"Cars" earned more awards on Sunday night. It won best animated feature at the 34th annual Annie Awards, which honor achievements in animation. The Route 66-based film defeated "Happy Feet," "Over the Hedge," "Monster House" and "Open Season" for the honor. The victory makes "Cars," directed by Pixar's John Lasseter, the front-runner for Best Animated … Continue reading “Cars” wins two Annie awards
Category: Music
Song from “Cars” movie wins a Grammy
"Our Town," a song written by Randy Newman and performed by James Taylor for the Pixar movie "Cars," won the Grammy for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media on Sunday night at the 49th annual Grammy Awards. The other nominees in that category were Melissa Etheridge's "I Need to … Continue reading Song from “Cars” movie wins a Grammy
Rocking in Croatia
This shows how far-flung the song "Route 66" has become in terms of fame and influence. Here's a Croatian group, the Ben Dover Band, cranking out a muscular version of Bobby Troup's classic road song in the Route 66 club in Zagreb, Croatia. The quality of the video is a bit grainy, but the hard-rockin' … Continue reading Rocking in Croatia
“Highway of Dreams” highlights
This video contains scenes from the Route 66 "Highway of Dreams" Charity Car Show in September at Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood, Calif., along with montages of images from the Mother Road. Gearheads ought to enjoy it. So should Chuck Berry fans, as it includes his version of "Route 66."
“Devil Girl” movie shot on Route 66
Production recently wrapped on the thriller film "Devil Girl," which was shot on Route 66 and uses the historic road as its setting. Here's synopsis of the film, according to its Web site: Fay is a small town girl on a road trip to Hollywood to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. When her … Continue reading “Devil Girl” movie shot on Route 66
A new Route 66 song
Here's a video of a new song, "Route 66," by the Jimmy: Damm Suess Band. It's self-deprecating and rocking at the same time. The singing's not great, but the guitar riffs are aces. The song is from the San Diego band's album, "Summer Time Fun." The video was definitely shot on 66, but I'm not … Continue reading A new Route 66 song
The Oscar-nominated song “Our Town”
Today, Randy Newman's song, "Our Town," performed by James Taylor, was nominated for an Academy Award for Original Song. Here is the song and its key scene from the hit Pixar animated movie, "Cars." "Our Town" is available on the "Cars" soundtrack. And, yes, the album and song both are available on iTunes.
Review: “Songs from the Mother Road”
When I received a copy of The Road Crew's "Songs from the Mother Road," I was startled to see a positive review from country star Marty Stuart on the CD package. Having followed Stuart's career for at least 20 years, his endorsement heightened my anticipation of hearing the album. However, I have to conclude that … Continue reading Review: “Songs from the Mother Road”
The Killer’s Pink Cadillac
Here's a fun new video of Jerry Lee Lewis covering Bruce Springsteen's song, "Pink Cadillac." And, yes, that's The Boss on backing vocals.
Cheetah Girls launch MySpace site
The Cheetah Girls, a female trio that's gained a huge preteen and teen audience, launched a MySpace site last week. In case you're wondering what the Cheetah Girls have to do with the Mother Road, a few months ago they recorded a new version of the Bobby Troup classic, "Route 66," to help boost interest … Continue reading Cheetah Girls launch MySpace site