Cancon Thursday - Tommy

Happy Thursday.

Happy Cancon Thursday!

Going to keep this quick because, well, just because.

Last week, Ralph shared her latest mega awesome pop song with us, "Tommy."  I'm going to share it with you. If you're a regular reader here, you'll know that I'm a big big fan of Ralph. She's incredible and she's Canadian, from just down the highway in Toronto. I love her voice and her whole vibe. 

Ralph is just generally wonderful, in my opinion. I hope you dig this. The song is really catchy and the video is FAB-U-LOUS!!

Enjoy kiddos!! Stay home, stay well, stay safe xo

Now I dream about Tommy

I can't even focus 'cause he's got his hands on me

Never had my number, but I'm mad he didn't call me

Should said it to your face, but you got away

Tommy, do you want me?

Because It's Tuesday - week of September 8

This week, because it's Tuesday, I'm sharing my favourite pop song of the summer, which just happens to be a cover.   

If you read my posts with any regularity, you'll know that for a couple of years now, I've had a pretty big girl crush on Ralph. The Toronto singer-songwriter released today's cover song back in July and it's just about the perfect summer song. One of those perfectly poppy songs you want to play when you're driving around with the volume on the stereo way UP and the car windows DOWN!

How this girl isn't a massive star already I'll never know. I just love every single one of her songs, each release gets better and better. She's got a great voice and I think she's fab!!

As always, Ralph has released a super cute video too.... I know that summer is technically over but we can hold onto it for a little while longer. I hope you enjoy this cover of  Jennifer Paige's 1998 hit "Crush" as much as I do!!

Don't forget to wear your mask and wash your hands kittens xo

I see you blowin' me a kiss

It doesn't take a scientist

To understand what's going on, baby

If you see something in my eye

Let's not overanalyze

Don't go too deep with it, baby

Cancon Thursday - Superbloom

The world sure seems like a scary place at the moment.

I've actually made myself limit the amount of news I'm reading / listening to because it's making my anxiety go bananas. Part of it is that it makes me think of Stephen King's great book, The Stand. For those of you who haven't read it, it's a classic story of good vs evil. The battle between the two sides happens after a deadly virus is released from a government lab and most of the folks on the planet die. There is a lot of detail about how the thing spread in the first part of the book and I can't help but compare that story to what's going on with COVID-19 right now.

So, for today's Cancon song, I'm sharing a perfectly lovely pop song by one of my favourite artists, Ralph. She recently released it on her new label, Rich Man Records. It's a song about optimism, we could use a little bit of that right now. Hope you enjoy it, it's a fucking fantastic song (in my opinion anyway). It's a toe-tapper for sure and has some pretty amazing 80's style horns so what's not to love?

Stay strong folks, this too shall pass, right? xo

Maybe the rain will pass soon

And leave us with a superbloom

Baby, I know it's been a rough June

I hope we make it to our superbloom

Cancon Thursday - Looking For You

How are you coping with this lovely January weather we're experiencing in November?  I normally don't hate winter at all.  I enjoy the cool temperature and the brightness of snow but this sudden deep freeze when I haven't even finished raking my leaves yet is annoying. Also, pretty sure that that cold snapped something in my vehicle so it's in the shop.  Not a lot of fun.

Not all is bad though. I may have found something which will help thaw you out for a little while. It's Thursday so I'm sharing a Canadian song with you.  Once again, it's by my girl Ralph.  I'm not a huge fan of this genre but I love her voice and think her writing is fantastic. I haven't heard a song of hers yet that I didn't like and I've almost worn out her "Good Girl" CD listening to it in my vehicle. 

She's got a new EP out this week, "Flashbacks and Fantasies." It contains three songs she'd released recently (No Muss No Fuss, Gravity and Last Time) and three new ones.  I'm sharing the video for "Looking For  You" today.

As always, the video is beautiful. The song is sweet and clever. The video ending will have you on the edge of your seat. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did xo

let them kiss me cuz I'm bored

passing time until I'm yours

am I blind? 

when will I find you?

Not Guilty Just Pleasure - Gravity

It's another steamy day here in South Eastern Ontario.  It really feels like summer finally so I'll not complain about the heat or humidity.

As luck would have it, Ralph (you know how much I love this girl!!) released a new song this week, just in time for summer.  It's a great song to dance around your deck / yard / kitchen to.  It's called Gravity and she's also got a really cute animated video out too (see below).

It's really a fantastic summer song!

So yeah, my not guilty just pleasure pick for this week is Ralph's "Gravity."  I hope you enjoy it as much I am.

Happy weekend lovelies xo

Didn't think I was ready for love again
Every time I fall I get my heart broken
But you then make me rethink everything
This feeling you created it's also complicated

Not Guilty Just Pleasure - Cereal

We made it to Friday folks.

Can you even believe it?

We got through extreme cold, fairly mild, super icy and lots of snow.

Good job!!

Speaking of good job, Ralph does a very very good job at making songs I like. 

I know that I'm writing about her a fair bit recently but I'm enjoying her stuff a lot so I feel like sharing.  If you don't like her, well there is nothing I can do about that, you'll have to come back another day and see what non-Ralph songs I share next week... I'm probably not going to stop sharing her stuff though, it's my blog and I can talk about whatever songs I like, right?  I think she has such a beautiful voice and it's nice to hear it in a stripped down version of one of her tunes.

Yesterday, a new video for her song "Cereal" was posted (it was filmed while she was in the UK last October by the Mahogany folks).  The video is really pretty, the sound is fantastic.  I just love this girl, you should check her out. Oh yeah, she's Canadian too... so she knows how to handle some cold weather just like you do!!

Happy Friday kiddos xo

Not Guilty, Just Pleasure - Tables Have Turned

Holy crap on a stick it's cold out there today.

Like really ridiculously cold, I'm not complaining, just saying.

I have lots of warm clothes, good boots, a roasty toasty house, a car that runs, not really in any danger when the temperatures drop.  It's a worry though, when I think about folks who are actually out in this weather, without all of the stuff I have.  It can be actually dangerous, I hope everyone is staying safe.  We've been pretty spoiled so far this winter, very little snow, mild temperatures, we were due for this but it's still a little bit worrying.

So it's Friday again.  As you know, on Friday's I post a song I like, just because I want to.  For those of you who use Spotify, you will know that at the end of the year, they send you a list of the songs you listened to the most during the previous 12 months.  I think that the list is generated in order of what got the most plays by you.

I was a little bit surprised to see that my most played song this year was "Tables Have Turned" by Ralph.  I actually think Ralph is just the bees knees and I love that particular song (I would say it's my favourite of hers).  So, in honour of that, I'm going to share it here today.  She dropped a video for it just before the holidays and it's pretty cute.  Once again, I'll suggest that you dance around (try her choreography out!) to warm your booty!! xo

Not Guilty, Just Pleasure - Long Distance Lover

It just occurred to me that this week's posts have almost exclusively (except for Tuesday) featured Canadian women.  Yay! Canadian women rock, or folk or pop or punk or whatever they want... they do it well and I love them for it.  Yay!!

Once again I'm sharing a Ralph video with you.  She recently released "A Good Girl" (which I think is taken from my favourite song of hers, "Tables have turned" - "September we met / I could tell by your smile /  You hadn't been with / A good girl like me in awhile").

The song I'm sharing with you today has a super fun video.  "Long Distance Lover" is a song about negotiations and compromises.  It's a song from her new album and it looks like it's streaming everywhere so you can give it a listen wherever you stream (of course you could also go to the record store and buy it too - not judging, just saying).  The video shows an eclectic group of people participating in a speed dating event.  I really enjoyed it, I love her voice, it's just a bit of fun. 

Hope you think it's fun too.  It's a super hum-able song to start the weekend off with.

Enjoy kiddies xo

Not Guilty, Just Pleasure - September Fades

A few weeks ago, I started seeing things promoting songs by Ralph.

I love Ralph.  I used to subscribe to his beautiful zine back in the 1990's and enjoyed his jazz / beat poetry records.  Ralph Alphonso is a fantastic, creative, lovely person and I was so excited to learn that he had a new record out.

I clicked through on a link to a song by Ralph and was pretty surprised.  I saw a photo of a cute, blonde, 20 something woman.  My first instinct was to just ignore it and go listen to "I Love you Baby, but you gotta stop wearing those ugly shoes."  Instead I listened to a song called "Tables Have Turned" by this feminine Ralph.  I was surprised by how much I like it.  She had a fantastic voice and when I read her bio, I discovered that she was a Toronto gal and that she had a new album coming out soon.

As you know if you read my blog regularly, I'm a sucker for a good pop song.  I'm not ashamed to admit that either.  Ralph's got plenty of excellent pop songs.   She's not over produced like some folks, in fact, I heard a couple of acoustic versions of her songs and they are absolutely lovely.  I found out that she's coming to Kingston later in the year (in December at the Mansion) so I grabbed some tickets.  I'm looking forward to seeing her perform. 

In the meantime, I'll be happy to listen to fun songs in my headphones while I'm busy at work.  She also gives great video.  Don't believe me?  Check out her video for "September Fades" and let me know what you think about this "new to me" artist and the video xo