So Halloween is in the rear-view mirror…and I guess the Christmas season will soon begin (like today). But in this post Halloween lull, we should all be concerned about something near and dear to my heart…dental hygiene. Those who know me well are aware that for the last four years I’ve been a consultant for […]
Song Of The Day – “Electricity (Drugs)” by Talking Heads
In deference to friends and family on the East Coast, I’ve postponed my Halloween posting this year in favor of some much needed “Electricity.” When it was released on their 1979 album “Fear Of Music,” the Talking Heads song “Electricity” was renamed “Drugs.” But since family and friends back east could probably use some electricity […]
Song Of The Day – “Five Feet High And Rising” by Johnny Cash
Here’s another one for family and friends on the East Coast who are enduring the big storm. While Sandy blows through your town, I hope you are hangin’ tight with enough food, water, booze and most importantly, electricity! While “Frankenstorm” is indeed a force of nature not to be messed with, so was Johnny Cash, […]
Song Of The Day – “Buckets Of Rain” by Bette Midler with Bob Dylan
Here’s one for those of us who are watching Sandy from afar…good luck to you all! This great duet/cover comes to you from Bette Midler’s 1976 album “Songs For The New Depression.” The session came about because Dylan had hoped Midler would join him on the Rolling Thunder Revue with an eye towards her being […]
Song Of the Day by Eric Berman – “Peace Like A River” by Paul Simon
Can you imagine signing up for a college course in songwriting, and showing up on the first day of class to find that your professor is none other than Paul Simon. Such was the reality for some lucky NYU students in 1971 including Maggie and Terre Roche of The Roches and Melissa Manchester. Teaching was […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Head Over Heels/Broken” by Tears For Fears
There never was a “sophomore slump” for the duo of Roland Orzabel and Curt Smith, the ‘80s synth-pop duo better known to the world as Tears For Fears. While their debut album “The Hurting” topped the charts in their native UK, it was their second album “Songs From The Big Chair” that did the trick […]
Song Of The Day – “Nutted By Reality” by Nick Lowe
Here’s some “Pure Pop For Now People” which is the American name for Nick Lowe’s 1978 debut solo record titled “Jesus Of Cool” in England. The American and English editions of the record featured different covers with an array of images of Nick Lowe dressed in different types of garb, and both editions sport different […]
Song Of The Day – “Ride My Llama” by Neil Young
This “extraterrestrial folk song” from Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s 1978 tour and resultant 1979 “Rust Never Sleeps” album really hits my sweet spot. The song was recorded live at The Cow Palace in San Francisco, like most of the tracks from the “Rust” collection. It has a haunting chord progression with a prickly guitar […]
Song Of The Day – “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive ” by Johnny Mercer
With a resume that includes writing the lyrics to some of the greatest songs of the 20th century including “Goody Goody,” “I’m An Old Cowhand,” “Too Marvelous For Words,” “Hooray For Hollywood,” “You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby,” “Jeepers Creepers,” “And The Angels Sing,” “Sweet Georgia Brown,” “G.I. Jive,” “Day In Day Out,” “I […]
Song Of The Day – “Streamline” by Artie Shaw
“Benny Goodman played clarinet, I played music.” Such was the animosity between the two main clarinet-playing band leaders during the height of the big band era. While both musicians were exemplary, Artie Shaw was far more inventive in his soloing, composition style, use of instrumentation and crucially, in the arena of arrangements. Shaw held a […]
