Duane sent us an article on the Missy Mazzoli world premiere of “Lincoln in the Bardo,” opening at the Metropolitan Opera. The 45-year-old says her entry to opera came through MTV with its eye-popping barrage of splashy, jangling videos. Coincidentally, we have been watching a lot of XITE, one of those free channels that come with a Samsung TV, over at Kevin and Jeanne’s place.
The channel’s slogan is “See Your Music,” and it really fits, as they keep the sound off when we’re there. Janet Jackson, Gary Numan, Electric Light Orchestra, Quiet Riot, and even Kansas videos look operatic without the sound. Kevin says he likes the station because they play a lot of Kool & the Gang and all those Black groups that MTV refused to play back in the day. Not only that, they mix in performances from The Ed Sullivan Show like the Carpenters, Petula Clark, and Pearl Bailey. We had to ask them to turn the sound on for Neil Diamond’s “Holly Holy.” I never thought those videos from the ’80s would live on, but they do in a wonderful way.
I had my teeth cleaned last week, and I had to interrupt Amy, the hygienist, to tell her I liked “Give Me One Reason,” the Tracy Chapman song that was coming out of her tiny Sonos speaker. Got me thinking about the Beach Boys song: “You’re sittin’ in a dentist’s chair. And they’ve got music for you there.” Her playlist was heavy on Fleetwood Mac and Tom Petty, and it all sounded so good. She told me it was a Pandora playlist called “Stevie Nicks Radio.”
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