Out of the Blue & Into the Black

I may be numberless, I may be innocent
I may know many things, I may be ignorant
Or I could ride with kings and conquer many lands
Or win this world at cards and let it slip my hands
I could be cannon food, destroyed a thousand times
Reborn as fortune's child to judge another's crimes
Or wear this pilgrim's cloak, or be a common thief
I've kept this single faith, I have but one belief

I still love you
I still want you
A thousand times the mysteries unfold themselves
Like galaxies in my head
On and on the mysteries unwind themselves
Eternities still unsaid
'Til you love me

- Sting A Thousand Years

Madness

I feel like I have entered the school of life yet I have always been here. Perhaps my eyes were closed my senses numb, so excuse my absence as I have found it wildly entertaining! Los Angeles is full of smog, whatever fascination I once had with the place went out the back door after this last weekend..it is worth mentioning that there are barely any white people there either.
I have been studying Eastern Religions..American Historicism..and tip toeing through Philosophy class..I might even publish something tomorrow but for now it is late, my bodyclock has me up till 1...I'll be back after a good nights rest!! And Yes the new layout is madness isn't it though? It reminds me of an insane collage..I am going to look at it for a few days so if you are finding it hard to navigate know that it is only temporary and I will be done fooling around in no time..

10/4/2k11

Until The End of the World

I was listening to this song tonight weaving in and out through the mountains by my house high u on the ridge watching the lightening crack in the sky..it makes for a beautiful poem.. Haven't seen you FOR quite a while I was down the HOLE just passing time Last time we met was a low-lit room We were as close together as a bride and groom We ate the food, we drank the wine Everybody having a good time Except you You were talking about the end of the world I took the money I spiked your drink You miss too much these days if you stop to think You lead me on with those innocent eyes You know I love the element of surprise In the garden I was playing the tart I kissed your lips and broke your heart You You were acting like it was the end of the world Love...love...love...love...love...love... Love...love...love...love...love...love... Love...love...love...love... In my dream I was drowning my sorrows But my sorrows, they learned to swim Surrounding me, going down on me Spilling over the brim Waves of regret, waves of joy I reached out for the one I tried to destroy You, you said you'd wait till the end of the world. -U2 Achtung Baby

JT: What has sobriety meant for you personally?
AK: Drugs and alcohol were an exciting shortcut to a false sense of well-being. They were like medicine to my spiritually deficient existence that stopped working and left me with an even bigger void. So, basically I loved them, but they didn’t love me back. Most people can’t relate to being powerless over mind-altering substances, so even some close friends give me the blank stare when I explain that I don’t drink or use at all. I totally understand that reaction because I can’t relate to what it might feel like to be schizophrenic or have manic depression. As for being in the stride of change, I love the recovery path. We all have a path and this one just happened to speak to me.

One of the greatest answers to a very personal question by the enigmatic Anthony Kiedis..by the way have you had a listen to the new Red Hots album yet..frickin brilliant to say the least but I really didn't expect anything less.

Happy 30th Birthday MTV ( I Wish You Didn't Lose Your Cool)

