Proof through the Night

April 3, 2012 By Caleb Shively Leave a Comment

This blog likes us some National Anthems. So when a shaky acoustic version one happens before a championship game, well, we are gonna take notice…

Let’s just leave it to the professionals, aka KIDS (from NBA all-star weekend earlier this year):

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Anthony Davis, CBS Sports, Coach Calipari, Kentucky Wildcats, National Anthem, National Anthem Flubs, NCAA championships, Oh Say Can You See, The Fray, Thomas Robinson

Actors Acting Like Singers or Singers Singing Like Actors

February 26, 2012 By Caleb Shively Leave a Comment

Over yonder at the Shore Fire facebook page, we asked for some examples of actors crossing over into music. There were the familiar answers (we mentioned the immortal “Party All the Time” from Eddie Murphy), current talk of the town answers (Zooey Deschanel from She & Him and ‘Your Highness’), and “Right!? He’s so cool” answers (Steve Martin).

There were some actors mentioned that I either completely forgot about who tried their hand at music, or had no idea that they would ever consider music as a career. Here is some of the favorites I found:

Joe Pesci: First- He has hair here. C’mon Joe. Be yourself. Get into your music. Second- He raps. I. Can’t. Even. Here:

Bruce Willis: Did we, as a society, let Bruce Willis’ ego get so big that we just let him do things as this?:

Kathlen ‘Bird’ York: Not a splashy celebrity name, so this one had me intrigued. She’s all over the map appearing in a bunch of TV Shows (The West Wing), but more known for her music  as Bird York. The two paths met when in 2004, she was cast in and wrote a song for ‘Crash’, which the song  and the movie both got an Oscar nomination (the movie winning):

Jaime Foxx: I know Jaime Foxx. He’s had some pretty sick songs. Right after he won an Oscar for Ray (but was better in ‘Collateral Damage’), but his singing skills are legit. Twista’s Slow Jamz?! And this hook from ‘Gold Digger’:

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Bruce Willis, Jaime Foxx, Joe Pesci, Kathlen Bird York, The Return of Bruno

Shore Fire Holiday Party at the Hi-Fi, part deux

December 7, 2011 By Caleb Shively Leave a Comment

Here are more pictures from our Holiday party.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Hi Fi bar, Holiday Party, shore fire

Shore Fire Holiday Party at the Hi-Fi, part 1

December 7, 2011 By Caleb Shively Leave a Comment

Last night, Shore Fire trekked all the way to Manhattan’s Lower East Side to celebrate the Holidays. Good Friends, “El DJ”, an open bar, and Bhi Bhiman made for a  very memorable night. Special thanks to the Hi Fi for hosting us.

If you see yourself in the below pictures, leave us a comment! Check back for more pictures later today.

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Tagged With: Bhi Bhiman, Hi Fi Bar Manhattan, Holiday Party, shore fire

Win Prizes from the Shore Fire Vault

November 10, 2011 By Caleb Shively Leave a Comment

Shore Fire has collected hundreds and hundreds of CDs, DVDs, Vinyl Records, and miscellaneous swag over the years. Instead of letting it sit there, we are giving it away!

Every Friday, check out our Facebook page for our “From The Vault Friday”. We give away a prize to a random fan each week. All you need to do is ‘like’ our page and answer the weekly question. That easy!

We’ve given away vinyl records from Nick Lowe, box sets from Johnny Cash, countless CDs, DVDS, and we’re always finding new treasures in the depths of our vault (re: stock room).

Be sure to check us out on Facebook every Friday. Here is a preview of what will be given away for the next couple of weeks:


Butch Walker and the Black Widows - "I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart"

Nick Lowe Magical Playing Cards

*Not Available In Stores*

Let Them Know: The Story of Youth Brigade and BYO Records

Genesis "The Video Show"

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Contest, Giveaway, Prize

Hulk Hogan and the Impact of the Wrestling Entrance Theme

August 11, 2011 By Caleb Shively Leave a Comment

Today is Hulk Hogan’s birthday. Let’s just pause and reflect on that for a second…. Good? OK.

I used to love wrestling, and still feel a twinge of nostalgia for it every so often. So during my time reflecting on the Hulkster’s birthday, I remembered a really great piece by Bill Simmons’ on Grantland on wrestler’s entrance themes. In the article (a must-read for any wrestling fan, or former wrestling fan), Simmons gives credit to Hogan’s entrance “I Am A Real American” as ushering in original songs for wrestlers to walk to the ring to.

The song was written by Rick Derringer, a former member of The McCoys (“Hang on Sloopy”) and one time affiliate of Edgar Winte, Steely Dan, Todd Rundgren, and he also opened for Led Zeppelin on their last American tour. I didn’t know that because “I am a Real American” totally obscures Derringer’s career by being absolutely amazing.

Not only is this song associated with arguably the greatest wrestler ever,  it also holds its place in pop culture lore, thanks to these other American Heroes.

Beavis and Butthead embody the American Spirit of sitting down and watching TV to make fun of it (NSFW language):

Our current American Hero, Kenny Powers, made his triumphant return to baseball with the song (again NSFW language):

And finally, adding some much needed clout to this blog post, President Obama came out to the song during the 2011 White House Correspondent’s dinner:

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Barack Obama, Beavis and Butthead, Eastbound and Down, Hulk Hogan, I Am A Real American, Kenny Powers, President Obama, Real American, Rick Derringer, The McCoys, wrestling themes, WWF

The All-Singing Meryl Streep Birthday Tribute

June 22, 2011 By Caleb Shively Leave a Comment

Happy 62nd Birthday Meryl Streep!

I know she is an obvious choice for a favorite actress, but she is also the correct choice for a favorite actress. “Graciously Amazing” is how I would describe her. She is so talented of an actress, that it kind of is a footnote of how great a singer she is. Very soft, lulling, and lovely voice that can grow powerful unexpectedly. So in honor of Meryl Streep’s birthday, here’s your guide to Meryl Streep singing in the movies:

-”Mama Mia”: She actually reached the Portuguese pop charts at #8 and received a Grammy nomination for her work in the Abba-musical

-”Postcards from The Edge”: She also gets points in this movie for covering Ray Charles “You Don’t Know Me” while rocking a denim jacket

-”A Praire Home Companion” – Starting around the 2:20 mark of this video– watch out.

-”Silkwood” -  Just a link here because her singing happens at the very end of the movie, so SPOILER! (This is one of her Oscar nominated movies, so best just to go watch the whole thing).

Upon writing this post, I learned she is a classically trained vocalist (makes sense), she had extensive stage work, which included musicals, before her film career (makes even more sense), and that there is a song in ‘Fame’ titled “Think of Meryl Streep”. And since I’m talking about Meryl Streep and music, I should mention “Music of the Heart” which I have never seen but know it exists through Meryl and through Nsync (probably why I don’t want to see it).

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: birthday, Mama Mia, Meryl Streep, Postcards from The Edge, Silkwood

The Beatles Frontman George Michael

May 9, 2011 By Caleb Shively Leave a Comment

I remember being a teenager. It wasn’t that long ago. So I didn’t think I would agree with much on the “I Hate Young People” blog.

But, alas. In the following video, teenagers in New York are asked really basic questions about The Beatles (What is the Fab Four? Can you name any Beatles song?) to disappointing results:

I get that if teens only listen to a certain genre of music, they aren’t going to go far outside that genre. But C’MON!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: I Hate Young People, The Beatles, Young People

Pioneers of Video Game Music

April 18, 2011 By Caleb Shively Leave a Comment

With last week’s announcement that video game soundtracks are now eligible alongside FIlm and Television soundtracks in the Visual Media categories for Grammy Awards, I couldn’t help but think of my all-time favorite video game soundtrack. Now I am actually a horrible video game player (save for NBA Jam), and will admit there are literally thousands of video games I haven’t played let alone listened to. Of all the games I’ve played, this soundtrack is hands down the best I’ve come across: KATAMARI DAMACY.

For those unfamiliar- the plot to Katamari Damacy is rolling a ball that gathers whatever it rolls over so the ball gets insanely bigger. Yeah. You just roll a ball over desks, chairs, and eventually over people, towns, bridges… it’s really addicting and the music helps the gameplay maintain a giddy charm:

The music ranges from heavy jazz to samba to techno-lounge transfusion; but you can just file it under ‘experimental’. The music has become so popular that five albums are available as well as a tribute album. The game has one its share of industry awards, as well as garnering a BAFTA nomination in 2005.

I still am not that great at playing this game, but my failing has led to maximum exposure of a lot of these songs. It’s still a testament to how off-the-wall catchy and quirky the soundtrack is that even when I think of my failures, I still have a smile on my face

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Grammy, katamari damacy, video games
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