Showing posts with label Pink. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pink. Show all posts

Monday, December 18, 2017

Women of Heart and Mind

50 Amazing Signs from Women’s Marches Across the Globe
As this year of 2017 wraps up in a couple of weeks, I'm going to pick up with a blog I did in January called, Our Democracy and Takin' It To The Streets. The focus was on the March, 21st Women's March across the world. In the time since, it has been quite a year through the total black hole experience of Donald Trump, and the emergence and sustainability of the #MeToo movement. Even with the dark shadow of Trump, women have emerged from behind all shadows and came to triumph and own this year.

As a man, I've become so sick and tired of male politicians, business moguls, actors and news people evoking their daughters into the public dialog either in their own defense of sexual allegations against them, or pontificating on how they are a protector of women. So, as a father of two daughters, two step-daughters and three granddaughters, I say, BULLSHIT. Men in general need to stop being hypocritical about their simultaneous protection and sexual objectification of women, and simply behave and treat ALL women with respect as equals.

My admiration of women runs deep and started young. I remember when I was probably eleven or twelve years old, I had a paper route. At the end of each month, I would go around and collect the money subscriptions door to door. On occasion, somebody would stiff me by moving out without paying me and I would lose my take as the newspaper delivery rules stated that it was my responsibility to make the collection. On one such occasion, a couple moved and didn't pay me. My mother actually tracked this couple down, took me in her car to their new location, walked with me to the door, and demanded payment when a shocked man opened the door. I'll never forgot the man's expression but better yet, my mom's smile to me on the walk back to the car with the cash in my hand.

As a teenager in the 1970's, I started listening to music as a passion. Men dominated rock 'n' roll but I began listening and buying records by women, especially women singer-songwriters. I loved Carol King, Linda Ronstadt, Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell to name some of the greats of the day. Their perspective in song, helped shape me. If you were a guy back in the day and were into Joni Mitchell, well that didn't hurt in your conversations with girls, but more importantly, Joni made you think about things a little differently than most male songwriters.

During this month, I've watched three TV streaming shows of significance that actually inspired the writing of this post. I recommend you see all three in the weeks ahead. First on Netflix, Godless, a western that turns the "damsels in distress" thing on it's head. Second on Amazon, Good Girls Revolt, a "Mad Men" from a woman's perspective with three key female leads working at Newsweek magazine in 1969-1970. (As a side note- as you watch the opening credits, you'll see a paperboy on his bike throwing a paper somewhere towards a house. I swear to God that kid looked like/was me.) And third on Amazon, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a housewife in the 1950s decides to become a stand-up comic. In all three shows, the women are front and center, great writing, acting and must sees for watching in the year of 2017.

In putting the playlist together for this post, I couldn't help but notice the increased level of empowerment by women singers as the decades rolled up to current times. I hope you enjoy my mix of old and newer songs performed by women of heart and mind, and if you're a guy out there, there's wisdom to be mined here toward our respect, work, and gift of women in our lives. And, a final thought, women are going to save this world, just as they have always done.

Monday, October 23, 2017

New Album Releases - October, 2017

After last week's blog on new album releases from July-September, 2017, I decided to look ahead and see what is coming this month on the Wikipedia 2017 album release list. Minus several groups getting the jump on the Christmas season and Marilyn Manson, I found so many good songs on new albums released in October, and had a list of 35 after a couple of days of search and listen on YouTube. Topping the list are Liam Gallagher's As Your Were and, Weezer's Pacific Daydream.

Liam Gallagher, the lead singer of Oasis has his first solo album out after his breakup with lead songwriter and brother, Noel. Check out the Rolling Stone article, Liam Gallagher's Sweet Revenge. Liam's got a fantastic voice and I just love the songs on this album. You also got to love his working class scowl not to mention his f bomb in almost every spoken sentence in the article.

The song on Pacific Daydream that is playing through my brain this past week is Beach Boys as Rivers Cuomo's affinity for naming artists in his songs continues. I love that "Weezer" is the nickname Rivers' dad gave him as a toddler. In reading his bio, I enjoyed that he worked at Tower Records, as that could simply be anyone's musical education right there. I wish I had worked at the Sports Arena Blvd. store in San Diego when I was in college, miss Tower.  Anyway, Beach Boys has now moved to the top on my playlist for this week.

For an Americana flavor, check out Margo Price's new album All American Made and Lee Ann Womack's The Lonely, the Lonesome & the Gone

Also featured in the playlist are new albums from Pink (with a good range of songs on Beautiful Trauma) Beck, Boyz II Men, Kelly Clarkson, Niall Horan, Robert Plant, and Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile.

I end the playlist with Jason Isbell live with his six night October performances at the Ryman. Here's his tribute to Tom Petty with American Girl.

Monday, March 02, 2015

Breaking Format - Updated



If you listen to music on your car radio, you probably are constantly flipping your preset station buttons. I often just turn off the radio and listen to my own tunes on my smartphone. I live in San Diego and after all these years of trying every station up and down the dial, I always fall back to just one station now. I love rock, pop, jazz, blues, folk and americana to name a few genres, but a lot of the music I want to hear is just not on FM radio today. This month I turn the big six oh, so I've heard a lot of rock n roll in my time, but on the radio you are only going to hear the big big hits from the narrow narrow radio formats.

jazz88.3.png
So what music do I listen to on the radio? KSDS Jazz 88.3. It is bar none the best music radio station in San Diego County. Why? Because they play such a variety of jazz and blues. On Jazz 88.3, you will never hear the same song twice in a week and probably not in a month. As people get older they tend to get more conservative in life, with the exception of music. It is one of those magical things in life as most people actually expand their musical tastes over the years. With many young people, it is just the opposite. I strongly recommend Jazz 88.3 to anyone young and older who were just raised on hip hop or rock n roll, respectively.  If you live in San Diego, give it a try for week and let me know if you have ‘expanded’ your radio listening.

Now to television, a medium that is actually getting better with cable and pay for view programming. Last week, I got a couple of pleasant surprises to shake my 'ol preconceptions about two current and very popular music artists. Gotta love it when that happens.

Image result for You+Me roseave
First, I'm watching my favorite music tv station, Pallada owned by VH1 (Time Warner Ch. 286, San Diego). Pallada gets it, they play shows and concerts from a very eclectic range of pop and rock people, good stuff. I came across, You+Me: Live in Santa Monica (check TV scheduling) , a folk duo project by Dallas Green and Alecia Moore (better known as P!nk or Pink). What? Pink doing folk, I was shaking my head, this should be interesting. Well, it was. It was better than that, it was damn good! These two artists and their vocals together are a perfect match and it blew me away. I actually got the goosebumps tingle. You know the tingle, that feeling that goes up the back of your spine to your neck hairline when you witness something special.



Second up, it’s the 2015 Academy Awards, not a great show this year, but then came on Lady Gaga. Like Pink, not a person I sit down and listen to (like change the preset button or channel). I know she has being doing her thing with Tony Bennett, doing standards and I was getting to start to appreciate her range, but then this The Sound of Music film tribute...and I'm stunned. Hey, I was also getting the goosebumps tingle again and with music coming from network TV! It was something like watching a great scene from Breaking Bad, it was that good. So just sit back and appreciate the work and respect she gives.