Famous First Words: Ian Hunter and Luther Grosvenor

Hunter: Luther Grosvenor is a great name. Let's change it.

L-U-V...MADONNA?!

While on vacation I found myself watching an awful lot of MTV because it was seemingly the only English station at my relatives' place in Ibiza...and a video I soon found that was in heavy rotation was the new Madonna song, Give Me All Your Love. Now, pardon me if I start rambling here, but SERIOUSLY. Remember when back in the 80s Give Me All Your Love was a Whitesnake song or what certain non-music experts called ZZ Top's single, and Madonna was a sleazy yet talented young singer who made some major contributions to the world of pop music? And so what the hell happened here? Now Madonna, you have aged very nicely but that doesn't change the fact that you are over fifty years old. Some call your recent efforts an attempt to prove that you're still current and popular and defying the title of "aging pop star" which is being placed upon your dyed-blond head, but face it. You ARE an aging popstar who hasn't done anything worth listening to since the 90s. You couldn't just retire and go on writing lame children's books with good morals, and leave us with the image of a pretty, talented musician in our minds, no. You had to just go on anyway degrading yourself to the level of modern pop music by doing just another suck ass song with *shudder* Nikki Minaj of all people. You can't just give it up as you should have a long time ago. Please, Madonna. Leave the trash to the new generation of music and stop contributing to the world of CRAP. We all thought you were a little-just a little-more than that.

Underrated Musician #4: Michael Fennelly

Okay now, seriously, WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH THIS GUY? I mean, he got good reviews on his "Lane Changer" album back in 1974 and I thought his music sounded interesting so I looked him up. Now, some of these obscure guys you find are okay, or they sound decent or whatever, but not up to standards of what you hear on the radio. This guy is good. I mean he's GOOD. I mean who the hell would listen to White Lion or Motorhead when there are musicians like Fennelly out there who are just so much better? His music is versatile, he had the best backing musicians and above all else he wrote good songs worthy of the likes of Led Zeppelin-actually the thought of some of his rockers being Zeppelin-written isn't too far out a statement. His voice contains traces of Billy Squier- or I should say Billy Squier's voice contains traces of Michael Fennelly cause Michael was out there first. But sadly and for a reason I do not understand, Fennelly's two solo albums just didn't sell, and his only commercial success came with his group Crabby Appleton, who reached #31 on the Billboard charts with "Go Back." Appleton was great too, really, very unique sounding. Fennelly stopped recording after his first two albums didn't sell...so unfair. If there's one musician out there who deserves more recognition, it's Michael Fennelly above all else.

Joe Lynn Turner Wore A Wig And So What?

     Rainbow being my favorite band at the moment and Joe Lynn Turner being my idol, I Google'd his name the other day only to find the words most associated with his name included "bald," "without wig" and "hairpiece".

     OH COME ON.  Our hangups on Joe Lynn Turner concerning his hair are just plain stupid. Over the Internet people are more concerned with his hairdo then the man or the music. Give the guy a break. Maybe at sixty-one with a head of hair like that it's more then obvious that he wears one, so why even bother pointing it out? Does it matter that much? Joe was a rock god of a musician with one hell of a legacy behind him. If he can make himself look better than he would normally, why shouldn't he? As nice as his hair looked on him back in the day... it just isn't that important.  What's even less important is whether it's his or not. Remember Joe for his personality and for his music, for who and what he was and not what he wears on his head. For the love of Rainbow, leave him alone!

 

Jon Lord: 1941-2012

I spent the last few weeks in vacation in Ibiza, visiting relatives (hence why I didn't post anything for a while) and just got back a few days ago to the terrible news that Jon Lord's life had been claimed by pancreatic cancer on July 16th. For those who don't know, Jon Lord was Deep Purple's legendary keyboardist and the true force behind their ear-shattering sound. His death shouldn't have come as too much of a shock as he'd been battling the disease since 2011, but is no less tragic then it would've been had it been sudden. RIP and God Bless you, Jon, and if there is a heaven you're in it.

Kevin Ayers' Carribean Moon...AKA The Gayest Thing I've Ever Seen.

For all you art-rockers out there, I'm sorry, I love Kevin Ayers, but I just laughed hysterically upon seeing this music video. And I thought Elton John was gay...

July birthdays

1-Debbie Harry of Blondie
3-Brian Jones dies, Jim Morrison dies
5-Robbie Robertson of the Band
9-Mitch Mitchell of Jimi Hendrix, Bon Scott of AC/DC
10-Rik Emmett of Triumph
11-Ritchie Sambora of Bon Jovi
12-Chris Wood of Traffic dies
18-Nico dies
19-Bernie Leadon of the Eagles
22-Don Henley of the Eagles
25-Jim McCarty of the Yardbirds
26-Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, Karac Plant (Robert's son) dies