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Sadly, Raul Malo, the leader of The Mavericks, has passed away from cancer at age 60. I knew of his ongoing battle with the disease, but I heard stories that he was doing well. Apparently not. Ten years ago, I saw him perform a solo acoustic show in New Hope, PA five days before Christmas where he played a couple of tunes from his Christmas album. Years later, he also released a holiday record with The Mavericks. I also saw the full band play a concert at Cooper River Park in New Jersey quite a few years earlier. As a tribute, I'm rerunning my review of his acoustic concert because it occurred during the holiday season.    In an almost two hour show at New Hope Winery Raul Malo proved he is a superb singer and that statement should not come as a surprise. As always, The Mavericks' leader and frontman sounded like a graduate of the Roy Orbison school of vocals and all he needed as accompaniment was the solo acoustic guitar he played quite well all evening long. Malo showe...

"What's Up" is one of my all-time favorite one-hit wonders. In March 1993 it was pulled as a single in an abridged version for radio from 4 Non Blondes' only album, Bigger, Better, Faster, More  that was released the previous October. The single climbed to #14 on the Hot 100 and finished the year at #50 on Billboard's year-end chart. It was composed by the quartet's controversial lead singer, the full-throated Linda Perry, and completely overwhelmed every other track on the loud, eleven-song set. The album hit #13 on Billboard's top 200 album chart. Like most people, I thought the song was called "What's Going On?" because that line was sung repeatedly throughout the record. Its actual title is never mentioned. "What's Up?" has been called a "massive neo-hippie anthem" by AllMusic 's Tom Demalon. It appears to be about Perry's search for meaning in life as the opening lines...

In over twenty years of publishing this blog  Jay Nachman , author of  Graham Parker's Howlin' Wind , is the only person I have worked with that I've ever had the privilege of meeting in person. Working with Jay the last few years has been a pleasure. He's helped me discover some fine music - and we've become friends - but I can honestly say that I've never given a good writeup about any music, book, or live performance simply because I learned about them from him or anyone else who has ever asked me to provide them with some positive publicity for their work. So, believe me when I tell you that  Graham Parker's Howlin' Wind is a book worthy of your time. Even with all the knowledge I've acquired about pop and rock music over many decades of listening to it, and I do mean many - I still remember watching The Beatles' American debut live on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 - there are still genres and artists that I n...

Despite their obscurity Seth Swirsky and Mike Ruekberg have a good reputation within the music industry. Swirsky has written songs for Rufus Wainwright, Al Green, Tina Turner, and Taylor Dayne. Ruekberg composed the soundtrack for the independent film Dummy and in 2007, they released their first of three albums together as The Red Button. The Red Button blend all of the major components that the best power-pop has to offer: melody, harmony and hooks. It's the British Invasion sound for the new millennium. She's About To Cross My Mind is for music fans who cherish the sound of the early Beatles, The Raspberries, The Searchers and a few more groups that flew to America from England during the swinging 60s. The album's first single and lead track, "Cruel Girl," is something the mean side of John Lennon could have written in 1963. "Floating By" is a dead ringer for a post-touring years Paul McCartney track. It's got a little "Penny Lane...

The Best Of The Animals has been released in multiple configurations. The first album from 1966 contained eleven tracks. In 1987, it was re-released on compact disc with a couple of replacement songs, a new running order, and four additional tunes. Both formats included the longer, 4:29 rendition of "House of the Rising Sun" instead of the edited-for-radio 45 rpm. The cover photo is identical on both the LP and CD. On this updated collection of tunes, the American hit single of "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place" was replaced with the UK version that's considered inferior to the one appearing on the original vinyl. Apparently, ABKCO Records received enough negative feedback from fans that they brought the US version back when a third, very different compilation was issued in 2004 that used Direct Stream Technology (DSD) to make a superior sounding CD. The original Animals were a short-lived outfit. Many of the usual creative differ...

CD players were first introduced to the United States in early 1983. That made Marshall Crenshaw's second LP, Field Day , the last, new, 33 1/3 rpm album I bought in the 1980s. Unfortunately, I found it boring. All of the songs sounded exactly alike. On the other hand, I believed his eponymous debut was perfect, and I still believe that today. I hadn't purchased a CD player yet when I started buying discs, but I made sure I was going to be well supplied on the day I brought my Onkyo single disc player home from a long out-of-business chain store named Stereo Discounters. Among my initial purchases were Crenshaw's soon-to-be classic that I only owned on a poorly recorded homemade cassette that I dubbed from a friend. On that spectacular release, the rocker went out of his way to look and sound like Buddy Holly while playing a masterful combination of rockabilly, power pop, and garage rock that quickly resonated with music lovers, critics, and musici...

For much of its existence World Party was primarily a solo project of Welshman Karl Wallinger rather than a full-fledged band. He frequently played most of the instruments himself, and at other times he operated much like Steely Dan did with the leader hiring musicians for each project as needed. World Party made five albums beginning in 1986. Their recording career ended in 2000 due to Wallinger's poor health. Unfortunately, he died in 2024 at age 66. Not long after  Dumbing Up  was released, the ex-Waterboy suffered a brain aneurysm that kept him inactive for many years. Later, Wallinger returned to performing live. He also recorded with Peter Gabriel, but there were no more World Party records. Upon its release,  Dumbing Up  reached only #64 in the UK, and it never charted at all in the United States. It was World Party's least successful commercial effort even though - artistically - the record rivaled all of Wallinger's earlier work.  The singer...

Brinsley Schwarz has been discussed here several times before in two ways: as part of his namesake, pub-rock band and as a solo artist . You can't go wrong with either one. Schwarz spent a handful of years playing lead guitar as the nominal leader of his early '70s quintet followed by decades as a sideman in the same role for Graham Parker and the Rumour. In recent years, the English rock veteran has become a singer-songwriter making music his own way.  Shouting at the Moon is his third solo album. Schwarz easily creates a groove, sets a mood, and proves his worthiness as an axman, all without pretentiousness or excessive volume. He doesn't possess a strong set of pipes, but as always, his vocals are pleasingly straightforward and quite easy on your ears. Schwarz's lyrics aren't cryptic, but they aren't trite or obvious either, so you need to pay attention. It's always the best way to enjoy intelligent songwriting. On ...