PowerPop (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
Okay, this one's just cool. Which is to say I knew that George Harrison 's 1987 hit was a remake of an oldie, but I had never heard the original and knew nothing of its provenance. So -- from 1962, please enjoy James Ray and the original r&b version of "I've Got My Mind Set on You." Although the song wasn't a big hit in its day, Harrison discovered it when he bought Ray’s album...
San Fransisco Chronicle (Free subscription) | 10/25/2009
She was raised on Russian folk songs and bootleg Queen records, loves Nirvana and the Ramones, and asks Jeff Lynne to produce her music without checking out his resume first. These are just some of the things that make Regina Spektor the best 29-year-old...
ELO BEATLES FOREVER (Free subscription) | 10/22/2009
Hello ... Hello ... my old friends ... It's great to see you once again! A number of folks have asked me about my thoughts on the recent gig by The Orchestra at the Robin2; the new 2CD compilation "Anthology" and the current UK tour. Today I'm bearing my soul regarding the current UK tour. I believe that there is a kind of snobbery abounding in ELO circles regarding ELO Part II and The Orchestra....
Absolute Powerpop (Free subscription) | 10/20/2009
As kind of a pit stop between full-length releases (2008's Flight of the Knife and a new one planned for 2010), Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears have a new EP out, Mad Valentines. I've stood pretty much alone in the power pop community as being a bit underwhelmed by Scary, feeling his music has been hyperkinetic for hyperkinesis' sake - Jellyfish with A.D.D., if you will. And after hearing the...
Hongkie Town (Free subscription) | 10/16/2009
Yes, instead of one post, two. I noticed on Amazon that next month they will be selling a 3 DVD set of performances culled from the annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts. I almost clicked on "buy." But then I found that this is an edited series, down from a 9 disc set being offered directly to the public by Time/Life. The nine discs are taken from 24 years of annual shows. They are not...
Absolute Powerpop (Free subscription) | 10/08/2009
One of the more common criticisms leveled at the power pop genre is that it all sounds the same, it's generic, everybody tries to sound like someone else, etc. It's a facile criticism, usually made by someone who doesn't listen to that much power pop. Nevertheless, this criticism doesn't apply to Kevin Peroni, whose Wiretree has an idiosyncratic sound - whenever one of his tunes randomly pops on my...
ELO BEATLES FOREVER (Free subscription) | 10/07/2009
Hello ... Hello ... my old friends ... It's great to see you once again! Only six [6] days now to the big gig at the Robin 2 in Bilston nr . Wolverhampton [the 'centre of the universe'] on 13 - Oct-2009 ... The Orchestra are returning to their Midlands musical roots! Today I took a rare day off work with Julie. Whilst meandering about in downtown Wolverhampton; I suddenly heard the familiar [but rarely...
New York Music Scene - Radioindy.com (Free subscription) | 09/29/2009
Media Line Road mix '60's and '70's-era pop-rock sensibilities with kaleidoscopic flair on their fine new CD, "Sagittarius Passing Through." Recalling classic rock bands such as Pink Floyd ("We're Not From Here"), The Doors ("I've Been Trying"), Moody Blues ("Fly"), and especially, the solo work of George Harrison, the 14-track collection features the kind of...
The ZehnKatzen Times (Free subscription) | 09/25/2009
2212. Music makes the world go 'round. That's the way I think of it anyway. But musical acts are, in essence, not just a group of guys or gals or guys-n-gals getting together to play, get famous, and collect scads of fans – they're more than that. They're businesses, too – some very successful, the vast majority, not so. Bear in mind that, through this subsequent narrative, I am not a lawyer...
BlondeSense (Free subscription) | 09/20/2009
Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.~William Cullen BryantJeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947 in Shard End, Birmingham) is a two-time Ivor Novello Award recipient and Grammy Award-winning English songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, guitarist, and record producer who gained fame as the leader of Electric Light Orchestra and was a co-founder and member of The Traveling Wilburys.[2] Lynne
Word Magazine blogs (Free subscription) | 09/05/2009
As the site seems to be dominated by Beatles threads at the moment, Bargepole asks what of the work of colloborator and soundalike Jeff Lynne - from The Move to ELO to Travelling Wilburies to producing Tom Petty and of course working with George Harrison and on Free as a Bird.
Orange Big Brother 9 Blog (Free subscription) | 09/04/2009
Sophie Reade has won Big Brother 10. The Artist Formerly Known As Dogface is last out of the house, struggling gamely to stay in her miniature top and skirt as she spills down the stairs. It's a great moment for the lass, only likely to be soured by facing up again to Jeff Lynne lookalike Kris. It's been a rollercoaster for Soph, forced to change her name to the flattering sobriquet Dogface if she...
Crooks and Liars (Free subscription) | 08/22/2009
Title: The Diary of Horace Wimp Artist: ELO A friend of mine was once in an ELO cover band, in which all the members sang lead vocals. They had a floppy wig and sunglasses, and whichever member was singing would wear the Jeff Lynne headgear. Unfortunately I never saw them; moreover, relative to the rest of the world the magnificent ELO has been a criminally new discovery for me after years of dubbing...
Mere Rhetoric (Free subscription) | 08/18/2009
When people insist that British civilization, having long ago tipped into decadence, is in an inexorable slide toward functional oblivion - this is the kind of tripe they're talking about: ELO: The band the Beatles could have been. Critics called them 'dull' and laughed at the spaceships. Did they not realise Jeff Lynne was a songwriter to rival Lennon and McCartney'... When ELO began they never...
Word Magazine blogs (Free subscription) | 08/15/2009
Tribute CDs. They are everywhere. Cover version compilations by the famous and the unknowns. Some are worthy and some are downright ropey efforts. If you love cover versions, as I do, they can become addictive. My collection is full of them; from the Leonard Cohen tribute Tower Of Song with Peter Gabriel, Tori Amos & Bono to the Jethro Tull tribute To Cry You A Song with Roy Harper, John Wetton...
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