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Tag: Cyndi Lauper

  • American Idol Season 8 Finale – And The Winner Is…

    I’m going to be live blogging this show for SonicClash tonight. I know you East Coasters have already seen the show. You’ll just have to pretend you’re watching it again if you want to following with me.

    Just refresh every five minutes or so.

    Randy is wearing a red bow tie.

    They just showed Kris’ wife in the audience and she has that, “I hope he loses so I don’t have to take half from him in three years,” look on her face.

    Mikalah Gordon drew the short straw and had to go to Arkansas to watch the show with Kris’ hometown fan.

    Carly was able to hang out in her hometown of San Diego to sit with Adam’s hometown fans.

    The top 13 performed some wacky song together and Jasmine Murray nearly puked on stage from struggling to try and hit her high note. Whose idea was it for her to get a solo? Michael Sarver did some good eating while he was away.

    David Cook is singing Permanent. His brother recently passed away. It was a nice performance and they’re putting it on iTunes and giving proceeds to charity.

    They just showed Carrie Underwood’s skeleton in the crowd.

    The Golden Idol Awards are back. I know I was looking forward to this part of the show.

    Nick Mitchell won for Best Male Performance and to give us a treat, he performed And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going.

    Lil’ Rounds and Queen Latifah are performing together. I hope it’s U.N.I.T.Y. You have to give it to the Queen. She can rap, act a bit, and sing a little bit. It’s too bad that she doesn’t quite wear a unitard all that well. Latifah’s had it up to here.

    Anoop Doggy Dog and Alexis Grace are singing with Jason Mraz and showing exactly why they got kicked off the show. Way to show us that America wasn’t wrong.

    Kris Allen is singing with Keith Urban. Michael Sarver has to be kicking himself. This is probably a dream of his. I think I just saw him shrug his shoulders and go back to the catering table.

    The girls (Jasmine, Megan, Allison, Alexis, Lil) are doing Fergie’s Glamorous, which was just in introduction to the real Fergie performing Big Girls Don’t Cry.

    Boom, Boom, Pow
    Boom, Boom, Pow
    Both of my kids asked me why Fergie was so ugly. If anyone wondered if they were my kids, you need not worry. They are definitely made of my DNA. By the way, I agree. Fergie’s entire face looks like it was injected with poisonous botox. Her body is 3008, but her face is definitely 2000 and late. Boom, boom, pow.

    No matter what you say about The Black Eyed Peas, you have to give them credit for this one. This song absolutely makes zero sense, but it hits like no one’s business.

    Yay! It’s time for another Golden Idol. I’m not sure what the category was, but Bikini Girl is the winner. Boom, boom, pow.

    They had her perform Vision Of Love for all of about 10 seconds before my wife, Kara DioGuardi Gonzales came out and one upped her. And then she flashed her own bikini. Boom, boom, pow.

    Allison is singing Time After Time with Cyndi Lauper. Isn’t Cyndi old enough to be her grandmother? But I have mad respect for Cyndi. She’s realer than a two dollar bill. She’s got that boom, boom, pow. Ok, that’s enough.

    Danny is singing Hello. Lionel Richie must have an album out. What would’ve been really wrong is if they tried to duplicate the video and had Scott McIntyre mold Danny’s face out of clay. Ok, that was so terrible. If I was Arsenio Hall, I’d have slapped my hand and said, “bad host”.

    There’s Lionel. I knew he had something to sell. I don’t blame Danny for not really knowing the lyrics to Just Go either. Lionel barely knew them. They could’ve given him some classic Lionel to sing, like you know, All Night Long. Hey, that’s just what they did. And Scott McIntyre is on the stage with them dancing his ass off! Ok, that last thing didn’t happen. But everything else did.

    By the way, Lionel was pretty outrageous.

    Adam is wearing some contraption on his shoulders that looks like something out of Michael Jackson’s closet. Or Janet’s. Or Latoya’s. He introduced KISS. Man, even their face paint looks old. I didn’t know face paint could have wrinkles.

    Carlos Santana is on stage and Matt Giraud is singing with him. They started with Black Magic Woman and segued into Smooth. The rest of the top 13 came out and sang for Carlos. Yep, even Jorge. They let him back on stage, but I think he was wearing a media credential around his neck.

    For some reason, Steve Martin is on stage. I think I heard somewhere that he has a band. He’s playing the banjo. Michael Sarver pulled himself away from catering to get on stage with Megan Joy and perform with Steve. Can he still be wild and crazy while playing a banjo and wearing glasses?

    That performance was reminiscent of those Grammy performances where they basically tell you to go use the restroom so you don’t miss the good stuff.

    Oh no, I might have to switch from HD back to regular definition. Rod Stewart just pranced on the stage. Thankfully, the camera director is avoiding the close-ups and sticking to the wider shots. I’m not even going to pretend that I understand this. I’d even settle for Fergie coming back out to frighten my children.

    Rod ended by saying, “Thank you kindly.” Sheesh.

    The infamous Tatiana won which I think is the last (hopefully) Golden Idol and then she came on stage to sing Whitney. I think it was supposed to be a joke. Or maybe the joke was on her?

    Kris and Adam came out to sing We Are The Champions with Queen. I could make that whole joke about Adam being the next Freddie Mercury, but I won’t even do it. It’d rather make more jokes about how Fergie’s face looks like it was stung by 10 mosquitoes.

    You know, as my punishment for these jokes, one day, I know I’m going to run into Fergie at the airport and then have to lie to her about how much I like her music. Let’s just hope she’s wearing sun glasses on that day. Large ones. That cover her face entirely. Like she was Darth Vader.

    Simon just gave Adam and Kris both props.

    It’s now time for the results. They’re claiming 100 million votes were cast last night. That means every person who watched had to vote at least 3 or 4 times. I’m not sure I buy that, but oh well.

    And the winner is…

    Um, Kris Allen?

    Does Conway, Arkansas really have that many people?

    Kris has to sing the terrible No Boundaries, which he absolutely screwed up last night, again. He gave the front row of females his hand to touch and they nearly pulled his jacket off. He’s going to have to start making deals with that poor wife of his starting tonight.

    You’ll never guess what was one of the last shots before the show went off stage. It was a shot of Justin Guarini clapping like he really meant it, with debris in his hair. That’s your final shot? Did Carrie Underwood’s skeleton leave already?

    Well, he was the underdog. He pulled it off. Kris Allen is your season 8 American Idol.

    Until next year, Seacrest out! Boom, boom, pow.

    Photo of Fergie by paddynapper and shared via creative commons

  • MisenPOPic- Why 80’s Dance Parties Irk Me!!!

    Bars and clubs all across the country promote their 80’s nights every weekend.  As a fan of 80’s music, you would think I would want to hit the 80’s nights and enjoy the sounds.  You thought wrong!  Because the dim-witted DJ’s refuse to play anything out of the ordinary because the paying customers don’t want to think outside the box.  We’ve all been reading Mike Heyliger’s outstanding Infatueightes countdown to know there are more than just the same 40 danceable tunes that came out of the 80’s.  Isn’t it the DJ’s job to inspire with new sounds and different beats?

    Don’t they get tired of spinning “Come On Eileen” and “Pour Some Sugar On Me” on a constant basis?  I get frustrated when I hear the opening notes to the same tunes, so much I want to find a stick and repeatedly hit the DJ over and over and over again for having no sense of originality. It pains me when I request a song from Dokken, and they don’t even know what I’m talking about.  I’m not saying the DJ even has to play obscure songs that you read about in my Out There! column.  Mix it up!  I envy these guys and girls, don’t they realize they have the best job in the world?

    Here are some examples of songs we hear all of the time that need to be removed from the weekly playlist immediately,  or else we still continue to dumb down the musical educations of future generations!

    Pour Some Sugar On Me by Def Leppard
    Now look, I’m a huge Leppard fan, maybe one of the biggest Def Leppard fans on the planet. Pour Some Sugar was one of my favorite songs until I’ve heard it replay thousands of times over the years at dance clubs and bars.  Does the DJ realize there are other fast-beat songs/hit songs on the same album (Hysteria)? Why not think outside the box and play Animal?  That will get people singing along.  “An I Want, An I Need, An I Love, Animal!  C’mon, I just got that stuck in your head.  You telling me if you were drunk and you heard this anthem, you wouldn’t start shaking about.  Can’t we give some loving to some other pop metal bands like Ratt and Poison as well.  And I don’t mean hearing “Nothing But A Good Time” which is another bar staple.

    Livin’ On A Prayer by Bon Jovi
    Do the 21 year olds understand that this song has overstayed it’s welcome?  It’s a fun song to dance to with a group of friends, this I understand.  But aren’t there a whole slew of songs from the 80’s just like this from corporate rock giants such as REO Speedwagon and Journey?  Wouldn’t “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” be a song to huddle up with your buddies and belt out the worlds.  “Some day love will find you,break those chains that bind you..” You know the rest.  Guitars and keyboards just like the Bon Jovi classic, c’mon DJ, put that record on.

    Come On Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners
    You know when the opening of this song comes on, people are getting ready to throw up their legs and pretend they are a Rocktette.  Do aye do aye do aye do aye YAY!  Ugggh!  Can’t we maybe replace with a fun 80’s tune from a similar band like Men At Work or Madness?  How about “House of Fun”, it could work and get people lifting their legs in the air?  You know, I haven’t heard “Who Can It Be Now” at a bar in a few years, this might just work also.

