Circle of Life/Can You Feel the Love Tonight - Richard Page

Here is a short Lion King medley (or is it an Elton John medley?) of the two most popular tracks from the movie, Circle of Life and Can You Feel the Love Tonight. This medley is sung by RICHARD PAGE, lead sing of the 80s pop band MR. MISTER.

Mr. Mister had a successful run in the late 80s after releasing their second album WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD in 1985. The album hit #1 in 1986 as did their hit singles Broken Wings and Kyrie. After the band broke up in 1989, Page started writing music for other pop artists, including Kenny Loggins, Josh Groban, Meatloaf, Michael Jackson and Celine Dion, just to name a few.

If you grew up in the 80s there is no doubt that you know Mr. Mister, but did you know that before Richard Page became the lead singer of the group he turned down offers to be lead singer for Chicago and Toto? With both of those bands still going strong today I wonder if Page is regretting his decision to go with Mr. Mister.

For a medley, this one is pretty weak. I love medleys and really appreciate the transitions that tie one song to the next. But this song almost comes to a stop before jumping into Can You Feel. I would have liked to hear a little bit more creativity from this hit songwriter.

Circle of Life/Can You Feel the Love Tonight Richard Page 1996

Circle of Life - William Hung

Would American Idol Week be complete without a sampling of some of the bad that has come out of the competition? Of course not! That is why I am posting a track from everyone's favourite loser, WILLIAM HUNG!

William Hung gain popularity when he auditioned for the third season of American Idol in 2004. His lack of pitch and rhythm when he attempted to sing Ricky Martin's She Bangs was a hit on the internet after its airing and he has since gained a cult following. Kosh Records saw this an jumped on it, offering him a $25,000 advance to record an album. It was released six months later! That faster than any Idol winner released their debut album!

This version of Circle of Life comes from his debut album INSPIRATIONS which also includes two other Disney hits, Can You Feel the Love Tonight and Tarzan's Two Worlds. If you really want to check out this disc you will also be treated to such hits as She Bangs, I Believe I Can Fly, Hotel California, Rocket Man, and YMCA.

Recently, I've been introduced to Arrested Development and absolutely love the show. In an episode in the third season the family is airing out their problems on court TV and William makes a cameo as William Hung and the Hung Jury playing the court TV's theme song!

Circle of Life William Hung 2004

Circle of Life - Jennifer Hudson

Today we carry on to Season Three of American Idol and hear a cover of Circle of Life that JENNIFER HUDSON sang for the judges. Her singing in this song won her more votes than any of her other songs during the competition.

Even though she didn't win this season (that honour went to Fantasia Barrino) Hudson has had a good couple of years to follow. Her single And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going reached #14 (#1 in the club scene) and she scored a role in the hit movie Dreamgirls as Effie White. Her role won her many awards for Best Supporting Actress, including a Golden Globe and an Academy Award!

This cover of Circle of Life is the only one that I know of with a key change. Usually I don't like key changes but this one is treated tastefully and is only used as a tag at the end of the song. I'd like to hear a studio recording of this one. With a better mix and a little pitch correction I think Hudson would have a cover that Elton John would be proud of.

Cirlce of Life Jennifer Hudson 2004

Circle of Life (Christmas Version) - Disney Channel Circle of Stars

A Christmas version of Circle of Life? I'm a Disney fan and I think a lot of their ideas are great ones. This is not one of them. THE DISNEY CHANNEL CIRCLE OF STARS first recorded Circle of Life as a music video for the Platinum Edition DVD and the track appeared on the special edition soundtrack in 2003.

The following year, Disney took the same vocal track and remixed the music to sound more Christmasy. This basically meant sticking a snippet of O Come All Ye Faithful at the beginning and adding really bad electronic sounding jingle bells throughout the song. Then it was stuck on an album of other Christmas songs by Radio Disney artists, RADIO DISNEY JINGLE JAMS.

Making a song sound like Christmas doesn't make it a Christmas song! The lyrics don't make any sense! Circle of Life doesn't have anything to do with any part of Christmas! Why would Disney do this? They have lots of other songs, even Christmas songs, that they could have given a Christmas treatment.

If you haven't heard the original Circle of Stars version, don't expect much. It's your standard Disney pop remix, but this time it features eight lead singers! That's a nightmare waiting to happen! Disney decided to highlight all their Disney Channel stars at the same time so they all take turns singing a line. Some are much better singers than the others making listening to the different voices very disjointed. It's quite a sloppy thing for Disney to do, but they did it again a few years later with A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes which features TWELVE lead singers! And yes, there's a Christmas version of that one too!

Here are the singers featured in this incarnation of the Circle of Stars:

Raven-Symoné (That's So Raven)
Anneliese van der Pol (That's So Raven)
Orlando Brown (That's So Raven)
Hilary Duff (Lizzie McGuire)
Tahj Mowry (Kim Possible)
Kyla Pratt (Proud Family)
A.J. Trauth (Even Stevens)
Christy Carlson Romano (Even Stevens)

Circle of Life (Christmas Version) Disney Channel Circle of Stars 2004

Circle of Life - Collin Raye

Yesterday I posted a bluegrass song as part of Country Music Week and today I continue with another bluegrass tune, this time one that is more on the country side of things.

As I said yesterday, traditional bluegrass has its roots in blues, jazz and folk and uses acoustic instruments like guitars, upright bass, banjo and the fiddle. In the late 60s and in the 70s there was a movement that introduced electric instruments into the genre. Electric bass is the most commonly used electric instrument but it is not unusual to hear piano and a full drum kit in some modern bluegrass tunes.

Songs from other genres, rock 'n' roll in particular, also started popping up in bluegrass sets. The musicians took the popular songs and put a new twist on them. More unusual chord progressions and 'jamming' sections in the songs also became part of this movement. This new style is called progressive bluegrass, also known as newgrass.

However, the focus of the music is still on the acoustic instruments, especially the fiddle and acoustic guitar. In the 90s, it became a popular thing for country artists to record a bluegrass album now that the genres seemed to be getting closer together.

The song that I have posted is the Circle of Life from the Lion King by country music artist COLIN RAYE. Colin's version of this song is a good example of a newgrass piece. Especially nice is the inclusion of the bluegrass standard Will the Circle Be Unbroken which fits both musically and lyrically.

According to producer Fred Mollin, Colin recorded this track in one take!

Circle of Life Colin Raye 2001