Music Elvis

If you were to publicly perform or record “Happy Birthday” or “Danny Boy” you would owe someone some money. Maybe. It’s a little unclear.

According to Wikipedia, the melody of “Happy Birthday to You” was written in Louisville, Kentucky by sisters and teachers; Patty Hill and Mildred J. Hill in 1893.

You could just imagine the very morning they in greeted their classroom to a little tune entitled “Good Morning to All”. Sadly, we don’t know who wrote the lyrics to the song as we know it today, and so, the the heirs of the lyricist missing in action will never see their due!

The version as we know it was copyrighted in 1935 and was purchased by Warner Chappell in 1990 for US$15 million! With the value of “Happy Birthday” estimated at US $5 million, some musician and his/her heirs definitely missed out on a nice check.

While the current copyright status of the song is unclear, Warner claims that unauthorized public performances of the song are technically illegal unless royalties are paid to it.

In contrast, the mystery of the well known song Danny Boy has indeed been solved. Or has it? A very interesting read by Michael Robinson who reveals that the song Danny Boy is one of over 100 songs composed to the same tune.

According to Wikipedia, the root of the tune Danny Boy begins with a song titled Londonderry Air. Should Londonderry Air be the melody that carries over 100 songs, surely we should be giving huge credit to its composer. Unfortunately, this great melody and its original composer is still shrouded in a cloud of mystery.

What is known for certain, is that the lyrics of Danny Boy were originally written for a different tune in 1910 by an English lawyer, Frederick Weatherly. It’s interesting to note that that the songwriter never actually visited Ireland, yet the tune would become a national anthem for the Irish.

Weatherly modified the lyrics to fit Londonderry Air’s melody in 1913. The English lawyer saw fit to give the tune to an Opera singer by the name of Elsie Griffen, and later to a British Shakspearean actress by the name of Ellen Terry. And so Danny Boy was in the midst of becoming a legend.

From Opera, to an actress’ requiem, the song endures the test of time with musical icons of every genre keeping Danny Boy alive including one of the master originators of rock-n-roll, Elvis Presley, the great jazz pianist Bill Evans and the pop culture diva Sinéad O’Connor.

One great thing about this tune, if you were to record it, you wouldn’t owe anyone a dime. It’s one of the great tunes that is in the Public Domain.

One has to wonder if Warner Chappel purchased Happy Birthday for 15 million, how much they would have shelled out for Danny Boy? The lost heirs of the musician who composed Londonderry Air, stand to be very proud of their musical heritage because it is indeed a great song, one which is loved by millions.

Concert ticket stubs are excellent collectible items. Items like show flyers, handbills, and movie posters, football programs and other rock memorabilia, especially are old concert tickets are colorful, fun and reminders of musical milestones in our culture. Some people like to paste them into scrapbooks as memory anchors of a favorite concert. Others throw concert tickets away as soon as the show is over. Of course both approaches help to establish the rarity of the concert ticket collectible and of course its price.

How is the concert ticket stub market? How much would you be willing to pay for a 20 year-old ticket stub from a concert by your favorite rock star? This of course is one of the key things that determines the price of those used concert tickets

Like all rare cultural artifacts, the popularity and scarcity of concert ticket stubs will impact the price. Who is the artiste? How often did they tour and how big were their audiences? Concert tickets for the ‘Hall of Famers’ such as The Beatles, The Mammas and Pappas, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, are highly prized. Concert tickets for the sound track of the baby boomer generation are rare treasures that can only gain in value with time.

All those baby boomers should be advising their concert ticket buying offspring to put the present day tickets in their own scrapbooks and memory boxes. For sure they will want to look back on and pay for Green Day or Shania Twain concert ticket stubs in 20 years time.

Of course the way the modern youngster acquires their concert tickets could not be more different from that of their parents. The Internet has revolutionized the concert ticket buying process as it has revolutionized so much else. No more sleeping bags and tents for overnight stays to be sure of first place in the queue at the box office. Live music fans these days have the whole world of concert tickets on offer at numerous online concert ticket sites.

In terms of concert ticket collectibles some key factors are. How old is the concert ticket? The earlier in the artist’s career the more desirable the ticket is. Everybody wants to be able to say they were there at the beginning.

What is the condition of the concert ticket? Is it faded to illegibility, stained or crumpled? Are the corners sharp or rounded? Does the back of the concert ticket have sticky residue from being pulled from a scrapbook? Has the ticket been written on? An autograph is good but a love note to your ex is not.

Sometimes the venue for the concert ticket can determine the price. Tickets from events at CBGBs, The Fillmore or The Whisky A Go Go can bring something extra to shows by the same artist in the same year at lesser locations or even larger arena type venues.

“Picture” concert tickets are better than pure texts. These are tickets that show a likeness of the artiste or the venue on the front of the ticket. These are more common in Europe but there is a famous one of Woodstock in 1969.

As everyone knows, while having a computer at home can be very useful, interesting, and fun, it’s only when you have internet connection that your computer really shines. An Internet connection gives you access to news, information, encyclopedias, social networks, jobs, and of course, games. If you have children and would like to give them something fun and safe to play with, why don’t you try letting them play with some dress up games? They’re free and widely available.

Children of both genders can enjoy these games. Girls will prefer characters such as Hanna Montana, or even Japanese ones, like Sakura Card Captors. On the other hand, boys tend to be more interested in the Power Rangers or the Dragon Ball characters. There are even games that appeal to both boys and girls. These games feature famous characters from popular shows, such as Drake and Josh, or Zack and Cody. For parents who want a more educating experience for their children, there are some games that involve a bit of culture, such as dressing a virtual doll with typical attire from a specific region or country. If you’re looking for something a bit more original, you can try those that involve dressing up a pet or animal. Many different dress up games are available online, like anime dress up games, barbie dress up games, bratz dress up games, celebrity games, baby dress up and many others. You can also find games related to cooking, if you don’t like dress up and fashion games. All these dress up and cooking games are usually written in Flash and are completely free, so you can access them with your internet browser.

Of course, who says you can’t play these games yourself? When video games came out, most people thought they were only meant for children, but nowadays people from all ages enjoy them. Maybe one of these games is what you need to distract your mind from day to day monotony. These games are very quick to load and play, so you can easily take a 5 or 10 minute break between a report and an e-mail to have fun changing Elvis Presley’s clothing and instruments, or maybe giving Britney Spears the soul look that you think she desperately needs. And if you have a child, they will help you spend some quality time with him or her. Small children can practice forms, colors and hand to eye coordination, while older ones can pretend they’re stylists or fashion designers, at the same time that they develop their creativity and imagination.

How much does it cost? Nothing, it’s free. But most importantly, it’s safe. Your child will be playing something that doesn’t have anything to do with shooting, killing, or any kind of violence, something very common in today’s video games. There isn’t any sex or risqu? material either. On the other had, you won’t have to give your credit card information over the Internet. With so many expensive and violent games out there, it’s nice to find something fun, safe, and free for you child to play with.