JABin' with family and old friends

I saw JAB for the first time in 2010 and Brian Lally since October 2008 when he returned to the band after a year away. They were perfoming at the Chill Bar with the white funk-rock fusion band Jackson Hightower. I invited my sister and her boyfriend and they got to reconnect with Tara and meet Sheryl, Andy and Kerri. Rose was visting from Florida and we talked about her upcoming novel. A few weeks later JAB played at Mugg's in Doylestown and they led the crowd in Flyers chants throughout the night. I posted a video below.

Following the Groove Train

I made it out to Cazz's in Levittown to see my friend Loretta Allen playing with the Groove Train Riders. She played a full-hour set while GTR played the rest of the night. With the close-in view and televisions at eye level at Cazz's it was much easier to also enjoy the  marathon 20-inning Mets-Cardinals game and the Rockies' no-hitter. Loretta showed her full singing ability performing lead vocals with the Riders on covers including "Son Of A Preacherman" and "Jackson." A guest guitarist also sat in on a cover of "Smooth" and a handful of other songs.

Real, live Freestyle music

I have always enjoyed Freestyle music and I recently stumbled on a good source. www.freestylemusicvideos.com has a YouTube channel which features live performances for many of these artists who were popular from about 1986 to 1993. Some of them never made any music videos so these are the best way to see what they looked like in action. This is around the time Milli Vanilli were active so I had to make sure these performances were legit. Amazingly, they really are singing even if it is sometimes over the original recording. Check out some of my favorites below:

Company B - "Fascinated"

 Noel - "Silent Morning"

Expose - "Point Of No Return"

George Lamond - "Bad Of The Heart"

Stevie B - "Spring Love" (this a bit more recent but Mr B's still got it)

Another King Is Gone

Michael Jackson's death last week brought to mind everything that changed when he exploded as a solo artist in the '80s. He integrated MTV and brought Hollywood directors to music video. The world premier of each of his videos were on major networks and was destination television. Everyone had to have his albums. "Thriller" is the highest-selling album in history and always will be. The title track still freaks me out today. Even when he wasn't on top of the charts he was still in the news, for better or worse. However, even after all that exposure we never really knew much about him. For many of us who grew up in the '80s and '90s, he was our King. We tried to sing like him, to dance like him. Every other solo pop artist had to follow his lead. There will never be another like him since the music and entertainment industry is so fragmented, no one can draw the crowds and get the album sales that he had. Let's enjoy his life and all the tributes to him that have been done and will be done. Maybe there will be a large concert like there was for Freddie Mercury. Even if we disagree about his actions and personal life let us agree that he was an interesting and unique person and we'll always remember him.

A Familiar Voice on the Radio

I was able to listen to Laura Cheadle this past Sunday on Hometown Heroes, a radio show broadcast from Delaware. I texted in during the show and my message was read on-air, which was very exciting for me. I embedded the video her brother Nick took of the show below:

Laura Cheadle on Hometown Heroes from Nick Cheadle on Vimeo.