Welcome to today’s Carolaoke Song #26. Today I chose to cover vintage Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita”. I know I’m no Madonna, not even close, but I love this song and I love to sing this song. ESPECIALLY in the car. IN FACT, I still have the original 45 and its original paper jacket it came in as you will see below. I remember I had my learner’s permit and drove downtown to “Mainstream Music” in our 1984 stick-shift Pontiac Phoenix on a beautiful spring day and bought this 45. When I got home, I opened my bedroom windows and proceeded to play this song over and over all day pretending I was Spanish Madonna. The Latin-esque music was what really caught my attention when I heard this song on the radio and I just couldn’t get enough of it. I also kept this record jacket in mind when I needed inspiration for my senior pictures in 1990 which I've also included. So, I guess I always was nuts, living out loud with my heart on my sleeve, trying to find the good in everything weirdo. Although, finding the good in everything in modern times is more of a “Well, hm, let’s try to find some (any) positive aspect of this current shitstorm we’re experiencing” approach. I’m also trying to rebuild that wide-eyed ambitious living out loud with my heart on my sleeve girl who got lost in Life’s fray. I know she’s still in there, it’s just a matter of coaxing her out, little by little by slowly.

Thanks for stopping by today! Please enjoy this homemade scratch track cover of Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita”.

I really needed Sonny & Cher with their trumpets and trombones to shake this funk I’ve been sitting in. I remember bits and pieces of The Sonny & Cher show in the 1970s most of it funny and colorful. You were the shit if you had a Cher doll at the time. I did not have a Cher doll so I was not the shit, but my cousins did! I couldn’t get enough of combing her silky long black hair, all her colorful sparkly outfits, and the fact she could hold a microphone (if I’m not mistaken). Or was that the Marie Osmond doll? They had her and Donnie too. My cousins had all the toys that made you the shit. I was never really into dolls and always pictured that Cher doll as more of an “action figure” but what’s really the difference anyway I suppose. I personally think everyone should get their own action figure.

Please enjoy my scratch track cover of Sonny & Cher’s, “The Beat Goes On” and I hope this week treats you well.

Carolaoke Song #25
The Beat Goes On ~ Sonny & Cher

Today’s Carolaoke tune is Patsy Cline’s “I Fall To Pieces”. I’m outta words today. It was a tough weekend and it took a lot out of me. I plan on chilling out and painting for the rest of the evening.

Keep well and please enjoy Carolaoke Song # 24.

Who’s up for “Freaky Fridays” over here at carolkroll.com? And what does that mean exactly? It’s a wildcard day where I’ll be posting something that will probably be (but not limited to) music or art every week on Fridays. For example, puppets and puppetry would be under the art category so expect a whole bunch of weird shit.

Today’s offering will be in the music category. I’ve been listening to my music on shuffle lately so I don’t keep listening to the same three songs everyday like I tend to do. This is quite a huge step for me since I wasn’t even listening to music with words for the past five years. Mental breakdowns come in all shapes and sizes and that was part of mine. Anyway, shuffle reminded me of this tune I constructed in 2008-2009 and I thought I’d share it for the new installment of “Freaky Fridays”.

This song was constructed inside GarageBand. It was/is my first attempt dabbling in trying to make a Latin-esque tune. Maybe it’s because I’m the product of the 1970s that I cannot get enough of a horn section in songs. I used the musical instruments available inside GarageBand for the “horn section” in this tune and for the life of me, I’m trying to figure out how I did that. I seem to remember GarageBand expansion packs in CD form and hopefully they have digital versions available now. I haven’t investigated yet but I will. I’ve also been back at the piano so perhaps I’ll be brave enough to make my own musical parts. It’s too soon to tell right now. Healing yourself is a very tricky and fragile matter.

Welcome to the first “Freaky Friday”; hope you enjoy one of my own tunes entitled “Your Loss”. Thanks for stopping by! Keep safe and I hope the weekend treats you well.

"Your Loss" - Carol Kroll

Today’s Carolaoke tune is a Sweet Jelly original that I don’t think a lot of people have heard before. I’ve provided the original scratch track that Aaron and I put together in his basement way back in 2003 to hear where/how it started out. I really wanted this to be on the “Jelly Happens” album but we all voted on that matter and it didn’t make it. So why not take that frown and turn it upside down with a “Sweet Jelly Scratch Track Remake” 18 years later! The time is now. This is the way.

The song I chose to remake today from the Sweet Jelly vault is “Keeping It To Myself”. In that same vault there are other songs entitled “Avoiding Confrontation” and “Pretending All The Time” so you can probably see where all this is going. I made the current scratch track using my voice, Garageband and my trusty rusty PSR-195 Yamaha keyboard. This is a scratch track; a rough sketch for professionals who know how to make and record music properly. In no way am I imagining that this is anything *but* a scratch track.

Below, I’ve included the lyrics to this tune for those of you that are into that sort of thing. This was tough, but great therapy engrossing myself inside this tune. Though Sweet Jelly disbanded amicably, it’s a multi-emotional-dimension for me to revisit. I miss making music with those dudes. We had a lot of fun! And there are a lot of songs in that vault that (sadly) remain unheard. Why not change that.

Please enjoy this bit of old with a bit of new!

Sweet Jelly Original "Keeping It To Myself" scratch track 2003

"Keeping It To Myself" 2021 Remake

Keeping It To Myself
Sweet Jelly 2003
Music: A.Johnson
Lyrics: C.Kroll

Verse 1:
You’re just running away
That’s what you always say
But I don’t see it that way-ay
I’m just keeping it to myself!
Feels like I’m saying a lot
Turns out that I’m not
Is that what’s got you so hot?
I’m just keeping it to myself!

Chorus: 1
Keeping it to myself!
Keeping it to myself!
Keeping it to my self-elf-el-elf!

Verse 2:
I watch it all from these eyes
My pair of two little spies
They see all the white lies
But I’m keeping that to myself!
I love to see you get mad
Losing all that you had
And deep down I’m glad
BUT I’m keeping that to myself!

Chorus: 2
Keeping it to myself!
Keeping it to myself!
Keeping it to my self-elf-el-elf!

Verse 3:
Communication’s the key
But how much more do you need?
And why can’t you see-eee
That I’m keeping it to myself!
Someday the anger will show
I’ll be pissed and you’ll know
But for now I’ll just go-o-oh!
And keep it to myself!

Chorus: 3
Keeping it to myself!
Keeping it to myself!
Keeping it to myself!
Keeping it to myself!
Keeping it to myself!
Keeping it to my self-elf-el-elf!