Welcome to WEEK 193 of 4T! (Video Episode #19) The Smiths – Strageways, Here We Come (1987) Happy Music – Sad Lyrics – Happy Me https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strangeways,_Here_We_Come Life ain’t black and white. That’s not a revelation, and yet we constantly have to be reminded of it, because our brains WANT IT TO BE. It’s much more comfortable to slot things into categories. WELL if there’s one thing you know about me, it’s that I prefer artists who defy categorization. In most cases – like Prince or The Beatles or Bowie – those artists genre hop at will. They don’t let walls or rules contain them. In other cases – like this week’s band, The Smiths – they don’t so much genre hop as t
The Alarm – Change (1989) The One After the Good One https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_(The_Alarm_album) One of the great things about revisiting the past is finding out how wrong you are. A memory gets stuck in your head, but not in a big & clear way like something seminal or life changing. Then, like a mental game of Telephone, the memory gets warped. It gets stored in your brain as a warp and overwrites the old memory. Other thoughts & feelings get attached to this warped version, which slowly becomes “real” and takes on more significance than it ever had a right to. BUT the overwriting is not digital, it’s analog. It’s like recording on a cassette that already has something on i
Welcome to WEEK 191 of 4T! (Video Episode #17) Nicky DeMatteo (1976) The Tree From Whence the Apple… https://nickydematteo.bandcamp.com/album/nicky-dematteo Lately I’ve been struggling with the realization that I have not respected my destiny. The destiny I’ve chosen, that is. I was born into music. I have thrived on music since before I could spell. At every turn, during every boon and through every hardship, music has been my constant companion. Nothing ever been more important to me than music. (THING, not PERSON – people like my kids are on a higher plane.) So why? Why have I undermined & avoided embracing this very clear destiny? Why have I assumed that money and my music are
I'm doing Facebook Live concerts every day-ish now. Each day has different programming, and I take requests. Here's the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfrAP6IL7DaUT6GYD4Uk7a2lSDxsegnk7 Subscribe and you'll know every time I post a new one. Thanks!
Welcome to WEEK 190 of 4T! (Video Episode #16) Early Eighties Comedy Albums (1982-83) The Musician-Comedian Love Affair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Murphy_discography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_White_North_(album) Musicians & comedians have been in love with each other since forever. Talk to any musician or comedian and it’s likely they’ll tell you how much they revere the other profession. I mean, look at how Stephen Colbert & Jimmy Fallon salivate over music of all kinds, and even do some themselves. Yes, you could say artists tend to do and love more than one thing – Kevin Bacon & Jared Leto both have working bands. Tony Bennett & Jim Carrey are painters. J. Lo
Welcome to WEEK 189 of 4T! (Video Episode #15) Violent Femmes – The Early-ish Years (1984-88) NOT Straight-Up Country Music https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violent_Femmes Since this week is all about country music (see NEW MUSIC TUESDAY’s post from … uh … Tuesday), I thought I’d continue the theme by discussing one of my top ten favorite bands of all time: Violent Femmes. Yes, that’s right. The Femmes. And country music. They link. Seriously. Read on, and then go listen to the three albums I’m featuring this week, and it’ll hit you like a pickup truck on fire. Those of you who know anything about the Femmes probably only know the big party hits from their debut 1983 self-titled album, like “Bl
