Lexie's Chain: The Hundred and Fifty Eighth Chain

Hello pals! Welcome to week 158 of #lexieschain. Last week da winner was Bear wot was Ray Charles n Stevie Wonder an Living For The City. Let's see wot we got this week:

@djladylexie
I liked the linky Bear! We keepin it simple and goin wiv  blind artists. Showin that it doesn't matta what music you are into, there is no stopping youif you want to succeed. So, we go wiv Andrea Bocelli and Time to Say Goodbye wot he performed wiv Sarah Brightman, which became the all time best selling single in Germany and topped da charts all ova Europe.

@terenceterrier
Da winnin linky last week woz a songy wiv Ray Charles n Stevie Wonder called “Living For The City” . So for my linky I goes for another songy collaboration - Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney wiv “Ebony and Ivory” Dis be a live vershun at a concert in 2010 Casa Bianca.

@bunnersandharvs
Well dun to dat Bear again for da winning linky last week wid Stevie Wonder's 'Living for The City' wot is a rilly sad song full of anger so wot dus we do wid dis and whur dus it takes us? Is simple is cos all we can do to get on is thru love pals. So dis means we going wid one of our favourite songs by Stevie Wonder on one of our favourite albums 'Songs in the key of life and it's da songy Love is in need of love today. Dis vershun, however, dus be sung by George Michael.... 'Love is in need of love today'. Why you says? Well, just listen to dem lyrics and you knows why we chose it..... 

@claptonterrier
Hello Miss Lexie…last week mr Teddy chose “Living for the City” by Stevie
Wonder….we love that song…..Mr Wonder sings about growing up in “hard time
Mississippi” and that made us think about a very famous film about those times
called “Burning Mississippi” so our link this week is a song from that movie called
“Precious Lord Take My Hand” sung by Mahalia Jackson.

@smcheetham
Well done Bear for last weeks win. I used Ray Charles as my way to find a link this week. One of the artists that Ray was associated with at different parts of his career was that famous curmudgeon Van Morrison they performed together at various times. So which Van Morrison song to choose as there are so many great ones. I have gone for one of his later songs from The Hymns to the Silence album I'm Carrying a Torch so passionate I love it. have good weeks everyone.

@freddie_bt
Two blind musicians singing together, our thoughts turned immediately to Amadou et Mariam the husband and wife from Mali who met when they both studied at Bamako's Institute for the Blind. Mali has a rich cultural heritage thankfully saved, for the moment at least, from destruction by religion. Western "popular" music would be very different if it wasn't for Africa so it is essential to preserve this heritage. Anyway to our linky, even Dad's failing schoolboy French is good enough to hear the political message in this song, Ce n'est pas Bon from Amadou et Mariam.

@skye613
Another Big Congrats to Bear! Great link. Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles have many things in common. The least of which is their shared disability. Both men overcame their blindness to become powerhouses in the music world. Jeff Healey was born with a rare form of cancer that eventually took his life at 41. He lost both his eyes before he was 1. He was 'discovered" at the Toronto blues spot by Albert Colllins & Stevie Ray Vaughn , who  invited him onstage to play with them.

@diamondbertie
Living for the City by Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles was the winning choice of @thisbear. Keeping to the theme of cities my choice is Down Town sung by Petula Clark.

@WOtterface
Moving on from Stevie and Ray, we really struggled with this one. So, we went with a bit of a silly link. Ray and Stevie both are famous for wearing sunglasses so we link to  another famous sunglasses wearer - Bono from U2. However, we didn't want to pick a U2 song and the video for the song we have picked was 'inspired' by a U2 video (aka cheekily stolen) We've gone for Royal Republic and "Tommy Gun".

@maggietkat
Congrats Teddy with the Ray Charles/Stevie Wonder link. Ray Charles was the idol of many musicians including Van Morrison (insert Mom swoon here). Van asked Ray to   record "Crazy Love", and it is truly wonderful. I am giving the link because it brings tears to your eyes. My choice is also looking towards Valentines day, the heart rendering "Moondance". Mom says she had an October Moondance once, and I told her I didn't want to know!

