'Oh Sweet Lorraine': A 96-year-old man's love song for his late wife jumps into the iTunes Top 10

By Grady Smith on Aug 28, 2013 at 2:24PM @gradywsmith

 

 

 

Take a quick look at the Top 10 songs on iTunes today, and you’ll see all the usual suspects: Robin Thicke, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Eminem.

But take a second look, and you may notice a short little lullaby called “Oh Sweet Lorraine” that’s currently the ninth most downloaded song in the country. Where’d it come from?

Well, from an unlikely source: Fred Stobaugh, a 96-year-old Illinois man with no previous musical experience, who lost his wife of 73 years, Lorraine, in April. On a whim, the widower entered a songwriting contest that he saw advertised in a local paper with a love song he’d written for his bride.
Green Shoe Studio, the company running the contest, couldn’t accept his handwritten entry (the competition was digital-only), but they were so touched by his story that they decided to produce his song — and a short documentary about it — anyway. That video, which was posted in July, recently went viral, and the exposure has sent “Oh Sweet Lorraine” soaring up the charts.

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“She was just the prettiest girl I ever saw,” Fred says of meeting Lorraine in 1938. “Real timid-like. I just fell in love with her right there.” The couple married in 1940 and had three children and four grandchildren. They would have celebrated their 73rd anniversary in June. “After she passed away, I was just sitting in the front room one evening by myself, and it just came right to me,” he says of his song. “I just kept humming it and singing it. That’s how I came to write it. It just fit her.”

The resulting song is simple, but that’s the beauty of it. “Oh sweet Lorraine,” the chorus begins, “I wish we could do all the good times over again.” The song continues, “Life only goes around once, but never again.” It’s heartbreaking, it’s beautiful, and it will make you cry. See for yourself in the clip below:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KDi4hBWsvkY

Star Wars Episode VII: Carrie Fisher Confirms Role as Princess Leia

March 17, 2013 | Alisia C. 

 

In a recent interview with Palm Beach Illustrated, Carrie Fisher has confirmed that she'll be reprising her role as Princess Leia in Star Wars Episode VII, to be directed by J.J. Abrams and released some time in 2015.

Although Fisher didn't say much about her Princess Leia role, she did crack a few jokes. When asked what Princess Leia is like today, she responded, "Elderly. She's in an intergalactic old folks' home." When asked if Leia still wears her signature bagel buns hairstyle, Fisher quipped, "The bagel buns and the bikini, because she probably has sundowners syndrome. At sundown, she thinks that she's 20-something. And she puts it on and gets institutionalized."

Although  Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford haven't yet committed to reprising their roles, Mark Hamill did express to Entertainment Weekly that he had lunch with George Lucas to discuss it. Rumor has it that the original cast will be on board for Star Wars Episode VII, but so far the only formal commitment has come from Princess Leia herself, Carrie Fisher.

In her recent interview, Fisher goes on to discuss her personal life, offering anecdotes about her altruistic attitude and battle with addictions. Fisher has been open about her struggle with drug dependency and sobriety, often offering biting commentary and wit in the form of screenplays and novels.

Editor's Note: Since the publication of this article, George Lucas has formally confirmed that Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford have signed on to reprise their roles in the upcoming film.  
Photo: moviehole.net

Mix Music Before Online Radio

Online Radio

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By Michele Kadison


Adult Contemporary music, also called AC, mix music online, or The Mix, is a category of mainstream music geared towards 25 to 54 year olds. The Mix is generally divided into three categories that satisfy sub-groups within this demographic: Soft (or lite) AC, Hot AC, and Urban AC. Individual tracks in streaming music “club mix” radio stations, for example, often overlap between categories, but on-the-air radio as well as Satellite radio stations, cater to each of these four categories, sometimes with overlaps as musical tastes evolve and as artists begin to cross over into multiple formats.

Before Mix Music Online: The Early Days

In the early days of radio, the top 40 was played on AM stations, regardless of what type of music it was, be it ballads, R&B, or more rock oriented styles. In the 1970s music began to become divided according to demographic groups and their preferences. Specialized radio stations began cropping up, playing music specific to various genres. As music and the listening demographic became more diverse, radio programmers had to find creative ways to classify sounds which appealed to maturing age groups. As listeners began to get older and evolve toward the mix music online listeners of todya, their tastes changed, gearing more towards vocal-based music from the 1960s and on. Adult Contemporary music was born out of this need to create a pocket for people looking for softer, less demanding sounds.

The FM dial was the first place to introduce “beautiful” music, which was also called “easy listening.” The FM stations featured popular vocal-based hits from the 60s as well as more current ballads. In 1961, Billboard published an Adult Contemporary music chart, which in 1979 became just plain Adult Contemporary. As the genre evolved, rhythmic dance tracks and teen pop were added, but still maintaining a mainstream feel that stayed away from hard rock, alternative, and hip hop.

The Mix: AC Evolution

After MTV made its debut, Vh3 was born as an Adult Contemporary version of its big brother. During the mid 80s you could see artists on Vh3 that fit into the AC category, which made it very inviting 30 to 40 year olds who did not feel as comfortable with the MTV format. Videos by Alanis Morissette, Hootie & the Blowfish, Melissa Etheridge, Ace of Base were in relatively heavy rotation, rivaling some of the harder rock videos seen on MTV. Eventually, mainstream AC music became infiltrated by artists with strong video exposure like Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Culture Club, Whitney Houston, and Tears for Fears. Additionally there began to be a profusion of artists who crossed over from one genre to another, helping to create what is called The Mix.

The Mix: Adult Contemporary Breakdown

Soft AC

Born in the 1970s and evolving through the 80s, this has been the longest running AC format, and is still popular today. A combination of middle-of-the-road (MOR), easy listening, and soft rock, its appeal is to an older demographic of listeners in mix music online.
Soft AC generally keeps songs in rotation for many years as there is limited listener pressure to expand the format. Lately newer guitar-driven sounds have been added to the classics to create a more diverse mix without compromising Soft AC standards. Some of the artists include Avril Lavigne, 2 Doors Down, The Fray, Hinder, and Fall Out Boy. Added to this are musicians who are considered “cross over”, which includes country artists such as Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flats, and Darius Rucker who are all finding success on both charts.

Hot AC

Hot AC is another area where the balance of music includes sounds from the early 60s to today’s mainstream hits. It seems that each Hot AC station has its own formula for determining format, where some stations include more classics than new mix music online, or visa versa. Today the format can often be harder to define as more and more music falls into “cross over” categories. Still, certain genres remain outside Hot AC programming such as Alternative, which is too far from the taste of mainstream listeners.

Since the 2000s however, Hot AC stations have added R&B as well as hip hop to their play lists. Artists like Akon, Amy Winehouse, Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, Ne-Yo, and the Pussycat Dolls are heard on many of the Hot AC stations, as well as some conventional hard rock bands such as the Goo Goo Dolls, Bon Jovi, and Aerosmith. Dance music artists like Kylie Minogue, Rihanna, Paula Abdul, and Madonna are also part of the mix. Slowly Hot AC is stretching its boundaries by introducing bands like Linkin Park, Third Eye Blind, Pink, and Red Hot Chili Peppers if programmers feel that local listeners are receptive.

Mix Music Online: The Current Phenomenon

The modern Adult Contemporary format is currently in a state of flux as it competes with many top 40 stations. Some AC stations are dropping soft artists in favor of harder sounds. Artists like Daughtry, Nickelback, and Kelly Clarkson are staples on mainstream AC stations, as well as ballad singers like as Josh Groban and Nick Lachey. Because of changing demographics, which alter the standards for an adult format as people age, additional categories are forming to embrace changing tastes. Streaming music “club” mix tracks also create shifts as remixes give a new energy or dimension to old favorites.
Mainstream Adult Contemporary is a format that often gets the highest ratings with listeners aged 24 to 54. Urban and rhythmic AC is geared towards adult African American audiences, where airplay favors R&B, soul, and some hip hop artists. Musicians like Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick, Patti LaBelle, Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, Sade, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Mary J. Blige, and Des’ree are popular in this format among mix music online listeners. Rhythmic AC or “MOViN” features dance music, remixes, R&B, and early hip hop and caters to African American, Hispanic, and white audiences. Here everything from soul and R&B hits featured during the 60s through the 90s, including the Motown sound and disco are in rotation.

A final AC category has emerged in the past years called Quiet Storm. Usually this format is heard from early evening until late at night and features Urban and Soft AC sounds. Whitney Houston, Angela Bofill, Toni Braxton, En Vogue, Johnny Gill, Anita Baker, and Howard Hewett are good examples of artists that fit into this pocket, appealing to an adult demographic of all ethnicities.

Radio programming, whether it is on-air or via satellite, will always be searching for better ways to satisfy listeners’ tastes and expectations. Programming will continue to eliminate and add artists as their popularity ebbs and flows. The one sure thing is that listeners are constantly aging, which creates a constant demand for music that falls in the Adult Contemporary category, whatever songs the format — and any mix music online radio — embraces in the future.