When the dog is the Rock Star

Today we bid goodbye to our beloved greyhound Madge.  I know everyone has or has had that special dog that no other person has ever had and well it may be true.  Madge was that dog for our family for sure.  She was our leg leaning, excitable spinning, 60-pound 45 mile per hour couch potato.  We had Madge for 6 years, 8 months and 14 days.  That was 2,448 days to be exact.  More exacting is that we had her for 3,525,120 minutes.  I would prefer to think of her in terms of minutes because every minute with her was fun.  Every minute with her was a blessing.  Every minute with her was, well, rewarding.  She never cared that you were having a bad day because in that minute that she walked up to you you were the most important person in the world.  Everything about her came down to the minute.  We walked her 3 or 4 times a day, maybe 20 minutes or so per walk.  She was a rock star in our small town of 1,800 people.  Everyone knew her.  They acknowledged us when we walked her, but everyone wanted their minute with her.  Just to pet her, for her to lean against them, for them to just take a minute to say hello.  For that minute she was their best friend.

People asked all the time if Madge was a rescue greyhound and I guess the short answer to that is yes, but the real question is who was the rescue and who was the rescuer?  We did adopt Madge from a greyhound rescue, so in that sense, she was a rescue, but she also rescued us.  She rescued our family in that she provided so much new joy to us.  In the beginning, we loved watching her learn new things.  Seeing her confusion looking in a mirror, trying to figure out where those steps went and then figuring out how to maneuver on them.  Watching her suddenly wake up and start spinning on our living room floor while my wife and I watched thinking what in the world is wrong with this dog.  Spinning became the funny sideshow to many a stunned passersby while we were on our walks.  As Madge grew older, her muzzle turned white, all of those super muscles got a little softer and the affection grew even stronger for our family.  Always the lover of nature she started posing for her morning photos in front of and inside of any bush or flowering plant that she could find.  Madgie started getting a following on facebook as the daily pictures captured hearts near and far.  Madge was in her element, she was making people feel better, she was making people happy and most of all she was making people forget time and just admire her love for everything around her even if just for a minute. 

We adopted Madge around the same time as Marley and Me was released in theaters.  I remember watching it then thinking that I hope we didn’t have a dog like Marley.  WOW!  That dog was crazy!  But in many ways we did have a dog like Marley.  Marley captured your heart for his crazy rambunctiousness.  Madge captured it the opposite way.  She was calm and oh so very sweet.  She was the photo negative to Marley, but in the end, they were very similar.  They were full of life until they weren’t.  Madge didn’t give us time to prepare.  She was sick a few days and wasn’t drinking much water and didn’t feel like eating, but she was still Madge.  She was always looking for a person to lean against, a hand to pet her on her head or a kid to lay down next to right up to the end.  When I took her to the vet today and stood talking to the technician, there was Madge, leaning against my leg while I played with her ear (she loved that).  When it was time, she was dutiful in her love for me understanding the tough decision that I had just made and she assumed her normal position as I sat on the floor.  She laid her head against my leg, waited, and then, she was gone. 

My daughter Rachael found the excerpt from Marley and Me that summed up what a dog wants, “A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A water logged stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if you're rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?"― John Grogan, Marley & Me

For the entire time that Madge was with our family I worked from home.  Everyday, all day, when I was the only one in the house, she would lay behind my office chair except when it was time to go for our 3 o’clock walk or when she heard the kids’ school bus.  Then she was all business.  She could always sense when I may have had a difficult phone call or when I was tense.  She would get up from her spot and make me take a minute to pet her.  That was Madge.  The ultimate officemate.  She just wanted me to take a minute to relieve MY stress.  In the evenings when it was time to watch TV there was Madge, sharing the couch with me watching baseball, football, a thousand movies (including Marley and Me just a couple of weeks ago), a million TV shows, anything.  She just wanted to be there.  To her, every minute counted.  All 3,525,120 minutes to be exact.

My blog is about playlists and music and while this blog post is about my dog it is also about music.  Madge was rock and roll, Madge was jazz.  She was singer songwriter and pop.  She was country and she was techno.  Madge was all of the emotions of the music that I loved rolled into one living immortal being.  Like a great song, in my heart and mind she will never die.  Like the great songs that have seen me through a lot of pain and sorrow, happiness and joy, Madge’s love for everyone in our house won’t be drowned out because she isn’t here anymore.  My office sure is quiet though.

My playlist dedication to my Madgie.  They are songs that make me think of her.

