Tag Archives: Billy Joel

Parsons Playlists: “Peach Fuzz”

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Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Amy (class of 2025) and features songs inspired by Pantone’s 2024 Color of the Year.

Peach Fuzz

Pantone Peach Fuzz

Another year, another Pantone color playlist! This is my third annual Pantone playlist, and this playlist might be my favorite. 2024’s color of the year is Peach Fuzz, which Pantone’s website describes as a color that “captures our desire to nurture ourselves and others. It’s a velvety gentle peach tone whose all-embracing spirit enriches mind, body, and soul. Pantone collaborated with multiple companies this year, including Cariuma Sneakers, a ripe peach flavored tea from TEALEAVES’, Peach Fuzz colored Polaroid film, and a peach-colored lip oil from Shades by Shan.

Here are 15 songs that I think are reminiscent of the color peach fuzz:

Kacey Musgraves – “Velvet Elvis”

Edison Lighthouse – “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)”

Florence + The Machine – “Delilah”

Stevie Wonder – “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”

Bobby Hebb – “Sunny”

Etta James – “A Sunday Kind of Love”

Billy Joel – “Vienna”

Norah Jones – “Come Away With Me”

The Supremes – “Baby Love”

Lenny Kravitz – “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over”

Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra – “Somethin’ Stupid”

Aretha Franklin – “I Say A Little Prayer”

Carole King – “It’s Too Late”

Aretha Franklin – “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”

Katrina & the Waves – “Walking on Sunshine”

Here is a link to the whole playlist on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSwAwMtTLDwhKis3qIiq2CkYiFLjXwZif&si=A_motAXuYrJyrxO-

And here it is on Spotify:

Parsons Playlists: Songs That Feel Like Thanksgiving

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Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Eliana (class of 2024) featuring some music for your Thanksgiving enjoyment.

Songs That Feel Like Thanksgiving

cornucopia

Christmas is around the corner, but we can’t forget about thanksgiving just yet. While there’s not really any mainstream thanksgiving-themed music, here are some songs that remind me of home and the holidays.

Khalid – “Winter”

Jack Johnson – “Better Together”

Adele – “Hometown Glory”

Philip Phillips – “Home”

Noah Kahan – “Homesick”

The Lumineers – “Sleep on the Floor”

Taylor Swift – “Tis the Damn Season”

Harry Styles – “Canyon Moon”

Rascal Flatts – “Bless the Broken Road”

John Denver – “Take Me Home, Country Roads”

Billy Joel – “Vienna”

Here is a link to the whole playlist on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU94rco57ZewIBys_UumxkWIABkdzJCeH&si=q9_JGAIuZ9XZkxld

Parsons Playlists: Rainy Night

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Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student assistant Alexandra (class of 2026) and features music for a rainy night.

Rainy Night

rainy night window

Here is a playlist of songs I find myself wanting to listen to when relaxing and doing my homework looking out my window to cold rainy weather.

Bruno Major – “Easily”

Mac DeMarco – “Blue Boy”

Loving – “Visions”

The Beatles – “Blackbird”

Billy Joel – “She’s Got a Way”

The Mamas & The Papas – “Dream A Little Dream Of Me”

Gregory Alan Isakov – “Big Black Car”

Djo – “Chateau (Feel Alright)”

Frank Sinatra – “It Had To Be You”

The Beatles – “Something”

Pink Floyd – “Breathe (In the Air)”

Here is a link to the whole playlist on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU94rco57ZezxGRDhYQLHOOLg88FRfl1b&si=hP0k0rAv1xNLhbZO

Parsons Playlists: Take Me To The River

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Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library associate Melanie and features some music having to do with rivers.

Take Me To The River

This is a playlist with lots of songs about rivers – both literal and metaphorical – around the world. Enjoy!

Al Green – “Take Me To The River”

Madness – “Night Boat To Cairo”

Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Green River”

Mavis Staples – “In The Mississippi River”

Alison Krauss (from O Brother, Where Art Thou?-2000) – “Down to the River to Pray”

Lefty Frizzell – “James River”

Original Broadway cast of Big River – “River in the Rain”

Joni Mitchell – “River”

Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy – “When the Levee Breaks”

Old Crow Medicine Show – “James River Blues”

Hemant Kumar (from Kabuliwala – 1961) – “Ganga Aaye Kahan Se”

Gerry and the Pacemakers – “Ferry Cross the Mersey”

Billy Joel – “River of Dreams”

Pete Seeger – “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy”

Paul Williams (from Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas – 1977) – “When the River Meets the Sea”

Neil Young – “Down By The River”

R.E.M. – “Cuyahoga”

Enya – “Orinoco Flow”

The Melodians – “Rivers of Babylon”

Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint – “The River in Reverse”

Pixies – “River Euphrates”

Ike and Tina Turner – “Proud Mary”

Randy Newman – “Burn On”

Jimmy Cliff – “Many Rivers To Cross”

Bruce Springsteen – “The River”

Zitany Neil/Soukous Stars – “Marcory Gasoil”

Talking Heads – “Take Me To The River”

Here is a link to the whole playlist on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU94rco57ZeyX1sWqgssBjMJjTw11gEgh&si=pluZcqQHX3VZYmVi

And here is a version of it on Spotify:

Parsons Playlists: Oldies But Goodies

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Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Marissa (class of 2025) and features a collection of oldies.

Oldies But Goodies

Looking for some 60s/70s/80s/90s tunes to jam out to with your parents? Or, do you want to explore a different era of music on your own? I’ve gathered together my top picks for an “Oldies but Goodies” vibe.

Elton John – “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”

Billy Joel – “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)”

The Beatles – “Help!”

Fugees – “Killing Me Softly With His Song”

The Monkees – “Daydream Believer”

Edison Lighthouse – “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)”

King Harvest – “Dancing in the Moonlight”

Fleetwood Mac – “Rhiannon”

Queen – “Don’t Stop Me Now”

ABBA – “Voulez Vous”

Glen Campbell – “Southern Nights”

Maxine Nightingale – “Right Back Where We Started From”

Here is a link to the whole playlist on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEPpzeK8v3s09B3ivoIti76W67R2c2j9B&si=IjPb6SdYLo5ICFBT

Parsons Playlists: Autumnal Mellow

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Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library associate Melanie and features some autumnal music.

Autumnal Mellow

It’s the autumnal equinox, which means that fall is officially upon us, so here is a playlist of some mellow tunes that make me think of the fall season.

Justin Hayward – “Forever Autumn”

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – “Autumn in New York”

Ben Folds Five – “Don’t Change Your Plans”

Harry Nilsson – “Everybody’s Talkin'”

Nat King Cole – “Autumn Leaves”

John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman – “Autumn Serenade”

The Neighbourhood – “Sweater Weather”

The White Stripes – “We’re Going To Be Friends”

Vince Guaraldi Trio – “Great Pumpkin Waltz”

girl in red – “We Fell in Love in October”

Billy Joel – “Vienna”

Bob Dylan – “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”

Neil Young – “Harvest Moon”

The Moldy Peaches – “Anyone Else But You”

Carole King – “It’s Too Late”

Sting – “La Belle Dame Sans Regrets”

Paul McCartney – “Calico Skies”

King Harvest – “Dancing in the Moonlight”

Lindisfarne – “Lady Eleanor”

Dee Clark – “Raindrops”

Vince Guaraldi Trio – “Thanksgiving Theme”

Sting – “Soul Cake”

Van Morrison – “Moondance”

The Zombies – “Time of the Season”

Here is a link to the whole playlist on YouTube:

And here it is on Spotify:

Arachnophonia: Live Aid

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Editor’s note: Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question or to additional relevant information from around the web.

Today’s installment of Arachnophonia is by student manager Eliana (class of 2024) and features the Live Aid concert film. Thanks, Eliana!

Live Aid on DVD

Live Aid concert film still

Deemed by many “the greatest show on earth,” Live Aid was, and is still to this day, the largest benefit concert of all time. On July 13th, 1985, the biggest names in Pop and Rock music joined together at both Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia to raise money for the famine that left ⅕ of Ethiopia’s total population without food.

Huge stars including, but not limited to, Queen, Elton John, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, and Sting were all present across the two locations. In total, they raised more than $127 million towards famine relief – almost $330 million by today’s standards.

The four-disc DVD set of the event is available at Parsons Music library. In its case, you’ll see photographs from the concert, as well as a pamphlet that contains the first draft of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,” two pages from the original Live Aid program, and various facts about the significance of the event.

Don’t have a DVD player? Have no fear! At Parsons Music Library, you can check out portable disc drives or visit study spaces with DVD players inside. If you have any questions, someone behind the front desk will always be available to help.

Live Aid dvd set

Parsons Playlists: Halloween 2020

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Welcome to the third installment of Parsons Playlists, back after a hiatus and featuring a Halloween playlist from Music Library Associate, Melanie Armstrong.

Halloween 2020

Melanie says: “Since Halloween 2020 is going to be a bit … different, I – your friendly neighborhood Music Library Associate – made a playlist in that vein.
I’ve left out some of the more obvious Halloween playlist picks (like “Thriller“, or “Spooky“, or “Ghostbusters“), and hope you’ll enjoy this idiosyncratic selection! I’ve included some songs for the Halloween blue moon (the first Halloween blue moon since 1944) among other things.”

Otis Redding – “Trick or Treat”

Billie Eilish – “Bury A Friend”

billie eilish

The Cramps – “I Was A Teenage Werewolf”

Missy Elliott – “Get Ur Freak On”

Missy Elliott - Get Ur Freak On

The Marcels – “Blue Moon”

(This doo-wop version is arguably the most famous version of “Blue Moon”, but it was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934!)

King Harvest – “Dancing in the Moonlight”

blue moon

Electric Light Orchestra – “Strange Magic”

Squirrel Nut Zippers – “Hell”

Vintage Halloween Dance

Van Halen – “Runnin’ With The Devil”
(in tribute to Eddie Van Halen who passed away this month)

Talking Heads – “Psycho Killer”

The Police – “Murder By Numbers”

Halloween dogs

The White Stripes – “Little Ghost”

Louis Armstrong – “The Skeleton in the Closet”

Le Squellette Joyeux

The Divine Comedy – “The Happy Goth”

They Might Be Giants – “Dead”

Groovie Ghoulies – “(She’s My) Vampire Girl”

Black Cat and Jack O'Lantern

Yoko Ono – “Yes, I’m A Witch”

Eels – “My Beloved Monster”

Buffy the Vampire Slayer stake

Billy Joel – “The Stranger”
(a song about masks feels EXTRA appropriate at the moment … plus fun with metaphors!)

R.E.M. – “It’s The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”

And here it all is as a Spotify playlist for you:

Plus here’s a bonus (not available on Spotify) cheese-tacular Halloween artifact from the 1980s featuring the inimitable Tim Curry:

We sincerely hope that everyone has a safe & fun Halloween (despite the particular weirdness of 2020).

jack o lantern

YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU94rco57Zew8nvrzDii5yoNOsWmj69_s

Spider Sounds: Billy Joel

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Editor’s Note: Spider Sounds invites members of the University of Richmond community to share their thoughts about items in the Parsons Music Library’s collection. The links included will take you to the library catalog record for the item in question, or to additional relevant information.
Today’s installment of “Spider Sounds” comes courtesy of Music Library Student worker James (class of 2017) and features a greatest hits compilation from American singer-songwriter & pianist Billy Joel. Thanks, James!

Billy Joel

Greatest Hits Volume 1 and 2

Billy Joel - Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2

If your only experiences with Billy Joel are “Piano Man,” “Uptown Girl,”or maybe “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” — boy, are you missing out. We forgive you, but do yourself a favor and stop by the Parsons Music Library to check out Mr. Joel’s 1985 album, Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II.

Billy Joel performs his first show of his Madison Square Garden residency, on Monday, January 27, 2014, in New York. (Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP)

Billy Joel performs his first show of his Madison Square Garden residency, on Monday, January 27, 2014, in New York. (Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP)

We’re confident you will hear something incredibly thoughtful and provocative in nearly every track, whether it be in the melodies, timelessness, or even social commentary found in the lyrics. The worst thing that could happen would be gaining exposure to one of the most celebrated musicians of our time.

Spider Sounds