The Volebeats

I hate it when I find new music that I know I will like by a band I never heard of only to learn that they have been around for months, or in this case years. The Volebeats are such a band. They hail from Detroit, Michigan and have apparently been making a blend of alternative country rock music since at least the late 1980s.

I found them today after Amazon.com offered one of the tracks from their latest album, "The Volebeats" as a free download. I love the new song "Me and You". I will probably get their new album soon if I can find a reasonably priced CD. If not, then opt for the MP3s.

Meanwhile I searched some of the music websites and found selections from previous albums on GrooveShark which I promptly put together in the play list featured below. There are 8 songs. I also went to YouTube and did find a couple of videos there. One of those videos is embedded above.

So far the song that has grown on me the fastest is "In the Garden".

One thing for sure, this band has certainly been under the radar. They barely have a MySpace presence, just started a Facebook page and have no Wikipedia entry at all. This and being together "off and on" for more than 10, maybe 20 years. Wow.

From Bloodshot Records, the label describes The Volebeats:

"As much myth as institution in the Motor City, The Voles have been around since the late 80's and, like their namesake, are hard to track down, disappear for long periods of time, and remain totally loveable.

Sure, they've got the twang, but they infuse it with some serious Brian Wilson lushness and pop smarts. With Jeff Oakes' lazy, forlorn vocals and guitarist/vocalist Matt Smith's (Outrageous Cherry) bountiful knowledge and love of all good music as the constants (virtually everyone in Detroit has been a Volebeat at one time or another), The Volebeats managed to elude widespread success despite writing and performing some the of most supple and catchy music since Pet Sounds."

Mel's Weekly Top 20 - October 10, 2010

Mel's Weekly Top 20
Week of October 10, 2010

This Week	Song Title	Artist	Last Week
1	Teenage Dream (2nd week @ #1!)	Katy Perry	1
2	Just The Way You Are	Bruno Mars	3
3	Mine	Taylor Swift	2
4	Rhythm Of Love	Plain White T's	6
5	Stuck Like Glue	Sugarland	8
6	Dynamite	Taio Cruz	4
7	Misery	Maroon 5	5
8	Please Don't Go	Mike Posner	9
9	MoneyGrabber	Fitz and the Tantrums	11
10	Only Girl (In The World)	Rihanna	18
11	A Year Without Rain	Selena Gomez & The Scene	20
12	Good To Be Me (Feat. Kid Rock)	Uncle Kracker	14
13	2012 (It Ain't The End)	Jay Sean	13
14	Brand New Day	Lindsey Ray	12
15	Like We Used to	A Rocket to the Moon	7
16	Nobody	The Doobie Brothers	19
17	I Saw the Rain	Lovers and Poets	10
18	Release Me	The Like	15
19	I Don't Wanna Dance	Hey Monday	--
20	Hey You	Heart	--

CHART NOTES:

Katy Perry holds on to the #1 spot for the 2nd week in a row with "Teenage Dream'". The song is off her album of the same title and is the latest in a string of top 10 hits for the young songstress.

Moving up from #3 to #2 is Bruno Mars, a former student here in Hawaii and child Elvis impersonator with "Just the Way You Are". The song has topped the Billboard charts and may be headed in the same direction here.

Plain White T's break into the top 5 with "Rhythm of Love" up 2 from #6 to #4. It is the latest in a successful string of softer AC rock.

Rihanna makes a leap from #18 to #10 with her latest "Only Girl in the World". She is closely followed by Selena Gomez & the Scene's "A Year Without Rain" moving up from #20 to #11. Both songs made their chart debuts last week.

Two new songs enter the chart. They are "Hey You"by Heart @ #20 and "I Don't Wanna Dance" by Hey Monday at #19.

Local Music Pictures From Hawaii

The slide show shown above are pictures I shot at various live venues in Hawaii, mainly in Honolulu over the past few years. I don't go out to many live concerts mainly because of the cost. However there are plenty of free or nearly free live music opportunities to listen to and photograph some of Hawaii's most popular and upcoming talents around.

As most people know, Hawaii has a large "homegrown" music industry here consisting of tourist oriented hula shows, a traditional Hawaiian music recording industry and the popular "island music" genre populated by artists who mix Hawaiian music in with reggae, R & B, and rock n roll. There is also plenty of rock, country, alternative, pop, jazz and island grown hip hop music artists that don't get as much mainstream exposure in the islands as mainstream Hawaiian and "island music" styles.

Then there are parades and sports activities where marching bands are common, the most well known being the City & County of Honolulu's Royal Hawaiian Band. They play at various venues including concerts, mall appearances, schools, grand openings and parades. The University of Hawaii Rainbow Marching Band is also popular making appearances at most home football and basketball games. They recently recorded a video of the "Hawaii Five-0" theme song which you can view a few posts below this one.

There are many public and private grade school and high school marching bands added to this colorful mix too. The bands perform at various events including concerts, sporting events and parades.

Lastly in the area of fine arts, the Honolulu Symphony is on hiatus with the status of its return doubtful as the organization is mired in a long and bitter bankruptcy procedure.

Mel's Weekly Top 20s

Since I did not post a chart last week, this week we got 2 charts. The new current one and the one that did not get posted from last week. Look em over, run the video, enjoy!

