Category Archives: Pre-class video

Politics, Lady Gaga & the Super Bowl Halftime Show

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

A couple of weeks ago I put up a post that considered the intriguing, if extraordinarily unlikely, possibility of Lady Gaga singing a protest song by 60s & 70s folksinger Phil Ochs during her Super Bowl halftime show. However much fun … Continue reading →

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Pre-class video: Elvis Costello Anne Sofie Von Otter – For the Stars

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

My list of favorite Elvis Costello recordings is likely somewhat different from yours: Here’s “From the Stars” from an album of covers he did with classical singer Anne Sofie Von Otter.  

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Pre-Class Video: Rosanne Cash sings Pancho & Lefty

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

Today’s pre-class video is the great Rosanne Cash singing the Townes Van Zandt classic “Pancho & Lefty” at the Kennedy Center Honors Willie Nelson concert. (Townes, of course, wrote the song, but Willie is among the many people who made … Continue reading →

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Back To Pre-Class Video: One Last Time from Hamilton

Posted on January 11, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve spent the last semester on a productive and refreshing sabbatical, but I’m now back in the classroom and making use of pre-class videos for students to watch as they come in. I started things off … Continue reading →

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The Original Cat Video … from 1894!

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Ralph Hanson

You all no doubt think you are of the “cat video” generation. You think your generation invented the short video of cute cats doing cute things. But you are wrong! Thomas Edison’s studios shot the first cat video back in … Continue reading →

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LIAMW Holiday Music – Joseph, Who Understood

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

Today’s song is my absolute favorite contemporary Christmas song, and it is done by a band with the unlikely name of The New Pornographers.  A friend of mine asked recently why a band doing such a nice song has such … Continue reading →

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LIAMW Holiday Music – Robin & Linda Williams: Shotgun Shells on the Christmas Tree

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

I love this song by Robin and Linda Williams that tells the story of an unexpected Christmas tree with unusual decorations.

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LIAMW Holiday Music – John Denver & the Muppets: A Christmas Together

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

Back in 1979, long before Disney had bought out Jim Henson’s Muppets, there was a TV special John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together. it was full of the silliness and fun that you would expect from a classic … Continue reading →

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LIAMW Holiday Music – Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas”

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

Back in 1984, Bob Geldof of the Boomtown Rats and others helped assemble a big group of British and Irish musicians to to produce a music video to build awareness of and raise money for famine relief in Africa.  This … Continue reading →

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LIAMW Holiday Music – Sigourney Weaver & Buster Poindexter sing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

Today I’m starting a series  of holiday and Christmas music videos that aren’t the routine ones you see or hear everyday at the mall or Walmart. Today’s is Sigourney Weaver and Buster Poindexter (aka David Johansen of the New York … Continue reading →

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