personal

What It’s About

Posted by John on November 10, 2010
Posted in: personal. Tagged: . 8 Comments

So remember that thing about the thing with the thing?

I have been putting pen to paper about music as long as I can remember. In art class, I tried my hand at an album cover. When I discovered the joy of countdown shows and charts, I kept a file box with index cards following the chart positions of every song. And if you’ve ever read this blog prior to today, you know where that love of expressing my opinion of music has taken me. Well, as of this week, I now get paid to write. It’s not enough to quit my day job, but it is still amazing to my mind to make money off of something I do for free in my spare time.

The new gig is with about.com, and I will be writing alongside Bill Lamb, whose Top 40/Pop blog I have been a fan of for several years. One of the first cool moments of recognition of this blog came when Bill linked to a post I made about Sara Bareilles’ “Gravity” video, and we’ve kept tabs on each other ever since. When the opportunity to write for about.com came along, I jumped right at it, and fortunately they decided I was a good fit. Where my focus here is a lack of focus, my area of writing at about.com will be on Adult Pop. If Susan Boyle has an album out (which she does this week), I’ll be all over it.

Fear not for the future of this here blog. My love of all forms of pop music will not be constrained, so I will still be posting here occasionally with the more personal posts that many of you have said you appreciate. My hope is the quality of those occasional posts will outweigh the lack of quantity. Now that I have a bit more clarity about my mission, writing for pleasure will become much easier to do. It sure doesn’t hurt that I am wrapping up my Masters degree after two years either.

I sit here a humbled man tonight. The last two and a half years have been a lot to bear, and yet I still have a life I would never trade. I love where I live, I have people I love who love me back, and I have music. There isn’t much more that I could ask for from this good life.

In the Mixtape

Posted by John on August 22, 2010
Posted in: mixed tapes, personal, songs, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

I occasionally get songs stuck in my head that I haven’t heard in years, and it is always interesting to me why they surface. Recently, Janet Jackson’s “Someday Is Tonight” came to mind, and while I think a conversation might have triggered a lyric from the song, the return of the Rhythm Nation 1814 album cut was quite welcome. “Someday” featured on a few mixtapes of mine back in the day, and that got me thinking about songs that appeared the most on my mixtapes. I wrote about a couple of these over at Wacky on the Junk a few months ago, but here’s a small sampling of my “go-to” tracks:

Kate Bush “This Woman’s Work” – ‎”I know you have a little life in you yet/I know you have a lot of strength left” The mother of all mixtape songs. If you want a song to end a mixtape with on a huge emotional swoosh, this is the song for you. There is so much emotion that can be pulled out of this song, and sometimes an amazing song like this can be utilized even if the lyrics don’t necessarily match the intended tone. As long as the song adds to the musical landscape, it’s fair game. I never had a personal tie to the lyrics, but the song remains a modern pop masterpiece, whether you are talking about the original by Kate Bush or the remake by Maxwell.

Julian Lennon “Saltwater” – “We’re so ingenious we can walk on the moon” I have a soft spot in my heart for John Lennon in part because my mom has told me I’m named for him. I remember sitting in the bathroom with my mom the day that Lennon died because we had company over, and she was beyond emotional and couldn’t stop crying. So when Julian came along with Valotte, I felt like I had a bit more of a connection to John by proxy. It wasn’t until a few years later when Help Yourself was released that I saw Julian for more than just John’s son. “Saltwater” seems a bit hokey to me now, but at the time I thought it was extremely profound.

Indigo Girls “Power of Two” – “So we’re okay, we’re fine/baby I’m here to stop your crying” This one was a toss-up for me, because “Power” and “Language and the Kiss” both saw some serious usage, but I went with this because a) there’s actually a video; and b) “Power” was used in Boys on the Side, which I loved at the time. Depending on when and how I listen to it, the song is either about a couple surviving despite the obstacles, or a couple breaking up but having no regrets of the life they’ve lived together. Either way, it’s always Emily voice that speaks to me.

