The recent passing of Charlie Watts shines a spotlight on the inevitable closing of the lives of the world's original rock and roll generation. It's a sad reality that a relatively small group of people created a collection of music that still thrives more than a half century later. And within the next 20 years, most of them will be dead. Before we catch up, let's look back. Just after Woodstock in June 1969, young music heroes Joni Mitchell, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, and other members of Jefferson Airplane appeared on The Dick Cavett Show. Young stars fueled by idealism. So cute. It's now 52 years later. Let's check in on some of these same performers to see
Tag: marvin gaye
OK, Moochers. DJ WOKE WOKE droppin’ original social justice warrior tunes
Ooh...the profundities from today's WOKE artists and their cancel culture customers. Sad! Here’s a video from Camp Flog Gnaw. Drake: “I’m here for you tonight. If you want to keep going, I will keep going. What’s up?”Some fans boo loudly. One yells “No!” Drake seemingly cuts his set short & ends the show there. “It’s been love.”pic.twitter.com/n1BYrvLThc— Andrés Tardio ✍🏽 📷 (@AndresWrites) November 11, 2019 Tyler the Creator...he mad bruh. Just a few months ago, Canadian rapper Drake was a heartthrob/cultural messenger for teenyboppers worldwide. Now they're booing him off the stage. His host Tyler the Creator is like What the what? I thought social justice warriors were all about unconditional love! Is Drake being dragged for paying a settlement to a
Demo versions of classic rock songs
MashUp Magic: Marvin Gaye & Ratt + Dan Jock Itch vs me
Weird day. First the good news. I found the greatest musical mashup ever. The day's major oddity landed when ESPN basketball analyst Dan Dakich responded to my tweet where I referred to him as a gasbag. Dakich frequently trolls University of Louisville basketball fans, repeatedly gloating over the school's NCAA troubles. Dakich claimed that I was making fun of his dead father, a person I do not know or have any information about his life status. I've since been informed that Dakich refers to his dead father as a means of shaming anyone who challenges him. Very odd. Please enjoy the comment threads on both of my tweets. One more kick in the face: @ESPN assigned gasbag @dandakich to
My Mt. Rushmore – classic rock jukebox
The Invention of Pretension
"OK, fellas! Smile for the album cover photo shoot! Your fans love you! Give 'em a smile!" "Well, OK. Just look up. We'll make it work." Our favorite singers and musicians sneered or looked bothered to appear on their own album covers. A look of complete detachment validated their street cred. We idiot kids shelled out our grass cutting money to buy their albums, dreaming of being half as cool as these hedonists we idolized. A funny thing happened on the way to the old folks home (or cemetery). Twitter & Instagram put us in instant contact with people who suddenly became quite human. More of today's artists walk the walk and participate in societal change. Some
Dropped into the midst of Black Privilege
I have always had an affinity for African American people. Their music always moved me more than the bland songs sung by white performers. Their distinctly different clothing choices made me want to be colorful like them instead of rigid and uniform like all of the white kids. In high school in the 70s I had a crush on Clemmie, a pretty black girl who never gave me the time of day. After school, I worked in the kitchen at the old Baptist Hospital and was treated like a brother by the mostly black staff. Even as a young kid, I envied African Americans for their spiritual freedom. I felt like people of color seemed to have more animated, joyous reactions to
Make me wanna holler with joy
As boomers weep over a few rock star heroes dying, it's a good time to appreciate the ones who are still above ground. I wasn't perceptive enough to know that Marvin Gaye's dad was going to shoot him before I got a chance to tell him that "What's Going On" redirected my life. Once I heard the title track, well, mercy mercy me...inner city blues made me wanna holler, too. This incredible album took me away from my white boy working class neighborhood to places that I hadn't considered. My musical tastes and capacity for empathy grew exponentially. But Marvin was gone long before I had a radio show that could have allowed me to thank him. It's
Isolated tracks from Marvin Gaye
MOTOWN BONUS: the a cappella version of Billie Jean from Michael Jackson