THRILLS AND CHILLS

Have a scary Halloween.

HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

"THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE" - PINK

Despite Pink recently becoming a mother, don't think for a moment she's about to become soft and start singing lullabies. On her sixth CD, "The Truth About Love", Pink displays that she's still quite able and willing to rock out with the best of them. The singer co-wrote the entire album with Greg Kurstin (the Grammy nominated producer is also one half of the pop duo, The Bird and the Bee) who also produced a large part of the record.

Her clever first single, "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)" has reached the top five on the pop charts and there seems to be plenty of other potential hits to come with artists Lily Rose Cooper (the Brit pop artist formerly known as Lily Allen) and Eminem contributing to some tracks.

"Here Comes The Weekend" - Pink featuring Eminem

Here is the sexy music video for the second single, "Try" with Pink performing some impressive interpretive dance moves:



"PUSH AND SHOVE" - NO DOUBT

No Doubt, the Anaheim-based rock band decided to take some time off after their 2004 tour to pursue solo projects with the most visible being lead vocalist, Gwen Stefani's two highly-successful solo albums. The band, which also features Tony Kanal on bass, Tom Dumont on guitar and drummer, Adrian Young, have reunited for their sixth studio album, "Push and Shove".  With this new record, it feels like time has almost stood still as their sound is still heavily SKA punk influenced. Although there are some contemporary touches throughout however not enough to feel truly fresh.

Here is the new single from the album, "Looking Hot":



"RED" - TAYLOR SWIFT

Although the twenty-two year old, Taylor Swift has become a country music superstar in a very short period of time, she has no interest in resting on this success. With her latest CD, "Red", the singer/songwriter has decided to challenge herself by moving slightly out of her comfort zone and collaborating with talent not usually associated with her musical genre. This appears to have been a smart move as the first single (co-written and produced by pop hit-makers, Max Martin and Shellback), "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" has become her first number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

I have to admit I've never been much of a fan as I found her a little too precious but she has grown as an artist and I like much of her new work.

"State of Grace" - Taylor Swift

"TWO ELEVEN" - BRANDY

Brandy is finally back with new music after a four year absence with a new label on RCA Records. The title of her sixth album, "Two Eleven" represents the singer's birthday as well as the date of the tragic death of her good friend and idol, Whitney Houston.

This collection has returned to the feel of the classic Brandy sound much like her hit recordings as a teenager but now comes from the prospective of a mature woman. Passionate and sensual, these songs are cutting-edge r&b with production assistance by Rico Love, Bangladesh and Frank Ocean.

"Wildest Dreams" - Brandy

"FREE DIMENSIONAL" - DIAMOND RINGS

Canadian vocalist, John O'Regan who is better know by his moniker, Diamond Rings first came to attention with his first single, "All Yr Songs" in 2009 that he had written, produced and self-distributed. His debut album, "Special Affections" came out the following year and eventually released on a major label, Astralwerks Records. This lead to him opening for the Swedish pop star, Robyn on her "Body Talk" tour.

The out and proud twenty-seven year old has now returned with his exciting new release, "Free Dimensional" that is heavily inspired by the electro-pop music of the 1980's when he was just an infant. It's a really fun record and it's one of my favorites of the year

"All The Time" - Diamond Rings

"RELEASE ME" - BARBRA STREISAND

One of the most popular and successful recording artists in history, Barbra Streisand has released her latest album appropriately entitled, "Release Me". It features a collection of songs she had recorded throughout her almost fifty years in music but just didn't quite make the cut to be included on any album. Now this material is finally seeing the light of day with songs ranging from Alan & Marilyn Bergman, Jimmy Webb and Randy Newman as well as tunes from Broadway shows including "Finian's Rainbow" and "The Wiz".

In celebration of her spectacular career, the veteran songstress is even on the road with a rare concert tour to promote the album throughout North America.

"Home (From "The Wiz")" - Barbra Streisand

Beyonce's younger sister, Solange is back with some new music. "Losing You" is a funky song with a great video shot in South Africa:

TAKE TWO: KARYN WHITE

Los Angeles native, Karyn White first became noticed when she provided vocals for jazz artist, Jeff Lorber's single, "The Facts of Love" in 1986. This lead to her being signed to Warner Bros. Records and releasing her first self-titled album in 1988 that featured four highly successful singles; "The Way You Love Me", "Superwoman" and "Love Saw It" (a duet with Babyface) each reached number one on the r&b chart with "Secret Rendezvous" making the top ten on both the pop and r&b charts. The album went on to sell over a million copies and White received two Grammy Award nominations for her work.

The follow-up, "The Ritual of Love" was released in 1991 with hit-makers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis producing several tracks. Not only did their collaboration on the lead single, "Romantic" top the pop and r&b charts but during the recording of the album, White and Lewis became romantically involved. The couple married the following year and had a daughter, Ashley. White's next album, "Make Him Do Right" in 1994 was not a great success and soon decided to take some time off to focus on her family.

Now that her daughter is in college, Karyn White has finally decided to return to music and has released her fourth studio album, "Carpe Diem- Seize The Day" after seventeen long years. It is now available on ITunes and her website, Karyn's World

Enjoy two of my favorite classic Karyn White songs:

"The Way You Love Me" - Karyn White (1988)

"The Way I Feel About You" - Karyn White (1991)

R. B. GREAVES (1943 - 2012)

I was out of town when I heard that singer, R.B. Greaves past away on September 27th at the age of sixty-eight but I wanted to still pay tribute. He only managed to record one self-titled album and had only one hit song during his entire career but whenever I hear "Take A Letter, Maria", it brings a warm feeling, taking me back to my childhood. I just thought it was a fun song but clearly I didn't really understand the lyrics which is about a man dictating to his secretary to write his wife, informing her that he's leaving after discovering she had cheated. It's a pretty odd thing to do as well as a strange subject matter for a pop song but regardless, I still think it's really a great tune

Ronald Bertram Greaves (a cousin of r&b artist, Sam Cooke) began his career performing with the group, The TNTs before going solo. He had to be convinced by his label to record this song he had written as his first single because two big artists, Tom Jones and Stevie Wonder, had already previously performed it. However, his version (which had a bit of a Latin flavor and was produced by Atlantic Records president, Ahmet Ertegun) was the only one that became a smash. "Take A Letter, Maria" just missed topping the U.S. pop chart in 1969 but it remained on the chart for fifteen weeks and went on to sell over a million copies.

Let's have a listen to his classic song:

 "Take A Letter Maria" - R.B. Greaves (1969)

ADELE MEETS BOND

It doesn't appear that Adele, one of the biggest (and most unlikely) pop stars currently on the planet will be releasing a new CD anytime soon but there is a new song just out to help ease the wait.

"Skyfall", is title of the latest 007 movie (due out in the U.S.on November 9th) and Adele has been given the honor of performing the theme song of the same name for this movie. The tune (written by Adele and her producer, Paul Epworth) fits perfectly in the tradition of the previous James Bond theme songs yet still feels quite fresh and modern. Let's be honest - most of these songs tend to land more on the cheesy side but I think this is one of the better tracks created for this long-running series which is celebrating it's fiftieth year since the release of the first film, "Dr. No".

Have a listen:

"Skyfall" - Adele (2012)

Here are a few of some other classic Bond theme songs that I luv:

"Live and Let Die" - Paul McCartney & Wings (1973)

"Nobody Does It Better" (From "The Spy Who Loved Me") - Carly Simon (1977)

"For Your Eyes Only" - Sheena Easton (1981)

MY TUNE OF THE DAY

I just heard that Annie Lennox was recently married (for the third time but who's counting?) and just heard one of my favorite songs from this amazing artist today.

"No More I Love You's"  was the first single from her 1995 album, "Medusa" which was a collection of cover songs with this tune being the least known on the record. The song was first recored by the British new-wave band, The Lovers Speaks in 1986 and Lennox delivers a bubbly, eccentric take with her charming version.

Annie hasn't put out any new music since her Christmas album in 2010, so let's hope we will get something very soon. In the meantime, have a listen to this classic by Ms Lennox:

"No More I Love You's"  -  Annie Lennox (1995)

This is the video of an incredible duet featuring Annie Lennox and David Bowie performing "Under Pressure" with Queen during a Freddie Mercury tribute concert in 1992:

FOCUS ON: DAVID BOWIE

There have been many musical artists referred to as a "chameleon" but there has really been only one individual that that term can truly be applied to and that is David Bowie. Rock & roll has always involved theatrics but Bowie took it to whole other level as he literally became a completely different persona while recording and performing live on stage. He created several characters during his time but the one that made a major cultural impact was his first; Ziggy Stardust. This gender-bending, larger-than-life alien was inspiring, mind-blowing and (at the time) a little frightening. Ziggy would certainly be considered tame by today's standards but that's because Bowie paved the way to challenge convention and open minds.

Throughout his long career, he not only reinvented himself visually but musically. Bowie greatly appreciated the sounds of the past but was always looking forward, which allowed him to create innovative and exciting moments in rock. I think one of the main reasons why Bowie has had such a profound and powerful impact was that he made anyone who felt or looked different feel that it was okay to embrace that and should be celebrated.

He was born David Jones on January 8, 1947 in Brixton, London. As a young child, David was interested in art, dance and music, most especially early American rock & roll introduced to him by his father. By fifteen, he learned to play the sax and formed his first band, The Komrads, where they played at school functions and weddings. David soon became frustrated by his band-mates lack of ambition and joined another group, The King Bees. In 1964, Jones recorded his first single, "Liza Jane" under "Davie Jones and the King Bees" although it didn't achieve much success. David quickly moved on to perform with a succession of other blues-rock bands such as The Manish Boys, The Lower Third, The Buzz and The Riot Squad. Although he managed to record a single with each of these groups but none of them were a hit so David soon decided to go forward as a solo artist.

Unhappy with his surname and not wanting to be confused with Davy Jones of The Monkees, he renamed himself  "Bowie" which was the name of a nineteenth-century fighting knife. David Bowie released his first self-titled studio album in 1967 which was written mostly by him and featured a collection influenced by folk, music hall and psychedelic pop. This record was another commercial failure and Bowie took some time off before attempting to record a follow-up album.