The wonderful "Crazy Love" (not my choice): 

This is my choice for the chain: Moondance (with a number of incredible
musicians!)

http://youtu.be/XsWpQzfGcwc (sorry MAggie I can't get this to work so please click on da linky to hear it pals!) 

And da winner ... as chosen by  .... Bear ...... dus be .............. Freddie wiv Ce n'est pas Bon from Amadou et Mariam! Yay well done ma pal. So dat mean you dus be choosin again ma pal next week.

Ere wot Bear said bowty it: Very hard choice again. Had to listen a few times & have a dance but finally decided to go with Linky No. 6 "Ce n'est pas bon" by Amadou et Mariam. Had heard of them but not actually heard them before. Don't know French but it was still a good sound to bounce around to. *salutes*.

So it's over to you. Email me: lexie at toxicpenguin dot com or DM me on twitter (@dogstoyevsky) wiv your link suggestion followin on from dis one! You has until noon (GMT) 2nd February 2014 (gets it to me by 2pm UK time if poss). Oh sometimes I dus accidentally delete em! Heehee. So good idea to type DO NOT DELETE in the title and dussnt forget to send a linky to da video from You Tube!

Lexie's Chain dus be inspired by da pawsome Radcliffe & Maconie Show wot you can has a listen to on dere website. Follow me @dogstoyevsky or #lexieschain on Twitter to join da fun. Remember anyfink goes! Rock, classical, opera, ballads, punk, reggae - is up to you! Fanx for playin!

Lexie's Chain: The Hundred and Fifty Seventh Chain

Hello pals! Welcome to week 157 of #lexieschain. Last week da winner was Maggie wiv Love Struck Baby by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Let's see wot we got this week:

@WOtterface
Following on from Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'Love Struck Baby'. We did a bit of research and found that Stevie worked on and lent his studio to Bowie for the recording of the "Lets Dance" album so we've picked a Bowie song. Continuing the theme of love, we've chosen "Valentines Day" from the Thin White Duke...

@freddie_bt
Gweat to see SRV win, a musician lauded by critics, public n his peers. Likewise Kevin Ayers universally acknowledged as a fine guitarist n bwilliant song writer, tho wiv little commercial success. A founder member of Soft Machine Ayers like SRV suffered fwom drink n drug dependencies n of our favwite songs by him "Shouting In A Bucket Blues" examines the destructive nature of dependency n its effect on relationships. After Ayers death in 2013 a note was found by his bedside, "You can't shine if you don't burn" an appropriate sentiment for both Kevin Ayers n SRV.

@skye613
Dat Maggie picked a great link last week. Congrats my pal. So many ways to go...Guitars, Southern rock . But my brain waves went straight to the title. " Pride and Joy ". In this day and time we are bombarded by so many influences to be 'this way " or 'that way" . To conform. We just need to have " Pride and Joy " in who we are. My link this week " Born This Way ".

@thisbear
Last link was Stevie Ray Vaughn with "Love Struck Baby". Maggie T. Kat mentioned a connection with Jimi Hendrix so thought about that. Then thought "Stevie Ray Vaughn". Stevie Ray. Stevie & Ray. In 1963 Stevie Wonder released a tribute album to his hero Ray Charles, called "Tribute to Uncle Ray". But let's have the two men together.

@claptonterrier

Hello Miss Lexie…last week Miss Maggie chose a song by Stevie Ray Vaughan which was a cover of a Jimi Hendrix Song. He also covered Mr Hendrix’s song “Little Wing” which was also covered by Sting, once of The Police. So our link this week is “Used to be a Cop” by the Drive-by Truckers….see what I did there?

@smcheetham
Well done Maggie for last week. On looking up Steve Ray Vaughn (I confess I was not familiar with him) I found that one of his best known albums was called Soul to Soul. Well that gave me a link to one of the most influential UK bands that is Soul II Soul who were also ones to get your feet tapping . So that's my link Back to Life by Soul II Soul have jolly weeks everyone.

