RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Bryan Ferry, the front man of the glam rock outfit, Roxy Music, is still creating music more than fifty years after forming the group, which disbanded in 1983. The now seventy-eight year old musician has announced a career-spanning music collection appropriately entitled, "Retrospective: Selected Recordings" that will feature eighty-one tracks from his solo career and due out in October. Ferry has also released a new song, his first in ten years, and teamed up with Trent Rezner and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails to help create the track. "Star" features vocals by artist, Amelia Barratt and offers a different sonic approach than what we usually hear from the mod rocker with edgy, techno beats. Ferry has promised this is just the beginning with more original music on the way.



Here are a few songs that I am enjoying at the moment: "Taste", the latest from the new pop sensation, Sabrina Carpenter who has just released her sixth studio album, "Short N' Sweet" with the music video for the song inspired by the 1992 dark comedy, "Death Becomes Her" and features actress, Jenna Ortega; Megan Thee Stallion's "Mamushi" is a bilingual hip-hop track that features Japanese rapper, Yuki Chiba; rising dance-soul artist, Jae Stephens has a new song, "Body Favors"; Another remix from Charli XCX from her "Brat" album with "Guess" that has Billie Eilish on board; and the American DJ, the Blessed Madonna has teamed-up with the Australian dance queen, Kylie Minogue for a throbbing new party song, "Edge of Saturday Night".

And I will close by paying tribute to two artists who have recently passed away: Greg Kihn, the rocker who found fame in the 80's with the hit songs, "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)" and "Jeopardy", died on August 13th at the age of seventy-five. Born in Baltimore, Kihn had a dream of becoming a professional musician after seeing the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" as a teenager. After spending time learning to write songs and playing guitar with several bands in local bars, Kihn made the move to California to try his luck, landing in Berkeley. In 1976, Kihn was signed to a local record label, Beserkley and recorded three albums that didn't generate much attention.

Four years later, he formed a group called, the Greg Kihn Band but they still struggled to breakthrough. But it was with the 1981 album, "Rockihnroll" and the single, "The Breakup Song" that brought Kihn his first taste of pop music success with the song reaching number fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Two years later, Kihn had an even bigger hit with "Jeopardy" which made it to number two on the US pop chart. That would pretty much be the end of Kihn's charting success but he would continue to make music over the following years. He also became a Bay Area morning radio DJ for a classic rock radio station in 1996, holding the job for fifteen years, and went on to write four novels.

Maurice Williams, with his band, The Zodiacs, was the the writer and lead vocalist behind the r&b classic, "Stay". He died on August 5th at the age of eighty-six. Music had been an important part of his life since he was a child through his church where his family members performed. As a teen, he formed a gospel group called Junior Harmonizers. But doo-wop soon captured his attention and the group became the Royal Charms. The band went through several other name changes before settling on "the Zodiacs", taking the name from a short-lived British car.

In 1959, Williams and the Zodiacs recorded several demos in search of a breakthrough and the final song they did was "Stay", written years before by Williams. The song became a smash hit and is the shortest to reach the top spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 at one minute and thirty-six seconds. There were several covers of "Stay" including Jackson Browne's popular live version in 1978. This song would achieve even greater success as being a part of the soundtrack to the 1987 movie, "Dirty Dancing". Williams would continue to record and tour up until his death.

HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

Because of the upcoming holiday season, there is a glut of new music being dumped in to the marketplace, which is great for music lovers but a little tough on our wallets.

Here is a sampling of some hot & fresh stuff:

SHARKIRA - "SALE EL SOL"

Shakira's latest is entitled, "Sale El Sol" or "The Sun Comes Out" in English and it is her third bilingual pop album. She returns to her Latin pop/rock sound after last year's album, "She Wolf" which explored electropop music that is popular right now.

Although there are a few English-language tracks , most of the album is in Spanish. Shakira collaborates with Latin hip-Hop artists, Calle 13 and Pitbull plus the record includes the 2010 World Cup Anthem, "Waka Waka (This Time For Africa) (The Official 2010 Fifa World Cup (Tm) Song)".

This song is a remake from the English indie band, The XX:


"Islands" - Shakira

BELLE & SEBASTIAN - "BELLE & SEBASTIAN WRITE ABOUT LOVE"

This alternative rock-pop band from Glasgow, Scotland has not made a huge impact here in the U.S. but they have released their eighth album, "Write About Love".

To be honest, I had never heard their music before this record but I do enjoy their sound. The album has reached number eight on the U.K. pop charts which is their highest charting record there and it is getting some airplay here.

This is the song that I really like:

"I Want The World To Stop" - Belle And Sebastian


CEE-LO GREEN - "THE LADYKILLER"

Born Thomas Callaway in Atlanta, Cee-Lo Green first came to the attention of music audiences as a member of the Hip-Hop act, Goodie Mob and later as a part of a collaboration with DJ Danger Mouse as the group, Gnarls Barkley with their hit song, "Crazy" but he is now back on the charts as a solo artist with his song, "Forget You" or the uncensored version, "F**k You [Explicit]".

He has just put out his third album under his own name, "The Lady Killer [Explicit]" and it features smooth, classic soul mixed with hip-hop all the while sticking to his very unique musical vision. It is great record and one of my favorites of the year.

It was hard to pick one favorite track but this one is it, plus the song features Philip Bailey of Earth Wind & Fire:

"Fool For You" - Cee-Lo Green Ft. Philip Bailey


RIHANNA - "LOUD"

The twenty-two year old singing sensation from Barbados has released an album almost every year since her 2005 debut, "Music Of The Sun" and now comes her fifth CD, "Loud". This record is a slight return to the sunny hip-hop flavored pop sound that she began her career with after last year's much darker edged and more rock influenced, "Rated R" but there are still traces of that sprinkled around on "Loud".

The first single, "Only Girl (In The World)" became her sixteenth song to hit the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

This appears to be her next hit single,"What's My Name?" that features Canadian rapper, Drake:

What's My Name.mp3

QUINCY JONES - "Q : SOUL BOSSA NOSTRA"

Quincy Jones is a legend in the music industry, having produced a wide and diverse group of artists during his long career and now he has released his latest, "Q: Soul Bossa Nostra", his sixteenth studio album under his own name. The record features a variety of contemporary musicians re-interpreting classic songs that Mr. Jones had previously produced with other artists.

While the project is ambitious and features an interesting line-up that includes Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Hudson, Robin Thicke, Mary J. Blige and T-Pain but it just feels unnecessary. None of the tracks are really particularly memorable, different or make you forget about the original version of the song for one moment.

This is a re-make of  "It's My Party", the number one hit Mr Jones produced for Lesley Gore in 1963. Amy Winehouse has resurfaced to record a slurred sounding version of this song:

"Its My Party" - Quincy Jones ft. Amy Winehouse

BRYAN FERRY - "OLYMPIA"
 

Former Roxy Music singer, Bryan Ferry has returned with his thirteenth solo album, "Olympia" which features the glamorous face of Supermodel, Kate Moss on the cover. The record features the lush, moody rock that isn't much of a departure from his work with Roxy Music or even from his previous solo projects.

He gets assistance on this from a fine group of musicians that include The Eurythmics's Dave Stewart, Chic's Nile Rodgers, The Scissor Sisters as well as his Roxy Music band mates.

This the first single from this album:

"You Can Dance" - Bryan Ferry