By 1969, he released his next album which was originally also self-titled but would later be renamed "Space Oddity" after the success of this single. This song reached number five on the U.K. charts and was the first to feature his astronaut character, "Major Tom", inspired by the film, "2001: A Space Odyssey". Bowie met American model/actress, Angela Barnett in April of that year and he would marry her a year later. Angela would become a major influence to Bowie's music and style.

The release of Bowie's third album, "The Man Who Sold The World" in 1970 played up his androgynous looks and featured him wearing a dress on the original U.K. cover which he would wear during interviews while doing publicity in the U.S. The record's sound was heavy rock which was an extreme departure from his previous work and was the beginning of what would later be described as "glam-rock".

Following the 1971 album, "Hunky Dory" (which featured the classic song, "Changes" although it was never a big commercial success), came the album which completely altered the course of his career; "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars" was released in 1972 and introduced the world to this character, Ziggy Stardust who was an alien in the human form of an excessive rock & roller who came with a message of peace and love. Inspired by British rocker, Vince Taylor, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, Ziggy Stardust was a fashion-forward creation with many costumes designed by designer, Kansai Yamamoto. The music on the album fused heavy metal with the lighter pop sounds of his earlier work combined with a highly successful elaborate stage show that featured his band, The Spiders From Mars helped turn Bowie in to a major music star, most especially in Brittan. A documentary was filmed by D.A. Pennebaker which showcased the final concert of the tour in 1973 at the Hammersmith Odeon with Bowie announcing that he was retiring Ziggy Stardust.

In 1974, Bowie moved to the United States; first to New York before settling in Los Angeles. "Diamond Dogs" was released that year which was a concept album inspired by George Orwell's novel, "1984" combined with elements of the glam-rock of Ziggy Stardust and soul music. The single, "Rebel Rebel" became a U.K. top five hit.

"Young Americans" was recorded in Philadelphia and was heavily influenced by American r&b. The title track was released first as a single and briefly became his highest charting in the U.S.at number twenty-eight before the next, "Fame" (co-written with John Lennon) would become Bowie's first number one pop song in 1975. The song even made it on the r&b charts, peaking at number twenty-one. In fact, Bowie would be one of the few white artists to perform on "Soul Train" where he did this song and "Golden Years", the first single off of the follow-up album, "Station To Station" which reached the top five in the U.S and U.K. in 1976. During this time he was the lead in his first major film, "The Man Who Fell To Earth", created another character, "The Thin White Duke" to perform during his tour and became heavily dependent on drugs, specifically cocaine.

With his health deteriorating, Bowie left L.A.and eventually ended up in Berlin. After he finally went in to recovery, he was ready to return to music and teamed-up with musician, Brian Eno, a fellow Brit, to work on a series of avant-garde albums that would be referred to as "The Berlin trilogy". The first album was "Low" in 1977, followed by "Heroes" released later that same year and "Lodger" in 1979. Influenced by the emerging electronic music scene happening in Germany, these critically acclaimed and somewhat, commercially successful records contained experimental sounds and abstract lyrics which touched on his struggles with addiction and recovery.

Bowie entered the 1980's newly energized with the album, "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" which featured "Ashes To Ashes" that placed him back at number one on the British pop charts. Bowie returned to acting and appeared on Broadway in "The Elephant Man" in 1980 and he teamed up with Queen to record a single, "Under Pressure" which became a world-wide smash the following year.

In 1983, Bowie changed directions again and teamed with Nile Rodgers, the musician and producer of the disco group, Chic to work on a dance heavy album, "Let's Dance". The title track went to number one in eight countries and with the help of the successful follow-up singles, "Modern Love" and "China Girl", the album would become the biggest commercial hit of his career, selling ten million copies worldwide.

After this achievement, Bowie continued to record, although with more modest results, mostly in Europe. He decided to form another rock band in 1989 and Tin Machine was born. The group recorded two albums and toured extensively but the project was never a big success. Bowie's last solo album to date is "Reality", released in 2003 which was followed by his last tour to support this record that ended in 2004.

David Bowie has recorded twenty-three studio albums, he was inducted in to The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 and has sold one hundred and forty million records over his career.

Bowie has been married twice; He was married to Angela Bowie for ten years before separating in 1980. They had a son they named Zowie in 1971 but he now goes by Duncan Jones and is a film director. Bowie married super-model, Iman in 1992 and they have a daughter, Alexandria, born in 2000.

Enjoy just a few of my favorite Bowie tracks:

"Changes" - David Bowie (1972)

"Rebel Rebel" - David Bowie (1974)

"Golden Years" - David Bowie (1975)

"Fashion" - David Bowie (1980)

"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" - David Bowie (1982)

Bowie was one of the first artists to use the music video not only for promotion but also as a creative visual extension of the song. Here is an early video for "Life On Mars" with Bowie looking very glam:



I love the song, "Ashes To Ashes" and I really love the music video:



Finally, this video for "Boys Keep Swinging" as I've always been a sucker for a man in a dress: