The Jivewired Journal

Do You Want Your MTV Back?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 11:14:00 +0000

Do you miss the days when MTV actually played music videos?
Do you miss discovering cool new music because of the awesome accompanying videos made by the artists and their production teams?

Well - we're bring the music video back to life on Jivewired TV. More details coming soon, so stay tuned!!!

Coming to Jivewired TV - Music Videos!

The Playlist Project: Chapter Three - Once I Was a Karaoke Host

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 01:48:00 +0000

I'm a pretty good singer. I wouldn't say I am great but I can be great occasionally or when I need to (and that just means when I am up singing in front of someone I am genuinely attracted to). That is where I am most confident, using my voice to sing another person's words in an attempt to get that very attraction returned to me. Cheesy I know. Sometimes it actually works though.

I've always felt awkward in situations where I meet someone new and I have to build chemistry through conversation. I need to remember to follow a few simple rules:

No first date movies.
Talk less and listen more.

Dating would be so much easier if I could just sing on the first date.

I met Marylou and Eleanor's mom, Sue, singing karaoke in Thiensville, Wisconsin. I was doing Pearl Jam that night and I had exceeded my intoxication threshold hours before, but I sang 'Better Man' and we went to Denny's afterward where I proceeded to fall out of the booth, reorder her breakfast because her eggs were overcooked, and then catch a ride home with her and her girlfriend. To this day, I don't know who drove that night. Sue never told me and refused to each time I asked. She needed one secret, I guess, and I am fine with that. Sue remained in my life for ten years until she passed away last May. So, as drunk as I was, I must have done a pretty good rendition of that song on that April 2008 evening.

I sing Pearl Jam a lot because I can mess up the words and nobody will catch it. I'm sure you've heard Eddie Vedder sing, and despite Pearl Jam being one of my favorite bands I will freely admit that sometimes I have no idea what the hell Eddie is singing.

My favorite Pearl Jam karaoke song is 'Yellow Ledbetter' and yes, "Make me cry" sounds like he is singing "make me fries."

'Yellow Ledbetter' works perfectly for me because it is impossible to mess up the words. Nobody truly knows the words anyway, not even Eddie. The song has changed its meaning over time and Vedder changes the words to suit whatever is on his mind.

And the reason oughta leave her calm I know
I said I know what I wear is a box or the bag
Oh yeah can you see them?
Out on the porch Ah, but they don't wave
And I see them round the front way, yeah
And I know and I know I don't want to stay
Make me cry

It's still fun to sing, but it's no crowd pleaser.

Most people don't know I prefer to sing country songs, and that goes back to when I first started singing in public because nobody was singing country music at the time except for an occasional 'Goodbye Earl' or 'Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?' That's the thing about country songs that I love - all of those beautiful and talented ladies singing about getting cheated on and kicked to the curb. What is wrong with some of these guys?

My father once told me country music is about four things: lying, dying, crying, and goodbye-ing. My first country song performance was 'Something Like That' by Tim McGraw which wasn't about any of those things. Dads aren't always right.

'Something Like That' is a wonderful story. To wit;

I had a barbecue stain on my white t-shirt
She was killing me in that mini-skirt
Skippin' rocks on the river by the railroad tracks
She had a sun tan line and red lipstick
I worked so hard for that first kiss
And a heart don't forget something like that

I've probably spent my entire life working so hard for that first kiss - maybe even too hard - every time I meet someone new. I am as awkward a first-dater as anybody on the planet and I usually kick ass on the second date if the first date doesn't extinguish any chances for a second.

But that first kiss? Sometimes it happens, sometimes not. End zone or friend zone, I have no regrets. Experiences are the last possessions we own before we leave this earth, or rather, the memories of those experiences. Sometime you win. Sometimes you lose. As long as you're smiling at the end of your life, that's all that matters. Like Tim said, a heart don't forget something like that. I'll even excuse his piss poor grammar. Poetic license says that the word "doesn't" doesn't work as well as "don't" in that situation where meter matters as much as rhyme. I can't believe I just wrote that sentence.

And it's such a fun song to sing. I haven't sung it in years. I may need to change that soon. I do miss karaoke. Whether as a customer, host, or business owner, I have never had a bad time at karaoke.

It wasn't until I actually became a karaoke host that I discovered my favorite song to sing, and it's an oddity of sorts because until just last week I had never heard the actual recording of this song by Marc Cohn.

The first time I sang 'Walking in Memphis' was by accident. Someone else had requested it, I put the disc in and the singer never came up on stage to sing. So I thought what the fuck, just wing it. And I loved it, and it's still my go-to song to this day.

My journey from casual karaoke singer to host to karaoke company owner is an odd one as well. A couple who owned a business hired me when their KJ (that's karaoke slang for karaoke jockey) didn't show up at a bar in Burbank, IL called Durbin's. So I filled in, and I even had a sidekick, my good friend Tim, and we lit it up and before I knew it I had a regular gig every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night at different bars. I was paid $75 cash plus free drinks to call up singers. What a great second job, though getting up for work on Mondays and Thursdays was almost impossible.

The crowds got bigger and more participatory, especially at Durbin's. My first night of hosting I only sang one song, 'Mack the Knife' by Bobby Darin. There's a backstory to that so let me change lanes for a second if you don't mind.

In 1991 I was working for a business owned by my uncle and we went out to Los Angeles for a sales convention at a hotel on the Disneyland grounds. I wasn't in sales at the time, but I drove the delivery truck and I was invited because my uncle, unknown to me, had bet somebody that I would get up and sing in front of all of the national sales reps, managers, and executive team members. Then he paid a woman named Olivia to flirt with me to encourage me. The entertainment was a big band, the kinds you see in all those old black and white World War II movies from the late 1940s that play all those cool Glen Miller and Count Basie songs.

So Olivia said if I went up to sing she would "make it worth it for me." Naturally, I didn't need much more motivation than Olivia to acquiesce. She was beautiful and more into me than anyone I had met up until that time, so jumping on a stage in an auditorium seemed like the best way to prove that I was fearless enough to handle anything she might throw at me later. 'Mack the Knife' was the only song I knew all the words to that the band knew how to play. The band leader wanted to know which key I wanted. I had no clue, so I said "Play the Bobby Darin version." Key? What the hell is a key?

And there I was singing in front of 3,000+ people. I was so nervous and the lights were so incredibly hot but at the same time, I had goosebumps on the back of my neck where the sweat from my head was starting to pool. It was so surreal. The band leader kept saying to me "use your monitors" but I had no idea he was talking about the speakers in front of me. I crushed it, especially the ending where the singer is required to hold a note for about 25 seconds, and got a standing ovation.

Olivia made it worth it for me later that night. But let's not lose sight of the fact that she was bought and paid for ahead of time, though I didn't know that until a few years later. Maybe I was Clarence, maybe she was Alabama, and all she could think about me that night was "you're so cool." More likely, she just took the money and run, apologies to Steve Miller.

Anyway the crowds at Durbin's kept getting bigger and bigger so I started singing a bunch of songs I actually enjoyed, like 'Great Balls of Fire' by Jerry Lee Lewis and 'Ain't Even Done With The Night' by John Mellencamp. Billy Dean has a great version of Dave Mason's 'We Just Disagree' so I put that one into my personal rotation. 'Family Tradition' by Hank Williams Jr. and 'Cocaine Blues' by Johnny Cash became favorites as I started getting more and more into country and western music. And if you're keeping score at home, none of those songs are about lying, dying, crying and goodbye-ing except the Billy Dean number, which technically doesn't count because it came from the Yacht Rock era of pop music in its original form.

But there was song that covered all of those sentiments. You know which one I am talking about right? Steve Goodman and John Prine wrote this song originally but David Allan Coe made it the hit that it became. Talk about crowd pleasers, and yes, I know that pretty much labels the audience as rednecks, loud and proud, and I mean that in the most affectionate of ways. On the south side of Chicago if you get enough beer and booze in your belly you kind of become a redneck by default, and you kind of regret it in the morning along with the rest of the previous evening's bad decisions.

Well, I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison
And I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got run over by a God damned train
And I'll hang around as long as you will let me
And I never minded standing' in the rain, no
But you don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
You never even called me by my name

Now let me change lanes again for just a second.

Favorite Song to Sing: Walking In Memphis by Marc Cohn
Favorite duet: If I Had a Million Dollars by Barenaked Ladies
Guilty Pleasure: Any country song but mostly Something Like That by Tim McGraw
The One Song Women Would Most Ask to Sing with Me: Summer Lovin' from the movie Grease
Go-To Drunk Song: You Never Even Called Me By My Name by David Allan Coe, One Way or Another by Blondie or Add it Up by the Violent Femmes
Song I Force but Shouldn't: Red Dirt Road by Brooks & Dunn
Song I Would Sing if I Still Hosted Karaoke Today: Lettin' the Night Roll by Justin Moore
Song I sing if I am Crushing on Someone in the Audience: Crush by Dave Matthews Band (I am aware of how incredibly obvious that is)
Rock & Roll Dreams Die Hard Song: Black by Pearl Jam
Songs I Sing That Remind Me of Sue: Better Man by Pearl Jam and Tangled Up in Blue by Bob Dylan
Yes I can do Prince: Purple Rain and I Would Die 4 U by Prince. I am not lying.

About that time I was starting to get known in the south suburbs for karaoke. Should I be proud of that? Probably not, but as I said earlier, as long as you die with a smile on your face, it doesn't really matter. A bar named TC's Pub asked me to host karaoke on Thursday nights. My part-time job had become a late-night full-time job and well, as fun as it was, I still wonder how I survived nearly ten years of doing that.

The first night that I worked at TC's didn't go over too well. It was a south side shot and a beer sports bar and every stool at the bar offered a prime view of some old man's ass crack. What is it about old men and their ass cracks? I mean, can't they feel that they're exposed? Don't they feel a breeze of sorts on their bare backsides? Maybe they just don't care.

The owners of the bar wanted a younger crowd. They'd seen the crowds at Durbin's and thought those very same patrons would follow me. The problem is, karaoke crowds don't travel in packs. So I had to build a new crowd at the new bar and I had to fight the old men in their saggy jeans and Sansabelt slacks for their real estate. And let's talk about Sansabelt for a second. The name actually means "without a belt" or as they were advertised, no belt needed. If you want to know how and why plumber's crack exists to this day, blame Sansabelt and call their complaint department.

The first few Thursday nights at TC's offered no singers. Zero. Nada. Nothing. It was just me standing around, singing every once in a while, and then asking for my $150 bucks at the end of the night while the bartenders told me how much karaoke sucked and how much I sucked even more. Yeah, humble beginnings. But the crowd started picking up and after about six months I had built up a steady group of regulars and learned to sing their favorite songs - 'Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)' by The Looking Glass and 'Danny's Song' by Kenny Loggins. I may have actually sang 'Copacabana' by Barry Manilow but I will deny that until my very last breath. Let God judge me. You have no right.

And even though we ain't got money
I'm so in love with ya honey
And everything will bring a chain of love
And in the mornin' when I rise
Bring a tear of joy to my eyes
And tell me everything is gonna be all right

Then things hit a snag. The owners of the company I worked for pulled me out of Durbin's and TC's and took over the shows themselves. I built up those crowds and they picked me off, so I quit. I went to the owners of TC's, told them I was buying my own equipment, and asked if they would hire me, switch me to Wednesday nights, add Saturday nights, and fire my former employers. I asked them to give me a month to put it all together. I really just wanted to steal one prime account and hurt another prime account owned by my former employers. With a little help from $3 pitchers of beer and $3 Jaegerbombs, and four angels named Staci, Lynn, Cathy, and Sarah, I pulled it off. I never would have guessed that we would turn Wednesday evenings into the main event of every week.

The Wednesday night shows at TC's Pub were truly lit. I'd always perform barefoot or in flip flops, even in the winter. I jumped up and down a lot. I smiled and flirted and danced and sang and evoked more personality than Chuck Barris of the old Gong Show. "And now for more stuff!" Why? Because we love stuff! We'd hang out over the rest of the week just to talk about the previous Wednesday and to pre-game for the upcoming show. I had a couple short-term relationships but things never got awkward in the aftermath. Those women continued to come to my shows and I continued to perform. Only once did a woman try to show me up and to this day I do not remember her name, just that she liked to refer to her tits as her "bodacious ta-tas."

Sometimes we'd have the bar packed to full capacity. The bartenders were ringing thousands of dollars and making hundreds of dollars in tips every Wednesday and Saturday. We had a karaoke pajama party one night. We had more non-singers than singers in attendance just because it was such a great time. People who came to my shows met their future wives and husbands! I'd really like to do a reunion show someday but maybe we are all too old now.

The only time we didn't have a show was the night after 9/11. It just seemed kind of silly to force it on a night where everybody was still in shock and going through all kinds of emotions.

I made friends at TC's that are still my friends to this very day. That party lasted through five years of Wednesday and Saturday nights and a lot of draft beer and bombs, and it never got old nor boring, though I eventually burned out pretty hard. To say I crashed badly is an understatement. And just like that it was all over.

But I'll always remember those Wednesday nights as the best times of my adult life. I started singing songs like "Add it Up" by the Violent Femmes and "One Way or Another" by Blondie. And that's where I started singing "Walking In Memphis" because my friend Ashley would ask me to sing it every week. When I reiterate over and over how important it is to die with a smile on your face I'd also add just give me some ear buds and this chapter's playlist as I wait for my final ride, and I guarantee I'll go to the next spiritual destination with a smile on my face and some of the greatest stories ever.

I remember writing a note on the back of a karaoke slip to my friend Cathy the night I met her at TC's. It said. "I'm digging you like an old soul record." Yes, it is from a song of the same title by Me'Shell Ndegéocello but that's of no matter. Karaoke Night is really just one four-hour copyright violation anyway so why not? I meant what I wrote, and I am glad we are friends to this day. And to her cousin Lynn, who helped bring so many people to my Wednesday night shows, I forever dedicate 'Black Horse & A Cherry Tree' by KT Tunstill and the DJ Mike dance to you.

Such great times. Dig me. I'm grinning ear-to-ear. Yes, music creates relationships, and sometimes singing those songs is an even better conversation starter than just sharing them through playlists. It's always worked for me.

And I don't want to slight the original group at TC's. During those first few months, as we built up the crowd, we'd close every week with the theme from the TV show 'Cheers' because that best represented the friendships we made every Wednesday and Saturday night. Karaoke Night in America with DJ Mike - where everybody knows your name. Here's this chapter's playlist.

The Playlist Project: Chapter Two - Dad's Jukebox

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 04:53:00 +0000

I must have been five or six years old when I had this conversation with my father while we were on our way to shoot hoops at the school playground:

Me: I don't understand why I have to have so many names.
Dad: (laughing): How many names do you have?
Me: Well I have six - Mike, Michael, Mickey, I have a middle name, Edward, and my last name is Canter.
Dad: That's only five.
Me: Sometimes Mom calls me Mikey like the kid in the cereal commercial.
Dad: Well, your name is Michael, and Mike is short for Michael. I call you Mickey because someday you're going to be a switch-hitting slugging outfielder like Mickey Mantle, except you'll play for the Cubs. Your middle name honors your grandfather, and your last name is a gift from me. In fact, your name is the first gift your parents ever give you. And from now on when your mother calls you Mikey, pretend like you don't hear her. Maybe she'll stop.

Now that I'm older, I'd argue that life is the first gift my parents ever gave me, but I'm sure dad wasn't ready to get into a facts-of-life talk with his very inquisitive six-year old son. But the name is a cool gift too, and the story was probably the impetus behind dad's choice of favorite song, I Got a Name by Jim Croce. He had wanted to name me Willie since his name was Bill, but my mom threatened divorce, so Michael, and/or Mickey, I was dubbed.

I loved Saturdays with my father. He didn't have to work, and we lived in an apartment at the time so he didn't need to worry about chores and yardwork. So we'd head over to the playground at Worth-Ridge School to shoot hoops or play catch. Sometimes he'd pitch to me and teach me to bat left- and right-handed and he'd show me how to pick up the stitching on the ball so that I would know if the pitch was going to dip, curve, dart away, or come straight at me.

But it was the conversations we had that made our Saturdays so special. I learned his favorite basketball player was Jerry Sloan; his favorite Cubs player was Billy Williams; he hated the Bears, and was a Packers fan in Illinois when it could practically get you killed, though his favorite football player was one Joe Willie Namath. Same with the Cubs. We lived on the south side. Dad hated the White Sox, and claimed "Comiskey Park was the world's biggest urinal." He loved music and though he looked a lot like Glen Campbell, he did a spot on Elvis impersonation. He loved Dean Martin movies and had a thing for Raquel Welch. But who didn't?

Sometimes my mom would go to Bingo on Friday nights and dad would stay home and sit with my sister and I, and he'd put Elvis records on the hi-fi and sing into a hairbrush, nailing every lyric and recreating every Elvis-the-Pelvis move that television stations felt would be better left unseen, because, you know, back in 1970, gyrating hips broadcast into our homes was a mortal sin. Then he'd wake me up on Saturdays, make some waffles and bacon, and we'd have our one-on-one time.

And though I never really liked playing baseball, I joined because the Worth Little League had the greatest incentive ever: a free hot dog and a root beer for every player at the end of each game. It turned out once the Little League coaches allowed me to pitch I started to love baseball and truly excel. But it was never going to lead me to any kind of a sports career. I never got to play for the Cubs, but I did play for the Indians, Royals, and Angels during my three-year stint, and we had real uniforms that mirrored the major league versions, except we had sponsors on the backs instead of numbers.

My dad and I forged an unbreakable bond over music. His go-to songs included a lot of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Vogues, Harry Nilsson and almost every Motown song. He loved Marvin Gaye and Eddie Kendricks. He wouldn't listen to the Beatles or the Rolling Stones ("they're un-American"), bands that played at Woodstock ("a bunch of hippies, queers, and druggies"), jazz ("sleeping pills work a lot faster"), or country and western ("it makes it ok for wives to cheat on their husbands"). He did like Conway Twitty ("powerful voice"), Johnny Cash ("It's not country when you can feel a man's soul in the twang of his voice"), and Ray Charles, who was going through his country and western phase at the time anyway.

In fact, as I look back now, my dad was simply a closet C&W fan. I mean he loved the song Convoy by C.W McCall and anytime Charlie Rich came on the radio he'd lose his ever-loving mind. He'd always sing in the car. Always.

"That Charlie Rich sure could sing, that son of a bitch."

Dad was a Baptist and a Catholic, and if you are not educated in the religions of the world, those are two faiths that sit at opposite ends of the Judeo-Christian doctrine. I liked Baptist church because worship was more fun. It was a veritable jump up-spin-around-jump-down-praise-the-Lord hootenanny every Sunday. And dad loved to sing in church.

In comparison, Catholic church seemed like a lot of guilt-driven spiritual chastising by men in fawx-flowing robes who looked like they could see through you and know with great detail every sin you ever committed. I used to be deathly afraid of Communion under the watchful eye of the Priest or Monsignor.

Body of Christ?

Ok Father, I did it, I am so guilty, please don't let me perish in the fiery lake of Hell.

All you had to say was 'Amen' Michael. Now go to confession.

And hymnals. Every song sounded like a funeral service at Catholic church.

I never left Ashburn Baptist afraid of the wrath of God but at parish I felt there was no escaping His judgement. And where as Jesus always felt like a loving son interceding for our sins at Baptist church, at St. Rita the Son of God felt more like a ruse of sorts, a trick God played on us to get us to settle into a false sense of security. We'd rest easily until the Big Guy launched said wrath through a plague of locusts, poisonous frogs, bloody rain, disease and pestilence, (and any other abomination that made a bad acid trip look like a walk in the park by comparison) as promised in Revelations.

'The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.' What Christian lawyer added that disclaimer to the Bible? It's like a 'get out of jail free' card that you can use over and over and over and over. Hey, anything to fill those donation baskets because if you knew you were going to Hell, why would you need to go to church? So we always had hope, and an extra dollar or two for the basket, flesh be damned. Dad called it the Intervention Basket and mom hated that.

I enjoyed going to church just because I loved the car rides. On Sundays we'd listen to America's Top 40 hosted by Casey Kasem and dad could name the songs before they were announced with deadly accuracy. When it comes to music knowledge and taste, I learned everything from my father. He claimed Casey read one of his letters on the air when my dad was stationed in Germany while in the Army. He had no proof whatsoever, but we blindly believed him, because that's how the father-child dynamic worked in those days.

Dad was also a fan of Wolfman Jack, and night drives over to the Dog 'N Suds always included the Wolfman on WFYR -- the Magic Oldies Station that was known as the Chicago Fire.

And speaking of cars, he always drove something with muscle and speed, and always a Chevy; Camaro, Corvette, Corvair, or El Camino. When my little brother was born, he switched to roomier vehicles such as the Monte Carlo, Impala, or gasp, a station wagon. He hated foreign cars and especially Volkswagens. By the late 1970s he'd move up to Cadillacs, though always with the white leather interior. I wasn't a big fan of his 1977 salmon-colored Coupe DeVille with the white tuck and roll upholstery and over-exaggerated whitewalls. That upholstery looked good in the El Camino, but was shockingly disturbing in that Caddy.

And salmon? What in the name of Liberace was going on there? Dad paid a lot for that customization and never regretted it though. I used to hide below window level and always made him drop me off a block or two from my intended destination. I mean my Dad had an AMC Gremlin once and I was less ashamed of that monstrosity than I was of that hideous Cadillac. At least the Caddy had a cassette player, something I had never seen in a car before. One saving grace I guess.

Everything revolved around music in our family, and the music played through the same $15 baby-shit brown GE transistor radio that seemed to broadcast more buzz and fuzz than actual music. Dad carried it everywhere religiously. We actually had to adjust the antenna for better reception. Move it left. A little more. No that's too far. Go back right. Ok. Hold it there. That worked for about five minutes.

Later that year he took me (and his favorite radio) fishing on a blustery autumn day so we could listen to the Bears getting smoked by the Minnesota Vikings while we fished. We were near Navy Pier, way before it was the tourist attraction it is now, and we were fishing for Catfish and Chinook Salmon.

My dad had a minnow bucket and when we were done, he pulled the strainer out, dumped the minnows into the lake, and dipped the strainer into the lake to rinse it out. Wanting to be just like my hero father, I figured I'd do the same with the actual bucket. The water filled the pail up pretty quickly and it turned from a bait repository into an eight-pound anchor in a split second, starting to rapidly pull me down into a lake known for its deadly undertow. At that age I didn't know how to swim, either.

I remember hearing Conway Twitty belting out It's Only Make Believe as I was about to be pulled into my watery grave. But, dad grabbed me before I could fall in and drown. It was a surreal and very scary moment for both of us. How he was able to grab me, mid-flight, is still beyond my comprehension. Why I imagined hearing Conway Twitty is just as scary, especially when The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel would have been more appropriate. Hello darkness my old friend........

On Saturdays we'd always have pizza for dinner. Sometimes we'd order delivery from Pizza Pete and other times we'd go out to Nick & Vitos where my father would monopolize the jukebox. Yes, they did that shit in the 1970s, too. He'd pump that record machine full of quarters while sipping on an ice cold can of Schlitz and play everything from Crazy Arms by Jerry Lee Lewis to I'd Really Love to See You Tonight by England Dan & John Ford Coley. He always wore a white t-shirt with rolled up sleeves and a pair of blue jeans rolled at the ankles James Dean style. He knew every word to every song, and in that respect, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. I display similar traits when it comes to blue jeans, jukeboxes and song lyrics, though I prefer a better brand of beer, PBR being my beverage of choice. Naturally.

Dad always wanted a jukebox for the house but mom always objected. Her taste in music was boring and simple: Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, and George Jones, and nothing else.

"Just listen to the twang in that man's voice."

Well, as dad said, "country music makes it okay for wives to cheat on their husbands," and I'll just leave it at that. I had a lot of "uncles" back in the day who always seemed to need a place to crash. That's no attack on my mother, either. Based on the divorce rates in this country there was a lot of that going on, and even more that nobody knew about. I'm sure my father was no saint either.

As the decade wore on my parents got divorced and my father remarried. His new wife had a profound impact on his life. Dad started listening to disco music, permed his hair, traded his blue jeans in for polyester, and traded his Schlitz for some concoction known as a Grasshopper that looked a lot like the desserts nobody would buy at my high school cafeteria. Saturday pizza was replaced by fried chicken and Brandy Alexanders. He had sod put in the backyard of his new home. Sod! We were forbidden to play in the backyard. Can you imagine?

Then the bomb dropped. I heard dad and my new stepmom singing Too Much Too Little Too Late by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams while barbecuing one afternoon. I was in the living room, watching the UNLV Runnin' Rebels when I was distracted by my stepmom's awful voice. Oh. My. God..... It was like I no longer knew him. I longed for the restoration of our own family and dad's dreams of having his own jukebox. I blamed it all on my mom and who wouldn't? No jukebox. George Jones. Johnny Mathis. Deneice Williams. Lots of "uncles."

