WHATEVER'S CLEVER

Charlie Puth has been around making music since 2011 after getting a record deal from his growing popularity posting himself singing covers on YouTube. His first single, "Marvin Gaye", that pays tribute to the Motown legend, was a duet with Meghan Trainor in 2015. And while the song was a popular in several countries, this doo-wop styled track was savaged by many music critics and even found its way on Worst Song of the Year lists.

Puth managed to rebound spectacularly by co-writing, producing, and providing vocals on Wiz Khalifa's single "See You Again" for the soundtrack of the film, "Furious 7". This song, which is in honor of actor, Paul Walker who had died before filming and had been a star in this movie franchise, spent twelve non-consecutive weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100, received three nominations at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song and was the best selling-song of 2015 worldwide.

Puth went on to release his debut album, "Nine Track Mind" which achieved great success as well as his following albums, "Voicenotes" in 2018 and "Charlie" in 2022. And while these albums and the singles went high on the charts and he received more award recognition, I must admit I wasn't overly impressed by his music, finding much of his work far too colorless for my taste.

Now the thirty-four year old New Jersey native has captured my attention with his just released fourth studio album, "Whatever's Clever". Puth has stated that he had charged his approach on how he created his music, opening himself to reveal more and put a personal touch into his songs. And I think it shows with the album feeling far more authentic and I'm able to make more of a connection to him as an artist. Inspired by the easy listening sounds of the 1980's, specifically what is currently being defined as "yacht rock", Puth teamed up with Michael Tucker, who is better known as BloodPop, to co-write and produce this album. "Whatever's Clever" is loaded with guest musicians that range from soft rock pioneers, Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins, jazz-pop star, Kenny G; Japanese pop artist, Hikaru Utada and contemporary r&b vocalists, Ravyn Lenae and Coco Jones. The album closes with the brutally honest, guitar driven ballad, "I Used To be Cringe" where Puth acknowledges that he tried a bit too hard to fit in as his idea of a musician. But with "Whatever's Clever", I think it's clear he has evolved, letting loose and allowing himself to go much deeper as a musical artist.

Puth had previewed a few tracks from the album during a four-night stand at Blue Note Jazz Club in New York late last year and did a follow-up residency at the recently opened Blue Note in Los Angeles. He plans on hitting the road on a world tour that will begin on April 22nd in San Diego and ending in Warsaw, Poland by July.

BURT BACHARACH (1928 - 2023)

With his musical partner, lyricist Hal David, Burt Bacharach composed some of the greatest and most enduring pop songs of the twentieth century. This gifted pianist and producer passed away on February 8th at the age of ninety-four of natural causes. While these compositions from Bacharach and David may best represent the era in which they were created during the swinging '60's, they have since gone on to become timeless classics, songs that still captivate with their offbeat rhythms and complicated arrangements yet remain extraordinarily catchy.

The New York City raised Bacharach was started on piano lessons as a child, encouraged by his creative mother. But as he got older, he became more interested in jazz than classical music. After serving in the army for two years, Bacharach went to work as a pianist and conductor for singer, Vic Damone who he has first met while they were both serving in Germany. This lead to other jobs as a pianist for other noted performers of the day, accompanying Steve Lawrence, The Ames Brothers and Joel Grey.

Bacharach's first major break came in 1956 when he was recommended to actress Marlene Dietrich who was about to begin touring with her nightclub act. As her musical arranger and conductor, they would work together on and off until the early 1960's.

After joining the songwriting factory at the Brill Building, Bacharach first met Hal David with the team writing together their first two hits; "The Story of My Life" which became a number one song on the US Country chart in 1957 for Marty Robbins and the top-five pop hit, "Magic Moments" recorded by Perry Como. Despite these early successes with David, Bacharach worked with other writers, most notably Bob Hilliard with this team's songs, "Any Day Now (My Wild Beautiful Bird)" and "Mexican Divorce" becoming charting pop hits. It was during the recording of the later song in 1962 with The Drifters that Bacharach would first meet the singer that would change the course of his career.

