Craig McNamara writes

What’s your favorite song by The Carpenters? That would seem to be a simple enough question – but when it comes to the ‘70s sister-and-brother duo, it can be a little more complicated. Because often, you don’t just have to choose a song, you have a choose a version. Richard Carpenter didn’t just sing harmony to his Karen’s lead vocals. As producer,  arranger, lyricist, and composer, he was deeply involved in the production of the tracks – and a bit of a perfectionist. So over the years, as their hits have been re-released, he’s used the opportunity to remix many tracks  to improve sound quality and add new instrumentation and flourishes – on songs like  Ticket to Ride ,  Top of the World , and  Superstar . And it hasn't been just Richard Carpenter re-doing works long after they’ve been completed. Think of Neil Sedaka, re-recording his 1962 bubblegum hit,  Breaking Up is Hard To Do  as a soulful piano ballad in 1975. Or the group Chicago, re-arranging t...

Following the release of the mariachi-influenced band's 3rd album, released in 1964, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass soared to new heights of popularity, selling millions of albums and cementing their place in popular music.  And of all the songs on the album, the best-remembered is surely "The Mexican Shuffle." But it's not remembered as that:

Before we move on from yesterday's subject about graphic inspirations and The Smithereens, let's check out the cover of another of their albums: Yes, that's the work of innovative graphic designer, Saul Bass .  Even if you don't know the name, you've probably seen some of his work -- stark and iconic, with a child-like sophistication (to use an oxymoronic phrase): More examples of Saul's movie poster artwork here .  You can see some very familiar corporate logos that he designed here.    Here's the actual title sequence for "Anatomy of a Murder:" And, just for the heck of it, here's a recent parody of the Saul Bass style that's just too clever to pass up including here.  No disrespect intended to the late Mr. Bass. Elsewhere : Marketing guru Seth Godin describes the fallacy of "One Fell Swoop" thinking here .

In this week's issue, Entertainment Weekly lists the poster for the 2001 remake of "Ocean's Eleven" as one of the most perfect posters of the last 25 years. I like it. In fact, I even liked it when it as the cover of the Smithereens' third album eleven years earlier: But the homages run both ways.  On this web site , Smithereens member Pat DiNuzio talks about the inspiration to him and fellow band member, Dennis Diken: "When Dennis and I walked into a used bookstore and found a paperback book tie-in for Ocean's 11, that sparked our imagination to call our record Smithereens 11 and re-create the image of the paperback cover on our album." He's referring to the original film of 1960, of course.  In fact, the album's liner notes include thank-yous to "Frank, Dean, Sammy and all of Ocean's Eleven."  Here's the paperback they must have happened upon:  Among other similarities, you'll notice that the little silhouettes of ...