Slapping up 6 coats of paint in 24 hours allows one to listen to many playlists (I am ‘un-nesting': meaning painting over the yellow/ orange and turquoise blue walls Abby and Carly chose for their bedrooms, now that they've moved out). Among the artists I listened to this week:
-Imagine Dragons- Calvin Harris- John Mayer- Toby Lightman- Tristan Prettyman – Bruno Mars- Lorde- Justin Timberlake- Frank Ocean- Yuna- Everything But the Girl- Alex Claire- Vicci Martinez. An eclectic list and I'm pretty sure I kept the cement guys putting in our new sidewalk guessing!
Out of that list comes today's music suggestion by Tristan Prettyman. It's a quick flat road called ‘Bad Drug' that's already in my profile/playlist for Saturday. At 89 rpm's and 2:50, I'm going to use it as we ramp up out of our warm up.
Check out all of Tristan's tunes on SoundCloud. Not only is she beautiful to listen to (and look at- she's a former Roxy model), but most of her tunes are free to download! Thanks Tristan.
All it takes is a 22 year old to keep me out of my box. Today we have another suggestion thanks to ‘Abby is listening to…..on Spotify'. This song has been a good surprise for my group as I lead them out of a moderate climb. They are accustomed to another moderate road, but not this profile! I take them out of a 74 rpm climb into a 99 rpm sprint match with their neighboring rider. It's fun and gets them interacting a bit without being too invasive (they don't really like ‘buddy' work, but do enjoy a bit of friendly competition). This tune has a pulsing 99 rpm beat, but is not overwhelming with loud vocals, so they can talk and encourage each other through the 3:47 sprint.
I hope you and your class will have as much fun with Drake's ‘Hold On, We're Going Home', as we have. You may also shock them a bit by having Drake in your playlist. I know I did. If John picks this tune up, his class will definitely know he's using OPM (other people's music)!
Hopefully some of you will catch that reference to a very awkward scene from one of my all-time favorite movies – Animal House.
It astounds and amazes me that;
A: These guys are still performing (very well I should add) when most people their age are in a nursing home and…
B: They still command some serious $$$ to perform… $30,000 to $150,000 a night serious.
If you were to ask Randy why people are willing to pay these old bands such big dollars to perform, his response would be; “Each band has had one of more Top 10 hits. Each is very recognizable and everyone in this room knows them – many by heart.” “Venues have a choice; bring in some unknown local band that no one has ever heard of, or, treat the baby boomers to a night filled with the music they listened to growing up… it's pretty much a no-brainer which will pack-em in.”
Most of the bands managed by Randy's company have gone through multiple member changes. Last year Amy and I got to hang out with The Guess Who – only the drummer and bass player are original members. Forgive me when I say this. When we were introduced I thought they were the grandparents of the band members 🙁 Which, when you figure they formed the band in 1958 and these two joined the year after I was born (in 1962), was an understandable mistake for me to make. That was until they played. If you had told me they were 30 year olds, wearing old-people masks, I would have believed you. They came alive on stage. Which maybe the secret to their success long into their late 70's and probably beyond .
At times Randy sources bands for private events when the event organizer has a special request. Last night we were treated to a show from the band formally know as ELO & ELO2, now simply going by the name The Orchestra. That link will take you to a page showing their tour dates and locations. Those guys are performing all over the world. Last week they were in the UK and later this Fall they have a bunch of shows in Eastern Europe. How fun would that be?
ELO/The Orchestra played a 90 minute set last nigh. I knew every song and from the energy in the crowd, so did everyone at the event!
I'm thinking my class would enjoy hearing some of these old hits as well. So I've but together this playlist from the bands Randy manages. No super serious profile – just something I hope brings a smile to everyone in attendance.
One of the benefits to teaching with OPM (other people's music) is that it forces you out of the safe/comfortable/familiar box you've drawn around yourself. In the past, my musical “box” has limited me to selecting my class music a bit like this:
Interesting little Spotify playlist you have here…
Love it…
Going to use this exactly as you've constructed it…
Well except this Britney Spears track, no way I'd play that in my class…
Pitbull? Eh, no thanks… Not quite my style.
And that cheezie “Tabata” track you've got there near the end? What's up with that? I don't think so… that wouldn't be me… I think I'll just copy most of your tracks into a playlist of my own and add in a few more “appropriate” tracks to replace those that just don't quite fit into my safe/comfortable/familiar box.
We see that our PRO/Playlists are viewed thousands of times in Spotify and Deezer, but a relatively small number are actually followed. What's the difference? You can't alter a playlist you've Followed. You have to use it As Is. You can't meddle or mess with it. You can only hit play and follow where it takes you and your class.
In case you missed it, we discussed what I called; The Great Spotify Enigma back in February. It included a survey where ICI/PRO members communicated they did pretty much what I describe above; Instructors tend to pick and choose songs, rather than Follow and use the playlist as originally constructed. Which is fine, if you're content with staying in your Box.
But I've found that people in my class didn't express much appreciation for the music in my Box.
They do when I use music from Chris, Amy, Julz, Krista, Cameron and other's who I follow on Spotify.
So if you Followed (and used) Chris Hawthorne's latest profile High Intensity Supersets PRO/Playlist you lead your class through two Tabata rounds. Maybe I should have said; the voice in the music lead you and your class through two Tabata rounds. I used this playlist last night and got the inevitable; “that was really cool tonight, John” that reinforces my transition to using OPM 🙂
Both Spotify and Deezer offer large selections of Tabata tracks.
For your free track I found a Tabata track without any voice-over, and yet the timing of each interval/recovery is unmistakable.
Please let me know if you're willing to give it a try.
With 6.4 million downloads on Spotify, this almost a cappella song- perfect for a flat road, isn’t just a favorite of mine! This 17 year old from New Zealand knows how to put out the singles. She’s already released 3 this year and she’s still finishing Year 12 at Grammar School.
My class has been enjoying the great harmonies and driving beat of this 3:21, 85 bpm by Lorde’s. Here’s “Royals”:
‘You can’t just give it away like it means nothing’, is the lead line in today’s Free Friday Favorite from an English electronic music producer that features beautiful female vocals.
The heavy bass and drum kick up a motivating flat at 87 rpm’s. The original version is 3:47, with an additional 4 remixes immediately available on Spotify & Deezer, varying in length from 4:10 to 6:28. I am currently using this tune right after warm up, as we launch into steady state aerobic work.
