LISA DENTON: Barry, I hate to do it, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be singing Cat Stevens' "Moonshadow" all day.
It sounds like it was written for a total solar eclipse. One of the lines is "Leaping and hopping on a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow."
From what I've read, people who experience this astronomical phenomenon have been known to scream and cry, so I guess leaping and hopping isn't much of a stretch.
And if it's cloudy today, I can still turn to Stevens for "Sad Lisa." One-stop shopping for Great American Eclipse songs.
BARRY COURTER: I may go with "That's Amore," partly 'cause, well, it's Dean Martin. Who doesn't love Dean Martin? But mostly I'm thinking that moon is going to look like a big pizza pie and maybe "bells will ring, ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling, and you'll sing 'Vita bella.'" And if things get really crazy, "Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay, tippy-tippy-tay like a gay tarantella, lucky fella."
Lisa Denton and Barry Courter
It's been a minute since my heart played tippy-tippy-tay, tippy-tippy-tay."
LISA: Yes, a solid choice in songs. I might include that in my repertoire too, especially since a tarantella is a lively folk dance accompanied by tambourines, which, as you know, is one of the two musical instruments I can play. That and the vastly underappreciated kazoo.
BARRY: Few can kazoo like you do.
LISA: I daresay the sound could make your heart go tippy-tippy-tay. I say this because I notice that people's eyes get really wide when I perform.
BARRY: I'm pretty excited about the Levitt Amp music series at The Bessie. It starts Thursday and continues weekly for 10 weeks. The first act is Kool Moe Dee. I've told you before that my go-to radio iTunes radio channel is the Fat Boys - "The Fat Boys are back, and you know they can never be whack." Kool Moe Dee is played in heavy rotation with his hits like "Wild Wild West," "How Ya Like Me Now?" and "I Go to Work."
LISA: The Levitt Amp series has a cool back story. It's funded by a grant from the Levitt Foundation, and Chattanooga is one of 15 cities that received funds this year. It's an outdoor series on the lawn.
BARRY: It's just one of about a dozen live music shows this week, including the Southern Brewers Festival with Magpie Salute this weekend. Beer, music and food. We call that combination the weekend at my house.
Get event information every Thursday in ChattanoogaNow or online anytime at www.ChattanoogaNow.com.
Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281. Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.