Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The Steve Miller Band!

The Steve Miller Band was hot in the 70’s and 80’s. They brought something new to rock and I like everyone else was loving it. They had great beats, a unique sound and they just had an overall good vibe! Now what brings to mind The Steve Miller Band on this particular day is that this morning while watching “Morning with Joe” as they were exiting to commercial they usually have a few bars of a great sounding tune playing and today it happened to be “Dance Dance Dance” by The Steve Miller Band! There was a time when this band was at the top of my play list and I still love their music to this day.



Steve Miller was born On October 5, 1943 in Milwaukee and is a blues/rock guitarist. He formed his first band in high school which included “Boz Scaggs” better known for his hit song “Lowdown”. In college he formed another band and again Boz Scaggs became a band member. In 1968 The Steve miller Band was formed and after a couple of albums where Boz Scaggs sang lead he split from the band. Steve started to sing some lead vocals. None of the albums produced any hits until the 70’s when tunes such as “Jet Airliner” and “The Joker” became hits. Over the years the band has released a multitude of albums but "Abracadabra" will always be my favorite!



The band is still touring and performing and will be releasing a new album “Bingo” this year on June 15th on Space Cowboy Records. It will also be released on Itunes as early as May 18th and if you want to listen to the first track off the album “Hey Yeah” visit the bands Official Website.

Read more...

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Two Uniquely Different Sounds...Will & Josh Hoge!

Will & Josh Hoge are brothers and they have two different styles of music but they are both pretty amazing! Will has more of a Rock sound whereas Josh has more of a Pop/R&B sound. They grew up in Franklin, TN where the people believed in the traditional country style of music and they came from a music background. Their grandfather was a Jazz Musician and their father and brother both sang in rock bands. However, from a very early age Josh was influenced by the likes of Brian McKnight, Jodeci and Boyz II Men.



Josh’s career started quickly, hit a rough patch but now he’s off and running and in my opinion he’s gonna be a superstar. He’s a good-looking, sexy guy with a really sweet unique sound! He worked for a time in the mailroom at DreamWorks Record but he signed on with Epic Records and shortly thereafter released his hot single “360”. A little thing like a management shakeup at Epic was not enough to derail Josh’s career once he decided that he wanted to be a music artist. After Josh was dropped from the roster at Epic he did a lot of his own leg work. Months later Josh signed with Blackledge Music and released his debut album “Everything She Was”. His debut album was based on experience and Josh freely admits he likes singing love songs and I must admit he does it very well!! Josh released his 2nd album “This Holiday” in October 2009. While it is a holiday album it’s no less just as awesome as the first album. You know how there are just some Holiday/Christmas songs that some people just don’t do as well as others. Josh can do them all and once I heard him do “Silent Night”, acappella no less I knew I had to have this album. His most recent project was collaboration with Geico for a safe driving campaign geared toward teens.



On the other hand Will writes powerful songs about life including the ups and downs. He too has a beautiful and unique sound. In 2008 Will was involved in a serious accident when a motorist veered into his lane and struck him while he was riding his scooter home from the studio. Will lay near death and it took him 8 months to recover. He went back in the studio and came up with “The Wreckage” released in 2009 and his more recent album “Again Somewhere Tomorrow, a live album was released in February this year. It’s good to have Will back because he makes amazing music and his live shows and concerts are even more titillating because he knows how to captivate an audience!



Be sure and check out my Video Style Files Two to see some really good video performances by Will and Josh!


Will Hoge
Official Website
                                                        Josh Hoge
Official Website

Read more...

Culture Club featuring Boy George!

Before there was Adam Lambert the most beautiful man in my lifetime was Boy George, front man for the 1980’s most popular group “Culture Club”. He was unique and knew exactly who he was. The other members of the band were Roy Hay on guitar and keyboards, Mikey Craig on and Jon Moss on drums. This group was so hot they transcended color lines and got just as much play on r&b radio stations.



The first song I heard by Culture Club was “Time” or was it “Do you really want to hurt me”, I’m not sure but I thought the group sounded amazing and I know they rocked audiences throughout the 80’s. Both songs are featured on their first album “Kissing to be Clever” which made Boy George a worldwide celebrity!



