Bloggerhythms

The U. S. Mint's series honoring all fifty states on the reverse side of its quarters is nearing its end but not before Washington D.C. was finally represented. Today, the third installment of The Musical Art Gallery , Bloggerhythms' occasional series discussing music related artwork, features the new Duke Ellington quarter that hit America's streets near the end of January. Collectors may want to hold on to a few of these babies, instead of slipping them into parking meters, because the Ellington coin is one of the best of the series. This quarter is a pleasant surprise because most of the previously issued coins have celebrated something famously identified with each of the fifty states. You may have expected our nation's capital to feature The White House, The Capitol, The Smithsonian, or even one of the memorials on the reverse side. However, to their credit, the town decided to do something very different. City resident, Eleanor Holmes Norton, said, "With...

Over the last twenty years one of my favorite rock bands has been Scotand's Del Amitri. Unfortunately, two years ago the band lost its recording contract and their subsequent hiatus appears to be permanent. That is a real shame. Del Amitri should have been huge. Their rock was melodic and never far out of the mainstream. The subject matter of their songs was mostly about romantic relationships (granted, many of the tunes didn't have happy endings) and their lead singer and primary composer, Justin Currie, owns one of the finest voices ever to front a rock band. Considering all of the above I should have been more thrilled when Currie released his first and only solo CD, What Is Love For , in October, 2007. A couple of cursory listens didn't hold my interest and I rapidly dismissed the disc. Then, last week, while shopping at the Princeton Record Exchange , I found it in their discount rack for $1.99 and decided I owed Currie another chance. I'm glad I did because...

I've never posted anything on Bloggerhythms criticizing what other people have written but today I'm making an exception. That is because I found an article worthy of your attention and I'm posting the link here because the author needs to be exposed. Below is a link to an article by Ron Rosenbaum at Slate Magazine that takes hating Billy Joel to an all new level. Rosenbaum is one of those effete writers who, in order to feel superior to everyone else, challenges a musician's right to walk, talk, eat, or even breathe air. Hating the artist's music is simply not enough. The article shows a total lack of class at the rocker's expense. I’ll admit I've always been a big fan of Joel's music, but even if you’re not, I’m sure you will agree this article is putrid. It’s a very long read but please take a look now at Rosenbaum's The Worst Pop Singer Ever and consider hurling a little hate back his way.

It's time for another ride on the Wayback Machine to visit another old forgotten LP. This time it's Straight Up , Badfinger's third album, one of the best British pop-rock albums of its day. While most of the world has forgotten Badfinger and this record, it has always stayed with me and easily makes my list of the 100 best abums of all time. The disc is full of Beatlesque influenced pop produced by George Harrison and Todd Rundgren. It became the biggest selling non-Beatle album ever released by Apple Records. Badfinger is probably best known for recording Paul McCartney's "Come and Get It," released on their first LP, in which the band was rightly faulted for sounding like a Beatles clone. Their second album, No Dice (1970), maintained an obvious Beatles influence, but the quartet was now writing their own songs and injected just enough of their own personality and creativity into their music to make people sit up and listen. No longer considered a poor...