The Regular Friday Post
Rando Lyric: I'm glad that we are different
Last week’s rando lyrics: The lyric, “I found out long ago ” is from the song "Holiday Road”, written and performed by Lindsey Buckingham. It was recorded in 1982 and released in 1983 contemporaneously with the film “National Lampoon’s Vacation”. It was included on the albums, “National Lampoon’s Vacation Original Motion Picture Sound Track” and the 1992 Lindsey Buckingham album “Words and Music [A Retrospective]”. Produced by Lindsey Buckingham and Richard Dashut.
From Wikipedia:
“"Holiday Road" is a 1983 single composed and recorded by American guitarist/singer Lindsey Buckingham. Written for the 1983 film National Lampoon's Vacation, it was also used in the film's sequels National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985), Vegas Vacation (1997) and Vacation (2015). Despite only peaking at number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during its original release, it has since become one of Buckingham's best known songs.[1]”
….
In July 2015, a remastered edition of "Holiday Road" was re-released, both on the Vacation soundtrack album and as a digital download along with "Dancin' Across the USA" from the original National Lampoon's Vacation soundtrack.”
Credit: Wikipedia Links: Single: Holiday Road Album: National Lampoon's Vacation Original Motion Picture Sound Track
See Also: Genius Link Single: Holiday Road
Welcome to The Regular Friday post!
Today’s “A Song To Play” was a result of a photo (that many of you likely recognized) in last week’s “Some Stuff” section:
Yes, that’s the original prop car from the film “Vacation”.
Credit: Reddit
I came across the auction picture on X, made sure it was the same car, and quickly switched the Rando Lyrics that I was going to use last week to this week and inserted a lyric from Lindsey Buckingham’s “Holiday Road”. Mr. Buckingham wrote “Holiday Road” and “Dancin’ Across The USA” for the movie at the request of the director of the “National Lampoon’s Vacation” film, (the late) Harold Ramis, whom you may know as Egon from Ghostbusters:
So…
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Some Stuff:
A listing of Lindsey Buckingham's Guitars and Gear…
Some Links (Ed. - limited to timely links this week from Music Business Worldwide)
More ByteDance News: Easy Ode Music Licensing Clearance Biz
National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) vs Spotify Drama
A Song To Play: “Holiday Road”:
Key of F Major, and it definitely uses them all! The I-IV-V in F Major is F-Bb-C and along with every minor chord, the ii- (gm/gm7), the iii- (am) and the vi- (dm/dm7) the song uses everything but the E diminished (edim), that no one wants to play anyway. Note the “7” chords count as the minors because 7, 9, 11, 13 chords are diatonic chord extensions, but only extensions. So long as the root is diatonic to the key, extensions don’t alter the tonic placement in the key, only the overall sonic tones. So, that’s the music theory for the week…
This is one to learn at a much lower tempo than the listed 188 BPM (that’s damn fast!! - other sites list it as even faster at 193ish) - also the beat may be a little tough to get a handle on at first - Ultimate Guitar shows a 1 2 3&4& strumming pattern - yeah,maybe…
One tricky part when playing along with the YouTube or other original version of the song is the percussive changes on the “Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh” and “Holiday Ro-o-o-o-oad” parts. You kinda have to listen to the beat - it’s all 4/4 common time, but the beat changes from a 1 2 3&4& pattern to the “handclap” sound that’s sorta more of a “- 2 - - &4&” which can be misleading because underneath that seems to be a straight up 1 2 3 4 pattern - which could be the bass - so the song is pretty sonically dense. That’s what I hear anyway, but you won’t go wrong with a straight up 1 2 3 4 pattern at first - then go wild! One thing to note is a kind of off-hand remark in the YouTube video above (“What’s Up With Lindsey Buckingham’s Guitar?!) that Mr. Buckingham fingerpicks - maybe not always, but apparently predominantly I think - and that’s near and dear to my heart because I rarely play with a pick anymore, preferring to fingerpick everything. Anyway…
Have fun!!
Chordify Link: “Holiday Road”
Lyrics Credit: Genius Link: Holiday Road
I found out long ago Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh
It's a long way down the holiday road Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh
Holiday road
Holiday road
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh
Take a ride on the West Coast kick Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh
Holiday road
Holiday road
Holiday road
Holiday road
I found out long ago Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh
It's a long way down the holiday road Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh
Holiday road
Holiday road
Holiday road
Holiday road
The “ME!” Section…..
What I’m Listening2: - “The Lower 25” (I took the 25 songs that were at the bottom of my “Liked Songs” list - I think those were in a temporal order rather than “favorite” order) - 25 playable songs (Note - you may have to go to Ultimate Guitar or Chordify - subscriptions required, but worth it - to find chord charts for them)!
Shameless Self Promotion Section:
My song is out! Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify
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Disclaimer Section
This Substack is free, I receive no compensation of any kind from companies or products I mention (except when you click on one of the links above for my song - then I might make 0.003 cents - yes 3/1000ths of a cent… just sayin…). Some linked or quoted material may be copyrighted by others, and I credit them. I rely on the “Fair Use” doctrine for educational purposes (Link: Fair Use). *I do not use AI for any of the text that’s found here, things I link to (such as some images) might…
-Michael Acoustic
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This Week’s Conversation With Mika, The Cat:
Me: “You look very ladylike when you sit with your feet together…”
Mika: “So do you….“
Cheers and keep playing!!
Michael Acoustic
“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”
I love the tone on his Turner 1-C-LB. Not an in-your-face sound. Very "re-verbery."
And he's a finger-picker!
0.003 cents? You're a professional musician. Congrats 🎸🎸