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.

The Songs of Summer

Posted by John on August 14, 2009
Posted in: personal, songs, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , , . 14 Comments

So here we are, almost two-thirds of the way through the summer, but in some ways, it just hasn’t felt like summer to me, with a full-time course load in school and a pretty stressful work situation. But the elements wait for no man, so I might as well embrace it, even if it is belated. Everyone seems hell-bent to identify the song of the summer, and I’m just as guilty of that practice, so without further delay, here are a few of the songs that have been keeping me jamming in the car, at the gym, and at my desk this summer.

– Jordin Sparks/”S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)” – On paper, it looks like a trainwreck just waiting to happen, but on my iPod, it’s pretty brilliant. Single #2 on Jordin’s first CD was the superstar duet, but this time around, it’s a cover of a dancefloor classic. We all know the base song from Shannon that Sparks is paying tribute to, but there’s an extra somethin’ somethin’ going on here to keep you coming back for more.

– Mini Viva/”I Left My Heart In Tokyo” – Thanks to Paul at Fizzy Pop for bringing this one to my attention. It only took one listen for me to embrace this Xenomania-produced duo’s contribution to the summer soundtrack, but it was the Mike Waterman remix that sounds like a dead ringer for Mel and Kim that brought it home. Is there ANY chance they will see an American release? Methinks not.

– The Gossip/”Pop Goes the World” – Duane over at duanemoody.com and I have been singing this song’s praises since Music for Men was released, and while I was initially disappointed that it was not chosen as single #2 (see “Love Long Distance”), I am encouraged by the fact that it could be used as the song to break the band wide open here in the States.

– Pitbull/”Hotel Room Service” – It has been my experience the past few months that I am pretty much on my own when it comes to Mr 305, but he keeps coming out with these kickin’ jams that sample some great ’90s dance music, so I will keep on flying the flag for him. This one finds him picking up on the Bucketheads jam “The Bomb”, and while I don’t need some of the more crude lyrics, it’s really all about the choruses, and they are awesome.

Random Notes – 8-11-09

Posted by John on August 11, 2009
Posted in: new releases, reviews, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , , . 6 Comments

– Don’t you hate it when a song comes along that you can’t get out of your head, and yet you can’t buy it to throw on your iPod? For me, that song this week is the soon-to-be second single from the Sugababes entitled “About A Girl”, courtesy of Idolator. I am digging this one much more than “Get Sexy”, even though that single has kind of grown on me, too. Here’s a live clip from Birmingham last weekend:

Sandra Whatever– Does it seem possible that Sandra Bernhard hasn’t released an album of new music in 15 years? Continuing to give credit where it’s due, Towleroad (and Modern Tonic) gave us a sneak peak of Sandra’s upcoming CD Whatever It Takes. Click through for a free sample of “All Around”, featuring Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders.

– Why is it that great albums like The Saturdays’ Chasing Lights can’t get a release in the States, but a mediocre record that didn’t even do that great in England like Gary Go does? I love “Wonderful”, but the rest of it just doesn’t sound all that distinct.

Random Notes – 08-06-09

Posted by John on August 6, 2009
Posted in: news, personal, us against the music, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

One last paper, and the summer semester is done. I love my schoolwork, but this degree can’t be over with soon enough.

– First MJ, then John Hughes. I was a bit stunned when the headline came up, then had a moment of denial, since “John Hughes” is a somewhat common name. But the man who single-handedly kept me at movie theaters through high school passed away today. Of course the movies were great, but for me, it was always about the music. How brilliant is the placement of Yello’s “Oh Yeah” in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Would Sixteen Candles have had the same punch without mood-setting music like the Thompson Twins’ “If You Were Here”? And is it possible that a group like Simple Minds would never have broken in the US with “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” without the help of The Breakfast Club? I seriously doubt it. Rest in peace, John, and thanks for inspiring me to hang around for the credits.

– If you haven’t checked it out yet, Yuri has our most recent diss discussion of Kelly Clarkson, Ryan Tedder, Beyonce, Mimi and Eminem. I’ve now been dubbed the “radio and records guy”, and I will wear that badge proudly. As a little epilogue to the Mariah saga, let me share with you the lame performance of “Obsessed” from last night’s episode of America’s Got Talent. Let’s just say the photo montage on the back wall had more life in it than she did.

– Almost two months later, I am still loving the Gossip’s Music For Men, and they have already unleashed single number two on the world in the form of “Love Long Distance”. The video premiered a few days ago, and it’s a very simple premise with some cool effects. Hopefully they are holding back on “Pop Goes the World” to coincide with the physical release of the CD here in the States in October.

– Paul’s already beaten me to the punch on this, but I fell in love with Elouise yesterday as she spoke with Larry Flick on Sirius-XM’s Out Q. She could not have been any sweeter or cuter if she tried, and I’m just as excited as Paul is for the release of “Another Day”, which is almost as epic as a song by her idol Shirley Bassey. And if you’re not checking Larry out in the morning, you really should. He had a great (and raunchy) interview with Nelly Furtado this morning in advance of her upcoming Spanish CD Mi Plan, and he plays a great mix of music from both sides of the Atlantic.

– One last video, and it’s our fine friend Chris Richardson. It would be great if it were new music, but instead, it’s a little comedy to end your day with.

I Sue From a Land Down Under

Posted by John on July 30, 2009
Posted in: music industry, news. 8 Comments

PD*29702898I LIVE for this kind of news, even when it’s ridiculous like this is:

A music publisher that has accused Australian band Men at Work of stealing the melody to their 1980s smash hit “Down Under” from a campfire song won the first stage of its lawsuit on Thursday seeking royalties from the Aussie anthem.

First off, who knew that “Kookaburra” was actually copyrighted? In my mind, that’s a bit like saying that the publishing rights to “Kumbaya” were owned by Michael Jackson. I was a bit traumatized by this song as a child when I found out that gumdrops did NOT grow on trees. Leave it to the Aussies to portray their country as being even MORE loveable than it already is!

G Harrison CreaturesThe bigger question here is about how different one melody has to be from another melody to not infringe on copyrights. The whole “My Sweet Lord”/”He’s So Fine” lawsuit from 1971 was one of the first cases I ever encountered as a young music fan that made me question the sanity of people in the industry. Long story short, George Harrison was accused of ripping off “He’s So Fine” in his 1971 hit “My Sweet Lord”, and he lost. This was a big deal, because he was a Beatle, and the Beatles were still seen as other-worldly. Besides, the song was a favorite of mine early on (I loved the cover of Harrison’s album, and it was a double, which meant fold-out cover), and for anyone to malign a song I loved was grounds for…something. The history of this lawsuit is just amazing, and to read it is to read the history of several musical legacies (Beatles, Doo-Wop, Allen Klein) all colliding in an amazingly drawn-out legal dispute that just shows how much greed has ruled much of the music industry.

I really don’t know what to make of the Men at Work lawsuit, although I hope it can be resolved amicably. You have to imagine that the vast majority of that money has already been spent, and that there has to be SOME statute of limitations on what can be recovered 28 years later. In the meantime, here’s the source of the controversy…

When Idols Fall To Earth

Posted by John on July 28, 2009
Posted in: commentary, personal, videos, youtube. 16 Comments

Madonna BWI’ve been feeling a bit left out of my normal circle of blogger friends lately, because so many folks are going hog wild over the upcoming Madonna greatest hits collection/end of an era/landmark. I have seen that cover so many times over the past week that I haven’t been paying as much attention to articles that I normally would read from start to finish.

Having said all of this, and knowing that certain people who frequent this blog know of my “meh” attitude toward Ms Ciccone, I must acknowledge that this attitude would have been unfathomable 15-20 years ago. In fact, I was a pretty big fan of the early years, with specific landmarks along the way:

– I remember sitting with my stepdad in the parking lot of a hospital, waiting for my mom to come out, when “Holiday” came on the radio. For some reason, I wondered what he thought of the song, although I never asked the question. He was very much into the classic rock stations, so it didn’t seem like a conversation I wanted to have and still have my dignity intact.

– The “Dress You Up” video, to this day, gives me goosebumps. I have no idea what it is about that specific performance, but it has an energy that I believe is incredibly difficult to replicate. There were afternoons during the “World Exclusive” airings on MTV where I wouldn’t leave the house so I could watch the video at the top of every hour.

– How sad is it that I remember the parody video that religious groups came up with in response to “Papa Don’t Preach”? That was just HORRIBLE!

– I drove to Buffalo from Fredonia to pick up the “Justify My Love” video for a friend who was an even bigger Madonna fan than I was. Of course, I picked up the CD single for myself at the same time as buying the video, but it didn’t hurt that I just wanted an excuse to get out of town and up to the big city.

– Erotica and the Sex book both came out around the time I became an assistant manager at Record Town. Talk about anti-climatic…neither of those releases really spawned the radical reaction that you would have pictured, given all of the news coverage they had received.

Madonna Bedtime– Bedtime Stories remains my favorite Madonna CD. I played that bad boy out, and I never felt she was “selling out” by going R&B, because I felt like she pulled it off like it was a natural progression. Besides, “let’s get unconscious honey” has to be one of my all-time favorite lines in any song.

– Although I wasn’t a fan of most of the soundtrack stuff (“Hanky Panky”? Seriously?), Evita was the first serious miss for me. I had no interest in that whatsoever, and thought that her vocals, although better than usual, just seemed thin compared to the bombastic material she was singing. Ray of Light halted the slide slightly, but then American Life killed any momentum that might have been there.

– Confessions is my second-favorite after Bedtime, but it became clear that I would never look at her as an Idol again. The musician and entertainer clashed too much with her public facade, and I haven’t been able to get past that since. Even Hard Candy, which had some good stuff on it, never fully landed with me.

I guess the moral of this story is that you shouldn’t put too much weight on one figure to maintain the same level of mystique for a long time, because that’s just a recipe for failure. Especially when their expected shelf life is much shorter than what everyone else expects.

On the Bus

Posted by John on July 27, 2009
Posted in: personal, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , , , . 12 Comments

Branigan Self ControlI have had a bit of a block on blogging the past week or so, and it has been compounded by the end of my toughest semester yet in school. In talking with Mike at Pop Trash Addicts the other day, Laura Branigan came up. (It’s Mike…that’s how he rolls.) Instantly, I had a flashback to 1984, and a junior high field trip to some American Revolution battleground (no clue which one) where we spent most of the day on a school bus. Of course, the music was the most memorable part of the trip.

To give you perspective on how obsessed I was with pop music at the time, I had snagged a small tape recorder meant for dictation and recorded songs from the radio on to it. That tape player accompanied me on my trip, with a single earbud that I listened to a grainy radio recording of my favorite songs at the time. Among those songs was Branigan’s “Self Control”, which ended up peaking at #4 later that year. While I am a bit foggy on the other music, I can give you a good list of what was definitely peaking my interests at the moment:

-Dan Hartman “I Can Dream Without You” – Good grief, I LOVED this song. If it is possible that there is an audio gaydar, I pretty much nailed it with Dan, especially since his “Instant Replay” is one of my favorite disco songs as well. Mom loved this track as well, and it began a long string of me bringing her songs that I knew she would love.

-Sheila E “The Glamorous Life” – In 1984, I was all about all things Prince, including proteges. Sheila E was the first one to really make an impact, with “Glamorous”, “Belle of St Mark”, and “Toy Box”, which wasn’t a single, but sure got a lot of play on my local college station. The video for “Glamorous” is nowhere to be found on YouTube, but here’s a super-secret live version.

-Peabo Bryson “If Ever You’re In My Arms Again” – Songs like “Glamorous Life” hold up well, but others don’t do so hot, and that’s the case for me with “If Ever You’re In My Arms Again”. I remember loving the chord change toward the end of the song, and the power of the delivery. It’s still a good song, but it just doesn’t seem to have the impact that it used to.

-Cory Hart “Sunglasses At Night” – I know he had other hits, but Cory Hart will always be “Sunglasses”, despite his moving performance as a runaway in “Never Surrender”. You never do forget your first time, though, do you? (The original is blocked from embedding, but I found a remix that I really like)

Baby, Feel the Beat Inside

Posted by John on July 24, 2009
Posted in: singles, videos, youtube. 8 Comments

Posts will be returning momentarily, but in the meantime, I have to share this. People are estimating that, based on the viral nature of this video, Chris Brown’s “Forever” may shift in the neighborhood of 20-40,000 units by the time the charting period is over, putting the song back on the Digital Songs chart, although not back on the Hot 100. Ask Yuri why that won’t happen…I’m sure he’d love to tell you why.

Putting aside any thought about the man behind the song, from my perspective, this is what music is supposed to do. I got a bit choked up watching this. Softie, I know.

The Red, Red Rocks of Home

Posted by John on July 17, 2009
Posted in: commentary, concerts, personal. 10 Comments

Red Rocks NightPopdose today posted a review of the Rob Thomas live DVD, recorded at Red Rocks here in Denver. For those of you who have never been to a show at Red Rocks, believe the hype. It’s an amazing live music venue, and whoever came up with the idea of constructing that amphitheater (built during 1920s and 30s) deserves a Grammy just for vision. Just remember to bring a cushion…those concrete seats will kill you for an extended show! The minor inconveniences are worth it, though.

James Taylor Red RocksFor about five years, I attended at least one show a year at Red Rocks. Alison Krauss, James Taylor, Tori Amos, Aimee Mann and David Gray…all of them just seem to fit the vibe of the space. Not everyone can pull off a show at Red Rocks, which seems to be the gist of the Rob Thomas article. (That, and the author seems to have it out for him, too) When the artist and the venue connect, it’s absolute magic. When Emmylou Harris hits THAT note, and everyone’s spellbound, the rocks just seem to reflect that magic back on to the crowd. If asked to pick my favorite concert venue, this is the one by a mile.

Stevie Nicks Red RocksAs a result of the magic, Red Rocks has become THE place for many artists to play. I have heard countless opening acts say “I have always wanted to play here”, and I believe them every time. When you look at an artist like U2, and how a live show at Red Rocks just catapulted their career here in the States, you have to believe that the magic can sometimes be bottled and taken out of the venue. Stevie Nicks got a good concert video out of it, although there was some extensive work to make it fully presentable, including live bits recorded without the crowd there. In fact, most live recordings get a LOT of enhancing. You’d be surprised by how much.

So this year, my Red Rocks show will be Jason Mraz in September. I had resisted the siren call of Red Rocks up until last week, but I decided that Jason + Red Rocks = magic. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Random Notes – 07/16/09

Posted by John on July 16, 2009
Posted in: singles, us against the music. Tagged: , , , . 8 Comments

Madonna Black– Heard the new Madonna clip today, and I am liking what I hear. I can actually see this record getting some Top 40 play in the US in a climate where GaGa and Guetta are getting airplay. Speaking of the Lady, is it blasphemous to say that I hear shades of her (or maybe RedOne) in “Celebrate”?

– While we are talking about pop tarts, is Girls Aloud actually broken up? I thought from all the blog reports that they were, but they say otherwise. I love that Cheryl is working with will.i.am. Can anyone say “Fergalicious”?

Blake Lewis Sad Song– Those of you who are Blake Lewis fans should head on over to myxer.com to check out the ringtone for “Sad Song” that is available. The chorus sounds REALLY promising, and hints at the more dance-leaning stuff from the first record. I am officially psyched for the rest of his material now. He has also officially posted his album title as Heartbreak on Vinyl (I’d like to say you heard it here first, but I have no proof) on his official webpage.

– Tracks I currently love: “Remedy” from Little Boots, “Beat Again” by JLS, The Gossip’s “Pop Goes the World”, and “Meet Me Halfway” from the Black Eyed Peas. I may be digging the leaked sophomore CD from an American Idol winner, but maybe I’m not.

– Yet another attempt by Yuri and myself to find relevance has been posted this week. Read at your own peril.