The Rembrandts “Confidential Information” – “Confidential information, in a dream a true confession/She didn’t mean to give away such confidential information” No video clip for this track anywhere, but I had to mention this LP track from their debut CD. “Just the Way It Is, Baby” was a bit of fresh air at the time it became a hit, and that pulled me into the full CD. I was pretty horrified when the Rembrandts became “the guys that did the Friends theme” because I didn’t feel like that was their best work. Then again, who am I to begrudge someone making a living?

New Radicals “Someday We’ll Know” – “Someday we’ll know why I wasn’t meant for you” New Radicals were a big sensation when they came out in 1999 because they gave people something to talk about. Whether it was the rap at the end of “You Get What You Give”, the developing enigma surrounding band mastermind Gregg Alexander, the little girl from Archie Bunker’s Place who had grown up and joined a rock band, or the freshness of the music in the midst of a lot of same-sounding tracks, I’m sure none of that attention was unwelcome. Looking back, I am pretty shocked that “Get” only made it to #36 on the Hot 100, although it was much bigger in other countries. For me, the bigger issue is that the follow-up single “Someday We’ll Know” never even charted in the US. “Someday” proves to me that Alexander wasn’t a musical flash in the pan, but to the general public, New Radicals will always be a one-hit wonder.

Prince “Adore” – “Until the end of time/I’ll be there for you” If I had to estimate what song I used on more mixtapes, it would be this one. Since “Adore” is the perfect finale for Sign O the Times, I would put it at the end of any mixtape with a romantic theme. [Honorable mentions for overused romantic songs went to “Follow My Rainbow” by Sheena Easton and “Arms of Orion” by Sheena & Prince] There is such a connection between Prince and his lady that you can’t help but want to feel that same type of connection yourself. From the first drawn-out “ooooooh”, Prince is talking about sex and love and devotion all at the same time.

So what would I put on my modern-day playlist to fill the moody, weighty, deep slot? After a quick glance of my music library from the past year, my mind immediately gravitates to Lady Antebellum’s “Hello World”, which I originally described as the heart of their Need You Now CD. Contemplative? Check. Powerful? Check. Hopeful? Checkmate.

Random Notes – 06-20-10

Posted by John on June 20, 2010
Posted in: new artist, personal, singles, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , , , . 4 Comments

So a few days of downtime to get life and everything that goes with it in order turned into almost 2 weeks away. My 94-year-old grandfather passed away, and while I wasn’t able to get back to see the family right away (that’s coming in July), I have had to take some time and process everything. Life is chaotic but still okay. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads that stuck around and did the right thing. You know who you are…

– Billboard posted an excellent retrospective last week of the 50 biggest hits of Michael Jackson on the Hot 100. These types of reviews are always interesting to me, but when you have all of the chart data at your fingertips, it’s the chart version of catnip to a music dork like me. I was very surprised by the song atop the listing, but once you break it down it makes perfect sense. Here’s a little fact I never knew: Michael recorded “State of Shock” with Freddie Mercury before he teamed up with Mick Jagger.

– PMN favorite Tino Coury is on course to score his first Top 40 pop hit, as “Diary” is poised to move from #45 to #40 on this week’s Pop Radio airplay chart. Final numbers aren’t in quite yet, but this has been a long time coming. The guy has been travelling all over the country, playing shows wherever they will have him, and it seems like that hard work has finally paid off. With several songs ahead of his dropping rapidly, Tino should be able to cover some decent ground in a short amount of time. Here’s a short clip of Tino singing a song I assume will be on his debut album this fall called “Miss America”.

– Speaking of slow-building hits, VV Brown is at #49 as of this evening on iTunes with “Shark in the Water”. I won’t lie…I thought this track was dead in the water, but it has been hanging around and popping up in unusual places. I walked into a fast-food restaurant a few weeks ago, and the video for “Shark” was playing on the in-store TV network. I’m sure that opening for Maroon 5 this summer won’t hurt her profile one bit. Here’s hoping that the trend of talented British artists finding success here in the US continues.

