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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: saturday in the park

  • Buffy, Godfather, Lil Wayne and Gitmo – Saturday in the Park 2

    “Losing My Religion” cover
    Did this song torture anyone?  Image via Wikipedia

    The snarkfest known as Saturday in the Park begins here:

    Get your pompadours straight. Crooner Al Martino died recently. Multiple generations remember him as Johnny Fontane in The Godfather. Paul Sorvino is the character with the hot daughter who kind of looks like Martino. Martino=Godfather; Sorvino=Oh God!   Got it? Good. Sorry to hear of his passing. Now I keep thinking about the song Spanish Eyes and bottles of red wine on checkered tablecoths.

    Music and acting continue mingling when Buffymeister Joss Whedon helms an episode of Glee this season. Recall that Buffy once featured an entire episode of singing a la 1950s musicals and that Wheedon wrote the theme to Firefly, which later was rebooted as the movie Serenity. With Dollhouse on the ropes again – his third straight series to get smacked down – perhaps it’s time for Joss to head to Broadway, a good idea if things turn bad for

    Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber, diagnosed with prostate cancer shortly after announcing a Phantom of the Opera sequel would be set in turn-of-last-century Coney Island. Not suggesting that the disease is a sign from any higher beings, but get well, Sir Andrew. You deserve a chance to sit back and enjoy life. Please don’t write this show. And if you do, please collaborate with Jim Steinman again so at least the lyrics are biting.

    ALW isn’t the only sick Brit running around either. One Steven Patrick Morrisey, yes, the Morrisey who brought you The Smiths, collapsed during a concert after one song. Morrisey, who also turned 50 this year, was in and out of the hospital in a day, but no word on remaining dates.

    Morrisey had a better time of things then Canadian folk singer Taylor Mitchell who was killed by a coyote while camping in Canada. Just saying. Didn’t know her music, but that’s an ugly death for someone coming on the scene. I learned about her death on CNN the same day I read that 82% of that site’s visitors said in a poll that they weren’t ready to let Chris Brown move on with his career. I hate domestic violence too, but when one pays their debt to society… Tell you what, stop buying songs that objectify and demean women and then you can vote in the poll. Or maybe the 18% were the people who buy those tracks. Hmm. Let the kid do his punishment and if it happens again, lock him in a cinderblock room with some Rhianna fanboys and see what happens.

    Maybe Lil Wayne can join them. He apparently has the firepower. At least that’s what he told a judge when he copped to a weapons possession charge. Lil Wayne plays Folsom County Blues in early 2010, but at least he has time to be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live when Taylor Swift is hosting. True justice would have Lorne Michaels book Kanye and then let Taylor pull the plug, but Kanye would probably get mad and spray the place with, uh, credit cards.

    Speaking of music acts getting a little chummy around money, what were classic dinosaurs Mick Jones and Lou Gramm doing horsing around the New York Stock Exchange? Yes, we get the fact that Foreigner just added some shekels to a music label’s coffers, but not that many. Could it be that the guys and gals trading on Wall Street now went to prom when the theme song was I Want To Know What Love Is?

    That would beat the theme music down at Gitmo, which better not have been anything by Pearl Jam or REM. Seems the bands along with more than a few others have filed a Freedom of Information Act request. They want to know if their songs were among those blasted at detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Stipe used the word “torture”. Honestly, Losing My Religion is only torture the fifth time some classic rock station plays it that week. It’s catchy, got a nice beat you can dance to. I give it a 78, Dick.

    Remember, now only 56 days until Christmas, whch means This is It starts pre-orders for the DVD. Be nice to others.

  • 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.