Jiminy. Just minutes after referencing the anniversary of Devo drummer Bob Casale’s passing in a Facebook post, I’m hit by the news of Rick Buckler‘s death. The Jam’s legendary drummer passed away at home in England on Feb. 18 after a short, undisclosed illness. Buckler, along with the band’s bassist Bruce Foxton, comprised one of …
Lists, lists, lists… music critics, music fans are full of playlists these days. Themes galore. But what about a soundtrack to one’s memorial service? I don’t plan on dying anytime soon, but any of us could go tomorrow. In the next hour. Especially at my advanced, arthritic, yet “Hold the phone, I’m still 19!” Gen …
For decades now, I’ve debated the anthem of my generation X in my head: “London Calling,” or “Love Will Tear Us Apart?” A see-saw battle, but when I revisit performances like this the scale tips ever so slightly. What power this song has. The sing-along chorus in a concert hall is almost half of it. …
Rock n roll is roughly 70 years old. When I began really, really paying attention to it – it was less than 30 years old. Shiiiiit. With rock being approximately 70, there’s a lot of anniversaries to celebrate these days. 10, 20, 25, 40, 50, 60 years, etc. One of my very favorite albums, The …
Every word of this song might as well be my day-to-day narrative. Besides her great beauty, my wife Deborah has a way about her… she’s impossible to resist. If I’m the captain of the ship, she’s the fleet admiral.
For a long time, I’ve been mentally formulating a list of the coolest songs in popular music, ever. Not necessarily the best, or the greatest – but the coolest. For example, The Shirelles’ recording of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” – one of the greatest pop songs of all time, but not “cool.” The Zombies’ …
Mark Hollis and Talk Talk… the complex arrangements were rivaled by very few, Bryan Ferry and The Blue Nile included. The layers, the introduction of instruments and sounds here and there, if only for a moment or two… almost Brian Wilson-esque.
I’m not looking to put him on a mountaintop (or maybe I am), but one of the things that Jimmy had in common with Jesus is that they were both betrayed by those he loved. By the way, isn’t it cool that we have always been able to call him “Jimmy?” He deserved, in retirement, …
Random thoughts of a feverish man: 1. 2024; what a fucked up year. The only consolation is that 2025 is going to be much worse. 2. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for taking Jimmy Carter now instead of in a few weeks – when someone who should be getting his teeth knocked out in prison would …
There have been eleven men – eleven! – elected to the post of Commander-In-Chief during my lifetime. A lifetime in which I could only call two of them “mine.” James Earl Carter, Jr., was my first president. I was eight years old when he was sworn into office. My third grade class watched the inauguration …
Two of my former editors have died in 2024. Dawn Anderson, publisher and editor of Seattle’s Backlash and Backfire magazines, had recently been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Dawn published the first interview with Kurt Cobain, in 1988. For many fans, that alone is qualification for “legend” status. And she was a fucking legend, someone …
Interesting automotive-music experience this late afternoon.. First, the entirety of Ozzy’s “Crazy Train” on the sat radio as I drove thru town. Full blast, of course. Hopefully scared some tourists. Then, as I parked the car here at home, Fleetwood Mac’s “Sara.” Same station. Go figure. I left it on, of course, and almost at …
She was a legend before her 30th birthday, revolutionizing and modernizing an art. She was America’s ballet ambassador, for decades… and generations before the haunting “Killers Of The Flower Moon” re-introduced the Osage people to the public consciousness, Maria Tallchief was the Osage’s de facto ambassador to the world. In life and in death, Tallchief …
In terms of non-photographic art, I love the commercial genre much more than anything else. There’s something about the almost-completely-lost profession of creating art on demand; producing amazing art on a deadline… often uncredited, and often, for astoundingly low pay (but nonetheless a living wage at the time, if one was prolific). I thought today, …
This new Leon Bridges single came on the radio in the car today, and for no reason at all I just lost it. A song that just sounds so damn good. Channeling a lot of Marvin here. I need a 9-minute version.
