I have been a fan of Pete Yorn since he released a great debut album, musicforthemorningafter, in 2001. Yorn combined his rock roots with amazing songwriting to just really take to the forefront of rock music for the new millennium, earning a four-star review from Rolling Stone, and being named an artist to watch by the music magazine. Last year, he recorded an album with actress Scarlett Johansson that scored pretty well on the charts.
Not long ago, Yorn played a show in Philadelphia in affiliation with WXPN and NPR, which can be found online. To make it easier, you can just hit the play button below, and hear the entire concert. I did, and loved it. Seemed like a great way to spend a Friday night, listening to a hot-looking man singing.
I had a recent suggestion/request, and I guess I just can't say no to Miss Ginger Grant. After all, I am here to deliver. In 1989, a raven-haired Brit took control of the airwaves with an amazing song that soared up charts with the second single from her debut album. Lisa Stansfield hit #1 on the R&B and Dance charts, and #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with All Around The World. The song, from the album Affection, was on the radio and in the clubs, a great dance number for those taking part in the night life. It was written by Stansfield and her producers, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris.
Stansfield embodied a a movement in British Pop to utilize R&B and Soul music to continue the magic by British phenom Rick Astley started in 1987. Unfortunately for Stansfield, her reign was much shorter than Astley's. All Around The World was her biggest hit, as she only had one more trip to the Top 20 on the Hot 100 chart with her fourth single off Affection, You Can't Deny It. The song was written by the same team, and had a great groove, but only rose to #14 on the US Pop chart, but also hit #1 on the R&B chart and #2 on the Dance chart.
The first single from the album, This Is The Right Time, reached #21 on the US Pop chart, #13 on the R&B chart, but did hit #1 on the Dance chart.
Lisa Stansfield continued to make albums, but never was able to get a foothold into the US market, although she continued to be a success in Europe. In the late 90s, she started splitting her time between acting and singing. But she will be forever remembered for her great song All Around The World, a huge hit all around the world. To learn more about Lisa Stansfield, check out her official website here.
On Monday, I ran a preview of Tom Goss' latest music video, for his song Lover off the Back To Love album. Tom was good enough to take some time out of his busy schedule and talk to me about it while putting final touches on it before the big day. Before I start, I want to be honest and say I am not only a fan of his music, I am also a big fan of Tom Goss, the man, whose honest voice and beautiful soul is so inspiring, and one I am lucky to call my friend. That said, let's start talking to Tom.
Lover is his fourth music video, joining the video for Rise from his Rise EP, Till The End from Back To Love and You Don't Question Love from the Politics of Love EP. The video was filmed in Washington, DC, and Alexandria, Virginia. It is directed by DC residents Aram Vartian and Michael Key of DC; Dylan Comstock is director of photography.
When I asked him about the idea for the video, he told me, "I knew that Lover needed a video. I would see all the videos online that use the song – there are like 100 of them on YouTube – and just knew I had to make it.
"I’m a very relaxed guy,” he said, as I agreed. “One of the reasons it took so long to release this video is that it had to be something so much bigger than I had done before. So exciting. I kept bouncing ideas off people for the video and none of them seem to stick." He continued, "A friend was writing a screenplay for a film about two soldiers – the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) theme – and he kept using the lyrics for Lover to explain it to me. I started to see it, and I had to call him and tell him ‘I hope you don’t mind, but I am stealing your story,’ he laughed.”
I asked Tom more about the early process. "Aram, Michael and Dylan are cinematographers at heart. I think mainly about the story and the music, while they think about images. We had to figure out how to make it all go together. But I think a more powerful story is the result.
"There are things I’ve never done on video, like the crane," he said enthusiastically. "It was exciting. There is a scene where we start with a close up on my face in the grass and zoom out. I had all these new visual angles in my mind, and just needed to figure out what to do with them. And we had a blood specialist – how cool is that?”
I asked him about the three-day shoot. "It was easier than I thought. I knew I didn’t want to hide behind an instrument on this one. I wanted to be open, honest and vulnerable, so I had to get out from behind the instrument. But I’m no actor, so that was a little scary. Both stories are told on parallel tracks; me at home without my lover and him fighting a war. There was this intense, long scene, and it was just so,” he paused before adding “intense. It was just me in the scene, and it seemed so long, but I had to sell the scene and tell my story. That was hard. I had to stay intensely focused. For me, it was a new role, as an actor.”
I had to ask the obvious question, is this a new political Tom Goss? "Although it’s political, it’s a love story at its heart. It is reality. At the end of the day, we just wanted to tell a story. It’s real. The video tells the untold story of what DADT really does to people.
"When I wrote the song with Matt Alber (Who We Are), I talked to a lot of people,” Tom explained, “and heard this story time and time again. It’s (DADT) bullshit, but that is the reality. This video is not about politics, it is reality. I had to trust I could find the most successful way to tell their (gay soldiers) story, for their reality to be honored. I hope we managed to do that.”
I asked about the realism of the video. "With me and my ‘lover’, (played by Ben Horen), there are three soldiers. They are the real deal. Mike Almy, David Hall and Danny Hernandez were all discharged because of DADT. We were always telling them ‘if you see us doing something that isn’t real, tell us."
The video is released on YouTube, and will be sent to LOGO and all the other major networks. With that in mind, Goss told me, "We will see who will be brave enough to show it." Here is the video.
While I had him on the phone, I wanted to catch up a bit on new music, and his life in general. " The last year has been so heavy and political. With the release of Who We Are, You Don’t Question Love, and now Lover, it’s been heavy and I’m exhausted. So the new album is lighter and pop! I am trying to inject the fun back into the music.
“My life is amazing and so fun,” he continued, “full of love, full of happiness. I live in DC, where it is easy to be gay. I can get married and have a house. The last year for me has been about the things people are struggling for; equal rights, marriage equality. I have what people are struggling for, and sometimes I feel guilty about it.”
In the midst of this talk of his ‘heavy year,’ I asked him about a special event. “The wedding (to husband Michael Briggs) was amazing. I am so, so happy. We had family coming from all over for it, but afterward, they went home. That was a little sad, because I just wanted it all to keep going.”
He is back on the road in March, with a show in Philadelphia. In April, he will kick off a 50-city tour to support the new album. Lover will be available for purchase on iTunes in 6 to 8 weeks. You can visit Tom on the web here. You can purchase Tom's music at the store on his site, or you can check him out on iTunes here.
Well, I have to admit to having just a bit of a giggle when I first checked out the picture of the newest follower for Soundtrack to my Day, Albie. The strikingly handsome young man is from Brussels, Belgium, and on his profile, declares he is "interested in everything!" While he doesn't have a blog of his own, be does seem to follow several, and lists as his interest blogs, men, gay issues and drag queens, art, and travel and fine living. He is a Gemini, a computer tech specialist, and, as I said before, just cute as a button! Hopefully, Albie will feel free to join in the discussions on the blog and we will learn even more about him in the months to come.
Billy Dortch
To welcome Albie to the blog, I will do the traditional welcome of a song/video selected for the occasion. So it didn't take me long to think it was time to bring out a song by Billy Dortch, Breathe. This seems like a great choice to me, for not only do I love the song, Billy is also a beautiful young thing, and seemed like the correct greeter for Albie. I had written about Dortch over a year ago, here. So, this is for Albie.
Clockwise from Upper Left: Conjunction Junction, Cee-Lo, Catherine Zeta Jones & Rene Zellweger, Gene Kelly, Rihanna, and Donal O'Connor.
Once again I am recapping the latest episode of Glee, only using the videos of the original songs rather than the covers. Hope you enjoy.
The show opens up with the discovery that Sue is the acting principal, as a nasty flu is spreading throughout the school. Seems an explosive sneeze, which we witness, takes out Principal Figgins, as well as Mr. Shue. Next we see Mr. Shue in a tissue-strewn bed, being waited on by a surprise nurse, Terry. Shue is less than impressed, even when he discovers Terry is seeing a therapist and is medicated. He is even less impressed when she asks him to flip over to take his temperature. He asks Terry to leave, only to have her leave him the one DVD that will make him feel better, Singing In The Rain.
Although Rachel thinks the time is right to take over the Glee Club, the other kids are less impressed by the coop. Kurt has the fine idea to ask the substitute teacher who is covering Shue's Spanish class, Ms. Holiday as played by Gweneth Paltrow, to take over the reigns of the club. After all, he loved when she was the substitute English teacher, and had the class sing Conjunction Junction.
Right away, we learn that Holiday is one of 'those' teachers, who is wanting to be best friends with the kids, askinig the kids what they want to sing. Puck suggests Cee-Lo, and Holiday takes it on herself to do just that. Gweneth sings Cee-Lo's Fuck You, only it is Forget You in prime time television. This video is in the intended state, so it might not be safe for work or kids.
Sue steps into the boys locker to tell the Beiste that Sue is officially disbanding the football team. The Beiste reminds Sue with no football, there is no cheerleaders. Sue needs to rethink her plan. Next we have will having a dream, as he performs Make 'Em Laugh from Singing In The Rain.
Mr. Shue is at home, still recovering. Terry offers to rub a bit of Vick's Vap-O-Rub on him, which he resists at first. I would guess it was because he was embarrassed to have recently waxed his shockingly smooth chest. This, of course, leads to more, as Mr. Shue seems unable to make a good decision about love and sex. Mercedes has her Norma Rae moment to get her well-deserved tater-tots. Seems Principal Sue has banned all food she considers junk, and Tater-Tots are on that list. Rachel & Ms. Holiday have it out by Rachel's locker, and Holiday tells Rachel to let loose, and choose the song she wants to do. Rachel has one in mind, a duet, and Holiday offers her own assistance. They do a song from Chicago, Nowadays.
