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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Sting

  • Infatueighties #62: “King of Pain”

    For those who are actually following this and wonder where #63 went, it’s “The Boys of Summer” by Don Henley, which I already discussed at length here. Let’s move on to one of the only artists viewed as being as pretentious as Mr. Henley. Yes, folks, that would be Gordon Sumner, who you know better as Sting. Sting, along with Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland, was a member of The Police, who recorded the song you find at #62: “King of Pain”. See how it all ties together?

    Anyway, there are quite a few Police songs that I wanted to include in here (Side 1 of “Zenyatta Mondatta” might be my favorite side of an album ever), but “King of Pain” gets the nod because it’s the song that best marries the highbrow intelligence of many of Sting’s lyrics to a simple yet effective pop tune. How effective? I was 7 when this record came out and I loved it despite the fact that I had no bloody idea what The Police were talking about. “There’s a blind man looking for a shadown of doubt”? Whaaa???

    Anyway, “Synchronicity” is one of only a handful of albums (I can only think of six) with more than one song on this list, a testament to the legacy The Police left in only five short years of making records. Sting saving the rainforests may have muted their impact somewhat, but these were the records that turned me on to rock music. So let’s temporarily forget about the pompous ass-iness, the tantric sex and the cash-grabbing reunion tour (although they were quite good when I saw them) and remember how damn good this song is.

  • The New Music Files 10/21/08: Featuring AC/DC, Kenny Chesney, HSM3 and More!!

    I figured it was time to change the title of the column into something a little less…you know, boring. Anyhow, here’s what you should be expecting to see on store shelves and in your trusty little iTunes browser this week:

    AC/DC: Black Ice:

    Those rascally Aussies have pretty much made the exact same album for thirty + years now, but damn if people don’t go out and buy tons of it each time. Black Ice is their first album of new material in almost a decade, and it’s receiving a little extra notice not only because they’re crisscrossing the globe in support of it, but because, much like The Eagles album from last year, this album is being released exclusively at Wal-Mart and walmart.com (actually, the album went on sale yesterday, but who’s counting). If you’re anywhere near rock radio or VH-1, I’m sure you’ve already heard the first single “Rock & Roll Train”.

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  • The Sunday Seven 10/12/08: The Train To Happytown

    This was supposed to be the week where the whole guest columnist thing kicked off, but due to…uh, technical difficulties, let’s just say that ain’t happenin’. So you’re back to checking out my music collection this Sunday evening.

    It’s been a good musical week for me.I finally located a copy of Ryan Adams’ “Heartbreaker” at a Best Buy in Virginia, I snagged the new Metallica CD, I saw my buddy Mitch Hood play a kick-ass show, and I relived my teenage years by watching VH-1’s Hip Hop Honors, only minus the pimples and the awkwardness.

    For those of you new to the Sunday Seven, I place my iPod on shuffle and discuss the first seven songs that randomly pop up. I anticipate being able to do this for a while, as said iPod contains over 18,000 songs. However, again, I am entertaining offers for contributors, so if you think you have something interesting to say about your music collection, drop me a line. I’ll shoehorn you in as quickly as possible.

    OK, enough of me blabbing. Let’s put the machine on shuffle and see what comes up:

    Track 1    : I’m the Magnificent by Special Ed (from Youngest in Charge, 1989)

    Edward Archer, the rapper who went by the stage name Special Ed grew up mere blocks from me in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. When he hit with “I Got it Made” at the beginning of ’89, there was a definite sense of hometown pride. “Maginificent” is a remixed version of a song from his debut album. The video was directed by and features Malcolm Jamal Warner, who you probably know as “The Cosby Show”‘s Theo. Speaking of Cosby, Special Ed wound up appearing on several episodes of the sitcom as a rapper that Rudy snuck into a nightclub to see.

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