    I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston
    Another R&B 80’s staple that is sometimes played more than once in the night.  Is it supposed to automatically remind the girls that there are tons of meat int the bar and they need to dance with some of them? How about “The Neutron Dance” by the Pointer Sisters?  I’ve always defended this song as a classic dance hit that hasn’t aged one bit.  I never understood why I have never heard this song ever at a club.  It has a great beat, is totally familiar to the naked ear, and heck, the DJ can even work up some new steps and create a new dance sensation to compete to the Electric and Cha Cha Cha slides.


    Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield
    The DJ always has to include the 80’s pop rock tune.  Another great tune, but does it need to be played every time?  There are other pop/rock songs just as good.  How about something from J. Geils Band?  “Love Stinks” or “Freeze Frame”?

    Tainted Love by Soft Cell
    You know it’s not a true 80’s night without this staple.  Doesn’t the DJ realize there are plenty of syntho-pop songs that would work so “Tainted Love” can be played every fifth night instead of every night.  How about some lesser-known gems like “Space Age Love Song” from A Flock Of Seagulls or “Love Plus One” from Haircut 100?  A lot of bands experimented with synthesizers in the 80’s, is “Tainted Love” the only one that still works?  I think not.

    Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper
    I know, I know, it’s the popular tune for all the girls out there.  But if Girls want to have so much fun, how about kicking off the shoes to “Girls” by Dwight Twilley (if you don’t know this one, you will in a future Out There! column) or “Valley Girl” by Frank Zappa?

    And the list goes on and on.  The clueless DJ’s need to do their homework.  Watch old MTV clips on youtube, do some research on Wikipedia, sample songs on iTunes, read this blog!!  Play some more Rick Astley! Play some more Human League! Play some more A Flock Of Seagulls!  Play some Romeo Void or Yaz!  Play some more lesser known hair-metal bands.  Play something else off of AC/DC’s Back In Black besides “You Shook Me All Night Long”! Hell play more Michael Jackson and Madonna, just play different songs you don’t hear on a constant basis!  Because the next time I hear “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey even if it’s remixed with a dance beat, I’m gonna drop my pants and pee all over the DJ’s equipment!

    Oh how I miss the Culture Club!  Although come to think of it, they could have used some lessons as well!!

  • New Music In Stores & Online: 5-27-08: Usher, Al Green & More!!


    It looks like the quality of music releases will be picking up a little bit this summer, with everyone from Coldplay to Robin Thicke putting albums out. The season kicks off with a bang, as the long-awaited follow up to the biggest selling album of the past five years or so hits stores.

    Usher-Here I Stand: Did Justin Timberlake make people forget about Usher? I don’t think so, but JT has gotten the lion’s share of accolades and publicity even though Ush’s last album, “Confessions”, sold double the amount TImberlake’s “FutureSex/LoveSounds” did. “Confessions” is also the most recently released album to be certified diamond (for shipments of 10 million copies) and it was the last album to sell over a million units in it’s first week…not to mention it was a better album. All this to say, Usher is the *real* current King of Pop, and “Here I Stand” is much more highly anticipated than folks may think. He’s already scored a #1 with “Love in This Club”, and “Here I Stand” is supposed to be a trip through the mind of a married family man. Let’s see if Mr. Raymond can jolt some life into a depressed industry.

    www.usherworld.com

    Al Green-Lay it Down: I’ve had this argument with many a friend. Who’s the greatest soul singer of all time? Whether the mention goes to Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder, Al Green is a name that always makes it into the Top 2 or 3. Reverend Al has the smoothest voice in musical history, sounding like butter melting atop a stack of pancakes. After a handful of stabs at contemporary pop & R&B, Al has settled into a comfortable recording routine, and “Lay it Down” is his third album in the last five years. The production is handled by The Roots’ Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson and James Poyser, who promise to bring an organic, sympathetic sound to Al’s music. Regardless of the production, anything Al utters is worth hearing. Guests include Anthony Hamilton, John Legend and Corinne Bailey Rae.

    www.algreenmusic.com

    Cyndi Lauper “Bring Ya To the Brink”: Although she didn’t quite deliver on the promise set by her 1984 debut, “She’s So Unusual”, Cyndi Lauper has created quite an interesting body of work over the past quarter-century, dabbling in styles ranging from rock-etched material to standards. “Brink” finds Cyndi hitting the dance floors hard. She’s no Al Green, but she does have one of the most distinctive and powerful voices of any female singer around, and everyone needs a good danceable album for the warm weather, so this album might be worth checking out!

    www.cyndilauper.com

    Elsewhere, rootsy singer/songwriter John Hiatt returns with “Same Old Man”, electronic/ambient combo Spiritualized resurface after a half decade with “Songs in A&E”, and the soundtrack to “Sex & The City” hits stores, featuring tracks from the aforementioned Al Green as well as artists ranging from Fergie and Jennifer Hudson to Jem and Joss Stone.

    Happy shopping!

    Oh: get your full list of this week’s releases here: http://www.pauseandplay.com/cdfront.htm