IN MEMORIAM

EDDIE MONEY (1949 - 2019)

Eddie Money, the working-class rocker who found chart success in the 1970's and '80's, passed away on September 13th due to complications from esophageal cancer.

He was born Edward Mahoney in Brooklyn, NY and raised on Long Island. As teenager, he performed with several rock bands but after graduating from high school, Mahoney decided to follow in the family tradition and become a police officer. He briefly worked as a trainee at the NYPD before realizing he needed to follow his true passion; music.

In 1968, Mahoney moved to Berkeley, CA., changed his name to "Eddie Money" and played the club scene in the Bay Area. He struggled for a number of years to get noticed until his first big break came when he met music promoter, Bill Graham who helped get the fledgling singer signed to Columbia Records. Money's self-titled debut album was released in 1977 and became an immediate success, selling over two million copies, thanks to the top-forty singles, "Baby Hold On" and "Two Tickets To Paradise".

He would continue to enjoy popularity until the early 1980's when Money's career began to decline due to the distraction of his increased drug abuse. The singer made a major comeback in 1986 with the single, "Take Me Home Tonight". With the label taking more creative control of his music, Money was given this demo to perform which he didn't really like. But he was intrigued by a line in the song taken from The Ronnettes' classic 1963 hit, "Be My Baby". Money managed to track down and convince the then-retired Ronnie Spector to sing on the track. That would help make this tune Money's highest charting single, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and revitalize Spector's music career.

Money made an appearance on an episode of the Netflix series, "The Kominsky Method" last year and on "Real Money", a reality show that featured him and his family on AXS TV. He had also recently recorded a new album called, "Brand New Day" which was scheduled to be released last July but it was put on hold following his stage four cancer diagnosis. Listen to two of my favorites songs from the dynamic Eddie Money:





RIC OCASEK (1944 - 2019)

The co-creator, writer, guitarist and voice behind the new-wave rock band, The Cars, Ric Ocasek passed away on September 15th. He died of natural causes at the apparent age of seventy-five since there has been some dispute over the actual year of Ocasek's birth. Ocasek and his band had been just inducted in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year.

Ocasek was born and raised in Baltimore, MD but his family moved to Cleveland, OH when he was sixteen. He had begun college in the state but dropped out after deciding he wanted to seriously pursue music. He met Benjamin Orr, a bass player and vocalist, and they formed a rock band together. The duo relocated to Boston and became a folk-rock group called, Milkwood which featured future Cars member, keyboardist Greg Hawkes. They did record one album but it failed to chart. The three musicians would become a part of other bands where they would meet guitarist Elliot Easton and drummer, David Robinson with them all becoming The Cars in 1976.

After signing with Elektra Records in 1977, The Cars released their self-titled debut the following year. With their unique sound that combined punk, rockabilly and power-pop, The Cars became noticed almost instantaneously and found chart success with such songs like, "Just What I Needed", "Let's Go", "You Might Think", "Magic", "My Best Friend's Girl", "Tonight She Comes" and "Good Times Roll" before the band called it quits in 1988.  Each member went on to pursue individual musical endeavors with Ocasek recording seven solo albums with his most successful being his second in 1986, "This Side Of Paradise". The surviving members of The Cars (Orr passed away in 2000) would reunite in 2010 with an album, "Move Like This" and a tour.

Ocasek is survived by six sons, two from each of his three marriages and his third wife, model Paulina Porzikova who he met in 1984 during the shooting of the music video for The Cars' biggest hit single, "Drive" and they married in 1989. But after almost thirty years of marriage, the couple had separated in 2017.

2018 ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

The latest roster of musicians inducted in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for 2018 was announced and there are five new members. Bon Jovi, those other rockers from New Jersey, new-wave rock group, The Cars, British rock band, Dire Straits, the English art-rock outfit, The Moody Blues and the late vocalist, Nina Simone. After announcing the seventeen nominees in October, these artists were voted on by the organization (consisting of critics, record executives and other music insiders) and by music fans who weighed in their votes with them getting one single vote to the overall total for the top-five finalists. Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the gospel artist who played the electric guitar, will be acknowledged as an Early Influences this year.

The induction dinner and ceremony will be held in April in Cleveland, Ohio, home of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and will be filmed by HBO and shown on the network at a later date.

BON JOVI

Formed in 1983 and named after lead singer, Jon Bon Jovi, this classic rock hair band found worldwide fame with their third album, "Slippery When Wet" in 1986 and features some of their best known songs, "Wanted Dead or Alive", "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer". Bon Jovi has sold over 130 million records and performed in over fifty countries during their career.



THE CARS

The Cars first came on the scene in the late 1970's merging punk and new-wave to create their own unique sound. Their self-titled debut in 1978 was an immediate hit with the singles, "Just What I Needed", "My Best Friend's Girl", "Good Times Roll" and "You're All I've Got Tonight" reaching the pop charts. Guitarist, Ric Ocasek wrote most of the band's material and shared vocal duties with bass guitar player, Benjamin Orr (who passed away in 2000) and the Cars would enjoy plenty of other hits throughout the '80's before disbanding in 1988. In 2011, the surviving members of the band reunited, recorded an album, "Move To This" and went on tour.



DIRE STRAITS

Brothers Mark and David Knopfler along with friends John Illsley and Pick Withers formed Dire Straits in London in 1977. Influenced by jazz, folk and blues, the band found success right away with the 1978 single, "Sultans of Swing" which reached the top-ten in the U.S. and Britain but had their biggest hit in 1985 with their fifth album, "Brothers In Arms".  This record reached number one internationally, winning two Grammy Awards and selling over thirty million copies thanks to the popular songs, "Walk of Life" and "Money For Nothing".



THE MOODY BLUES

Although this band from Birmingham, England first came to prominence as a r&b based outfit in the mid '60's,  the Moody Blues has become best known as an esoteric rock band. Adding a rich, symphonic sound to their high-concept rock albums, this influential group found worldwide success with their music and managed to hit the pop charts with the songs, "Go Now", "Your Wildest Dreams", "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" and "Nights in White Satin". The Moody Blues have sold seventy million records throughout their fifty year career.



NINA SIMONE

This legendary vocalist first wanted to become a concert pianist but after being denied entry at a prestigious school due to her race, Eunice Waymon changed her name to "Nina Simone" (so to not to disgrace her family) and began her career as a singer. Using a mixture of the blues, jazz, soul, pop and classical music to express herself, Simone became a renowned live performer and recording artist. She wrote much of her music, particularly during the civil rights movement like "Mississippi Goddam", "Four Women" and "To Be Young, Gifted and Black". But Simone was also a unique interpreter of songs, reworking musical standards and making them all her own. Some of her most popular are "I Loves You, Porgy", "Wild Is The Wind", "My Baby Just Cares for Me" and "Feeling Good".



SISTER ROSETTA THARPE

It is said that Rosetta Nubin was only four years old when she began singing and playing guitar as part of her family's traveling evangelical troupe. By the time she was nineteen, she had ended her first marriage but took a variation of her former husband's surname to become professionally known as "Sister Rosetta Tharpe" and was a popular act throughout the 1930's and '40's performing for both spiritual and secular audiences. She is referred to as "The Godmother of rock and roll" as she was one of the first to use a distorted electric guitar in her pop-gospel music and inspired many future early rock musicians. Later in the '60's, Tharpe toured Europe and would help influence the British blues movement there.

2014 MTV MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS

Back in 1984, I saw the very first MTV Music Video Award program. Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd hosted the show at Radio City Music Hall during the height of popularity for videos. The irreverent show was notable for the first major live appearance of rising star, Madonna who premiered her latest single, "Like A Virgin" in a shocking performance (certainly at that time) that ended with her writhing on stage in a wedding dress. The evening was capped with The Cars taking home the first Video of The Year Award for the innovative clip of "You Might Think".