@terenceterrier
Dese linkies getting far too kompleemeekaytid for a simple soul. Last week da winning linky wot Maggietkat offered woz “Love Struck Baby” but da one on da chainy bloggy woz “Pride and Joy” so I woz confoozed even more. But both by Stevie Ray Vaughn. We haz some vinyl 45’s by a famus singer by name of Vaughan. Most of yoo young whippersnappers wont know who he be so I gives yoo dis short tribute to Frankie Vaughan.

before giving yoo my linky wot be “Cabaret” performed wiv Eric n Ernie. (sorry Terence the linky you sent didn't work normally but I fink I found the right one hopefully!)

@bunnersandharvs
Well dun Miss Maggie fur your eggceptionual wining linky last week Love Stuck Baby. Is a good blooos songy but you know wot? We gots to thinking about wot would happen if you was love struck. Well, we says if you is struck wid love, you is looking for a place to do some loving *giggles* so dat is why our linky dus be 'Love Shack' by The B-52s. Love shaaack dat's wur it's at...

@kelsoterrier
Last week we had Love Struck Baby by Stevie Ray Vaughan. SRV wrote this song about the night that he moved in with his then-wife, Lenny (Lenora Bailey). For my link this week I am, therefore, going to choose Lenny Kravitz with Fly Away. This is because of the Lenny link and the fact that SRV's life was taken far too early as a result of a helicopter crash when he was only 36. Fly away Stevie...

@djladylexie
We bin readin about SRV's addicshun to cocaine and alchyhol and how he managed to beat the addicshun and remained drug and alcohol free for the rest of is life. His last ever appearance was wiv Eric Clapton (among others) when the performed Sweet Home Chicago. He was shortly after killed in a helicopter crash. So our linky dus be drugs and Eric Clapton … what better track then than Cocaine by Old Slowhand. Check out this most awesome live version.

And da winner ... as chosen by  .... Maggie ...... dus be .............. Bear!! Yay well done again Bear!! So dat mean you dus be choosin again ma pal nextt week!

Ere wot Maggie said bowty it: My Heavens! There were too many EXCELLENT links to chose from! I have to say that a Clapton tune is almost guaranteed to be a winner (Mom LOVES her Clapton). However, we decided to go with the Stevie and Ray link. Ray Charles was no stranger to addiction, plus the Wonder penned number is about addiction and trafficking. There should be many chains to investigate with these 2 superstars! Have fun, guys! The Magster

So it's over to you. Email me: lexie at toxicpenguin dot com or DM me on twitter (@dogstoyevsky) wiv your link suggestion followin on from dis one! You has until noon (GMT) 26th January 2014 (gets it to me by 2pm UK time if poss). Oh sometimes I dus accidentally delete em! Heehee. So good idea to type DO NOT DELETE in the title and dussnt forget to send a linky to da video from You Tube!

Lexie's Chain dus be inspired by da pawsome Radcliffe & Maconie Show wot you can has a listen to on dere website. Follow me @dogstoyevsky or #lexieschain on Twitter to join da fun. Remember anyfink goes! Rock, classical, opera, ballads, punk, reggae - is up to you! Fanx for playin!

Lexie's Chain: The Hundred and Fifty Sixth Chain

Hello pals! Welcome to week 156 of #lexieschain. The second chain of 2014 so it still all to play for at dis stage. Welcome to new players, I hope you dus enjoy da game. Any problems, you let me know. 

Last week da winner was Bear with Emilie Autumn and 4 o'clock. Let's see wot we got this week:

@maggietkat
Well done Teddy! I could hear anguish in Emilie Autumn's piece which had me puzzled. Doing research, I found that she has bipolar disorder and realized she had turned her disease into an art form. Of course Emilie has covered the composition "Manic Depression" by another famous bipolar, Jimi Hendrix. Stevie Ray Vaughn cited Hendrix as one of his major influences, and also covered that composition. I would like to offer one of Vaughn's compositions "Love Struck Baby" where you can hear the Hendrix guitar influence on Texas blues. (Vaughn was not bipolar.)

@claptonterrier
Mr Teddy chose a song by Emilie Autumn last week and that made us have a look  at her website….it's called The Asylum…which made us think about madness…a fine song about madness is Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd which is about their former guitar player Syd Barrett who had a complete mental breakdown…and of course we can back-linky to Mr Teddy's choice because Pink Floyd also did a song called See Emily Play! So our link this week is Shine On by the Floyd….

