I have written earlier of my musical autobiography charted by the technology that delivered my music. For those who missed, forgot, or ignored it, about age 12 I began listening to FM radio. In 1967 the FCC mandated that an FM broadcast could not be the simulcast of an AM broadcast, taking an FM slot away from a station who …
“There’s always the funeral gift,” Rob Shapiro said as he leaned forward. “There’s always something that breaks into the pain of a funeral, whether it’s the story of the deceased that reminds you of why you miss them, or the drunk Uncle who embarrasses himself, there is always something that brings life into the context …
Living in Los Angeles County, I have learned that we operate by a very different calendar than most. Here in La-La Land we see January not as the beginning of a new year, but the beginning of celebrating the year that has just ended. January though March we have a succession of awards shows extending …
Growing up in God’s Country The first memory I have of Third Ward Elementary School is the sound of my father shooting his rifle. I had moved to Bradford, Pennsylvania just before I began Kindergarten. I went to Third Ward one summer night for the first time with my Dad. He was a marksman and …
My son Kyle reminds me that much of our attitude is a choice. We can choose to be positive or negative. We can choose to be jealous or appreciative. Entering 2018 I decided that I would be a more grateful person, more appreciative of the people in my life, the experiences I have had, and …
A little bit less than once a week I find myself at AudioElement, (http://audio-element.com) a high-end audio store not far from my office in Pasadena, California. I come to AudioElement with a satchel of vinyl records, a quart of record cleaner, and a stack of premium record sleeves. I then spend an hour or so …
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said …
Home Somewhere: Finding Jules Shear On Friday night, June 20 of 2014, I saw a VSOP with possibly my favorite songwriter and recording artist, Jules Shear. This concert was a Jules Shear musical retrospective that was being filmed for an upcoming documentary about the career and life of Jules Shear. Chasing Jules is the project …
I saw the Furs the first time at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago on August 21, 1981, 34 years and 11 months to the day before last night’s show at the Santa Monica Pier. That show was opened by the Chicago power pop band, The Kind, and was followed by a night of dark droning …
This year marks the Golden Anniversary of many events and milestones of the Woodstock generation. LBJ’s “War on Poverty,” King’s “Dream Speech” and the Beatles’ Hard Day’s Night to name a few. And anyone tracking the news in any media will be hard pressed to avoid this long look into our cultural rear view mirror. …
Some high school friends and I put together a music anthology to celebrate turning 50. It was a 5 CD set of songs that come out when we were in high school. I did the mix and the accompanying essay. It to me (with some help) represented about a year’s worth of research to put …
It is said that a Football game has approximately 4 minutes of action in it. Baseball, surprisingly, a bit more. So when you see the highlights of a game, you are actually watching a significant portion of the action of the game. But part of the thrill of watching the game is not knowing when …