I was thirteen and my life was nearly over.

And Elvis Presley had recently died, to boot. Hello darkness my old friend......

I was going through some of my dad's things from that era about twenty years ago and was astounded at the treasure I found. Hidden in a box that included a pen that said "Start the day right, fuck somebody" and a button that said "Don't be so proud, if I had pulled out in time you wouldn't even be here," along with some combs, a patent for some space-aged gas pump device, paycheck stubs (apparently $340 weekly take home pay in 1970 was a big deal), an unopened tube of Brylcream, and a bunch of bitter, hateful letters between my mother and father was a small spiral notebook. In that notebook was an entry that said "Bill's jukebox" and a list of songs he thought would make the perfect jukebox mix of music.

Now back in the day, a jukebox had 100 short-play vinyl singles for a total of 200 songs. Dad's list was incomplete because it is not 200 songs in length, but it's more than enough to create today's playlist. I hope you'll listen. It would make both of us extremely happy.

The Playlist Project: Chapter One - Call it Love, but Call it a Groovy Kind of Friendship Love

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 02:58:00 +0000

Sometimes the best love letters, ones worth putting pen to paper, come twenty-five years after the fact and they're not just dedicated to the object of your affection, but the family attached to said individual. Now, I don't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable here because I am talking about one family and I am talking about a time span of 1975 to 1992, which coincidentally and sadly encapsulates the life of one beloved young man who for a time was like a little brother to me.

So why this, today? I heard this song on the way home from Milwaukee today and it will always remind me of my friend Michelle. In fact it is the one song that made me crush on her for one spectacular year (1989-90) that included a lot of laughs and an amazing - and strictly platonic - trip to Acapulco.

And then there was this one, too. This song was a favorite of Michelle, as was the movie About Last Night, though the song and movie somewhat predated our short but sweet best guy friend/best girl friend relationship.

But it wasn't just Michelle. It was her entire family. God I loved them all and I still do. If they had based That '70s Show in Worth, IL, the characters might have been named Terry & Michelle, Michael (that's me), John, Ed & Steve, and Sue. We spent every summer playing on New England Avenue and in the neighboring field, riding bikes and mini-bikes, swimming, catching critters, lighting smoke bombs and firecrackers, digging holes, playing ball, just being typical teenagers.

Terry was one of my first friends in Worth, though he was a year or two younger than me. Michelle was five years younger than me. Jason, my pseudo-adopted little brother, was born in 1975. It sounds clichéd, but back then it seemed summers were endless. When a new member of the family came along, they named their baby girl after my sister Jodi.

Sure we all had our share of misunderstandings, arguments, and fights, but that's teen life. And who was out there moderating and making sure everybody shook hands, hugged and remained friends? Terry's mom, Bobbie. Bobbie was block mother, de facto nurse, distributor of cold drinks, and lifeguard and peace officer for their swimming pool. We could swim as often as we liked, just as long as we cleaned up after ourselves and left the backyard before her husband got home from work. He worked hard, put a great deal of care into his home, pool, lawn, and landscaping, and was certainly entitled to claim sovereignty between 5:30pm and dusk.

Bobbie: "Everybody out of the pool! Terry's father will be home in fifteen minutes. Go home and eat dinner with your families and you can come back tomorrow. No wet feet in the house!"

All of us, in unison: "Awwwwwwwwwww!"

Who wants to quit playing Marco Polo, Pool Dodgeball, or Jump the Whale just because the head of the household wanted to come home, grill a few steaks for his family, and relax peacefully and quietly in his own backyard?

Of course that's how we thought every day, as teenagers will do, but, we wanted to swim every day too, so we shrugged and vamoosed. Is vamoose still a word? Skedaddle? I wonder if Michelle still remembers her "Skedaddle story."

And let me comment quickly on their backyard as I have had a few years of landscaping experience. It was perfect. The grass felt thicker, softer, and warmer than in any other yard, to the point where you wanted to always be barefoot. There were no dandelions, no creeping charlie, no white clover, and never any thistle. The lawn was immaculate. And they had this rad, perfectly-constructed shed where they kept the lawnmower and rakes that was so, so warm. I'd slide in there after exiting the pool to stop shivering, hoping Bobbie wouldn't see me and shag me out. Sure the fumes were dangerously toxic and there were objects sharp enough to cause impalement or death, you've been in a shed before, but I was probably 11 or 12, and who worries about that stuff at that age?

Quick note: Parents say they just don't want you to get hurt but what they are really thinking is, I am not going to go through an insurance claim or lawsuit just because this kid is a few pennies short of a nickel, if you get my meaning. Thankfully, Bobbie wasn't there when we all thought riding Terry's bike off the roof of her house into the pool was the most ingenious idea of all time. Relax, we only thought about it. Nobody had the guts to go through with it. I don't think.

After I finished high school I went to college and moved away for awhile, and when I came back I reconnected with Michelle. I remember seeing her at a local dance club and when I figured out it was her, I thought "No way" and no, don't read that using your imaginary Keanu Reeves voice. It was legitimate shock, not over-forced method acting.

We caught up, had a few adult beverages, and started a friendship. Actually it was more of a tight circle of friends who got together regularly on the weekends. We danced, drank, laughed, and danced some more. Sometimes everyone hung out at my apartment and watched movies, even though Michelle would shush us while we watched the closing credits of About Last Night for what seemed like the 1500th time. Sometimes we just listened to music - CDs were a big thing then, having just become an actual thing a few years prior.

When we went to Acapulco together, my favorite memory (among many) was a little kiss she gave me after I bought her a $1 lipstick at an open market. An unexpected, sweet gesture - better than a thousand thanks - that made the entire trip worth it.

And Jason, well he spent one summer working for me as an intern of sorts and it felt like he was my own little brother. Man, I miss that kid so much. Anyone who grew up in Worth or went to school with Jason misses him too. I have a hard time not getting overly choked up on those few memories, so let me just say I wish you knew this young man. I could never do his memory justice here. But I loved that kid, and I always will.

I have a bunch of songs that transport me directly to the times Michelle and I and our friends all hung out. Memories are what we make them, and with an accompanying soundtrack they can be as powerful a link to our youth or to specific events as anything else.

And that may be overstating it a bit, but these are my memories, and I choose to lean on that adumbration. We get older and we grow apart. We form new friends, make new acquaintances, have children of our own, and lean on the lessons taught to us by the people we respected the most. Part of who I am today, a big part of me in fact, is because of my favorite neighborhood family, and I've not forgotten their contribution in my growth as a man.

On that note, let me share some of those songs that rocked that year we all hung out. These were our songs, and I am honored to share them with you for this portion of the Mixtape Project.

Only a Spotify list today because I am incredibly tired. Happy Sunday.

The Saturday Mixtape: The Best Mix Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 10:25:00 +0000

Check out more posts in this series here.

This is a playlist I have had residing on both Spotify and Amazon for about two years, which, coincidentally is just about the time I relinquished my dislike for streaming music and gave in to the new world order. You see, I want bands, especially indie bands, to sell music. But nobody's buying. And, even more disappointing, most people who stream music that are fans of non-country, non-R&B music tend to gravitate toward classic or legacy music. I'm guilty there too. Yes I hate myself.

Everybody has their own personal 'Best Mix Ever' and though it may have a catchy name or just something as generic as 'myTunes' (see what I did there?), the point is that a catalog of favorite songs and artists exists in almost every music fan's repository.

The odd thing about my 'Best Mix Ever' is that it really isn't a collection of my favorite songs, but rather, songs I discovered in obvious and non-obvious ways paired with songs that seem to add just the right touches to the feel and flow. Let me break down my 50-song canon for you.

A number of titles are songs I may have known previously but their amazingness hit me when I heard them in some of my favorite movies. Those songs include:

Hold On To Freedom by Lee Michaels from the movie Diggers (2007)
The Air That I Breathe by The Hollies from Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
Romeo's Tune by Steve Forbert from the movie Everybody Wants Some (2016)
If I Ever Needed Someone by Van Morrison from the movie The Five-Year Engagement (2012)
Personality Crisis/Stranded in the Jungle by The New York Dolls from the HBO Series Vinyl (2015)
Rock & Roll by The Velvet Underground from the movie A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
Ooh La La by Faces from the movie Almost Famous (2000)
These Days by Jackson Browne from the movie Invincible (2006)
T.B. Sheets by Van Morrison from the movie Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

And though I truly like all of those performers, almost none of them would make my personal top ten list. Maybe Van Morrison, depending on my mood or how close it is to St. Patrick's Day.

A number of titles are songs that are super-under-the-radar deep cuts that almost never received radio airplay when they were released. Those songs include:

Bad 'N' Ruin by Faces from the album Long Player (1971). Faces was a basically a supergroup in reverse in that the members of the band became far more popular after Faces split up, notably Rod Stewart and Ron Wood (of the Rolling Stones).
20th Century Boy by T-Rex from the album Left Hand Luke - The Alternative Tanx (1973). 20th Century Boy is as close to punk as punk got before it was formally labeled as a music genre. The song was not included on the release of the original album. Most people know T. Rex from the song Bang a Gong (Get it On), a song I actually dislike a great deal.
Alternative Ulster by Stiff Little Fingers, a single release from 1979 and truly a punk song. To summarize, the song is a protest against the fact that kids in Northern Ireland were being denied what was available to their peers in the rest of the UK.
Roman Fingers by Suzi Quatro from her eponymous debut Suzi Quatro (1973). A nice play on words from this incredible, mostly unknown release by the woman who would later be known for playing Leather Tuscadero in the '70s sitcom Happy Days, and then for Stumblin' In, a duet that reached #4 on the Billboard Chart in 1978 in which Quatro performed with Chris Norman.
Creeque Alley by The Mamas & The Papas from the album Deliver (1967). It's an autobiographical hit single written by John and Michelle Phillips narrating the story of how the group was formed. The lyrics of the song also mention, directly or indirectly, many artists and bands who were part of the folk music scene at the time, including the other two members of The Mamas & the Papas, Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty, who were members of The Mugwumps; Zal Yanovsky and John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful; Roger McGuinn of The Byrds; and Barry McGuire of The New Christy Minstrels. Several locations important to the band's backstory are also mentioned including the Night Owl Cafe in Greenwich Village.
Give it to Me by The J. Geils Band from the album Bloodshot (1973). This is probably the most popular of the under-the-radar songs mentioned here as it reached #30 on the Billboard Chart due to strong rotational play on the east coast, particularly Boston. The band was formed in Worcester, MA between 1968 and 1970.

Three songs are direct references to past relationships:

Brass in Pocket by The Pretenders, a single released in 1979. The first time a crush manifested itself into something tangible occurred for me in 1980 with a woman who worked at the community pool. Caryn drove a super boss, vintage Mustang, once kissed me in front of my friends, looked great in faded blue jeans, and became the first woman to whom I professed love, or whatever love represents when you are 15-16 years old. This was her favorite song that summer. I can still hear her singing the lyrics "I'm special, so special" to me. Detroit leaning. Indeed.
They Are All in Love by The Who from the album The Who By Numbers (1975). When I met the woman who would have the most profound and significant impact on my life, we talked about our first albums on the night of our first date (I took her to a Heart concert at Potowatami Casino in Milwaukee, where she got to meet Ann & Nancy Wilson). Hers was this album, known for the scintillating single Squeeze Box. But, They Are All in Love is truly the best song on this album. Sue loved it, and I love it too, and it will always remind me of her, wherever her spirit resides now.
Bell Bottom Blues by Derek & The Dominoes from the album Layla and Assorted Other Love Songs (1970). I was once engaged. The woman broke up with me and moved to Germany where she had about seven kids with some other dude. She just dropped me, and dropped off the face of the earth with no warning, no real sign of trouble, and incidentally, kept the ring. She called me collect about 6 months after. It was 1991, I believe, on a 5 am Saturday morning after I had been out most of the night prior. I accepted the charges, answered by saying "If you are calling to tell me you are dying of thirst, just know I wouldn't piss in your mouth to save your life," and then hung up before she could respond. Game over.

The rest of the mix contains a number of late 1960s and early 1970s songs that were both mainstreet- and industry-popular, and those songs help to really tie the playlist together.

And to put it in perspective and completely wrap it up, my favorite bands and performers of all time include The Grateful Dead, R.E.M., The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin. The only songs that represent those artists in this playlist are:

You Can't Always Get What You Want and Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones from the album Let it Bleed
Dead Flowers by The Rolling Stones from the album Sticky Fingers
Positively 4th Street by Jerry Garcia and Merle Saunders from the album Live at Keystone Vol. 1

And that's the point here. This is my 'Best Mix Ever' because I enjoy the way it flows, and it is almost always a listening staple when I take road trips, including this morning when I will head up to Milwaukee in about three hours. This mixtape offers no particular reference to one person or one thing. It's great for jamming, getting over a lost or unrequited love, or just to enjoy some very good music.

PS - that Hammond B-3 and police whistle on the J. Geils Band song is to die for. What a got-damn groove. Give it a listen. You'll find some songs you'll love, and maybe a few must-haves for a mixtape of your own.

For you Spotifiers, enjoy:

And for you Amazon Primers:

The Playlist Project March 2018: Slainte! (A Musical St. Patrick's Day)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Thu, 15 Mar 2018 06:02:00 +0000

Sláinte!

It's Gaelic for Cheers!

Well, really it means Health! but it is often used as a toast in Ireland.

It's pronounced SLAWNT-YEH though it is slightly altered based on regional dialects. Trust me, you'll want to pronounce it as I've stated in your best Gaelic-wannabe accent on St. Patrick's Day.

Winner winner chicken dinner. Let's drink to that.

And there's a cool playlist below, which I will be listening to on my trip from Chicago to Milwaukee this weekend. Amen for road trips and mixes, amirite?

Sláinte!

Here's a cool fact:

The Chicago River is the only river in the world that flows backward. In the 19th century the flow of the river was reversed to head toward the Mississippi River basin, away from Lake Michigan, into which it previously emptied. This was done for reasons of sanitation.

I'll drink to that. Sláinte!

The river is also noted for the local custom of dyeing it green on St. Patrick's Day, a tradition that started in 1961. They got the idea from sewer workers who would dye the river green to look for sewer discharges. Many say the river is already green, so why dye it? Utter nonsense.

Make sure you give thanks to your local civil engineer this Saturday. I'll drink to that as well. Sláinte!

In fact, St. Patrick is the patron saint of all engineers. True fact. Look it up. In the meantime, you guessed it, I'll drink to that. Sláinte!

I've often wondered why the city of Chicago doesn't have a water parade as part of their St. Patrick's Day festivities.

And here's something for you to disregard completely.....my grandmother used to buy me Green River Soda every year for the St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago. The drink was developed in 1919 by the Schoenhofen Brewery of Chicago as a non-alcoholic product for the Prohibition era. It was popular as a soda fountain syrup, trailing only Coca-Cola in popularity throughout the Midwest. Perhaps that was the inspiration for dyeing the river green each year.

For a drink that's fine without a kick,
Try Green River,
It's the only soft drink you should pick,
Try Green River.

The name of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song (and album) Green River was inspired by the drink according to John Fogerty. The soft drink is also shown being poured by the band Smith Westerns in their Weekend video.

Raise 'em up! Sláinte!

One Last Fact:

The city of Boston started the St. Patrick's Day celebration in America beginning in 1737.

However, we have yet to confirm if that is where the saying "Show me your shamrocks" was originally coined.

Regardless, we raise our glasses to you, Boston......Sláinte! Indeed.

Now that we are firmly entrenched into the spirit of the coming week, let's get down to business.

Item #1: Guiness Draught, Smithwick's Irish Ale or Harp's Lager?

Item #2: Today, we are going to dedicate our March Playlist to some pretty cool Celtic rock. Not every song mind you, but a good Celtic chunk.

Still no Adele. She's a Brit anyway, yes?

I am not sure that any members of Metallica are Irish, but they do a kick-ass version of Whiskey In The Jar. Nothing in the following list of names seems undeniably Irish:

+James Hetfield
+Lars Ulrich
+Kirk Hammett
+Robert Trujillo

At one time however, Ron McGovney was in the band. Score!

Raise 'em up! Sláinte!

Metallica proves everybody is Irish on St. Patrick's Day

Item #3: Have you seen the screenshots for Jivewired TV - The Apple TV Version?

Monday Mix Playlist For 15 March 2018

001. The Blood Of Cuchulainn (Boondock Saints Theme) by Mychael Danna
002. Let The Day Begin by The Call
003. All Day All Night by Moon Taxi
004. Fisherman's Blues by The Waterboys
005. Real Gone Kid by Deacon Blue
006. Head Over Heels/Broken by Tears For Fears
007. In a Big Country by Big Country
008. Such A Night [Live] by Dr. John & The Band
009. The Diamond Church Street Choir by Gaslight Anthem
010. The Sun Ain't Shining No More by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
011. The Dickhead Song by Miles Betterman
012. Miss K. by Deer Tick
013. Get Out of Your Own Way by U2
014. Love You 'Til the End by The Pogues
015. Destination Anywhere by The Commitments
016. Winning Streak by Glen Hansard
017. Heart of Mine by Norah Jones
018. I Need Never Get Old by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
019. Pain by The War on Drugs
020. All We Ever Knew by The Head & The Heart
021. Stubborn Love by The Lumineers
022. We Don't Know by The Strumbellas
023. Blue Indian by Widespread Panic
024. Scottish Rain by The Silencers
025. Thing of Beauty by Hothouse Flowers
026. Upside Down by Jack Johnson
027. Soul Mets Body by Death Cab for Cutie
028. Beg Steal Or Borrow by Ray Lamontagne & The Pariah Dogs
029. Flood Waters by Josh Garrels
030. Dirty Water by The Standells
031. Whiskey In The Jar by Metallica
032. It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock & Roll) by AC/DC
033. Drunken Lullabies by Flogging Molly
034. The Whole Of The Moon by Mike Scott & The Waterboys
035. Maggie May by Rod Stewart
036. Dakota by Stereophonics
037. Going Home (Theme from Local Hero) by Mark Knopfler
038. The Wheel by The Jerry Garcia Band
039. Angel of Harlem by U2
040. Have A Drink Ya Bastards by The Skels
041. Tessie by The Dropkick Murphys
042. If I Ever Leave This World Alive by Flogging Molly
043. Come On Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners
044. The Unicorn Song by The Irish Rovers
045. Kiss & Say Goodbye by Kate & Anna McGarrigle
046. Hold On To What You Believe by Mumford & Sons
047. Some Nights by fun.
048. Orange Blossoms by JJ Grey & Mofro
049. I Get's My Boogie On by T-Bird & The Breaks
050. Into The Mystic by Van Morrison
051. Mystic Eyes by Them featuring Van Morrison
052. Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2
053. Mandinka by Sinead O'Connor
054. The Kids Were Wrong by Memoryhouse
055. Dweller On The Threshold [Live] by Van Morrison
056. Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars
057. Dog Days Are Over by Florence + The Machine
058. I'm Shipping Up To Boston by Dropkick Murphys
059. SOB by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
060. Home by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
061. Parted Ways by Heartless Bastards
062. Laundry Room by Avett Brothers
063. I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow by The Soggy Bottom Boys
064. Out of Control by U2
065. The Long Road by Mark Knopfler

HEY! If you made it this far into the article, I sincerely thank you. Just one more thing, if I may.

I have a twitter account that is less Jivewired and well.... more me, and I'd like you to follow. Mention that you read the blog as well and I'll send you something really groovy. I'll even make it easy for you, here is a direct link -- @JivewiredCEO - I'm not sure but I think all you have to do is click on that underlined thingy and it will teleport you directly to my account. I love technology.

More technology below -- playlist links!

For You Spotifiers --

And for you Amazon Prime Timers --

The Saturday Mix Tape: An I Love You Mix

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Sun, 11 Mar 2018 06:12:00 +0000

This will be a new feature of The Jivewired Journal, and will be a semi-monthly or weekly feature depending on my mood and my weekend plans. Eventually I will use some of these posts for a book I want to write about the lost art of making mix tapes. And though I am not currently in love with anyone, I wanted to start with an I Love You mix tape because most of us use music as an expression of love for another. At least I can be objective, though I'd be lying if I said none of these songs attach to someone special in my life, past or present.

Feel free to steal, and even take credit as your own, and pass this on to someone you love. Just don't stalk somebody with it. Give it to someone who you have had some type of relationship with, whether it is a recent first kiss or to celebrate your 50th anniversary. I'll provide Spotify and Amazon Prime links at the bottom.

Please subscribe to this blog and follow me on Spotify for more good stuff.

1. Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley from the album Grace (1994) 5m 43s - Hands down the most beautiful song ever written and I believe the only way you can debate it is if you are purposely contrarian when it comes to music. Depending on your mood, you can listen to Buckley's spiritual adaptation or the more funereal and broken version by the song's composer, Leonard Cohen.

There are biblical references to three notoriously lionhearted women in this song: Bathsheba, Delilah, and Mary, which makes sense because the lyrics offer a bewitching connection of sex to spirituality.

"You saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you" - Bathsheba, who tempted the king to kill her husband so he could have her.
"She tied you to her kitchen chair, she broke your throne and she cut your hair" - Delilah, who cut off the locks that held the key to Sampson's superhuman strength.
"But remember when I moved in you and the holy dove was moving too" - a reference to the divine conception of Jesus by Mary.

Buckley's angelic portrayal is in stark contrast to the fallen angel of Cohen's. The inclusion of David, writer of psalms, in the lyrics is important to the true mood of the song. David went through life loving God but purposefully disobedient, and Cohen's version may be an inimitable look at the lustful side to relationships rather than the aching beauty that matches physical to spiritual love. A perfect example is Delilah, a true love to David yet a prostitute to Samson.

2. Mandolin Wind by Rod Stewart from the album Every Picture Tells a Story (1971) 4m 48s - A masterpiece of dynamics, Mandolin Wind is a stunning and poignantly beautiful free-verse narrative, an exercise in symmetric and harmonious expression. As far as love and fidelity is concerned, there may be nothing lyrically better. The arrangement earnestly adds and subtracts instruments in waves, and the mandolin-pedal steel (Ray Jackson/Ron Wood) interplay annotates the one-to-one relationship defined in its poetic recital. It’s almost unbearably resplendent in its honest emotion and may be the perfect love song despite its somber storyline. The entire album is is a front-to-backer that you must listen to in its entirety before you die.

3. Thank You by Led Zeppelin from the album Led Zeppelin II (1969) 4m 49s - This is the first song lyrically composed solely by Robert Plant. Heavily inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Plant copped the lyrics "If the sun refused to shine" and "When mountains crumble to the sea" from the Hendrix ode If 6 Was 9. Plant wrote the song as a tribute to his then-wife Maureen. The longing subtlety in Plant's vocals are otherworldly, and his use of imagery is nearly Shakespearian. Compare "If the sun refused to shine I would still be loving you," to Shakespeare's "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee," from Sonnet 18. Yeah, it's that good.

4. Let It Go by James Bay from the album Chaos & The Calm (2014) 4m 21s - Sometimes the greatest example of selflessness is realizing that it is time for a relationship to end. This song brilliantly ascertains the strength needed to walk away from someone whom you truly love. It's a hauntingly beautiful, heart rendering effort anchored in grief and sorrow that manages to keep the latent emotion of love intact amidst the manifest breakdown of its subcomponents.

5. Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel from the album Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970) 4m 55s -The simplicity of this song's deeply moving lyrics is masked by its lofty arrangement and the grandiose range of Art Garfunkel's vocals. Indeed, the song is nearly hymnal in its orchestration and resonates within its soaring melody.

Ironically, the song may have been the impetus for the split of the duo. Simon wanted the song to be just two verses and Garfunkel thought it should be longer and finish with a flourish. And though Simon penned it with Garfunkel's falsetto in mind, he'd later wish he had provided the song's vocals. "many times on a stage, though, when I'd be sitting off to the side and Larry Knechtel would be playing the piano and Artie would be singing 'Bridge', people would stomp and cheer when it was over, and I would think, 'That's my song, man...'"

6. There's Never a Forever Thing by A-Ha from the album Stay On These Roads (1988) 2m 52s - If you've never heard this song that's ok. The single for this song was only released in Brazil and 99.9% of people who listen to music only know A-Ha for their monster hit Take on Me. At first take, this song sounds a lot like Tears for Fears. The song also feels like it should be a James Bond movie song which is ironic since The Living Daylights - which is a James Bond title and song - is included on this album. It's still a deeply beautiful song.

7. Awake by Secondhand Serenade from the album Awake (2007) 3m 59s - The lyrics are basic and the melody has been used over and over in indie circles but I still dig this song. It's going to remind you of a hundred other songs, but it's still sweet in its banal simplicity so I am including it.