I've watched all of the following presentations and this marks the thirtieth year. The MTV award show has always been a hit or miss affair with at least some sort of controversial event occurring during the telecast. While music videos are barely even played on MTV now, the awards are still quite popular although it's much harder to cover the show's only purpose which is for performers to showcase their new songs and presenters to plug upcoming projects.

Ariana Grande, Jessie J and Nicki Minaj kicked off the show with each performing a selection from their forthcoming albums before coming together to do "Bang Bang", the uninspired hit they all appear on. With the exception of Sam Smith delivering a moving rendition of "Stay With Me", all of other musicians were lackluster or unmemorable which included Iggy Azalea, Maroon 5, Usher and new pop princess, Taylor Swift.

After being completely dismayed by the generic girl-group, Fifth Harmony beating out the amazing Sam Smith for the Artist To Watch Award and Miley Cyrus sending some apparent former homeless youth up to accept her award for Video of The Year with a speech that seemed to mock the situation, I was ready to turn off this nonsense. However, it was Queen Bee that saved the show from being a complete disaster at the very end. Accepting the Michael Jackson Vanguard Award, Beyoncé put all the other performers to shame as she easily displayed why she deserved this honor. The dazzling vocalist went on to deliver a thrilling set as she performed a medley of all of the songs from her recent million-selling, self-titled album. With their baby, Blue Ivy in his arms, Jay Z presented his overwhelmed wife with the award which also served to show the world that they are a solid and united family. Time will reveal how accurate this may actually be but it was still quite a touching and moving moment. If you missed it, take a look:

Get More: 2014 VMA, Artists.MTV, Beyonce, MTV VMA Video Vanguard (Medley), Music, More Music Videos

Let's flashback to Madonna's virgin appearance on the award show thirty years ago:



Finally, here is the 1984 MTV Video of the Year:

HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

BEYONCE - "4"

Beyonce is back, after a brief hiatus, with her fourth album appropriately entitled, "4". She has assembled the usual suspects of top producers (Babyface, The Dream, Ryan Tedder, Tricky Stewart) to help her put this ambitious project together and it's clear she wanted to challenge and push herself musically but the results are decidedly half-baked.

Although a lot of the new music is what you would typically expect from Beyonce but I'm having difficulty warming up to some of the songs. The first single,"Run The World (Girls), took some time but I have finally begun to appreciate (The rocking music video has certainly contributed to that) but the other songs released, the ballads, "1+1" and "Best Thing I Never Had" have left me unimpressed, but there are definitely some nice cuts on the album such as "Countdown" and "Party" that features Andre 3000. Despite the old-school r&b flavor and the fresh beats, nothing really stands out as it should although you can tell there was much thought and effort put in to this album.

This is a song that I really like:

"Countdown" - Beyonce (2011)


DANGER MOUSE & DANIELE LUPPI - "ROME"

When producer/songwriter, Danger Mouse (best known for his work with Gnarls Barkley and Broken Bells) and film composer, Daniele Luppi met, they both realized that they both shared a love of the work of Ennio Morricone, the composer of the classic music scores of the spaghetti westerns of the 60's and '70's.

They have come together to make a loving tribute to that sound with the album, "Rome", named after the city where they did most of the recording. The duo enlisted the help of  Jack White, formerly of  The White Stripes and jazz/pop artist, Norah Jones to provide vocals and lyrics on some of the tracks. The music has a familiar feeling, since they used some of the musicians that actually worked with Morricone when he recorded his scores, yet seems very modern with lush instrumentals and haunting rock guitars.

"Two Against One" Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi featuring Jack White (2011)


THE CARS - "MOVE LIKE THIS"

One of the first commercially successful new-wave rock bands, The Cars had many hit songs such as "Just What I Needed", "Drive", and "You Might Think" but the group broke up in 1988.

The band has now reunited twenty-four years after their last album, "Door To Door" to release their seventh, "Move Like This". All of the original members, Elliot Easton on guitar, keyboardist, Greg Hawkes, drummer, David Robinson and Rik Ocasek, lead vocalist, guitarist and head songwriter, are back together (with the exception of bassist/singer, Benjamin Orr who passed away in 2000).

Produced by Jacknife Lee (who also played bass on the album) and The Cars, this new material retains their classic sound but moves the band in to the present. The Cars have also begun a North American tour to support the album.

Enjoy this track off of the new album:

"Blue Tip" - The Cars (2011)


BON IVER - "BON IVER"

Justin Vernon left his progressive folk band, Deyarmond Edison in North Carolina, retreated to his father's hunting cabin in Wisconsin and eventually created, "Bon Iver". The results became the album, "For Emma, Forever Ago" in 2007 which was a stripped-down affair that involved just a laptop, his voice and guitar.

It caught the attention, of all people, Kanye West who asked Vernon to work with him on his album, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy [Explicit]". Four songs they collaborated on ended up on the album including my favorite track, "Lost In The World".

Now, Vernon has released his latest self-titled album, "Bon Iver [+Digital Booklet]" where he has seemed to have used his experience with Mr. West to progress his own musical endeavor which has this new work feel sonically larger. The results are eerie and beautiful.

Here is a great track from the album:

"Hinnom, TX" - Bon Iver (2011)


FOSTER THE PEOPLE - " TORCHES"

Foster The People is a LA-based alt-rock band that first came together in 2009.  Originally called "Foster and the People" but it was frequently misheard as "Foster The People" and the name stuck. The members are Cubbie Fink on bass/background vocals, drummer, Mark Pontius and Mark Foster on vocals, keyboards and guitar. Sean Cimino and Isom Innis perform with the band on tour.

The band has just released their first CD, "Torches" after a self-titled EP was put out earlier this year. The album debuted at number eight on the Billboard Top 200 Album Charts and the first single, "Pumped Up Kicks" climbed to number one on the Billboard Alternative Song Chart.

Extensive touring, appearances at music festivals and exposure on music blogs helped Foster The People's quick rise to success.

"Houdini" - Foster The People (2011)


JILL SCOTT - "THE LIGHT OF THE SUN"

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Jill Scott began her performing career as a spoken-word artist which evolved in to singing when she met ?uestlove of the hip-hop group, The Roots. She toured with the band as a background singer and together they wrote the band's hit song that featured Erykah Badu, "You Got Me [Explicit]" in 1999 which led to her debut album,"Who Is Jill Scott? - Words And Sounds, Vol. 1"  the following year.

Ms Scott has now released her fourth CD, "The Light Of The Sun (Deluxe)" and her first under her own label, Blues Babe Records (named after her grandmother) which is distributed by Warner Bros. Records. She was part of the original neo-soul movement in the late 90's that blended together classic soul with hip-hop and her music remains warm, sensual, thoughtful and positive which is very refreshing in today's musical landscape.

Here is a perfect example of her sound:

"Shame" - Jill Scott featuring Eve


This is the new video for Lady Gaga's new single, "The Edge Of Glory". This is the first song off the new album that I really like and this video is great because of it's simplicity. No meat dresses, giant eggs or any other grand theatrics, just Gaga dancing in the city streets, wearing a demure (for her) leather bondage gear. This video is also bittersweet as it also marks the last musical appearance of the late Clarence Clemmons:




This is the music video for Robyn's "Call Your Girlfriend" and I LOVE THIS SONG! I just don't understand why it's not getting any proper airplay on US pop radio. This is much better than a lot of the crap that is getting played.

Anyway . .  now, this is an example of simplicity: just Robyn singing and dancing, wearing the latest in Swedish fashion (just kidding, I hope) and it just works.