Boy George was born George Alan Dowd on June 14, 1961 in London. He was discovered by music exec Malcolm McLaren and after performing with Bow Wow Wow featuring Annabella Lwin went on through trial and error to form the group who became known as Culture Club by 1981. The name chosen once they realized the group consisted of and Irish transvestite, a Jamaican, a Jew and an Englishman. The group signed with Virgin Records in the UK and Epic Records in the US (Virgin didn’t have a US Rep at the time) and alas, their debut album “Kissing to be Clever”. During the 80’s Culture Club had seven straight top ten hits in the UK and six top ten hits in the US. By the time the second album “Colour by numbers” was released in 1983 the band was the most popular pop/rock group in America and England. The album featured the hit song Karma Chameleon and became no. 1 single in the UK and no. 2 in the US. The third album “Waking up with the house on fire” didn’t go over quite as well in the US because it only reached platinum status while albums one and two went quadruple platinum.



Another wonderful thing about Boy George is his biting wit! Basically he didn’t take crap from anyone and would give as good as he got which also added intrigue to the group.



The downfall to a lot of great rock bands tend to be drugs and Culture Club was no exception. During 1985 Boy George fell prey to heroin and his relationship with fellow band member Jon Moss which had always been rocky began to fall apart completely. The next album “Luxury to Heartache” wasn’t on the charts very long and in July of the same year Boy George was arrested in the UK for possession of Cannabis and a few days after that Michael Rudetski who played keyboard on the Luxury to Heartache album was found dead of a heroin overdose in Boy George’s home. While Boy George battled his heroin addiction as well as a dependence on prescription drugs Culture Club broke up. Boy George began a solo career in 1987. He didn’t have a hit again in the until his song “The Crying Game” in 1992 which was featured in the movie by the same name in 1995. The Crying Game is an excellent movie featuring Forrest Whitaker, Miranda Richardson and Irish actor Stephen Rae and was nominated for an academy award.



In 2005 Boy George was arrested in New York on suspicion of possessing cocaine but the charges were dropped. He was arrested a year later for falsely reporting a burglary and in 2007 he was arrested for suspicion of assault and false imprisonment. He was given 15 months in jail.



Today Boy George still entertains and does live performances. Although not as pretty as he used to be I feel he is still a beautiful man in a lot of ways. I remain a fan and he has a special place in my heart. I love to pull up the old videos, look at the old photographs and listen to the old albums and I’m sure that all true fans feel the same way!




Culture Club/Boy George Videos

Read more...

Saturday, April 24, 2010

A Legend in his own time....Van Morrison!



Van Morrison Albums


A Legend in his own Time “Van Morrison”! Born George Ivan Morrison on August 31, 1945 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is one of the true greats! I have been listening to his music for many years and have a large collection of his albums. As well as being considered a singer and songwriter he is also a poet and plays a variety of instruments including the guitar, harmonica, keyboard, drums and sax and he plays a variety of music, folk, blues, Irish and scat.

He is a Grammy-winning artist with two many awards and accolades to mention however, he was inducted into the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” in 1993 and the “Songwriters Hall of Fame” in 2003. A lot of Morrison’s music comes from his life. “Cleaning Windows” is an autobiographical reference to when he worked as a window cleaner before becoming famous. “Fitzroy Avenue” refers to a street from his childhood and “Choppin Wood” is a tribute to his father who died in 1988.

There was a period in Morrison’s life when he was a part of a band called “Them” and there were disputes with their one-time producer Bert Berns over some music revenues. After Berns died in 1967 the disputes continued with his widow and during this time Morrison was not permitted to perform or record in the New York Area. In 1991 the album “Big Time Operators” was released. I love this album because it was like being introduced to Van Morrison all over again. Morrison now has his own music label “Exile Productions LTD” and has full production control over every album he records, one of his earlier per peeves being how his music was handled. Today Morrison still is a very popular artist and performs live and is still making albums.

Read more...

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Rock On Beth Hart!


Beth Hart on Myspace

L A Song was the first song I heard by Beth and to this day it remains one of my favorites and as well as having a copy on CD I still have a copy on a 45 record. Although I loved the song I wasn’t immediately drawn to the singer after all Beth Hart Band was a rock group (currently known as just Beth Hart). Beth is an LA (hence the song title) based blues-rocker that started playing piano at age 4. Beth also won 13 consecutive episodes and went on to win back in 1993 on “Star Search”.