8. Help Me by Joni Mitchell from the album Court & Sparks (1974) 3m 24s - More of a song about free love and chasing elusive love, i.e., the cads, losers and unattainable dudes who walk after their first carnal experience with a woman. In fact, Joni had short-term relationships with Glenn Frey, James Taylor, Graham Nash, and Jackson Browne. If you've fallen in love as part of what is a potentially doomed relationship from the start you'll relate to this song.

9. I Only Have Eyes For You by The Flamingos from the album Flamingo Serenade (1959) 3m 23s - with backing vocals that nobody could seem to decipher correctly (doo-bop sh-bop), the song was 25 years old when the Flamingos charted this epic high-school-hop slow dance song in 1959. The opening lyrics capture the essence of the song: "My love must be a kind of blind love, I can't see anyone but you."

But its not just the smooth vocals of the Flamingos that makes this song so breathtakingly beautiful. The arrangement is spectacular, featuring a prominent reverb effect which gives the song its dreamy ambience. Boyz II Men did a great cover of this song in 2017, but it lacks the pure emotion of the original.

10. The Air That I Breathe by The Hollies from the album The Hollies (1974) 4m 17s - The guitar on this track is positively sublime, and the arrangement alone, featuring a hint of orchestration and strings, would by itself put this song on this compilation. The endearing lyrics are about being lost in love but contain an almost palpable feeling of ennui and fatigue. It is considered pop's greatest ballad by many, and the lesson within is that true love could leave us without the need for cigarettes, sleep, lights, sound, food, and books, in that order. But that opening guitar lick? Damn.

11. Something by the Beatles from the album Abbey Road (1969) 3m 02s - You don't have to be a Beatles fan to love this song because George Harrison songs are very un-Beatles like anyway. Frank Sinatra once called Something the greatest love song of all time so if you don't want to take my word for it, take his. 150 artists have covered this song, a powerful tribute to the song's wonderfulness.

Producer George Martin architected an arrangement that is simply stunning, using 21 string players with overdubs, making the production nearly all orchestral. Still there is no denying Harrison's wanton guitar and vocals, and Martin deserves credit for silencing nearly all aspects of the instrumentation when George puts pick to strings on Something's wonderful bridge, before forcing that same orchestration as guitar counterpoint on the song's coda. Truly amazing.

12. Just Breathe by Willie Nelson (with Lukas Nelson) from the album Heroes (2012) 4m 02s - I should love the original by Pearl Jam but Willie just does it better. The lyrics "Love you 'til I die, meet you on the other side" would seem to be about saying goodbye to someone at death's door, but it is so about life and love, one love, true fidelity that encapsulates this world and whatever comes next. I know Just Breathe is played at a lot of funerals, but taken in true lyrical context, this song is really about living every moment to its fullest with the person you love more than life itself. It is not a remembrance to be repined after life ends. Eddie Vedder, who penned this song, called it "the closest thing to a love song that I've ever written." There you have it.

13. Angel Falling To Close To The Ground by Willie Nelson from the album Honeysuckle Rose (1981) 4m 28s - I rarely go back-to-back with the same artist but this fits right here, right now, "If you had not had fallen, I might not have found you" could be the singularly most loving opening line to any song. This song is inarguably about remembering someone who has passed. The instrumentation builds to an incredible crescendo on the bridge, and again, Nelson's vocals are heavenly.

14. A Song For You by Whiskeytown from the album Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons (1999) 6m 40s - A very intimate love song that drives home its point with a line in the last verse: "I love you in a place where there's no space or time." The song was originally written by Leon Russell in 1970 and Gram Parsons covered it in 1972. The version of A Song For You by Whiskeytown featuring the unfeigned vocals of Ryan Adams and the transcendent steel pedal of Chris Roser is the best of the bunch. It won't land on the playlists below because it is tough to find a streaming copy of the song, so I have included the YouTube video for your listening pleasure.

PS - Willie Nelson also covered this song in the movie Honeysuckle Rose.

15. God Only Knows by the Beach Boys from the album Pet Sounds (1966) 2m 53s - The perfect love song. I've always thought this would be my first dance at my wedding as far back as 1st grade when I had a crush on a girl named Nancy.

Paul McCartney called God Only Knows the greatest song ever written, and used it as inspiration for the song Here, There and Everywhere.

Sung by his younger brother Carl Wilson, the Beach Boys' recording was produced and arranged by Brian using an unorthodox selection of instruments, including French horn, accordions, sleigh bell, harpsichord, and a quartet of violas and cellos heard throughout the piece in counterpoint. The musical structure has been cited for its harmonic complexity, inspiring tension through its disuse of authentic cadences and deliberate key signature. Its coda features perpetual intonation (like Row Row Row Your Boat), a device not normally heard in popular music of that era.

Almost everybody remembers the first time they've heard this song. It's harmonic sophistication is resplendently gorgeous. I can't hear this song without thinking of the person in my life who holds my affection at that time. That would seem to be contradictory to the song's lyrics, but it is in fact the instrumentation that mesmerizes me. Maybe it's the repetitive sleigh bells or the never-ceasing expanse of the arrangement. It is the song that proved music could be art at the same time. A song more beautiful than God Only Knows does not exist.

If you are not currently in love, I've provided a bonus song for when love fails miserably and epically.

16. Sleepsinging by The Damnwells from the album Bastards of the Beat (2004) 4m 37s - Loving someone means giving someone the power to break your heart while ultimately trusting that person not to. That sums up Sleepsinging, an angsty post-grunge ballad that describes giving that power to the wrong person. There's a haunting beauty to the cascading instrumentation and it feels far more uplifting than the lyrics suggest, which represents the structure of almost every pop song from 2004 anyway.

Playlist for you Spotifiers:

And for you Amazon Prime fans:

RIP WLUP-FM and Russ Solomon: The Day The Music Died

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Wed, 07 Mar 2018 04:20:00 +0000

Today represents a sad day for my generation with the passing of two icons. First, WLUP-FM, 97.9, The Loop as we know it in Chicago, was sold for $21M dollars to a Christian Radio conglomerate. Their format will change starting this Saturday morning. Then came news that Russ Solomon, the eccentric hype-man and founder of Tower Records, had passed away at the age of 92. A generation of Chicagoans and Los Angelinos collectively wept, and reminisced, with the news.

Like most adults, there are many firsts that resonate deep within my memories that to this day seem like they happened just yesterday.

First kiss.
First love.
First car.
First speeding ticket, well, that's memorable because I received seven citations at the same time. That's a story for another time but the Cliff's Notes version is I walked because the officer knew my father.

Did I say first love? Lori - you still out there?

Then there's my first album. Or should I say albums. When I graduated from junior high all I wanted for a graduation gift was a stereo. I had grown up listening to WLS AM-89 on my father's transistor radio but I wanted to hear FM music, true music, ALBUM music, music that sounded like music was supposed to sound: deep, rich, and in stereo. My parents were divorced and money was tight but my father was kind enough to get me my Fisher stereo system, though admittedly, he bought it stolen for a hundred bucks from the UPS driver that delivered to his office. She isn't much to look at now but back then she was the prettiest thing I'd ever laid eyes on.

With a $25 cash gift from my mom and another $25 bucks from my cousin Sandy, I hopped on my ten-speed and took a road trip from my house on Plahm Court in Worth to Kroozin' Music on 79th and Pulaski with full intent to spend that entire $50 on my favorite albums.

Well there was that pit stop at McDonald's on 95th Street in Oak Lawn for a Big Mac meal. They weren't called extra value meals just yet because they were just inexpensive. Hey, it was no small journey and I needed to make sure I had enough fuel to handle the trip.

I got to Kroozin Music that afternoon, Werewolves of London was playing through their hi-fi system, and I was primed to shop with what was left of my $50, wanting to buy every single album in that store. Of course I couldn't, but I still remember checking out that afternoon incredibly proud of my haul:

Rumors by Fleetwood Mac
Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin
One More From the Road by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Live by Foghat

and.....a discount bin pull by the band Heat Wave. Hey, I had a crush on a girl named Collette and the song Always & Forever made me think of her. I even had enough money left over to buy a can of Hawaiian Punch for my cruise home. I had heard of these albums because of a radio station that had debuted when I was in 7th grade. That was WLUP, the Loop.

By the way....I said crush, not first love. That comes with carnal knowledge. Collette kissed me once in 8th grade. She was the daughter of my mom's best friend and a few years later she let me get to second base in the family Monte Carlo near Indiana Beach one summer night while we listened to Night Moves by Bob Seger and My Little Town by The Eagles. I thought I was in love but it was probably just breasts (my God first breasts are so amazing!!!) and the ease of her front-fasten bra.

I digress.

WLUP was launched in 1977 at 97.9 megahertz on the FM radio dial, and the station quickly became the nexus of rock music and irreverent radio in Chicago. A part of the culture in a city where young listeners in black Loop T-shirts became an army of rockers, the station launched the careers of Chicago radio icons Steve Dahl, Garry Meier and Jonathan Brandmeier, and made Insane Coho Lips of every one of us.

But for me the Loop was more about Patti Haze and the great music she played on her shifts, and the overnight guys who played full album sides. Full album sides!!! That's where I discovered Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Pat Travers Band's Boom Boom Out Go the Lights and Suzi Quatro's first album which has truly never aged. It's where I first heard Frampton Comes Alive, Cheap Trick's In Color, Who Are You by The Who, Brass In Pocket by the Pretenders, and The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy. It was AOR love.

In 1979 I heard The Wall by Pink Floyd, in its entirety, commercial free, a week before it was released, at midnight, in my front yard, with the stereo speakers leaned up against the screens of my bedroom windows. The neighbors probably hated me. Oh well.

And who could forget summer days and summer nights at Worth Pool, chasing my cute classmates and those beautiful female lifeguards with their long tan legs and fit bodies while 97.9 provided Journey, Bad Company, Tom Petty, Steve Miller, and Foreigner songs for our summer soundtracks? The Loop was my go-to station until about 1990 when I switched my allegiance to WXRT. And now WLUP is gone forever. A moment of silence.

Remember Sweetheart by Franke and the Knockouts? How about I Love You by Climax Blues Band? WLUP staples. Worth Pool staples. Another moment of silence.

My love for music, and that musical connection to the women I have fallen for throughout out my life has never waned. Kroozin Music died when CDs became de rigueur but I had moved on to Rolling Stone Records at Harlem and Irving Plaza (The Hip, as we called it) and Tower Records near Jackson and Wabash in Chicago's South Loop.

True story, throughout most of the 1980s and early 90s I always made an effort to stop at either store on a first date. The purpose was to discover my date's tastes in music. I'd pick out some of the albums I wanted for my collection, and then I'd suggest my date pick something out for herself. Her choices determined if we could be musically compatible, (i.e. was there a future for us). Music was, and still is, a big part of the attraction to whom I date.

If that seems crazy think about this. If a picture is worth a thousand words what is a favorite song, album, mixtape, or playlist worth? Beauty is much more than just a visual experience. True music chooses us, and it chooses our partners, at least in some capacity, and I challenge you to think of one current or former love that doesn't have some personal soundtrack attached to that relationship.

Rolling Stone and Tower Records helped forge some of the best and worst relationships of my life. When I had heard that Russ Solomon had passed away it made me a little sad. The flagship Tower Records - a sordid emporium of sorts on an even more sordid Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles - was a behemoth of a record store, while most of their other outlets were dirty shitholes with little organization drowning in used records and cassettes, box sets, and offbeat industry magazines and throwaway fan rags. Their prices were competitive enough, and I am pretty sure they were the first chain to start buying used records at deep discounts and then flipping them for a profit.

Unlike Rolling Stone, the employees at Tower Records never judged you based on your purchases. I couldn't buy Black Sabbath Vol. 4 at Rolling Stone but at Tower Records I was high-fived by two or three workers when I checked out with that iconic classic rock LP. Indeed, WLUP was for discovery, and Tower was where you went to claim your tags. Album purchases represented music ownership, something today's generation of Spotifiers and Amazon Primers will never understand. Nothing was better than breaking that seal on a long player, taking a fresh whiff of the vinyl, and then reading the liner notes while you listened to something you rightfully owned. If you were lucky, lyrics were included too.

I bought Nighthawks at the Diner by Tom Waits at Rolling Stone and Back in Black by AC/DC at Tower.

Why? Tower was the "everyman" record store, miles from the north side music elitists who pushed groups like the Smiths on us and then drove home blasting Paradise by the Dashboard Lights by Meat Loaf from the Pioneer decks in their tricked out Chevy Luminas. Tower was the Coors Light of record stores and those who shopped or worked there carried that label with pride. That's what made Tower so great. It was never the best record store, but beneath its cliched trucker hat and its stained dungarees and ripped overalls, it was true brick and mortar comfortability. And that's all Russ Solomon ever wanted. If you needed an album, he had it for you, and if he didn't, he'd have it the following Tuesday at your local outlet, a bonafide guarantee.

We live in a streaming world now, where every song and every album is available instantly. Today's record stores are apps on mobile device and most kids probably don't know the call letters of the top three radio stations in their listening markets. But for me, and those who grew up when I did, music was an entirely different world - bigger than life itself - building an impenetrable bond that cared neither for sensationalized headlines nor mass conformity. A big part of that went away today. Today, the music truly died.

Today's playlist for you Spotifiers:

And for you Amazon Primers:

Press Release: Jivewired to Partner With Float Left Interactive to Build Jivewired Streaming Television Apps

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 02:23:00 +0000

CHICAGO, IL (June 22, 2017) – Jivewired TV, a new distributor of television content, is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Float Left Interactive to build its new app for Roku. The new apps will deliver a live stream of variety programing to viewers who access content through Roku set top players and streaming devices. Float Left will also create Video On Demand (VOD) access to Jivewired's curated catalogue of high-definition on-demand content. Jivewired TV will be available to Roku users at the completion of development.

Float Left will also create Jivewired TV apps for Amazon Fire, Apple TV, iOS and Android devices, and Samsung and LG Televisions. Jivewired expects to begin those development projects later this year, offering viewers a wide variety of choices to stream it's over-the-top (OTT) content to any internet connected device or television.

“We’re incredibly excited to partner with a company that also works with MTV and VH-1, Nickelodeon, AMC, Crackle, NBC, CBS and many others," said Jivewired CEO Michael Canter.

"Float Left's track record of success in app development in this space will ensure that Jivewired TV will launch with a well-designed, fully functional app that will give over 14 million Roku users easy, live stream access to discover our content and a curated library for binge viewing, too."

Access to content will be free to all Roku users and content will be supported by commercial ads.

The Roku app, developed by Float Left Interactive, will be Jivewired's first entry into streaming television as an OTT provider.

About Jivewired TV: Jivewired TV is a national OTT television network that will stream a live feed to viewers wanting to access our content. At launch, Jivewired TV on Roku will be available in more than 14 million homes, and will include some great streaming offerings like Beer Geeks, Storm Hunters, Cargo Live!, The Chef And The City, Great Getaways, Youthful Daze, Beacon Hill, Venice: The Series, and Chicago Stories, as well as many other offerings. Jivewired TV strives to provide streaming content that covers and crosses all genres and demographics. Jivewired will also develop new series offerings as we expand our presence across markets both nationally and globally.

As an all-encompassing new media company, Jivewired will soon expand into music licensing and publishing. Jivewired hopes to connect Jivewired bands and performers with opportunities for discovery, monetization, and audience capture by licensing music and music video content.

Check out the trailer for Storm Hunters!

Storm Hunters Trailer from Jivewired TV on Vimeo.

Coming Soon To Jivewired TV: The Joy Formidable Live From The Whitney Peak Hotel

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 13:19:00 +0000

Jivewired TV Presents: The Joy Formidable (Live From The Whitney Peak Hotel)

The Joy Formidable: After spending several years with the post-punk outfit Sidecar Kisses, vocalist/guitarist Ritzy Bryan and bassist Rhydian Dafydd left the lineup and launched the Joy Formidable, drawing heavily from shoegaze and noisy alt-rock to create their new group's sound. Formed in North Wales in 2007, the band later resettled in London, where original drummer Justin Stahley was replaced by Matt Thomas. The Joy Formidable began building a buzz in 2008, making appearances at several British festivals and earning high marks from publications like The Guardian, which recommended the band’s "darkly joyous soft-loud racket."

After releasing several singles, the group issued the mini-album A Balloon Called Moaning in early 2009. Tours with the Editors and Passion Pit followed, and the Joy Formidable issued a live album, First You Have to Get Mad, before signing with Black Bell Records, an independent label run by Passion Pit member Ayad Al Adhamy. With Black Bell’s support, A Balloon Called Moaning was released stateside in 2010. The Joy Formidable toured throughout the year and kicked off 2011 with the international release of The Big Roar, their well-received, full-length studio debut. The band spent the following year writing its second record while on the road supporting Muse. The resulting Wolf's Law, which was recorded in the small town of Casco, Maine, arrived in early 2013, and peaked at the number 51 slot on the Billboard 200 in the U.S., and at number 41 on the U.K. Album Charts. The following year saw the band issuing a series of monthly, vinyl-only singles sung in their native Welsh, and in early 2016, they announced via Facebook that they would be releasing their much-anticipated third studio long player, Hitch, later that March. -- Band biography via AllMusic.com

Genre: Pop/Rock, Indie
Released: 2016
Country: Wales
Episode Run Time: Approximately 26 minutes.

Credits
Ritzy Bryan (vocals, guitar)
Rhydian Dafydd Davies (bass)
Matt Thomas (drums)

Producer: Michael Young, Justin Bell
Number of Episodes:1
Subscription Options: AVOD, SVOD, TVOD airing at TVTibi and on Roku
Video Format: HD and 4k
Debut Broadcast: TBD
Fun Fact: Chicago fans of The Joy Formidable can catch the band live at Space in Evanston, IL with special guests Cusses and Radkey on June 06, 2017
Another Fun Fact: A group of fans of The Joy Formidable created a place to exchange music and friendship. Get details here.

Trailer: Whirring (Official Video)

About The Whitney Peak Hotel:

Showcasing some of the hottest musical acts from the Cargo stage at Whitney Peak Hotel in Reno, Nevada, a new, landmark property that caters to those looking for that "extra something" in their hospitality experience. Whitney Peak is Reno's first and only non-gaming, non-smoking, independent hotel. We aren't bound by the rules and standards that can make branded properties a little...stale. We are centrally located; just two blocks from the beautiful Truckee River Walk and adjacent to the historic Reno Arch. Looking to play in Tahoe as well? We are a short and scenic 45-minute-drive to the world class playground that is Lake Tahoe!.

About Space:

Since opening its doors in 2008, SPACE has brought thousands of world class performances to Evanston audiences. With a rustic and warm ambiance and state-of-the-art technology the venue has become a favorite amongst musicians and music fans of all ages. SPACE doesn’t fit standard labels such as “jazz club” or “rock club.” It is a place where music fanatics can get closer to their favorite music and have a uniquely intimate and memorable experience.

The venue hosts shows that are both seated and standing, loud and quiet. If you have a particular expectation with regards to your seating, the volume of the show, or any other factors that may contribute to your enjoyment, please don’t think twice about emailing us at info@evanstonspace.com. We understand that everyone enjoys music in different ways, and we want to make sure that your experience is one that you’ll remember for all of the right reasons!

Coming Soon To Jivewired TV: Moon Taxi Live From The Whitney Peak Hotel

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 10:06:00 +0000

Jivewired TV Presents: Moon Taxi (Live From The Whitney Peak Hotel)

Moon Taxi (2016): The five-piece band hailing from Nashville has released three albums: Cabaret (2012), Mountains Beaches Cities (2013) and Daybreaker (2015). They have appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and Conan. Their music has also been featured in multiple commercial and TV placements including BMW, Nashville, MLB, NFL, and HBO Sports to name a few. A festival favorite, the band has performed at Bonnaroo, Coachella, Governor's Ball, Hangout Festival, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Outside Lands and more. Daybreaker was recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville and produced by Jacquire King (Kings Of Leon, Modest Mouse, Tom Waits, James Bay). Fans can expect a new album from Moon Taxi this summer.

Genre: Alt Rock, Indie
Released: 2016
Country: United States
Series Run Time: Approximately 26 minutes.

Credits
Trevor Terndrup (vocals, guitar)
Spencer Thomson (guitar, programming)
Tommy Putnam (bass)
Wes Bailey (keys)
Tyler Ritter (drums)

Producer: Michael Young, Justin Bell
Number of Episodes:1
Subscription Options: AVOD, SVOD, TVOD airing at TVTibi
Video Format: HD and 4k
Debut Broadcast: TBD
Fun Fact: Chicago fans of Moon Taxi can catch the band live at Taste of Randolph June 16-18, 2017
Another Fun Fact: Moon Taxi is appearing at ELEVEN festivals in 2017. Check out their tour dates here.

Trailer:

About The Whitney Peak Hotel: Showcasing some of the hottest musical acts from the Cargo stage at Whitney Peak Hotel in Reno, Nevada, a new, landmark property that caters to those looking for that "extra something" in their hospitality experience. Whitney Peak is Reno's first and only non-gaming, non-smoking, independent hotel. We aren't bound by the rules and standards that can make branded properties a little...stale. We are centrally located; just two blocks from the beautiful Truckee River Walk and adjacent to the historic Reno Arch. Looking to play in Tahoe as well? We are a short and scenic 45-minute-drive to the world class playground that is Lake Tahoe!.

About Taste of Randolph:

Coming To Jivewired TV: Beacon Hill

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 12:20:00 +0000

Jivewired TV Presents Beacon Hill

Beacon Hill (2014): Beacon Hill the Series takes political intrigue, mixes it with some romance, adds a dash of blackmail and a handful of family dysfunction. Politics and romance may never be the same.

Genre: Soap Opera, Drama, LGBTQ
Released: 2014
Country: United States
Series Run Time: Season 1: Approximately 10 minutes per episode.

Credits
Actor: Melissa Archer, Sarah Brown, Scott Bryce, Crystal Chappell, Alicia Minshew
Producer: Crystal Chappell
Number of Episodes:10
Subscription Options: AVOD, SVOD, TVOD airing at TVTibi
Video Format: HD and 4k
Debut Broadcast: TBD
Fun Fact: Actress and Producer Crystal Chappelle has starred in four daytime Emmy-Award winning Soap Operas: As Carly Manning in 'Days of Our Lives,' as Olivia Spencer in 'Guiding Light,' as Danielle Spencer in 'The Bold and The Beautiful,' and as Maggie Carpenter in 'One Life To Live.'
Another Fun Fact: Crystal also appeared as a contestant on 'Wheel of Fortune' (air-date unknown) around the time she first appeared on 'Days of Our Lives' in 1993. She was identified simply as 'Crystal' and her occupation as 'actress'.

Trailer:

Beacon Hill Promo - Meet the Cast from Jivewired TV on Vimeo.

About Beacon Hill: When Senior Massachusetts Senator William Preston suffers a stroke, his rebellious granddaughter Sara is called home to Boston. Once there, Sara finds that her ailing grandfather has a new wife barely older than herself, that her mother Claire is still hiding in her room with her favorite bottle, and that her brother Eric is playing nursemaid in between board meetings.

Sara also discovers that her ex, State Representative Katherine Wesley, is being mentioned as a possible Senatorial candidate in a cat-and-mouse game controlled by Sara's grandfather.

When former lovers Sara Preston and Katherine Wesley reconnect after six years apart, it seems unlikely that they'll ever be able to put their past behind them. And with the political turmoil, family intrusions and the press interfering, it may be downright impossible.

Coming to Jivewired TV: The Chef & The City

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 13:30:00 +0000

Jivewired TV Presents The Chef & The City

The Chef & The City Season 1: Growing the brand of celebrity chef Mark Estee, plus the effervescent cultural revolution taking place in Reno, Nevada, a city like no other.

The Chef & The City Season 2: Lake Tahoe is an impossibly deep, pure and blue gem at just over 6,000 feet in the High Sierra. See how good people like Amy Berry of The Tahoe Fund ensure visitors can make the best of this mountain playland. Our host Dave Mulligan introduces us to the climate, the culture, and the cuisine of Lake Tahoe, Nevada and Truckee, California. Along the way you'll meet some of the area's best chefs, a local vodka mogul, a photographer and Tahoe's wonderful residents.

Genre: Cooking/Travel
Released: 2016
Country: United States
Series Run Time: Season 1: 13m 30s minute episodes / Season 2: 18m 30s episodes

Credits
Actor: Season 1 - Chef Mark Estee and assorted guests. / Season 2 - Host Dave Mulligan and assorted chefs and guests.
Producer: Dave Mulligan
Number of Episodes: Season 1 - 11 / Season 2 - 10
Subscription Options: AVOD, SVOD, TVOD airing at TVTibi
Video Format: HD and 4k
Debut Broadcast: TBD
Fun Fact: There's a cooking demonstration and special recipe for foodies in every episode.

Trailer:

The Chef & The City: North Lake Tahoe - Season 2 Trailer from Jivewired TV on Vimeo.

