Although it's sometimes kind of work intensive, I've started using You Tube as a juke box lately. In some cases there are amazing, hard-to-find videos, but a often there is simply a static image or a slide show accompanying the music.
I get a kick out of the folks who film the needle dropping on the record and the platter spinning on the turntable. Like on this one featuring Horace Andy's brilliant "Earth Must Be Hell" and this barnburning cover from Ken Boothe. The fidelity on these, however, often leaves much to be desired, but I don't care. I'd rather hear a great song from across the room than a crap one in amazing fidelity.
Seeing the great old unseen videos is a real treat, but most of the time, I'm just looking to hear great music and sometimes my iTunes, iPod and Pandora just don't do the trick. Yet, oddly, You Tube serves up the goods.
And really it doesn't matter what the visual is, because I'm just listening and working and every few minutes I pop over and click on a new link from the list of related videos on the right side of the page. I enjoy following an unpredictable and surprising chain of tunes that way.
I think this all started a few weeks ago when I wanted to hear a Freddie McKay tune. While I didn't find the one I was looking for, I did find "Jah Love I" and that led me to a You Tube feature I hadn't seen before. The "mix" option lets you hear more music from the same artist and similar ones (click the previous link to see it in action). You can shuffle the tunes or hear them in the list provided. It's sort of a video version of Pandora but often with more satisfying results.
It's an understatement to say the folks at You Tube are smart, but innovations like these mean the site is continually evolving and bringing more and more repeat visitors.
Now, I'm off to blow out my co-workers' ears by blasting McKay's absolutely stellar 1973 tune, "Our Rendezvous." You can do the same, by clicking here.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
