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 …
Echoing more sleepy Santo & Johnny than hard-charging Pyramids, Rich Arithmetic’s summer single, “Saving Sunset (Last Surf Of The Day)” is a refreshing digestif for quasi-post Covid sundowns. With a Shadows-ish lead melody overlapping a traditional staccato rhythm (both played by north-of-Seattle guitarist Rich Horton (Arithmetic) – plus Ruppi Barnickel’s idyllic percussion – the instrumental …
One oft-overlooked aspect of the residential schools in Canada – run mostly by the Catholic Church and the Church of England in Canada, in conjunction with the government – is that the perpetrators documented their activities. Documented experiments such as introducing a child with tuberculosis to a classroom, and seeing how many others would contract …
Seemingly influenced by the likes of Vangelis and Tangerine Dream, deep-steeped in Bryan Ferry’s uber-sexy atmospherics… Ferry/Roxy Music saxophonist/keyboardist Jorja Chalmers has forged an impressive and distinct solo career while she’s not stealing spotlights from her employer. “I’ll Be Waiting” – the second video/single from her second album on the Italians Do It Better label …
I burst into tears this morning, reading that another bit of my childhood was gone. It surprised me at first, my brief waterfall, but then I realized that I couldn’t be the only one. It has been said that you could tell that The Hammer (never to be confused with another iconic slugger, Hank “The …
Examining the emotional impact of Raymond Briggs’ “The Snowman” – and this song, in particular – could be an eternal endeavor. Like trying to decipher the magic of The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. I mention the latter because the musical score is integral to “The Snowman,” which is otherwise a silent film. I can’t think …
Jesus, Eddie Van Halen is dead. The wind’s been knocked out of me. What? Eddie Van Halen is gone, and with him, one of the last crouton-crumbs of my salad days has been swept away. Arguably the most influential rock musician of my generation, definitely the most influential rock guitarist since Hendrix. As with Hendrix, …
This is a lost, post-Pet Sounds, turn-of-the-70s Beach Boys record – sans Mike Love. Almost like a Carl Wilson solo record. Which is a very good thing. In fact, Brian Wilson makes a spoken-word appearance on one track! It’s a small sample from a Pet Sounds outtake. Steve Stav
Paul Kelly has penned heartbreakers, ballads, tales of struggle and triumph… even songs for funerals. A lullaby, then, hardly raises one’s eyebrows when considering Australia’s preeminent singer/songwriter’s long career. What does grab attention is that his new single, as Kelly puts it, is “a lament in the form of a lullaby. A lullaby that sounds …
I had spent so much time not thinking of the past, or the future. On that day, that night, her last… I wasn’t thinking of the present anymore, either. She lay there, with enough Fentanyl to kill a rhino, gasping for breath. Whimpering for breath. All I could think of was, “Please quit, my love. …
(I imagine Burgess Meredith in the role) “YOU! Get off of the sidewalk! Retreat to your unit, er, home, immediately!” “But… the sky is so blue today, and the air smells so good. It is a good day for a walk.“ “Practice social distancing, now!” “But I am practicing social distancing… there’s no one around.” …
Damn. I once wrote that when I was a kid, I was convinced that the Harlem Globetrotters were comprised of players too talented for pro basketball. Supermen. Superheroes; their colorful uniforms a costume. No joke. I don’t think I was the only young person who considered the pre-Jordan, pre-Bird NBA to be boring B-league stuff …
A posthumous “Best Disruptive Innovation” award to Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and producer/impresario Trevor Horn. Eighties music was rife with social and political commentary, but much of it was either too soft or too hard. The masses weren’t smart enough for Devo, and Black Flag was a little rough on most suburbanites’ ears. In comes …
I’m only askin’ But I… I think you know One of the greatest songs of my generation, twice played on a mixtape in the car today on a brief trip to Oly… and then when I turned on XM33, there it was again. Released as a single 35 years ago next month, from one of …
Yet to spot a pretty girl in my new home of Kelso/Longview, but I do hold out hope – for one of the most beautiful women in the world was from Longview, and lived here her entire life. It was a bit of a sensation when a Washington State girl, Sharry Konopski, became Playboy’s Playmate …
It’s astounding that almost 20 years after I first hassled the Butler brothers about releasing a new album, they finally did it. The video for the second single, “You’ll Be Mine,” dropped today. Classic Psychedelic Furs meets the 21st century, at last. From our conversations, I got the impression that Richard and Tim might’ve had …
As a decades-long fan of both sex and honesty, this is naturally one of my Depeche Mode favorites. “Stripped” is of course not about sex, but about the intimacy that on the best of nights sex can be, ironically, a gateway to. Nose-to-nose on a couch, intertwined in bed… sharing dreams, fears… truths. On the …
Every great once in a while I get fan mail. Or, a nice note about something, really. I sent this little bit from EPB as a response to such a note. I am not a great writer; though I will nowadays admit that I’m a good, completely self-taught bit of a hack. I never finished …
She might pass close to your route maybe once a week, a month, a year… sometime she’s so close, you can almost make out her flags; at others, she’s a flickering light in the dark distance. All you can do is keep muscle and coal on hand down in the boiler, the decks swabbed; lines …
Damn, at 2:15 AM, I feel like Donald Fagen on the cover of The Nightfly album. A Valentine’s Day postscript, this song and video from the Dark Prince. Meant to post it earlier, as it is one of the most exquisite love songs of my generation. I’ve heard him sing it on stage many times, …
My countdown to Valentine’s Day continues with one of the most romantic songs I can think of. Paired with a brilliantly unusual video that’s somehow absolutely perfect… they have literally brought me to tears, on occasion, for over 30 years now. It. Is. So. Fucking. Great. At the band’s peak, Bono and the Edge evoked …
In the great documentary “808,” King Ad-Rock explains that the acquisition of their first Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer was by accident. He’d come up with enough dough to buy a Rickenbacker 330 (“like Paul Weller had in the Jam”), but when Ad-Rock got to the music store, there was an 808 on display near the …
“I wanna love you, but I’m getting blown away”… Haven’t seen this clip before… wow. Jorja Chalmers‘ beautiful sax, and Avalon-era guitarist Neil Hubbard’s blistering solo really punctuate a cover that Hubbard first recorded with Roxy over 35 years ago. No one puts together a better band for the studio or the stage than Bryan …
I saw Stuart Adamson and Big Country perform once, at Sacramento’s now-extinct Cattle Club. November 16, 1993, during their “Buffalo Skinners” tour. The Cattle Club wasn’t a huge venue, somewhere between Seattle’s Tractor Tavern and Showbox Theater in size. I was right up front in this packed room, and holey moley, ten years after their …
My Facebook friend Sharry Debolt (nee Konopski) left this earth August 25 after a long battle with lung cancer. She was a really nice, cool gal who said very lovely things to me before and after my wife died last year. Though we had little in common besides cancer and living in the same state, …