Shue makes his way back to the school, only to be intercepted by 'Principal' Sue, and discovers she has fired him, cause she likes Ms. Holiday's hair better. I think she might not have fired him if he still had his chest hair. But I might be wrong. A night out with Kurt, Blaine and Mercedes is less than enthralling for her. She is lost between the talk of Prop 8, DADT, marriage equality, and Patti LuPone's autobiography. And her need for Tater-Tots. Mercedes is ultimately uninterested in the conversation of the two gay boys. Soon we are observers at a heart-to-heart between Shue and Holiday, when Holiday tells Shue she has failed, not able to be the teacher she once was. As they talk, they are interrupted by Terry, who accuses them of being bad. Shue admits he made a mistake making love to his crazy ex-wife, and asks her to leave, for good. That has never worked before, so we will see what happens...
Mercedes and Kurt are chatting about Tater-Tots, and love problems. Kurt is really happy about his mysterious relationship with Blaine. But he takes it on himself to mention that all Mercedes worries about food might just be her need for love in her life. Mercedes decides it is time to talk to the cute guy Kurt wanted to set her up with, and Kurt gets threatened by Karovsky, who still has a thing for the cute crooner.
After an odd conversation with Principal Sue, Shue is back as Glee leader, following the kids all saying sweet things about him. On his return, he tells them he would like to do Singing In The Rain at Regionals. The kids balk, as they wanted something more current. Shue decides to seek help, and asks Holiday to help him sell the old musical. She is more than happy to assist, and they break into the mash-up, starting with Rihanna's Umbrella.
While Gweneth and the kids are sloshing around on the rain-filled stage, Shue joins them to sing his part of the mash-up, Gene Kelly's Singing In The Rain.
While the 80s were coming to a close, the music was still hitting many a high note. My own life had taken a bit of a back seat, for I was working full-tilt as a freelancer in NYC, and spent much of my time on the road at a variety of trade shows, from Comdex in Las Vegas, to smaller trade shows in Boston, Washington, DC, San Diego, and, well, anyplace with a convention center. I had sworn off dating - I wasn't really very good at it - and instead would work hard, and when I had some free time, visit the family in Delaware. I would hop on AMTRAK with my Sony Walkman in place, playing my cassettes. Somewhere about this time, I might have shifted to the Sony Discman, but I can't be sure...
At this point in musical history, Gloria Estefan was pretty much an unstoppable force. At the beginning of the year, she became a 'solo' act, as the billing became Gloria Estefan, losing the Miami Sound Machine from the title. However, the band, lead by Gloria's husband Emilio, continued to play the dates backing Estefan. The first solo album was Cuts Both Ways, released during the summer. The first single, Don't Wanna Lose You, zoomed up the charts, scoring #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, as well as many other places worldwide. Surprisingly enough, it lands at #5 on the year-end chart. I thought it would score much higher.
Martika was setting a precedent that we are still fighting today. She was the Hillary Duff/Miley Cyrus of her day, moving from teen/tween programming to the record charts. She went from a lead in the show Kids Incorporated to a movie with Mr T to her first album which spawned the hit Toy Soldiers, her only #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her kiddie pop went fairly unnoticed by me, so I don't really have any fun anecdotes or charming stories. Somehow it lands at #4 on the year-end chart.
The next group brought together two bands that were coming to an end to form what was thought of as a rock supergroup. John Waite was the lead singer for The Babys and this group before moving on to solo success later. Keyboardist Jonathan Cain and bassist Ricky Phillips had played with Waite in The Babys. They were joined by guitarist Neal Schon and drummer Deen Castronovo were part of the Journey lineup as that band was breaking up. As a group, they became known as Bad English, with attitude and big hair to burn. With the second single off their debut album, they topped the Billboard Hot 100 with When I See You Smile, the #3 song of 1989.
While she might have been the teen queen of her day, Debbie Gibson, who later changed her name to Deborah Gibson, got her title the old fashioned way, she earned it. She put out her first album at 16, having toured the country playing clubs and bars. On her first album, she had five singles, and all but one landed in the Top 5, and the fifth just missing the Top 20. Expectations were high for the young lady for her second album, Electric Youth. There was no need to worry, as the first single, Lost In Your Eyes, landed at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, her second chart topper, both written by the youngster. Here she is with the #2 song of 1989, Lost In Your Eyes.
Richard Marx broke on to the musical charts in 1987 with the pop/rock song Don't Mean Nothing. He was discovered by Lionel Richie, and was singing background vocals and musician gigs in LA for a variety of artists. He was also writing music, including top hits for Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes, James Ingram, Freddie Jackson and Chicago, to name a few. This earned him some studio time, and he took full advantage. His second album, Repeat Offender, was a quadruple Platinum selling effort, and much of that success can be attributed to the second single, Right Here Waiting. The touching power ballad caused heart to go all-aflutter, and earned Marx to top single of the year.
I saw this while watching a 'net broadcast of X-Factor yesterday, and couldn't resist posting it. I mean, when you think the bucolic world of farms, tractors, cows and milk, the first thing you think is great rap, right? Gotta love it.
