BIG, BLUE AND BEAUTIFUL

The ethereal Florence Welch and her band, The Machine have returned after a brief hiatus. Their third album entitled "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful" isn't due out until June but the first single has officially dropped. "What Kind of Man" is a slight depature as it's a more guitar-driven track which nicely compliments the immense and dramatic sound that you expect from this British art-rock band. With production by Markus Dravs (Arcade Fire, Björk, Mumford & Sons), this is an impressive first taste of what could be one of the most exciting new releases of the year.

"What Kind of Man" - Florence + The Machine (2015)

Here is a music video for the title song and features Florence giving us a little interpretive dancing for this mostly instrumental track:

THE 57TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS

Sam Smith, the soulful Brit pop vocalist, was the undisputed champ at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. He took home four of the six trophies he was up for including Record of The Year and Best New Artist. Smith performed his award-winning tune, "Stay With Me" on the telecast Sunday night as a moving duet with Mary J. Blige.

Alt-rocker, Beck was the unexpected victor of the Album of The Year prize for "Morning Phase". No one was more surprised than Kanye West, who got on stage briefly during the presentation of Beck's award, seeming to think it would be funny to protest the win like he did to Taylor Swift at the MTV Music Awards.

For the fourth consecutive year, LL Cool J hosted the show but this time, he kept the talk to a minimum to allow the music to speak for it's self. There were twenty-three numbers over the course of the program and at almost four hours, it might seem like music overload. However, there were really no clunkers (although the ballads performed by Ariana Grande and Adam Levine of Maroon 5 with his former "Voice" judge, Gwen Stefani bordered on snoozy) and the show kicked off with the fiery first appearance on the Grammys by heavy-metal legends, AC/DC. I know they're not every one's taste but I thought they were great as they performed the title track from their latest album, "Rock or Bust" and their classic, "Highway To Hell".

Other highlights included Usher's uncomplicated but moving version of Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic" (with the artist himself popping up at the end on harmonica), the oddball team of Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney performing their hot single, "FourFiveSeconds", Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett serving up a little jazz from their Grammy-winning record and the thrilling return of Electric Light Orchestra.

My favorite moments on the Grammys have been the pairing of veteran artists with new musicians. While not everyone appreciated their efforts, I enjoyed what Tom Jones and Jessie J. did with "You Lost That Lovin' Feeling" during their tribute to the songwriters, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Irish rocker, Hozier was delivering his Grammy-nominated hit, "Take Me To Church" but it was Annie Lennox who joined him and took it home. The duo continued with a fierce rendition of the "Screaming" Jay Hawkins song, "I Put a Spell On You" from her nominated album, "Nostalgia" with Lennox bringing down the house.

Finally, what would the Grammys be without a little spectacle? First, Madonna showed the world she's still got it with a high-energy performance of her new single, "Living For Love" which featured a herd of male dancers wearing elaborate bull masks and concluded with the pop artist being lifted up in to the air.

While I thought Sia's latest recreation of the music video for her live performance of "Chandelier" was entertaining (and included teen dancer, Maddie Ziegler and comedian, Kristen Wiig), I, for one, am tired of seeing the Aussie vocalist singing to a wall. Enough with the silly recluse act. Anyway, it was another great celebration of music.

Here is a partial list of the winners from the 2015 Grammys. For the complete list, click below:

Grammy.com

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: "Morning Phase" - Beck
RECORD OF THE YEAR: "Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)" - Sam Smith
SONG OF THE YEAR: "Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)" - James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters
BEST NEW ARTIST: Sam Smith
BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE: "Happy (Live)" - Pharrell Williams
BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE: "Say Something" - A Great Big World With Christina Aguilera
BEST TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM: "Cheek To Cheek" - Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM: "In The Lonely Hour" - Sam Smith
BEST DANCE RECORDING: "Rather Be" - Clean Bandit Featuring Jess Glynne
BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE: "Lazaretto" - Jack White
BEST ROCK ALBUM: "Ryan Adams" -Ryan Adams
BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM: "St. Vincent" -St. Vincent
BEST R&B PERFORMANCE: "Drunk In Love" -Beyoncé Featuring Jay Z
BEST R&B ALBUM: "Love, Marriage & Divorce" - Toni Braxton & Babyface
BEST RAP PERFORMANCE: "I" - Kendrick Lamar
BEST RAP ALBUM: "The Marshall Mathers LP2" - Eminem
BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE: "Something In The Water" - Carrie Underwood
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM: "Platinum" - Miranda Lambert
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR (NON-CLASSICAL): Max Martin

