You may be wondering why I’m putting up an old Cole Porter pop tune from 1928 up my website.  If you’ve seen Woody Allen’s glorious flick, “Midnight in Paris,” you know why, but if you haven’t, then a bit of explanation is needed.  In the film, a time traveling novelist played by Owen Wilson stumbles back in time somehow, ends up at a hot 20s jazz party in Paris, and finds Cole Porter himself performing the song in an intimate setting.  Not “intimate” like an orgy, though maybe one broke out later after Owen left, it’s hard to tell.  Anyway, it’s hilarious, but more importantly, the song is simply one of the best ever.  This version from Ella Fitzgerald is my favorite, which says something because this song was performed by everyone from Frank Sinatra and Louie Armstrong to Diana Ross and Joan Jett.  I’ve taken it upon myself to learn this song on guitar this past week, and its damn hard because of all the jazz chords that require real finger gymnastics.  However, with some real determination, and some real creative chord interpretation, I managed to plunk it down pretty well after a few days.  Here is the link I used to learn, and if you want to play along with Ella, put a capo on the 3rd fret.  Trust me, you’ll like this one guitar players….and uh…lovers of music.

Continuing the journey down my youtube favorites list, I give you the infamous “We Are the World.”  This tune was written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson sometime in 1985, as a response to the horrendous Ethiopian famine which killed over a million people.  I guess it did some good as it raised between 50-60 million dollars according to Wikipedia, which is all well and good, but honestly, no one remembers the humanitarian crisis, but rather the image of all those super famous humans gathering in one room to belt out this piece of classic schmaltz.  Now, from a distance, this song really sucks.  Its cheesy, overwrought, and covered with a layer of outdated 80s glitter, but still, there is no denying the underlying charm of all these ultra-stars, and a few artists manage to give this thing some heat by the end.  Here are a few random comments I have for you before enjoy the vid.

#1.  Billy Joel, I love you, but go home, also that goes double for Kenny Loggins (for sucking), Kenny Rogers and Paul Simon (for making insanely strange faces.)

#2. Bruce Springsteen, you absolutely RULE the end of the song when you manage to hold your own with Stevie Wonder, but wouldn’t like you like a new take of your first line earlier in the song?  You make this face in which you look like you were shot in the stomach.  Although, I gotta hand it to him overall, this is the coolest look he ever had.  He’s like a combination of Elvis, the Fonz, and Dean Martin.  Man, what a rock star.

#3. We can all agree, this is Steve Perry’s greatest moment in music history. I think Journey is horrible, but what a soaring voice this guy has.

#4.  This video marked the beginning of when Michael Jackson thought it was a good idea to basically dress up as the fifth member of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band…for the rest of his life.

#5.  The story goes that Prince skipped out on the recording of this song for some ego bruised reason…which, ironically makes Prince the most genuine superstar out of this whole group.  Why?  Because Prince wasn’t about to pretend he didn’t have an ego, unlike every single one of these stars, who tried their damnedest to make you believe they were selfless.

#6.  And lastly, Bob Dylan and his disciple Bruce Springsteen are dressed exactly the same.  Must have been awkward…