@wotterface
When we looked at the work of Emilie Autumn we were reminded of another pretty lady who often has pink hair. Also, this song has references to time in it. Gwen Stefani - What You Waiting For.

@skye613
Must admit I have been stumped by this weeks great winning linky! Congrats to ThisBear ! But I ask you what is " 4 O'Clock " anyway? It is time and it comes everyday twice! Staying simple . My link this week is "Time Has Come Today".

@bunnersandharvs
So well dun to Dis Bear for da winny last week wid da songy 4 o'clock! We is still going wid da time theme so dis means get your paws ready fur some tapping cos we gonna go wid da songy 'Rock Around The Clock' wid Bill Haly & His Comets.

@kelsoterrier
Ok, so last week's winning link was Emilie Autumn with 4 O'Clock.  Well if it's 4 O'Clock then we all know what that means don't we?  That's right...SCHOOL'S OUT!  So that's my link, School's Out by Mr Alice Cooper.  In the song school's actually out for Summer rather than just the day and since I'm linking to a song by Ms Autumn then the link is very "seasonal" ;-) *bangs head*...

@diamondbertie
@thisbear won last week with 4 O'Clock - Emile Autumn, I wanted to keep the time and clock theme so my Choice is the theme from High Noon, this is the sang by Tex Ritter, this film is time based and the tension gets tighter.

@terenceterrier
Last week Teddy pal @thisbear wons wiv “4 o clock” by Emilie Autumn. I tried to find a linky I really did but there be so many references to 4 in da morning. Da moosic werld littered wiv dem. Take a look see Take ya pick. No idea who any of dem are. Yor guess as good as mine. No tell a lie I did recognise The Everly Brothers in one snippet.

@freddie_bt
We wuz intwigued by Emilie n er original take on music n dat she plays da violin as a solo instrument. Violins often feature in popular music more usually in string sections dat ladle on da syrup fer evwyfing from Demis Roussos to da Verve. Emilie's use of da violin made Dad fink of da first single he bought as dat also used da violin as a lead instrument n wot a single it wuz, written by Noddy Holder n Jim Lea over cocoa in Noddy's Mum's kitchen. Look past da Glam costumes n Slade were a gweat rock band. We are proud to own all da recorded work of Slade n our linky is deir bwilliant 1st no. 1 Coz I Luv You. Slade went on to lighten da gloom of Three Day Week Britain wiv a string of great singles all named usin furs' fonetic spellin.

@djladylexie
Well done for winnin! Emilie Autumn starred in The Devil's Carnival as The Painted Doll. The Devil's Carnival is a short horror film where the death of three individuals lead them to the devil's carnival run by Lucifer, when they are forced to relive their sins of the past. Sadly, those lose the game.

Course, that is not the case for Johnny in the song The Devil Went to Georgia by the Charlie Daniels Band. So dat ma linky! 

And da winner ... as chosen by  .... Bear ...... dus be .............. Maggie!! Yay well done Maggie!

Ere wot Bear said bowty it: A very hard choice! But after much hard thinking & a bit of dance, I am going with Linky No 1. It was an interesting linky reason but also it is a stomping good sound for blowing away the January glooms.

*salutes*

So it's over to you. Email me: lexie at toxicpenguin dot com or DM me on twitter (@dogstoyevsky) wiv your link suggestion followin on from dis one! You has until noon (GMT) 19th January 2014 (gets it to me by 2pm UK time if poss). Oh sometimes I dus accidentally delete em! Heehee. So good idea to type DO NOT DELETE in the title and dussnt forget to send a linky to da video from You Tube!

Lexie's Chain dus be inspired by da pawsome Radcliffe & Maconie Show wot you can has a listen to on dere website. Follow me @dogstoyevsky or #lexieschain on Twitter to join da fun. Remember anyfink goes! Rock, classical, opera, ballads, punk, reggae - is up to you! Fanx for playin!

Lexie's Chain: The Hundred and Fifty Fifth Chain

Hello pals! Welcome to week 155 of #lexieschain. The first chain of 2014 so it all to play for at dis stage. Welcome to new players, I hope you dus enjoy da game. Any problems, you let me know. 

