Kansas City Playlist: Country Club Plaza Creatively Survives

Just a quick contradiction tonight . . .

DESPITE SKEPTICISM, FEAR OF CRIME & RETAIL WOES . . . COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA ARTSY FUN STILL DRAWS AN EPIC CROWD!!!

Per ushe . . . Some of the crowd estimates are a bit "irrationally exuberant" but there's no denying that the place is getting impressive traffic at the outset of pumpkin spice season. 

And all of this might be a survival lesson worthy of consideration . . .

The Plaza Art fair garners impressive numbers with little worry about car crime and/or sideshow risks because the event typically hosts an older, invidious and upwardly mobile demographic. 

Accordingly . . . 

Somewhere in there might be the only key to survival for this historic entertainment district.

We'll leave it to developers and other manner of politically motivated scumbags to figure out "the science" of retail & real estate survival.

In the meantime . . . 

It's our www.TonysKansasCity.com tradition to share some of our favorite songs dedicated to creativity on Plaza Art Fair weekend . . . Let's get started . . .

An old school Brit band took inspiration from an iconic Latina opponent of eyebrow grooming. 

Here's part of the story . . .  

The record, the band’s fourth,  called ‘Viva la Vida’ – meaning long live life – earned its moniker after frontman Chris Martin saw the phrase on a painting by Mexican artists Frida Kahlo, Rolling Stone reported . . . “She went through a lot of shit, of course, and then she started a big painting in her house that said ‘Viva la Vida’,” explained Martin of the choice. “I just loved the boldness of it.”

In a very recent international hip-hop track hit . . . There's not a lot of backstory but merely a name check to one of our favorite New York pop art era artists: Jean-Michel Basquiat 

Here's what seems like an AI-generated quote we found online . . . "In the "Basquiat" music video, Asake embodies his most authentic creative self, embracing art not only as a way of life but as a metaphor for his journey through burgeoning success as an artist. The visuals capture his vibrant persona."

The behind the scenes on this dark & arsty classic from The Rolling Stones makes it even better . . . Brian Jones had floundered in the power struggle that pitted him against his songwriting colleagues. The distance was exacerbated by his unreliability, a by-product of his disillusionment and increasing drug use. Unable to write his own songs, he began to draw pleasure in embellishing Mick Jagger and Keith Richard’s tracks beyond the threshold of conventional guitar melodies. An accomplished saxophonist, Brian would enrich the musical palette of Aftermath with dulcimers, marimbas, kotos, and – in the case of “Paint It Black” – a sitar.

An important fact on this track for the bridge . . . Don McLean’s lyrics address Van Gogh’s struggle with bipolar disorder. When “Vincent” came out (in 1972), discussion of mental illness was nearly non-existent, even forbidden.

Finally, we didn't know this but our favorite track form this artist was actually his break out single . . . Before this big hit Nat King Cole was better known as a pianist . . . "Mona Lisa" helped establish his reputation as a top vocalist of the era, although many Jazz aficionados consider Cole one of the best piano players of the time.

As always, thanks for reading this week and have a safe & fun Saturday night.