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#inappropriateweddingsongs
You know who I love? Alex Skolnick. You probably know him as the amazing rock god guitarist from Testament, currently touring with Anthrax. Since my musical tastes don’t generally get much heavier than Dave Matthews when he’s cranky, I had no clue who Alex was. Our worlds happened to randomly cross paths a while back and we became friends. And in an amazingly short period of time, he became one of my very favorite people.
You may know metal, and you may know Alex, but what you may NOT know is this: under that heavy metal armour lies a much gentler Skolnick, one who dances through tasty classic rock riffs with the delicate skill of an expert jazz musician.
WHICH HE IS! If you haven’t heard of the Alex Skolnick Trio, allow me to introduce you to the most surprisingly ideal combination of metal & jazz.
The Alex Skolnick Trio
You have to experience them for yourself. Immediately buy every album here:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/alex-skolnick-trio/id65917693
And then send me something off our wedding registry (http://bit.ly/MeSElc ) as thanks for introducing you to your new favorite band 🙂
I sang with Alex at the Iridium in NYC in March & it was an absolute honor to share the stage with someone I adore musically & personally.
All this to say, I had to share Alex’s recent & highly wedding-appropriate blog so we could discuss:
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Inappropriate Wedding Songs
by Alex Skolnick http://alexskolnick.com
Though never a “wedding musician” myself, I have played at a few weddings at the request of good friends who are getting married. In jest, I’ve often thought of songs with titles inappropriate for a wedding the point of awkwardness. It’s fun to suggest these tunes in a deadpan manner to the bride, groom and family who are usually stressed from the wedding and appreciative of a good laugh.
I was reminded of this while reading about the recent wedding of Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook Founder and CEO to his girlfriend Priscilla Chan. At 28 years old, Zuckerberg, the worlds’ youngest self-made billionaire, can pretty much afford to hire anyone he wants to play at his wedding. So he hired his favorite musician, Billy Joe Armstrong, lead singer and songwriter of Green Day.
Now I wouldn’t call myself a Green Day fan, but I do like some of their songs. And I’m not a big Facebook fan – it’s a useful invention that is dangerously habit forming (much like television) – but I do use it sparingly. So it is with all respect to Billy Joe and well wishes to the happy couple that I wonder out loud: is this the right guy to be singing your wedding?
Think about the titles of Green Day’s biggest tunes: Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Stuck with Me. Basket Case. Then there’s Green Day’s biggest hit, often referred to as Time of Your Life but that has two words for its official title:
GOOD RIDDANCE.
News of the Zuckerberg wedding gave me a new song to add to my “Inappropriate Wedding Songs” list. Keep in mind, there are plenty of songs with the right (or rather, wrong) lyrical content- You Oughtta Know or I Will Survive, for example) but what we’re talking about here are songs with titles that just scream “inappropriate.”
Of course there are many more out there, so if you think of any good ones, feel free to add ‘em to the list. Here then are ten songs not meant to be heard on a day of matrimony. Enjoy!
Ten Inappropriate Wedding Songs
10. Good Riddance (Green Day)
9. Your Cheatin’ Heart (Hank Williams Sr.)
8. Go Your Own Way (Fleetwood Mac)
7. Already Gone (The Eagles)
6. You Give Love A Bad Name (Bon Jovi)
5. I Don’t Care Anymore (Phil Collins/Genesis)
4. 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover (Paul Simon)
3. Goodbye To Romance (Ozzy Osbourne)
2. The Thrill Is Gone (BB King)
1. Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You (Led Zeppelin)
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If you’re anything like me, a hundred more examples just popped in your head (uhh, see my blog about rethinking my plan to Daddy/Daughter dance to “Strangers in the Night” once I reallllly listened to those lyrics).
Immediately after Alex posted his blog, the Twitterverse was ablaze with #inappropriateweddingsongs & a top 5 global trending topic was born. Which makes him a COMPLETE TWITTERLEBRITY in my book!!!
The snowball continued, as Huffington Post picked up the ball & ran with it:
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Twitterers Reveal The Most Inappropriate Wedding Songs
Huffington Post Weddings 5/30/12
Similar to how guests know not to wear white to someone’s Big Day, there are just some things you know NOT to do when it comes to weddings. From downing one too many drinks at the bar to texting during the vows, some behaviors are just, well, inappropriate.
One of the top things to avoid is playing (or requesting) any song at the wedding reception that could potentially make the dance floor awkward. Or embarrass the bride or groom. Or is just plain wrong.
So when #InappropriateWeddingSongs began trending on Twitter Wednesday, we couldn’t help but to take note of these tunes — and put them firmly on our do-not-play list.
Click through the slideshow below to see which inappropriate wedding songs the Twitterverse ruled out, and let us know: Which ones would you veto during your reception?
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I figured I’d open this fun topic up for discussion here. What do YOU think is the most #inappropriateweddingsong?? I owe the DJ a list of “don’t play” songs, help me with my homework.
And I also thought I’d use this blog to share some ridiculously cool news…we booked our wedding band. And drumroll please….you might guess who by reading this blog 🙂 While it’s not EXACTLY the full Alex Skolnick Trio, since it’s namesake is touring (damn you, Anthrax!), we’ve got 2/3 of the dream team. And someone I trust implicitly on musical direction is actually subbing himself out (DAMN YOU, ANTHRAX!) & prepping his own fill in.
I’m so excited to have that 3 piece instrumental vibe for the cocktail hour before our ceremony. It’s such a nice musical collaboration of the vintage space (who doesn’t love a little upright bass?!) & iconic music (who doesn’t love a little Kiss?!)*.
WOOHOOOOOO!
Rach
*No, I’m not talking about “Mini Kiss”, the little person tribute band (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_Kiss ), and the first of Richie’s wedding band choices I had to veto.
Not. Even. Kidding.
Rings & Things.
We’re back from Philly! We had an awesome time (& awesome cheesesteak). While we were there, we visited our pals at Steven Singer to talk wedding bands.
Let me say this to start: I’m not a jewelry-crazy chick. No, really. I’ve never been spoiled with jewelry in my life, and while I think it’s all pretty, it’s just never been a financial reality or better yet- priority- for me. I have one diamond necklace I bought myself a zillion years ago, but generally, I dig sh*tty street jewelry that looks cool and different. So for me to be this mesmerized by a diamond ring is, in fact, out of character. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t stare at my sparkly engagement ring pretty much 90% of the day.
Disclaimer over. Now I will proceed.
I love Steven Singer (http://ihatestevensinger.com). Mostly because of the personalized VIP service (and sort of because of the free wine and cookies). We wanted to pop in & discuss wedding bands (and have free wine & cookies).
We started with Richie. He needed something simple and a little edgy. And while he entertained the idea of black diamonds for a solid minute, the truth is, he’s just not a blingy guy. He was pretty much “meh” on all the rings he tried on until this one:
Richie's wedding ring!
And he got the “THIS is the one” chills.
Look how married he looks!!!
Done deal. Guys are so easy!
Next it was my turn. And here’s the thing- I LOVE my engagement ring. It is- without question- the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen. It’s an utterly blinding perfect diamond in the most delicate, antiquey, unique setting I could dream of. It’s so beautiful just how it is, I feel like a wedding band is gonna eff it up. Wait, it’s high time I unveiled the ring so we can have a proper conversation about it. Side note: I’ve learned (through A LOT of practice this last month) that it’s pretty much impossible to photograph a diamond & capture how crazy sparkly it is. So this is as good as I can get:
I just died again, looking at it.
See what I’m saying?! It’s perfect how it is! I tried on a few bands that fit the ring and it just changed the balance and shape I fell in love with. So I was ready to write off the whole wedding band thing all together. It’s not like it makes me more or less married & I love my ring as is. Plus, it’s not like I need more diamonds.
But then cooler heads prevailed. What the eff was I thinking? Of course everyone needs more diamonds. What I needed was a solution, which I found in the suggestion of the “right hand ring”. Basically, this is the deal- you get a small wedding band that you use for the ceremony that looks beautiful enough to wear alone on your right hand. You can also wear it on your left hand if you’re going somewhere you don’t want to bring the big ‘ole rock to. Truly an ingenious solution.
Our friends at Steven Singer brought me a ton of cool bands. Ultimately, the one I liked most wasn’t an exact match to my engagement ring (although diamonds…kind of match diamonds), but it was a nice compliment to the ring that could stand on its own. In fact, the more I looked at it, the more I loved it. Check it out!
So pretty!!
Although I’ll wear them on two different hands, I put them on next to each other so you can see them together (and because I’m just not coordinated enough to photograph both of my hands at the same time while holding a cell phone camera).
I recognize these look redick next to each other. Imagine on two different hands.
So, in summary, I appreciate you allowing me to geek out on all things ring. I look forward to sprinkling diamonds on the other 8 fingers in the near future.
(KIDDING RICHIE! :))
Pre-Honeymoon Honeymoon.
Richie & I need a minute away. I’ve been SWAMPED lately with business stuff- most people don’t know that much like Clark Kent, I live a secret life. I run my own company- it’s nothing like what I do on camera, I’ll tell you about it another day. But here’s the point- I’ve worked the last 17 days straight and I think my need to chillax has just hit clinical levels.
The beauty of working with clients around the country is I can occasionally coordinate the combo work/pleasure trip. So this weekend, we’re grabbing the pooch & heading to the lovely city of Philadelphia. I’ve got a full day of intense client meetings Thursday and a couple hours Friday but the rest of the time will be dedicated to hotel jacuzzis and the great cheesesteak quest.
Side note on weddingy stuff- Richie got my engagement ring from Steven Singer, so we’ll stop by while we’re in Philly & check out wedding rings for him. He needs something edgy & cool, will let you know what we look at. Plus I’m on the fence with the whole engagement ring AND wedding ring thing- not that I don’t want 4 trillion diamonds, I just think the ring he picked is so beautiful by itself… I’ll blog about this debate when I get back. Who knows, maybe I’ll feel different after we swing by http://ihatestevensinger.com & see what they suggest.
Ideas on other stuff to see/do in Philly?
PS, we’re taking Rupert, not Elvis. Because one fits in the jeep better.
10 lbs (jeep-friendly)
185 lbs (less jeep-friendly)
Fine, change. 