[Full Cold Moon] -- Our final Flashback of 2012 honors the December Full Cold Moon. It arrived at 5:21 EST this morning (did you see it?). This moon is named for the month in which winter fastens its grip and the nights become long and dark [according to the Farmer's Almanac]. That description, however, is a bit of a misnomer because the December full moon rarely occurs with the solstice, which is the longest night of the year and after which the nights become shorter. In fact, the concurrence of December full moon and Winter Solstice in recent memory occurred on December 21, 1980, December 22, 1999, and December 21, 2010. The next time we have a December full moon occur with the Solstice will be ... December 21, 2094! [Space.com]
If you want to know what lunar tunes I've selected for this week, you can read and hear more after the break.
Flashback #1: "Intense silence | As she walked in the room | Her black robes trailing | Sister of the moon."
Our first Flashback comes from Fleetwood Mac. It was written by Stevie Nicks for the band's 1979 album Tusk, and it was released as the album's fourth single in June 1980. It peaked at #86. When performed live, it can exceed eight minutes. As there is no official music video for the single version of the song, I leave you with one of those epic live performances. Note the 'speaking in tongues' bit of Stevie Nicks' performance which occurs around the six minute mark: you can't understand a single word she is singing there.
Flashback #2: "Screams break the silence | Waking from the dead of night."
Our next Flashback comes from the Prince of Darkness himself: Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy's third solo album was released on December 10, 1980, and it was his first solo effort without Randy Rhoads who had died the previous year in a plane crash. Bark at the Moon peaked at #19 on the Billboard album chart and, so far, it has sold over 3,000,000 copies in the US. The title track is about an ancient mythical beast that terrorizes a small town. The music video, however, shows a scientist accidentally turning himself into a beast.
Flashback #3: "Under blue moon I saw you | So soon you'll take me | Up in your arms | Too late to beg you or cancel it."
Our final Flashback for the December Cold Full Moon comes from the English band, Echo & the Bunnymen. "The Killing Moon" was one of the band's highest charting hits. It reached #9 in the UK Singles Chart and is considered by many to be the band's very best effort, likely due to the combination of strings and moody lyrics. It can be found on the 1984 album, Ocean Rain.
Once again, I remind you that the rule of three applies when doing Flashbacks. As I've made my three offerings, that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the archives. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
And if you are on Twitter, and feel so inclined, please +K my influence in Music on @klout.
I'll see you in seven!
No comments:
Post a Comment