Mel's Weekly Top 20

Week of October 3, 2010.

This Week	Song Title	Artist	Last Week
1	Teenage Dream	Katy Perry	2
2	Mine	Taylor Swift	3
3	Just The Way You Are	Bruno Mars	5
4	Dynamite	Taio Cruz	1
5	Misery	Maroon 5	4
6	Rhythm Of Love	Plain White T's	12
7	Like We Used to	A Rocket to the Moon	6
8	Stuck Like Glue	Sugarland	14
9	Please Don't Go	Mike Posner	11
10	I Saw the Rain	Lovers and Poets	10
11	MoneyGrabber	Fitz and the Tantrums	13
12	Brand New Day (with Tim Myers)	Lindsey Ray	15
13	2012 (It Ain't The End)	Jay Sean	16
14	Good To Be Me (Feat. Kid Rock)	Uncle Kracker	17
15	Release Me	The Like	7
16	Fire With Fire	Scissor Sisters	8
17	Be My Thrill	The Weepies	9
18	Only Girl (In The World)	Rihanna	--
19	Nobody	The Doobie Brothers	--
20	A Year Without Rain	Selena Gomez & The Scene	--

CHART NOTES (10-3-10)

Katy Perry leads a pack of three up one point each to capture the #1 song of the week. Her latest smah hit is "Teenage Dream" and it's at #1 for the first week. Following Perry is Taylor Swift with her latest crossover country pop hit "Mine" coming in at #2, up from #3 of last week. Following her is Bruno Mars up 2 from #5 to #3 with "Just the Way You Are." All a good songs, worthy to be at the top.

Sinking from #1 to #4 is Taio Cruz and hist latest, "Dynamite". While he may be at #4 this week, just wanted to remind you that his only 2 records to make it to this chart both hit #1. A few months ago the guy was at #1 with "Break Your Heart."

Rounding out the top 5 is Maroon 5 who slip 1 from #4 to #5 with their former #1 hit, "Misery".

The fastest moving singles in the top 20 are both in the top 10 this week. Each moving up 6 points, they are "Rhythm of Love" by Plain White T's, up from #12 to #6. Not too far behind is the country duo of Sugarland with their latest, "Stuck Like Glue" moving from last week's #14 to the #8 spot. These are probably headed for the top 5 by next week.

Three songs make their chart debut. They are "Only Girl (in the World)" by Rihanna stopping by at #18; "Nobody" a comeback single by The Doobie Brothers, checking in at #19; and the latest track, "A Day Without Rain" from Selena Gomez & The Scene debtcomes in at #20.

---

Mel's Weekly Top 20

Week of September 26, 2010.

This Week	Song Title	Artist	Last Week
1	Dynamite (2nd week @ #1!)	Taio Cruz	1
2	Teenage Dream	Katy Perry	3
3	Mine	Taylor Swift	5
4	Misery	Maroon 5	2
5	Just The Way You Are	Bruno Mars	8
6	Like We Used to	A Rocket to the Moon	4
7	Release Me	The Like	7
8	Fire With Fire	Scissor Sisters	6
9	Be My Thrill	The Weepies	10
10	I Saw the Rain	Lovers and Poets	11
11	Please Don't Go	Mike Posner	9
12	Rhythm Of Love	Plain White T's	18
13	MoneyGrabber	Fitz and the Tantrums	14
14	Stuck Like Glue	Sugarland	20
15	Brand New Day	Lindsey Ray	16
16	2012 (It Ain't The End)	Jay Sean	19
17	Good To Be Me (Feat. Kid Rock)	Uncle Kracker	--
18	Cool My Heels	Nikki Yanofsky	13
19	Heavy Feeling	Justine Bennett	12
20	Animal	Neon Trees	15

CHART NOTES (9-26-10)

Taio Cruz holds on to the #1 spot for the 2nd consecutive week with "Dynamite". Hot on his heals are Katy Perry with "Teenage Dream" at #2 and Taylor Swift with "Mine" at #3. These 3 records are in top position to claim the top spot next week. Who will it be? Rounding out the top 5 is Bruno Mars and his hit "Just the Way You Are" moving into the #5 spot up from #8 last week.

Fastest 2 moving songs on the chart belong to Plain White T's and their latest single "Rhythm of Love" moving up from #18 to #12 and Sugarland's "Stuck Like Glue" up from #20 to #14. Both tracks are enjoying their second week on the chart.

Only one song debuts this week and that belongs to Uncle Kracker with Kid Rock. The name of the song is "Good to Be Me". It checks in for the first week at #17.

Variations on a Theme

Here we go... versions of the world famous Hawaii Five-0 theme done by various marching bands in the U.S.A. The original song was written by Morton Stevens and popularized over the decades as the theme song to the venerable hit TV series starring Jack Lord. The song was also recorded by The Ventures and became a top 5 hit in 1969. As a high schooler I remember playing this for band. Fun song. Easy to learn and play.

Today "Hawaii Five-0" is one of the most recognized songs on the planet and is once again the theme for the new "Hawaii Five-0" TV series now showing on CBS. Here are the videos... enjoy!









This one's funny...





There's more. Just do a search on YouTube.com.