web analytics

Pop Rock Nation

Author: George Bounacos

  • Garth Brooks, KISS, John Mayer – Saturday in the Park #1

    Garth Brooks at the Millenium March on Washing...
    Garth Brooks at the Millenium March in Washington, D.C. Image via Wikipedia

    You’re reading the first shot at Saturday In The Park.  This is the prototype.  We could blog all day long and cover the comings-and-goings of music, but that’s not what we do here.  We’re music geeks, not music journalists, although we’ll drop everything to interview an indie artist who is trying hard to make things happen.

    This isn’t Brother Mike’s Not Necessarily the News.  He’s serious about his music and writes it that way.  This is a fanboy snarkfest.  Jump in if you like that kind of thing.

    Garth Brooks Comeback:    Money Mike already wrote about this puppy.  Garth going to the Wynn Las Vegas isn’t the same as Elvis‘ 50 show gig in Vegas before his death (hmmm, I always that parallel), but Garth Brooks is one of the biggest selling recording artists ever.  When he quit and let wife Trish Yearwood bring home the bacon, their youngest kid was a pre-schooler.  Now he’s sort of back.  I’m sure the money is too good to turn away from, and a long-run Vegas gig gives him stability while still performing.  I may not fly to Vegas to see him, but I’ll catch his show next time I’m there.   One of the world’s best selling recording artists ever.  You kind of have to see him.

    Peter Criss Full Breast Cancer Recovery:  We talk about the women we love (Kylie, Olivia, Melissa) battling and beating breast cancer.  But KISS drummer Peter Criss did the same, and his speaking about battling the disease is inspirational.  This is one of those “oh, you’re weird” stories, and Peter has turned it in to a full-on education campaign.  I’m glad he’s cancer free.  I’m glad he has the courage and passion to speak out about the disease.    He’s been mostly free of KISS for 30 years except for the sporadic appearance and later blowup on stage, but he wrote and sang Beth and Hard Luck Woman so he gets a lifetime pass as a KISS guy, even if he really is a jazz drummer in his early 60s.

    NBC Boots Glee From Macy’s Day Parade:  You know, I haven’t watched the show.  I’ve seen two of the videos.  Would’ve made an interesting movie, I think, and probably beter than the Fame reboot. But if I own a network and some clueless development person books a competing act on the show I’m underwriting, well, I probably boot them too.    Sorry, Glee gang.  Don’t stop believing, okay?

    Artist in Residence: Trust struggling NBC to take a great concept (the artist in residence at a venue or with a troupe) and bastardize it for their own use.  Jon Bon Jovi, and we’re just saying that he records on sister label Universal, is NBC’s first artist-in-residence.  What’s that mean?  More Jon than you could ever imagine on NBC properties throughout November.   Look for him on Today, as a Jay Leno guest, on Dateline, in various specials (hey, maybe the parade now that they kicked the Fox Glee kids off!) and anything related to NBC.  It’s damn near Comcastic.  In a strange twist of coincidence, JBJ’s new album drops November 12 — the middle of the NBC glee fest celebrating his music.  Okay, no more NBC/Glee jokes.

    But we’ll end with one funny joke.  John Mayer’s quote as reported by Gawker.com when asked about healthcare.   “Have you ever heard me play guitar?  I’m really fucking good.  You know what I’m bad at?  Answering questions about public healthcare.

    Good on you, Brother John.  Maybe celebs will take a back seat on policy issues and let the politicos sort it out.  Except you, Bono, you already crossed to the dark side.   If Michael Hutchens was still alive, The Edge would’ve called him in to a studio five years ago.

  • Breaking: Paul Anka Co-Writer on This Is It, CNN Reports

    LAS VEGAS - MAY 09: Producer/composer David F...
    Paul and David Foster in Las Vegas in 2009. Image by Getty Images via Daylife

    CNN is reporting that legendary crooner Paul Anka co-wrote and performs on Michael Jackson’s This Is It, the late singer’s final release.

    Anka, a powerful songwriter also had chart success dating back to 1951’s Diana.  He last appeared as an artist on Billboard’s Hot 100 charts 26 years ago singing Hold Me ‘Til The Morning Comes, a song he co-wrote with producer David Foster.    Anka also penned songs for Buddy Holly and multiple Spanish artists in addition to his own tracks, but his compositions My Way and The Tonight Show Theme.

    Anka told reporters yesterday that he wrote This Is It in 1983, and that he and Jackson recorded the song together a decade later in Anka’s studios.  The 69 year old singer, a week away from returning to the charts more than 50 years after he too struck gold as a teen singer, has told multiple media sources that the Jackson camp has acknowledged the song’s pedigree and the album will feature Anka’s piano as well as show the appropriate songwriting credit.

  • The Night We Won The War – Free Download

    Writing on her Facebook page today, Susan Werner, that gifted vocalist, songwriter and musician, released a free MP3 of The Night We Won The War.

    When people speak about vocal stylists, the phrase “could sing the phone book” often sneaks out.  No such cliches here, but I would pay to listen to her sing the phone book starting at her choice of yellow or white pages.

    Night is accompanied by an on-page slideshow of the night President Obama won the election, the song’s topic.

    The link for the free song download is down here too in case you missed it above.

    Go grab a free track and maybe listen to a few more.  When I think about people who will succeed Joan Baez or Joni Mitchell, I’m thinking Susan Werner.