Do Yourself a Favor. Start Listening to Little Richard

Cue up the Little Richard, and be happy.

Earlier today I was driving in my car and listening to some Little Richard. I need something upbeat to keep my mind off the horrors that occur everyday now. I've always been a Little Richard fan. I like his voice, his piano playing, his style, everything about him I find very entertaining. I don't think this falls in the greatest American band debate because he is just one man, but I wanted to point out the greatness that is Little Richard, and why I think he is one of the most underrated musicians of all time.

First off, his showmanship is second to none. I have gone on record saying that Freddie Mercury is the best front man of all time in rock music, but Little Richard is a very close second. Going back and watching some old footage of Little Richard is amazing. He absolutely owns the crowd. He is truly one of a kind when it comes to flash and stage presence. He was a hurricane when he performed. The old stuff on You Tube, or anywhere else you see it, is truly amazing. He would have been a stadium performer had he come around now.

Second, his singing is excellent. He rode the line between rock and R&B like no one else I have ever listened to. He had such a soulful voice, but when he needed and felt like he had to rock, he was awesome. Take his most famous song, "Tutti Fruiti". His vocals are so god damn amazing. When he is yell singing the chorus, I want to get up and dance. In actuality, you could say that about the majority of his songs. He hits the R&B when he needs to, but he is so much more of a rock and roller than I think people ever gave him credit for. His voice is legendary and will never be duplicated.

His piano playing was top notch too. He is just as good, better than in my opinion, than Jerry Lee Lewis, but he doesn't get the same recognition. I think it has to do with the fact that he wasn't on Sun Records, but that should not matter. The way he would thrash those keys and how loud, yet sophisticated it sounded was incredible. He could play Beethoven level stuff, but make it a rock and roll song that we could all sing and dance to. I mean, that is astounding. When he would go off on his little solos and hit high notes incredibly fast, my god that was magical.

Little Richard was flashy, he was a great singer, he dressed very stylishly and he owned a stage. So, why do more people not talk abut him being an enormous influence? I mean, without Little Richard, we may have never gotten James Brown. The legend goes, James Brown needed to be convinced to go on stage to perform, and the guy doing the convincing, a young dishwasher/part time musician by the name of Little Richard gave him the confidence he needed to get on a stage. He told him he was special and he gave James Brown that final push he needed. Stevie Wonder owes a great deal of his success to Little Richard. Wonder is definitely more of an R&B guy, but a guy like Little Richard paved the way for a piano player that could rock and play soulful R&B to become ultra famous. Little Richard was the first, then came Stevie Wonder, and I love Stevie wonder. The Beatles owe a ton of their influence from American music to Little Richard. They even tried to do covers of his songs. They did okay, but when the Beatles aren't as good, that is the sign of a true legend. I'm a Beatles fan through and through, but I'd much rather turn on Little Richard when I hear the Beatles attempt to do one of his songs. I know what I will get with Little Richard.

I also happen to think that front men like Freddie Mercury, Steven Tyler, Robert Plant and Mick Jagger owe a ton of debt to Little Richard. They saw him and they saw that they could dress as loudly as they wanted, wear what they wanted and be as free as they wanted on stage because, they saw Little Richard do it long before they became the faces of rock and roll. He was doing it all 10 to 20 years before they even attempted to act like him on stage.

Little Richard is not talked about nearly enough when it comes to legends of, not only R&B, but rock and roll as well. He was more of a rock and roller than a lot of people that are considered legends of rock. I'd take Little Richard any day over people like Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Steven Tyler, basically almost any of his contemporaries. I also think a lot of younger musicians, people like Adam Levine, Leon Bridges, Raphael Saadiq, I know he isn't young, but he still plays like Little Richard, Nathan Rateliffe, among many, many others, would not be doing what they do today if not for someone like Little Richard.

Little Richard is an all time great. I'm sure he is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is recognized by people in the business and industry, but when it comes to fans of older R&B and rock and roll, I think he gets left out of the conversation, and that is unfair. I'm so glad that I have a father and brothers and sister in laws that all introduced me to him when I got heavily into older R&B and rock and roll. Little Richard is one of the most underrated legends of all time. He is truly a master of his craft and he deserves and garners respect from everyone that loves music. As I stated already, we would not have a lot of the people we have today if not for Little Richard.

Do yourself a favor and, to get away from the madness, nightmare hell scape that is our country right now, listen to some Little Richard. He will make you smile and make you want to dance. I know that I am a Millennial, but I am one of the biggest Little Richard fans there are, and I will sing his praises until the cows come home. You are truly a one of a kind legend Little Richard. Thank you for all you have done for music.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He now knows that Little Richard was part of the very first class inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Bad Songs Constantly on the Radio are Actually Pretty Good

Leave the dial be and give into joy

So, for all of my posts this week, I wanted to try something a bit different. My wife and I were talking the other day and she told me that I should argue a point that I don't necessarily agree with. All five posts this week will be topics given to me that I have expressed a dislike for to, either my wife or everyone who reads my blog, but I have to give the opposite view. I have to explain why these things are actually true, or that they at least have some good qualities. This is going to be a weird, but also very fun, and maybe even a bit difficult, but I'm up to the task.

Topic number three from my wife, "the only songs worth listening to are the ones on the radio that you can sing along with in the car".

This is going to be tough. I am not a fan of the music played on the radio, for the most part. It's bubble gum garbage music that is just one earworm after another. I've made it clear that I don't like pop music on the site, but, I do see what my wife is getting at, and I'm pretty sure I can make a compelling argument. So, let's do it.

When a "hit" song comes on the radio, it is put there for many reasons. The artist or the band had a stroke of genius and wrote a very, very catchy song. The band or artist label makes sure that this one song is the first song that will be heard by the masses. The radio stations then pick it up and play it on repeat until pretty much everyone at least knows the chorus. Let's look at a song from a few years ago as an example.

By now, a lot of people have already forgotten about an artist named Gotye. But, he had a massive hit song, that I can still sing along with if it comes on the radio. That song was called "Somebody That I Used to Know". Everyone knows this song. The song was odd, but catchy. The video made the song even better, but you should not watch videos in your car if you are driving - safety first, so the music video gets left out of the debate. But, when Gotye and Kimbra wail that chorus, "but you didn't have to cut me off" and "you didn't have to stoop so low", if I am by myself, or with my wife and kids, I wail just as much as they do. I may not have liked the song when I first heard it, but after hearing it hundreds of times, not only did I love it, I knew almost every single word to that song. Gotye hasn't had a hit since, but I will forever remember him.

Then, there's the first time I heard Carly Rae Jepsen. There is not one single thing I should like about her music. It is everything I dislike about music, but "Call Me Maybe" is a very fun song to yell sing when I am in my car. Again, that chorus is so god damn catchy. I mean, "hey, I just met you/and this is crazy/but here's my number/so call me maybe" is pretty fun to sing along with. Then, when I saw it on the video game Just Dance, I liked it even more. I could dance and sing along with this song?! What a treat. I know that she has made some newer, halfway decent music since "Call Me Maybe", but that is all the Carly Rae Jepsen I will ever need.

No matter how much I dislike and am sick and tired of hearing Ed Sheeran, when his song "Thinking Out Loud" comes on, I can't help but sing along in the car. The song, for what it is, is a pretty beautiful song with very nice lyrics. It is a perfect wedding song, or a song to put on a mix tape for your partner. The chorus is the winner, of course. It's catchy, sweet and even a little moving. "Thinking Out Loud" is not a terrible song. It's definitely a fun song to sing along to in the car, that's undebateable.

I know that I have only mentioned solo acts, but even some bands get into this conversation. I'm not a Maroon 5 fan at all, but "Payphone" is an almost impossible song to not sing along to. The moment Adam Levine comes in with, "I'm at a payphone/trying to call home/all my change I spent on you", I'm singing it as high pitched as I can, trying my best to sound like Mr. Levine. Then, we get, "all these fairy tales are full of shit/one more stupid love song I'll be sick", the band is trying to be funny, but it is too catchy. Everyone I know, knows those lyrics and can sing along with them. Maroon 5 may be trying to make fun of love songs, but "Payphone" is one hundred percent a love song that is very enjoyable to sing along.

The band A Great Big World falls into the Gotye category of, a very great singable song, but hasn't done anything since that song, "Say Something". This song is absolutely heartbreaking, but, it is also great to wail when it came on the radio. When the singers would yell sing the chorus, I was right there with them. That song is brutal, but it is also wildly singable. That's the one thing that A Great Big World will always be remembered for. They had this huge hit, that was about tragedy, but damn if that isn't one catchy tune.

Even rappers are falling into this. Sure, they are all pop rappers, but some of the stuff that Wiz Khalifa has done with Charlie Puth and Maroon 5 is very singable. He was featured on "Payphone" and his verse is decent, but, and I'm going to use my buzz word for the day, catchy as hell. Then, he does those "One Call Away" and "See You Again" songs with Charlie Puth. Damn, are those songs so very easy to sing along too, and Khalifa's verses are very easy to get and rap along with. There is also this new Flo Rida, which is the worst rap name ever, song called "My House", that is played so much, my son, who is 4, can sing along with. I guarantee that everybody has heard "My House" at least once. It is always on the radio and TV shows are using it in their ad campaigns now.

While I may not care for these particular artists or bands, I cannot deny the fact that these songs are popular, catchy and a whole hell of a lot of fun to sing along to in my car. I bet most of you out there would agree with my wife on this one.

Ty with a little help from his wife

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Sometimes on the podcast the editor has to yell/sing "you didn't have to cut me off". Hey this is crazy, but you should follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.