More Like You- Freebo

Summer Breeze – Jason Mraz

Rainbow Connection – Johnny Mathis (or Kermit.  Your choice)

Gone To The Dogs - KT Tunstall

Please – John Carrie and Moor Green
Old Blue Chair - Kenny Chesney

Down The Road – Mickey Hart
Morning Dance - Spyro Gyra

Gift – O.A.R.

You’ll Be In My Heart – Phil Collins

Reach For The Sun – The Polyphonic Spree

Secret Of Life – Richie Havens

Hymn - Ultravox
Wild Horses - Rolling Stones

Old soul, new jazz? All good.

So I am not a guy that likes to write reviews of a record.  I like to talk about the body of work that an artist produces.  Often times I find brilliance in an album only after hearing a follow up album or what an artist is trying to do after hearing the next album they produce.  In my last blog entry I talked about John Carrie and his song, Please.  It was the song that was used in the video for Denver the Guilty Dog.  I think that some people understood when I said that in my opinion it wasn't even the best song on the CD and that CD in my opinion wasn't even the best in John Carrie's collection.  Keep in mind, this is my blog, therefore my opinion.  I got several emails from people telling me about how wrong I was about the song.  Many are convinced that THAT song is the best that he had to offer and it was perfect for the video.  My reply to every one of those people was the same and their response to me was expected.  Question, how many of John's CDs do you own and or have you listened to?  Every single person that responded to me was basically the same.  They only knew that song and only because of that video.  Typical, you can't base an opinion on one song from one CD.  You especially cannot base whether a song is his best or worst if you don't even know what his body of work entails!  Oh, and the song wasn't written for that video.  That just sort of happened.

Now here we are today, a few days after my seemingly hate filled post writing another about another artist with a few great albums.  By the way, John Carrie personally responded to my post (Cool! I know, Right?) And thanked me for the post.  He went on to post my blog link on his facebook page.  I think that people that don't know his music were more upset than he was that I said that Please wasn't the best song on that CD and that CD wasn't his best work.  And to that point, I never said that Please wasn't a great song.  In fact, I said it WAS a great song.  That should tell you how good the CD was.  I guess my second question is, why send me email telling me you dislike my post.  Why not just post it on my page.  I don't hide from people's free speech.  I encourage it.

Now, on to today's musings.  If you were to take the amalgamation of the soulfulness of Teddy Pendergrass, add the impeccable tone of Luther Vandross, throw in the savoir faire of Johnny Mathis and top it off with the timelessness of Nat King Cole, what would you get?  Or try this, if you had the Manhattans and tossed in the O'Jays and flavored that with the Isley Brothers and garnished all of that with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles can you imagine the sound?  BUT, what that would you get if just for good measure you added Charles Mingus, Idris Muhammad, John Coltrane, Ahmad Jamal and Johnny Hartman?  Well, you would get an idea of who Gregory Porter is.  He is all of that but then again none of it.  He is his own man and his band are who they are and together, Gregory Porter and his band are exceptional.

I was turned onto Gregory Porter a couple of years ago by a friend.  I had never heard of him but one listen to his record, Water had me hooked.  The title track instantly put my mind at ease.  It was like a warm summer day right after a cooling rain shower.  It made me feel good.  It made me feel happy.  It made me feel cleansed.  Gregory's wonderful baritone voice is comforting in everything that he sings.  As you listen to him, you do not tire as with many vocalists.  Just the opposite, you find energy building with each song.  As I listened deeper into his first album, I found so many memories pouring out of my youth with, 1960 What?  I was born in 1965.  I do remember the last part of the 60s albeit mostly snap shots in my mind. That said I do remember the early 70s vividly.  This song reminds me so much of living in Long Beach, California in the early 70s.  I can see the the Afros and Cadillac Eldorado's slinking down the streets in LA.  I can see the racial inequalities and Vietnam War playing out on the nightly news.  I can hear 1960 What as the soundtrack of that era,  I remember those African American men on the street corner along Pioneer Blvd where we lived in Long Beach and talking to them and just thinking how cool they were.  I was a 6 or 7 year old kid.  I didn't know anything about racial problems really. I just knew those guys were cool and Gregory captured that on this that song.  That song is funk, not in the way of say Parliament or the Bar-Kays.  No, none of that.  It is funk as in Gregory Porter.  Like I said earlier.  He is his own man.  One of the things that I generally hate is when an artist takes a song that was made famous and then sings it the same way as the original.  I have heard Feelin Good (written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse) done by a million artists.  None and I mean none measure up to Nina Simone.  The musicianship is only overshadowed by her impeccable vocals.  No one has ever come close.  Gregory Porter's version is special too and comes as close to her version as I have ever heard.  How is that possible you may ask?  He captures in a stripped down, no instrument version the emotion that she used an entire orchestra to get.  She sounds beautiful in her rendition but his puts the heart and soul of a share cropper picking cotton on a hot summer day in the Deep South at the turn of the century into my mind.  Proof, that vocals from a wonderful vocalist can do for your mind and soul what a good book can do for you thoughts and imagination.  Having talked about his funk and soul I haven't talked about the smooth, silky jazzy art that oozes from this man.  The first song on this album is called Illusion and that is exactly what he paints.  This song is "pretty".  That is until you figure out that he is talking about a broken heart.  A great talent can make you feel good by sometimes telling a sad story.  THAT, is the kind of artist that Gregory Porter is.

So who is this vocal magician?  He was born in the early 70s in Southern California not far from where I lived in fact.  His mother being a minister gave him opportunity to sing in church.  Perhaps that was where he gained that big, soulful voice.  I don't know, but I am glad he found that voice because we are better for it.  He excelled in football and earned a full football scholarship to Division I, San Diego State University.  Not too shabby!  Lucky for us (unlucky for him) he injured his shoulder and had to find something to do with him time.  His body of music is a pretty good trade off I’d say.  

Anyway, back to the music.  How does one follow up a great freshman effort of a record?  I mean Water really was a great album and was very well received.  I don’t think I have seen a negative article about it.  In fact I think it was universally liked.  Well if you are Gregory Porter and you have set a very high standard and have lofty goals, you release, Be Good.  I will admit that the lullaby title track had me hooked from the first time I heard it.  I would have bought the CD for just that track but if I had only listened to that song I would have missed out on an album that I count in my top 50 records in my 48 years of life (I will be posting that list soon).  Every single song on this record is smashing.  Yes the tone is exactly what you would expect.  Perfect, spot on and full of timbre.  BUT, it is also so much more than that.  It is timeless and warm.  The tone and joy and sadness in his voice is palpable.  He is able to play with emotion and wrap your mind around the theme of every song.  Be Good is about him being relegated to the “friend” group in a woman’s life that he cared deeply for.  What man among us has not felt that sting only to recover to something better later?  So, if 1960 What, on his first record painted a picture of life in LA in the 60s and 70s then On My Way To Harlem is the New York City anthem.  I can imagine guys getting ready to step out to the Apollo or Minton’s in the 60s to take in Dizzy or Charlie Parker or Billy Eckstine.  If you continue the tour of this record to track number 8 you get to a song that so beautifully and exquisitely paints a picture of what a mother is.  The love of the idea of what a mother is is so imbued in this song that you can’t help but hope every mother is like this.  We are familiar with “I am woman, hear me roar”.  This song is more like, I am mother, hear me whisper to you what you need to know and show you how to love.  Following Mother’s Song up a few songs later is the ever meaningful God Bless The Child.  Again, as Feelin’ Good on his previous CD, I have heard this song redone over and over almost to cliché.  Everyone has their own take on it and this version is absolutely fantastic.  Gregory’s effort is spectacular in that as he did with Feelin’ Good, he does it sans any instruments aside from his vocals.  God Bless The Child is stripped down to only the emotion in his voice and what emotion there is.  This follow up to his first record is more a follow on than follow up.  I copied the first and second CD to my computer and then put them into a playlist and hit shuffle.  Other than the fact that I know what songs are on each CD. I couldn’t tell the difference in style or emotion.  Both flow easily and succinctly together.  As I said at the outset, I don’t like to necessarily review an album but prefer to talk about an artist and their body of work because often, a CD will build on and create space for the next record.

So for his first two records, Gregory did an outstanding job of laying a foundation for people to fall for his ample talent.  This is a guy that was nominated for 3 Grammy Awards and won best Jazz Vocal Album in 2014 for his third album called Liquid Spirit.  What is amazing to me is the number of people that don’t know of Gregory Porter or the albums of which he created.  In fact, if he walked down the street of Anytown, USA there is a really good chance the no one would even recognize him.  I have a feeling that will change.  With as much talent as he has, it is bound to change.  People that do know him love him.  They love the fact that he moves at his own pace.  They love the fact that he will wear a flat hat that has been modified with a complete neck cover because he wants to.  And finally, people love him because he is real.  You don’t get a guy that needs Pro Tools or Auto-Tune or anything else to alter that voice.  To do so would be awful.  

As I mentioned, his third record won a Grammy for best jazz vocal album.  Here is the great thing, this record expands on his second which tied your emotions to his first.  Great artists can build your expectations over time just by staying true to who they are and what they are.  Liquid Spirit starts with a bird and the luck of a broken wing delicately mended with love.  No Love Dying is a great song about the goodness that is there if you can accept it and then pass it on.  This song features an incredibly tasty sax solo that ties the song together also.  When you move on to the title track, Liquid Spirit will take you down to the muddy river that is reminiscent of Muscle Shoals.  This song is the epitome of old blues spirit.  You will find yourself tapping your foot, clapping your hands and bopping your head the whole way though.  I challenge you to try to not feel the funk coming out of this muddy water anthem and just when you have your heart up you are pulled a couple of songs later into Water Under Bridges and you are transported to a whole new emotion at light speed.  We are transformed to a beautiful ballad that sums up the song that hit you with raw emotion just a few minutes before.  “It’s like water under bridges that have already burned.”  It is everything that the song before wasn’t.  Liquid Spirit was the mud in the water, Water Under Bridges is the emotion that was in the mud. Moving forward again you are treated to Movin', a soulful 70s sounding song that could have easily been recorded by anyone from Lionel Richie to Lou Rawls to Al Jarreau.  This song is about that guy that has his heart set on a woman but she doesn’t really notice and if there is a song that defies time it is this song.  This could have been released in the 60s, 70s, 80, or 90s.  It sounds perfect for the 2000s and today.  It is just that cool.  It sounds like something that you have heard before but then about like nothing that you have ever heard.  How many artists can make you feel that way?  Those that have heard the song know exactly what I am talking about.  Those that haven’t, what are you waiting for.  

Gregory Porter has come along at a time when the music industry is lacking.  Pop stars are a dime a dozen and few have any talent outside of Pro Tools and Auto Tuning.  Other than their looks they are devoid of talent.  Many of the Jazz artist that I have heard lately are people that tend to screech out notes that are so far above their talent level that they cross the line of jazz and barely tolerable R&B.  Speaking of R&B, most isn’t.  It is a bastardized version of hip hop.  Jimmy Scott, Jon Hendricks, Nina Simone and even Cab Calloway are in my opinion the standards by which all jazz vocalists should be judged.  Gregory Porter fits in that mold.  Is he that level right now?  I don’t know, I know that he can hold a person’s attention like they did.  I know that he has the ability to set a standard as they did.  Only time will tell but if his first three records are any indication of what he is capable of, I would say we are in for a treat.

Be Good by Gregory Porter

Hey Laura by Gregory Porter

1960 What? by Gregory Porter

And Jools Holland on Gregory Porter

 Link to him on facebook and see him when he travels near you.  Gregory Porter's facebook page.

What's in a song?

A dog, a chewed up package of cat treats and a great song.  Kind of a strange set of bedfellows wouldn't you say?  Well that is how most people were introduced to John Carrie and Moor Green.  Who hasn't seen Denver the dog and his guilty looking expression when confronted with the evidence of his crime, all the while, a great song is playing in the background pleading, Please, Please, Please.  Well, I doubt that when John Carrie produced that wonderful song that it would take a guilty dog to promote it.  Hope he's getting some sort of royalty because it has been seen almost 40 million times.  If that song however is the only thing people ever hear from John Carrie they are sadly missing out.  To me, Please is a great song but it isn't even the best on that CD and that CD isn't even the best that he has recorded.

As I write this I am listening to his latest effort (from 2012 actually), Shy Away.  It is a mind blowing piece of work that has 12 songs and spans about 45 minutes.  It doesn't have the hooks like Sewn Up or Past The Point from the Clearing Air or the studio polish of Today or Back to the Sea or of course the aforementioned Please from Folk Is Not Happy.  Shy away is a CD that is raw and sans Moor Green.  It is John Carrie pouring his heart and mind out.  It is stripped down and directly to the heart on every song.  No over the top production like we find all to often by artists trying to capture their angst or heartbreak in a studio with pro tools and Auto Tuning. No, there is none of that.  What you get with Shy Away is a CD that you have to sit and take in song by song by song and probably several times until you get the whole thing.

The first song is Coming Back To Life and if you have ever been knocked down and gotten back up and took on the world and then won, this is your song.  Just remember to listen with your mind.  A couple of songs later we are treated to Killer Blows.  It is all about the human condition.  Life is tough and if you let it, life will eat you alive but if you stand up to it, you can take whatever it throws at you and you can stand up to anything.  If there is a gut punch song on the CD it is The Green River.  The first time I listened to this song I thought, this is a really nice song.  It really sounds like a sweet song.  The second time I thought this has some undertones.  The third time through I was almost in tears.  It is a powerful song that you should hear.  That is all I will say except I hope that you buy the CD so that you can decide for yourself.  How do you see yourself in the grand  scheme of things?  And then there is Wintersun, another one of those songs that you need to listen to a few times.  I love this song and if I have a favorite on this CD it is Wintersun.  A song of hope but like life, not too much hope.  If you are a hardcore folk guy this album may test your patience because it is clearly John's way to express his feelings and genre's be damned.  That said, You Are My Sky is a good 'ol fashioned folk song.

So, that isn't really a review but it is my thoughts on this exceptional record.  If you are new to John Carrie start with this one.  You can get a good feeling for the power in his writing.  You get a sense of who he is before you delve into the Moor Green part of his work.  Moor Green is his band and they are exceptional on his other recordings.  Shy Away though needed to happen, it is his best work.  I stumbled across John Carrie several years ago while cruising around You Tube and found the song Over and Over.  It was a pretty bad video of a live performance but it didn't matter.  I heard the power in that song and I was hooked.  Found the CD (Folk Is Not Happy) and I have been hooked ever since.

John Carrie is not going to be for everyone and in fact, he will tick some people off because he is pretty matter of fact.  He talks about life, relationships and the world around us.  He will challenge you and if you don't like that, you won't like him.

My John Carrie and Moor Green playlist:

Wintersun
The Green River
Leaving Now
Over and Over
Autumn
The Space Between
Heal The Scrapes
Coming Back To Life
Green Think Tank
and I have to include, Please (For Denver.  The guilty dog.)

This is the video that started it all for me.  I have been hooked since.

Its been a long time.....

As I sit here writing this, I realize that it has been about 3 years since my last post.  What started out as a way to share my thoughts on music because a chore.  Really?  As much as I love music, this became a chore.  It wasn't a chore, I got lazy.  I'm going to try to post more often because sometimes in the busyness of life we need something to talk about that isn't well, the busyness of life.  Music is cathartic for me.  Some people find their imagination tested and expanded by reading a book, others watching a movie but for me, it has always been music.

So, I am going to endeavor to write more and slack less.  You can read my blog or not, your call.  I'm going to update it for my sanity not yours.  In fact, my sanity may reduce yours!  You may read something and it drives you crazy.  Well, sorry.  Well, no I'm not.  Write your own blog and express yourself.  I'll try to not be mean spirited but I'll admit that some bands and artists bring the worst out in me (insert Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj here) and pop culture "stars" like anyone named Kardashian or Hilton.

So stay tuned for more frequent updates.  I promise you will be either informed, annoyed, enlightened, cheered up or saddened.  I may touch on an emotion or I may touch on a nerve.  I hope that you enjoy some of what I write.

I like to leave people with a playlist at the end of a post so take a listen to these songs.  No particular tie into this post other than it is what I am listening to as I write this.

Maeve O'Boyle - Taxi
John Carrie and Moor Green - Please
Lloyd Cole - Margo's Waltz
Jory Nash - The Best of Your Heart
Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static
Sophie Madeleine - You Are My Favorite
K.D. Lang - Miss Chatelaine
Eva Cassidy - Wayfaring Stranger
Mitchell Brunings - Redemption Song
Freebo - To The Light
Ryan Adams - Come Pick Me Up
Jason Mraz - Bella Luna
Michael Grimm - I'd Rather Go Blind
Professor Longhair - Jambalaya
Tom Waits - Ol' 55
Jason Castro - Fragile
John Mayer - Why Georgia
Lyle Lovett - I've Been To Memphis

Well, there it is.  My first blog entry in almost 3 years and a playlist to boot.  Hope that you like the music.  I do.  Some of it lighthearted, some not so much.  All of it is quality non poppy music.  So, what do you think.  Drop me a note.

A trip to the record store and a few record reviews.

