This Record of the Week is a little different. It's a musical love letter to my wife and Disney Girl, performed by the awesome Kelly Ogden and Luis Cabezas - The Dollyrots.
The Dollyrots - Anarchy and Disney
'til our next 26 years
Keep the Adventure Alive,
Pirate Band, Rusty Cutlass, sings a pair of Christmas carols at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Walt Disney World.
A Rusty Cutlass Christmas
'til Pirate Christmas Carols replace all Christmas music by Mariah Carey
Keep the Adventure Alive,
When we were in Orlando in October we headed to Pleasure Island to see what changes had taken place in the last year. We were surprised to see that The Adventurers Club is still standing, and intact, despite the fact that Disney has closed it down.
We couldn't resist taking this picture. I hope it reminds some of you of the good times when this wonderful establishment was still open.
Kungaloosh!
Disney's Adventurers Club at Halloween
'til The Adventurers Club returns
Keep the Adventure Alive,
Here are two more ads for the Disney Star Wars weekends at Walt Disney World.
Disney - Star Wars
'til Chewbacca gets a haircut at the Magic Kingdom Barber Shop
Star Wars weekends at Walt Disney World are now happening. I love these ads that the Disney Yellow Shoes creative team put together to promote the event.
Disney - Star Wars
'til that AT-AT gets a ticket for double parking
The good news is Kim Possible's World Showcase Adventure is doing great at Epcot. The bad news is, Kim and Ron are no longer hanging out at Disney Studios.
Not sure who made this decision, but when we were at Disney World a couple of weeks ago, while checking out our Kimmunicator at Epcot, we asked the Disney cast member about the Kim and Ron meet and greet characters. She told us that Kim and Ron were no longer at the Disney Studios park and if wanted them to come back we needed to talk to guest services. Apparently she'd had the question from a number of people.
Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure Epcot
So, if you'd like to see Kim and Ron return as face characters to Disney World you probably need to let the folks at Disney know. You might want to suggest since the Kim Adventure is at Epcot that they place the characters there. Makes sense to me.
To leave message for the Disney folks go the the Disney World Contact Us Site.
Kim and Ron will thank you.
'til Kim and Ron are roaming Epcot
Keep the Adventure Alive,
Apparently Disney has decided Pleasure Island is no longer the great idea they had envisioned twenty years ago. The strip of nightclubs primarily aimed at the over 21 crowd is targeted for demolition this September.
I have to admit I won't shed a huge tear, except for The Adventurers Club. The name of this blog should give you some clue to that, but it goes far beyond my personal interest.
The Adventurers Club is an incredibly unique experience and doesn't deserve to die. It could be easily relocated to Disney Studios, aka MGM Studios for those of you that haven't been to Disney recently.
There's a petition and letter writing campaign in progress. To help with the campaign visit the petition site or write to:
Walt Disney World Guest Communications
PO Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040
Mr. James A. Rasulo
Chairman
Walt Disney Parks & Resorts
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521-4873
Meg Crofton
President
The Walt Disney World Resort
PO Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
Al Weiss
President
Worldwide Operations
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
PO Box 10000
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
Letters are much better as we saw with the Save Kim Possible campaign, but here are some email addresses:
Kevin Lansberry, Vice President of Operations Downtown Disney
kevin.lansberry@email.disney.com
Since we are in our "Save The Adventurers Club" mode I thought I'd reprint the Kungaloosh recipe. After all you need something to drink while writing all those letters, don't you?
Kungaloosh Recipe
1 cup Daily's Strawberry Daiquiri Mix
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum
1/4 cup blackberry brandy
Toss it in a blender with enough ice to make it slushy.
Drink - Repeat
KUNGALOOSH!
Keep the Adventure Alive,
AT
After our last post where we discussed the state of television and music, I thought I'd delve a little deeper into the state of TV tunes.
We start our series with the two teens from the Disney music machine, Aly and AJ.
Not just a prop. These are the keyboards Aly and AJ play in concert.
To be fair to the Michalka sisters, Aly and AJ aren't really a TV band. They have benefited from their ties to Disney, but unlike Miley Cyrus, their music has been only marginally tied to their television work.
But the big question is, do these girls make good music?
They've been compared to the Wilson Sisters (Heart), which is an interesting comparison. Both acts feature siblings and they have Seattle ties, but musically much of what Aly and AJ has released to this point has very little to do with the music released by Ann and Nancy.
Aly and AJ's latest release, Insomniatic, is composed of a variety of musical styles, but the thing that struck me as I listened to the CD was how well constructed this album is.
Beginning to end it's a strong CD. There's not a clunker here.
Critically the Michalka sisters have been getting great reviews.
In the most recent issue of Billboard, Chuck Eddy writes, "In which the teen princesses of Radio Disney construct an endlessly ambitious yet endlessly effervescent confessional pop-rock breakup album that deserves to carry them far beyond their teen pop base—in the Pat Benatar era, that would've been likely."
Chuck's comment about the Benatar era is well stated. Aly and AJ have done everything they need to move to the next level and expand their music to an audience beyond Radio Disney's tween demographic, but can they do it? Maybe, maybe not. It's a very difficult thing to do. Modern Disney's former musical princess, Hilary Duff, released her latest CD, Dignity, earlier this year. Another relationship album, Dignity is heavily laden with techno dance pop. It's also very biographical, with very pointed lyrics describing the failure of Duff's relationship with former boyfriend, Joel Madden. Despite generally positive reviews and a top twenty leadoff single, Dignity is stalled at the lower half of the Billboard charts with sales in the range of 350,000, to date.
