Showing posts with label Musicians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Musicians. Show all posts

Currently Listening: What's Going On (Marvin Gaye) 1971

Currently Listening: What's Going On (Marvin Gaye) 1971 Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father during a family argument. It was April 1, 1984, one day before his 45th birthday. I was 14. My brother was 10 and played a lot of sports. I remember that because on that day, he had an accident on the field and my parents took him to the hospital. They sat in the waiting room. There were two elderly black gentlemen sitting across from them. My mom heard one of them say to the other, "You know, we lost …

My Super-Talented Family Members: Joe "onlyone" Kowalski (Musician/Actor/Filmmaker)

My Super-Talented Family Members: Joe "onlyone" Kowalski (Musician/Actor/Filmmaker) My husband is  Joe Kowalski , an imaginative Gen X polymath and among the most talented people I know. I learned the term "polymath" from Hal Sparks. From Google AI search: "A polymath is a person with deep expertise across multiple, diverse fields, driven by relentless curiosity and the ability to synthesize knowledge from different domains to foster innovation and creative problem-solving." My good friend Diana (she's all ov…

Currently Listening: SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE (Stevie Wonder)(1976)

Currently Listening: SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE (Stevie Wonder)(1976) Songs in the Key of Life was one of my favorite records practically my whole life. From the age of 7 I'd say.  My parents have great taste in music.  My favorite is Side Four--it's a double album.      Isn't She Lovely     Joy Inside My Tears     Black Man     Ngiculela - Es Una Historia I Am Singing     If It's Magic     As     Another Star  I want "If It's Magic" played at my funeral. Damn, Stevie.

There Goes Pinterest I Guess (It's Getting Bogged Down With AI Slop)

There Goes Pinterest I Guess (It's Getting Bogged Down With AI Slop) Not that I've been on it much lately, so me deleting my account won't mean anything to Pinterest. I created my Pinterest account when we first moved from Comm Ave to Lower Allston, as a kind of Look Book for home decor ideas.I also had some pins of 19th Century dinner rings--I had one once and thought I'd get another some day. But now it seems Pinterest is already chock-a-block with AI slop. Why? What are they thinking? That was a pu…

Reddit Deleted My Post About Amanda Palmer's Eyebrows But I Don't Need Reddit When I Have This Blog

Reddit Deleted My Post About Amanda Palmer's Eyebrows But I Don't Need Reddit When I Have This Blog I posted in the /whybrows subreddit the other day, which is a hilarious collection of truly astonishing eyebrow decisions from around the web. I tried to read the rules for the subreddit first, but there was nothing written under Rules. My post sparked a lively discussion about Amanda and the current state of affairs on that topic, and got 50 upvotes before they took it down. Obviously we were enjoying it. And it imparted some new info for peopl…

Currently Listening: Jellyfish, Spilt Milk

Currently Listening: Jellyfish, Spilt Milk Today, I have been writing and listening to my favorite records. A lot of my favorite records, few have heard. But everyone should hear Jellyfish, Spilt Milk. So gorgeous! You know, there was a time, like thirty years ago , when I used to review local music. You had to describe music with words, crafted in such a way so as to have the reader able to "hear" it, to decide whether or not to support those musicians by buying the record. T…

RIP David Johnston

RIP David Johnston You guys. Mike Piehl posted on Facebook that David Johnston died yesterday. Oh man. I loved him.  I found him busking one day, and stood and listened. I was utterly captivated by his voice, his Dobro, his wild tumble of blond hair. I booked him in one of my showcases at the Lizard Lounge. He didn't have a CD yet. Not yet. When he made one, it blew me away.  You were the real deal, David. Following, my review from my archives (as Lexi Kahn)  and …

Asa Brebner (1954 - 2019)

Asa Brebner (1954 - 2019) "Songs are just sort of feelings put into words, a marriage of the emotional and cerebral. And that's sort of the best thing you can do—express in words what you're feeling, hopefully in a way that's not too trivial or stupid." - Asa Brebner

#Throwback Thursday: 2007

#Throwback Thursday: 2007 On "Performing Monkey Syndrome" Throwing back to my 2007 interview with Jonathan Spottiswoode. - md [EXCERPT] Spottiswoode: Ah, the performing monkey syndrome. Lexi, it’s all about feeling alive. We all go through life in a numb state most of the time. Some of us more happily than others. Artists do what they do for various reasons. But mostly just to feel alive, to feel that they are expressing themselves in the moment, transcendin…

Music Makers and Dreamers of Dreams

Music Makers and Dreamers of Dreams When I was 24 years old, I found it necessary to retract and re-submit my * theory about musicians and just what the hell is their deal anyway. This happened all in my head, in the high seats at Foxboro Stadium at approximately 8 o’clock on May 20, 1994. My theory? Please note, I was a wee bit baked, and Pink Floyd, on the Boston stop of the Division Bell tour, had just opened with Astronomy Domine, from their tragically underrated 1966 album Pi…

It's A Miracle: Boy George. Cyndi Lauper, and Remembering an Old Friend

It's A Miracle: Boy George. Cyndi Lauper, and Remembering an Old Friend Pam had an extra ticket to see Cyndi Lauper and Boy George at the Wang Theatre. Guess who got to go? ME. That kind of thing never happens to me. Thanks, Pammeke! And thanks, person-who-couldn't-make-it-whose-seat-I-took! First of all, I love The Wang. It's one of those right proper old art deco theatres. You know, decked out with red velvet and gold trim, ceiling paintings, sculptural detail and fancy chandeliers. It opened in the 1920s …

Dirty Sweet 'N You're My Girl (Eulogy For An Awesome Chick)

Dirty Sweet 'N You're My Girl (Eulogy For An Awesome Chick) Genine was a high school friend. Brief, bright and deep, that was our love, from about mid-freshmen year to the summer of junior year. I wish I could find my goddamn yearbook so I could see what we wrote into the blurbs on each others' pages at graduation. Was it "remember when we..." and was it promises to keep in better touch? It's things like that you grasp for, when you find out a one-time friend is gone.

Top Ten Tiger Beat Stars, Redux

Top Ten Tiger Beat Stars, Redux This one's for my girlfriends and all the 80s kids, my big-haired comrades-in-legwarmers, a delightfully shrill roving army on rollerskates. We wore neon and spandex and acid-washed baggy designer jeans, and we launched the careers of our  Tiger Beat Star boyfriends. Oh yes, Rick Springfield, you're nothing without us! Same for you, Johnny Depp. You're welcome, John Stamos. And all of these dreamboats whose faces wallpapered our bedro…

Now I Need A Punch Bowl

Now I Need A Punch Bowl Joe has something of an infatuation with the late great Mel Torme, who would have been 90 this September. We've been talking about having a birthday party for the Velvet Fog, with music, drinks and dishes from the crooner's heyday. "We'll definitely make up a few pitchers of a Velvet Fog drink...oooh, maybe a punch bowl to fit the era!" You guys, I've been looking for an excuse to get a punch bowl for a long time. My j…