Old-school news, just in time
by Kevin Burton When you move into a house, you see it and feel it in a way all your own. You inhabit that space with your special vitality. The way others see that space, if they see it at all, may be interesting, but it lays no lasting hold on you. …
Continue reading “50 Years Ago, Terry Jacks’ “Season In The Sun””
by Kevin Burton We may have to file this under Benign Stupidity, but after (maybe not enough) careful thought, I’m going to do the story. We’re talking 70s pop music as we often do on Tuesdays. I love this band, I love this song, please hear that up front. But what a load …
Continue reading ““It Only Takes A Minute” Has Strange Lyrics”
by Kevin Burton I’m inclined to give Billy Joel a pass, aren’t you? Hasn’t he proven his brilliance? Hasn’t his place in music history been settled, certified for decades now? Any music-related hall of fame that he is not in, he should be in. Hey, if Dolly Parton is in the Rock …
Continue reading “Billy Joel, We Love You Just The Way You Are”
by Kevin Burton I have made the case for “Maybe I’m Amazed” by Paul McCartney as the greatest love song ever written. But it’s Valentine’s week and nobody’s going to buy that claim just now. Feb. 14 calls for something with a different feel. So I phoned a friend, so to speak. …
Continue reading “Tears Of Joy In This Valentine’s Day Music”
by Kevin Burton Is it just that easy, like flipping a switch? Guess we’ll find out Thursday, when Columbia Records drops the first new Billy Joel single in 17 years, a song called “Turn The Lights Back On.” “In a press release from his label, Columbia Records, the song is said to …
by Kevin Burton Steely Dan and four others will be inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame this year, according to multiple reports. R.E.M. and three non-performing songwriters, Hillary Lindsey, Timothy Moseley (Timberland) and Dean Pritchard will also be inducted. I don’t know if the Songwriters’ hall has toxic politics the way …
by Kevin Burton Yesterday was Elvis’s birthday. He was born Jan. 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi. And the fact that I used only his first name and you know exactly who I am talking about is one measure of his exalted place in American culture. But how good was he as a musician, …
by Kevin Burton One of the greatest vocal performances in my time as a consumer of pop music is on a song that leaves me deeply conflicted; Stoney End by Barbara Streisand. The song grabbed me on some level immediately upon its 1971 release, even before I had the life experience to understand …
Continue reading “What Is The Meaning Of Nyro’s “Stoney End”?”
by Kevin Burton I don’t know what that was last Sunday, but it was something, and it was personal. Was it a self-boycott, playing hooky, a tantrum ( I am good at those)? I guess it was the fantasy football version of the line “I’m just tired and bored with myself” from …
by Nick Krewen Special to the Toronto Star Sixty-three years on, Otis Williams is still at the helm of one of the greatest Motown acts of all-time, the Temptations. Not only does the tenor and baritone vocalist continue to tour with the group into its seventh decade as its only original member, but …
Continue reading “Last Of The Original Temptations Looks Back”
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