Bloggerhythms

After a seven year hiatus Daryl Hall & John Oates returned with a new CD in 1997, Marigold Sky . Because many critics and fans who heard it appreciated only parts of the uneven effort the album turned into a non-event. Ten years ago this month, and more than thirty years after their debut album appeared, the best-selling veterans tried again and this time, they gave the world a big surprise by releasing one of the best albums of their career, Do It For Love . Time away from one's day job often revitalizes people and it can be the same with artists. Do It for Love is a truly inspired set of songs with great lead vocals (once again, mostly from Hall) and excellent, instantly recognizable, blue-eyed soul harmonies from both. Just as importantly, the two Philadelphians moved away from (but not entirely) their glossy 1980s production values. The vocals are more upfront and center than they were during their heyday of making corporate, new wave, pseudo-soul, and while this CD do...

Power Pop, so named by Pete Townsend, has always been one of rock's most loved sub-genres and for good reason. With its emphasis on song structure, melody, strong lead vocals, and heavy guitar riffs that don't meander into long solos it's music that is readily accessible. Power Pop was part of the makeup of everyone from the early Beatles, The Kinks, The Who (pre-Tommy), The Raspberries, Nick Lowe, Squeeze, The Posies, Marshall Crenshaw, and a host of others. More recent acts such as Fountains of Wayne and Del Amitri have also become important representatives of the style. Now we can add to the list, Nine Times Blue, a mighty fine new quartet named after an old Michael Nesmith song. The Atlanta outfit's debut CD, Falling Slowly , could easily have been a hit if it had been released in an era when groups like this one received regular radio airplay. The disc is loaded with ten original songs that check in at a concise thirty-eight minutes. The band sounds a l...

In the early 70s most rock musicians who became deities were guitarists who earned a living within the blues and hard rock idioms. Keyboard players seldom captured the hearts and minds of music fans in the same way the most famous axemen did. One of only a handful of men who pounded the 88s and achieved the exalted status of gods like Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Jimi Hendrix was the extraordinary Rick Wakeman. In his brief time with Yes Wakeman immediately become a star but he quickly looked beyond the constraints of being a sideman. This led to his first solo LP, The Six Wives of Henry VIII , in early 1973. Wakeman wrote the following in the album's liner notes, "The album is based around my interpretations of the musical characteristics of the wives of Henry VIII. Although the style may not always be in keeping with their individual history, it is my personal conception of their characters in relation to keyboard instruments." Those of you who are not well e...

Until Paul Tanner (1917 – 2013) passed into the great recording studio in the sky earlier this month most people, including me, had never heard of him. Yet he's quite an interesting fellow who played on some of pop music's greatest recordings as part of a long and diverse career in the business. It's hard to believe that there was still someone alive who played in the Glenn Miller Orchestra. The trombonist was the last surviving member of Miller's famous big band. He played with them from 1938 until 1942 on almost all of the bandleader's hits including "In the Mood," "A String of Pearls," "Chattanooga Choo Choo," and "Pennsylvania 6-5000." What makes Tanner fascinating is the fact he was also the man who played on one of rock's most famous songs in 1966. He was responsible for the electro-theremin on The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." After Tanner left the Army Air Force at the conclusion of World...

Dean Falcone and Trish Thompson, the two guiding lights of Tipsy in Chelsea, were put in touch with each other because of a less than happy circumstance: the death of a mutual friend. While chatting on the phone together they coincidentally discovered that by some odd quirk of fate they were both going to be in New York City for the same Cheap Trick concert. This led to a meeting over drinks in Manhattan's Chelsea district before the show. During the soon to be bandmates' first meeting they realized they had a lot in common musically and, even though Thompson hails from Atlanta, GA and Falcone from New Haven, CT, their desire to write songs and work together trumped the limitations of the many miles between them. The result is Tipsy in Chelsea's first CD, an eponymous, independently produced disc by Falcone who co-wrote seven of the nine tracks with Thompson. Tipsy in Chelsea have old musical souls and they share a love of 60s and 70s soft rock and power pop. Thei...