Let's continue our look at Paste Magazine's list of the Top TV Songs, this time #6 on their list:
6. The Jeffersons - "Movin' On Up" by Ja'net Du Boise
How's this for the inter-connectedness of Hollywood? Du Boise played Willona Woods on Good Times. Janet Jackson was also on Good Times. Justin Timberlake caused a little wardrobe malfunction with Janet Jackson during Super Bowl XXXVIII. Fellow Mousketeer alum Keri Russell starred in Mission:Impossible III. The original Mission:Impossible TV show aired on CBS alongside All in the Family. The Jeffersons was an All in the Family spin-off. OK, so that was pretty random, but you can't argue against the greatness of "Movin' On Up."
Lyrics
Well we're movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.
Fish don't fry in the kitchen;
Beans don't burn on the grill.
Took a whole lotta tryin'
Just to get up that hill.
Now we're up in teh big leagues
Gettin' our turn at bat.
As long as we live, it's you and me baby
There ain't nothin wrong with that.
Well we're movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons, and a total of 253 episodes produced by T.AT. Communications Company from 1975-1982 and Embassy Television from 1982-1985. It is the longest running comedy (or series of any genre) with a predominantly Black cast in the history of American television.
The show focused on George and Louise Jefferson, an upper middle-class Black couple. The show was launched as the second spin-off of All in the Family, on which the Jeffersons had been the neighbors of Archie and Edith Bunker.
Nielsen Ratings
1974-1975 #3
1975-1976 #21
1976-1977 #24
1979-1980 #8
1980-1981 #6
1981-1982 #3
1982-1983 #12
1983-1984 #19
interesting tidbits:
The Jeffersons was a spinoff of All in the Family in which the Bunkers' black next-door neighbors moved to a "deluxe apartment in the sky." This gospel-tinged song described their progression "on up."
The Jeffersons featured TV's first mixed-married couple, a white husband and a black wife. It had its own short-lived spinoff, Checking In.
This is commonly played at sporting events when a team which has previously been doing poorly makes a startling comeback and hence moves back "up" to its previous status.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Album Cover Art
Let's continue our look at the Gigwise.com list of the top 50 dirtiest and sexiest album covers (as compiled by their staff- Gigwise comments in quotes):
30. Hinder: ‘Extreme Behaviour’ – "They may make completely turgid Nickelback-esque music, but Hinder certainly know how to gain some much-needed attention with their album sleeves. This one featured a woman in red lacy underwear perusing over photos of the band themselves. It’s no wonder that it went platinum, then."
Released in September 2005, Hinder's Extreme Behavior revives the riffs and misogynistic tone of 2001 albums from Puddle of Mudd and Nickelback for a whole new batch of undergrads. This isn't so much post-grunge as it is straight-up dude rock. The artwork is a triggered response collage of lingerie and Jäger, and the music blares like a stereo left on in the keg room, all swear words and electric guitar blab. Hinder singer Austin Winkler is a stand-in for Nickelback's Chad Kroeger, and his lyrics? Like the chorus of lead single "Get Stoned" that asserts sex is better when the participants are angry and high, Winkler doesn't show a lot of class on Behavior. Hinder do try a little tenderness here and there. They sound like a heavier Wallflowers on "Nothin' Good About Goodbye," and "Lips of an Angel" carries the power ballad torch complete with a soaring solo stolen from hair metal's golden era. "Homecoming Queen" is another take on the good-girl-tarnished-by-big-bad-L.A. story; it's also a pretty obvious rewrite of Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine." For the most part, Hinder are all about big dumb rock, the kind of stuff that's happily ignorant of common courtesy or trying much of anything new musically. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
30. Hinder: ‘Extreme Behaviour’ – "They may make completely turgid Nickelback-esque music, but Hinder certainly know how to gain some much-needed attention with their album sleeves. This one featured a woman in red lacy underwear perusing over photos of the band themselves. It’s no wonder that it went platinum, then."
Released in September 2005, Hinder's Extreme Behavior revives the riffs and misogynistic tone of 2001 albums from Puddle of Mudd and Nickelback for a whole new batch of undergrads. This isn't so much post-grunge as it is straight-up dude rock. The artwork is a triggered response collage of lingerie and Jäger, and the music blares like a stereo left on in the keg room, all swear words and electric guitar blab. Hinder singer Austin Winkler is a stand-in for Nickelback's Chad Kroeger, and his lyrics? Like the chorus of lead single "Get Stoned" that asserts sex is better when the participants are angry and high, Winkler doesn't show a lot of class on Behavior. Hinder do try a little tenderness here and there. They sound like a heavier Wallflowers on "Nothin' Good About Goodbye," and "Lips of an Angel" carries the power ballad torch complete with a soaring solo stolen from hair metal's golden era. "Homecoming Queen" is another take on the good-girl-tarnished-by-big-bad-L.A. story; it's also a pretty obvious rewrite of Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine." For the most part, Hinder are all about big dumb rock, the kind of stuff that's happily ignorant of common courtesy or trying much of anything new musically. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
This Date In Music History-November 23
Birthdays:
Singer, songwriter and virtuoso pianist, Bruce Hornsby, was born in Williamsburg, VA in 1954.
They Are Missed:
The late Betty Everett ("Shoop Shoop Song") was born in 1939.
O.C. Smith ("Little Green Apples") died of a heart attack in 2001.
Songwriter Tommy Boyce committed suicide by shooting himself at his Nashville home in 1994. Besides writing "Last Train To Clarksville", "Valleri" and "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" for The Monkees, Boyce and his partner Bobby Hart scored a number eight hit of their own with "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" in 1967.
In 1997, Michael Hutchence, lead singer of the Australian super group INXS, hanged himself in Sydney, just as the band was to begin rehearsals for their 20th anniversary tour. He was 37 years old.
Country great Roy Acuff, whose vocals influenced everyone from Hank Williams to George Jones, died in 1992 (age 89).
Badfinger bassist Tom Evans commits suicide in 1983 after the band splits by hanging himself, just as Badfinger songwriter Pete Ham had done eight years earlier.
History:
The world's first jukebox, then known as a "nickel in the slot machine", was installed at San Francisco's' Palais Royal Hotel in 1889. It had been created by simply adding a coin slot to an Edison phonograph. In its first six months of service, the machine earned over $1000.
Despite objections from The Recording Industry Association of America, who was worried about the growing problem of internet file swapping, the first portable MP3 player went on sale in the US in 1998. As of 2007, over 150 million had been sold.
“Soul Man,” by Isaac Hayes, tops the R&B chart and peaks at #2 on the pop chart in 1967. The song is one of 200 written by the team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter for Stax Records artists.
In 1954, agent Bob Neal assumed the manager's role for Elvis Presley, booking him as Elvis Presley, the Hillbilly Cat.
Elvis Presley's first post-Army film, "G.I. Blues" was officially released in 1960 and his "Spinout" movie came out in 1966.
Billy Swan, a former member of Kris Kristofferson's band and writer of Clyde McPhatter's "Lover Please", had a US number one single of his own in 1974, "I Can Help". It reached #6 in the UK.
In a San Antonio hotel room in 1936, mysterious blues pioneer Robert Johnson recorded his first tracks, including "Ramblin' on My Mind."
In 1962, The Beatles auditioned for BBC producers looking for bands with TV potential. They failed.
In 1964, The Rolling Stones were banned from the BBC for unprofessionalism after showing up late for appearances on the radio shows Top Gear and Saturday Club.
In 1968, Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant finalized a deal to sign the band to Atlantic Records after Dusty Springfield recommends Jimmy Page to label boss Ahmet Ertegun.
Police arrested Jerry Lee Lewis outside the gates of Graceland in 1976, after he showed up for the second time that night and made a scene by shouting, waving a pistol and demanding to see Elvis Presley.
Singer, songwriter and virtuoso pianist, Bruce Hornsby, was born in Williamsburg, VA in 1954.
They Are Missed:
The late Betty Everett ("Shoop Shoop Song") was born in 1939.
O.C. Smith ("Little Green Apples") died of a heart attack in 2001.
Songwriter Tommy Boyce committed suicide by shooting himself at his Nashville home in 1994. Besides writing "Last Train To Clarksville", "Valleri" and "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" for The Monkees, Boyce and his partner Bobby Hart scored a number eight hit of their own with "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" in 1967.
In 1997, Michael Hutchence, lead singer of the Australian super group INXS, hanged himself in Sydney, just as the band was to begin rehearsals for their 20th anniversary tour. He was 37 years old.
Country great Roy Acuff, whose vocals influenced everyone from Hank Williams to George Jones, died in 1992 (age 89).
Badfinger bassist Tom Evans commits suicide in 1983 after the band splits by hanging himself, just as Badfinger songwriter Pete Ham had done eight years earlier.
History:
The world's first jukebox, then known as a "nickel in the slot machine", was installed at San Francisco's' Palais Royal Hotel in 1889. It had been created by simply adding a coin slot to an Edison phonograph. In its first six months of service, the machine earned over $1000.
Despite objections from The Recording Industry Association of America, who was worried about the growing problem of internet file swapping, the first portable MP3 player went on sale in the US in 1998. As of 2007, over 150 million had been sold.
“Soul Man,” by Isaac Hayes, tops the R&B chart and peaks at #2 on the pop chart in 1967. The song is one of 200 written by the team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter for Stax Records artists.
In 1954, agent Bob Neal assumed the manager's role for Elvis Presley, booking him as Elvis Presley, the Hillbilly Cat.
Elvis Presley's first post-Army film, "G.I. Blues" was officially released in 1960 and his "Spinout" movie came out in 1966.
Billy Swan, a former member of Kris Kristofferson's band and writer of Clyde McPhatter's "Lover Please", had a US number one single of his own in 1974, "I Can Help". It reached #6 in the UK.
In a San Antonio hotel room in 1936, mysterious blues pioneer Robert Johnson recorded his first tracks, including "Ramblin' on My Mind."
In 1962, The Beatles auditioned for BBC producers looking for bands with TV potential. They failed.
In 1964, The Rolling Stones were banned from the BBC for unprofessionalism after showing up late for appearances on the radio shows Top Gear and Saturday Club.
In 1968, Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant finalized a deal to sign the band to Atlantic Records after Dusty Springfield recommends Jimmy Page to label boss Ahmet Ertegun.
Police arrested Jerry Lee Lewis outside the gates of Graceland in 1976, after he showed up for the second time that night and made a scene by shouting, waving a pistol and demanding to see Elvis Presley.