The Story of David Bowie – interview / documentary – 2002 (part 1 / 6)

I watched all six parts of this last night. An interesting account…

Steve Winwood Back in the Highlife Again!

I was in the used bookstore yesterday and heard this groovy sounding Steve Winwood music playing in the background.

As I pondered the book titles I searched my memory and, no matter how hard I tried, couldn’t locate the record I was listening to. It sounded very 70s and I thought I knew just about every Blind Faith, Traffic and Steve Winwood tune there is.

So on exiting the store I asked the man at the counter… “What is this lp?”

“Steve Winwood,” he replied.

“I know that…” I said. “But what album?”

“Nine Lives,” he said. “It just came out Tuesday.”

Well, I haven’t heard all of it yet but from my initial sampling it seems that Mr. Winwood has rediscovered his muse, big time.

This isn’t a flashy sound. And it probably won’t make the bubblegum (or should I say razor blade) charts. But Winwood fans should be happy.

It’s really a statement…

Is that a Mexican poncho or is that a Sears poncho?

Frank Zappa on Crossfire

Here he is, some 22 years later, still as vibrant and ripping as always. When I was watching this I felt like screaming out… REPRESENTATION REPRESENTATION… the word you’re looking for is REPRESENTATION… and it is not necessarily the same thing as ADVOCACY.

Still, I admire the way Zappa for the most part keeps his cool.

Even more interesting is how the American moral agenda has changed so much in just 22 years.

Depeche Mode – People are People

People Are People

I remember when this was state of the art. Still rings true…

Hey hey You you…

High octane Canadian-born rocker Avril Lavigne is being sued by a 70′s California band for apparently lifting one of their hooks. The following video presents both songs in question.

After watching I’d say it’s one of those “on the line” things. Oldtimers like myself will also remember the Rolling Stones’ “Hey hey You you… get off my cloud.”

I play around with composing pop music myself and the more I get into it, the more I realize that many pop songs are quite similar. And not only pop. I’ve also found strains of classical music that reappear among the so-called great composers.

Was Avril ‘channeling’ from the muses as she wrote? Or perhaps unconsciously synthesizing stuff she heard as a two-year-old? Who can say? I guess the courts will decide, unless the case is settled out of court…