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  • In Memoriam

    The music world has suffered the loss of two artists in the past week.
    Mike Smith, the lead singer of 60s pop band Dave Clark Five, passed away from pnuemonia on Thursday. Smith’s passing came less than two weeks before he and the remainder of the Dave Clark Five were scheduled to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
    For a time, the DC5’s popularity rivalled even The Beatles, as the band scored 17 Top 40 hits on the U.S. charts.
    I was also saddened (and a bit surprised) to learn of the passing of Canadian blues/rock guitarist Jeff Healey at only 41 years of age (I was also stunned that he was so young). As the leader of the Jeff Healey Band, he scored a Top 10 pop hit in 1988 with the bluesy ballad “Angel Eyes”.
    Of course, most people remember Jeff because he was blind, and because of that ailment (caused by the cancer that would eventually kill him), had a very unorthodox way of playing guitar, strumming the instrument on his lap.
    Healey’s final CD, “Mess of Blues”, will be released later this month.
    Rest in peace to both men.

  • Friday Throwback – Smooth Operator

    Nope, this ain’t Sade, it’s Big Daddy Kane. My buddy Brad sent this one to me the other day and I told him that it’d be perfect for the Friday Throwback.

    • Check out that sweet fade.
    • Transformer heads love the, “Transformin’ the stage like a decepticon,” line.
    • That poor Asian lady didn’t look to happy to be in this video.
    • Is that Chris Rock?
    • That’s the Kwame “Ownlee Ewe” dance.
    • I bet that after the shoot was over, Kane got a piece.
    • And he got the money.

    Kane needs to do a comeback record. Case closed.

  • Vital Idol: The Cut Down Gets Rough

    I must admit that I don’t usually get into American Idol until the final twelve. This means that I don’t really care who leaves the show until the show really starts. Ok, maybe I’m lying just a little bit. When Sabrina Sloan was kicked off before last year’s final twelve, my heart skipped a beat.

    But tonight? Wow. It’s not like I thought Alaina Whitaker was going to win the entire competition, but she definitely deserved a spot in the top twelve. She is young, has a great look and can sing, yet sadly, she’s gone. Usually, for the most part, America does a pretty good job, but for two weeks in a row Amanda Overmyer played and lost big. Her entire get up, with that big hair and all, was terrible as well. I didn’t think Alexandrea Lushington would necessarily leave either, but she was eventually going to get lost in the shuffle. That’s the problem with this year though. Other than Big Dave Archuleta, no one stands out.

    On the side of the guys, does it matter who leaves at this point, except for Big Dave Archuleta? All I hear are voices. I don’t even really see faces. Big Dave is great at being gracious and egging the crowd on to continue their applause. He’s the definition of “aw shucks” and the audience will eat it up, especially when he can bring it to the table like he did this week.

    Here are some other thoughts thus far:

    • Danny “Danjaya” Noriega needs to stop pretending he’s Sanjaya. His hair isn’t pretty enough.
    • Carly Smithson might be my favorite “voice” in the competition.
    • Kristy Lee Cook was made to wear tight dresses.
    • If Ruben Studdard lost 150 pounds, he’d be Chikezie.
    • Jason Castro’s hair looks ridiculous on that wiry frame, but at least he stands out.
    • While David Hernandez can sing, I never thought his papa could ever be a rolling stone.
    • I think David Cook, Luke “Perry” Menard, and Michael Johns should become one singer named Luke Cook Johns and we can just fast forward one week for the guys.
    • Ramiele Malubay is really growing on me. Where does that voice come from?

    Until next week …