I wrote that line back in 1994 as a response to the then current downsizing of GM. Ten years later, that ended up on What A Wonderful World, one of the most popular songs from Superpower.

The guy who screams:

“I’m fifty one years old… Are you gonna pay these bills?”

Is my best family friend of that era. He worked at Clark Street (Cadillac) in Detroit and although he himself did not lose his job (well… at least not until he got leukemia) he was fifty one years old and it was easy to channel the proper emotions from his experience (and those of many Detroiters; the air literally reaked with the smell of a dying era.)

As the auto industry continues to die in America, I’m struck by how even more poignant the lyric is today. Sorry if that sounds conceited, but that was the right song at the wrong time. The thing I’ve noticed about that song is that it was never as popular with Detroit crowds as, say, an […]

…even though both are quite ‘operatic’.

When I was in school (way back in aught ’75) we all had to learn something about ‘opera’. But of course, it was all a big joke. I mean seriously: fat people trying to play ‘cinderella’; screaming in a way that no ‘normal’ person sings; with plots so ridiculous even Harlequin Romances wouldn’t publish ’em. And they’re in… wait for it… eye-talian to boot!

And if that’s what I thought—someone who was trying to like that shi.. er ‘music’, heaven help the man in the street!

I now actually enjoy many of the classic operas, though no modern ones as of yet. And I think I’ve figured out why by watching some good ol’ Swedish Death Metal. In one phrase: alternative reality.

See what I couldn’t dig when I was 18 was that opera has to be appreciated strictly on it’s own terms. It’s an alternative world just as real as being inside ‘The Matrix’. You have to agree to it’s rules or it’s just no go. But […]

Merry Christmas!

As we bask in the holiday season, we’re pretty well deep frying in so-called Christmas music. (A guy was telling me about the latest Black Eyed Peas Christmas record. I dunno if he was kidding or not, but I sure hope so.) This in turn has gotten me thinking about ‘religious music’ in general.

As many of you know, I’m a practicing Catholic. Which doesn’t mean that I’m hoping to get a Learner’s Permit to say the Rosary by end of summer. Rather it means that I am active in my Church. I attend Mass and involve myself in various parish activities. I rarely mention this because:

a) It’s none of anyone’s darned business

b) It seems to scare people in our increasingly secular world

But I mention it today because I do attend Mass and when I do? I literally pop in ear plugs during the musical portion of the show. It’s that bad.

When did the ‘universal church’ go from having the coolest music ever to having the absolutely crappiest? (1348? 😀 […]

Nice Cuts is, unlike my other albums to date, a compilation. It was not without it’s ‘production’ aspects, however.

The fourteen previously released songs were selected based on a fan voting process. The versions you hear on Nice Cuts are slightly different than those on their original releases. This is of necessity for a couple of reasons:

A bit of an update on the state of my right hand, which has driven so much of my life the past two years.

I’ve recently had a hand surgery that involved sucking the juice out of each of my knuckles and then replacing it with a something like KY Jelly. Apparently it was, in the words of The Great Dictator Hynkel ‘far from perfect’.

Now this week I’m going into see a specialist and schedule a follow-up procedure. Since sucking didn’t work, the next step is to try cutting out the bad tissue.

I’ve had people look at me with absolute horror for why I’m allowing more invasive stuff to be done to me but the thing is: ya gotta try something. The cysts in my knuckles constrain my range of motion–making finger-picking almost impossible. Also they just plain hurt. Brushing up against anything makes me wince and putting my hand in a bucket of cold water? It doesn’t just me run for the bathroom. It makes me scream liking […]