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Being in the Room and Witnessing Creativity
I love to know how things are made. It’s one of the main reasons why I buy the DVDs of my favorite movies—other than, you know, ownership—because there are behind-the-scenes featurettes and interviews with the creators. I think this started back in the Star Wars days of the 1970s when I would read all about how George Lucas and company created the movie that changed the trajectory of so many lives. I loved how they raided model shops to create the Death Star and used miniatures, models, and matte paintings to create the galaxy far, far away. How many of us picked up our own cameras to make our own…
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Favorite Music of 2023
One might think that a new year calls for looking forward and not backwards…but I didn’t get a chance to report my favorite albums of 2023. It was a good year for new music, but the year 2023 was dominated by an album from 2021 that I only discovered in December 2022. But I’ll hold off on that reveal until the end. New Discoveries of Old Music My twenty-two year old son is interested in legacy artists, that is older artists who continued to make music in the 2000s. When he makes a new discovery, he’ll pass it on to me. As a result, 2023 was the first time I…
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Blackstar: The Brilliant Last Gift from David Bowie
(It’s been eight years since David Bowie passed away. Here’s my take on his final album.) Much has been made of the overt jazz vibe on David Bowie’s final album, BLACKSTAR. Some have all but called it a jazz record. It is, but, as with all of Bowie’s records, it’s not that simple. Nothing with Bowie ever was. True, the jazz influences are much more overt than on other albums, but this is David Bowie. If he’s a chameleon of fashion and style, then he’s always been an amalgamation of musical styles. BLACKSTAR is merely the last example of a musical journey Bowie traversed since the beginning, or at least…
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When Tragedy Struck, Chicago Bounced Back and Delivered a Key Album: Hot Streets at 45
Now what?That must have been the thoughts of the members of the band Chicago after fellow founding member Terry Kath’s untimely death in January 1978. The previous year, they had released their eleventh album and conducted yet another successful tour. Their last show—the last time Kath performed in public—was 1 December 1977 and they had already decided to move in a different direction by parting ways with James William Guercio, their producer and manager since 1969. The year 1978 was going to be a time of change and transition anyway. Soon after Kath’s death and funeral, the band had to wonder if they should move on as a band or…
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A Rom-Com That’s Dialed Up to Eleven: Charm City Rocks by Matthew Norman
How long has it been since you read a book in four days? For me, it’s been forever. But I’ve also not read a book quite like Charm City Rocks by Matthew Norman. I follow the Writer Unboxed website and a recent Q&A landed this book on my radar. Being a huge fan of KISS, I instantly assumed the reference was a shout out to KISS’s “Detroit Rock City.” Whether or not that was how the author came up with the title of his novel, I don’t know, but that’s what got me in the door. Oh, and the cool premise. A single dad, Billy, is watching a rock and…
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The Rock Band With Horns Remembers How to Rock: Chicago 19 at 35
Chicago 19 arrived in record stores thirty-five years ago today and it marked a change for the band. After a three-album run, producer David Foster and the band parted ways. But Foster had made his mark and helped revitalize Chicago for a brand-new decade and audience and, in doing so, put the spotlight on Peter Cetera, who, after singing the band’s biggest hits in the early 80s, departed for a solo career. Back in 1986, Cetera and his former band each had new albums, but with Foster behind the boards for Chicago 18 and Cetera sticking close to the sound of Chicago 16 and Chicago 17, Solitude/Solitaire and Chicago 18…
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Springsteen, Showing Your Age, and Knowing Your Truth
Yes, there was a vibe. Lots of middle-aged people, many with all-gray hair and loose, baggy clothes worn to hide bodies no longer as thin as fit as they were when The Boss ruled the airwaves in the Seventies and Eighties. Some wore concert t-shirts from ages past while others sported more modern Springsteen attire. A decent number of the concert goers were like me: attending the show with a younger person, hoping to introduce what it was like to see Springsteen the Showman fill an arena with sound and lead the fans in singing his songs. I chuckled as my son and I made our way to our seats.…
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What David Bowie Means to Me
This is long and personal. It’s something I needed to write. It all started with a song. That’s typically how most people discover their favorite artists. The one song they hear on the radio, a friend’s sound system, or MTV (back in the day). Ironically, my love of David Bowie’s music started with a Queen song. You know the one. “Under Pressure.” I literally have no memory of David Bowie before 1983. I am an only child and discovered all my pop and rock music on my own. KISS was an easy find because, in 1977-1979, they were everywhere. Plus, I found them because of how they looked. They were…