Words about Music
Who, Exactly, Is the World?
Monday, February 15th, 2010OK, it’s impossible not to compare, so here we go. Two groups of people who boldly claim, “We are the World.” Which group do you prefer?
Obviously, these are both wonderful causes, so I’m comparing only music videos here.
I guess I’m predisposed to prefer the original, since it’s how I first heard the song, and contains a larger percentage of artists that I know and/or identify with. That said, the new version is growing on me. I’m surprised by how much I like the rap breaks, both in the middle and at the end. I think what Wyclef Jean did with Creole lyrics and singing style went a long way toward making this an effort in Haitian relief, and not just a remake of the original song. I like the way they incorporated Michael Jackson into it (the image of Janet singing next to her brother is the first tribute to his legacy that doesn’t feel commercialized in some way), and I love the Ray Charles impression that Jamie Foxx threw in to honor another of the original’s stand-out artists.
On the other hand, I’m mystified about why they changed the lyrics to one of the verses (was there a religious objection to “As God has shown us by turning stone to bread?”). I’m surprised by Celine Dion’s choice to imitate, note for note, what Cyndi Lauper did with her part (with apparent coaching from Lionel Richie?), rather than bringing her own interpretation to the song. I think teen sensation, Justin Bieber, is going to get a big bump in face-recognition from singing the first solo (”There comes a time…”), but that most people will conclude that his voice was too weak to handle it. And I’m deeply, deeply troubled by the acceptance of auto-tune as a musical choice by folks Lil Wayne and others. If melodic singing isn’t his thing, then find someone else to do Bob Dylan’s part, please? That, or for heaven’s sake, someone please improve the auto-tune technology so it doesn’t sound like a robot attempting to sing such soulful lyrics!
In the end, I still prefer the original, but I’m glad they both exist. And if the new one is nearly as successful as the original in raising money for a good cause, then I’m doubly glad they put in the time and effort.
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Carrie Fisher, Episode Two – Attack of the Country Singing Clones
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
It seems that country singing superstar Carrie Underwood is engaged to marry the NHL’s Ottowa Senators’ Mike Fisher. Which, in the extremely unlikely event that she chose to change her world-famous name, would make her Carrie Fisher.
Attention 40-something year-old men: you may now commence picturing Carrie Underwood in a metal bikini. That is all…
Categories: Sports Talk, Words about Music | 5 Comments »
Random Acts of Blogging – 12/3/09
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009So many blog-worthy things going on in the world all at once! So, some quick thoughts on several things:
Adam Lambert emerged from his #2 finish on American Idol as one of the most promising singing talents in years. At the American Music Awards, he decided to make his performance a social statement, rather than make it about the music. He’s since been cancelled by ABC from Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. And the shows that are letting him on suddenly want to talk about nothing else but the AMA’s. I’m disappointed. Not because I have a particular opinion about his “cause,” but because he’s allowed his cause to overshadow his music, which I was looking forward to enjoying. On the upside, I think maybe he’s realizing his mistake. Here’s what he told Ellen Degeneres:
It was maybe a little too far. I think in hindsight I look back on it and I go, “OK, maybe that wasn’t the best first impression to make again, the first second impression.” I mean, I had fun up there, I had a good time, my dancers had fun and the band had fun. I respect people and feel like people walked away from that feeling disrespected. I would never intend to disrespect anybody. So that was not my intention.
What he needs now is a musical “reset” – another spotlight moment, like the AMA’s, in which he knocks everyone’s socks off musically, and convinces people that music is his thing, not social commentary.
Tiger Woods released the following statement yesterday:
[N]o matter how intense curiosity about public figures can be, there is an important and deep principle at stake which is the right to some simple, human measure of privacy. I realize there are some who don’t share my view on that. But for me, the virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate and within one’s own family. Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn’t have to mean public confessions.
Whatever regrets I have about letting my family down have been shared with and felt by us alone. I have given this a lot of reflection and thought and I believe that there is a point at which I must stick to that principle even though it’s difficult.