Well, today I made my way over to the record store.  After all, I simply don't have enough albums.  Don't believe me?  Just ask my wife, she'll tell you.  When I get to a record store I always have a checklist in my mind of records that I am looking for.  They start with records that I have been looking for for a long time that I don't own.  Then I am looking for records that will replace ones that are "worn out" or that the pressing just didn't sound very good.  After that, I am just looking for something that looks interesting or that I had heard about but never picked up.

So today's trip was to Tom's Music Trade over in Red Lion, PA.  I love that place and Tom is easily one of the nicest guys that you will ever meet.  Wanna talk vinyl, this is the mecca of vinyl.  Back in high school I lived in Virginia and frequented a place called Penguin Feather.  It was a really great place to hang out, buy records, listen to records and well heck, just talk about records.  Tom's Music Trade is just like that.  He has thousands of records on the floor but I would guess he probably has that many over again in stock that he doesn't have the space to show.  I have gone to some record shops and they may have a couple of thousand records but they never have anything new on the floor.  Tom is always looking for more records.  He is a real record store.

Anyway, enough of the free plug.  So I had 2 targets on my list today and maybe 5 others that were I'd like to have if I find them but since a few of them I haven't found in years I wasn't holding my breath.
I have been looking for a replacement for my Bruce Springsteen The River album for years and while they are actually out there and for the most part readily available, because it was such a popular record and was often handled by kids, most of the copies that are available are really worn and not worth the few bucks that people are asking.  Well less than 2 minutes into my perusal of the record bins what do I find?  Bruce Springsteen's The River, new, unopened first pressing.  WOW!  Successful trip!  I couldn't believe my luck so I am thinking okay I probably won't find anything else that I am looking for.  So then I think, well I am looking for Genesis' Wind & Wuthering and Selling England By The Pound.  What are the chances that I can find both in good shape if at all.  After all, both were released when Genesis was a real progressive band before there pop years; which I think they were brilliant as a pop band too, I just prefer their progressive rock years.  I would have been happy to find just one.  I bought a copy of Selling England By The Pound several years ago and it was an ok buy but the record had been handled quite a bit and you could tell.  So, to my absolute delight I found both!  I paid $12 for just Selling England By The Pound a few years ago but today I picked up both for a grand total of $5.  I was thinking, oh boy.  These are going to sound like I'm playing a pizza on my turntable.  NOPE!  Both are clean and good copies!  Life is good.  Surely I won't find anything else that I have been looking for right?  WRONG!

I am a closet Pete Townsend fan, I think his song writing is brilliant and his musicianship speaks for itself.  One of my top albums of all time is White City, he was pure genius on that record.  So I have a CD of his All Of The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes. I love this CD because of how different it is.  I mean it is a lot different than everything else he has done before.  It is far more pop like.  It is also a CD that I can listen to start to finish not get tired of.  So I always wanted the album but I have never found it anywhere.  Well, Tom had it (of course) for the whopping price of a buck.  Again, I am thinking a dollar record when I haven't been able to find it anywhere else, it is going to sound awful!  Nope, sounds EXCELLENT!  Once again, Tom is golden.

So now I am ready to head out and I get to thinking, my copy of the Moody Blues Days of Future Past is a bit worn.  Wonder if there is a better copy than I have.  So, not to be disappointed there it was and for $2.  I know that he is making money at what he is doing, not sure how because his prices are so low but heck, he seems to be doing ok.  Oh, and I put it on the turntable and it sounds great!  Once again.

So I have saved the best of my finds for last.  For this one we have to go back to 1971.  That was the year that one of my top 3 favorite records was released.  That was the year that the new band called Wings formed and released their debut album called Wild Life.  It was panned by much of the musical establishment.  I don't see how they didn't like it then because here we are 40 years later and I still think it is pure musical genius, and here is the brilliance of not only Paul McCartney but the whole band.  5 of the 8 songs were done on the first take.  It was recorded live in the studio with the best recording engineer to ever grace a studio: none other than Alan Parsons. He put the magic in to the Dark Side of the Moon and I think that he breathed life into Wild Life.  My dad bought Wild Life for me and it was probably the 5th record that I had ever owned.  Somewhere over time it went missing; until today.  I have been sad for probably 20 years that I didn't have that record and every record store that I go into I always take a peek to see if they have it.  So, the record that I have coveted for the past 20 years or so I picked up today for whopping grand total of $3.  I will admit that I came home, went straight to the turntable, put it on and just listened, twice.  I think that I may have to take another listen later, a few more times.  It was Wings at their best and probably least commercial.  How can anyone not listen and marvel at the songwriting?  From the first beat of Mumbo you hear the heart of the Beatles. and Bip Bop sounds like something that could have been recorded in a barn at the end of a dirt road in 1920's Alabama.  Alan Parsons captured the essence of the song and dirtied it up as only he could.  Love Is Strange is one of the coolest swinging grooves of that era or well actually, any era.  Danny Seiwell laid down one of the coolest and funkiest grooves to what is in my opinion one of the songs that is probably one of the toughest to cover because everyone expects to hear Mickey & Sylvia's kind of easy beat.  Denny is far to funky for that and thank heavens for that!  The harmonies on this song are also classic Wings and when you listen to all of their albums it is a hallmark of their brand.  That said, this song was recorded in just one take.  Listen to that song with everything going on in it and you will instantly see why I call it one of the 3 best albums I have ever owned. My dad once said to me, Kevin (because that is my name) you can listen to this record and hear the difference between John Lennon's wife and Paul McCarney's wife.  Linda has talent, Yoko has none.  I challenge everyone to prove me wrong.  Linda was such a strong presence on this record with not just her abilities on keyboards but also her backing vocals.  She doesn't sound like a cat in heat (like Yoko), she just sounds hot.  Dear Friend is in my opinion the greatest song to end an album.  When I listen to that song, it really sums up the band.  Wings was just a bunch of friends having a lot of fun.  This song outlines enduring great friendships.

I guess to round out my trip to the record store I had to pick up an album that is universally loved.  James Taylor's JT called my name as I walked passed it.  I have the record but I bought it in a used bin many many years ago.  It was in pretty heinous shape then and I have never really played it which is a shame because I really love that album.  I saw it today for a dollar and picked it up.  It is in far better condition than the one that I had so I am very happy about that.  It isn't in perfect condition but after a really good cleaning I can play it and be quite satisfied with my $1 purchase.

 So, my trip to the record store today far exceeded my expectations.  If you can't tell, I love Tom's Music Trade.  If you are in the south Central PA, Northern Maryland area please check out his store.  You will not be disappointed.  If you are outside of our area, he is on the web at www.tomesmusictrade.com.  If you have a record that you are really looking hard for give him a call.  He will take a look to see if he has it, 717-246-5712.  Finding quality record dealers that truly understand records is so hard to find.  Lots of people sell them few can actually talk about them.  Tom can. 

Rebecca Black's Friday and for those that would issue a death threat to her

Come on people!  Are you serious?!  Death threats for Rebecca Black and people telling her they wish she would kill herself.  Are you kidding me?  What is it with some people (or in this case apparently A LOT of people), the Anaheim Police Department is investigating numerous death threats.  I see the problem as even bigger.  If you recall, after Justin Bieber lost out on a Grammy award to Esperanza Spalding she also received death threats and frankly, I think that she is far more talented than Justin Bieber so I would have been disappointed had she lost!

Mob mentality is nothing new, it has been around since the dawn of time and I believe that that is what is driving the hatred of her.  I mean her song Friday is no worse than anything else I hear on the radio and I would rather listen to her than Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga (haha, two slams on Gaga in my last two blog posts), or Rihanna any day.  I mean, how much different is Rebecca Black than Selena Gomez or Demi Lovato or Miley Cirus.  The only difference in my view is that they are heavily backed by Disney and Rebecca Black isn't.  I will be honest, until my preteen daughters were playing the video on the computer I had never heard of Rebecca Black.  To me she sounded like every other teen pop star on the radio.  Then I started hearing that she was as famous for the amount of dislikes as she was for the likes.  Here  is what I don't get, everyone is talking about how much they dislike her yet she has over 1.6 million views.  So people that have a pretty good idea that they won't like her still watch her.  So just how stupid are people?  OR are these people secret fans that because everyone else is  saying how much they dislike her they "dislike" her too yet really like her (how is that for circular reasoning?).

As for me, I watched the video to see what the hype was, it was as I thought it would be, a teen queen trying to be a pop star.  I don't care for the music much but for the most part I don't like many songs that are done by any of the Disney stars either.  Over produced, over popularized, and far to simple and sappy for my tastes but since every generation has these types of artists I guess I am stuck with it.  We as a society need to take a step back and understand that it is ok to not like something without being so incredibly demonstrative about it.  We need to teach our children that it is ok to not like something or someone without saying that they hope that they die or get a disease or wish anorexia on that person.  If it is an adult that is hurling these types of insults at this child, they need to be locked up because they simply have to be mentally unstable.  There is no cause for any of the negative comments.  If you don't like it don't watch it.  You have to make a conscious effort to watch it.  Stop watching it.  If you do like it watch it.  Enjoy it or not.  Leave the kid alone though.  Enough with the incredibly insulting and deflating insults.  How many of us has done anything that 1.6 million people would watch.  How many of us would get a chance to be on the Jay Leno show or meet record industry executives?  Maybe it is just jealousy because you can't and this 14 year old girl has.

Here is a playlist for you where other preteen and teen pop stars that cashed in.

Michael Jackson - Ben
Debby Gibson - Only In My Dreams
Martika - Toy Soldiers
New Edition - Candy Girl
Tiffany - I Think Were Alone Now
Leif Garrett - I was Made For Dancing
Shaun Cassidy - Da Doo Ron Ron
Stacy Lattisaw - Love on a Two Way Street
New Kids on the Block - Hanging Tough
Hansen - mmm Bop

Platinum Hit - Kara Dioguardi's new flop of a show and the disdane I have for those like it

So this morning I read an article on Yahoo news about the Bravo Network moving the TV show called Platinum Hit to Friday nights from Monday.  Well, I hadn't even heard of the show before I read that  article.  Admittedly I don't watch a lot of tv but at the same time, I don't live under a rock.  That said, I did watch the two clips in the article and I can tell you why the show is being moved to Friday, it sucks.  To sit and listen to the 2 and a half minute clip was painful.  If I had to listen to that for an hour I would slit my wrists.  Then the song that the writers of this article were gushing about, REALLY?  That song sucked.  I could only stand to listen to about a minute of it.  The song writing was worthless and the singing was annoying.  For anyone to wonder why the show is doing poorly just watch the clips.  I for one am so sick and tired of "reality" shows that I have gone from being an avid tv watcher to watching at most 1 tv show a week.  I guess I owe crappy television a thanks because I have found other things to do with my evenings.  I think that the music shows in general have cheapened the music industry.

I will admit to watching American Idol because every year they have 1 or 2 that I think have actual honest to goodness talent and just need to be discovered.  Usually they don't make it very far into the season because contrary to what the judges say about it being a talent contest, it is at the end of the day a popularity contest.  American Idol gives 15 minutes of fame to anyone who can (or can't carry a tune) regardless if they may or may not have any actual singing talent.  The show Platinum Hit tries to show how important the whole evolution of a song is.  I don't care how it is made, just write a song and sing it.  Too much drama and crap behind the scenes that I don't need to know about or care about.  Carol King, Burt Bacharach, Karen and John Carpenter never seemed to have all this drama and wrote some pretty amazing songs that have stood the test of time.  Most of the songs that I hear on the radio today will be forgotten within a year.

The music industry laments poor CD sales.  Well for crying out loud, most of the songs on the radio are from people that have a look but no talent.  How about we get back to the old days of music that was expertly crafted or at least well written and not for a stupid tv show.  As much as I love music, music executives should be locked in a room and forced to listen nonstop to the junk that they are responsible for signing to record deals.  They should be forced to watch the moronic tv shows that they churn out all in hopes of finding that next big thing.  Record labels have gotten lazy and arrogant.  Started in the 70s and has gotten worse every year.  You think things are bad now, wait another 10 more years.  Music won't be music any more.  Cancel this show and everyone like it.  For that matter, start cancelling all reality shows.  They are about as close to reality as Lady Gaga is to human.  Or, maybe this crap is the new reality.  Oh, and don't even get me started on the Disney teen pop star phenomenon but that will be a post all its own. 

Here is my playlist of well crafted songs (in no particular order) and the artists that sang them (not necessarily wrote them) that new songwriters can look at as templates.

John Lennon - Imagine
Simon and Garfunkle - Bridge Over Troubled Water
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Josh Groban - You Rasied Me Up
Kathy Mattea - 18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses
Don McLean - American Pie
Aretha Franklin - Respect
The Carpenters - We've Only Just Begun
Carol King - I Feel the Earth Move
BJ Thomas - Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
Marvin Gaye - What's Goin' On
The Beatles - Hey Jude
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Procol Harum - a Whiter Shade Of Pale
Sandy Denny - Who Knows Where the Time Goes
Daryl Hall & John Oates - Sara Smile
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
Aerosmith - Dream On
Luther Vandross - A House Is Not A Home