I was fortunate to be home one summer day surfing the newly installed cable TV channels for something to watch back in 1981. I watched the first music video ever played “Video Killed the Radio Star” in great amazement. As a matter of fact I think I spent the rest of the Summer watching MTV. Early on it was apparent that the music industry would be forever changed by it. Image was everything. It wasn’t long before I tried to start braiding my hair like Annabella Lwin after watching Bow Wow Wow’s “I Want Candy” and got into the Madonna phase I’d just assume forget. There was a lot of controversy surrounding MTV’s refusal to play Michael Jackson videos. When they did start allowing them to be shown, lots of kids at school wore wannabe jackets, along with the infamous one glove. I never fell into the Jackson hype rather I would wait patiently for the Duran Duran videos to come on as I had a thing at the time for Simon Le Bon. MTV enabled a lot of artists to expand their creative means by incorporating visual stimulation along with audio. It also opened the doors for many to also gain their 15 min of fame not so much on their musical talent but more so from their good looks or downright oddness. Boy George is a prime example of this. MTV played a huge part in my formative years, their best show and the one I would stay up way past my bedtime to watch would be 120 Min.
Hair bands consisted of guys who dressed borderline in drag. The music was ostentatious as were the fashions & the lifestyle many of the musicians led. Thank god most of them burnt out going into the 90’s because the music wasn’t all that memorable. It reflected the party lifestyle and what was currently going down in and around Los Angels, in particular the Sunset Strip, the epicenter of it all.
For the younger generation who is coming of age the types of music they are listening to is influenced by visual and social stimulation mainly because they are growing up in an era where this is commonplace. No longer do they need to rely on MTV ,their listening devices are full of videos as well thanks to the Internet. It is the whole package now not just a song you hear on the radio. It is hearing that song downloading it, downloading the video, becoming the artists friend on Facebook, then following them on Twitter. I wouldn’t say that the auditory appreciation is music is lost through this process entirely. I for one still buy & throw on albums as nostalgic as it may seem although I have been know to watch my Leonard Cohen movie “I’m Your Man” too many times to count because the Movie just enhances the album as anything visual enhances a song.

Because This Album Cover Just Makes Me Smile...

My Fav Band Circa 1983

05/27/2k11

In Fort Worth, Texas there is a drug clinic which takes people off the streets and helps them get over bad LSD trips. They don't use any traditional medical treatment whatsoever. All they do is play the patient our Smiley Smile album and apparently this acts as a soothing remedy which relaxes them and helps them to recover completely from their trip. - Carl Wilson, (1970)



Walk On

And love is not the easy thing

The only baggage that you can bring...

And love is not the easy thing...

The only baggage you can bring

Is all that you can't leave behind

And if the darkness is to keep us apart

And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off

And if your glass heart should crack

And for a second you turn back

Oh no, be strong

Walk on, walk on

What you got they can't steal it

No they can't even feel it

Walk on, walk on...

Stay safe tonight

You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been

A place that has to be believed to be seen

You could have flown away

A singing bird in an open cage

Who will only fly, only fly for freedom

Walk on, walk on

What you've got they can't deny it

Can't sell it, or buy it

Walk on, walk on

Stay safe tonight

And I know it aches

And your heart it breaks

And you can only take so much

Walk on, walk on

Home... hard to know what it is if you've never had one

Home... I can't say where it is but I know I'm going home

That's where the heart is

and I know it aches

How your heart it breaks

And you can only take so much

Walk on, walk on

Leave it behind

You got to leave it behind

All that you fashion

All that you make

All that you build

All that you break

All that you measure

All that you feel

All this you can leave behind

All that you reason

All that you sense

All that you speak

All you dress-up

All that you scheme...

U2

"There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life."



John Lennon once said that “The Beatles were more popular than Jesus. “ 1970 saw the band that had emerged from the London scene and exploded into America riddled with strife. Some would say that it may have been creative differences, or that perhaps John meeting his future wife Yoko Ono was to blame. Whatever the reason, John Lennon was released from the Beatles, now a famous musician, but also a controversial one who became not only artist but activist. He would have another son. Take a 5 year hiatus from working. He would reside in New York City. He would put out some of the best music of his career.

John Lennon loved New York and New York loved John. John and Yoko settled into a luxury 9 bedroom apartment at the prestigious Dakota building across the street from Central Park. The apartment number would be 72. John had a thing with the number 9. He would often times walk the street along with Yoko and sign autographs for fans willingly. Their favorite café down the street they would catch a meal or a cup of coffee always at the same table.

