Tag: Music

Video: Steve Almond’s Toto Takedown

Writer Steve Almond dissects the classic travel tune, Toto’s “Africa.” I’ll never hear the song the same way again. (Via @KelseyTimmerman)


The Grateful Dead: Airplane Book Fodder?

Loved this aside in Joshua Green’s terrific story in The Atlantic about the Grateful Dead’s business prowess:

It can be only a matter of time until Management Secrets of the Grateful Dead or some similar title is flying off the shelves of airport bookstores everywhere.

Turns out the members of the Dead were business visionaries and masters of social networking.

The band knew a little something about travel, too. 


Rock the Favela

Rock the Favela iStockPhoto

In an excerpt from the book "Culture is Our Weapon," Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso explores the power of AfroReggae in Rio

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Men at Work Loses ‘Down Under’ Plagiarism Case

An Australian court has ruled that the flute section in the catchy travel song was lifted from “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree,” another Aussie classic that dates to the 1930s. Frontman Colin Hay has issued an emotional dissenting statement in response. Here’s the song in question:


Interview With Marco Werman: Traveling in Search of the World’s Music

Interview With Marco Werman: Traveling in Search of the World’s Music Photo: Tracy Powell

Jim Benning asks the public broadcasting host about a new show and his love of music from around the globe

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‘They Listen to Me When Things Are Bad’ in Haiti

‘They Listen to Me When Things Are Bad’ in Haiti Photo by Lisa Wixon

Lisa Wixon on the man behind Port-au-Prince's Hotel Oloffson, protest rocker and Vodou priest Richard A. Morse

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R.I.P. Lhasa de Sela

The gifted Mexican-American musician, who sang in Spanish, English and French, succumbed to breast cancer Jan. 1. She was just 37.


Video: Stuck in Newark

Caught in the latest round of security-related airport gridlock, one passenger decides to make the best of things.


Travel Song of the Day: ‘Love Letter to Japan’ by The Bird and the Bee


Interview With Loreena McKennitt: Musical Travel Writing

Jim Benning asks the singer-songwriter about her most powerful travel experiences

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Top Five Songs We Wouldn’t Want to Hear in Space

Top Five Songs We Wouldn’t Want to Hear in Space istockphoto

Thanks to Virgin Galactic, Spandau Ballet could become the first band to perform in space. That got us thinking.

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Travel Song of the Day: ‘Manhattan’ by Kings of Leon


Travel Song of the Day: ‘See the World’ by Gomez


Travel Song of the Day: ‘Man in a Suitcase’ by The Police


Coming Soon: The Robert Johnson Birthplace Museum?

Coming Soon: The Robert Johnson Birthplace Museum? Photo by JMazzolaa via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by JMazzolaa via Flickr (Creative Commons)

Blues travelers, get ready to mark another must-see on your maps of Mississippi. The most mysterious of the famous Delta bluesmen could be getting a pilgrimage spot of his very own, as Copiah County looks to restore his birthplace and childhood home and open it to visitors. The home was identified a few years back, but there was no money for the restoration—now, with a movie about Johnson in the works, local officials see a fundraising opportunity. Here’s hoping they can get it done.


Travel Song of the Day: ‘I Drove All Night’ by Roy Orbison


Travel Song of the Day: ‘Helpless’ by Neil Young


Travel Song of the Day: ‘Looking for Freedom’ by David Hasselhoff


Travel Song of the Day: ‘Lodi’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival


‘United Breaks Guitars’—And Loses Baggage

Dave Carroll, the musician behind the “United Breaks Guitars” protest songs, has been burned by United again. He wound up flying with the carrier from Regina to Denver last week—and, sure enough, he landed in Colorado without his bags. Fool me once ... (Via This Just In)