I wish every celebrity in the world would memorize these two paragraphs and recite them whenever some nosy reporter presumes to suggest that his/her private life is somehow my business.
Tiger had a car accident and knocked over a fire hydrant. He needs to explain that to the police, and hence, to the public. If someone were knocking over fire hydrants in my neighborhood, I’d want to know who, where and why. That’s a public safety issue and a law enforcement issue. However, if the answer to “Why?” is “domestic dispute” or “private matter,” then I have no need or desire to know more.
Michaele and Tareq Salahi are the latest in a series of Reality TV inspired stupidity. Years ago, people would do dumb things to get noticed, to be sure, but the result was rarely more than the standard fifteen minutes of fame. Today, with the institutional backing (and financing) of a Reality TV Show’s production company, exhibitionists like these have the capability of distracting the entire nation for fifteen days, not fifteen minutes. The Salahi’s, like the Balloon Boy family before them, only benefit from their actions if they get caught. And even though the news media knows this, they play right into the perpetrators’ hands, because they also know that it sells soap. My only hope is that the largely negative reaction to both the Salahi’s and the Heene’s dissuade Reality TV producers from pulling stunts like this in the future. Because the media is certainly not going to show any restraint.
HBO recently aired the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 25th Anniversary Concert. Culling through two nights of music, they presented a “mere” four hours of musical genius, ranging from Stevie Wonder to Simon & Garfunkel to Aretha Franklin to Crosby, Stills & Nash to U2 to Metallica to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Add to that a truly amazing array of “guest stars,” such as James Taylor, Joe Cocker, Smokey Robinson, Sting, BB King, Bonnie Rait, and Billy Joel. As I watch these folks float on and off the Madison Square Garden stage, all I can think is, “These are the masters that today’s musical acts can only dream of approximating.” I’m not a fan of every musical style in the show, but the amount of raw musical talent on display is so far and away beyond the artists of today, that one wonders what the 50th Anniversary show could possibly have to offer. Maybe it’s just my age showing…
Categories: News and/or Media, Political Rantings, Random Acts of Blogging, Words about Music | 4 Comments »
ISBS Concert Review: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live at Giants Stadium – October 3, 2009
Sunday, October 4th, 2009
Good evening, New Jersey!
Last night at Giants Stadium, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band put on a three-hour extravaganza that proved conclusively that adrenaline can power a rock & roll band every bit as much as an electric guitar.
Billed as his farewell to Giants Stadium (a new Giants Stadium is nearing completion in the parking lot next door, and will open for business with next year’s football season), Bruce and the band powered through twenty-eight songs (setlist), providing the required momentum for the near-perpetual motion machine that is his loyal fan base.
Categories: ISBS Reviews, Words about Music | 5 Comments »
And the Walls Came Tumbling Down…
Monday, August 10th, 2009
Ladies & gentlemen, let it be known that there is officially one more trumpeter in the world tonight! Also, may I remind everyone, that the music room in our house is soundproof.
Avery’s goal: to play The Red and the Blue with the Penn Band at Homecoming (November 7 against Princeton). Lessons have begun!
(NOTE: Click on the picture (or click here) to see a brief slideshow of pictures)
Categories: Family Matters, Words about Music | 1 Comment »
Stand By Me, Iran…
Thursday, July 9th, 2009Here’s Jon Bon Jovi and Iranian singer Andy Madadian collaborating on “Stand by Me,” sung in both Farsi and English, and meant to be distributed around the world, but especially around Iran.
It’s the brainchild of American record producer (and bassist on the recording), Don Was. The site also has the MP3 available for free download.
(Hat tip: Jason Bennion)
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What do you think of when you see this bird?
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
When you see the picture on the right, what do you think of? Recent polling suggests that if you were born in:
…the 1940’s or 1950’s, you think: Woodstock – 3 Days of Peace & Music
…the 1960’s or 1970’s, you think: The Partridge Family – Come on, Get Happy!
…the 1980’s or 1990’s, you think: Twitter for Guitar?
(NOTE: This post inspired by a certain cousin of mine, who shall, at least for now, remain nameless…)
Categories: Primetime TV, Random Acts of Blogging, Words about Music | 2 Comments »
Scaling the Internet for really big news
Friday, June 26th, 2009According to CNN, when Michael Jackson died, he almost took significant parts of the Internet with him. Sites that experienced slowness or outright downtime included Google News, TMZ, Perez Hilton’s blog, CNN, Twitter, Wikipedia, the LA Times’ site, AOL Instant Messenger, and MJFanClub.net (a Michael Jackson fan site).
The article calls it the biggest mobile event in history:
AOL consumer adviser Regina Lewis . . .told CNN that, although the numbers weren’t in yet, the day should prove an historic milestone for mobile internet traffic. “It could go down as the biggest mobile event in history,” Lewis said. She felt that was down in part to people checking news headlines from work. “People wanted to keep tabs on this story, but if you’re an accountant you’re supposed to be working on your spreadsheet. So they were using their personal cellphones to do so,” she explained.
While the scale of response to Jackson’s death might be unprecedented, the pattern of it was not, Lewis added. “With the advent of social networking, we saw a sequence that we traditionally see around the death of celebrities,” she said. “One, people clamour for the latest news; two, they share it; three, they react; and then the next stage, which we’re seeing alive and well on video sites … are tributes. In the case of Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett, (people have) a lot to work with in terms of images and video,” she said.
A similar event that comes to mind (purely from an infromation technology point of view) is September 11, 2001. On that day, cell phones and web sites had huge outages as well, with some web sites reverting to plain text feeds in order to maximize their use of bandwidth to get information disseminated.
What’s different here, is that almost eight years later, the number of mobile devices in the world has dramatically increased, as has the breadth and depth of bandwidth-hogging rich media, like video clips. So, while scaling to handle another 9/11 involved adding more web servers and IP bandwidth, solving this problem is going to be a bit more complex. Network infrastructure folks, responding to Michael Jackson’s death, will have to respond to a wider variety of devices, protocols, and data objects moving around concurrently.
Yet another way Michael Jackson inadvertently changed the world…
Categories: Tech Talk, Words about Music | 1 Comment »
Going…Going…Gone.
Thursday, June 25th, 2009How different the world is today than it was just a couple of days ago…
R.I.P.: Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson
Categories: Primetime TV, Words about Music | No Comments »
Billy Joel separates from Katie Lee, 0-3 on marriages
Thursday, June 18th, 2009The news today says that Billy Joel and his wife of five years, Katie Lee Joel, have separated.
It calls to my mind the words he wrote back in February of 2007 (the only words he’s written in sixteen years):
All My Life, I’ve paid for my mistakes.
After a while, the strongest spirit breaks.I’ve had heartache and pain that cut me deeper than a knife.
Ah, but those days are done, ’cause you’re the one
I’ve wanted All My LifeAnd I know very well there’s a long road to hell
that’s been paved with intentions like mine.All My Life, my stars were surely crossed.
Now and then, I missed the love I lost.But all that changed the day you said you’d be my wife.
Who could have known that finding you would only take me
All My Life.
Not so much, I guess…
NOTE: I’m not judging here – while I’m a big fan of his music, I don’t know Billy Joel, so I’m certainly not in a position to say what he did or didn’t do wrong in his life. It does occur to me that he’s now married three very different kinds of women – the smart, business-minded one, the beautiful, successful one, and the young and out-going one. And he hasn’t been able to make any of them stick.
My wife and I are coming up on our fifteenth anniversary. I can’t write beautiful words like the ones above, but I know today (as surely as I knew back in 1994) that our marriage will end when someone’s heart stops beating, and not before. So I guess what I’m saying is, today’s a good day not to take that kind of certainty for granted.
Categories: Family Matters, Words about Music | 1 Comment »