Shortly after he moved to New York in 1971 John recorded two albums Plastic Ono Band and Imagine. Both can be considered to have solidified his solo career. Imagine would be an album long synonymous with John and considered to be some of his most brilliant. In addition to the acclaimed title track it also features songs like How Do you sleep, which some say is a slide towards Paul McCartney. Plastic Ono band was a group of artists at the time which not only included John and Yoko but other such notables as Eric Clapton. A lot of Beatles fans at the time didn’t get it. They would continue to record after the Beatles broke up and much of their early music would be centered on anti-war protest. During this period in John’s life he became almost a voice for the anti-war movement which largely influences his songwriting. He sought to educate the people about world peace, something that he believed so strongly in, through his music. Recordings such as Instant Karma, Imagine, Give Peace a Chance and the great Ballad of John and Yoko reflect this. That Christmas they release the single Happy Christmas-War is over. They take out an add on a huge billboard in Times Square which reads a lyric from the song “War is over if you want it.” In 1974 John releases Mind Games which is also largely influenced by his life at the time; the songs reflect problems he and Yoko were having and their temporary split, which would find John in Los Angeles on a drug and alcohol binge. He appears in his first ever solo concert that November with Elton John in Madison Square Garden and subsequently their romance is rekindled and they continue on in their life together. He releases the album Rock and Roll shortly thereafter in celebration of some of his most loved songs such as Stand by Me and Peggy Sue.

When John and Yoko reunited they had their son Sean and took a 5 year hiatus from recording. John had such a love for Sean and immersed himself into family life and raising his son. During this period he also focused more so on his artwork, primarily drawings and paintings. He missed a large part of his older son Julian’s upbringing, due in large part to the popularity of the Beatles and the demands of being a member of a group that saw such huge success. He relishes in his role as a stay at home dad and his days are filled with loving and caring for his son. They spend a lot of time at their farm in Upstate New York during this period.

In 1980 John and Yoko recorded the album Double Fantasy. Some may say the album has an almost Disco feel to some of the songs influenced by the avant garde Ono. At the core of the album which brings us up to speed and gives us a glimpse into his life in solitude are the moving and emotional Beautiful Boy and the heartfelt and realistic watching the Wheels. Days after its release Lennon would be shot dead outside The Dakota by a childlike man who calmly would wait for the police to arrive while reading Catcher in The Rye. For a lot of people, it felt as if they had lost their Jesus when he died. He is immortalized through The Strawberry Fields, a part of Central Park dedicated in his memory with 50 plus nations donating to its creation, with Italy donating a huge mosaic which reads the words Imagine. He is as much loved to this day 30 years after his death by his fans and his music is timeless and brilliant. Sean Lennon would give life to the Plastic Ono Band in 2009 and Yoko still burns a candle in memory of John on the anniversary of his death in the window of their apartment in The Dakota to this day.

Spring Semester Redux Elvis at 21



The second album released by Elvis Presley simply self titled Elvis debuted in 1956 and spent a month in the number one slot on the Billboard Top Pop Albums that year and reached sales in the millions. It was the first gold album for the artist. The album followed his debut album 2 years earlier That’s Alright Mama and such hugely successful singles as Heartbreak Hotel and Blue Suede Shoes. The year 1956 finds Elvis Presley as a dashing and dynamic 21 years of age and recently signed by RCA. He is just beginning his career with enthusiasm and his remarkable talent as a musician is turning heads everywhere. He starts acting on the big screen starring in films such as Love Me Tender and scores a number one hit song Jailhouse Rock, King Creole, and Loving You are to follow along with a 7 year contract with Paramount Pictures. He makes his first television appearance on Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey’s Stage Show however it was his performance of Aint Nothin But A Houndog on the Milton Berle Show which earns him the nickname Elvis The Pelvis due to the sexual nature of his moves on stage and the controversial nature of his performance. The girls are driven crazy. His future appearances on the Ed Sullivan show are censored from the waist up. This is where the young man who loves to make music with strong family ties ends and the Legend ….The King of Rock and Roll begins.

Elvis, the album had a lot to live up to after the release of That’s Alright Mama. He became hugely successful during this period. American music was being looked upon differently as a result. There were some who would denounce his music, burn his records and accuse him of corrupting teenagers everywhere however this wouldn’t stop him for when he came on the scene it was like an explosion, it was epic, and left his fans in a frenzy.