About Dave Mulligan: Dave hosts and produces a unique, family travel show called Great Getaways which airs all across America. He also hosts and produces a new series targeting the lucrative and growing niche of culinary tourism, called The Chef & The City. We know there are discerning travelers out there who plan vacations around great chefs and special dining experiences.

Dave is truly someone who finds creative passion in his work and that's evident in the shows he produces. His knowledge and expertise in traveling and fine dining set both Great Getaways and The Chef & The City apart from other vacation and dining-themed shows. Dave has created two series that offer a treasure map to the world while focusing on fun and family, culture and cuisine, a truly winning combination.

Jivewired TV will air Seasons 1 and 2 of The Chef & The City upon the TVTibi launch, and will debut Great Getaways at a date TBD.

Coming to Jivewired TV: Storm Hunters

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 16:33:00 +0000

Jivewired TV Presents Storm Hunters

Storm Hunters is Jivewired TV's first run documentary series that will premier this March on Jivewired TV via The TVTibi platform Ready! Set! Sync! The program follows Chaser Adam Lucio as he attempts to intercept tornadoes and dangerous storms during Chase Season, typically March through July. Adam's journeys take him from the Gulf Coast through the Southern and Northern Plains and across the Upper Midwest, tracking the most dangerous weather systems of spring and early summer.

Genre: Documentary
Released: 2017
Country: United States
Series Run Time: 22 minute episodes

Credits
Actor: Adam Lucio
Producers: Mike Mullenhoff, Adam Lucio
Number of Episodes: One Season, 6 Episodes
Subscription Options: AVOD, SVOD, TVOD
Video Format: HD and 4k
Debut Broadcast: TBD
Fun Fact: Adam drives a Ford Expedition with 292,000+ certified miles into tornadoes!

Trailer:

Storm Hunters Trailer from Jivewired TV on Vimeo.

About Adam Lucio: Adam has seen 100+ tornadoes of all shapes and sizes, including some of the more notorious ones from recent outbreaks. He has also worked with numerous media companies providing footage and interviews used in live streaming/reporting. Adam also works with storm chasing charities, and has been chosen as backup driver for Sean Casey’s TIV.

Unlike most chasers, Adam's passion does not stem from personal experience. From a young age Adam was simply drawn to the raw power of large storms. Largely self-taught in his craft, Adam attended his first spotter class in 2002. With over a decade of real experience under his belt, Adam and producer Mike Mullenhoff began documenting the 2016 chase season, initially for a documentary before switching gears to series production.

Jivewired TV will air the episodes filmed in 2016 just as 2017 chase season kicks off while Adam is out chasing and Mike is capturing all the action for Season 2.

How To Get Your Music Videos Played (And Monetized) On Jivewired TV

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 09:48:00 +0000

As you have probably heard, we are launching Jivewired TV this month on the TVTibi platform Ready! Set! Sync! -- available via iOS, Android (coming soon), standard web delivery, and streaming services such as Roku or via gaming systems.

If you don't want to read this whole article and you just want to get started, send an email to uploads@jivewired.com and provide your contact info and someone will get back to you within 24 hours. But if you'd like to soldier on and get all the details (and all the math), please continue reading!

Along with some killer television content that includes original television series, documentaries, movies and live concert footage, we want to air music videos in a presentation format that allows us to pay the bands and performers (or rights owners) that allow us to use their music videos.

Jivewired is launching a number of music video presentation series, the first of which will be called 'The Seven,' and it is basically seven music videos played in back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back sequencing.

We monetize the videos with lead and trailing commercials and we pay 70% net of all ad-based revenues to the bands or performers (or rights holders).

'So what?' you say, 'Apple pays 70% and YouTube pays nearly that.'

Fair enough. But it's not what rate we pay out that matters, it's the pool of money from which we pay. By getting substantially better ad rates than video providers such as YouTube or Vimeo, we can pay out much higher rates.

Oh yeah, and then there is the avoidance of web clutter. True (verified) fact, YouTube gets over 60 hours of video content uploaded every minute. It's nice to have over a trillion views annually and we hope we get there someday. But that number shrinks quickly when you realize, well, let's do the math:

Using YouTube metrics, the average YouTube video is 4m 20s, which coincidentally, is the average length of a music video. And, also coincidentally, music videos make up the bulk of YouTube's streaming uploads, though they only account for 4.3% of YouTube views, down from 40% just a few years ago.

That means about 8,300 videos are uploaded onto YouTube every minute. That's 498,000 videos every single day, or 181,770,000 videos every year.

Note: 1% of YouTube music videos get 93% of YouTube views. Major label bias you say? You would be correct. Ouch.

At one trillion annual views, that means each video gets about 5,500 annual views. Considering that music videos by the major labels get the bulk of all views, it is easy to see why an average indie video gets about 1,650 views per year. How many views did you get last year?

Maybe that's why monetizing your music video on YouTube hasn't turned out to be the cash cow that you'd hoped for.

I don't want to be the bearer of more bad news, but, it gets worse. YouTube allows viewers to bypass ads after 5 seconds in many cases, and thankfully, because some leading advertisements are up to FIVE MINUTES IN LENGTH. I am watching one right now. I actually forgot which music video I am waiting to see. But, if an ad is bypassed, that means so is that particular revenue stream.

So back to our program, The Seven. Initially we'd like to air an episode every month, eventually settling into a once-weekly program once we have the ability to schedule TV shows.

Yeah. That's right. Our streaming entity will eventually be scheduled, so if you are still clinging to appointment TV, we've got you covered. And if you're busy, you can always catch episodes in our Video On Demand Library. And no matter how you watch, you can be assured that your peers (and favorite bands) are making money.

Some points to consider:

Our ads will be no longer than 15 or 30 seconds in length and no more than 4 minutes TOTAL advertising time per 30-minute episode.
Ads cannot be bypassed and our playback mechanism does not allow fast forwarding.
Videos will be catalogued, searchable, and simple to find and discover.
Our advertisements do not pay for our platform, so that means that we distribute from a larger pool of money. I'm not kidding, YouTube has considerable costs to cover.
We will be adding seven new music videos per week to our content library. That's one per day on average. Much more modest than 8,300 music videos per minute.
NO MAJOR LABEL BIAS

Major label bias would be a quick way for us to make money. But I don't want to lose control of my company just to do that. We won't be airing videos owned by major labels except in rare cases where bands started out as indies on Jivewired and found their way into a major label contract but still own the rights to their original videos.

How do you get started? Jivewired bands don't pay a submission fee. Simply email your video in .mp4 or Quicktime format to uploads@jivewired.com and we will get back to you wth a contract, a payment schedule, and instructions on how to receive your residuals every 45 days.

If you are not on Jivewired, there is a $225 submission fee and a screening process. If you are selected, we keep the $225 against future revenues. If your video is not accepted, we will return your submission fee in whole within 7 days of your submission. For more information, email uploads@jivewired.com with your contact info (phone number and email address) and we will get back to you within 24 hours.

Friday Flashback 1980

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 11:47:00 +0000

FRIDAY FLASHBACK:Every Friday we set the Hot Tub Time Machine to one year in rock history and give you the best (and worst) music from that year through our Jivewired Spotify Friday Flashback Playlists.

This week: 1980
Next week: 1988

Leading up to this year's U.S. Presidential Election, we will focus on an election year with each Friday Flashback. 1980 pitted Jimmy Carter vs. Ronald Reagan. So who you got?

Election Coverage Expanded Edition:
(1980 Election Results via US Election Atlas)

How Did We Feel About The Country In General In 1980?
Extremely Happy: 3%
Fairly Well: 29%
Unhappy for the most part: 43%
Extremely Unhappy: 25%

What Did We Think Was The Most Important Issue Facing This Country In 1980?
Iran Hostage Crisis: 31%
Inflation: 31%
Poor Leadership: 14%
USSR/War/Peace: 9%
Unemployment/Recession: 8%
Government Carter: 4%
Don't Know/Don't Care/Refused: 3%

How Did We Rate Our Economy In 1980?
Desperate: 29%
Average: 55%
Very Good: 16%

How Was Our Personal Financial Situation As Compared To 1976?
Better: 36%
Same: 31%
Worse: 32%
Don't Know/Don't Care: 1%

1992 Election Results:
Popular Vote Ronald Reagan: 43,903,230 Total Votes
Popular Vote Jimmy Carter: 35,480,115 Total Votes
Popular Vote John Anderson: 5,719,850
Electoral Vote Ronald Reagan: 489 (Winner)
Electoral Vote Jimmy Carter: 49
Electoral Vote John Anderson: 0

The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent. Reagan, aided by the Iran hostage crisis and a worsening economy at home, won the election in a landslide. Carter, after defeating Ted Kennedy for the Democratic nomination, attacked Reagan as a dangerous right-wing radical. For his part, Reagan, the former Governor of California, repeatedly ridiculed Carter, and won a decisive victory; in the simultaneous Congressional elections, Republicans won control of the United States Senate for the first time in 28 years. This election marked the beginning of what is popularly called the Reagan Revolution.

On To The Flashback:

Album art from 1980 - Click album cover to purchase at Amazon.com

1980 Album I Wish I Owned: Songs The Lord Taught Us by The Cramps
1980 Album I'd Give Back If I Could: Panorama by The Cars
1980 Nominee For Worst Album Cover Ever: Dirty Mind by Prince
1980 Most Underrated Song: Farfisa Beat by Squeeze
1980 Most Overrated Song: Another Brick In The Wall by Pink Floyd
1980 Most Memorable Song: (Just Like) Starting Over by John Lennon
1980 Most Significant Song: Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division
1980 Most Forgotten Song: I Love You by The Climax Blues Band
1980 Album Of The Year: London Calling by The Clash
1980 Fan's Choice For Most Popular Song: Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen
1980 Most Likely To Start A Party Song: Shoot To Thrill by AC/DC
1980 Please Don't Play Anymore Song: Flash Gordon by Queen
1980 Song That I Like More than I Actually Should: Call Me by Blondie
1980 Album I Liked More Than I Thought I Would: Ace Of Spades by Motorhead
1980 Song That I Tend To Leave On Repeat: Shoot To Thrill by AC/DC
1980 Come Back Player Of The Year: Arc Of A Diver by Steve Winwood
One Hit Wonder of 1980: I Know What Boys Like by The Waitresses
Guilty Pleasure of 1980: Brass In Pocket by The Pretenders
Breakout Artists Of 1980: Squeeze, The Kings, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Blondie, The Clash
Overplayed In 1980: Pink Floyd
Not Played Enough In 1980: The Clash
Greatest Single Chart Re-Entry from 1980: Lola by The Kinks (1970), Love Reign O'er Me by The Who (1973)
Best Cover Song Of 1980: Tell It Like It Is by Heart
An unheralded great album from 1980: Argybargy by Squeeze
An unheralded great single from 1980: This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide by the Kings
Best Soundtrack of 1980: The Blues Brothers

Our Top Five Songs Of The Year
01. Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division
02. Train In Vain (Stand By Me) by The Clash
03. I Will Follow by U2
04. This Beat Goes On/Switching To Glide by The Kings
05. Skateaway by Dire Straits

Our Top ~~Five~~ SIX Albums Of The Year
01. London Calling by The Clash
02. The River by Bruce Speingsteen & The E-Street Band
03. Back in Black by AC/DC
04. The Wall by Pink Floyd
05. Argybargy by Squeeze
06. Permanent Waves by Rush

Well, there was Joy Division, Prince, AC/DC, U2, Squeeze, Rush, The Clash and of course, Pink Floyd. Bruce Springsteen became bigger than he had been, if that was humanly possible. Michael Jackson proved that he could be a hit-making machine as a solo artist, and having Quincy Jones in his corner certainly didn't hurt.

But..........................

There was an enormous amount of crap coming out of the mainstream in 1980; power ballads, fake new wave, commercial jazz and the moaning, screeching immediate halt to disco with Donna Summer's appropriately titled Dim All The Lights. So many stars of 1979 were washed up and forgotten by 1980, though in general, popular music had quite a bit of 1979/1980 crossover. A lot of this was reverberation from punk and not just from the movement splitting into artsy post-punk and poppy new wave. Mainstream rockers like Billy Joel and Daryl Hall borrowed some of punk's sound and sensibility, though that doesn't mean it was any good, while Paul McCartney cut his own home-grown synth-pop album and Prince cleverly co-opted punk’s nerviness for his breakthrough Dirty Mind.

Then there was the state of the record industry itself, one which was losing hundreds of millions of dollars and one which was about to dramatically change forever thanks to an historic purging of record label staff and artists who lost their affiliations. 1980 saw a drop in sales of 34 million total units in the U.S. as compared to 1979. Imagine how bad it would have been without Pink Floyd's The Wall.

Confusion at the beginning of the 1980's for the record industry:

The murder of John Lennon on 12/8/1980 dampened any remaining vestiges of 1960's idealism.
The election of Ronald Reagan as president signaled a change in the political climate.
The collapse of disco under its own weight and new wave had evolved into a musical category so diverse as to be meaningless.
The music industry, which had come to depend heavily on targeting audiences, suffered a major recession in 1979, its first in 30 years. Insiders had thought that the industry, which had seen such tremendous growth in the 70's, was recession-proof. However, sales between 1978 and 1979 had declined by 11%, which represented an early indicator.
Within the first 5 months of the decline, 700 record-company employees lost their jobs, and CBS alone eliminated 7,000 positions worldwide between 1980 and 1986.
More restricted production made it harder for new groups to break into the business.
The record companies blamed home taping and piracy for the reduction in sales. It could also have been due to a less exciting period in music, a saturated market, and the failure of its own promotional abilities.

1980 at A&M Records: As the record industry continued to slump, A&M trimmed its artist roster of nearly 100 artists to about 45 artists.

1980 at CBS Records: Clive Davis was fired from CBS Records for allegedly using company funds to bankroll his son's bar mitzvah and founded Arista Records.

1980 at PolyGram Records: When US operations were running at full capacity, PolyGram expanded aggressively, and would press large quantities of records without knowing the demand. In late 1979, PolyGram was caught off guard by the sudden end of the popularity of disco music, leaving it with an underutilized distribution network, profligate labels, and overoptimistic product orders. PolyGram's Casablanca label was infamous for management spending on luxury cars and cocaine. After 1980, PolyGram's losses had spiraled upwards of US$220 million.

Joe Smith, President of Asylum Records in 1980: "Records, you don’t have to buy really to hear music. There’s sensational equipment out there. There’s great FM radio. There’s an enormous amounts of music available without having to buy a record. Counterfeiting, home-taping, and the failure of major artists to deliver records on somekind of regular basis."

The record industry became a self-perpetuating profit vacuum. As the number of competing artists declined, so did the number of hit records, which led to a stranglehold on spending, killing artist research and development, and starting a cycle, continuing to this day, mind you, that led to major label mergers, industry downsizing, the death of record stores, fewer and fewer profits and less and less quality as well as an increase in legacy artist compilation and greatest hits packages, seen as lifebuoys to stave off extinction

The thought was that the distribution of fewer product choices would increase demand, but it instead limited retail markets, fueling that perpetuating cycle of loss. Music became tired and boring and worst of all, predictable. In retrospect, 1980 seems like GROUND ZERO and it all started with the death of disco, a genre most freely admit to hating. But it wasn't the music that killed the industry - it was the lifestyles of the old guard, for the most part, with a big assist to technological advances and an industry that willingly resisted change and modification to it's core model.

But 1980 did have somewhat of an edge, and it wasn’t just about post-punk: the year saw hip-hop make waves on vinyl; gave us an unbridled, hard rock masterpiece by AC/DC; watched disco die hard with its few and final classic crossover hits; gave Bruce Springsteen his first top ten hit and witnessed arena-rockers like Journey and REO Speedwagon rule the heartland of America.

Winds of change and a glimpse of the future allowed bands like Joy Division, U2, The Cure, Squeeze, INXS, Devo, Siouxsie & The Banshees and XTC to have minor success in 1980. David Bowie and Queen changed their musical directions ever-so-slightly and Pete Townshend pursued a solo project in addition to his work with The Who with great success. And the Who re-released 1973's Quadrophenia and garnered a generation of new fans. I'm Coming Out by Diana Ross symbolized a return toward more traditional R&B and away from the disco sound of 1978 and 1979.

The Stray Cats leaned on a seemingly outdated Jerry Lee Lewis/Carl Perkins/Elvis Presley rockabilly formula and fans couldn't get enough. Interestingly, 1980 was the 25th anniversary of Rock Around The Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets, considered by many to be the true birth of rock & roll (though I strongly dispute that fact), so the timing for Brian Setzer and his band was perfect.

And all this was the background for such classics as Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall, Talking Heads’ Remain in Light, Elvis Costello’s Get Happy!!, debut albums by U2 and The Pretenders and the coup de grâce -- London Calling by The Clash.

Oh yeah, Pink Floyd had a monster hit with their progressive concept album The Wall.

Before you get too excited, 1980 also forced Rupert Holmes, Cliff Richard, Herb Alpert, The Little River Band and Air Supply down our mainstream throats. I mean, in retrospect, some of those songs don't make disco look so bad. Did I just say that? Wow.

It was the end of the road (albeit temporarily) for Led Zeppelin after the death of John Bonham; Seals & Crofts, who just stopped selling albums; The Eagles, who just started hating each other; and The Buggles, who would find fame a year later with the launch of MTV. Joy Division disbanded when lead singer Ian Curtis hung himself. Joy Division minus Curtis became New Order. Bon Scott died of alcohol asphyxiation just as AC/DC exploded. AC/DC would go on with Brian Johnson on lead vocals. Phil Collins began to heavily influence the music of Genesis, went solo (but only as a side gig), and the more mainstream Genesis was as strong as ever. Ozzy Osbourne left Black Sabbath and released his best-selling Blizzard Of Ozz album

So how do we define 1980?

1980 isn’t necessarily considered one of the all-time great years in music, not in the way that 1956, 1967, 1971, 1979 or 1991 are. There is a reason for this -- and that is that during those years there was an earth-moving paradigm shift in what defines popular music. In 1956 rock was born; 1967 was the summer of love; in 1971 we experienced the post-Beatles birth of AOR; 1979 unleashed punk and post-punk on the mainstream and 1991 saw the onset of the grunge movement. 1980 ultimately represents the death of disco.

However, as initial impression proves to be misleading, 1980 was something of a watershed year, generating a number of all-time classics in all manners of musical styles. Popular music was at a crossroads and bands who tried to amalgamate a myriad of sounds into an undefined hybrid-genre found it difficult to capitalize on their very own successes.

It was a difficult time for music. There was no distinct sound or set definition as to what made a band or a song popular and musical tastes were extremely diverse as well.

In short, popular music from 1980 carries a certain non-directional distinction. Certainly some songs defined that year, but as music matured and genres were refined those very bands became victims of their own success. It was a rebirth of sorts for the one-hit wonder. Just ask The Knack -- on top of the world as 1979 ended, long forgotten by the end of 1980. In the United States, aside from the stray arena rock classic by Van Halen, Styx, Journey or Cheap Trick, music magnanimity was all about bands that faded as quickly as they ascended, with the same holding true for any defined genre of that year. Perhaps we can say that Michael Jackson's Off The Wall was a precursor to Thriller and in saying that, proclaim him as a survivor of 1980. U2 and Prince were the only other emerging acts from 1980 that enjoyed long term success.

In hindsight, 1980 was really about the true emergence of industrial electronics and the apogee of ’70s weird quirky art-punk, and sadly, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy — an album of primary importance in retrospect.

Gone Too Soon:

Professor Longhair (January 30)
Bon Scott (February 19)
Ian Curtis (May 18)
Keith Godchaux (July 23)
John Bonham (September 25)
John Lennon (December 8)
Tim Hardin (December 29)

How does one define "Death By Misadventure?"

On February 19, 1980 Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC, died in London. Scott, 33 at the time, passed out after a night of heavy drinking in a London club called the Music Machine. He was left to sleep in a vehicle owned by an acquaintance named Alistair Kinnear in East Dulwich, South London, where at some point he died in his sleep. Although common folklore cites pulmonary aspiration of vomit as the cause of his death, the official cause is listed as "Acute alcohol poisoning" and "Death by Misadventure."

If that was "Death By Misadventure", what the hell do you call this?

On September 24, 1980, Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham was picked up to attend rehearsals for the band's upcoming tour. During the journey, Bonham asked to stop for breakfast, where he proceeded to drink four quadruple vodka shots. He then continued to drink heavily after arriving at the rehearsals. A halt was called to the rehearsals late in the evening and the band retired to Page's house, in Clewer, Windsor. Some time after midnight on the 25th, Bonham passed out and was carried to bed and placed on his side. He was found dead the next afternoon.

Weeks later at the coroner's inquest, it emerged that in the twenty-four hours before he died, John Bonham had consumed forty shots of vodka which resulted in him vomiting and subsequently inhaling his vomit, causing asphyxiation. A verdict of accidental death was returned at an inquest held on 27 October 1980. An autopsy found no other drugs in Bonham's body.

The legend of "Pirate Radio" is almost a true story........

On March 20, 1980 Radio Caroline shut down for good in the UK after it's radio ship Mi Amigo was sunk during a storm. Just after midnight GMT, the Mi Amigo foundered in a severe storm after losing its anchor and drifting for several miles. It began taking in water and the crew were rescued by lifeboat. The generator was left running to power the pumps but could not manage the inflow of water and the Mi Amigo sank ten minutes later. The last broadcast from the Mi Amigo was by American jocks Stevie Gordon and Tom Anderson, as follows:

"Well, we're sorry to tell you that due to the severe weather conditions and the fact that we are shipping quite a lot of water, we are closing down, and the crew are at this stage leaving the ship. Obviously, we hope to be back with you as soon as possible, but just for the moment we would like to say goodbye." -- Stevie Gordon

"It's not a very good occasion really, we have to hurry this because the lifeboat is standing by. We're not leaving and disappearing, we're going onto the lifeboat hoping that the pumps can take it, if they can, we'll be back, if not, well we really don't like to say it. I'm sure we'll be back one way or another. For the moment from all of us, goodbye and God Bless." -- Tom Anderson

Very Eery Foreshadowing

“Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it.”

"Listen, if anything happens to Yoko and me,
it was not an accident." -- John Lennon

Go forth, for you are the future of rock & roll........

The following bands were formed in 1980: R.E.M., Depeche Mode, Violent Femmes, New Order, Meat Puppets, Happy Mondays, The Smithereens and Sisters Of Mercy. On the flip side, 1980 also gave us Loverboy, Dead Or Alive and Men Without Hats.

