RANDOM ACTS OF MUSIC: BLOG EDITION--Episode 1

(Editor's Note: Random Acts of Music: Blog Edition will be posted every Wednesday. It shall serve as an online continuation of the WPRB radio show of the same name.)

I was driving down Johnston Street in Lafayette today when I heard the Barenaked Ladies' song "One Week" playing on radio station KSMB. While listening to the song, I picked up on a couple of references in the track that I'd never noticed before. Before we go any farther, here is--for your reference--the Barenaked Ladies with "One Week."



The first reference I caught was one of Bert Kaempfert. Kaempfert, a German-born jazz musician, composer, and big band leader, wrote such numbers as "Strangers in the Night" and "Danke Schoen," which would become Wayne Newton's signature song. Kaempfert also composed our next song. It's a piece called "A Swingin' Safari," which older television viewers will recognize as the theme song to the original version of "The Match Game" that aired on NBC from 1962 until 1967. Here is Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert and his orchestra with "A Swingin' Safari" on RANDOM ACTS.



Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra with "A Swingin' Safari."

"One Week" also makes reference to "[busting] rhymes" and being "big like LeAnne Rimes." Although Busta Rhymes isn't explicitly mentioned, the lyric, when rapped, sounds as if the rapper's name got dropped. It also gives me a cheap excuse to play hip-hop and country songs back-to-back. Without further adieu, here are Busta Rhymes and LeAnne Rimes on RAoM.





LeAnne Rimes with her debut single, "Blue," which cracked the Billboard Country Top Ten in 1996. Just before that was Busta Rhymes with his Grammy nominated song "Dangerous," which was released in the fall of 1997 and peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. Let's see THOSE two get together to perform a duet.

The last musician namedrop that I never caught until today was that of Sting. Not to be confused with the professional wrestler of the same name, Sting, born Gordon Sumner, found a great deal of success after the breakup of the Police. In 1994, he won a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance with our next track. From the 1993 album Ten Summoner's Tales, here is Sting with "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" on RANDOM ACTS OF MUSIC.



From 1993, that was Sting with "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You," which topped the Billboard Hot 100 at #17.

That will do it for this week's edition of RANDOM ACTS OF MUSIC. The moral of this week's episode is: Pay attention to the lyrics of the songs you hear on the radio. You may hear something that you never noticed before. Thanks for joining us on RANDOM ACTS OF MUSIC. Good night!