This is the fate Aly and AJ have to overcome. To do that they need to embrace the high school and college level audience. They began this transition by focusing on MTV with the release of Insomniatic, and by depending less on promotion from the Radio Disney family. This promotional push includes a starring role in a direct to DVD film based on MTV's reality series about outrageous coming of age birthdays, My Super Sweet 16.
But back to the music.
The leadoff single, Potential Breakup Song, is a slight departure from the sound of Aly and AJ's first album. It's much more techno pop than the guitar based pop rock on Into the Rush. It's also very catchy and has the potential to become an airplay hit. PBS has already become a sales hit, reaching number seven on the iTunes singles sales chart and top 5 on the iTunes pop chart.
But instead of sticking with the light pop of Potential Breakup Song, the Michalka sisters experiment with a variety of musical styles. Insomniatic's second track, Bullseye, is a grunge based rocker that hints strongly at the girls Seattle roots. It's also the best track on the album.
Other highlights include Closure, one of the many relationship songs, with also boasts one of my favorite rhyming couplets on the CD.
Blush is a quiet piano ballad that speaks to any of us that remember those early forays into teen dating. The whole "lust with boundaries" scenario. In an interesting twist on the theme, Aly encourages her outspoken boyfriend to state his desires, while reminding him what the boundaries are. Knowing that my mom would be listening to the CD, I don't think I could have written that song in high school.
The guitar riff in Insomniatic could have been written by Johnny Winters. It works well here and the title track is one of the best rockers on the CD.
Potential Breakup Song - The Video
I like the cd and I think Aly and AJ have a lot of potential. I hope they pull it off and take their music to the next level, we need more women in rock.
I'm going to look at Kelly Clarkson's My December next, but as a lead in to that post I thought I'd go back to Billboard.
In the Billboard article on Aly and AJ, the discussion of their musical growth comes up. AJ comments that the expansion of their sound, is "helping to push our career forward." At the same time Aly and AJ realize that they can't afford to alienate their current fan base. "It's important to not stray from our core," AJ
says. "There is a fine line between being creative as artists and being respectful of fans. We take that fine line seriously." As much as I admire Kelly Clarkson's musical statement, this is clearly where she stumbled with her latest CD.
The Michalka sisters roll into Charlotte to play at Verizon Amphitheatre in August. Can they pull it off live? We'll let you know.
Thanks for stopping in for our writeup on Aly and AJ. We at The Adventurers Club are huge fans of a pop punk band The Dollyrots, on Joan Jett's Blackheart Records. The following is the video for their single, "Brand New Key". Please take a minute, watch it, and let us know what you think. Kim, Ron and Rufus think The Dollyrots rule!
'til next time. Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel.
Keep the Adventure Alive,
Adventuretom
Television can have a terrific impact on music. The last fifty years have proven this over and over. From the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, The Monkees Monday nights on NBC, The Partridge Family and The Archies, to today's TV phenomenon American Idol.
It would appear the AI franchise could do no wrong. Dominating both television and the music scene.
Nope.
Almost without fanfare, the House of Mouse snuck up and sucker punched America's answer to karaoke stardom.
The biggest album last year wasn't from American Idol, it was High School Musical, a Disney product.
Not Kelly or Carrie. High School Musical was the biggest CD of 2006. Got sales? Disney does.
Last week, Idol's darling, Kelly Clarkson released her highly anticipated third album.
It zoomed straight to number one, right?
Nope.
It was scooped by Miley Cyrus, aka Hannah Montana, star of Disney's highly successful tween series about a teenager who is a normal girl by day and a rock star by night.
Miley breaks Kelly's Achy Breaky Heart
Miley didn't just edge Kelly. She thumped her by nearly 40,000 units. To make it more impressive, the Miley disk is a double CD with a twenty dollar list.
Ouch.
Not to knock Kelly who stood her ground and released a highly personal musical statement. Unfortunately for the most part her statement has been panned by critics as a "hookless depressing mess."
Ouch number 2.
It's not that bad, and it does rock, but it has zero radio support and will fade quicker than a red paint job on a Yugo.
To add insult to injury while critics have been cold to Kelly, they have been embracing another Disney act.
Aly and AJ Michalka have been favorably compared to another pair of sisters, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. Writing their own songs and playing their own instruments, these two young women may actually succeed where many before them have failed. They may leave their teen audience behind and move into that ever-so-elusive grown up audience.
Aly and AJ rock the Palladium in Charlotte
Chemicals React
We'll be watching, and not just on the Disney Channel.
'til Aly Michalka and Nancy Wilson trade licks on the solo for Crazy on You
Keep the Adventure Alive,
AT
This product is wrong in so many ways.
I can just imagine the scenario:
"I'm sorry Flounder, you're a good friend, but I'll like you much better fried with a side of tartar sauce."
Ariel the Little Mermaid loves fried flounder?
Do you think Disney licensing even read the request before they granted it?
'til they make Dip Sea Dooz Deviled Crab (sorry Sebastian)
Keep the Adventure Alive,
Adventuretom
I'm headed to Adventurers Club North. Last week I was at the main headquarters in sunny Florida. This week I will be at the annex in the mountains of North Carolina.
While I'm away I thought I'd leave you with a little adventurer spirit, the recipe for the beverage of choice for those that choose the adventurer life:
Kungaloosh Recipe
1 cup Daily's Strawberry Daiquiri Mix
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum
1/4 cup blackberry brandy
Toss it in a blender with enough ice to make it slushy.
Drink - Repeat
Adventurers Club North
'til I run out of spiced rum
Keep the Adventure Alive,
AT