In addition to her music, VV also has a series of comics out called The City of Abacus. Being a big fan of comics from an early age, my ears perked up a bit when I heard about it. Check out the video below where she talks about her favorites, as well as the inspiration for the series. For more info, you can check out thecityofabacus.com.

– Upcoming posts will feature reviews of concerts by La Roux, Janelle Monae and Erykah Badu. The summer hasn’t even formally started, and it is already a hot one.

Support Your Local Record Shop

Posted by John on April 17, 2010
Posted in: commentary, music industry, personal. Tagged: . 6 Comments

Tomorrow is the 2010 edition of Record Store Day, and I was going to go on about all the cool swag that you can pick up in the United States and in the United Kingdom tomorrow at your local independent shop. However, it dawned on me that I have never talked about record stores in terms of the thing that has developed my love of music more than anything else in my adult life: my time as a music store employee/manager.

Music store employees are a mixed bag of society, but they usually fall into three categories: students who are looking for money to go out and hang with friends, but who really don’t care where they work; people who have another interest in life, but really like music, and have a p/t record store job to feed their hobby; and the music geeks, who sometimes go as far as never holding any other job besides stocking and alphabetizing CDs. If you could make a living wage doing so, I would still be in the last category. Scratch that…if you could make a living wage and also enjoy the holidays, I would still be in that last category.

My first record store job was while I was in college at Record Theatre, which is still alive and kicking in Buffalo, although the stores I knew in Syracuse and Rochester have been closed for years. I helped open one of the stores in Syracuse in 1988, right around the time that CDs were just starting to get a hold on the market. One of my first vivid memories was cutting boxes open and stacking them at the front of the store in preparation for Christmas shoppers with titles like REM and Anita Baker. Anyone remember CD longboxes? They may have been an environmental disaster, but they were great for merchandising CDs.

One cool thing about record stores is that each store either attracts an army of fans of one type of music, or it attracts one fan of each genre. If you look at the title of this blog, you’ll see where my knowledge lays. People were pretty stunned that a 19-year-old kid had such a knowledge of not only current pop music, but of music dating back into the 60s. (Mom, if I’ve never thanked you for that, thanks.) I quickly became the go-to guy for singles, and I felt like I had found my calling. However, life (and school) took me out of town, and left that job.

Once I got out of school, my mission was to find a job in radio, but retail management called to pay the bills until then. There was a new Record Town/Saturday Matinee store in the mall I worked at, and I hounded them mercilessly to let me work at least part-time. About a year later, I got my chance, and took on a third-key management position. That started a 7 year run as a store manager for Record Town first, and then Camelot Music (which was then purchased by Record Town’s parent company). In fact, my first store of my own was a hole-in-the-wall Tape World in the Camillus Mall outside of Syracuse. It was more like Tape Alley than World, but it was mine. These stores were opened by the same company as Record Town in order to have a stronger presence within the same mall, and while I hated having such a small store, it set me up for bigger things within the company.

One great thing about my music management days is that they lead to me moving around a bit, and I got to see parts of the country that I didn’t even know that I wanted to see. I fell in love with western North Carolina and Asheville after having been in Greensboro for two years, I DIDN’T fall in love with Miami after having been stationed there for a mere seven months, and I met some of my most enduring friends during my two years living in Atlanta. I even had a false start in moving to Denver as a manager of a Blockbuster Music, but at the last minute I turned down the offer.

Anyone remember Blockbuster Music? Yeah…they’re gone, just like Camelot, Record Town, and Tape World. The remaining stores are now called FYE, and they are closing at least 100 of them a year, although they continue to hang in there, selling video games, DVDs, and any pop culture crap you can think of. That’s why Record Store Day is so important to me. These folks respect the music, and it is much more than a business. Believe me, if they were in it for the money, they wouldn’t be doing this. They do it for the love, and I respect that more than I can ever fully express. So get out and patronize your local music stores today and regularly. You never know what you will find. (I will be reporting back on my finds later today)

I’m Still Hungry

Posted by John on March 28, 2010
Posted in: personal, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , . 6 Comments

Life is a highway, life sucks, choose life, live your life. So many people speak about the quality of life, the length (and brevity) of life, and the pitfalls of life, but what do we really do about it? That’s the eternal question, and until there is a definitive handbook on life, we will all wonder, as will future generations. So why am I waxing philosophical on a music blog? Because as questions are asked in our everyday lives, those same questions are also asked in lyrical musings. As I was enjoying an enjoyable and partially productive Sunday afternoon, Sam Sparro’s “Still Hungry” came up on shuffle. For those not familiar, “Still” is a hidden track on Sam’s self-titled debut, and it reveals a more subtle R&B influence than what is funked up and electrocuted on most of the record. Rather than a full production, Sam goes with an acoustic feel and a jazzy keyboard as his only accompaniment. If you haven’t heard it before, I strongly suggest you listen.

Well I enjoyed all the food on my plate
And believe me when I say it taste great
But I’m still hungry

Besides reigniting my desire to hear new music from Sam, it also made me think about my life, and where it’s going right now. I am making a lot of decisions about my life’s direction at the moment, and some of it has to do with whether or not I am making the most of what I have in front of me. That is a pretty cryptic comment, but we all do this at some point. Life is good, things could be so much worse, and yet we want more. I want more. Not possessions or money in the bank (although the money helps, doesn’t it?), but experience and fulfillment. So here’s what I’ve got: a good job, a wonderful partner, amazing family and friends, an incredible mountain range that I wake up and fall asleep to every day, and the wonders of the world closer than any other generation has ever had them. Life is good, indeed.

So the next song that popped up was by the Indigo Girls, which then reminded me of “Galileo”. While I don’t know if I believe in reincarnation, I am unable to discount it, either. How does one explain deja vu, memories of events that never occurred, and feelings that we have been somewhere, knowing that it just isn’t the case?

How long till my soul gets it right
Can any human being ever reach that kind of light
I call on the resting soul of Galileo
King of night vision king of insight

For those of you who have never heard the Girls live, you must. End of discussion. Listen to the crowd singing along…there is an amazing connection with the crowd at every Indigo Girls show that gives me chills just thinking about it right now. But this song in particular resonates, and I wonder if it is because it is a well-crafted and hooky pop song, or because of the subject matter. Maybe it’s a combination of both. Who knows. From my perspective, anything that makes us think about our existence and where we are going is not a bad thing at all.

So what happens when we do get to the end, and does it even matter? Once again, the magic iTunes answers, in the form of “Everything Must Change”, recorded by Oleta Adams. My first taste of Oleta’s remarkable voice came on the Tears for Fears album The Seeds of Love, where she stole the show on “Woman In Chains”. Oleta had three hits from Circle of One, including the top 10 classic “Get Here”. However, the show-stealer on the album for me was “Everything Must Change”, which was originally recorded by Quincy Jones and Bernard Ighner in the ’70s.

The young become the old
And mysteries do unfold
Cause that’s the way of time
Nothing and no one goes unchanged


It seems almost cliched to do so, but I want to wrap up with a quote from the quotable and infamous Ferris Bueller. “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Amen to that. And now I’ve got some living to do.

My Musical Valentine

Posted by John on February 7, 2010
Posted in: giveaway, holiday, personal, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , , . 10 Comments

I have a fluctuating interest in Valentine’s Day, and that may come from conflicting feelings about it from my youth. For those of you who do not normally celebrate it, Valentine’s Day starts out as a reason to sugar kids up and give out Disney Princesses or Transformer valentines to all of your classmates, but evolves into that one-on-one declaration of love that many adults struggle over. For me, Valentine’s Day always manifests itself musically, either as a celebration of the love I am currently experiencing, or as a balm for those times when being single and Cupid collide. Based on selections from this year’s Country-leaning playlist, I think you will be able to tell where my heart is at currently.

– Brad Paisley “Then” – Paisley normally has the critics in the palm of his hand, but when “Then” was released in advance of American Saturday Night, it was derided by many as a bit bland and not as clever as he normally is. However, for myself and a lot of other music fans, “Then” is a sweet and real tale about how the love between two people grows farther and further than you can ever imagine. Picture being in the early weeks and months of a relationship, and having someone play this song for you and telling you that these lyrics remind them of you:

I remember, trying not to stare the night that I first met you.
You had me mesmerized.
And three weeks later in the front porch light, taking forty five minutes to kiss goodnight.
I hadn’t told you yet, but I thought I loved you then


– Ty Herndon “Loved Too Much” – There were two types of country hits in the 90s…those “New Traditional” songs that harkened back to the Golden Age of Country Music, and those that could be played on Top 40 radio stations almost as easily as they could be on Country radio. Ty Herndon’s music definitely leaned toward the pop side of country, although he only barely hit the Top 40 on the Hot 100 chart one time (“It Must Be Love” at #38). A perfect example of Ty’s pop-country sound can be found on “Loved Too Much”, which tells the story of a man who isn’t able to casually be in a relationship.

I need to be loved too much I need to be held too tight
I need to hear someone say at the end of day
I’ll make everything right.


– Dixie Chicks “Never Say Die” – Way back on their major label debut, the Chicks already had some of the best writers in Nashville offering up their wares to be Dixiefied. George Ducas and Radney Foster capture the minutiae of a relationship that has seen some pretty big moments, because sometimes you don’t realize what you have until life slows to a crawl for a moment. Martie Maguire can milk some amazing emotion out of a few violin strings, and this song is a perfect example of that. “Die” is one of multiple highlights on Wide Open Spaces, and occasionally it will drift up to the surface for no apparent reason.

We’ve both had our share of doubts
Waited out those ole storm clouds
Boy it’s nights like this that I know why
Lovers like you and me will never say die


– Norah Jones “Come Away With Me” – So the mix closes with a request to run away to anywhere but here. Has a 3-minute song ever sounded as lush as this song does? Within those three minutes, you are transported to a cabin in the woods, a mountaintop, a field on the plains, and a bus heading for points unknown. The amazing thing to me is how much of a classic this song sounded like upon its release, and it was from Norah’s debut album. I have enjoyed music from each of her successive records, but I fear that lightning may not strike twice for Norah. Then again, wouldn’t most artists beg, borrow or steal to have one record like Come Away With Me?

And I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high
So won’t you try to come?

So speaking of “Come Away With Me”, it appears on the new Now That’s What I Call Love collection that came out last week. The cool thing about this collection is that it has a variety of sounds, including rock, country, pop, and R&B. Coolest inclusion? Howie Day’s “Collide”, which remains one of my favorite songs from the late 90s. There’s even one for the potential adulterer in your life, courtesy of Hinder’s “Lips of an Angel”.

Is your interest piqued? Well, thanks to the folks at EMI, I have 2 copies of this 20-song collection to give away. If you leave a comment between now and Tuesday afternoon, you will be entered to win a copy of the CD. Comment away!

At the Turn of the Decade

Posted by John on December 23, 2009
Posted in: personal, year-end. 7 Comments

Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we’ve no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

This month has been a blur to me for several reasons: work, which seems to be changing at a rapid rate; school, which wrapped up last week with a huge bang (that being my head against my desk in rapid succession); and just life in general, which continues to be an adventure taking me in unexpected directions. Fortunately, the holidays not only bring time to celebrate, but also time to reflect, and that is what I am finding myself doing now. 2009 was supposed to be this remarkably rejuvenating year, and while there were some highlights and new experiences (London, grad school, and new love, to name a few), those perks were accompanied by some pretty intense adversities. Let’s just say that these are best left unsaid, as it only perpetuates the negative energy.

One thing that I feel has suffered as a result has been the musical experience. No matter how much we would like to think that music is a casual hobby, for those who really love the full experience, it can be a lot of work. Searching out new music, listening to it multiple times and processing it in my head is something I take seriously, and it is also something I haven’t been able to do as much as I would like in 2009.

Having said all of this, I am in the process of wrapping up the year not only in my head, but also for my blog. In the next couple of days, you will see my top CDs and top singles. There are several blogs that have done the decade wrap-up, but I don’t think I will be going there, except for a personal summary sometime in the near future. If you want a great recap of the decade in CDs, check out ww_adh’s top 100.

