Music Review: Rufus Wainwright – Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall
Though Judy Garland died a few years before I was born, I have been a fan of hers most of my life. I watched The Wizard of Oz just to hear her sing “Over the Rainbow.” Garland’s 1954 version of A Star is Born remains one of my favorite films. In my adult life, I […]
Music Review: Jars of Clay – Christmas Songs
Jars of Clay was formed back in 1993 at Illinois’ Greenville College by singer/songwriter Dan Haseltine and keyboardist Charlie Lowell; they were joined by fellow music major Stephen Mason on guitar and Matt Bronleewee later joined the band as second guitarist. The Christian band had an interest in releasing a holiday themed album from the […]
Music Review: Mannheim Steamroller – Christmas Song
Chip Davis, better known as Mannheim Steamroller, once wrote advertising jingles with Bill Fries and helped him create the popular C.W. McCall character, the man behind the 1976 hit “Convoy.” Shortly after that, Davis started recording what he called “18th century classical rock” — classical music performed on electric bass and synthesizers. He eventually came […]
Dionne Warwick is 67 Today
Born Marie Dionne Warrick on December 12, 1940 in East Orange, New Jersey, she started singing gospel as a very young girl at the New Hope Methodist Church in East Orange. Dionne sang her first solo at six years old. Dionne’s mother, Lee Drinkard Warrick, was the manager of the family gospel group and RCA […]
DVD Review: Barry Manilow: The First Television Specials
On the heels of Barry Manilow’s successful Las Vegas show Music and Passion and his hit albums The Greatest Songs of the Seventies and The Greatest Songs of the Sixties, Rhino has released a five DVD set, Barry Manilow: The Early Television Shows. The set consists of The First Barry Manilow Special (1977), The Second […]
Music Review: Chris Cornell – ‘Carry On’
Chris Cornell, lead singer of Soundgarden and a poster child for the 1990’s grunge music scene out of Seattle, is now a sober solo artist in his forties living in France with his family. How times have changed. On the cover of Cornell’s latest album Carry On, straggly hair and a flannel shirt has been […]
Music Review: Maroon 5 – It Won’t Be Soon Before Long
Maroon 5 didn’t really burst on to the international music scene. The band’s first album, Songs about Jane, originally released in June 2002, the album finally broke into the top 100 on the Billboard charts in 2004 on the strength of such hit singles as “Harder to Breathe,” “Sunday Morning” and “This Love.” Maroon 5 […]
Music Review: John Phillips – John Phillips (John,The Wolfking of L.A.)
Led by John Phillips, the Mamas and the Papas were one of the seminal pop/folk groups of the mid to late sixties. During the bands brief run as a fixture on the billboard charts, Phillips wrote such classics as “California Dreamin,’” “Creque Alley,” and “Monday, Monday.”
Music Review: Fergie – The Dutchess
I first saw Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson on the 1980’s television show Kids Incorporated. While the show didn’t indicate that Fergie had great vocal chops, she definitely had a knack for the stage and performing. After minor success in the late 1990’s with a group called Wild Orchid, Fergie joined with the members of the Black […]
CD Review: Barry Manilow – Even Now
As my reviews of Barry Manilow’s newly remastered albums continue, I’ve spent the last few days listening to Even Now, Barry’s fifth studio album. Originally released in February of 1978, it soon became impossible to escape the semi-disco beat of “Copacabana (At the Copa)” on the radio.