DAVID BYRNE: AMERICAN UTOPIA TOUR

While Talking Heads were definitely a band, it was David Byrne who was actually the musical and creative director behind the group. With his former alt-rock band now just a footnote in his career, Byrne has continued to create in his own name and after releasing his seventh solo album, "American Utopia", the sixty-six year old performer is on the road to promote the record.

I caught the L.A. show on August 25th at the Shrine Auditorium (thanks to a dear friend who had an extra ticket) and it was an incredible merging of art performance and rock concert. The stage was completely bare and surrounded by a curtain of long, individual strings. With just a table and chair placed out before the start, Bryne emerged solo with a song from the new album, "Here" where he sat holding a human brain as an unusual visual aide.

He was soon joined by his two highly-energetic background singers/dancers who literally moved throughout the entire show. The rest of the band featuring ten musicians eventually appear, all wearing the same identical gray suits and barefoot like Bryne, while each carrying their own instruments (including drums and percussion) and moving along wirelessly throughout the stage.

After a performance of the British electro-duo, X-Press 2's "Lazy" where Bryne was a guest vocalist, he launched in to some Talking Heads songs with "I, Zimbra" and "Slippery People". I thought for sure he would keep his former band's material to a minimum but I was quite surprised for throughout the night Byrne did quite a few including "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)", "Blind",  "The Great Curve", "Once In a Lifetime" and "Burning Down The House".

I knew there would obviously be plenty of middle-aged Heads fans but it was nice to see just as many millennials in attendance. Byrne was in great voice and, still utilizing his signature nerdy dance moves, effortlessly kept pace with his younger band as they filled the auditorium with vibrant sounds and positive energy.

Politics did manage to find it's way in to the show but the approach was subtle and low-key. Bryne, who has an organization on tour with him to help people register to vote at each stop, stressed the importance of making change happen not only nationally but at a local level. And during the encore, Bryne does an artist approved, altered cover of Janelle Monáe's "Hell You Talmbout" which shouts out the recent names of people of color that were questionably killed during police interactions.

With the world in such turmoil and conflict, Byrne has stated that the album and the tour was inspired to promote optimism and offer some comfort through song in these trying times. I can honestly say that he has achieved his goal with a concert that featured vivid style, unparalleled creativity and great music.

CHER HAS BECOME A "DANCING QUEEN"

After finally returning to the big screen this summer with the hit musical sequel, "Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again", the Oscar-winner, Cher was inspired to return to what started her career; music. She had been a fan of ABBA's music (and saw the "Mamma Mia" stage show three times) and decided to make her new album a collection of the Swedish group's greatest hits.

"Dancing Queen" will be Cher's twenty-sixth (!) studio album and is due out on September 28th. The record features her versions of such classic ABBA tunes like "The Name of The Game", "The Winner Takes It All", "One of Us", "Fernando" (which she performed in the movie) and, of course, the title track. The first taste of the record is Cher's covers of "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" and "SOS". If you are a fan of this legendary performer, then you are in for a treat:





And as a bonus here is a mash-up by Alex Simpson of Cher's song and Madonna's 2005 tune, "Hung-Up" which used a sample of ABBA's original track.

COVERED BY ARETHA

One of the many amazing gifts of Aretha Franklin was her ability to transform a familiar song that had previously been a popular hit and make it completely fresh and new. Early in her career, she covered plenty of classic standards and certainly put her stamp on them. But it wasn't until Franklin gained more creative control of her records that she was able to take her version of a well-known song in exciting and unexpected directions.

The Queen of Soul's first breakout hit was in 1967 with a re-imaging of Otis Redding's top-five r&b hit, "Respect". While his take was about a hard-working man coming home to his family and finally getting the attention he feels he deserves,  she made it about a woman who demanded to receive R-E-S-P-E-C-T from her man. Aretha's version not only became a powerful feminist anthem but used as inspiration during the civil rights movement.

Here are just a few examples of what Aretha could do with somebody else's song:

MTV VIDEO OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS RANKED

As the music video has lost most of its luster and relevance, the MTV Video Music Awards have generally done pretty much the same. At one time, the show was the place to go for water-cooler moments (do people still actually chat by water dispensers?) and incredible live performances by the hottest artists of the day. Now, it seems to struggle to get popular musicians to attend and the ones that do hardly create memorable musical moments. And while MTV claimed to have something “special” planned to honor Aretha Franklin during this year’s show, the best they came up with was to have Madonna go onstage and tell this long-winded story (which ended up having very little to do with the Queen of Soul. And I won’t even get in to what the singer was wearing) before presenting the Video of the Year Award, then it’s quite clear that the VMA’s glory days are long gone.

Vulture has decided to look back at all of the previous thirty-four winners of MTV’s Video of The Year Award and ranked them from worst to best. Looking over this list, I’m kinda shocked by some of these actual winners of this prize. Many of these videos were barely impressive when they won and have hardly stood up to the test of time (yes, I’m taking about you “Money For Nothing”).

Anyway, Click below for the entire list but I have included my personal favorites here:

Every VMA Video of The Year Award Ranked

ARETHA FRANKLIN (1942 - 2018)

It is no exaggeration to say that the entire world is grieving over the loss of one of popular music’s greatest singers, Aretha Franklin, dubbed "the Queen of Soul" relativity early in her career, who passed away on August 16th at the age of seventy-six. It was apparent that she had not been well over the last few years but had declined to reveal any possible illness. It has since been stated that Franklin had been suffering from pancreatic cancer and had passed away from complications.

While the church was a very important part of her life as she was the daughter of Detroit minister C. L. Franklin and her first professional recordings were gospel music when she was a teenager, Franklin had interest in many genres of music. People were always aware of her magnificent gift as a vocalist and knew she was destined for greatness. Franklin first signed with Columbia Records in 1960 (which her father and manager at the time approved after turning down Berry Gordy and his Motown label as he felt it was not established long enough) and they tried to mold her like other popular singers of the day. And while she found some success at the label, it always seemed like she was unable to reach her full potential.

That would all change six years later when Franklin decided to leave Columbia and move to Atlantic Records which would allow her more creative control. Franklin was finally able to sing how she felt and record the songs how she wanted. And the public responded to her music in a major way. Franklin was an immediate success and would go throughout her amazing career to amass seventeen top-ten pop singles, twenty number-one r&b singles, eighteen Grammy Awards (including the first eight awards given in the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance from 1968 to 1975), the first female inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, a Kennedy Center honoree in 1994, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005, sold seventy-five million records worldwide and was ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as the Number One Greatest Singer of All-Time.

Not only was Franklin a tremendously talented vocalist but was actively involved in the civil rights movement where she toured with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and would sing at his 1968 funeral. Franklin also sang at the U.S. Presidential inaugurations for Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Aretha was one of my all-time favorite singers. She could, and did, sing all kinds of music while making them clearly her own with her glorious voice filled with passion and fire. Aretha Franklin was truly an influential, one-of-a-kind artist who changed popular music forever. And in honor of this gifted performer, here are a few of my favorite musical moments by Ms Franklin:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADONNA

It's hard to believe it but today the legendary pop superstar, Madonna has turned sixty. I am old enough to remember when she first came on the scene with the single, "Everybody" back in 1982 and many people thought she was a black singer. I danced in the clubs to her next single, "Burning Up" which came out the following year and it's still one of my favorites from the singer. Then her self-titled album finally came out in 1983 and I was completely hooked. It was a perfect blend of dance, pop and a little bit of soul. From that moment on, I became a life-long fan.

Provocative, controversial and boldly sexual, Madonna was unlike any female pop singer that came before her. From the very beginning of her career, she challenged conventional views of femininity and sexuality while forcing people to confront their fears and biases on these once taboo subjects. And her timing was perfect as she came of age during the rise of MTV and the music video. Madonna cleverly used this format to visually express divergent ideas, create many memorable personas and enhance her dance-pop songs.

No matter your opinion of this singer, there is no denying her wide-ranging influence and impact on our culture and pop music. Ultimately, Madonna has not only become one of the most successful female singers in history with over three hundred million records sold worldwide but she is considered fourth as one of the best-selling musical acts of all time.

And to celebrate this major milestone in her life, Madonna has started a month-long fundraiser to help orphans and children in Malawi. If you would like to donate, you can go directly to her Facebook page to give with the proceeds going to Madonna's Raising Malawi foundation.

Click below to donate:

Raise Malawi in Honor of Madonna's Birthday

And I'm going to honor this iconic singer by highlighting some of my favorite moments in her long, varied career:

TAKE TWO: MINNIE RIPERTON

Minnie Riperton had an unusual voice for pop music. With her four-octave coloratura soprano, this singer brought colorful sounds that you didn't ordinarily hear in pop or r&b songs. This was most notable in the biggest hit of her career, "Loving You" where you hear her hit notes so high that you didn't think were humanly possible. While she is no longer with us, Riperton has been remembered as one of the great vocal stylists.

Born in Chicago, Riperton was the youngest of eight children and she embraced the arts at an early age. She began with ballet and modern dance before being encouraged to explore her musical abilities. Riperton trained with a voice coach and with her impressive vocal gift seemed poised for a career in opera. However, she was more interested in singing soul and rock.

Riperton’s first professional opportunity began when she became part of a girl group, The Gems in Chicago. While their attempts at having a big hit record never materialized, The Gems did find some success as session singers with their notable role was providing background vocals on Fontella Bass’ hit, "Rescue Me" in 1965. During this time, Riperton met producer, Billy Davis and he helped guide and produced singles with her that found minor local success. Riperton later joined a rock-soul outfit called Rotary Connection in 1966, recording several albums and touring with them until 1969. She recorded her first solo album with her husband, Richard Rudolph, a writer and producer in 1970 but "Come To My Garden" failed to receive much attention.

Soon Riperton was a mother of two and spending more time with her family than on her career. But a few demos found their way to Epic Records and they soon had her recording her next album. "Perfect Angel" was released in 1974 and brought the singer some new found fame. With fan, Stevie Wonder on board to play, write and produce a few tracks (but secretly at the time due to the concern that his label, Motown might not allow his participation), the album became an international success with the help of the last single, "Loving You". This beautiful ballad reached the top of the U.S. pop chart in 1975.

However, not long after reaching this highlight of her career, the singer received some tragic news. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and received a radical mastectomy in 1976. After bravely going public with her illness, Riperton continued recording and touring and became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society. She released her fifth studio album, "Minnie" in May 1979 but sadly, Riperton lost her battle with cancer and passed away two months later on July 12th at the age of thirty-one. She is survived by Rudolph and their children, Marc and Maya, who many know as an actress and comedian as a former cast member on "Saturday Night Live".

The spirit of Minnie Riperton is still very much alive with her wonderful music to enjoy and to remember her gifts as an artist. Here are two of favorite songs from this glorious songbird: