Do you wake up in the morning, pondering the existential question, “I wonder what Billy Kelly is doing?” Have your kids logged off their remote science classes and poked you with sharp sticks, asking, “When is Billy Kelly recording more children’s music?” Do the neighbors follow you down the street at a socially distanced pace, shouting, “Billy….Kelly….Billy….Kelly?” Of course not. None of those things happen (unless perhaps you’re Mrs. Billy Kelly).
But wait there’s been a Billy Kelly sighting and it didn’t take as long as Hailey’s Comet. The point to my spatial metaphor is that he’s recorded the music to a series of silly science songs called Billy Kelly’s Planetary Promenade. Each song has an accompanying video crafted by Portland media maven Mike Bennett. The large cartoon renderings of the solar system’s main features are currently on view as an installation of Bennett’s artwork on Portland, Oregon’s Mississippi Avenue.
You can purchase the entirety of Billy Kelly’s Planetary Promenade from Amazon (13 songs totalling eight minutes). In the meantime, here’s the orbiting enchilada:
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In his 1997 film “Life Is Beautiful,” Roberto Benigni cannot bear the thought of destroying his son’s innocence and pretends the Holocaust is merely a game being played to silly actors. The title was juxtaposed against the absurdity and horror of the reality of the film’s contents. In a similar fashion Purple Fox and the Heebie-Jeebies are back with their new album, Confidence Volume 1 and its first video “Life Is Good.”
San Francisco’s prime band delivering funk and jazz for preteen listeners, Purple Fox spent their pandemic quarantine contemplating positive family values and individual character traits. Their CD deconstructs the elements of self-worth, from “I Am A Friend” to “I’m Happy With Myself” to album-closer “I Can Do It.” The theme is fleshed-out in the tune, “My Hero Is Me (V.I.P.):
Why, who is your hero?
My hero? Who I look up to? Who I want to be?
Well, my hero is me. No really, I’m always thinking of how
I can be a better person, the best that I can be.
Strive for greatness.
You know, aim for the stars so I can make it over the fence
Purple Fox fits right in with the West Coast groove sound personified by Los Angeles’ Mista Cookie Jar. I would have added Grammy winner Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, but he migrated back to the East Coast in late 2020. Give your kids a funk fix and a shot of righteous self-worth with their latest release.
Confidence Volume 1 is available from Purple Fox and the Heebie-Jeebies’ website, Soundcloud, Amazon, Bandcamp, and Apple Music.
Here is the video for ‘Life Is Good”:
