Hi all. Shannon in southeast Michigan here. Stumbled upon a neat video someone made on YouTube. Wanted to share the music, cause I thought some if not many of us Rennies like bellydance/ethnic/african/E Muzeki/egyptian music (and the way it makes ya feel like dancing ).
thought I'd share (forgive me if I get this wrong) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKq9ZAQK88E
a man made a video of "bellydancing". The dancing, green-skinned Orion slaves of Star Trek is the 3rd and 4th section of the compilation he made. The second song is (surf rock) "Mirsirlou" starts at 2:02 (dancer: red outfit). The 3rd song "Commanche" is surf rock or jazz (?) starts at 4:33.
The last dance, starts at 6:00, song is "I Put a Spell on You", done by Natacha Atlas (egyptian/arabic/new age/great drums/violins). YouTube has assorted vids of Natacha's other vids, where you can hear the whole song, not just 1 min of it. ("I Put a Spell on You" is great from "Hocus Pocus" film, sung by Bette Midler. Natacha puts a whole other spin to it. Thank goodness for ITunes
Oh man, I enjoyed it LOL! It reminded me of watching a bellydancing pulp fiction!
Surf rock certainly owes it's sound to Middle Eastern music...One of the first bands playing Middle Eastern music at the original Renaissance Pleasure Faire for dancers was fronted by Solomon Feldthouse of The Kaleidoscope, a band that combined rock, surf, Middle Eastern, Celtic and roots into an interesting world mix in the 1960's.
"Misirlou" has been used by belly dancers ever since I saw the first troupe that introduced me to it in 1973. One of the earliest recordings of this song was in 1930 by Greek immigrant bandleader Michalis Patrinos, with the spelling of "Mousourlou," although it's generally considered that he did not write it. And of course, richard Dale made it famous.
"I Put A Spell On You," was originally penned and recorded by Screaming Jay Hawkins in 1956 and has been covered extensively ever since. I don't think it owes much to surf or Middle Eastern music, but certainly makes for an interesting song as a backdrop for bellydancing and is a blues classic...It's been covered by such diverse folk as Creedence Clearwater Revival, Nina Simone, The Cramps, Buddy Guy and Marilyn Manson besides Bette Midler cited here.
David Lindley, who later played with Jackson Browne for years was in The Kaleidoscope and was the first to play guitar with a fiddle bow in their live shows. Jimmy Page admits to "borrowing" this after seeing the band play while he was in the US. And of course in full circle, Led Zeppelin created " Kashmir," and now first E Muzeki and their current incarnation of Wine and Alchemy performs their version of this and "Misirlou."
Love how this genre keeps so much of music alive over the years and how the circle keeps evolving and revolving...
Nicolette, you really never cease to amaze me with your VAST music knowledge...
Admittedly, I had to look up the first recording of "Misirlou," since I knew it was probably an old folk tune before Dick Dale brought it to the masses. When you've been around as long as I have, you just get to see and hear a lot over the years.
I wish on the video link that they could lighten up the print, I really wanted to see who the band was! Great fun video to watch, overall, despite that.
Funny! They won't let me use "Richard's" name...Well, think Moby. The book, I mean. And the whale. Wait, was that a wenchmouth?
Cool video, and anything with William Shatner in it rocks. ;D
Here is the Greek (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-2ZG-LUqEw) version of Misirlou. Slower, more sensual, and one heck of a performance!
Thank you, Athena! What a beautiful, sensual version!
On Wine and Alchemy's new CD, Samsara, my good friends Roxanne and Mark do an AWESOME version of Misirlou... they start off with the slow version, with lyrics, then barrel into the surf version. I edited the beginning guitar bits to make it into Mark's ringtone LOL. Anyone want a Misirlou ringtone??? I'll send it to you LOL!
D. Dale's family were Lebanese Jews; Misirlou was originally a Middle Eastern Jewish traditional song; it still pops up in synagogues; Dale heard it as a child, thought it would sound neat on guitar. Several years later, he was talking to some kids and one asked him if he knew any songs that could be played on one string. He told the kid he would show him one the next day, then spent the night creating a high-speed guitar version of Misirlou.