This is One Direction, the latest teen vocal act to hit the charts. They started as separate contestants on the UK show, “The X Factor”, but as the story goes, the judges liked them better as a group than as individuals. The whole being greater than the sum of the parts, as they say.

So now they are here, ready to rule pop music until their fans enter puberty or next Tuesday—whichever comes first.

But according to their press material, these guys are different. No Jonas-Brothers-wait-until-marriage stuff for this rocking combo. Check out their bad-boy resume:

1. Their cutest singer (the one with the floppiest hair, natch) was photographed wearing nothing but black boxer briefs and had it posted on Twitter. As the editor at one Teen magazine noted, “Bad boys wear black.”

2. One of the singers dated a woman who was 7 years older than he. I think she was 15. In any event, as another contestant on “The X Factor”, she actually beat out the group in the standings.

3. They have the reputation for being “cheeky”.

4. One of the singers’ father is—gasp—HALF PAKISTANI!

Well there you have it. Pop music’s next big thi—hold on, they have since been replaced by pop music’s NEXT NEXT big thing.

Please disregard this post.

This is one of my all-time favorite Jethro Tull songs, full of wonderful melody and lyrical wit. The video also highlights Ian Anderson’s incredible performing skills as well as the superb musicianship of the band as a whole.

Jethro Tull—Skating Away (On The Thin Ice Of A New Day)

Not all music from the 1970s was funky. Not by a longshot. But these guys knew how work it out.

Eat the salty peanuts out the can…

War—Cisco Kid

Some classic, white-boy, collegiate funk from Steely Dan.

Steely Dan—Josie

lafix:

Tie Your Mother Down // Queen

Happy Mother’s Day, mommies of tumblr.

Good advice.

When he first burst on the scene, he was touted as “England’s Bob Dylan”, which was quite unfair. Donovan was something of a lightweight in comparison, but more than capable of writing a good song.

Check out this piffle. It’s an all-time fave. Real ear-worm worthy.

Donovan—Sunshine Superman

I know I’m a little early with this, but I don’t believe I’ll have the time to post it come Easter Sunday.

I grew up listening to Jesus Christ Superstar, which may or may not have been unusual for a Jewish kid growing up in the late 60s and 70s. And although I liked most of the songs from the rock opera, this tune was my hands-down favorite and I probably scratched the record (google it!) picking up the needle (I said, google it!) and replacing it on the track.

The beginning is a little slow and actually only begins to pick up about 1/2 the way through. Caiaphas’ vocals boom, but it is Annas’ frayed voice and caustic wit (which opens the final 2 sections) that cut through. Too bad you only hear from him a few times through the round-robin format of the song.

I think I’m going to play it again. Now where’s that needle?

Original Cast Recording, Jesus Christ Superstar—This Jesus Must Die

I could have had this song title tattooed on the back of my neck, as it is my mantra. The only 2 things standing in between me and this happening were a needle and pain. Otherwise, I would have rocked it.

Cars—Gimme Some Slack