Last week da winner was Harvs with Chicago Transit Aufirtiry and Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is. Let's see wot we got this week:

@maggietkat
Well done Harvey! My choice for a link this week is time. Chicago had a couple time related numbers, "25 or 5 to 4" and "Does anyone Really Know what time it is?". Mom remembers playing CTA numbers in band when in high school and thinking the music quite different to play. An obvious influence for Chicago is jazz as evidenced by the chording, soloing, "big band" instrumentation, and timing. My choice is a pioneering chart written in 5/4 time signature, "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck featuring Paul Desmond on alto sax. Enjoy!

@baxta_man
I noes wat Harvs says bout not knowin wat time it is cause I hopeluss wif time.
My response two Harvs winner bee, "Time is on my side" by da Rollin Stones. It Waz recorded in 1964. Dat bee fiftee yeers ago and bof mee Ma and mee Pa be fiftee dis yeer, Ma on mee birfdaee next week! I not finks day agree wif Mick dat time is on Dere side, life seem to bee goin two quick lee in our hoose at da moment. I dedicate dis entry two mee Ma, youz may be fiftee but youz still me snugglee Ma.

@fuzzybear and @wotterface

The last song in the linky was chicago transit authority's - 'does anybody really know what time it is?' - which made me think of other bands from the town of chicago. one such group is 'the smashing pumpkins', and they have a song called 'tonight tonight' which brings you a bit closer to knowing what time it is!!

@kelsoterrier

Last week we ad Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? by Chicago. If anyone should know what time it is it's a Timelord like Dr Who. Dr Who? Yes, Dr Who :-) A band who should know the time are The Timelords (aka KLF) and this week my link is said Timelords with their fun (but pretty rubbish) number one hit wot be called "Doctorin' the Tardis" Is also apt coz of all the hooha surrounding Dr Who just now.

@thisbear
So the last link was Chicago Transit Authority's 'Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?' 4 o'clock of course - at least according to Emilie Autumn's watch. 

@skye613
Great linky Harvs! When the band now known as Chicago first started out they were known as Chicago Transit Authority. Needless to say the actual Chicago Transit Authority was not amused and issued a " Cease and Desist " order. So this made me think of another situation that did also occur but what was resolved in a different manner. The Postal Service is/was a super group made up of Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie), producer Jimmy Tamborello (of Dntel and Headset) with Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley) on background vocals/keyboards. USPS ( United States Postal Service) also issued a stop order to the band saying that the name was trade marked. . But through negotiations the USPS agreed to allow the band to continue to use the name in exchange for promotional assistance. The Postal Service " Such Great Heights " And we begin the New Year Lexieschain! 

@terenceterrier and @borderpup
Terence: Last linky of 2013 woz won by dear pal @BunnersAndHarvs wiv “Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is” by Chicago Transit Authority. One fur who neva seemed to know da time woz da White Wabbit in Alice In Wonderland. So I gives yoo as my linky “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane.

Borderpup: Well, I started to fink, who is dat band? Oh yes, they shortened their name to Chicago and had lots of hits. So, which other bands have shortened their names and gone on to be successful? We fort of Jefferson Airplane who (alledgedly!) were originally going to be called Blind Lemon Jefferson Airplane. Their first really famuss hit was 'White Rabbit' so guess what? Dat is annuver linky, cos in the Alice in Wonderland books the white rabbit was the wun who was always looking at his watch to see what time it was, cos he was worried about being late!

@smcheetham

Happy 2014 everyone and here's to another year of fun on Lexie's Chain. So looking for a link from Chicago Transit Authority as chosen by Harvey I knew that they had later changed their name to Chicago following issues with the transport company of the same name. That got me thinking about bands who had issues with their name. I know some bands are called different things in Uk and US due to name clashes. That took me to a Manchester band that I have a fondness for who faced that dilemma. it's The Charlatans in the US their name is The Charlatans UK because of a name clash. The link is to probably their best known song North Country Boy enjoy. Thank you.