Playlist Adds For Friday Flashback 1980

****Release dates are to the best of my knowledge and in most cases represent the release date of the album from which the single derived. In cases of singles and/or B-Side releases only, we use the official U.S. single release date for the A-Side.****

October 1979 (and earlier):
001. Lola by The Kinks (1970)
002. Love Reign O'er Me by The Who (1973)
003. Dim All The Lights by Donna Summer
004. It's Different For Girls by Joe jackson
005. Message In A Bottle by The Police
006. Walking On The Moon by The Police
007. Lights by Styx
008. Why Me by Styx
009. Never Say Never by Styx
010. Borrowed Time by Styx
011. Refugee by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
012. Here Comes My Girl by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
013. Flirtin' With Disaster by Molly Hatchet

November 1979:
014. Stay In Time by Off Broadway
015. Full Moon Turn My Head Around & Round by Off Broadway
016. Jane by Starship
017. Sara by Fleetwood Mac
018. Tusk by Fleetwood Mac
019. Even The Losers by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
020. The Long Run by The Eagles
021. Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2 by Pink Floyd
022. Mother by Pink Floyd
023. Young Lust by Pink Floyd
024. Nobody Home by Pink Floyd
025. Hey You by Pink Floyd
026. Nobody Home by Pink Floyd
027. Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd

December 1979:
028. Ride Like The Wind by Christopher Cross
029. Rudie Can't Fail by The Clash
030. Spanish Bombs by The Clash
031. Train In Vain by The Clash
032. Stop Your Sobbing by The Pretenders
033. Brass In Pocket by The Pretenders
034. Mystery Achievement by The Pretenders

January 1980:
035. Back On My Feet Again by The Babys
036. Midnight Rendezvous by The Babys
037. The Spirit Of Radio by Rush
038. Freewill by Rush
039. Jacob's Ladder by Rush
040. Entre Nous by Rush
041. Different Strings by Rush
042. Lettin' Go by UFO
043. Biggest Part Of Me by Ambrosia

February 1980:
044. Farfisa Beat by Squeeze
045. Another Nail In My Heart by Squeeze
046. Pulling Mussels (From The Shell) by Squeeze
047. If I Didn't Love You by Squeeze
048. I Can't Tell You Why by The Eagles
049. Tell It Like It Is by Heart
050. Even It Up by Heart
051. High Fidelity by Elvis Costello
052. Against The Wind by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
053. Fire Lake by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

March 1980:
054. You May Be Right by Billy Joel
055. Sometimes A Fantasy by Billy Joel
056. Don't Ask Me Why by Billy Joel
057. Going Underground by The Jam
058. Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne
059. Any Way You Want It by Journey
060. And The Cradle Will Rock.... by Van Halen
061. Everybody Wants Some!! by Van Halen
062. Duchess by Genesis
063. Misunderstanding by Genesis
064. The Zoo by The Scorpions
065. This Beat Goes On/Switching To Glide by The Kings
066. Discount Dogs by The Joe Perry Project
067. I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down by Elvis Costello

April 1980:
068. Love Stinks by The J. Geils Band
069. Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division
070. Coming Up (Live) by Paul McCartney & Wings
071. Breaking The Law by Judas Priest
072. Living After Midnight by Judas Priest
073. Running Free by Iron Maiden
074. A Forest by The Cure
075. Althea by The Grateful Dead
076. Far From Me by The Grateful Dead
077. Saint Of Circumstance by The Grateful Dead

May 1980:
078. The River by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
079. Games Without Frontiers by Peter Gabriel
080. I Don't Remember by Peter Gabriel
081. Fool For Your Loving by Whitesnake

June 1980:
082. Snortin' Whiskey by Pat Travers
083. Oh Yeah by Roxy Music
084. Over You by Roxy Music
085. I'm A Rebel by Accept
086. All Night Long by Joe Walsh
087. Could You Be Loved? by Bob Marley & The Wailers
088. Wango Tango by Ted Nugent
089. Hurt So Bad by Linda Ronstadt
090. She's So Cold by The Rolling Stones
091. Summer Romance by The Rolling Stones
092. Emotional Rescue by The Rolling Stones
093. Shake A Tail Feather by The Blues Brothers
094. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love by The Blues Brothers
095. Rawhide Theme by The Blues Brothers
096. Upside Down by Diana Ross
097. I Got You by Split Enz
098. Steal Away by Robbie Dupree

July 1980:
099. Trinidad by Eddie Money
100. Turning Japanese by The Vapors
101. The Legend Of Wooley Swamp by The Charlie Daniels Band
102. And I Moved by Pete Townshend
103. Let My Love Open The Door by Pete Townshend
104. Gonna Get Ya by Pete Townshend
105. The Winner Takes It All by ABBA
106. Disco Apocalypse by Jackson Browne
107. Boulevard by Jackson Browne
108. Hold On Hold Out by Jackson Browne
109. Hells Bells by AC/DC
110. Shoot To Thrill by AC/DC
111. Back In Black by AC/DC
112. You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC
113. Have A Drink On Me by AC'DC
114. Love T.K.O. by Teddy Pendergrass

August 1980:
115. Atmosphere by Joy Division
116. Happy House by Siouxsie & The Banshees
117. Christine by Siouxsie & The Banshees
118. Ashes To Ashes by David Bowie
119. Late In The Evening by Paul Simon
120. One Trick Pony by Paul Simon
121. Armed & Ready by The Michael Schenker Group
122. Whip It by Devo
123. Touch & Go by The Cars
124. I'm Coming Out by Diana Ross
125. Give Me The Night by George Benson
126. Another One Bites The Dust by Queen
127. Hell Is For Children by Pat Benatar

September 1980:
128. Breathing by Kate Bush
129. Generals & Majors by XTC
130. Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar

October 1980:
131. Teacher Teacher by Rockpile
132. If Sugar Was As Sweet As You by Rockpile
133. Heart by Rockpile
134. Private Idaho by The B-52s
135. Driven To Tears by The Police
136. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da by The Police
137. Shadows In The Rain by The Police
138. I Know What Boys Like by The Waitresses
139. I Wanna Be Your Lover by Prince
140. Crosseyed & Painless by Talking Haeds
141. Once in A Lifetime by Talking Heads
142. For You by Manfred Mann's Earth Band
143. Learn To Smile by INXS
144. Ain't Even Done With The Night by John Mellencamp
145. Romeo & Juliet by Dire Straits
146. Tunnel Of Love by Dire Straits
147. Skateaway by Dire Straits
148. Sherry Darling by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
149. Do Nothing by The Specials
150. I Will Follow by U2
151. Out Of Control by U2
152. Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
153. Ramrod by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
154. I Can't Let Go by Linda Ronstadt

November 1980:
155. Ace Of Spades by Motorhead
156. Love Me Like A Reptile by Motorhead
157. The Tide Is High by Blondie
158. Call Me by Blondie
159. (Just Like) Starting Over by John Lennon
160. Woman by John Lennon
161. Watching The Wheels by John Lennon
162. Gaucho by Steely Dan
162. Time Out Of Mind by Steely Dan
163. Glamour Profession by Steely Dan
164. Flash by Queen

December 1980:
165. Seven Bridges Road (Live) by The Eagles
166. Ah! Leah! by Donnie Iris
167. Arc Of A Diver by Steve Winwood
168. While You See A Chance by Steve Winwood
169. Spanish Dancer by Steve Winwood

iTunes Shuffle 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 13:55:00 +0000

This Post Originally Published on May 6, 2012

I did the original iPod Shuffle on January 13, 2011 and it was so much fun I decided to do it again. With all the Friday Flashbacks, Monday Mixes, CD Reviews and the like, I don't often get time to be a fan.

If you follow this blog, you know I am a proponent of discovering new music. Sometimes, however, we are so busy looking everywhere else for new music that we fail to realize we can discover a lot of great stuff within the confines of our own music collections.

This exercise helps that process.

You can see the results from our first attempt at this RIGHT HERE

In the meantime -- onward!

Here's the game:

(1) Turn on your MP3 player or music player on your computer.

(2) Go to SHUFFLE songs mode.

(3) List the first 15 songs that come up (song title and artist) NO editing/cheating, please. Even if you might skip the song when it comes up or be embarrassed for people to know that it's in your collection, you still must list it.

(4) Bonus! You get the Spotify playlist to listen to while you read this post.

01. Tangled Up In Blue by Bob Dylan from the album Blood On The Tracks (5m 41s) - Inevitably, everything in this genre gets compared to this 1975 masterpiece. It's blue, but there's a finality to it, an acceptance of the fate at hand. Dylan wrote this album with inspiration from a crumbled marriage, and recorded it immediately after a tour with The Band had apparently re-ignited his creativity. Blood On The Tracks is among Dylan's masterpieces. I won't even deduct points because it became a source of creative inspiration for the song Only Wanna Be With You by Hootie & The Blowfish. In fact, I'll breathe a sigh of relief because that song didn't kick off this list.

02. The Chain by Fleetwood Mac from the album Rumours (4m 31s) - Either my iPod Shuffle is trying to establish a mood here or just feels like sticking me squarely in the middle of the decadent 1970s. Nonetheless, a great, great song that is hauntingly chilling in it's very pain and anguish and in its detailing of, again, crumbling relationships. Something cool - that amazing riff is played on a banjo by John McVie. The ending bass line/guitar outro is Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame worthy on its own merits. The Chain is unique in being the only song credited to all five members of the Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac lineup. Perhaps they couldn't get along, but musically, the collaboration was spectacular.

03. Help Me, I Am In Hell by Nine Inch Nails from the album Broken (1m 56s) - As far as I am concerned, Trent Reznor is Nine Inch Nails and Nine Inch Nails is Trent Reznor. Two minutes of instrumental angst that is dastardly brooding in nature and keeps in theme so far. Trent is doing amazing work scoring movies these days and this song certainly portends to what the future held for Reznor at the time. There is an uncredited sample at the end from the movie The Empire Strikes Back, which is cool in its own right. Something even cooler: the influence of Reznor's conflict with his former label, TVT, is evident in multiple aspects of this EP. After a long list of credits, the packaging reads, "no thanks: you know who you fucking are" followed by "the slave thinks he is released from bondage only to find a stronger set of chains."

These comments are likely directed towards TVT Records' Steve Gottlieb, who refused to let Reznor out of his contract, sparking legal battles between the two parties.

04. Throw Away Your Television by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from the album By The Way (3m 45s) - You hear the opening bass line/percussion interplay and you say ...."fuuuuuuuuuckyeahhhhhhhhhhh" and then the Pepper's go all tribal on us while still staying true to that driving sound that has kept them going for nearly thirty years.

Throw Away Your Television is almost a Radiohead/Chili Peppers marriage, a foot tapping song that you can't just stop playing. Love the retro riffs: insanely melodic gutter grime and fervently catchy.

05. Peace Frog/Blue Sunday by The Doors from the album Morrison Hotel (2m 59s) - Is there a better way to blatantly point out to your band that they are just a backing band than by naming your new album after yourself? Maybe I'm reaching, but the original title for the album was allegedly Hard Rock Cafe, an establishment featured on the back cover of this album that no longer exists, but was the inspiration of the world famous chain. As for the Morrison Hotel - the proprietors refused permission to have it's image on the album cover, so band members had someone snap a picture of Jim Morrison and his backing band standing in the window. Voila! And as for the music, the Doors got away from psychedelia and went back to driving blues music on this 1970 release and their fans and critics alike loved it. The line "Blood in the streets in the town of New Haven" in Peace Frog likely refers to Morrison's December 9, 1967 arrest at the New Haven Arena. The lyrics were adapted from a couple of Morrison's poems, one being entitled Abortion Stories.

06. Life During Wartime by The Talking Heads from the album Fear Of Music (3m 41s) - A dark, disaffected piece of science fiction poetry in which lead singer David Byrne casts himself as some sort of post-apocalyptic urban guerilla. Renouncing parties, surviving on peanut butter and chasing down weapons shipments and imagined gravesites, Byrne exhibits utter disorientation in sheer brilliant fashion. Relying on killer hooks and an infectious tempo, Life During Wartime makes intellect downright danceable, despite its foreboding, inescapably urban and obsessed-with-textures theme. It's a staple of almost every 1980's teenage, coming-of-age movie, which is weird and obscenely gritty in its own right. Still, a simply amazing song.

07. New Morning by Alpha Rev from the album New Morning (3m 46s) - Meh. This song is swimming in meh-ness. It sounds like anything done by The Fray or Snow Patrol, and it is awfully uninspiring music. There are a few instances where lead singer Casey McPhereson seems to be channeling Chris Martin of Coldplay. I don't know, it just seems to have a been there-done that feel. A little too much layering, a little too much structure and not enough lyrical strength to make that formula work. That's my take on it anyway, sorry. I am pretty sure my purchase of this album was influenced be a person of the female persuasion. I'll turn in my man card and silently exit, but when you speak of me going forward, please speak of me well. Everybody makes mistakes.

08. Spoon by Cibo Matto from the album Stereo Type A (4m 07s) - what a great song and my most enjoyable discovery of the evening. How have I not heard this song before? This is what Bjork would sound like if she was even somewhat decipherable. Add a killer horn section, a jazzy piano solo and a killer acoustic guitar solo and wrap it in a white hot arrangement and what you have is a stone groove. Sean Lennon plays bass on this number. I'd go to iTunes and buy this song right now if I were you. I'm not you, and I don't even need to be you to have grabbed this song. I've grabbed.

That being said, if you were me, and you are not, you'd already own Spoon. Is that confusing? Good. Just get the song. You will not be disappointed. Did I mention it's a stone groove? It's a stone groove.

09. Look The Other Way by Justin Townes Earle from the album Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now (2m 30s) - JTE gets all Stax Records and Memphis soul on us. Look, it's a good song, and regardless of the rip job its getting by some critics, give the man credit for exploring new musical avenues and trying something different. Popularity means someone isn't going to be happy, and you know what, critics be damned, the song is easy on the soul and not a bad effort at all.

It's not a show stopper by any means, and JTE could have projected a little more passion vocally. But he didn't. So what. Get over it. If he put out another Harlem River Blues the same people would have blasted him for doing the same old same old. You know those types of people that seem eternally happy in their eternal misery - those people that just can't ever be pleased no matter what? Those people are called music critics. They're easy to recognize - they have no friends and their next kiss from a woman will probably be their first. Such a shame to live in utter loathe and hate everything.

10. Mary's Prayer by Danny Wilson from the album Meet Danny Wilson (3m 54s) - There's a cult of Meet Danny Wilson lovers and if you ever ask them about the album, a Steely Dan comparison is bound to come up. It's not without merit, and considering that the other bands the album might remind you of — Deacon Blue and Fairground Attraction — aren't on the tip of much of anyone's tongue, Steely Dan is at close as it comes. But the Dan rarely sounded this lively, this exuberant, this finger snapping.

If that makes them sound light as feather, keep in mind that Lloyd Cole loves this record. What I love about it is that it remains timeless. One play brings an instantaneous smile to the listener. Get me, I'm smiling!

11. A Punchup at a Wedding (No no no no no no no no) by Radiohead from the album Hail To The Thief (4m 57s) - A concept album influenced by The Beatles, The Pixies, Charlie Mingus, New Order and Siouxsie Sue, among others, this Orwellian effort touches on subjects like Dante, terrorism and fairy tales. Singer Thom Yorke stated that the album addresses "frustration and powerlessness and anger, and the huge gap between the people that put themselves in control and the people that allegedly voted for them."

The song's lyrics "you had to piss on our parade / you had to shred our big day", was written in response to a negative review of Radiohead's homecoming Oxford concert in 2001. Yorke described the concert as "one of the biggest days in my life [...] But this person managed to totally and utterly ruin that day for me forever."

At the same time, the song expresses the helplessness Yorke felt in the face of chaotic world events: "like a punchup at a wedding, nobody knows what's going on, it's just a riot." Jonny Greenwood described the track as "us doing our kind of slow-grind-kind-of-funk thing."

12. Laughing Out Loud by The Wallflowers from the album Bringing Down The Horse (3m 39s) - I love this album a great deal because I think it represents a time in my life where seemingly everything was going right - good job, cool girlfriend, money in the bank, and not just for me personally, as 1996 was a great year for almost every American. Laughing Out Loud is probably one of the least known songs from this album but that doesn't mean it isn't a good song. It's formulaic to be certain, and by that I mean it is pretty much like every other song on the album.

Bringing Down the Horse was one of the best-selling albums of 1997, when it went platinum four times that year and in my mind it is a true front-to-backer. My instinct tells me is that Jakob Dylan may not have been very fond of the sound on this album. It's more power-pop and radio-friendly than anything he did before or after. Nonetheless, I truly do love this album.

13. Stan by Eminem from The Marshall Mathers LP (6m 44s) - The dude sold nearly two million copies of this album in one week. One week! Stan is perhaps Eminem's most critically acclaimed song and has been called a cultural milestone. It tells the story of a fan who is obsessed with Eminem and writes to him but doesn't receive a reply. Stan drives his car off a bridge with his pregnant girlfriend in the trunk because of the lack of attention from his idol. That's hardcore.

The backing vocals by Dido softens the story a little, but fan-crazed obsession is as real as it gets in this depiction. I have to admit, it's amazingly written. Eminem certainly has his haters, but you can't deny his talent. Those who look beneath the violence and the offensive remarks Eminem makes in his lyrics will find a deeply complex person with something important to say, a man who does, in his own special way, highlight the kind of real problems many young people face in today's world. The accusing fingers he points in all directions often serve to highlight the problems inherent in each individual and of society itself.

14. Take Me With You When You Go by Jack White from the album Blunderbuss (4m 08s) - White is a restless presence on Blunderbuss - and those who moan of the demise of White Stripes will find a musical life boat within its gripping, extremely impressive 42 minutes. Thematic comparison to Bob Dylan's Blood On The Tracks is certainly justified.

This is an album of one man's heartbreak and the turmoil, introspection, and the eventual resurrection which followed. Take Me With You When You Go is everything you'd expect Jack White not to make, and that's what makes it so good. It has a 1960s movie soundtrack vibe, maybe, at least until you get to the big bridge and guitar solo and it's amazing coda, its hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, really. Maybe that's what makes it so good. It has no direction, no pace, and often meanders in many different directions, Okay, on second thought, maybe it is everything you'd expect from Jack White.

15. Gardening At Night by R.E.M. from the album Chronic Town (3m 30s) - Chronic Town is loose, banged-out, sloppy music by a surly young band for surly young people growing up in the waning days of the Reagan era. It launched R.E.M. into the mainstream and made all of wish we were Athens, GA club-hoppers just digging on the scene.

R.E.M. is great because an entire genre of music identifies with this band, right? That Athens sound hit us like a runaway freight train. Combined with Stroh's 30-packs, la little weed, and a few weekly dorm parties with R.E.M. blasting from our cassette decks, there may have never been a better time to discover this band, and this song led a lot of us to a lifelong love affair with R.E.M.

The girls never got it, simply because they couldn't understand what Michael Stipe was singing, which made it so much cooler because it allowed us to believe that our tastes in music gave us an air of sexually-charged, intellectual mystery. Probably not true, but generally speaking, R.E.M. made us all hipsters long before the term (as it is referred to these days) actually existed.

You have been truly wonderful.

Indie Introspective: Our Cultural Affair With Nostalgia

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 14:20:00 +0000

Classic Indie. It's a thing now. No really.

Don’t you sometimes wish you could just live in the past? Curl up in it like a warm blanket, covering all the cold unknowns and unexposed realities of tomorrow. Bury yourself in its warmth, the glowing days of pure joy and limited worries.

As a culture obsessed with nostalgia-driven media, you are not alone.

Nick at Nite is available to approximately 98,799,000 pay television households (86.51% of households with at least one television set) in the United States and is ranked number one in television. According to MarketWatch, Nick at Nite is the top cable network among Adults aged 18-49. Average ratings are about 1.5 million viewers perday. It is also the #1 cable network among women aged 18–49 averaging a 0.7 rating/415,000 total viewers.

Those are some pretty phenomenal numbers and certainly indicates that when it comes to media in this country we are not much for forward thinking.

Simpler times.

Simpler issues.

Simpler life.

However, it's not simply a yearning for the past in a generic sense that drives people to try to relive past decades. A phenomenon called the "reminiscence bump" (Rubin et al., 1998) leads adults of all ages to remember with great clarity and fondness the years of their own youth. Autobiographical memory, your recall of the events of your life, is sharpest for the events spanning roughly the ages of 15 to 30. As you think back on your past, you're most likely to be able to generate strong mental images of what you were doing at that time, perhaps even to the date. It's literally a "bump" in your ability to remember what happened during these key critical years of life.
(Susan Krauss Whitbourne, PHD, Fulfillment At Any Age)

I want the starship Enterprise. I could trade not firing a photon torpedo at silicon valley for a high klout score #nostalgiachat

— Todd Burgess (@tburgess57) September 8, 2014

Retro-themed entertainment feeds into our tendency to reflect back on the positive events that shaped our sense of who we are now. They also reinforce our sense of identity.

If only things were really that simple today, right? This isn't a recent phenomenon however. Nick At Nite launched in December 1987 with this directive regarding branding and positioning: "Knowing we are watching something that doesn't fit in today's world and being completely self-conscious about our enjoyment of it is the essence of Nick-At-Nites's appeal."

What's important to note is that in 1987 MTV (which happens to own Nickelodeon through it's parent company Viacom) was transitioning from being an all music video channel that relied on the discovery of new talent to generate viewers to a pop Top 40 station with mainstream videos in heavy rotation and had begun their first wave of original programing designed to filter out many independent music videos.

That programming switch allowed MTV to basically run a limited number of music videos without boring it's market share with too much repetition. Today, music videos on MTV are rarely shown. To me, this was the start of the music industry's descent into the crap show it is today.

Coincidentally, by 1989, most large and medium markets had at least one Oldies radio station. By 1990, most were on FM. Classic Rock became a legitimate genre in the 1990s, and considering the new music, post-grunge output and limited pop choices at the time, is it any wonder?

There is a reason for that as well. In recent years, psychologists and neuroscientists have confirmed that memory-dependent songs hold disproportionate power over our emotions. And researchers have uncovered evidence that suggests our brains bind us to the music we heard as teenagers more tightly than anything we’ll hear as adults, a connection that doesn’t weaken as we age. Musical nostalgia, in other words, isn’t just a cultural phenomenon: It’s a neuronic command. And of course, leave it to radio and music label marketing departments to exploit that.

Brain imaging studies show that our favorite songs stimulate the brain’s pleasure circuit, which releases an influx of dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and other neurochemicals that make us feel good. The more we like a song, the more we get treated to neurochemical bliss, flooding our brains with some of the same neurotransmitters that cocaine chases after.

(photo credit: Muzo Music)

Some guilt lies with us as well. Each weekend we do Friday Flashback to cater to an older demographic. And in fact, the accompanying playlist to this post will feature classic indie songs. Maybe you call it alt-rock or college rock, but, facts being facts, we are truly defining that music, in today's media, as classic indie.

I am from the baby-boomer generation. But even millennials are digging on music that is 20 and 30 years old. Why? There just isn't enough good new music to satisfy their thirsts for any good music.

And we live longer today than we have in any generation past. In hoping for a better tomorrow, it is important to note that the interest in nostalgia is slightly waning -- demographics are getting older and that makes classic a little harder to sell. There is some hope on the horizon, but for today, well, the shift away from the past has been minimal at best.

About Indie Introspective Playlists

Playlist Note: Our 12-song Indie Introspective playlists are designed to help you discover new indie music by combining some really great under the radar tracks with more established songs that were, once in fact, under the radar as well. The hope here is that the culture shock of discovering your next favorite band won't be so enormously imposing if we surround some of the stuff you may not have heard yet with some of your old, familiar friends.

Jivewired supports independent musicians by airing their music videos on Jivewired TV. Please help us support indie artists by listening to our playlists and by purchasing indie music. Thank you. And thank you for reading. We hope we have helped you dig on some new music.

Friday Flashback 1975

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 05:08:00 +0000

FRIDAY FLASHBACK: Every Friday we set the Hot Tub Time Machine to one year in rock history and give you the best (and worst) music from that year through our Jivewired Spotify Friday Flashback Playlists.

This week: 1975
Next week: 1984

Article & Image Sources: All Music Guide, MTV.com, Viacom, Bob Minkin, Amazon.com, Rolling Stone Magazine, Previous Jivewired Flashback Articles, The Guardian, UK, Joel Whitburn, Billboard Magazine, Wikipedia Entries

Album art from 1975 - Click album cover to purchase at Amazon.com

1975 Album I Wish I Owned: Wings Over America by Paul McCartney & Wings
1975 Album I'd Give Back If I Could: Metal Machine Music by Lou Reeed
1975 Nominee For Worst Album Cover Ever: Flood by Herbie Hancock
1975 Most Underrated Song: How Long by Ace
1975 Most Overrated Song: Love Hurts by Nazareth
1975 Most Memorable Song: Kashmir by Led Zeppelin
1975 Most Significant Song: Love To Love You Baby by Donna Summer
1975 Most Forgotten Song: Rock On by David Essex
1975 Fan's Choice For Most Popular Song: Love Will Keep Us Together by The Captain & Tennile
1975 Album Of The Year: Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
1975 Most Likely To Start A Party Song: Give Up The Funk by Parliament
1975 Please Don't Play Anymore Song: Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell
1975 Song That I Like More Than I Actually Should: Doctor's Orders by Carol Douglas
1975 Album I Liked More Than I Thought I Would: Horses by Patti Smith
1975 Song That I Tend to Leave on Repeat: Let Your Love Flow by The Bellamy Brothers
Guilty Pleasure of 1975: Love Will Keep Us Together by The Captain & Tennille
Breakout Artists of 1975: Heart, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, Aerosmith, Queen
1975 Rookies Of The Year: Heart, Aerosmith, Hall & Oates, Queen, Donna Summer
1975 Comeback Of The Year: Fleetwood Mac, Frankie Valli, Neil Sedaka
Overplayed In 1975: Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Not Played Enough In 1975: The Band
Greatest Chart Re-Entry from 1975: Paranoid by Black Sabbath (1971)
Best Cover Song Of 1975: Gloria by Patti Smith (original: Van Morrison)
Worst Cover Song of 1975: Knockin' On Heaven's Door by Eric Clapton (original: Bob Dylan)
An unheralded great album from 1975: Northern Lights - Southern Cross by The Band
An unheralded great single from 1975: Hurricane by Bob Dylan
Best Soundtrack of 1975: Rocky Horror Picture Show!
Worst Soundtrack of 1975: Nashville
An Album From 1975 That Changed My Life: Nighthawks At The Diner by Tom Waits

Get it at:

Amazon | iTunes

01. Opening Intro
02. Emotional Weather Report
03. Intro To On A Foggy Night
04. On A Foggy Night
05. Intro To Eggs and Sausage
06. Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac With Susan Michelson)
07. Intro To Better Off Without A Wife
08. Better Off Without A Wife
09. Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street)
10. Intro To Warm Beer & Cold Women
11. Warm Beer & Cold Women
12. Intro To Putnam County
13. Putnam County
14. Spare Parts I (A Nocturnal Emission)
15. Nobody
16. Intro To Big Joe And Phantom 309
17. Big Joe And Phantom 309
18. Spare Parts II And Closing

How in the name of everything holy could I pick Nighthawks From The Diner in a year that featured Blood On The Tracks, Born To Run, Horses, Physical Graffiti, Wish You Were Here, One Of These Nights, Fleetwood Mac, Dreamboat Annie, Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy and A Night At The Opera? Were this section entitled Best Album of 1975 rather than An Album That Changed My Life, those would all certainly qualify.

But this was different and I'd never heard anything like it. Beat poetry against an electric jazzy background that reeks of cigarette smoke and stale whiskey, Tom Waits' epic Nighthawks At The Diner was my first foray into improvisational jazz and spoken word. Waits made it easy with an amazing backing band and an eager audience. For years I thought this album was taped live at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, but I was mistaken (it was recorded live at The Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles).

Bones Howe, the producer, on recording Nighthawks: "We did it as a live recording, which was unusual for an artist so new [...] Herb Cohen and I both had a sense that we needed to bring out the jazz in Waits more clearly. Tom was a great performer on stage [...] So we started talking about where we could do an album that would have a live feel to it. We thought about clubs, but the well-known ones like The Troubadour were toilets in those days. Then I remembered that Barbra Streisand had made a record at the old Record Plant Studios, when they were on 3rd Street near Cahuenga Boulevard [...] There was a room there that she got an entire orchestra into. Back in those days they would just roll the consoles around to where they needed them. So Herb and I said let's see if we can put tables and chairs in there and get an audience in and record a show."

Some forty years later this is still my go-to album when I am in the need to remove stress and worry from my life. That's staying power. And whereas all those other albums were incredible in their time, none of them still feel as fresh and relevant as Nighthawks. Maybe Blood On The Tracks by Dylan comes close, and Horses by Patti Smith. I'd have to include Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd does as well, but that's it.

Jivewired Picks: Top Five Songs Of The Year

01. Jungleland by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
02. Someone Saved My Life Tonight by Elton John
03. Hey Hey What Can I Do by Led Zeppelin
04. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
05. Fooled Around & Fell In Love by Elvin Bishop
HONORABLE MENTION: Crazy On You by Heart
HONORABLE MENTION: She's The One by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band

Jivewired Picks: Top Five Albums Of The Year

01. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
02. Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
03. Dreamboat Annie by Heart
04. Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan
05. Nighthawks At The Diner by Tom Waits
HONORABLE MENTION: One Of These Nights by The Eagles
HONORABLE MENTION: Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin

One thing I loved about 1975 is that as consumers of music we could always get our fill of live music with Burt Sugarman's Midnight Special:

Who ruled the charts in 1975, beside the obvious choice, Bruce Springsteen?

Elton John, Queen, Led Zeppelin and Supertramp all qualify as contenders. Neil Sedaka had two hits in 1975. Neil Sedaka? Good God. Talk about the decline of Western civilization as we know it.

Sitting smack dab in the middle of the "Me Decade" was the year 1975, a polyester-suit-and-platform-heels infused midpoint of wonderful and glorious excess, a year where FM Radio finally claimed sovereignty over it's AM counterpoint, and where the unbridled inertia and success of Elton John could help yield not one, but two pop hits for grizzled veteran Neil Sedaka, a man who had last seen chart success at the beginning of the 1960s.

1975 was so gaudy and glitzy on the surface that it seemed like nothing might exist in it's saccharin underbelly, which is coincidentally the time that a lot of interesting things historically begin to happen. Donna Summer brought disco to edge of the mainstream, getting so close that U.K. art-rockers Roxy Music and David Bowie claimed it as their own pop/rock hybrid; proto-punk noises could be heard on both sides of the Atlantic as the Sex Pistols quietly began their first tour of England.

However, most attention was directed toward the future of rock & roll, one Bruce Springsteen. The New Jersey born-and-raised rock & roll storyteller began his recording career in 1973, but didn't gain much more than local fame until two years later when Rolling Stone magazine discovered him and began hyping him as "the future of rock'n'roll" (by an odd or not so odd coincidence, Bruce's original producer had just been fired and was replaced by veteran Rolling Stone writer Jon Landau).

Columbia Records fanned the flames with an all-out publicity campaign that resulted -- incredibly -- in Time and Newsweek cover stories the same week, calling Springsteen "the new Dylan."

Besides Born To Run, 1975 was really all about Elton John. John's Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy entered the charts at number one and became his biggest all-time seller. In this 1975 autobiographical album, John revealed his previously ambiguous personality to be defiantly more transparent, with Bernie Taupin's lyrics describing their early days as struggling songwriters and musicians in London. The lyrics and accompanying photo booklet are infused with a specific sense of place and time that is otherwise rare in John's music. Someone Saved My Life Tonight was the hit single from this album and captured an early turning point in John's life. John followed that with the extremely strong but underrated Rock Of The Westies and the timely release of the single Philadelphia Freedom (right before America's bicentennial) to catapult himself to the top of the charts with unabashed consistency for that year and defining 1975 as "The Year Of Elton John."

John proved to be his own one-two punch, dominating the AM Radio pop charts as well as successfully navigating the FM Radio AOR and MOR landscapes, crossing over with similar ease, getting airplay in nearly all radio formats and charting no less than NINE singles in 1975:

Someone Saved My Life Tonight
Philadelphia Freedom
Pinball Wizard
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Island Girl
Grow Some Funk Of Your Own
Don't Go Breakin' My Heart (with Kiki Dee)
Bad Blood (with Neil Sedaka)
I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford)

1975 also saw new albums by six established acts that carried all to even loftier heights of popularity and respect: Bob Dylan's Blood On The Tracks, Chicago's Chicago VIII, John Lennon's Rock'N'Roll and Walls & Bridges, Supertramp's Crime Of The Century, Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti. The Captain & Tennille released their album Love Will Keep Us Together. The title song, written by Neil Sedaka (there he is again!), became the biggest hit single of the year, though oddly, in retrospect, few admit to ever liking that song.

With Dreamboat Annie, Heart led the pack of a number of strong debuts that included self-titled albums from Journey and Hall & Oates, High Voltage by AC/DC and Toys In The Attic by Aerosmith. Dreamboat Annie was first released in Canada by the small Mushroom Records label. It was picked up for radio airplay by a station in Montreal while the band was on tour playing small club dates. More Canadian airplay soon followed, and the album sold an impressive 30,000+ copies across Canada almost immediately. Mushroom then formed a U.S. division and released the album stateside on Valentine's Day 1976.

1975 also saw veteran rockers Fleetwood Mac reorganize with the departure of Bob Welch, allowing Lindsay Buckingham, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie to share lead vocals and top-ten charting for the first time with their tenth studio release, the self-titled Fleetwood Mac. The Eagles got their first taste of mass mainstream appeal with the album One Of These Nights and of course David Bowie furthered his career with the release of Young Americans. Roxy Music scored their first major hit with the single Love Is The Drug. Peter Gabriel left Genesis to pursue a solo career and Genesis would soon shift from a prog-rock configuration to a more middle-of-the-road outfit with Phil Collins at the helm.

Live From New York, It's Saturday Night!

Saturday Night Live debuted in 1975 and helped launch the careers of artists like Billy Joel and The Blues Brothers as well as provide exposure to more famous artists like Elvis Costello and James Taylor. The comedy skits get a ton of acclaim and the series has launched many Not Ready For Prime Time Players into mainstream popularity. But the show was originally launched to not only help under the radar actors, but under the radar musical acts as well.

'Nuff said.

It Would Have Made A Lot More Sense If Willie Nelson Day Fell On 4/20

According to Senate Resolution 687, July 4, 1975 was declared "Willie Nelson Day" in the great state of Texas:

S.R. 687 reads "RESOLVED, That the date of July 4, 1975, in conjunction with “Willie Nelson’s Third Annual 4th of July Picnic,” be declared Willie Nelson Day in Texas in honor of this great Texan, and that a copy of this Resolution be prepared for this distinguished musician as a token of esteem from the Senate of Texas."

In addition to having a number of Top 100 country & western hits, Nelson is widely known as somewhat of a cannibus connoisseur. In 2006, he was arrested for possession of marijuana and mushrooms during a routine commercial vehicle inspection.

“When the door was opened and the trooper began to speak to the driver, he smelled the strong odor of marijuana,” the news release said. A search of the bus produced 1½ pounds of marijuana and slightly more than three ounces of narcotic mushrooms.

Anyway You Spin It, It Still Spells C-R-E-E-P-Y

The strange lyrics of the song Everyone's Gone To The Movies have always made it of particular interest to Steely Dan fans. The song's upbeat feel contrasts with the disturbing content of the narrative delivered by Donald Fagen.

Fagen addresses the audience, "kids," and says that "if [they] want some fun, Mr. Lapage is [their] man. He's always laughing, having fun, and showing his films in the den." The listener learns that Mr. Lapage desires that the "kids" not tell their parents about their visits to his home ("Don't tell your Momma, your Daddy or Momma. They'll never know where you've been"). He is showing 8mm film ("I know you're used to sixteen or more. Sorry we only have eight.") using a "projection machine" and tells his guests "...[you will] see what you never have seen..."

This implies that Mr. Lapage is a child molester showing pornographic films, which were traditionally more available on 8mm than normal films. Alternatively, it could be inferred from the line "...soon you will be 18," that he could just be an older man lusting after younger, but almost not underage kids, making Lapage nothing more than a morally depraved pedophile.

The chorus of the song is apparently delivered from the point of view of the parents of the "kids" who are visiting Mr. Lapage, or possibly of Mr. Lapage himself. The parents are under the impression that the children have "...gone to the movies". They are relieved to be alone together while the children are out.

Sorry, there is no way to spin this positively, yet the song remains a favorite in the Steely Dan canon. Upbeat arrangements tend to do that, and this one has an almost "vacation in the Caribbean" feel to it.

Go Forth, For You Are The Future Of Rock 'N' Roll

1975 saw the debuts of the following bands: .38 Special, the Talking Heads, the Sex Pistols, the Runaways, Boomtown Rats and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Conversely, 1975 also gave us Air Supply, Shalamar, Lonestar and the Little River Band. Also, in a stroke of genius, Lorne Michaels convinced Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel to reunite on the second-ever episode of "Saturday Night Live" to a record viewing audience. The duo performed the hit singles The Boxer, Scarborough Fair, and their new collaboration, My Little Town. Attempts to reunite the Beatles failed, however.

To hear a wonderful sample of music from the year 1975 please hit us up on Spotify and thank you again for reading!

Misunderstood Lyrics - Tumbling Dice by The Rolling Stones

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 08:58:00 +0000

Providing a service for those who think they know the lyrics to this 1972 classic by The Rolling Stones, but actually have no clue. Misheard lyrics (also called mondegreens) occur when people misunderstand the lyrics to a song.

Wo Yeah! (Wo, wo)
Ladies think I'm tasty, but they're always tryin' to waste me
And make me burn the candle right down,
But baby, baby, I don't need no jewels in my crown.
Cause all you women is low down gamblers,
Cheatin' like I don't know how,
But baby, baby, there's fever in the funk house now.
This low down bitchin' got my poor feet a itchin',
Don't you know you know the duece is still wild.
Baby, I can't stay, you got to roll me
And call me the tumblin' dice.

Always in a hurry, I never stop to worry,
Don't you see the time flashin' by.
Honey, got no money,
I'm all sixes and sevens and nines.
Say now baby, I'm the rank outsider,
You can be my partner in crime.
But baby, I can't stay,
You got to roll me and call me the tumblin',
Roll me and call me the tumblin' dice.

Oh, my, my, my, I'm the lone crap shooter,
Playin' the field ev'ry night.
But baby, I can't stay,
You got to roll me and call me the tumblin' dice, (Call me the tumblin')

Got to roll me (aaay), Got to roll me, Got to roll me (Oh yeah)
Got to roll me
Got to roll me (yeah)
Got to roll me (Keep on rolling)
Got to roll me (Keep on rolling)
Got to roll me (Keep on rolling)
Got to roll me
My baby, call me the tumblin' dice, yeah
Got to roll me
Baby sweet as sugar (Got to roll me)
Yeah, my, my, my yeah (Got to roll me)
I went down baby, oh
Got to roll me (hit me)
I'm down....

Writer(s): MICK JAGGER / KEITH RICHARDS
Publisher: ABKCO

FACTS, RUMORS AND FUN STUFF

Tumbling Dice is a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for The Rolling Stones' 1972 double album Exile on Main St., and was the album's first single. The single peaked at number 7 on the US charts and number 5 in the UK.
An early version of Tumbling Dice, called Good Time Women, was recorded in 1970 during the sessions for Exile on Main Street.
The song was recorded in the basement of the chateau Villa Nellcôte, near Villefranche-sur-Mer, France. The recording schedule for Exile on Main St. had the band sleeping all day and recording with whoever was around at night. The basic track of the song was recorded on August 3, 1971. Mick Taylor, the Rolling Stones' second guitarist, played bass on the track, due to bassist Bill Wyman's absence that night, and, in a rare instance for a Rolling Stones recording, Mick Jagger played guitar.
The single was released on April 14, 1972. It was the Rolling Stones' 23rd single in the United States and their 17th in the United Kingdom. The single's B-side was Sweet Black Angel, a song written by Jagger about Black Panther activist Angela Davis.
In the liner notes to Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones, Richards said, "I remember writing the riff upstairs in the very elegant front room, and we took it downstairs the same evening and we cut it."
Mick Jagger told the story of the song to The Sun newspaper May 21, 2010: "It started out with a great riff from Keith and we had it down as a completed song called Good Time Women. That take is one of the bonus tracks on the new Exile package; it was quite fast and sounded great but I wasn't happy with the lyrics. Later, I got the title in my head, 'call me the tumbling dice' so I had the theme for it. I didn't know anything about dice playing but I knew lots of jargon used by dice players. I'd heard gamblers in casinos shouting it out." Jagger added, "It's weird where your lyric things come from. On Tumbling Dice, I sat down with the house keeper and talked to her about gambling. She liked to play dice and I really didn't know much about it, but I got it off her and managed to make the song out of that."
This was the only track from Exile to chart in the Top 20 of the singles chart. Jagger told The Sun: "It's obviously the most accessible and commercial song on the record. After 'Tumbling Dice,' I remember there wasn't really a follow-up single. People said, 'So, what are you going to release now then?'"
Jagger: "It's like a good guitar-hook tune. It's a bit like Honky Tonk Women in a way, in the way it's set up. But it was done for Exile. It's got a lot more background vocals on it. A very messy mix. But that was the fashion in those days."
This features Bobby Keys on sax and Jim Price on trumpet. They showed up in France to help with the album, and played with The Stones through the early '70s. Keith Richards and Bobby Keys were born on the same day: December 18, 1943.
Andy Johns, who engineered the Exile sessions, told Goldmine in 2010: "Obviously it was going to be great but it was a big struggle. Eventually we get a take. Hooray! I thought, 'Let's kick this up a notch and double track Charlie.' 'Oh, we've never done that before.' 'Well, it doesn't mean we can't do it now.' So we double-tracked Charlie but he couldn't play the ending. For some reason he got a mental block about the ending. So Jimmy Miller plays from the breakdown on out that was very easy to punch in. It was a little bit different than some of the others. That song we did more takes than anything else."
There is some debate about the line "I'm all sixes and sevens and nines." It is not a dice or gambling term. Basically it is the early '70s version of the phrase "a hot mess." In British parlance, "sixes and sevens" refers to a confused mess while "nines" is short for "dressed to the nines" - hence - a hot mess.
Linda Ronstadt covered this in 1977. Ronstadt's career during the 1970s was based largely on her successful covers of other artists' songs.
Background vocalists include Vanetta Fields, Sherlie Matthews, and Clydie King.

Purchase: Amazon | iTunes
Stream: Spotify

Previous Articles In The Misheard Lyrics Series

Misunderstood Lyrics: Cover of The Rolling Stone by Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show
Misunderstood Lyrics: Killer Queen by Queen
Misunderstood Lyrics: Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by The Plastic Ono Band (Featuring John Lennon)
Misunderstood Lyrics: Spill The Wine by Eric Burdon & War
Misunderstood Lyrics: You Wear It Well by Rod Stewart
Misunderstood Lyrics: Brass In Pocket by The Pretenders
Misunderstood Lyrics: Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan
Misunderstood Lyrics: Church Of The Poison Mind by Culture Club
Misunderstood Lyrics: Young Americans by David Bowie
Misunderstood Lyrics: Tessie by Dropkick Murphys
Misunderstood Lyrics: Goin' Down by The Monkees
Misunderstood Lyrics: Year Of The Cat by Al Stewart
Misunderstood Lyrics: Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis
Misunderstood Lyrics: Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam
Misunderstood Lyrics: One Week by The Barenaked Ladies
Misunderstood Lyrics: Someone Saved My Life Tonight by Elton John
Misunderstood Lyrics: The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite by R.E.M.
Misunderstood Lyrics: I Am The Walrus by The Beatles
Misunderstood Lyrics: #9 Dream by John Lennon
Misunderstood Lyrics: Show Me The Way by Peter Frampton
Misunderstood Lyrics: All Those Years Ago by George Harrison
Misunderstood Lyrics: One Night In Bangkok by Murray Head
Misunderstood Lyrics: Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today) by The Temptations
Misunderstood Lyrics: Hide In Your Shell by Supertramp
Misunderstood Lyrics: Stayin' Alive by The Bee Gees
Misunderstood Lyrics: Miracles by Jefferson Starship
Misunderstood Lyrics: It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) by R.E.M.
Misunderstood Lyrics: Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress by The Hollies

Text, video and lyrics available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; No copyright on the video, text or lyrics is implied.

My Go-To Desert Island Band Is.....R.E.M.

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 17:57:00 +0000

Oh yeah, I'm still counting the days to the reunion tour, and yes, I will be at as many shows as humanly possible. I have a special R.E.M. Reunion Tour savings account that I started the day the band announced its breakup. I'm THAT much of a fan.

And, I get why some people may disagree with my choice, especially since EVERYBODY, and I mean EVERYBODY, usually chooses one of The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson.

The critics will usually agree that yes, R.E.M. is indeed a legendary band, but they will also universally agree that the band probably stuck around a decade or so too long, diluting the second half of their career with less-than-stellar music. It's indisputable that the last 14 years of R.E.M. does not compare to the first 16 years, but they still put out a lot of great music right up until the end. I love their entire discography a great deal. Still, those first 16 years are more than enough to decidedly instill R.E.M. as my go-to, desert island band.

Enforcing my selection: R.E.M. released 15 albums, an EP, two official greatest hits compilations, some live stuff, and one early rarities collection, Dead Letter Office, between 1982 and 2012. Six of those went platinum. In terms of critical and popular acclaim, R.E.M.'s run between 1982 and 1998 ranks with the peaks of any great rock band.

R.E.M.'s legend derives from Michael Stipe's foggy lyricism, a gilded mythology that begged for headphone listening and futile attempts at lyrical interpretation. Chronic Town and Murmur, two parts of one of the most intrepid debuts in rock history, were vast landscapes of impressionist diffusion. The most Freudian of urges -- the desire to connect and disconnect through conflicting opposition -- drove a dynamic portrait of oddfellow characters and discombobulated stories, ripe with blatant political undertones and pseudo-sexual curiosity, and marked by Peter Buck's chiming 12-string arpeggios** and the rhythms of small-club power-pop. Considering Stipe's early vocal delivery, there may have not been a more apt album title in the history of modern music than Murmur.

The band's legendary run on its homegrown indie label (I.R.S. Records) was marked by Stipe & Co. grappling with the history of their surroundings while struggling with its sudden and pious popularity among its initial fanbase. Spanning years 1983 through 1988, R.E.M. released Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, Life's Rich Pageant, Document and Green, delivering songs that touched on local eccentricities while simultaneously providing a sense of unconscious surrender. Through all of that R.E.M. released a slew of critically-acclaimed alt-rock singles that were the talk of campus culture throughout the United States: Radio Free Europe, Perfect Circle, Sitting Still, Harborcoat, 7 Chinese Bros., (Don't Go Back To) Rockville, Pretty Persuasion, Talk About the Passion, Begin The Begin, So. Central Rain, Driver 8, Can't Get There from Here, Fall on Me, Exhuming McCarthy, Finest Worksong, and The One I Love. That alone is enough to cement R.E.M.'s place as the best band of the 1980s.

"Then there's It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine), a rapid-fire series of dream logic non-sequiturs that singularly amounts to music's most completely un-singable classic anthem. In retrospect, 'The End....' marked the band's swan song, a torrent of spellbinding imagery seemingly meant as a cathartic credit-roll to the band's end [as truly independent performers]" -- The Atlantic

Ed. -- ** Thank you Wikipedia for the Peter Buck line.

R.E.M. launched into their commercial and artistic peak when the band dropped a duo of monster albums that may have singlehandedly turned a nation against George Bush the first. 1991's Out of Time and 1992's Automatic for the People, released 19 months apart, solidified R.E.M. as America's most important band, capable of crafting universally themed, emotionally saturated works that suffered nothing for their inherent weirdness and Stipe's affinity to lead a political landscape that was just beginning to recognize the power of the under-30 vote. As closets were unlocked and secrets were spilled, Stipe found his chops as a lyricist and as a vocalist, often mixing over-the-top sentimentality, heartfelt empathy, and angelic melodies with more standard R.E.M. fare. The results were mesmerizing.

When drummer Bill Berry left the band in 1997, two years after suffering an aneurysm on stage during a concert in Switzerland, R.E.M. entered its final phase as a supergroup - making music on its own terms. Berry retired to Georgia to become a farmer and R.E.M. soldiered on as a more ethereal, avant-garde trio for their next three albums, Up, Reveal, and Around the Sun. There are superb flashes scattered across these records, namely All The Way To Reno, Imitation of Life, At My Most Beautiful, Daysleeper, I've Been High, and Leaving New York. A lot of fans and critics abandoned R.E.M. when Berry left, and that's a shame.

True, the later version of R.E.M. was nothing like the earlier iteration. Perhaps it was simply a matter of fans aging as the band matured that pushed so many away. I am of the belief that we tend to move away from anything that makes us cognizant of our own mortalities. A band that lasts thirty years will certainly live and die with the members of its fan base - generational legacies often do just that - and the fact remans that a large number of R.E.M. fans at the onset of the band's career in 1982 were no longer with us when the band hung it up in 2012.

Few bands still exist on a performing level with discographies of new music that span at least twenty years - The Rolling Stones, U2, The Dave Matthews Band, and Pearl Jam - all creative individuals collaborating as a single entity that speaks for - and as - the people. Through their many successes and despite output deemed unfavorable or less-than-popular, the band's embrace of each moment, their promotion of progressive politics and love in all its wonderful guises, along with the greater importance of delineating emotional connections with fans and peers alike, there remains little doubt that R.E.M. carried the torch as music's quintessential rock band for thirty years. That is why R.E.M. is my go-to desert island band.

My Top 21 R.E.M. Songs

These are my personal favorites. The most difficult ~~Top 20~~ Top 21 I have ever had to compile and it could literally change on a daily basis and even contain 21 completely different songs. Discuss, please.

01. Talk About The Passion (Murmur, 1983)
02. So. Central Rain (Reckoning, 1984)
03. Driver 8 (Fables Of The Reconstruction, 1985)
04. Exhuming McCarthy (Document No. 5, 1987)
05. Star Me Kitten (Automatic For The People, 1992)
06. Don't Go Back To Rockville (Reckoning, 1984)
07. What If We Give It Away? (Life's Rich Pageant, 1986)
08. Radio Free Europe (Murmur, 1983)
09. Cuyahoga (Life's Rich Pageant, 1986)
10. Ignoreland (Automatic For The People, 1992)
11. Fall On Me (Life's Rich Pageant, 1986)
12. Gardening At Night (Chronic Town, 1982)
13. Radio Song (Out Of Time, 1991)
14. Perfect Circle (Murmur, 1983)
15. Belong (Out Of Time, 1991)
16. Pretty Persuasion (Reckoning, 1984)
17. World Leader Pretend (Green, 1988)
18. I've Been High (Reveal, 2001)
19. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight (Automatic For The People, 1992)
20. Can't Get There From Here (Fables Of The Reconstruction, 1985)
21. Sitting Still (Murmur, 1983)

I wanted to include It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) but I am one of those guys who gets really bothered when people sing the words to a song incorrectly, and that song gets butchered like none other. It's a great song, but that fact alone ruins it for me.
Speaking of which, trying to figure out what Michael Stipe is singing is one of the best things about the band. I'd like to say it is mere pretentiousness, but I have heard that Stipe liked to go see tribute bands just to see how his lyrics were deciphered by others. I think that is extraordinary if true. They could have simply called themselves The Hamburglars if you listen to some of their earlier, indecipherable work.
Stipe insisted that many of his early lyrics were "nonsense", saying in a 1994 online chat, "You all know there aren't words, per se, to a lot of the early stuff. I can't even remember them." In truth, Stipe carefully crafted the lyrics to many early R.E.M. songs. Stipe explained in 1984 that when he started writing lyrics they were like "simple pictures", but after a year he grew tired of the approach and "started experimenting with lyrics that didn't make exact linear sense, and it's just gone from there." In the mid-1980s, as Stipe's pronunciation while singing became clearer, the band decided that its lyrics should convey ideas on a more literal level.
Ignoring that last sentence, listen to The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight from Automatic For The People.
Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Bill Berry take most of the credit for the success of this band, but the talents of bassist Mike Mills should never be overlooked. Listen to his bass during the "Straight off the boat, where to go?" section of Radio Free Europe, or the intro to Laughing? That song has three separate melodies in its three minutes of existence, and they're all amazing.
The more I listen to Perfect Circle the more I want to move it all the way up to number one. The more I listen to Moral Kiosk (from the Murmur LP), the more I want to add it to the list. In fact, I could easily put all of Murmur on here. I'd have to say that Murmur, Automatic For The People and Document are my top three R.E.M. albums. I don't want to diminish the greatness of Out Of Time or Life's Rich Pageant, either. Both are works of art.
Too many R.E.M. fans don't give their post-1987 stuff a lot of credit. Automatic For The People and 2001's Reveal are very good albums. New Adventures in Hi-Fi is damn good as well. I like to challenge my friends in this regard, too; Had R.E.M. not come along until 1992 instead of debuting in 1982, the album Monster could easily be considered their best work and would certainly get more recognition. Discuss amongst yourselves.
Seriously, Monster is a very, very good album, and Bang & Blame, What's The Frequency, Kenneth?, Star 69 and Strange Currencies could have easily made this list. Perhaps the best way to do this is to separate the pre-1987 stuff from the post-1987 stuff and compile two lists. Too often, hardcore R.E.M. fans convince themselves that there are literally two separate and distinct versions of the band. That same creativity is there, the talent is there and the writing is definitely there and fans should give the later stuff a chance.
Nobody makes their drums sound like Bill Berry does in the beginning of Catapult anymore. That is a sound of a lost era and it is never coming back.
This band broke in 1983, in the midst of post-punk and overblown heavy-metal with a sound that was distinct of any other. How cool is that?
I bet you have never listened to the song Find The River from Automatic For The People. Or, at the very least, you cannot imagine the sound of that song as you are reading this. It is a truly wonderful song and should be on this list as well. Take five minutes and go listen. Just make sure you come back and finish reading this article.
Man On The Moon, I think, has the catchiest chorus ever. It didn't make the list today, but if I wrote this tomorrow, it probably would.
There is only one song that will never make my list, and that is Stand from Green. I just can't stand that song, pardon the pun.
The subtle Hammond organ that really makes Everybody Hurts so beautifully sad and such an uncharacteristically straightforward ballad is masterful in its interplay with Stipe's vocals. Haunting and mesmerizing.
I once had a friend in college who told me that Huey Lewis & The News would be more popular than R.E.M. and ultimately, be looked upon as the greatest band from the mid-1980s when all was said and done - may his soul be forgiven for his deliciously incorrect opinion.
Out Of Time is such a good album that when my house burned down in 2005 and I lost all of my music, it was the first CD I replaced, literally buying it the next day, and listening to it for a year straight. Because I had so many other things I needed to buy, sadly, replacing my music wasn't something I could start for years. More songs from this album would have made this list had I not played that CD so many times from 2005 through late 2006, which is when I could finally afford to buy my next CD.
Thanks to the line Combien du temps? from Talk About The Passion, I took French as my foreign language elective, believing that almost every mumbled lyric in every R.E.M. song was something in French. That wasn't true, French is extremely difficult to learn and master, and my GPA suffered terribly. For those who don't know, Combien du temps? translates to how much time? I transferred to Spanish class after two weeks. That being said, ¿Cuanto tiempo? just doesn't have the same cache as Combien du temps? does.
In a 1988 interview, Peter Buck described typical R.E.M. songs as, "Minor key, mid-tempo, enigmatic, semi-folk-rock-balladish things. That's what everyone thinks and to a certain degree, that's true." I think I first coined that description in 1984. No joke.

Here are all of the R.E.M. albums (excluding greatest hits compilations and the like), ordered from my most favorite to least liked. Again. discuss amongst yourselves and thanks for reading.

01. Murmur (1983)
02. Automatic For The People (1992)
03. Document (1987)
04. Out Of Time (1991)
05. Fables Of The Reconstruction (1985)
06. Reckoning (1984)
07. Monster (1994)
08. Green (1988)
09. Reveal (2001)
10. Around The Sun (2004)
11. Chronic Town/Dead Letter Office (1982)
12. New Adventures In Hi-Fi (1996)
13. Up (1998)
14. Accelerate (2008)

"Collapse Into Now" was the band's final studio album, released in April 2011. The album is produced by Jacknife Lee, and features guest appearances by Patti Smith, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Peaches and Lenny Kaye.

Indie Introspective: Life Is But A Stream

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Sat, 30 Jul 2016 10:34:00 +0000

I didn't mean to go all millennial on you this morning but with the rapidly changing music landscape and so many diversified options for listening to music, it seems that finding your next favorite band seems more and more like an insurmountable task. We know that Millennials still cling to YouTube for music discovery but there has been a climactic shift in video streaming based on these recently released numbers from Nielsen:

Audio has surpassed video as the leading streaming format in 2016. Audio share of streaming is 54% in 2016, growing from 44% through the first six months of 2015.
Three albums have sold over 1 million units so far this year (Adele: 25; Drake: Views; and Beyonce: Lemonade), while there was only one at this time last year (Taylor Swift: 1989).
Creative release strategies, driven mostly by digital formats, continue to be a major story. Drake’s Views, Beyonce’s Lemonade and Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo have all been successful this year and are led by digital formats. Also, 2016 saw the first album to chart based solely on streaming activity (Chance the Rapper debuted at No. 8 in its first week with 57 million audio streams).
Digital purchasing has seen the largest decline of all formats, with digital tracks down 24% and digital albums down 18%. However, factoring in the gains in streaming, total digital consumption is up 15%.
Vinyl continues to become a bigger piece of the physical music business. Vinyl LPs now comprise nearly 12% of the physical business in the first half of 2016.
Canadian listeners are continuing to shift to streaming, with total music consumption up 7.4% in the first half of 2016. Nielsen’s mid-year report for Canada found that total on-demand streams from audio and video platforms reached 18.6 billion songs

And apropos of nothing other than providing readers with some eye candy, in a recent episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, Leno got to race alongside Ben Collins, the former Top Gear Stig, in brand new [2017] Aston Martin DB11s.

So where do you discover new music?

As it has been throughout the history of modern music, it is the youngest generation of consumers that represents the industry's leading indicator.

Call it the thin edge of the web. YouTube has now eclipsed radio as a go-to medium for music discovery among the general population in the US, according to the latest Music Biz report.

When asked how they typically discover new music, 34% of all respondents cited YouTube, while only 32% cited AM/FM radio.

The same study aims a five-alarm warning directly toward terrestrial broadcasters: While broadcast radio still accounts for the highest listening share among the general population at 35%, 15-to-19 year olds reported that they spend only 12% of their time with the format despite a weekly reach of 65% (on par with the overall average of 78%). This indicates that even though millennials are being exposed to radio, they are not engaging with it, and on-demand streaming is making up the difference.

As the world's largest streaming service, one of the inherent problems of YouTube is that it has gotten too big for its own good, making it more and more difficult to discover new music. Google has stated that 100 hours of video content are loaded to the YouTube site every minute, forcing mainstream options to the front based mostly on familiarity and social algorithms. Seems depressing I'll bet, knowing that the mainstream side of the music industry has once again monopolized the top platform for new music discovery. If you have that slightly squeezed feeling, I don't blame you.

So are we doomed to allowing YouTube to represent music's taste making platform? Good question.

Social Media seems to be the preferred alternative, but finding great new music using social media as a consumer-marketplace dynamic may leave listeners incredibly frustrated.

As a community it is important for the indie niche to build both intimacy and social connection with a fan base or potential fan base. Indiephiles love the discovery process but even more so, it is their love of experiencing firsthand the indie journey that keeps fans connected. Knowing that, it is important to keep fans feeling fully vested in that experience, no matter how big the fan base gets. Social media lacks that capability because, like YouTube, user metrics direct the general population toward the more mainstream choices, despite the fact that the rate of visible publisher content is on the decline.

We can no longer count on Facebook for social growth and consumer reach. 139 out of the 300 biggest publishers on Facebook have seen their traffic decline year over year, including Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, and Elite Daily, SimilarWeb reports. For example, Buzzfeed’s Q1 Facebook referral traffic fell 11.5% from 227.6m in 2015 to 201.3m in Q1 2016. Huffington Post’s Facebook referral traffic plunged 44% to 84.9 million in Q1, New York Times was down 10% to 68.5m, and Mashable fell 17% to 51.8m. SimilarWeb points out that the decline in traffic came before Facebook announced changes to its algorithm that will reduce the amount of publisher content in users’ news feeds, suggesting worse is to come.

Peer-to-peer social media is a massively cluttered media space. Jivewired's job, as a content management and delivery service, is to separate some of that clutter and curate new content in order to find a space that facilitates discovery and allows content publishers and indie musicians to stay truly visible.

What about music television?

Music video television entered into and left the golden era of content delivery decades ago with the launch of MTV and their slow, subsequent removal of music videos over a thirty year period. But things are changing.

Consumers have portable viewing options now, and with portable viewing options comes opportunity for content that can be digested in smaller portions, and short-form content greatly appeals to Millennials. Further, high quality video cameras are cheaper and more readily available, as is editing and post-editing software, helping to substantially cut down the cost of producing a studio-quality music video.

And it can all be monetized quickly for profit. Commercial streaming television that is not tethered to traditional delivery formats and is free of massive budget constraints and commercial prejudice allow indie music video and music-themed video content to access those revenue and exposure opportunities usually reserved for the bigger players. It's almost a perfect storm.

Music television died in concept because viewers with large amounts of time on their hands found it difficult to remain invested in something that provided unknown short-term programming options. Diversified tastes and appetites dictated that it was impossible to find or retain a static demographic.

Music video television only works in an ideal environment: an on demand or time-shifted format that requires limited viewer commitment and one that offers social interaction. Portable, streaming television checks every box. "The accessibility of music has seen tremendous expansion and diversification," said David Bakula, a Nielsen senior vice president. New media streaming services will be a strong driver as technology moves forward. We believe that, which is why we are launching Jivewired TV, but there are other services that are banking on the success of streaming television as well, including Rormix and Indimusic TV, both of which are indie-friendly services.

Further, streaming TV allows for social interaction, particularly with the popularity of dual screen viewing. When simultaneously using their tablet while viewing TV, many two-screen viewers enhance their TV-watching experience. Check out these two-screen viewing statistics generated over the past seven days:

34% posted comments on Facebook, Twitter, a blog, or another website regarding a show being watched
25% visited a network or show’s website, fan-site or app
21% obtained information related to a show being watched
16% watched a video clip related to a show being watched
11% voted in a contest related to a show being watched
9% live chatted about a show being watched

Moreover, in the past seven days, 28% of two-screen viewers used their tablet to look up more information about a product advertised during a show they were watching and 12% purchased a product advertised during a show.

With less than a quarter of all media space available for true indie music discovery and exposure, it is important for indie artists and those looking to discover new music to attack new media platforms with a calculated and deliberate plan.

Indie bands need to focus on singular connections that create an intimate experience with each new fan. Enhancing that connection via interactive streaming platforms and social media is the logical second step and will enable word-of-mouth grass roots campaigning. Advancing the ideology that fans can remain fully vested in the journey from local band to critically acclaimed indie star is the next, and most important step. Finally, leveraging monetized platforms that offer national exposure will accommodate faithful and new fans alike.

Social status is prevalently awarded, generated, validated and judged through both hard and soft technology – such as ownership of physical gadgets and presence on new media platforms. The present and future of new music discovery is as exciting as anything I've witnessed since the launch of MTV. With new media comes new and exciting opportunities.

About Indie Introspective Playlists

Playlist Note: Our 12-song Indie Introspective playlists are designed to help you discover new indie music by combining some really great under the radar tracks with more established songs that were, once in fact, under the radar as well. The hope here is that the culture shock of discovering your next favorite band won't be so enormously imposing if we surround some of the stuff you may not have heard yet with some of your old, familiar friends.

Jivewired supports independent musicians by airing their music videos on Jivewired TV. Please help us support indie artists by listening to our playlists and by purchasing indie music. Thank you. And thank you for reading. We hope we have helped you dig on some new music.

Friday Flashback 1991

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 05:47:00 +0000

FRIDAY FLASHBACK: Every Friday we set the Hot Tub Time Machine to one year in rock history and give you the best (and worst) music from that year,

This week: 1991
Next week: 1975

You can listen to this week's Friday Flashback playlist at Spotify and we ask that you please subscribe to our Spotify streams. Here's this week's Friday Flashback playlist, nearly 8 hours of music from 1991 to be today's soundtrack to your day:

Album art from 1991 - Click album cover to purchase at Amazon.com

1991 Album I Wish I Owned: Loveless by My Bloody Valentine
1991 Album I'd Give Back If I Could: We Can't Dance by Genesis
1991 Nominee For Worst Album Cover Ever: Metallica by Metallica
1991 Most Underrated Song: Love Rears It's Ugly Head by Living Colour
1991 Most Overrated Song: Something To Believe In by Poison
1991 Most Memorable Song: Losing My Religion by R.E.M.
1991 Most Significant Song: These Are The Days Of Our Lives by Queen
1991 Most Forgotten Song: Valerie Loves Me by Material Issue
1991 Fan's Choice For Most Popular Song: Losing My Religion by R.E.M.
1991 Album Of The Year: Nevermind by Nirvana
1991 Most Likely To Start A Party Song: You're Unbelievable by EMF
1991 Please Don't Play Anymore Song: More Than Words by Extreme
1991 Song That I Like More than I Actually Should: High Enough by Damn Yankees
1991 Album I Liked More Than I Thought I Would: Loveless by My Bloody Valentine
1991 Song That I Tend to Leave on Repeat: Evenflow by Pearl Jam
Guilty Pleasure of 1991: Groove Is In The Heart by Deee-Lite
Breakout Artists Of 1991: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Matthew Sweet, Soundgarden, Jane's Addiction, Material Issue
1991 Rookies Of The Year: Nirvana, Pearl Jam
1991 Comeback Of The Year: Queen
Overplayed In 1991: Jesus Jones
Not Played Enough In 1991: Material Issue
Greatest Chart Re-Entry from 1991: Light My Fire by The Doors (1967)
Worst Cover Song of 1991: Signs by Tesla
Best Cover Song Of 1991: Mustang Sally by The Commitments (originally by Wilson Pickett)
An unheralded great album from 1991: Temple Of The Dog by Temple Of The Dog
An unheralded great single from 1991: Nothing Can Stop Us by Saint Etienne
Best Soundtrack of 1991: The Commitments
Worst Soundtrack of 1991: Robin Hood - Prince Of Thieves
An Album From 1991 That Changed My Life: Nevermind by Nirvana

Get it at:

Amazon | iTunes

01. Smells Like Teen Spirit
02. In Bloom
03. Come As You Are
04. Breed
05. Lithium
06. Polly
07. Territorial Pissings
08. Drain You
09. Lounge Act
10. Stay Away
11. On A Plain
12. Something In The Way
13. Endless, Nameless

It's not often that we are witness to the birth of a new genre. Sure grunge was just an offshoot of punk, allegedly, but it really wasn't. It was something new and exciting and for us, something unheard of before and something incredibly cool.

The early grunge movement coalesced around Seattle independent record label Sub Pop Records in the late 1980s. Grunge became commercially successful in the first half of the 1990s, due mainly to the release of Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten. The success of these bands boosted the popularity of alternative rock and made grunge the most popular form of hard rock music at the time. Although most grunge bands had disbanded or faded from view by the late 1990s, their influence continues to affect modern rock music. But 1991 was year one in grunge. That was the groundbreaking year and Nevermind was the groundbreaking album.

Mark Arm, the vocalist for the Seattle band Green River—and later Mudhoney—is generally credited as being the first to use the term grunge to describe this genre of music. Arm first used the term in 1981, when he wrote a letter under his given name Mark McLaughlin to the Seattle 'zine Desperate Times, criticizing his band Mr. Epp and the Calculations as "Pure grunge! Pure noise! Pure shit!" Clark Humphrey, editor of Desperate Times, cites this as the earliest use of the term to refer to a Seattle band, and mentions that Bruce Pavitt of Sub-Pop popularized the term as a musical label in 1987–88, using it on several occasions to describe Green River.

Arm said years later, "Obviously, I didn't make grunge up. I got it from someone else. The term was already being thrown around in Australia in the mid-'80s to describe bands like King Snake Roost, The Scientists, Salamander Jim, and Beasts of Bourbon." Arm used grunge as a descriptive term rather than a genre term, but it eventually came to categorize the punk/metal hybrid sound of the Seattle music scene.

Nirvana's Nevermind was the first perfect grunge album. Ten by Pearl Jam was a close second. In fact I could flip flop those albums at any time and still feel 100% conviction that either, or both, were the albums that changed my life in 1991. It was the song Smells Like Teen Spirit that started it all and it seemed at any given time that song was being played on the radio or it's corresponding video was being shown on MTV. Kurt Cobain, whether he wanted to admit it or believe it had changed the landscape of music and along with it, style, attitude and a nation of personalities. It's hard to believe Nevermind is nearly a quarter of a century old. The album still sounds fresh today but of course I am biased. What a year for music. What a year for grunge. What a year for Seattle. What a year for Nirvana.

Our Top Five Songs Of The Year

01. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
02. Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam
03. Lithium by Nirvana
04. Even Flow by Pearl Jam
05. Losing My Religion by R.E.M.

Our Top ~~Five~~ SIX Albums Of The Year

01. Nevermind by Nirvana
02. Ten by Pearl Jam
03. Blood Sugar Sex Magik by Red Hot Chili Peppers
04. Out Of Time by R.E.M.
05. Temple Of The Dog by Temple Of The Dog
06. The Sky Is Crying by Stevie Ray Vaughan

Pearl Jam. Nirvana. Soundgarden. Kurt Cobain. Eddie Vedder. Chris Cornell. Andy Wood. Mother Love Bone. Seattle. Flannel Shirts. Grandpa Sweaters. These are just a few of the things that effectively ended the reign of the glam metal groups that enjoyed massive success in the 1980s like Mötley Crüe, Poison, Warrant, Cinderella, and Ratt, whose sales and critical viability had already begun to decline.

If that is all you remember from 1991 you're certainly not alone.

Oh yeah. R.E.M. exploded (in the mainstream) in 1991 so you probably remember that too.

And who could forget all those sappy love songs by hair metal bands? Hard rock went a little soft in 1991, and a lot of people dug it, though very few will admit it today.

The music industry wanted to contain and protect their product, namely their historical best sellers. Maybe there were too many dollars invested in Madonna, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and U2.

Quite honestly, 1991 might have been the turning point where Bono went from super cool to super pretentious. He had George Bush to fight, Bill Clinton to support, Ireland's honor to defend, starving people to feed, homeless people to shelter, sponsors to dine, Desmond Tutu to revere, God to debate and a dozen or so modeling shoots. Thankfully he also had the Edge to keep him in check.

Somewhat. No wonder we clung to our flannel shirts and grandpa sweaters.

Homogenization ruled music. 1991 was the year that the music industry attempted to homogenize itself, though admittedly this may be a gross over-approximation. Across the previous decades rock music had always been the soundtrack of alternative youth lifestyles. Still, a distinct separation always existed between alternative and mainstream rock.

In an exercise of extreme shortsightedness the music industry tried to consolidate new wave, alternative, pop and rock genres and their respective sub-genres into what was termed general rock. Older songs were simply termed classic rock.

Why?

The labels wanted to protect their historically successful artists like The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney, and by marginalizing musical genres, the hope was to keep the aging icons relevant when they really weren't anymore.

The result may have been the launch of music's second modern counter-culture movement, as 1991 instead saw popular music further separate. A veritable bounty of sub-genres, including lo-fi pop, industrial, gothic, roots-rock, noise-rock, indie-pop, techno, ambient and shoegazer, etc., multiplied and evolved in a fashion largely independent of the others. In retrospect, the attempted miscibility of general rock as a whole birthed the indie label movement. It makes sense: as the major labels tried to consolidate music genres, music itself countered the trend and rebelled away from the norm.

1991 offered breakthrough mainstream success for many crossover artists that had previously found limited, short-range appeal. The massive success of Garth Brooks in 1991 set the stage for the mid-1990s influx of pop-oriented country musicians like Shania Twain, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. In addition, several soon-to-be pivotal bands formed or released debuts, including Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Live, Phish and the Spin Doctors. Metallica also released their most commercially successful album, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers crossed over to the mainstream with their critically and commercially acclaimed Blood Sugar Sex Magik. R.E.M. released their massive commercial breakthrough album Out of Time and the full length debuts by Pearl Jam and Nirvana were immediate hits.

In many ways, 1991 also marked the birth of the provincial-independent movement. The broadening use of the internet may have been the catalyst. Local bands with local sounds were able to reach national and world-wide audiences instantly. Seattle, Washington and Athens, Georgia were the first localized areas to bear the fruits of expanded independent music coverage.

Seattle, led by Pearl Jam and Nirvana, offered a revivalist hard rock sound that was coined grunge music. Athens, led by R.E.M. (and to some extent Widespread Panic), offered an intermixture of college-influenced pop and roots music that was coined, for lack of a better term, alt-rock.

An involuntary catalyst for the commercial success of the various sub-genres was Billboard Magazine. In 1991 the trade magazine and industry leader finally changed the way it ranked singles and albums by making teh decison to tally actual sales at retail stores. Until then, Billboard relied on the very subjective and quite unethical method of simply polling retail outlets and radio stations to see what was hot rather than relying on verified retail sales numbers.

Suddenly, rock outsold pop, and many hip-hop and country entered the mainstream charts as crossover acts. The biggest winners were the sub-genres and independent releases, thanks again in large part to the growth of the internet, as word-of-mouth acclaim produced rapidly increasing sales and ultimately Billboard rankings for the first time for many artists and genres.

Sire Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Records, may have also aided in the birth of indies. Sire Records founder Seymour Stein ostensibly seemed to be a throwback to an earlier era when mini-moguls stamped their label's releases with their own idiosyncratic tastes (like Atlantic Records). But Sire's impossibly rich canon instead argues Stein was driven more by a shrewd, far ranging artistic vision than mere personal musical obsessions. It was during the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s that Sire became synonymous with groundbreaking music, launching many of the most popular indie artists of that era.

Sire's uncompromising passion and willingness to take risks set a new standard for artist development and creative vision in the record world. Indeed, a look back at their stable of artists reveals the visionary that was Seymour Stein. Star acts for the beloved label included Madonna, Blondie, The Ramones, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Primal Scream, Seal, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Pretenders, The Replacements, Lou Reed, English Beat, Ministry, The Talking Heads, and many, many more.

Similarly, Sub-Pop Records Records opened doors for their artists as well. Sub-Pop, started in the early 1980s by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, owed much of it's early success to the breakout of Nirvana, but artists like Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Afghan Whigs and Saint Etienne helped garner national attention for the small indie label based in Seattle.

Pavitt and Poneman were serious about creating a brand for the label that would rival classics like Motown or Blue Note. Many of their early releases featured a uniform look: a black bar across the top, with the band’s name in all capital letters, followed by the release name, all in a sans serif font. Many of those early records also featured the iconic, action-packed rock photography of Charles Peterson. Tastemaker Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth offered props to both Nirvana and Mudhoney in interviews. Bands that once drew 100 hipsters to Seattle clubs were now selling out the city’s Moore Theater. Meanwhile, Sub Pop released records by heavy rockers Tad, the universally offensive Dwarves, and feminist badasses L7, among scores of others on their way to critical and mainstream success.

On a sad note, 1991 also marked the death of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, who passed due to complications from AIDS.

Gone Too Soon:

Leo Fender (March 21)
Odia Coates (May 19)
David Ruffin (June 1)
Stan Getz (June 6)
Dottie West (September 4)
Tennessee Ernie Ford (October 17)
Freddie Mercury (November 24)
Eric Carr (November 24)

I choose "Dare"

Madonna's 1991 film documentary is in reference to the party game "Truth or Dare?" but the original working title of the documentary was Truth or Dare: On the Road, Behind the Scenes and In Bed with Madonna.

The film documents Madonna's first major tour of the 1990s beginning in April 1990 in Mukuhari, Japan and ending in August in Nice, France. The tour hit 27 cities and sold out every show except in Italy where one show was canceled apparently to objections over its content.

During the summer of 1990, Madonna hired director Alek Keshishian, to film backstage and onstage footage of her Blond Ambition World Tour. The entire documentary is filmed in Black-and-white, except for onstage sequences which are in full color. There are appearances from celebrities such as Al Pacino, Mandy Patinkin, Olivia Newton-John, Antonio Banderas, Sandra Bernhard, Kevin Costner and Warren Beatty, whom Madonna was dating at the time.

The Jivewired staff just loves the gratuitous implied nude shots. Otherwise we never would have included this blurb.

Tastes Great. No, Less Filling.

"This live rock show is brought to you without commercial interruption." That cheesy line got the Black Crowes booted from ZZ Top's headlining tour in 1991. No shit.

In an interview on Rockline, the Crowes' lead wailer Chris Robinson said the band was bounced from its opening act slot by ZZ Top's management firm, Lone Wolf Management Company and the group's corporate sponsor, Miller Brewing Company.

The origin of the Crowes' dismissal on March 25 -- in the band's hometown of Atlanta, no less -- seems to have taken root after Lone Wolf repeatedly told Robinson to stop dropping one liners on stage about their corporate sponsorship.

Said Robinson, "They weren't allowing us to be the Black Crowes. They were trying to censor what I was trying to say."

So ZZ Top fired them. Damn sellouts.

Don't You Knock The Knack Mister!

The Knack reunited in 1991 after a ten-year hiatus and released a straight-to-discount-bin album called Serious Fun.

It seriously flopped.

Still, the band's website and subsequent press release claimed that: "The Knack's fourth studio album is serious fun! Some of the best music the band ever made."

Raise your hand if you own a copy of this album. Anybody? Hello?

Musician Magazine panned the album, stating that "Anyone who believes the musical legacy of the '70s is nothing to be ashamed of might want to reconsider after hearing this one."

Critic William Ruhlmann with Allmusic commented that "it's hard to imagine anyone other than die-hard Knack fans expressing any interest in it."

But don't fret, Knackwhacks, the band had a serious third comeback attempt after the 1994 movie Reality Bites featured their hit single from 1979, My Sharona. So they released another album in 1998 called Zoom that suffered a fate similar to Serious Fun.

Not so much fun, apparently.

It just sounded better than the Tongue-Twisting Farrell Farewell Tour

Conceived and created in 1991 by Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell as a farewell tour for his band, Lollapalooza ran annually until 1997, and was revived in 2003 when the band got back together. The inaugural festival is where Farrell coined the term "Alternative Nation."

The inaugural 1991 lineup included Jane's Addiction (of course) and included artists from diversified genres, such as post-punk's Siouxsie and the Banshees and rap and hip-hop icon Ice-T, as well as industrial rockers Nine Inch Nails.

The word Lollapalooza dates from a late 19th/early 20th century American idiomatic phrase meaning "an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance."

In time the term also came to refer to a large lollipop. Farrell, searching for a name for his festival, liked the euphonious quality of the now antiquated term upon hearing it in a Three Stooges short film. Paying homage to the term's double meaning, a character in the festival's original logo holds one of the gigantic lollipops.

Now there is a [insert name]-apalooza for just about everything. Some people just lack Farrell's creativity.

Go forth, for you are the future of rock & roll........

The following bands were formed in 1991: The Dave Matthews Band, Oasis, Luscious Jackson, Three 6 Mafia, Portishead, The Chemical Brothers, Temple Of The Dog, Counting Crows, Rage Against The Machine, Incubus, The Spinanes, Sloan, Candlebox, and Cake. On the flip side, 1991 also gave us Vertical Horizon, Utah Saints, Brooks & Dunn, The Wiggles, and Frente!

To hear most of the great music from 1991 please subscribe to our playlists on Spotify and thank you for reading!

Something Extra

1991 Lollapalooza Poster

Previous In This Series: Friday Flashback 1968

Indie Introspective: Mainstream + Indies = Mindies. Why The Mainstream Killed Your Favorite Band

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Sat, 23 Jul 2016 17:57:00 +0000

I hate writing anything that can be labeled a think piece, because I am of the opinion that most articles carrying that description only serve to dumb us down as readers. So for that I apologize. This is a think piece.

In the past few days, I've read articles proclaiming the following music genres are dead: Hip Hop, Rap, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Pop and Jazz. That leaves what - country and indie? But maybe indie music is dead too. Mainstream music appears to be this gigantic, genre-killing black hole that sucks bands in and swallows them up forever. Indie bands are becoming "mindies" (mainstream indies) right before disappearing into the rings of Saturn, never to be heard from again.

Starting in the mid '00s, the line between indie and mainstream pop started to get blurry. You’re either indie, with your beard, graphic tees or boutique wardrobe and your thick black-frame glasses and mainstream-rebellious attitude or you’re 100% mainstream with your high-end suits and love of corporate structure, and sorry, I apologize for being stereotypical.

Since the mid-2000s, the word hipster has invaded the lexicon of pop culture and has become a term, for better or worse, synonymous with things either A) cool B) ironic C) ironically cool. Hipsters enjoy their own culture that is decidedly not mainstream, though not necessarily indie. There are hipster brands, hipster movies, hipster jobs, hipster restaurants and, of course, hipster bands. People generally get the terms indie and hipster confused, but I think the offshoot of hipster culture, musically speaking, is mainstream indie.

And why does music need to be so black and white? Millennials have been making a statement in decade two of the Y2Ks that you can be both, a mainstream/indie hybrid, or "mindie" if you will. What's wrong with fitting nicely in the middle, making deep and meaningful music that also makes a healthy profit?

Fine you say. But it's not fine if you are a dedicated indie, because we are talking about changing a cultural ideology that was bred almost solely on it's insistence in being different.

Most mainstream indie is just Nickelback for jocks that crybate.
— Damian Abraham (@leftfordamian) October 17, 2013

Over the past few years the indie/mainstream cultural divide has narrowed a great deal, though in my opinion, at the sake of stifling creativity. It seems indie fans are reacting to this by becoming more indie, or as they like to point out, going underground.

Underground music is developing a huge cult following in the absence of a true indie genre.

Underground music, generally speaking, has a little or no mainstream appeal, visibility, nor commercial presence. It includes contemporary music that is free of mainstream musical components. A specific genre or style is decidedly unimportant in determining underground status. That diversity may serve to protect underground music from being packaged and marketed as indies or mindies based on a restricted and easily identifiable sound. The sub-genre EDM Trap is a decent example.

Bands that are genuine mainstream/indie hybrids include M83, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes, The Lumineers, Tame Impala, Washed Out, MGMT and Phoenix, and you could easily build a mindie playlist based on similar artists.

The whole movement may have started with Death Cab For Cutie, though that may have never been the intention. The fascination with indie music being funneled into the mainstream was a major label operation spearheaded by regrettable acts like Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco, bands that attempted to blend the intensity of hardcore with melodic post-punk pop and emo. It was an ill-fated endeavor to further coalesce music genres -- for better or worse -- to herd buyers toward major label retail fare. Major labels just pushed the wrong artists commercially, as they tend to do in most cases, and Death Cab For Cutie was the indie movement's counter-attack.

Now that the term indie has been subsumed by major labels, and now that major label acts seemingly mimic most indie-rock sensibilities, is indie rock dead as a legitimate musical genre?

I have heard the debate numerous times while listening to my local NPR radio outlet so I will paraphrase to the best of my abilities:

"Saying anything is [dead] should give us pause and is probably deserving of an incipient nod and rolling of the eyes. Proclamations that a given cultural entity is dead is absolute nonsense."

Is indie rock dead? Is rock itself dead? Too often dead is exchanged synonymously for irrelevance, and relevance tends to lie in the eye of the beholder. If you're bored with something then you're likely to proclaim its non-resuscitable death.

Mindies have certainly diluted the concept and genre of indie music. Like Damian Abraham said above [paraphrasing again], if you combine mainstream and indies why call it anything but mainstream?

We can acknowledge that indie music has splintered to a point where the term has lost much of its meaning or value, but indie music certainly isn't dead, and for the most part, has strongly resisted the urge to sell out. Just because a band sells a lot of records does not mean we should sever our affinities for the indie bands we love. Selling out isn't the same thing as selling music. Selling out means adapting to a mainstream culture. In that respect, I say indie music is assuredly not dead, and that the major labels just want us to think that it is.

About Indie Introspective Playlists

Playlist Note: Our 12-song Indie Introspective playlists are designed to help you discover new indie music by combining some really great under the radar tracks with more established songs that were, once in fact, under the radar as well. The hope here is that the culture shock of discovering your next favorite band won't be so enormously imposing if we surround some of the stuff you may not have heard yet with some of your old, familiar friends.

Jivewired supports independent musicians by airing their music videos on Jivewired TV. Please help us support indie artists by listening to our playlists and by purchasing indie music. Thank you. And thank you for reading. We hope we have helped you dig on some new music.

Friday Flashback 1968

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Canter) — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 03:46:00 +0000

FRIDAY FLASHBACK: Every Friday we set the Hot Tub Time Machine to one year in rock history and give you the best (and worst) music from that year and stream it to you on demand via Spotify!

This Week: 1968
Next Week: 1991

Article & Image Sources: All Music Guide, Amazon.com, Pattie Boyd Personal Photographs, Haight Ashbury San Francisco Summer of Love, Bob Gruen Photography, Ian Dickson Photography, The Annenberg Space For Photography, Getty Images, Legacy Recordings, Rolling Stone Magazine, Previous Jivewired Flashback Articles, WLS-AM, The Guardian, UK, Joel Whitburn, Billboard Magazine.

You can listen to our 1968 playlist on Jivewired's Spotify Channel right here: Friday Flashback 1968

Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

ELECTION 1968: The U.S. Presidential Election of 1968 pitted Republican Richard Nixon vs. Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey with third-party candidate George Wallace of the Segregationist Party creating a substantial impact.

1968 Election Coverage:
(1968 Election Results via US Election Atlas)

Just like 2016, 1968 was a volatile election year in the United States. It was very closely contested with Nixon only getting 600,000 more general votes than Humphrey though the electoral college vote wasn't nearly as close. Also, the favorite candidate, according to pre-election polls, was assassinated after winning the California primary on June 5th.

How Did We Feel About The Country In General In 1968?

Generally Good: 40%
Generally Poor: 51%
Undecided/No Answer: 9%

How did we generally feel about the state of the United states entering the 1968 election?

Generally Good: 40%
Generally Poor: 51%
Undecided/No Answer: 9%

What Did We Think Was The Most Important Issue Facing This Country In 1968?

Viet Nam War: 47%
Equal Rights: 27%
Assassination of Robert Kennedy: 20%
Economy (General): 4%
Space Program: 2%

How Did We Rate Our Economy In 1968?

Very Good: 41%
Better Than Average: 41%
Less Than Average: 14%
Desperate: 4%

How Was Our Personal Financial Situation As Compared To 1964?

Better: 61%
Same: 29%
Worse: 10%

1968 Election Results:

Popular Vote Richard Nixon: 31,783,783 Total Votes
Popular Vote Hubert H. Humphrey: 31,271,839 Total Votes
Popular Vote George Wallace: 9,901,118
Electoral Vote Richard Nixon: 301 (Winner)
Electoral Vote Hubert H. Humphrey: 191
Electoral Vote George Wallace: 46

The 1968 election was the most confusing and muddled election in the history of The United States of America. We may have had to choose a winner who did not gain the requisite number of electoral votes necessary for election had it not been for George Wallace.

The election featured three credible candidates, Hubert Humphrey from the Democrats, Richard Nixon as a Republican, and George Wallace, a third party candidate representing the Segregationist party. The issues that the candidates were running on not only confused the people, but also the press. Humphrey was running as a supporter for the continuation of the Vietnam War, and Nixon was running on a platform that included a secret plan to end the Vietnam War and as a law and order candidate. Wallace was running as anti-civil rights and a law and order candidate.

It should also be noted that Robert Kennedy most likely would have won the Democratic Presidential nomination had he not been assassinated after his California Primary victory on June 4, 1968. Furthermore, incumbent President Lyndon Johnson, angered by Democrats who did not agree with his stand on the Vietnam War, refused to run again after his weak showing against Senator Eugene McCarthy in the New Hampshire Primary left him embarrassed. He used all his power in the party to get Humphrey nominated, even though Humphrey failed to get most of the primary voters.

In addition, the Democratic Party had angered most of its supporters in the South by strongly pushing for integration and voting rights for Blacks in the south. Those Democrats who opposed the civil rights legislation lined up behind Governor Wallace, who was one of the most vocal critics against integration and equal rights, this despite the earlier assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr on April 4th in Memphis, TN and with race riots happening all across the country all summer long.

The election was unusual, not only because the two main candidates took positions that could be characterized as contrary to their constituents' normal positions on the war, but because a third party candidate with a substantially large following determined the outcome in favor of Nixon. The national media seemed fixated on the rift within the Democratic Party, especially in the absence of Robert Kennedy. The heavy focus of the media increased the scrutiny of the divided Democrats and eventually doomed Humphrey.

On To The Flashback:

1968 Album I Wish I Owned: Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix
1968 Album I'd Give Back If I Could: Fairport Convention by Fairport Convention
1968 Nominee For Worst Album Cover Ever: In Search Of The Lost Chord by The Moody Blues
1968 Most Underrated Song: Can I Get A Witness by Barbara Randolph
1968 Most Overrated Song: Spooky by The Classics IV
1968 Most Memorable Song: Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf
1968 Most Significant Song: White Summer by The Yardbirds
1968 Most Forgotten Song: Israelites by Desmond Dekker
1968 Album Of The Year: "White Album" (title: The Beatles) by The Beatles
1968 Fan's Choice For Most Popular Song: Hey Jude by The Beatles
1968 Most Likely To Start A Party Song: Dance To The Music by Sly and The Family Stone
1968 Please Don't Play Anymore Song: Mony Mony by Tommy James and The Shondells
1968 Song That I Like More than I Actually Should: Star Collector by The Monkees
1968 Album I Liked More Than I Thought I Would: Sweetheart Of The Rodeo by The Byrds
1968 Song That I Tend To Leave On Repeat: Pleasant Valley Sunday by The Monkees
1968 Come Back Player Of The Year: What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
One Hit Wonder of 1968: Bend Me Shape Me by The American Breed
Guilty Pleasure of 1968: You're All I Need To Get By by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
Breakout Artists Of 1968: Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Amboy Dukes, Canned Heat
Overplayed In 1968: Tom Jones
Not Played Enough In 1968: Obscure Motown (Chuck Jackson, Barbara Randolph, Bobby Taylor)
Greatest Single Chart Re-Entry from 1968: Need Your Love So Bad by Little Willie John (1955)
Best Cover Song Of 1968: All Along The Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix (original: Bob Dylan)
An unheralded great album from 1968: Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd by The Monkees
An unheralded great single from 1968: You Ain't Goin' Nowhere by The Byrds

Jivewired Picks: Top Five Songs Of The Year

01. Hey Jude by The Beatles
02. Pleasant Valley Sunday by The Monkees
03. Dear Mr. Fantasy by Traffic
04. Son Of A Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield
05. You're All I Need To Get By by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
HONORABLE MENTION #1: For Once In My Life by Stevie Wonder

Jivewired Picks: Top Five Albums Of The Year

01. The White Album (title: The Beatles) by The Beatles
02. Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd. by The Monkees
03. The Who Sell Out by The Who
04. Mr. Fantasy by Traffic
05. Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix
HONORABLE MENTION #1: Cheap Thrills by Big Brother and The Holding Co.
HONORABLE MENTION #2: Waiting For The Sun by The Doors
HONORABLE MENTION #3: Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks

Goin' Down by The Monkees from the album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd.

Contrary to myth spread by the unbeknownst, 1967 was the year of the Summer Of Love and not 1969. However, most music historians will point to 1968 as the apex of that three-year revolutionary period in pop music and culture. Sandwiched right between 1969 -- when the movement culminated with the Woodstock Concert -- and 1967, when it all began, sits a great year for music. 1968 was not as mythic as the other two years, but was certainly a tremendous year for music in it's own right. And, so much happened in 1968 that it in retrospect, it really stands out against it's bookend years in that popular music triumvirate.

Assuredly, 1968 provided a soundtrack to a sociopolitical and music revolution but it was much, much more than that. The Beatles/Stones/Hendrix/Doors/Joplin apocalyptic beast threatened to level the very foundation of popular culture.

Jimmy Page left The Yardbirds to start the New Yardbirds, recruiting Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones in the process. Before the year ended, they would become known as Led Zeppelin.

Gram Parsons joined the Byrds, essentially laying the foundation for what would become country rock.

More importantly, psychedelia had found it's way into every nook and cranny of music, starting with the Beatles and filtering into the soul of Sly and The Family Stone, the Motown Sound of The Temptations, the electrified folk of The Grateful Dead, Canned Heat and The Incredible String Band, and even Dr. John's Gris-Gris dabbled in the psychedelic movement.

Van Morrison's Astral Weeks? Please. Morrison's career-defining LP was a fully mature artistic statement that completely separated him as a solo artist from his work with Them. The Zombies released Oracle and Odyssey to critical, if not commercial acclaim. Britain followed suit, thanks to tremendous artistic achievements by The Kinks and Cream. Beggar's Banquet by The Rolling Stones showed a wonderfully artistic and hard-edged rock and blues maturity for the band, defining the band's direction through 1974, when they began to rely more on the influence of Gram Parsons.

When John Mayall released the album Bluesbreakers two years earlier, featuring former Yardbirds guitarist Eric Clapton, he defined, once and for all, a genre of rock and blues which soon became one of the strongest undercurrents of British rock music. The scene erupted in 1968 as Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker formed the all-star trio Cream. Combined with diverse changes in musical direction from The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, the new blues-and-psychedelic infused British Invasion effectively suffocated the final remnants of the Mersey Beat era.

The new guard of Brit Rock indulged in guitar distortions, dissonant solos and psychedelic studio effects that were shocking for an audience raised on the early Beatles sound. By fusing blues and rock with a hint of improvisation and a propulsive beat, 1968 formed the perfect segue into progressive music and the free-form, jam band and hippie sound it bore going forward, inspiring countless artists on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Though not revolutionary by any means -- especially if you ask many of the blues artists of the 1940s and 1950s -- the hybrid sound was much more sophisticated than the seemingly childish verse-chorus-verse interplay of The Mersey Beat sound.

San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle also attracted and harbored a sizable blues community, thanks to Janis Joplin, The Doors and Jimi Hendrix. Influenced by the acid-rock movement on the West Coast, Joplin (vocally), Hendrix (instrumentally) and Jim Morrison of The Doors (poetically) were the most visceral and immortalized artists on the West Coast at that time. Joplin's wild antics were immortalized on Cheap Thrills, her output with Big Brother and The Holding Company; Morrison's gigs with the Doors are legendary to this day; and, Hendrix achieved incendiary status both literally and figuratively with his guitar work.

As the year ended, an icon from the old guard in music at a career crossroads vowed to assert himself with a statement showcase. Almost defiantly taking a stand for a way of life and an era of music that had come to be perceived as decidedly conservative, outdated and pedestrian, a revitalized Elvis Presley announced to the world that he still belonged and his music still mattered.

Perhaps in fear of the changing face of the music landscape, Presley launched an unprecedented comeback attempt in 1968. Truly the forerunner to the popular MTV Unplugged in that it featured informal jamming in front of a live, studio audience on a makeshift soundstage with limited amplification, Elvis launched a historical TV broadcast simply called "Elvis." Sponsored by The Singer Sewing Machine Company, it aired on December 3, 1968 on the NBC television network. The special is commonly referred to as the "'68 Comeback Special," because of subsequent developments in Presley's career, but the soundtrack album was released simply as The NBC-TV Special.

Despite huge success in both his music and acting careers following his release from the army in 1960, Presley's career had declined steadily in the years leading up to 1968. The music scene had changed dramatically since his last U.S. #1 single in 1962, and Presley was facing musical irrelevance.

The edited broadcast of December 3 - combining the big, choreographed numbers, lavish sets and some of the informal live sessions - was an enormous success. The show was the highest-rated television special of the year.

Critics generally agree that the broadcast did show what Elvis Presley really could do - in addition to making profitable, if generally uninspired movies and soundtracks. The '68 Special is widely credited with revitalizing his career: chart statistics for the summer of 1968 suggest that Presley's recording career was becoming all but non-existent. After the special, he began his stint in Las Vegas and toured, achieving a string of record-breaking sell-out performances across America until his death in 1977. Chart successes returned, including a U.S. number one hit in 1969 with Suspicious Minds and a U.K. number one in 1970 with The Wonder Of You.

Gone Too Soon

Little Walter, aged 37 (February 15)
Frankie Lymon, aged 25 (February 25)
Martin Luther King, Jr. aged 39 (April 4)
Little Willie John, aged 30 (May 26)
Andre Mathieu, aged 39 (June 2)
Robert Kennedy, aged 43 (June 5)
Luther Perkins of The Tennessee Two, aged 40 (August 5)
Red Foley, aged 58 (September 19)

Folsom Prison Blue Suede Cocaine Blues Shoes

Cocaine Blues by Johnny Cash from the album At Folsom Prison

On January 13, 1968, Johnny Cash took his band, his father, and a couple of opening acts to California’s Folsom State Prison to record two shows. They had rehearsed for two solid days in a Sacramento motel, where–astoundingly–they were visited by then-Governor Ronald Reagan, who offered his encouragement and good wishes.

Few people realize that Carl Perkins added his wicked guitar licks to the standard sound of the Tennessee Three backing Cash that day. Even fewer know that both the morning and afternoon shows actually began with Perkins performing his own songs.

Six minutes before the Man in Black walked out for the first show with his trademark opening “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash” and the definitive take on Folsom Prison Blues, Perkins got the prisoners into gear with a rocking "Blue Suede Shoes."

The best performance of the set was Cocaine Blues, in my humble opinion

Pete Moon Bets Heavily Against Zep And Loses Big

On September 7, 1968, the quartet that would make up Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones) performed for the first time, billed as The New Yardbirds. The Yardbirds had disbanded two months earlier, and guitarist Jimmy Page subsequently formed this new group.

Chris Dreja of the "old" Yardbirds was not happy with the billing of the new band, and issued a cease and desist letter, stating that Page was only allowed to use the New Yardbirds moniker for the Scandinavian dates of their tour.

Legend has it that the new band's name was allegedly chosen by The Who's Keith Moon and John Entwistle, who had suggested that the supergroup would go down like a "lead balloon," a British idiom for disastrous results.

The group dropped the 'a' in "lead" at the suggestion of their manager, Peter Grant, so that those unfamiliar with the phrase would not pronounce it "leed". The word "balloon" was transformed into "zeppelin," perhaps an exaggeration of the humor, and to Page the name conjured the perfect combination of heavy and light, combustibility and grace. They secured a $200,000 advance from Atlantic Records, an advance I am sure paid off quite considerably. Led Zeppelin was signed without a representative having ever seen them play, largely on their abilities with the Yardbirds and also on the recommendation of singer Dusty Springfield.

Ironically, Page wanted to form a supergroup with himself and Jeff Beck on guitars, and The Who's rhythm section: drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle. Vocalists Donovan, Steve Winwood and Steve Marriott were also considered for the project before then-obscure lead singer Robert Plant, formerly of The Woolworths and The Crawling King Snakes was selected on the recommendation of John Bonham.

Page's original supergroup never formed, though Page, Beck and Moon did record a song together in 1966 called "Beck's Bolero," which is featured on Beck's 1968 album, Truth. The recording session also included bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones, who told Page that he would be interested in collaborating with him on future projects.

OTHER HEADLINING MUSIC AND NEWS EVENTS OF 1968

The Gibson Guitar Corporation patented its Gibson Flying V electric guitar design.
Universal Studios offered the Doors $500,000 to star in a feature film. The film was never made.
The Beatles and their wives, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, Mia Farrow, Donovan and others traveled to India to visit Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at Rishikesh.
Johnny Cash and June Carter were married in Franklin, Kentucky, with Merle Kilgore serving as best man.
James Brown appeared on national television, in an attempt to calm feelings of anger in the United States following the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
At a press conference, John Lennon and Paul McCartney introduced the Beatles' new business concept, Apple Corps, Ltd.
The assassination of Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy, a United States Senator and brother of assassinated President John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy, took place shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles, California, during the campaign season for the United States Presidential election.
Two sons of singer Roy Orbison, 10-year-old Roy DeWayne Orbison and 6-year-old Anthony King Orbison, died in a house fire in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Orbison's youngest son was saved.
500,000 people marched in Washington, D.C. for peace, which became the largest anti-war rally in U.S. history. In attendance were Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul and Mary, John Denver, Mitch Miller, and the touring cast of Hair.
Cream played their farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall. It was the last time Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker played together until their 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Janis Joplin and Big Brother & the Holding Company performed their last concert together before Janis became a solo act.
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus was filmed. Acts included The Rolling Stones, The Who, Taj Mahal, Jethro Tull, The Dirty Mac, and Marianne Faithfull. It was the last appearance of Brian Jones as a member of The Rolling Stones.
Peter Tork left the Monkees.

The following bands were all formed in 1968: Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Free, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Nazareth, The Plastic Ono Band featuring John Lennon, Rush and Yes.