Various artists
Thongs In The Key Of Life, Vol. 3
Beach music. Tropical destinations for the imagination.
It has been almost five years since Thongs In The Key Of Life, Vol. II and a surprising seven years since the release of the original Thongs In the Key Of Life compilation. Has it really been that long? It doesn't seem like it . Many of the outstanding songwriters featured on those two collections remain my personal favorites. In recent years, I also have been privileged to have heard many of those artists perform their songs live. I never get tired of hearing them play.
Despite my appreciation for the music, and even the amount of time since the last Thongs project, I must admit that I was somewhat hesitant about once-again trotting down the path to the musical beach.
Well-received or not, I didn't want to put together another project that was more of the same -- same writers, same rhythm, same tempo, same anything. If anything, I wanted the closest resemblance to be similarly different.
Over the years, a wide range of friends, acquaintances and beverage-holding strangers have approached with the greeting, "If you ever do another Thongs CD, I know the perfect song for you." I can't remember my wedding anniversary, but I always seem to file those song titles away in my memory bank.
Several of those suggested songs eventually conspired to convince me that maybe another compilation CD wouldn't be such a bad idea, after all.
In addition to the newly discovered songwriters and performers (new to me at least), some of my favorite songwriters returned to the studio and delivered an incredibly strong array of songs.
Although the combination of favorite songs by new writers and new songs by favorite writers probably should have been sufficiently convincing, the final push came from our three children, Hayley, Tyler and Colin, who have spent countless minivan hours listening to a wide range of independent songwriters and musicians. They weren't exactly bashful when it came to voicing a simple consensus on a particular song: "Thongs 3, dad."
They might not be the focus group of choice for a major record label, but they were enough to convince me that it was time for another Thongs In The Key Of Life project.
As such, here it is. Volume 3. Tropical destinations for the imagination
World: Island