The Morning Playlist is a new feature for Big Hollywood collecting new or notable music from around the web. Grab yourself some coffee, turn up your speakers, and start the day with a healthy assault on those ol’ ear drums.

As the music world has few notable releases this post-holiday week, today’s playlist includes songs from 2011 whose music videos either saved them from mediocrity or elevated them to even greater heights.

Toby Keith, “Red Solo Cup”

This list isn’t in any particular order, but I will unequivocally state that Toby Keith’s “Red Solo Cup” is by far the greatest music video of the past year. For one, the song is fun and catchy and exactly what the country music scene needs right now–a step back from that self-serious, over-produced Nashville sound. And how audacious it is–how refreshingly politically incorrect! I can’t help but guffaw to the line “You, sir, do not have a pair of testicles if you prefer drinking from glass.” It’s impossible to describe what makes comedy work, but the sheer goofiness of this video–the background visual gags, the progressively weirder celebrity cameos, the heartfelt bromantic interlude–is a home run for Keith. There’s a purity in media like this–”Jackass” being the greatest example–in seeing guys goof off with each other with no pretense and no other purpose besides having a ton of fun. (more…)

One of the most difficult and frustrating activities in the world right now is online job searching, but every now and then I’ll find a posting that tweaks my interest enough to actually get me imagining myself in a job I am absolutely unqualified for. They could take a chance on me; after all, writing is a skill set with a wide variety of applications, right?

Well, let’s test that theory. I go and find a listing on one of my favorite job sites, Media Bistro. The NRA’s publication is seeking a writer/editor… How hard could that be? I like guns. I grew up with a father who is an avid gun collector. I’ve even spent my fair share of time in the Bisti Badlands shooting cans off of stumps and sandstone hills.

But while I sit in my fantasy of making my daddy proud by becoming a writer for one of his favorite publications, I realize my knowledge of firearms extends to knowing the difference between a rifle and a handgun– oh, and knowing the pain of a BB piercing my right shoulder (yeah, my brother shot me once while we were playing in the backyard… at least he gave me a running start).

Well, there is one area I can actually offer some expertise, and that’s the subject of firearms and music. Do you know how many great songs are out there mythologizing holster-happy cowboys, bottle-shooting rednecks and gun-loving everyday Americans? There are a few vigilante tales of murder and woe in there, too. Take a listen to these tunes, and if they don’t make you wanna head to your local Walmart to buy a gun rack, I don’t know what will … (more…)

“The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don’t wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules.” – Rob, (played by John Cusack) inn ‘High Fidelity,’ (2000)

Rob (from the movie ‘High Fidelity’) is most definitely right. The art of the mix tape is a finely-honed skill.  It requires patience, a clear understanding of the purpose of the mix, and of course a vast music collection.

I remember the first mix tape I ever received. It started with Bon Jovi’s  ‘You Give Love a Bad Name,’ had Journey’s ‘Open Arms’ in the middle and ended with Def Leppard’s  ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ … (and when Momma Murray heard this one, she calmly unwound all the tape from the cassette and threw it in the trash … apparently, that song’s not appropriate for a 14-year-old girl. And I’m pretty sure I was grounded from EVER talking to that boy again) …

Don’t know about you, but my iPhone is pretty much permanently attached to me at all times. And my playlists? They’re sacred. I spend hours categorizing my music and making lists I can turn on at a second’s notice. Today, I’d like to share a playlist with ya … and hopefully, my execution will make Rob proud …

(more…)

Country music star Toby Keith, long known for his active support of American troops serving overseas, was the musical guest of honor in Boston, Massachusetts this July 4th.

Joining the Boston Pops on stage at the city’s famous Hatch Shell, Keith played his hit song “How Do You Like Me Now?” and his famous homage to the military, “American Soldier.”

The host of the event was late night TV personality Craig Ferguson, a native of Scotland, who’s such a fan of America that he became a United States citizen in 2008.

After Ferguson introduced Toby Keith, large screens on each side of the stage displayed footage of Keith’s work with the troops overseas. The video below shows the intro segment and Keith’s live performance of “American Soldier.” (more…)

[ed - Rush transcript! Leaked NEA conference call from my mom, proving the Bush Administration did it too]

TRANSCRIPT OF
CONFERENCE CALL OF THE
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS
21-Jan-2007

MR. SMIRNOV:  Hello everybodies! Who we gots on the phones here?

MR. KIETH:  Toby Keith. Built Ford Tough.

MR. SMIRNOV:  Hokay, buddy!

MRS. BURGE:  Beverly Burge, Ocelot, Iowa. I do scrapbooking.

OAK RIDGE BOYS:  Howdy! We’re the Oak Ridge Boys!

MR. SMIRNOV:  Alrights, Branson in da house!

MR. HANEY:  Lester Haney, Sepulpa, Oklahoma.

MR. SMIRNOV:  Hey everybodies, I don’ts know if you see Lester Haney’s work, but he does some of the most beautiful chainsaw stump sculptures Yakov ever sees. (more…)

The September 11 attacks reset plenty of people’s ideological clocks, with Dennis Miller being one of the more prominent folks to reconsider their views.

For me, the attacks showed me a new side of some of the country’s most respected artists. And it wasn’t pretty.

Earle

Artists reacted to 9/11 in a number of ways. Some wrote songs promising a holy whup ass (Toby Keith) on the terrorist nation, while others went on to create stirring work about a city struck without warning (Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising”)

Alt-country troubadour Steve Earle opted to write a song from the perspective of the traitorous thug, John Walker Lindh, who joined the Taliban against his own country. (more…)