@freddie_bt
Great winning song, highlighting how people's thoughts & actions are so controlled by the pace of life they forget time and and how life is passing them by. Its a familiar complaint about frenetic modern life, particularly in the city where people don't notice others or even themselves & its a frequent subject of songs. Our linky taps into this too, it is The Kinks Waterloo Sunset, millions of people are too busy to notice the beauty around them or the two lovers meeting, only the solitary observer alone at his window sees the beauty, the lovers & contradiction of loneliness in a crowd.

@diamondbertie
Thinking cap was on and I was looking for a song or music connected with "time and clocks" perhaps time keeping, my choice this week is music from the film Hugo.
A lovely film directed by Martin Scorsese from the book by Brian Selznick called The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Its about an orphan who lives in a Paris railway station keeping the clocks working. He is fascinated by all things clockwork, I wont spoil it for those who have not seen it. I though it was a charming film and the music was perfect.

@djladylexie

Hmm … Well Chicago Transit Aufority. One original member of the band wot later became known just as Chicago was Peter Cetera. He wrote a song Save Me whih was the original feem toon for da tv show Baywatch. Baywatch starred nun uvva than hunk of the day David Hasselhof, nicknamed The Hoff. He was very popular in Germany and had a number one hit in the German pop charts in 1989 called Looking for Freedom. So that is our song Looking for Freedom which also coolly features The Hoff as Michael Knight as The Knightrider!

So, the first winner of 2014 Lexie's Chain .... as chosen by ...... @bunnersandharvs ... dus be ........@thisbear. Yay!! Well done ma pal. So dat mean you be choosin next week.

Ere wot Harvey said bowty it: oH dEr sO mAnY gOoD LiNkiEs hErE LeXiE bUt aFta mUch tHort, wE gOiNg siMpLeS & gOING wiD 4 0'clock cOs iT mAde uS LaRf & wE aLsO tHOrT iS wAs a fUnKEe sOnGy tOo! tHaNkS fUr bEiNG dA hOsTESt wiD dA MosTesSt...oH & cOngRaDtOoLasHuNs oN yOuR wIN fUr dA yEAr! yAy!!  mWaH xx

So it's over to you. Email me: lexie at toxicpenguin dot com or DM me on twitter (@dogstoyevsky) wiv your link suggestion followin on from dis one! You has until noon (GMT) 12th January 2014 (gets it to me by 2pm UK time if poss). Oh sometimes I dus accidentally delete em! Heehee. So good idea to type DO NOT DELETE in the title and dussnt forget to send a linky to da video from You Tube!

Lexie's Chain dus be inspired by da pawsome Radcliffe & Maconie Show wot you can has a listen to on dere website. Follow me @dogstoyevsky or #lexieschain on Twitter to join da fun. Remember anyfink goes! Rock, classical, opera, ballads, punk, reggae - is up to you! Fanx for playin!

Lexie's Chain: Annual Awards 2013

Well pals fanx for all da wonderful chaining you dun over the last 3 years!  We are in year 4 of Lexie's Chain and is all to play for so far seein as we ain't akchewlly ad a game this year yet! So, who was the Chain Champ 2013! Let's see!

Yet annuva great year #lexieschain. I can't fank you all enuff for playin and makin it so much fun!

We had a few mishaps along the way, mainly, deletin entries coz I dus be stoopid  accidentally but there wasa lot less than usual I fink you will agree! We lost one of our best chainers, Tucker, who's mum sadly passed away - Joyce. We were able to contact Joyce's mum and let her know that we all missed them and how much they meant to us. RIP Joyce. We presented Tucker wiv a posthumous award for all their superb linkies wot we gave to Tucker's true love @spriteandfinn.

We had a first on Lexie's Chain. 3 ties for 2nd place! That means, accordin to rules of ranking wot I read on wikipikidi, that there is no 3rd or 4th place! So, the 2nd place winners were:

Tied 2nd Place 

@kelsoterrier, @claptonterrier and @diamondbertie. Yay! Well done pals!

Da Winner!!! 

The Chain Champ of 2013 wiv a fantastic 6 wins! Please pals, put your paws (an hands and err wings and uvva limbs) togeva for our pal:

Freddie (@freddie_bt)

Well that's it! So, who wil be the Chain Champ of 2014? Will it be YOU?! Follow #lexieschain on twitter to play along or follow me @dogstoyevsky! Bye for now.