Old-school news, just in time
by Kevin Burton On a tip from a new friend, I knocked on the door of Interlingua language school one day, and asked the good people there to employ me. Shockingly, they took me up on it. This was in the Reagan 80s. I was in somebody else’s country, Mexico, and somebody …
Continue reading “In Praise Of Mexico, Lettuce And Billy Joel”
by Kevin Burton There might be some court wrangling first, but there is a chance the world will get to hear some new Marvin Gaye music. According to multiple reports, a collection of tapes of previously unheard Gaye songs has been discovered in Belgium. The troubled genius moved there in 1981 to get …
by Kevin Burton You remember Eric Carmen for “All By Myself” and for the Raspberries’ “Go All The Way.” But it’s one of his B-sides that resonates most with me. We got word last week that Carmen had died at age 74. The news sent my mind to several places, including to a …
Continue reading ““No Hard Feelings” By Eric Carmen Is A Gem”
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 So you read the headline “uptown words” and your mind immediately goes to Uptown Girl, the Billy Joel song, right? One could take that song as a celebration of an uptown girl. I take it as the celebration of the virtues of a downtown man. “That’s what I am,” Joel …
by Kevin Burton On the Billy Joel portion of our rock and roll road trip you could have reasonably expected “New York State of Mind” or even “Allentown.” Instead we swing west to look at “Stop In Nevada.” This song fits very well into our road-trip theme. Today’s tale includes one of …
Continue reading “Coast To Coast: Billy Joel’s “Stop In Nevada””
by Kevin Burton Yesterday I plucked ten of my favorites from a Billboard list of the 40 biggest duets ever. Today I’ll list ten of my favorites that didn’t make their last. Pulling from that list was easy. Now I’m picking from every other duet ever released. Chances are quite high that I …
by Kevin Burton My friend Todd once called “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits a “perfect” song. I don’t know what calculations you use to measure a perfect song, but leaving that all undefined, I will play along and nominate “Lido Shuffle” by Boz Scaggs as perfect. The song is way up …
Continue reading ““Lido Shuffle” Singer Boz Scaggs Turns 78″
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