Great new music from Fontaines D.C. … or, rather, music that was recorded nearly 40 years ago – only to surface last month. This song is a bittersweet thrill for me… simultaneously makes me feel young again – and reminds me that those feeling happened a long time ago, now. In any case, I’ll be …
Pete Rose and Johnny Bench, 1971. “Charlie Hustle” played the game as it should be played, and played it better than almost any other figure in baseball history. He played every game as if his life depended on it. Charlie Hustle was an integral part of two National League dynasties. Of course, most people associate …
Kristofferson was so talented as an actor, later generations might not even know that he was a remarkable musician. He was so well-known as a singer, some people might’ve forgotten that he wrote some of the most important songs of the Sixties and Seventies. Kristofferson was so skilled as a songwriter, a lot of people …
If it wasn’t for that unmistakeable voice, you’d think that the new song “Take Me Back To The Party” was a debut from an artist barely out of her teens. A hi-energy disco throwback – complete with an irresistible fuzz-bassline, a Theremin tease and a great lyrical hook – it sounds like an incredibly adept …
I once went on a date with Charles R. Cross – often known as “Charley.” It was the first time we’d formally met – though he’d said hello to me in passing, maybe once. I was a regular contributor to The Rocket, coming by once a week or two to pitch assignments or drop some …
Tacoma’s Jerry Miller, who made his mark in music history as one of rock’s greatest guitarists almost 60 years ago, is dead at 81. Miller was one of the guitarists in Moby Grape, a band with an incredibly vivid, unusual and brief career that began in the mid-late 1960s. A wiki read is advisable if …
Eyes seeking cues from the other’s in a novel duet, they sing of ambitions someday realized – and hopes dashed by the weight of life, and by time. They sing of the humming wheels of an escape vehicle, and what promises may lie over the horizon. A black woman with so much in her rearview …
When Seattle’s music and arts festival, Bumbershoot, rolls around every Labor Day weekend… I feel bittersweet pangs of poignancy. As I now write of it from 2,400 miles away, I’ve realized that my fuzzy-warm memories have even more to do with the festival’s site – the Seattle Center. The magic, the always-pleasant atmosphere of that …
The best covers illustrate the songwriters’ talents, as simple and simultaneously complicated as that can be. Sinead O’Connor’s voice… her delivery, her phrasing… was a reminder, an illustration of Prince’s genius at a time when he was starting to get a little kookier, when some from my generation were starting to tune him out. The …
You have to be of a certain age – to be able to remember the year 1984 very clearly – to begin to understand the impact of Tina Turner’s famous “comeback.” To understand that her resurrection was multi-layered; to comprehend how important that was to countless women. Yes, there was the incredible music… but the …
My late wife and I often dreamed of going to Hawaii; neither of us had ever been. Usually, because of a lack of funds; a struggling writer vacations close to home. When she realized that breast cancer was going to take her, we again talked of the islands Sit on the beach together, and never …
You’d have to be at least Generation X-age to fully appreciate the enormous impact that singer/songwriter/actress/producer Irene Cara had on pop culture in the 1980s. A gigantic meteor wouldn’t have made a deeper impact, really. The theme to Flashdance? Omnipresent for years; in the public consciousness for decades. But perhaps a bigger contribution, in the …
Elton John and Bernie Taupin are responsible for a lot of legendary compositions… to me, between 1971 and 1975 they created four of the most perfect, most amazing songs ever recorded. Not saying they’re better than others, just saying that they haven’t and never will be topped: “Levon,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” and …
Your Majesty, The fact that you continued to serve the Realm almost until the day of your death was unsurprising; you could’ve retired your crown years ago, but felt that your subjects needed you. And they did. Say what some may about the idea of a royal family in modern times, but the truth is …
In the Golden Age of 45’s, we would’ve called Rich Arithmetic’s latest single a Double-A side. On YOU ARE ALWAYS RIGHT, Rich opens one of his most vital arteries, and with his longtime singing partner Lance Morgan, they spill sweet harmonies on to a canvas of late ‘60s folk rock (by way of mid-’80s Athens jangle). Kansas guitar …