TAKE TWO: STEELY DAN

Steely Dan made a major impact on the music scene throughout the 1970's with their own unique brand of jazz-rock. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen are essentially the band while using a long succession of studio musicians to help fill out their sound.

These two musicians met while attending Bard College in New York and began working together after discovering they had very similar tastes in music, particularly jazz. After finishing school in 1969, Becker and Fagen went to the famous Brill Building in Manhattan to try and sell their songs. Kenny Vance of the pop act, Jay and The Americans took an interest. The duo recorded several demos and went on tour with the band for a short period.

Since their complex tunes didn't easily fit in to the narrow confines of popular music of the time, Becker and Fagen decided they needed to find their own way. Taking their name from a strap-on dildo in the novel, "Naked Lunch", Steely Dan was born and released their debut, "Can't Buy a Thrill" in 1972. The duo wrote the album together with Becker playing bass and Fagen on keyboards and performing most of the lead vocals (with David Palmer providing additional vocals). "Reelin' In The Years" and "Do It Again" became top-twenty pop hits and the album went gold.

Although Steely Dan initially went on tour to support their music,  Becker and Fagen were never really comfortable in the spotlight and stopped performing live in 1974 to focus on just working in the studio. Many other successful albums were made with more hits including "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", "Peg", "FM (No Static At All)", and "Deacon Blues".  After a series of legal and personal difficulties, Steely Dan came to an end in 1981. Walter Becker retreated to Hawaii for a more quite life while Donald Fagen recorded a solo album "The Nightfly" that became a million seller thanks to the hit, "I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World)".  In 1993, Becker produced Fagen's second album, "Kamakiriad" and actually went on tour together to promote the release.

This helped open the door for a reunion of Steely Dan and after twenty years, they released their eighth studio album, "Two Against Nature" in 2000.  The long-awaited record sold over a million copies and won four Grammy Awards including Album of The Year. Three years later, Steely Dan released "Everything Must Go". Becker and Fagen have discovered the joy of live performing late in life and gone on to tour the world extensively since their last album. Steely Dan has sold over forty million records and were inducted in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

Enjoy two of my favorites from Steely Dan:

SOUND ALIKE?

I was quite surprised to hear how smoothly a settlement was reached between Sam Smith and Tom Petty in regards to the new pop star's hit song sounding very similar to the rocker's 1989 tune. Although Smith and his co-writers, James Napier and William Phillips were not familiar with "I Won't Back Down", the song composed by Petty and co-writer Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra, the trio agreed to add them as writers to last year's smash, "Stay With Me" which earned Sam Smith multiple Grammy nominations. It's pretty amazing how there was no ugly, drawn-out legal battle and the situation was resolved very amicably.

Do they really sound alike? Well, maybe it's just me but I can't really hear it. Here are the two songs together, so listen and judge for yourself:

"Stay With Me" - Sam Smith (2014)  vs.

"I Won't Back Down" - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1989)

This is hardly the first time this situation of songs sounding similar has arisen. Below are a few famous examples that were eventually settled in court. These cases, I can hear the similarities, (especially Harrison vs. The Chiffons):

The Rolling Stones - "Anybody Seem My Baby" (1997)  vs.

k.d. Lang - "Constant Craving"(1992)

George Harrison - "My Sweet Lord" (1971)  vs.

The Chiffons - "He's So Fine" (1962)

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

2015 is off to a great start with some exciting new music hitting the airwaves.

Paul McCartney has certainly been busy. First, the former Beatle plays piano on Kanye West's surprise single, "Only One", a touching ballad about his late mother and new-born daughter. Now, both Sir Paul and Mr. West appear on the just-dropped new song from Rihanna. "FourFiveSeconds" displays an unexpected acoustic sound from the pop superstar. I'm not sure how her fans will respond but I think it's a great creative move:

"Only One" - Kanye West featuring Paul McCartney (2015)

"FourFiveSeconds" - Rihanna featuring Kanye West & Paul McCartney (2015)

Thanks to Daft Punk's tribute to him on their Grammy-winning album, "Random Access Memories", the legendary producer, Giorgio Moroder has decided to stage a comeback. At the age of seventy-four, the man responsible for helping usher in the era of disco music has assembled some of today's hottest vocalists including Britney Spears, Sia, Mikky Ekko and Charli XCX for his first new album of dance music in thirty years. Listen to the sizzling single from the upcoming, "74 Is The New 24", "Right Here, Right Now"  which features Kylie Minogue:

Here is the video for the title track from Giorgio's new album:

D'Angelo quietly released his third studio album, "Black Messiah" after a fourteen year absence from the music scene last December. It has received a lot of love from critics and fans alike. The reclusive singer plans to embark on short European tour beginning in February with his band, The Vanguard. Listen to "Sugah Daddy", the track that was given away as a free download a few days before the album's release:



"Sugah Daddy" - D'Angelo (2014)

I'd been wondering what had happened to Stephanie Mills? The theater veteran and popular recording artist hadn't been heard from in quite a while but made a very welcome return at last year's BET Awards performing a stirring rendition of her hit, "Home" that she first sang when she starred as Dorothy on Broadway in "The Wiz" many years ago. She's one of my all-time favorite singers. Enjoy a few of her lesser known songs that I love:

"You Can Get Over" - Stephanie Mills (1979)

"Try My Love" - Stephanie Mills (1980)

"Keep Away Girls" - Stephanie Mills (1982)

Finally, here's a new music video I love from Danish electronic band,  Kadie Elder:

SING IT LADIES - THE THIRD

With this third and (possibly) final celebration of all-girl groups, this list is comprised mostly with performers at the height of popularity during the 1960's or from the resurgence in the 1990's:

THE MARVELETTES

"Don't Mess With Bill" (1965)

SWV

"Weak" (1993)

THE TOYS

"A Lover's Concerto" (1965)

THE CHIFFONS

"One Fine Day" (1963)

THE CRYSTALS

"He's a Rebel" (1962)

THE THREE DEGREES

"When Will I See You Again" (1974)

THE MARY JANE GIRLS

"All Night Long" (1983)

KLYMAXX

"The Men All Pause" (1984)

BLAQUE

“Bring It All To Me” (1999)

HONEY CONE

"Girls It Ain't Easy" (1969)

XSCAPE

"Just Kickin' It" (1993)

702  

"Where My Girls At" (1999)

ZHANE

"Hey Mr. DJ" (1993)

THE DIXIE CHICKS

"Not Ready To Make Nice" (2006)

MY FAVORITE MOMENTS IN MUSIC OF 2014

There was quite a bit of good music during 2014 and it all helped motivate, inspire and excite me each and every day. I happily shared some of my favorites here throughout the year, so these are the rest of my best:

"Rather Be " - Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne

"Don't Tell 'Em" - Jeremih featuring YG

"2On" - Tinashe featuring ScHoolboy Q

"Am I Wrong" - Nico & Vinz



"I Don't Mind" - Usher featuring Juicy J

"Water Fountain" - Tune-Yards

"Cool Kids" - Echosmith

"I Was Gonna Cancel (Steph Seroussi Family Remix)" - Kylie Minogue



"Love Me Harder" - Ariana Grande featuring The Weeknd

"Show Me" - Kid Ink featuring Chris Brown

"Turn Down For What" - DJ Snake & Lil' Jon