Elvis appeals to me largely in part of the up-beat tempo of songs such as Rip it Up. The Rockabilly Sound of Rip It Up, the first song on the album is a popular song for its time having been covered by such artists as Little Richard and The Everly Brothers. It is a rocking and rhythmatic song which has a bit of swing style to it making it easy dance to. Elvis features the kind of fun and upbeat music that makes you want to grab your partner and hit the dance floor.

Interestingly the melodic sounds of Paralyzed feature one of the few songs of the time for which Elvis was actually given writing credit for his rework along with Otis Blackwell. It is a slow paced tune and much like a lot of music on this album has blues and country overtones and a consistent beat. Old Shep tells the story of Red Foleys dog when he was a child. Foley who wrote the song saw it covered by many artists including Presley such as Hank Snow. It became a successful recording on the Country scene. At ten years old it was Presley who sang Old Shep for the first time before an audience at The Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. Long Tall Sally is a “rock and roll 12 bar blues song”. It is featured on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time. It is a bluesy up tempo tune with a shuffle beat and falls into the Rhythm and Blues genre which Elvis so gracefully had begun to master.

Ready Teddy is another song which had been done by Little Richard. I liked this song, and in watching him perform it for his second appearance on the Ed Sullivan show it is easy to see how he beckons the audience with the song as he sings “He is ready ready ready to rock and roll”. It seems as though the crowd is too, “The joints really jumpin and the cats are going wild”, these lyrics are the dynamic of the song and fit the swing style for which was beginning to develop through his songs with a four beat measure for which many feature a steady and swinging groove. What do you think I feel has a Latin vibe. One can imagine the song being sung to the object of his affection, a Spanish girl for whom he feels there is no hope in winning back and who has not been true. It is a fun and playful tune without being too heavy on the lyrics and is more of a catchy instrumental song than it is a ballad as he asks over and over “How do you think I feel… Well I know your loves not real…Well you’ve included three and that’s too much for me...How do you think I feel.” Anyplace is Paradise… (when I’m with you) is a sweet song where he sings the praises of the girl by his side. It is very Rockabilly and the signature love tune on this album. It is a beautiful song with the piano sections and a little Honkey Tonk mixed in. I also enjoy the piano in So Glad Your Mine. The piano flows along with the bass drums and guitar and the result is smooth , low key blues as he croons about “When she kisses me I get high every time”. It is easy to see why the women were driven wild. Presley was consumed by his music and during this period he showcases his full creative ability as an artist through these songs. He becomes one of the most popular entertainers in the world. 1956 was a period, a crossroads of sort, which saw this transition.

At 21 years of age Elvis found great success and went on to become an icon, a legend as an entertainer as he captivated his audience throughout the rest of his career and achieved almost a god like status with his fans after his death. Elvis the album represents him in control of his abilities as an artist. 1956 was the year that he no longer became the local hotshot his name was now known nationwide, it became part of a revolution of sorts with the youth of America and Rock and Roll would never be the same again.

Heart Of Glass



On This Day In 1979 Blondie's Heart of Glass Goes Platinum

 "Heart Of Glass"

Once I had a love and it was a gas

Soon turned out had a heart of glass

Seemed like the real thing, only to find

Much of mistrust, love's gone behind

Once I had a love and it was divine

Soon found out I was losing my mind

It seemed like the real thing but I was so blind

Much of mistrust, love's gone behind



In between

What I find is pleasing and I'm feeling fine

Love is so confusing there's no peace of mind

If I fear I'm losing you it's just no good

You teasing like you do



Once I had a love and it was a gas

Soon turned out had a heart of glass

Seemed like the real thing, only to find

Much of mistrust, love's gone behind



Once I had a love and it was divine

Soon found out I was losing my mind

It seemed like the real thing but I was so blind

Much of mistrust, love's gone behind



Lost inside

Adorable illusion and I cannot hide

I'm the one you're using, please don't push me aside

We could've made it cruising, yeah



Yeah, riding high on love's true bluish light



Once I had a love and it was a gas

Soon turned out I had a heart of glass [radio version]

Soon turned out to be a pain in the ass [album version]

Seemed like the real thing only to find

Much of mistrust, love's gone behind

There is nothing quite like a well written song..

