Can't let go

You remember your first concert?
I do for sure...Robert Plant at Reunion Arena.


I've never been particularly fond of the former Led Zeppelin lead, but there was something electric about the show. Aside from being the first I smelled weed (I still can't believe it was that easy to just smoke pot in public like half the crowd was doing), I remember thinking "I want to see more....I can't get enough".

That's when it all started, I couldn't stop. A day after my fourteenth birthday I chose my poison. That first live show brought to me a world that I had only seen on limited television coverage. As a youngster I really couldn't see many live shows - no driver's license, fairly strict catholic parents, and age restrictions all kept me caged. I was a fairly sheltered child, overly protected by very well meaning parents. But I reminisced about that show for the next two years...until IT happened.

Q102 Welcomes An Evening With
THE CURE!



A few of us barely sixteen year olds went to this show. This was the big one. The Cure was a band I had listened to for a few years at the time, and this tour supported a double album that was filled with all sorts of ear candy. There I was in Reunion once again only this time the stars were aligned for me. Good friends, great band, about to get my driver's license...lights go black...a big pair of lips appeared on the screen in front of the stage...inaudible over the screaming groups of goth posers searching for acceptance...then the screen drops and there they are! The bass opening of "The Kiss" building anticipation to the wailing guitars...
I hoped the show would never end and we weren't even eight bars in to the first song.

Not long after that incredible night, I was dealt a hand that would change my life forever. Less than seven months after The Cure, my mother would be taken from me.
She had been diagnosed with cancer that summer of '87, my life was in a tailspin. Everything took a backseat after that. Back at public schools and in and out of summer school because of a messed up head...live shows were not even on the scope.
It wasn't until almost two years later that I was able to re-capture that fire. By some grace of a higher power I was able to graduate high school on time. A radio station (KEGL) was giving away tickets to a show in the parking lot of our high school. That's right they were giving them away by the hundreds 'cause no one was buying them. That show - Tears for Fears at the Starplex (for the record I still call it that).



The show was great...say what you want...they were great live. This was the therapy I needed to break out. From that point forward I was going to shows every chance I got, only I had sought something more meaningful. Sort of a starving artist hunger in a performer. I wanted to see those bands that had to lug around their own equipment...equipment that broke down...and they had to make due with whatever was available.
I was also searching for something far different in sound - in comes the industrial revolution. A lot of the industrial music of today has been weakened by advanced technology that bands like NIN, Front 242, FLA, and Skinny Puppy pioneered.

Over the years I started meeting the artists (I've been very fortunate in whom I've met early in their careers)...I was extremely surprised at how accepting most of the artists were of my annoying questions. I remember asking Moby (who was possibly one of the nicest guys I had ever talked to) "Why did you choose the DX-7?". I'm such a dork.

Now, I love looking back on all of my old ticket stubs, newspaper clippings, pictures, and autographs.



Music is what I needed throughout my life for the good and bad times alike.
Oddly enough back in '90 was when I met my wife, when I was going to shows at least twice a week. The very reason we even met was because of The Cure. Now, almost half a lifetime later I'm much healthier in life.

Today, there are a few things I refuse to let go of......my mother, my music, my wife.
I guess you could say the stars are back in alignment.

Why aren't you dancing?

Who cares if you know the song or not?
You like the beat? Is the hook catchy?
Then what's holding you up?


Too often people won't get on the dance floor because they don't recognize the song.
I can honestly say I was never held back from dancing because it was a song I didn't know. In fact if it was a new song I had not heard before...it motivated me even more to prove my rhythm.
For some reason as a young boy I had no problem shaking my groove thang. As an adult...I still can't help it. In fact when I hear a new beat I really lose it...I think to myself "now that song is going to shake the room big time".

Earlier this year I was spinning some pretty standard stuff that packs the floor when I decided to throw in a brand new(at the time) song. I made the risky move of playing a song on the week it was released...
That song was "4 minutes" by Madonna, JT, and of course Timbo. Now 99% of people would say oh that song kicks much rear....and I would dance to that in a heart beat. Well yes now you would, but back then it cleared the floor in a matter of about 4 seconds - never mind minutes.

Why?
Why?
Why?
What the heck?
Of course after it has gained traction everyone wants it played a hundred times.

This issue crosses so many boundaries it's not even funny. From gender to race to self esteem....the list goes on...there's just too many.
I think one of the best examples I witnessed of dropping inhibitions and just dancing came when I was watching a classic episode of Soul Train. This episode featured a band from Japan called "Yellow Magic Orchestra". They did a song called "Tighten Up" and the crowd loved it. Now I know what you're saying "they're on TV...they're supposed to act like the like it". Well there's genuine joy and there is manufactured joy.....and that wasn't manufactured.
Here is a group of five people from Japan lip syncing a song, originally by Archie Bell & The Drells (yes a cover song), the Soul Train crowd probably never heard before(assumption)....and they were going nuts. I had never heard the song before that episode but I assure you as soon as I hit record on the dvr my butt was up and shaking. I can only imagine what it was like feeling the energy in the room that day....I bet it was an absolute blast...and I am completely jealous of times like that. If you watch the interview with sir Don it's obvious there was mayhem in the audience. Here take a look:




Please get out there - make a fool of yourself - nobody cares - enjoy the music!

Tributes ~ Remakes ~ Covers

Ah...the ever controversial cover song.

What's the harm? We all sing in our cars, showers, beds (huh?)...anyway...

Sometimes cover songs are really well done but rarely get the respect they deserve and other times they are flat out awful and everyone hates them.

Unfortunately it's not uncommon to have a die hard fan of the original version completely against anyone remaking their favorite band's music. They treat the offending band producing the cover as if they just committed a cardinal sin.

I understand the offensive nature of someone screwing up your art, love, and passion; however, if the offending band is really trying to pay tribute to the original artist...I really don't have a problem with them having a go at it.....

I really just wanted to make another post for entertainment purposes....so....on with the show.
Here are a few covers that will make your jaw drop.

Let me start with one of my all time favorites. If you have known me for any amount of time then you have to know this...ummm.....performer....person....whatev....here she is Ms. Sondra Prill performing Janet Jackson's "Nasty":





I highly recommend you look up other gems by Sondra Prill. Another favorite which, like nasty, features her screaming like a banshee is the classic Technotronic song "Pump up the Jam".

Now this next one is a cover I recently came across and was quite shocked. I don't know how to explain this...I'm fairly certain it was supposed to be a remake of Michael Jackson's "Thriller".....but about the only thing it shares musically with the original is part of the bassline. I'm not sure the lyrics are correct....if someone could please tell me if he is actually singing the original or not I would appreciate it. It would at least give me some closure to my sleepless nights sucking my thumb in the fetal position - in the corner of my bedroom.......
Clearly he performed this on a 1987 version of the classic keyboard by casio (the SK-1.....yeah that's right...shout out to my homie Milazzo).
Oh god...I can't believe I'm doing this help me:





This last one I must admit had me wondering wth. As a DJ I get the original requested all the time. It's a classic that brings back memories of killer camaros and winged haircuts.
I'm apalled.
Here is Celine Dion doing AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" (someone help):




The list of awful covers goes on and if you just google "worst cover songs" you'll find some real gems out there. It appears that no one is immune ~ just put me in a bubble to keep me away from this drivel.