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Jan 7, 2023Liked by Brad Kyle

I also wanted to mention that I enjoyed the Weird Al “magic” gif at the end. You might say it is a “magif”!

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🤣I know...I can't stop laughing at that Weird Al thing! Even when I finally discovered how he did it, it's still hilarious! I've discovered there's a challenge and a value in creative gif-finding!

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Jan 7, 2023Liked by Brad Kyle

And this is what makes you an essential and unique person and your newsletter an essential one to subscribe to and read, and pay for!

It would seem ambitious enough to pick one artist and find acapella versions of their songs. To do so not only with multiple artists, but to adhere to a narrow theme....well, it's nothing short of magical!

If I hadn't told you before, I'm a big fan of acapella groups/troupes whatever they are called. I remember watching the acapella group singing competition TV show that aired about a decade ago called The Sing-Off. Oh, I just reread the piece to check if you mentioned it, and you did! It's music that's even more impressive to watch, as most of the groups work choreography into their songs too.

As a Ben Folds fan, I was thrilled when an all acapella covers album of Ben Folds and BFF (Ben Folds Five) songs was released a while ago. You probably know about it, but if not, here's the playlist link:

https://open.spotify.com/album/7cYXgKYh8Z74yucwjMaVVL?si=HUDKKKN4TD-EN0K7v_8GYg

Oh, as much as I love acapella groups, I couldn't get behind that "Abracadabra" cover/medley by Toxic Audio. I appreciate their improv acapella skills, but this song made me think their group name was aptly chosen. The rest of the playlist picks I thought were excellent! Especially the The Flying Pickets version of "Everything She Does is Magic." And Sixth Wave is a band I knew, but hadn't heard that sublime version of ELO's "Strange Magic." One of my all-time favorite songs.

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Golly, thanks for all the kind words, Steve! The hard-working FR&B staff is out back right now, pounding out a companion piece to this GBE #13! Not at all content (either pronunciation will do) to leave well-enough alone, we're working on a TEN-SONG Prestidigitation Playlist, with all your fave Magic songs we know so well, but ALL COVER VERSIONS! It'll be for all subscribers, too!

So, as a paid subscriber, you have, now, what baseball card collectors might call an insert card---the rare, highly-sought-after game-used jersey card (or Refractor), known as the Exclusive Acapella Edition!

So, to go with the Acapella set, there'll be a Magic, the gathering of covers, coming either Saturday or Sunday morning! For example, we'll have the Cars and Police "magic songs," but we all know those, so carefully-culled (and little-known) covers will be the order of the day!

Thanks for the link! I'm not a big Folds fan, but that's only because I've not heard as much as I'd like from him (my fault). I loved his work on that show, and dug his mix of musical knowledge and acumen, as well as his humor! That's cool that you know so many of the acapella groups featured on the Playlist!

BTW, I've also been a fan of acapella groups, as I've been a member of several choirs, as well as the Capitol City (Austin) Mens Chorus for 5 years! Little known fact as to how that genre of vocal groups came to be:

It seems, in the '30s, former mob boss, Al Capella, loved to sing. Well, it didn't take long for one of his gang to turn state's evidence on him, and when finally cornered, our hero (as you can imagine) sang like a canary, and the jig, as they say, was up. He was caught, too. Ever since that day, that special vocal group genre we love so much has carried the first initial and last name of that cold-blooded gangster. Kinda heart-worming, isn't it? Cheers, and stay tuned, Steve!

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