the visuals that go with them. As for the "then" picks, I really enjoyed the Marianne Faithfull number. It's amazing how different she sounds early on as compared to later numbers like Broken English.
ReplyDeleteHi, Kelly!
DeleteThanks for coming over, dear friend! I'm glad you dropped by for another batch of Jarring Juxtapositions presented in TWT-TIN Volume 4.
I don't expect many of my "now" picks in this series to go over well with most readers. They are hand picked to shock and disturb. However I think you'll agree that the stark differences between the "now" and "then" artists and songs offer food for thought. I'm glad you liked the cautionary "Rain" song sung by English thrush Marianne Faithfull.
Thanks again for coming by, dear friend Kelly, and have a wonderful week ahead!
Butcher Babies - not the feel-good name of the year.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading that Marianne Faithfull did drugs - have you heard that?
Hi, Alex!
DeleteThanks for swinging over, good buddy! Gotta love those Butcher Babies... (or not). Their screaming brand of rock is music to my ears, as are dark ditties like "Blood" which was co-written and sung by Maria Brink.
I consulted Wiki on your Marianne Faithfull question and learned that she was indeed plagued by drug addiction in the mid and late 60s as she cavorted around Swinging London with Mick Jagger. Her drug problems led to a suicide attempt in 1970 and she didn't get her act back together until the mid 70s.
Thanks again for dropping by, good buddy Alex!
I always had a fondness for Janet Lennon. I remember watching the Lennon Sisters on Lawrence Welk with my folks. Some of your "now" choices scare me just by looking at the picture! Have a great week my friend.
ReplyDeleteJanet’s Smiles
Hi, Janet!
DeleteThanks for coming to my 4th Jarring Juxtapositions party, dear friend! Over the years on both blogs I have posted several old clips of the Lennon Sisters and Janet Lennon. I'm happy to learn that you liked watching the singing siblings on The Lawrence Welk Show. So did I. My parents tuned into the show every week and I watched it with them.
I am the poster boy for eclectic taste in music, and can tell you with a straight face that I enjoy the rock/metal artists in the "now" column as much as the female soloists in the "then" group. Heavy metal is meant to be transgressive, and Heidi, Carla and Maria bring it on full force. I am actually more shocked and disturbed by Jordyn Jones than by Butcher Babies or ITM. It seems like JJ skipped childhood and hip hopped straight into adulthood a few years too soon.
Thanks again for coming over, dear friend Janet. I wish you a wonderful week as well!
I have nothing in particular against The Lennon Sisters or Lawrence Welk, but that Jane Lennon song had me rolling my eyes and not really paying attention until suddenly I saw Janet's hands out in a rather menacing manner. I replayed the video and sure enough there is a lyric in there about choking someone, presumably to death. Because of the time and the place where that performance was filmed, that shocked me more than "Mr. Slowdeath" or "Blood" (both of which I found unintentionally funny--my usual response to those kinds of videos.) Maybe Janet was looking to go into a different direction with her music. The road not taken, I guess.
ReplyDeleteThe Lennon Sisters were on TV quite a bit when I was a kid, but they were adults by then. I didn't know they started out as a child act.
Patsy Cline, a welcome mainstay on jukeboxes for many years, and not just country-oriented ones. I've heard that song and "Crazy" played alongside heavy metal songs.
That Marianne Faithful song reminded me of a PBS documentary I watched about nuclear testing in Nevada in the 1950s. Such tests were supposed to be top secret, but it's kind of hard to hide a mushroom cloud. People in nearby Las Vegas would run out into the strip and watch the display as it were 4th of July fireworks. The fallout from one of the tests was found in cows milk in Michigan, so what Faithful sang about was a real concern at the time.
Finally, Jordyn Jones. Kids will be kids, even in cropped shirts.
Hi, Kirk!
DeleteThanks for reporting in, good buddy! I appreciate your input on all six songs which were carefully selected for juxtaposition in this series to spark discussion and debate.
Thanks for pointing out that, at the 1:40 mark of the first video, sweet, innocent looking Janet Lennon actually threatens to commit an act of violence against another singer, perhaps even murder them with her bare hands! My bubble has burst. I will never think of Janet the same way again. I say "lock her up" and ban The Lawrence Welk Show for being a bad influence on the nation's youth. :)
I'm glad you were able to take the songs by the two heavy metal bands in stride. Ever since Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Alice Cooper, shock rock has been a valid genre, an art form, and I love the sound and the spectacle. Listening to rock and metal for decades has not yet stunted my growth or driven me mad. Just once, just for a hoot, I'd love to see Janet Lennon fronting the In This Moment band or spitting blood like Gene Simmons. People who get turned off by the imagery in metal videos need to understand the artist's message and intention. In her songs and videos, Maria Brink is working through abandonment and abuse issues. The Queen of Scream is, in my opinion, a fine citizen of the world. She is vegetarian, a PETA activist, an aspiring artist and painter, and a person who takes a stand against bigotry and racism. She is also a great mother who happens to have a son of color.
Thanks for the story about the nuke testing in Nevada. People in Vegas who left the gaming tables to run outside and observe the mushroom cloud were gambling with their own lives. I used to drink that "glow-in-the-dark" milk by the gallon. Shucks, Jim Jones' Kool-Aid was safer.
Thanks again for visiting and furthering the discussion, good buddy Kirk. I wish you a wonderful week ahead!
Hi Shady! I must say the Position of this post is truly Juxta! haha! What a job! Janet Lennon was a real cutie, wasn't she! All of the Lennon Sisters were pretty girls, and wonderful singers. We always enjoyed seeing them on Lawrence Welk's show. Janet's song at age "almost" 12 was very good. This is a good video of her performance.
ReplyDeleteOn the opposite side of Janet Lennon is Jordan Jones? "Banji". Well, it is a well organized video I must say. And, I do like the costumes and dance routines, however, I can't hack the rap!
Butcher Babies. "Mr. Slowdeath" (my slow death) These girls are pretty rank! The best thing about this group is the drummer...he's very good!
Of course, Patsy Cline is a "class act"! I like everything I hear from her, and "Walkin After Midnight" is a great one that makes sense! You can even understand the words, can't you! I don't know a whole lot about Patsy but she was so loved, and versatile.
I didn't know Marianne Faithfull had so many songs. I only remember "As Tears Go By". "What Have They Done To The Rain" is a good song, I am glad you brought this one forward. I always admired Marianne even though I didn't know much about her (other than she dated Mick Jagger).
Okay, Shady...couldn't take the "scream queen" Blood! That is horrible! I guess they're earning some cash for their efforts, haha.
I'm sorry to be so late. I have been very busy...getting ready for Christmas pretty much by myself. There is a lot to do, Shady! I know you are busy also, and I appreciate your great posts, and hard work. Have a great week...we may get a flurry or two of snow tomorrow, YAY! ♫
Hi, Suzanne!
DeleteThanks for popping over to experience vol. 4 of TWT - TIN, dear friend!
JJ stands for Jarring Juxtapositions and for Jordyn Jones, and it was inded jarring to go from Janet Lennon's sweet children's song to Jordyn's ghetto style rapping and twerking. Did you realize that "Lil' Janet" appeared on 179 episodes of The Lawrence Welk Show? Let us remember how Welk frowned upon rock 'n' roll and was very reluctant to allow it on his show. In 1962 The Lennon Sisters broke ground by singing "The Wah-Watusi," paving the way for other rock 'n' roll songs to be performed on the program. I wonder what Lawrence would think of The Butcher Babies and Maria Brink's brand of "Champagne Music." :)
My mother loved Patsy Cine and the song featured in this post was her favorite by the Nashville artist. I remember my mother crying the day in March, 1963, when she learned that Patsy Cline had been killed in a plane crash. For my mother, who hated rock 'n' roll but loved country, it was The Day the Music Died. Yessum, Marianne F. hooked up with Mick and together they painted London town in the mid and late 60s. She nearly destroyed her life with drug abuse and it wasn't until the mid 70s that she got her life back under control and became a productive citizen again.
Every time I post a video by In This Moment the haters come out of the woodwork. :) It must mean that I am doing something right, because the whole purpose of the series is to provoke discussion and debate. "Blood" represents ITM at or near their peak. In the last couple of years the band took their foot off the gas and nowadays don't rock nearly as ruthlessly as before, causing me to go searching for other bands that still deliver the goods. I found one recently, and Family Guy's Chris Griffin will be introducing them at some point. I guarantee you won't like them. :)
By the way, if you haven't yet seen it, I encourage you to watch Battle of the Sexes, the movie referenced in that GIF at the top of the post. It is very entertaining. (SPOILER ALERT: Billie Jean King wins! :)
I wish you could blow some of those predicted snowflakes my way. It is warm and humid here and the air conditioner has been running day and night. Yessum, Mrs. Shady and I are busy, but not decorating for Christmas. We are tearing down, packing and getting set to move across the state next month. I will need to take more than three weeks off from blogging to get everything accomplished.
Thank you again for coming by, dear friend Suzanne. I wish you and Scootie a safe and happy week ahead!
I felt a cold chill in the room when the "now" songs were playing! In fact, I just couldn't handle them so I just enjoyed the "then" group and thanked God I was in that group! Yep, take me back! I just wanted to thank you for your well wishes for Jack and Arnie. Jack's doing well and so is Arnie. We found out Arnie is not as young as we thought, he has a bad back and he's overweight. I looked at him after getting the bill and said, "Arnie, I just paid $300 to find out I have an old, fat dog that needs a Chiropractor"...but we love him anyway! He's on a diet and meds for his back! Life can be funny...not as funny as some of the groups in your post! Hope your week is good and thanks again for your thoughtful, really nice comments on my blog!
ReplyDeleteHi, YaYa!
DeleteThanks for coming over, dear friend! I am well aware that most readers consider the artists in the "now" column of this series offensive. Bt way of explanation I would say that I like extreme music for the same reason I like horror movies. I get a rush from the shock and awe. Heavy metal and hip hop rap are forms of artistic expression. The swagger, the aggression, the screams, the death growls and the disturbing images are all part of the act. They wouldn't be true to their respective genres without those elements.
You know that I love you and your wonderful family, YaYa, and therefore it comes naturally to express caring and concern at a time like this. I am very happy to learn that Jack is on the mend. It's amazing that you just learned that Arnie is older than previously thought. I hope you can get his back fixed up. I wonder if Jack could help in that regard... by performing a doggie adjustment.
Thank you again for being a brave soul and a wonderful friend, YaYa. Take care, have a great week and I hope to see you again soon!
Hi dear friend!
ReplyDeleteYou know, the voices may change from decade to decade, but the messages are similar. Us young gals still feel the same thing as those young gals did in the 1960s. :) The vulgarity may change too, but still the same feelings. ;)
Patsy Cline! I love her voice. I'm not familiar with the other older artists you presented to us, but I liked Marianne Faithful. Butcher Babies were awesome too... I'm going to have to check out more of their other hits.
Have a great Thankful Thursday, dear friend.
Hi, Jessica Marie!
DeleteThanks for dropping by, dear friend! You caught me at the right moment, because Mrs. Shady and I spent the day traveling again and we are just now getting unpacked at our destination. We are far from home and I am using the old borrowed laptop for the next several days.
I'm glad you enjoyed the music mix (Jarring Juxtaposition) of old female recording artists and new. There are at least dozen tracks by Butcher Babies that I consider gems of the genre and two dozen or more by ITM that are extreme metal classics. I have the best of both bands in my personal collection.
Thanks again for being here and happy Thankful Thursday to you as well, dear friend JM!