Music of my country

[delfinasu]

All-right-y then. I saw that Fantaverse Top 100 Songs of All Time has a great success. That's why, I hope that this topic, as well, will have several posts.
The idea of this topic is to post some songs, related or not with the world of movies, BUT related to your country.
Some of you are from Australia, New Zealand, Germany, etc., so this can be very interesting.

I am from Romania. Maybe you don't know much more than Nadia Comaneci, Dracula, Hagi, Ceausescu, Ilie Nastase or Ion Tiriac. And perhaps some of you think that Budapest is the capital of Romania. It's Bucharest. BUT that's OK... I'm here to answer almost every question you have regarding Romania.

But let's go back to the title of this topic: Music of my country.

I will begin with several songs by Gheorghe Zamfir, a Romanian pan flute musician who has received 90 golden and platinum disc awards, released over 200 albums and sold over 40 million recordings, according to Wikipedia.

"His first appearance in 1972 as soloist interpreter in a movie soundtrack was in Vladimir Cosma's "Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire" with a very famous and successful melody known all over the world. His music has also been heard on the soundtracks of many Hollywood movies. He was asked by Ennio Morricone to perform the pieces "Childhood Memories" and "Cockeye's Song" for the soundtrack of Sergio Leone's 1984 gangster film Once Upon A Time In America. His music is heard throughout the 1984 film The Karate Kid, and his piece "The Lonely Shepherd", penned by James Last and recorded with the James Last Orchestra, is featured in Quentin Tarantino's film Kill Bill Vol. 1."

Title: Sirba (Featuring Gheorghe Zamfir


Composer(s): Vladimir Cosma
Almum: Le Grand Blond Avec Une Chaussure Noire
Released: 1992
Recorded: 1972

The Lonely Shepherd (Kill Bill Soundtrack) - Gheorghe Zamfir


Once Upon a Time in America (Theme by Ennio Morricone) - Gheorghe Zamfir


If you liked those, I am sure you'll like these as well:

Gheorghe Zamfir, Ciocarlia


The Flight of the Condor (El Condor Pasa) Gheorghe Zamfir playing Pan Flute - this is a song from Peru played with grace by Zamfir.


GHEORGHE ZAMFIR - Love Story


Of course you can find almost every hit-song from '80s-'90s sung by Zamfir, BUT I think these are some of the best.

Next week I'll post other Romanian songs - some of them were international hits, some are unknown to you... You'll see...

...until then, I'm waiting with impatience for your reactions, your songs, your feedback...

Have a nice weekend and pleasant listening

[Shrykespeare]

Some interesting music there, delf. I quite like this idea, though I can't really partake, as "American" music is so broad and far-reaching a thing (and I generally prefer British stuff anyway).

Don't know how you personally feel about some of the music WE'RE posting, but if you'd like to put together a list and perhaps join us at Top 50, please feel free to let me know.

[silversurfer19]

I think I'll get around to this. Although I lived in the UK for a large part of my life, there are a couple of you on here from there already and I have always known quite a bit of NZ music from getting it sent over for birthdays etc from family over here. Now I live here of course I know a lot more, so I'll get around to posting some of my favourites in the near future. And how about the guys from the US post some of the best from their state?

[delfinasu]

Shryke, I really loved and still love your idea with Fantaverse Top 100 Songs of All Time. I've read all your posts and love some songs who were proposed.
Maybe I'll post a list this week, or next week, or I'll send it by e-mail, and if I can help you to build Fantaverse Top 100 Songs of All Time, feel free to decide whatever you want to do with my list...

Meanwhile, I'm waiting for silversurfer19's list of New Zealand songs and also other courageous Fantaverse members.

Off topic
========
BTW SS, NZ is No. 1 country I want to visit. I just love "her" from several photos and movies such as: LOTR trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Water Horse, 10,000 BC, The Lovely Bones, and others.
If I had a "little more" money, I'll visit all the world. I was in Rome, Paris, Corfu Island form Greece (The Blue Lagoon...) and Golden Sands from Bulgaria.
I really want to visit NZ, Tenerife Islands and Palma de Mallorca (with Ibiza) from Spain, Rio de Janeiro (when it's carnival), Machu Picchu from Peru, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, London, Seychelles Islands...

BUT this can make an another good idea of a topic...

[silversurfer19]

If anyone ever does make the big trip over here, let me know as we have a spare room if you need somewhere to crash, and I can also point out a few great destinations to visit.

Okay, just to start you off, here are a few classic NZ acts:









I'll add some more at a later date.

[numbersix]

SS ever hear of NZ act The Dead C?

[silversurfer19]

They were one of the acts on The Flyin Nun label for a while if I remember rightly, they have a couple of decent songs I know, such as Max Harris and Hell Is Now Love, never gotten round to buying a record of theirs but they were a pretty cool Sonic Youth esque band I should seek out more. The first group of videos I showcased were more of the indie rock variety, I'll get into some rockier/ heavier acts later.

[Buscemi]

Is the Numa Numa song Romanian?

[Leestu]

Surfer who was the second song by? I've never heard it before. "Down In Splendour" is a beautiful song that I haven't heard for years.

Here is a catchy song by an indie band from Sydney called Philadelphia Grand Jury. This was their debut single released last year, "Going to the Casino"

[silversurfer19]

The second band are called The Clean, LeeStu. They were a band around in the 80s, probably one of my absolute favourite NZ bands.

[Shrykespeare]

Well, I'll have to re-familiarize myself with the bands who originated in Arizona, but here's one right off the top of my head...

[W]

Music from Indiana:

Michael Jackson

John Cougar Mellencamp

Babyface

Crystal Gayle

Janet Jackson

Jackson Five

David Lee Roth

Axl Rose

Cole Porter

Steve Wariner


...and producer Daryl Simmons.

[Buscemi]

Music culture of Missouri (I'm leaving out Branson for good reason, the only people who like Branson are rednecks and old people, also leaving out Don Johnson's attempt at singing):

Chuck Berry (born in St. Louis)



Eminem (born in Kansas City but more famous as a Detroit, Michigan musician, I included him anyway due to the Kansas City connection)



Nelly (born in Austin, Texas but more famous as a St. Louis musician)



Scott Joplin (born in Texarkana, Texas but more known for his work in Sedalia and St. Louis)


(This was famously covered in The Sting by Marvin Hamlisch. Interestingly enough, Hamlisch later spent some time in the St. Louis area as conductor of the St. Louis Symphony.)

Ike and Tina Turner (began their careers in St. Louis)



Sheryl Crow (born in Kennett)



Pat Metheny (born in Lee's Summit)



Basil Poledouris (born in Kansas City) (composer of films such as Conan The Barbarian, The Blue Lagoon and Red Dawn)



Buddy Baker (born in Springfield) (prolific composer for Disney)



Michael McDonald (born in St. Louis)



Also several rappers (such as Akon, Murphy Lee, Chingy, J-Kwon and Tech N9ne), American Idol winner David Cook, a few rock groups (such as Puddle Of Mudd) and a number of country artists come from Missouri but that's for another time.

[delfinasu]

Great additions, everybody! Lookink forward for other songs...

Is the Numa Numa song Romanian?

YES!

Quoted from Wikipedia:

"Dragostea din tei" (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈdraɡoste̯a din tej]), informally known as "The Numa Numa Song", is the most successful single by the Moldovan pop group O-Zone, sung in Romanian. It shot to the #1 spot on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it remained for 12 weeks between June and early September 2004. It reached number 1 in Germany and stayed there for 14 weeks, number 3 in the United Kingdom and 72 on the U.S. Pop 100, and it was number one for 15 weeks in France. A popular cover of the song was made by Haiducii, which also charted in many countries, especially Italy and Sweden where it topped the singles charts. The original song was made notable in the United States by the viral video of Gary Brolsma dancing to the song, calling it "Numa Numa". In 2008, the song's hook was sampled by T.I. / Rihanna in their hit "Live Your Life", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number 2 in the UK.

O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei


Gary Brolsma - Numa Numa


New Numa - The Return of Gary Brolsma!


Gary was voted #1 Greatest Internet Superstar on March 23, 2007 by VH1 and appeared also on a South Park episode


Alina Puscau (a Super Hot Romanian model, fiancée of Bret Rattner - I think this video is directed by him) was also trying to gain some fame from Dan Balan's hit...
Alina - When You Leave (Numa Numa) (Basshunter Remix) (OFFICIAL VIDEO)


...BUT T.I. And Rihanna's "Live Your Life" - was better known because of The Hangover's trailer


Gary's Numa Three: Crazy Loop! is a lip sync parody of Dan Balan's Crazy Loop


O-Zone - Despre Tine was also a hit, but it's not better known than "Numa Numa"

[Shrykespeare]

And here's some more music from Arizona. Enjoy!