One of the background singers during that recording session was Dionne Warwick who stood out with her formidable vocal abilities, impressing Bacharach enough to hire her to record his demos. By 1962, Bacharach and David had officially become a songwriting team and started their own production company, signed to Scepter Records. And their first artist was Warwick who released her debut album, "Presenting Dionne Warwick" in 1963. Beginning with "Don't Make Me Over", this trio had a long string of worldwide pop hits which included "Anyone Who Had a Heart", "Walk On By", "I Say a Little Prayer", "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?", "Message to Michael", "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" and "Alfie". Many of these songs were covered by other singers, most notably Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw and Dusty Springfield, who would also find success on the pop charts with their versions.

Bacharach-David also went on to write music for films ("The Look of Love" for "Casino Royale", "What's New Pussycat?" and the Oscar-winning "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid") and the stage (the 1968 musical, "Promises, Promises"). Bacharach would work on his own projects during this time as well, making a name for himself and creating some visibility as a personality with several television specials, talk show appearances and released solo albums. But the recording of the score for the 1973 film musical version of "Lost Horizon", a critical and commercial disappointment, lead to the dissolution of the creative partnership between Bacharach and David with each suing the other and Warwick filing a lawsuit against them both.

Bacharach went on to find a new songwriting partner, singer/lyricist Carole Bayer Sager who would later become his third wife in 1982. Some of the songs they wrote together included "Heartlight", "Making Love", "On My Own" and "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (co-written with Christopher Cross and Peter Allen) which won the 1981 Oscar for Best Original Song. And "That's What Friends Are For" (originally recorded by Rod Stewart in 1982 for the soundtrack of the film, "Night Shift")  would reunite Bacharach and Warwick in 1985 with this number one song, that featured Gladys Knight, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder, was a charity single with all proceeds going for AIDS research.

After his marriage to Bayer Sager ended in 1991, Bacharach continued to work over the years with one of his most notable musical collaborations was with Elvis Costello, releasing an album together "Painted From Memory" in 1998 and later working on several tracks for Costello's 2018 album, "Look Now". One of Bacharach's last projects was in 2020 when he collaborated with multi-instrumentalist, Daniel Tashian on the EP, "Blue Umbrella".

EDM + POP

EDM (or "electronic dance music") has slowly become a dominant force in pop music over the last few years. At first, these musicians would discover their own vocalists to sing on their dance tracks which in turn created new pop music stars. And as soon as these DJ/producers found amazing success on the charts, established artists began seeking out this talent to help them create their music. Now these EDM artists are attempting to expand their sound, merging with different genres of music to create something fresh.

Calvin Harris was one of the first artists to move successfully from the dance floor to the pop charts. Born Adam Wiles, he began as a DJ in his native Scotland before moving towards creating his own music in his teens. The award-winning Harris has become an international star with his own albums and producing dance-pop tracks for such distinguished acts like Kylie Minogue, Pitbull, Scissor Sisters, Mary J. Blige and Rihanna, who he has helped reach the top of the charts several times with "Where Have You Been", "We Found Love" and with last year's smash, "This is What You Came For". With his latest, "Slide", Harris is actively trying to bring together electronic dance and hip-hop with vocal assistance from Frank Ocean and the Southern-based outfit, Migos, currently riding the charts with their hit, "Bad and Boujee".

"Slide" - Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos (2017) mp3

Stephen Bruner, or as he is professionally known, Thundercat, may not exactly be considered an EDM artist as he has performed and produced wildly eclectic styles of music throughout his career including jazz-fusion, alt-rock, classic R&B, hip-hop and even heavy metal. But the Los Angeles native bass guitarist has an electronic pulse beating through his recently released third studio album, "Drunk", a collection of fragmented, eccentric and musically diverse tracks. One highlight is "Show You The Way", a '70's inspired, funky, slow jam that features vocals from two icons of that era; Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald. This sensual track will fit perfectly on either the dance floor or in the bedroom.

"Show You The Way" - Thundercat featuring Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald (2017) mp3

Finally, we have the Chainsmokers, one of the hottest EDM acts of the last couple of years, who have teamed up with one of the biggest rock groups of the last decade, Coldplay.  On the very catchy, "Something Like Like This", the duo,  Alex Pall and Drew Taggart, bring their throbbing beats that blends nicely with Chris Martin's vocals which gives us the best of both bands. This song will appear on the Chainsmokers' debut studio album, "Memories. . .  Do Not Open"  due out on April 7th and on Coldplay's upcoming EP, "Kaleidoscope" which features leftover tracks from their 2015 album, "A Head Full of Dreams" and is expected in June. Here is a clip of this super-team performing the song live at the recent Brit Awards: