The year was 1996 and Tom Hanks was coming off an incredible run winning Oscars for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump and starring in the hit "Apollo 13". Apparently, this ride of success allowed him to pursue a pet project about a band hitting it big in the 1960's music industry. What he produced became one of my top five movies ever. It's a well-told story with a lot of heart to go along with a lot of great original music. On top of all of that, it is hilarious. Fumbling around Youtube this weekend, I came upon a "behind-the-scenes" feature that I had never seen before. After watching it, I knew I had to feature it for Music Mondays. If you haven't seen the movie, go watch it. If you have, enjoy this look back:
I ended 2018 with a series of song selections that were great cover songs. There was one more I never got to because of the holidays.
Lauryn Hill popped up on my music radar as a member of The Fugees, specifically with their great cover of "Killing Me Softly". Her solo album that proceeded "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" was critically and commercially lauded. One of the record's great singles was the above "Can't Take My Eyes off of You" originally sung by Frankie Valli.
She has occasionally performed a live version that has a different tempo and feel but is still special in its own right.