What I’ve Learned from (Dead) Michael Jackson

Posted by John on September 13, 2009
Posted in: commentary, death, personal, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , , . 7 Comments

MJ Rock VideoDoes it seem possible that we are going on three months since Michael Jackson died? It kind of boggles my mind, as it seems like only a couple of weeks ago we were inundated with non-stop coverage of the circus surrounding his death, with all the fixins. It’s easy to forget that the buzz around MJ prior to his early demise was whether his London-based concert would even see the light of day, let alone be turned into a highly-anticipated theatrical release. But through all of the craziness and sadness, there are some key lessons that I’ve been able to identify.

– The circus rolls on, even after you die – This one takes on two meanings in the wake of June 25th, as not only did the media become all-MJ, all the time, but they even reported mysterious MJ sightings, trying to link Michael to Elvis and Tupac. Not only did they report on every crumb of detail they could find out about Jackson’s life, they even tried to find an heir to the throne, as it was briefly reported that Kanye West had already identified himself as the new King of Pop (quickly disproven, but still).

Latoya Home Video– What you won’t do, do for fame – Dad is pimping side businesses, associates are rushing to publish tell-alls, and other family members are rush-releasing five-year-old recordings (see LeToya) and “tributes” (see Jermaine). I suppose it’s not a knock on anyone, but some of it just comes off a bit desperate. Even alleged son Omer Bhatti, who rumors have apparently floated for years about him being Michael’s love child, surfaced for the memorial service and even sat in the front row with the rest of the family. Tribute tour with all of his offspring is sure to follow.

– Good music evolves with you – I have a lot of Michael Jackson music in my library, but I hadn’t gone out of my way to listen to it specifically for quite a while. The surfacing of “Rock With You” remixed by Freemasons did cause me to revisit a bit of “Off the Wall” about two years ago, including the epic Frankie Knuckles remix of “Rock”, but that was a short-lived theme. Michael’s been pretty prominently in the mix for the past few months, though. There are songs that I have rediscovered (“P.Y.T” was somehow missing from my collection), songs that I have new appreciation for (“Stranger In Moscow”, for one), and songs that I feel vindicated for loving the first time around, regardless of what everyone else thought (“Blood on the Dancefloor”). No matter how deep into the catalog I go, though (“Farewell My Summer Love”, anyone?), nothing can top the pure joy of Knuckles’s interpretation of “Rock With You”.

Personal Biases

Posted by John on August 21, 2009
Posted in: personal. Tagged: , , , , , , . 13 Comments

No matter how much a person says they are open to all kinds of music, there is always going to be some kind of bias that keeps them from embracing every piece of music they hear with open arms, and I am no exception to that. Here are a few of the (possibly irrational) biases that I bring to the music-listening experience, for better or worse.

Kermit Banjo– Banjos in pop music – If someone can find a way to legitimately utilize a banjo in a pop song, I’m right on board. [See: “Rainbow Connection”, Jason Mraz] There is something about a banjo that just can’t sound depressing, and when you hear a banjo, chances are good someone’s having a good time. Except if you’re on the wrong end of the Deliverance equation.

Toby Red White Blue– Toby Keith – Early on in his career, Toby Keith was the man. He came across as an everyman who was just trying to get through life without too many missteps, and songs like “Who’s That Man” and “He Ain’t Worth Missing” made for great country music in the 90s. And then 9/11 occurred. “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” is supposed to be a tribute to his dad and the United States in the aftermath of his father’s death and the terrorist attacks of September 11th. By his own description, he didn’t want to originally release the song himself, but at the request of the Commandant of the Marine Corps, he did record it, and the rest is history. What I DON’T think he had to do was wrap himself up in the flag as much as he did, and then attack the Dixie Chicks for Natalie Maines’s comment about being ashamed of then-President Bush while performing in England. By getting involved in that rumble, he ended up with a lot of people saying the same thing about him. Shouldn’t performers be able to express their own opinions, just like anyone else?

How much do I dislike Toby Keith? I won’t even buy a record by an artist on his record label.

– Perez Hilton – So stupid is this man that anything he touches is like Kryptonite to me. For example, PMN favorite Ida Maria, whose “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” was one of the jams of last summer, is about to embark on a tour of the US, and normally this would be cause for rejoicing. However, she’s on the bill for a “Perez Hilton Presents” tour, and no amount of love would get me to purchase a ticket that his name appears on.

Kelly C Perez InterviewWhat caused this hatred? Take your pick…the whole Will.I.Am altercation in Toronto, the way he handled the fallout from the Miss America gay marriage controversy, his amazingly juvenile and vile website. As long as someone thinks that he is the spokesperson for the LGBT population, he will continue to be among my least-liked people. But you know who I like better because of him? Kelly Clarkson, who was also in Toronto at the time, and called a punk a punk in an interview the next day. We REALLY love Kelly.

– Internet buzz – Yes, I know I am a part of it at times, but there have been times where so much buzz has surrounded an artist that I find myself instantly against that artist, which isn’t fair, but it is what it is. A good example of that is LaRoux, who I didn’t get right away, and the chorus of angels bloggers singing her praises. It didn’t help that an unneeded rivalry was set up in the blogosphere between Roux and Boots, just like they did with Duffy and Adele a year earlier. (BTW, Team Adele FTW!) I know it happens, and I’m at least admitting that I succomb to it, but I doubt it will ever fully go away, given all of the info overload I get from my daily blogroll.

Speaking of Internet buzz, I think the new V Factory track has a chance at being their breakthrough single. But then again, I thought that about “Love Struck”. Props to Mel for sharing “Get Up”.

The Edge of Heaven

Posted by John on August 19, 2009
Posted in: personal. Tagged: . 4 Comments

George Andrew BWThere are certain moments in my musical history that I remember very vividly: sitting with my mom as she observed the 10 minutes of silence after the death of John Lennon; my first concert (Level 42 opening for Steve Winwood); and two moments tied to George Michael and Andrew Ridgley, otherwise known as Wham! The first was the first time I heard “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go”, and the second was the moment I heard (via MTV) that they were breaking up.

First contact with Wham! occurred in the shower (stop that!), where I would always have the radio on in the morning. I turned on the radio, hopped in the shower, and “Go Go” was about halfway done. Instantly, I was hooked, and I practically tripped over myself to get to the radio to hear who had created this revelation of a song. Really, when you get down to it, the song structure is classic, and there is a definite retro vibe going on, but in a sea of New Wave and Hairy Metal, the song stood out like a diamond in a pile of coal. I owned that 45 within a week of hearing it the first time, although it took a while to get the full-length. That would come with “Careless Whisper”, which I could not get enough of.

Speed ahead about a year, and a Boy Scout trip to Philadelphia. “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and “Everything She Wants” seemed to be on the radio every hour, and I was loving it. I was in full-on geek fandom mode, although being a boy in high school, I tended to keep it in check until I got home from school or my part-time job. I remember riding with my grandmother to go cross-country skiing that following winter, and she had the Wham! tape and the Woman In Red (because she loved “Part Time Lover”) soundtrack in her truck. Pretty cool grandma, eh? Even the “I’m Your Man” EP, which probably was my first maxi-cassingle, was completely played out. (“He’s great! He’s tough! Mr Ridgeley, do your stuff! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”) I forgot how much I loved that video, even with the cheesy subliminals.

Wham! Edge HeavenIn between Make It Big and Music from the Edge of Heaven, I discovered Fantastic, which didn’t quite have the same impact of Big, but it still had me with “Wham Rap”, “Young Guns”, “Club Tropicana”, and “Bad Boys”. It was as if they had released another album, although I was several years behind the curve on that one. However, I caught up fast after the MTV report on the breakup of the band. While I didn’t do anything stupid or get all emotional, I remember really being struck by this. It was if two newly-acquired friends had moved away, and I didn’t have any idea if I would see them again. This feeling has occurred a few times since then, but as cliched as it is, I guess you never forget your first favorite band breakup.