by wildangels

Lawsuits are nothing new in music and it appears more have just been settled. Both the Beach Boys and Motley Crue have been involved in lawsuits regarding name rights and other issues. Music is a hard business, y'all. By the way, speaking of Motley Crue, has anyone here seen Nikki Sixx's edition of Live Through This on FUSE? If not, you need to look for it and check it out. It goes into great detail about Nikki's "fatal" overdose back in the 80's. He's one tough guy.

Speaking of law suits... remember awhile back when I mentioned some guy in Miami was getting ready to release a CD of a Beatles performance from before they got their record deal? Well, you guessed it. Apple is now suing to stop the release. Looks like the Beatles are pretty supported of the release getting squashed. Check out the quote from George Harrison that's mentioned in the story that appeared in one of the depositions.

In other more happy news, I have always been a fan of oldies. Growing up, I got into them cause of my family constantly playing them. Those songs just have this certain feel to them that is very hard to capture anymore. That's why I'm all happy that the Supreme's label is putting out an album of rare songs and their hits. Now, let's see if Diana gives the other ladies any spotlight time when this comes out...

Well, that's all for now. Take care and I'll see y'all next time.

by wildangels

You all know you have one. A song or artist that you like but are too embarrassed to admit it. A guilty pleasure. For the rest of this week, I’ll be talking about some of my guilty pleasures and I hope you guys will post comments about yours. I promise not to laugh if you won’t laugh at me!

Anyway... one of my guilty pleasures is Debbie Gibson. I guess the guilty part of this should be obvious. After all, she’s a teen idol who hasn’t been popular in the mainstream for a long time now. Let’s not even get into the cheese factor of some of her songs and videos... still, I have a soft spot for her and occasionally listen to a song or two.

The reason it’s a pleasure is because of all the memories it brings back. I spent much of the summer of ‘89 hanging out at a community center with some kids that went to a school I was about to start. I ended up hanging out with a fan of hers who played me Out of the Blue. We spent most of the summer listening to that and a couple others.

The first time I made a real recording (as in, actually done somewhere other than my room with a cheap tape recorder), I sang a couple of her songs. It was at a carnival where they had a recording booth set up and let me tell you... I never forgot the thrill I felt when they played my recordings back over the loud speaker. Her music also makes me think of my former best friends who lived next door. We’d spend hours making up dance routines to her songs and singing along with the recordings. It was a really fun and simple time and it’s nice to put one of the songs on once in awhile to kinda go back and reflect on it and where things have gone since.

So, there ya have it- one of my guilty pleasures. Now, it’s your turn! What’s your guilty pleasure and why do you like it? I’d love to hear about it...

by wildangels

Children of the 80s, be afraid. Be very afraid. Apparently, the music we grew up listening to is now considered the new "oldies".  According to this article, Culture Club and other 80s acts are taking their place next to The Beatles and other artists from that era on Oldies Stations.

They are, however, trying to soften the blow a bit. According to the story, these songs are not officially called Oldies. They've been dubbed "Classic Hits". Yeah, that helps. Now, hand me my polydent and get off my yard!!

In other music news, Pink has just filed for divorce. While I am a big fan and think it's a shame, I'm not totally shocked. Today, it's more shocking for a Celebrity marriage to actually work.

Well, that's all I got for now. Take care and see y'all next time!

by wildangels

Apparently, Yoko Ono is not too happy with a certain singer. She's suing the girl for using her given name professionally, which just happens to be Lennon. While the girl doesn't have the legal man power to fight Ono, she does have Julian Lennon on her side. How about that? Come on, Yoko- "let (her) be".

I knew I liked them for a reason. Bon Jovi and Shakira have both been donating their talents and clothing to various charity events. Nice to see some stars doing the right thing when there are so many crazy stories out there lately.

On a different musical note, I got the urge yesterday to listen to some of my old taped from the 80's and wow... it's like going back in time. The music sounds like a whole different genre than what pop is now. My favorite of the ones I listened to is Belinda Carlile's Runaway Horses. It just sounds more creative than most of the pop out at the time. Even more so than some of today. I'm kinda shocked that it held up at all. So, fess up: who are your favorites from back then? I'd love to hear.

by wildangels

It’s no secret I love music. It’s an amazing artistic medium and a great way to express yourself. It can also be pretty therapeutic. There’s one more thing I love about it... it’s power to bring back a moment in time so clearly just by hearing it. I have many songs that can remind me of certain events and one of them is, kind of embarrassingly, Richard Marx.

It was the late 80's and his hit "Right Here Waiting" was just released and blowing up. At the same time, I was traveling with a family member to visit some friends out of state. If you know me, you know I don’t even go a ten minute car ride without a radio or tape playing and this was definitely no exception. Not far into the trip, however, I was ready to toss the radio right out of that car.

When I say "Right Here Waiting" exploded, I am not kidding. After hearing it about 20 times pretty close together, we got tired of it and tried to find something else. No matter what station we put it on or what time, that song was playing. We’d change the station to get away from it, only to hear it starting somewhere else. Change it again, and we’d find the song starting again or part way through it. Finally, we gave up on the whole thing and I got out some of my tapes to listen to. To this day, if that song comes on the radio I think about that trip. I remember playing with the other kids and making up dance routines together.... getting to visit the Ripley’s Museum and the Fountain of Youth.... even swinging off a tire in their front yard and how big the property was. All of this, I remember in vivid detail, like it’s happening right now.

That’s the real power of music.