An alternative (and occasional) music posting highlighting something out of the ordinary. Perhaps of limited appeal, unconventional, experimental or just far-out ! Call it what you like (or switch it off, if you don't like). 

Space Week - Track 3:
Timeline > Apollo 11 Lands Back on Earth, July 24, 1969

Successfully back to Earth, time to rejoice and celebration. 
A track simply called 'Joy' by Apollo 100. A short lived studio based instrumental group fronted by Tom Parker and some well known session musicians in 1972. This track is a nearly note-for-note version of J.S. Bach's 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' with a modern twist. Someone has put together a great video showing Apollo and the moon landings.
    

Space Week - Track 2:
Timeline July 19th > 

"On Saturday 19th 1969 they were in the moon's gravity and began orbiting in preparation for the landing of the lunar module"

This track isn't about space but does have a very trippy 'flying through space' video of our world. And a futuristic moog synthesizer solo ending. Full Screen recommended: [  ] for Emerson, Lake and Palmer - "From the Beginning" 

Timeline July 20th > "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

An alternative (and occasional) music posting highlighting something out of the ordinary. Perhaps of limited appeal, unconventional, experimental or just far-out ! Call it what you like (or switch it off, if you don't like). 

Space Week - Track 1:
On this day 50 years ago Apollo 11 (Columbia) launched from Cape Kennedy carrying Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin into an initial Earth-orbit in preparation for going to and landing a man on the moon.
The timeline that followed was:
> First Lunar Orbit. July 19.
> Eagle (LEM) Undocks From Columbia. July 20.
> Lunar Landing. July 20.
> First Man on the Moon. July 20, 1969.
> Eagle and Columbia Reconnect. July 21
> Apollo 11 Lands Back on Earth, July 24, 1969
I have deliberately not put any times down as it is very confusing when quoting them due to the time differences between UK and USA. (for example Armstrong's first steps - 9.56 pm EST (was actually 0256 GMT Monday morning in UK - see this link). So history books say July 20th 'First Man on the moon', but July 21st in UK !

Right, enough confusion, here's some lift-off music. Fairly obvious choice I know but I do have a couple more to cover the 8 days of this Apollo mission. Check back in on Friday and next week (24th).
1st: Remember the 21st Century begins in 1968 >>>

The brilliance of Stanley Kubrick and composed by Johann Strauss in 1866, 'The Blue Danube'. 

50 years ago this was the start of an amazing few weeks. Beginning with the released on July 14th, 1969 of the movie 'Easy Rider'.
The soundtrack album would go on to spend 33 weeks in the top 10 of the LP chart in the UK during 1970. Songs and tracks by Steppenwolf, The Band, Jimi Hendrix, The Electric Prunes, Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn and this all time favourite of mine by The Byrds 'Wasn't Born To Follow'. Here's that sequence from the movie: 

Turn up the phasers to 11, on that middle section. Track's only 2 minutes of magic, but you can always play it twice. I usually do !

In a recent BBC4 (re-run) of Top of the Pops: 1979 Big Hits programme, it declared this was the year music went portable. Which refers to 1979 being the year the Sony Walkman came out. Actually transistor radios were portable, so maybe that should read personal stereo, music on the move, was invented. Another misnomer would be that the Walkman was launched in Japan in July 1979, but introduced in the U.S. as the "Sound-About" and in the UK as the "Stowaway" - but this wasn't until 1980. We all know of it's huge success through the 80s, as the word "Walkman" entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1986.
From that same 1979 programme, along with a surprising number of Ska music hits that year, was this brilliant track from Squeeze. A story song by guitarist Chris Difford, based around the 1965 BBC play of the same name. Sung by Glenn Tilbrook the song lacks a chorus as it was felt it would upset the flow of the narrative lyrics. The title is not sung until the final line. 'Up The Junction' - a classic example of the 3-minute pop song.

Did you spot the keyboard player on the left ? A 21 year old Julian 'Jools' Holland. 

Next month we're going into Outer Space.
There's simply loads of 50th anniversary moon landing programmes on the telly - to many to mention. I've got some space music planned of my own - watch this outer space...
Just finished showing this week, so I hope you didn't miss it, Professor Brian Cox's excellent 'The Planets' series. Here's your countdown to lift-off: presenting the title music from that series by Muse. 'The Void' from their 'Simulation Theory' album.

The Summer Solstice is here. So how about dancing the day away ?
Something different coming right up with a choice of two videos for the same piece of music.
Here's the Benny Goodman Band with Benny on sax, the brilliant Gene Krupa on drums and Harry James on trumpet ...recorded in the 1930s. So "Sing, Sing, Sing (with a swing)' written by Louis Prima > with dance steps by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (top) or a clip from the 1993 film 'Swing Kids' at (2). Your choice...

Somehow it's been a long time since we had a female vocal on the Friday Music Spot.
Putting that to rights, here's sisters Martie and Emily Erwin with lead singer Natalie Maines, three birds/gals collectively known as the Dixie Chicks.
The group caused quite a stir in 2003*, with their remarks about the Iraq war and President Bush coming from Texas.
This song pre-dates all the furore. A 'live' concert version of 'Cowboy Take Me Away', with some wonderful steel guitar in there and fiddle solos from Martie.

*2003 Massive political firestorm >>> link

It's great when every now and then this happens:
Walking through a street market at the weekend I hear music coming from the vicinity of one of the many second hand shops nearby. I move closer and then go inside to discover a tiny box size Bose speaker picking up music from an ipad. The play panel reads: Madrugada: 'Electric' from 'Industrial Silence'.
None the wiser (other than how much I liked what I was hearing) I investigated Madrugada. (pronounced Ma-dru-gada) They are a Norwegian alternative rock band. The track is from their first album released in 1999. They split in 2008, but have just reformed for a European tour.
They've been described as a band noted for it's barebones blues-inspired alt-rock. 
And a comment posted on YouTube says "Lost Leonard Cohen - but, found Madrugada".

I've listened to little else since... therefore here's some further listening:
'Quite Emotional' Floyd like + bluesy end > www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5k8v2Cln3s
'Vocal' > www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVJrbJm8X_M
Plus a 'live' view of vocalist Sivert Høyem - 'Majesty' (live at Acropolis) apparently they're huge in Greece > www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P4n6wITFYo 

⥤ Can't let this go without joking that these Norwegian entries are definitely no 'European Song Contest' 'nul points'. (check link) 

This is outrageous > nearly 10 minutes worth of pure guitar wizardry...

All styles covered: Light and shade(s), the Shadows, tapping, mid section like The Who, rambling on, rhythm section interplay, it's all there.

This is Joe Satriani - 'Always with Me, Always with You' > fantastic !