Happy Valentine’s Day, Lovers!
This is either the happiest day or the saddest day of the year, depending upon the state of your love life. As a happily married man, I’ve enjoyed a permanent valentine for twenty years and we tend to celebrate any old time we please. It works out well.
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
As music lovers, my valentine and I are both great fans of the Great American Songbook standard “My Funny Valentine” — a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical “Babes in Arms.”
I’m sure you’ve heard it. This popular jazz standard has appeared on over 1300 albums performed by over 600 artists. It’s even been performed on “American Idol,” so even the Gen-X, Y or Z kids should know it.
Whether your favorite version is traditional (like Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra) or jazzy (like Miles Davis or Chet Baker), you can probably find a version to suit your mood.
Name your favorite performer, and chances are, you’ll find a recording of this song. Michael Bublé? Too easy. Jerry Garcia? Believe it or not — YES.
The perennial song was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Of course the music is absolutely beautiful, but the lyrics make this the ultimate valentine song.
Read more on The Most Popular Valentine Song EVER!…
Filed under Music by on Feb 13th, 2012. Comment. 
Craig Ward, Bassist for Bunkhouse Boys
The Ward boys learn their rocking chops in the woodshed and nearly found a new religion when they play hard rock in church.
Filed under Music by on Dec 12th, 2011. Comment.
On a rare outing of this type, Wifey and I took in the “Local Grooves, Local Brews” night at House Of Blues in San Diego’s Gaslamp quarter Oct. 21.
14 bands, 4 songs each alternating between two stages. It has to be a logistical nightmare, but SD’s ace promoter Cathryn Beeks pulled it off again.
I couldn’t last all night — I probably couldn’t have even 30 years ago. The crowd grew thicker, the volume got louder, and it was really a stress-fest as the evening wore on.
I did discover one amazing band — opening group Queen Divas of the Universe had the crowd in the palm of their hands from their first power chords.
Lady Rockers Queen Divas Of The Universe
Low point? Well, I don’t want to name names, and of course it’s all a matter of opinion, but when a group has nothing better to do than make outer-space sound effects, I think they need a little better career guidance. Just sayin’ …
Volume is not an artistic achievement. It’s usually a sign of animmature band or an inexperienced sound engineer. An amped-up audience isn’t a good guide to good sound.
For somebody who doesn’t like crowds — and who usually doesn’t DO crowds — I think I held in there pretty good. The bar was filled to the brim with people more interested in making the scene than with music lovers, so I admire all the performers for sticking out their, uh, necks and putting on a bang-up show.
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WADE
Filed under Music by on Oct 24th, 2011. Comment.
Singer Bobby McFerrin is 61.
Country singer Jimmy Fortune of the Statler Brothers is 56.
Singer Lisa Loeb is 43.
Singer Pete Droge is 42.
Let’s all sing them a song –
WADE
Filed under Music by on Mar 11th, 2011. Comment.
The entire music industry is controlled by four multi-national corporations –
- Universal Music Group — Interscope Geffen A&M, The Island Def Jam Music Group, Universal Motown Republic Group, Decca Label Group, The Verve Music Group, A&M/Octone
- Sony Entertainment Group — RCA/Jive Records, J Records and Columbia/Epic, Arista, Legacy, Masterworks and various latin and country labels.
- Warner Music Group — Warner Bros, Elektra, Rhino, Atlantic and most of the major music publishing companies
- EMI Group — Angel, Astralwerks, Blue Note, Capitol, Capitol Latin, Capitol Records Nashville, EMI Classics, EMI CMG, EMI Records, EMI Records Nashville, Manhattan, Parlophone, Virgin Classics and Virgin Record
There’s not much left to gobble up. It’s already a conglomeration of conglomerates — all merged and homogeneous. So the only thing left is incest.
The big news today is that Doug Morris — Worldwide Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Universal Music Group since 1995 — is moving over to Sony Entertainment Group as CEO.
The specialty of this 73-year-old (caucasian) music veteran? Hip Hop and Rap.
I’m glad I don’t have to pull up to a stop light next to the chauffeured limo driving him to work, as I’ll bet it has an ass-kicking subwoofer system that gives you a concussion from a block away. Yo!
D-Mor with homies Jay-Z and his posse
After exploiting piloting the careers of Jay-Z, Nelly, Lil Wayne, Erykah Badu and Kanye West, D-Mor (my new nickname for him) will be rubbing elbows with J. Cole, Three 6 Mafia, Wyclef Jean and OutKast.
Actually they will be rubbing their lips somewhat south of D-Mor’s elbows.
So, if you are gonna sell your soul to The Man — D-More, “You da man!”
Maybe someday, the music business will return to … umm … music. It won’t be the models and body-builders who are rewarded with contracts to make videos, but maybe people who can actually sing, or play an instrument or do something besides sample somebody else’s hit songs, scratch records and recite a page from a rhyming dictionary will be able to record audio.
WADE
Filed under Music by on Mar 3rd, 2011. Comment.