I spent the day researching some great songwriters

Freddie Mercury

Elton John & Bernie Taupin

Axle Rose

John Lennon.....

I was touched & saddened by taking another look at just how affected

people were when Aids became an epidemic in the early 80's

How it was considered Gay Cancer..that a notable physician would be quoted

as saying there was no point to finding a cure, after all the world would be better off

with a few less fags.. look at us now..look at Africa..it breaks my heart...

Elton John called his decision to become sober and stay sober

"one of my greatest lifes achievements."

He wrote the song Someone Saved My Life Tonight about his plight

which can bring tears to my eyes if I let it.

A great song is one in which moves you, makes you understand better what is going on,

makes you take a look at yourself, your lover,

speaks truth when there isn't any...

And Debbie Harry is this kind of songwriter..

I think any woman in love can relate to this song..

She still rocks today just as she did 30 plus years ago..

Inspired as always by The Sunday Creative

Bad LP Covers

Why do Billy Squier & I Keep Ending Up In Akward Positions

 

Billy Squier Now & Then...Hot or Not?

You ever had that one childhood memory that still makes you all giddy and giggle like a school girl to this day? Billy Squier singing Stroke It as he grips his microphone and rubs it up and down is what does it for me..I don't know if it's the too short shorts or the long socks or what but it reminds me of the early days of MTV and the skating rink.. of slow dancing and backwards skating and doing the hokey pokey..of playing the air piano and getting passed up by too fast guys..

This morning I was sitting outside Starbucks in a borrowed Tahoe with a really really good stereo in it..as I flipped through the songs Lonely is The Night came on and of course I cranked it up.. not realizing Jake had put the rear window half way down. Imagine my embarrassment when after noticing a few stares the resident pool guy in town walks by and gives me a strange look. It was then I realized I am jamming out parked right up front just Billy and I in front of like at least 20 people..and the hot guy that cleans pools...Speaking of Starbucks they debuted their new logo yesterday and being the Starbucks whore I am I picked up some pretty nifty things in celebration of their 40 year anniversary..Has it really been 40 years..I am getting all teary eyed..Did you ever have to tell yourself "I will not laugh in Sex Ed class..I will not laugh in Sex Ed class..." I used to have to bite my lips and tongue just to attempt to keep a straight face but inevitably laughed so hard tears would run down my face..That is how I feel whenever I see Billy Squier videos..I went into bitch mode at work today proving to the guys once again that no matter how much they complain about their wives they got nothing on me.I wrote about John Lennon my favorite Renaissance Man and dazzled some fellow music class students..Vegas is around the corner...Happidy Humpin Day!

On this day in 1932, Johnny Cash was born. Happy Birthday and rest in peace.

On this day in 1943, George Harrison was born. Happy Birthday to you and may you rest in peace.

Rufus Wainwright welcomes a daughter

Rufus Wainwright welcomes a daughter


Pop opera singer Rufus Wainwright is now a father. He recently welcomed daughter Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen with fiancé Jorn Weisbrodt. Their friend Lorca Cohen, whose dad is legendary songwriter Leonard Cohen, gave birth to Viva on Feb. 2 in Los Angeles. Wainwright announced the good news on his website with this statement:



"Darling daughter Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen was born on February 2, 2011 in Los Angeles, California to proud parents Lorca Cohen, Rufus Wainwright and Deputy Dad Jorn Weisbrodt. The little angel is evidently healthy, presumably happy and certainly very very beautiful.



Daddy #1 would like to offer everyone a digital cigar and welcome the little lady in with a French phrase from his favorite folk song, A La Claire Fontaine: 'Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, jamais je ne t'oublierai'