Beth has had some rough years throughout career but has found her way back. She was drinking and doing drugs at a very early age and some time after her first album release she developed a food addiction where she was binging and purging. Beth’s band threatened to quit when due to her drinking she set fire to their tour bus. So in an effort to quit drinking she went to a doctor and ended up with an anxiety drug addiction. Beth got down to 98 lbs but didn’t get her wake up call after 3 rehabs, four lock downs and one jail stint until one night her husband Scott (at the time her boyfriend) thought she was going to die one night. She went into rehab and over time Beth started to heal. She became free of drugs at age 29 and has been totally drug and alcohol free since January 6, 2003. Beth credits her recovery to being part of a 12 step program, being with other people that were addicts and alcoholics. She started to eat and become healthy and realize she was worthy, to be happy for what she had not for what she didn’t have.



Beth started writing again, regrouped her band and started touring. She’s an amazing talent in spite of her rough times and I fell in love with her music in 2003 made it a point to collect every album she ever made. Stoned or sober she is amazing on stage! Her most recent release album release “37 days” is available in stores and is an incredible album. Check out Beth’s music if you haven’t all ready. She has a unique sound and I’m positive you’ll fall in love with her music too!




Read more...

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Making a name for himself...Will Champlin


Will Champlin whose father is a lifetime member of the Infamous Rock Band "Chicago" is an awesome person, a talented singer and producer as well as an accomplished piano player. Will also has a funny side too if you should ever get a chance to listen to any of his interviews that are occasionally broadcast live on the internet.



He sings and produces music with a Pop/R&B flavor and his current self-titled album featuring the hit song "Now that we're fallin" for which he won a best R&B/Soul Award in 2008 at the Hollywood Music Awards is currently on store shelves so pick up a copy and show Will some love!

Read more...

Monday, April 19, 2010

Jesse McCartney...Adorable & Talented!

Official Fan Site

Official Myspace Page


Jesse MCCartney has always been adorable and he is an amazing music artist! For me his breakout song was Beautiful Soul released in September 2004 and was included on the album by the same name. He also released his 2nd album in 2006 called Right Where You Want Me. The real challenge however came when Jesse debuted his 3rd album Departure in 2008. This album was a little different from his previous style. It’s a pop/RnB album and the first track off the album "Leavin" had an adult flavor and was an instant hit which was proven when the track went platinum! The video was definitely a new take on Jesse because he had a new look and was all grown up! The album was re-released as Departure "Recharged" in April 2009 with 4 new songs and a remix of “How do you sleep” featuring Ludacris. I personally love every song on the album!

When I listen to Jesse’s music it’s like listening to it for the first time. It’s that refreshing! He’s amazing on stage and engages his audience. His most recent tour was with American Idol star Jordan Sparks in 2009.



Jesse who recently celebrated his 23rd birthday on April 9, 2010 was born in New York and started out as a member of a boy band "Dream Street" until 2002. Over the years Jesse has contributed to many Disney soundtracks, won several awards, co-wrote Leona Lewis' hit song Bleeding Love, participated in the "Come Together Now" charity project in 2005 for the benefit of 2004 Asian Tsunami and the 2005 Hurricane Katrina victims and has done some acting including appearing on the noted soap opera “All My children from 1998-2001 and has guest starred on Law and Order and Law and Order SVU. More recently he was the voice of Theodore in Alvin & the Chipmunk: The Squeakquel and stars as Andy a football star on Greek which premiers on the ABC Family network.



Jesse is a very well-rounded person and will be releasing his 4th album this year (2010) which will have even more of an RnB/Urban flavor than Departure! I can’t wait! All the best Jesse!



Read more...

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Jason Derulo...Smokin!

I am a hardcore fan of 21 year old Derulo! He hails from Miami, my neck of the woods and was discovered by music producer J.R. Rotem and mentored by American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi. Even though he has written music for Cash Money Records and for other artists such as Danity Kane and Donnie Klang Jason didn't release a first single himself until May 2009 titled "Whatcha Say". The single was a major hit in several countries. His self-titled debut album was released March 2, 2010 and has produced an amazing 9 hits. I purchased the album and rarely do you ever buy an album without at least one song that you don't particularly like...well I dare you to find one on this album. My favorite song off the album...I can't pick just one but I do like "Ridin solo". More recently Jason performed on American Idol and his performance was awesome! I wish Jason much success on his future endeavors!


Read more...

  © Blogger templates Psi by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP