The Leader of the Band

Dan Fogelberg
(1951- 2007)

The Official Website of Dan Fogelberg

Note: He was one of my favorite singers/ songwriters way, way back in time; when the acoustic guitar was my best friend; his songs were the staple in those endless drinking sessions with some old friends under the moonlight along the shores of Albay Gulf in Rawis, Legaspi City, Philippines.

The Silver Beatle

I was supposed to re-post this here last December 8, the 27th Anniversary of the death of the Working Class Hero. This article was my very first entry in my regular blog, Bill Blahs and was originally published December 8, 2005.

I considered this piece important since this marked my return to writing after years of self-imposed hiatus. Now, please indulge me and bear with me while I take you on my very own Strawberry Fields experience.

So, read on...

Dear John
Yesterday

And today

While roaming

Strawberry fields

I closed my eyes and saw the light

A hundred and one slivers that cut the night

I, Me, Mine

The Ballad of John and Yoko

And a thousand rays of silky black brightness that enveloped my soul

Commencing a Magical Mystery Tour

The rush and thrill never bores my hallucinogenic mind

In my heart

I knew the reason behind the man and the music

The diluted laughter and obscure Helter Skelter views

The lifeless grace and red orbs, the purpled words and gray sincerity

That coated your kaleidoscopic world!

I understand the dark gestures and the complexities of your answers

As well as the hues of your inactions that were subtly painted by your pale palette in the canvas of life

while aboard the Yellow Submarine

behind the blues and beneath the shades

I saw Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds!

John Lennon...

the prolific singer-songwriter, the war-activist, the Peacenik, the former Beatle, the Dreamer, the Working Class Hero -- was shot and killed on the evening of December 8, 1980 by Mark David Chapman just outside the Dakota Building near Central Park, NYC.

The music died twenty- five years ago today?

Let me take you down to Strawberry Fields…

I remember watching him lying in an open casket on black & white TV half a world away in the Philippines. I was ten and my attention was caught when a playmate blurted out what he heard on TV: “John Lemon is dead!”, which her aunt, a certified member of the flower-power generation promptly corrected him that it was “John Lennon, not John Lemon, who was killed by a deranged fan,” which elicited laughter among us.

In my young mind then, I only knew him to be the leader of the Fab Four, The Beatles, whose vinyl records dominated my Dad’s Radiowealth Stereo Phonograph's playing time, and I couldn’t comprehend the extent of his death to music fans around the world. It was only years later, as I grew older, when I was exposed to a lot of Beatles’ articles and materials, that I began to understand the man.

When I was thirteen, I purchased a cassette tape of his album "The JOHN LENNON COLLECTION" for PHP 35.00 (which was part of the prize money I won in an essay writing contest sponsored by the Mayon (Albay) Chapter of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) during a Provincial Jamboree that I attended in the summer of 1983) from a local record store. It reigned on my Sony Cassette players for years until the time when a CD of his songs finally replaced it. I began to study the guitar and the first songs I learned were his signature songs -- Imagine, followed by the other Beatles Classics like Revolution, In My Life, Across the Universe and A Day in the Life, just to name a few.

As I went further into my journey into the deep recesses of the Beatleslandia and the Kaleidoscopic Lennonscape, I was transformed into a certified Lennon Fanatic, that finally culminated to a visit to Strawberry Fields this year, the Garden of Peace in New York City’s Central Park named in honor of John in 1981, which was said to be his favorite oasis in the park.

John Lennon, so much has been written and said about him: critics tried to paint him in a different light. Chapman tried to silence him forever but failed miserably.

His songs are easy to understand and people can relate easily to his lyrics. His voice is one-of-a-kind; it has a distinct sound that people could feel all his angst and feelings. He sang from the bottom of his heart and bared his soul in his music.

Most of all, he is his own Man.

As long as there are people who love real music, his memory will not be forgotten, his relevance will continue and his music will live forever...

No Virginia, the music did not die that day…

IN MEMORIAM: John Winston Lennon (Oct. 9, 1940- Dec. 8, 1980)



Listen to John Lennon in his last interview talking about his Double Fantasy Album just hours before he was murdered by Chapman--

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Don't Stop Believin'

I first heard of the rumor that he will be Journey’s new lead singer several months ago. I was skeptical at first not because of his talent but because I never thought not even in my wildest dream that one of my favorite rock bands, Journey will pick somebody outside of the Continental United States much less a Filipino as their new lead singer.

It was the stuff of urban legends but it turned out to be true, in fact too good to be true--that it was guitarist Neal Schon who found him through YouTube and contacted him and invited him to audition for the band.

Here’s Neal Schon in his own words,

“I was frustrated about not having a singer,” explains guitarist Neal Schon, “so I went on YouTube for a couple of days and just sat on it for hours. I was starting to think I was never going to find anybody. But then I found The Zoo and I watched a bunch of different video clips that they had posted. After watching the videos over and over again, I had to walk away from the computer and let what I heard sink in because it sounded too good to be true. I thought, ‘he can’t be that good.’ But he is that good, he’s the real deal and so tremendously talented. Arnel doesn’t sound synthetic and he’s not emulating anyone. I tried to get a hold of him through YouTube and I finally heard from him that night, but it took some convincing to get him to believe that it really was me and not an impostor.”





And so Arnel Pineda, the lead singer of the Philippines' band The Zoo was named by Journey as their new lead singer on their website dated December 5, 2007.

He replaces Jeff Scott Sotto who parted ways with the band this year. Actually, from what I read in various online forums, Journey fans never really embraced him with Open Arms.

Although the band’s original lead singer, Steve Perry will never be equaled both in voice and in talent, let’s hope that Arnel can be at least up to par if not close enough to the standards that Mr. Perry had set for all the singers that will follow in his big, big footsteps.

The dawn of Arnel Pineda's journey to rock stardom begins…


Here's Arnel Pineda's cover of some of Journey's best with his band The ZOO--



Visit the Official Journey Website

Guitar Pick

As Bob Dylan once said, “The Times They’re a-Changin’ and once again a new device is bound to change the musical landscape in years to come.

Well in this particular case, thanks to the latest robotic technology, make that “Powertune System” which was developed by Tronical Gmbh in partnership with Gibson Guitar Corp and was incorporated in its latest Les Paul model with Blue Silverburst’s finish can tune itself in about two seconds.

According to the gospel of Gibson or the people behind it, it is the world’s first self- tuning technology that eliminates the challenges of fine tuning your guitar which is a constant source of headache for beginners and musicians alike thereby getting rid of the extra guitars set with different tunings that is often seen in most gigs and concerts.

Here’s more from Powertune--

Powertune is also listed online for about $800, and Tronical says it can be installed on many different models of electric guitars without leaving a mark.

Gibson guitars with the technology come preset with six types of tuning to play different kinds of music. They also can remember a player's additional original tuning styles, by listening with a microphone to the sounds of the strings.

To set the instrument to a particular tuning, the user pulls a knob, turns it to the desired style, indicated with a blue light, and then pushes the knob back in. An electric signal travels up the strings to the motors on the tuning pegs. The system is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.


By the way, the Les Paul Silverburst model will sell for around $2,780 in Japan and $2,499 in the U.S., with an extra $900 extra for the self-tuning device.

Whoa, that’s a lot of moolah for a guitar if you ask me but not really that much for the ones who can afford it. But in this age of computers, digital music and instruments, anything is a welcome addition in the music world, revolutionary or not.

Still, I’ll take my old less high- tech electric guitar anytime…

For now, at least.

Quiet Riot

Kevin Dubrow
(1955- 2007)


The world will now be quieter without you but the rock world will surely miss your awesome noise, man!

In Memoriam: Michael Hutchence (1960- 1997)

Today is the 10th Anniversary of the “mysterious” death of the flamboyant front man, Michael Hutchence of the Aussie band INXS.



(January 22, 1960 – November 22, 1997)


Although they were not that “big” in the Philippines during that time as they were more famous in Down Under and Europe, I was familiar with some of their songs like Original Sin, Disappear and The Stairs just to name a few because I’ve read about them in those small Php 5.00 “Song Hits“ (Yes, fellow music freak, Jingle and Moptop were long dead in the late 80s and early 90s) and of course, with the help of that FM radio from far away Naga City.

Anyway, INXS (In Excess) was formed in Australia in 1977 and attained global success in the 1980s with some songs landing in the Billboards charts.

The surviving members are still around though and making “new” music with JD Fortune who became the lead singer after winning the title in the Rockstar: INXS contest a couple of years ago over runner- up Marty Casey (Where are you now?) and Pinoy Migs Ayesa, among others in a popularity contest determined by the band members themselves and television viewers.

But they will never come close to the Michael Hutchence Era as far as the die-hard and faithful INXS fans are concerned.

R.I.P. and Rock On in Heaven, Michael!



You can visit the INXS’ website and read their tribute to Michael Hutchence--here

Or you can visit the online guest book and profess your undying love for him and his music---here

Rockamania

2007 will be the year that will be remembered in Rock & Roll as the year of the comebacks at least on my part.

Legends of Rock & Roll have toured and are planning to tour once again giving their fans especially the young ones a chance to see them perform live. Concerts have been sold out and tickets for forthcoming concerts were gone the minute it was opened for sale.

I have been lucky to watch some of them perform live while I passed on some for a variety of reasons. I admit I am/was envious of the few lucky people who were able to get tickets for some of the limited gigs that I wanted to watch. I guess you can’t have them all in life and in rock & roll. Ha-ha. Nevertheless, I am happy that Rock & Roll is alive and kicking!

June was fine with me when America and Chicago made a back-to-back concert at the DTE Music Energy Theater (That’s Pine Knob for you, “oldies but goodies“ Michiganders. He-he) in Clarkston, MI. The long drive was worth it. Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell can still do magic on the stage with their very cool and familiar harmony. Chicago on the other hand, even without original front man Peter Cetera in the fold can still do their own interpretation of rock & roll and thus, were able to trumpet their horns with gusto.

I almost missed The Police when they rocked the Palace of Auburn Hills in July but lady-luck was on my side when a few days before the concert I was able to find somebody who would work my shift in the ER for me. And so I was able to watch Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland do their thing once more and every little thing they did was really Magic!

REO Speedwagon and Kansas at the Taylor Summerfest were awesome. Kevin Cronin can still hit those notes on Can’t Fight This Feeling and Take It On the Run. The only downside was I wasn’t able to record Kansas when they played Dust In The Wind. But for 10 bucks per ticket who can ask for more?

With due apologies to Jimi Hendrix, I was way deep in Purple Haze when the legendary British Rock Super Group Deep Purple blew into town with Highway Star and Smoke on the Water. Ian Gillian, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, three original members of the group were still a sight to behold. If only Richie Blackmore can patch his differences with the other members, that will be the day. But Steve Morse is a very able guitarist in his own right that can do justice to the Purple Classics. But Still you could only wish that Richie was there too.

The German band Scorpions can sting you with their pure and raw energy on stage. It was a wild, wild night as Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine and the rest of the gang made their concert a slam- bang affair. To say that they can still Rock You Like A Hurricane is an understatement. It was one of the best rock concerts that I have ever been to.

Add Ratt, LA Guns, Jani Lane, Dokken, George Thorogood, Great White and Poison to the ear- splitting list and you know why I am still having a bad case of Tinnitus to this very day.

These are just some of the legends whose concerts I was able to attend this year.

I passed on Aerosmith for a reason but I know they will be back here next year since Detroit is one of their favorite places to play. Detroit will always be Rock City to Steven Tyler and company. The one I really rued missing was the Ringo Starr and his friends gig but I was really tied up on that day.

I did not watch Genesis' Turn It On Again Tour since their line- up to me was far from complete. Without Peter Gabriel, I don’t think they can be called that even if Phil Collins was there. The purists will surely agree with me on this. Maybe next time folks.

There will be Anarchy in the UK when Punk Legend the Sex Pistols reformed for a one night gig at London’s Brixton Academy on November 8 to mark the anniversary of their seminal album, Never Mind the Bollocks. Punk's not dead, huh guys? I’m sure Sid Vicious will be watching them from Punk Rock Heaven. R.I.P.- Sid. Peace Man!

But the one that I am dying to watch is the reunion of Led Zeppelin, one of the original and most influential rock bands in history. Unfortunately, theirs is a one night engagement only and tickets are sold out already not to mention that it will be in the UK‘s O2 Arena in London which can only hold 20,000 fans. According to reports, a record 20 million fans tried to get tickets for the said one night concert.

Some fans are really lucky but I’m just happy for the group’s British fans for the chance to see them once again playing live and in the flesh. I’m sure many of them will climb their own Stairway to Heaven during the show. After all you rarely see Robert Plant and Jimmy Page sharing the same stage in years.

Rock On People!

Wide Awake at the Palace with Josh Groban

It was a stormy September afternoon in the Philippines when I first heard that now very familiar baritone singing on the radio inside a friend’s car while cruising along the almost flooded streets of Makati years ago.

The voice was soothing as it soared into the cool windy air; his Italian song crystal clear, mellifluous and enchanting and the romantic in me made me an instant fan of this nameless and faceless singer at that time.

Being a music lover and aficionado, I immediately went to the net and look for the song and name of the singer and was surprised that the singer was not Italian at all but a prodigious American who at 17 years old was introduced to David Foster by his vocal coach and has since then have taken the music world by storm.

That singer behind the phenomenal voice was no other than Josh Groban who once attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts Camp in Northern Michigan when he was younger and once again made his homecoming to Michigan special by way of his 2007 Awake Tour stop at the Palace of Auburn Hills, the fifth stop of the vaunted tour.

I really wanted to watch him perform live and was eager to buy his tickets through the advance purchasing program offered to the company that I was connected at that time but the procrastinator in me got the better of me.

It was only about three days before his concert on February 23 that I decided to finally get tickets for the said show and boy was it hard!

The prime seats were all taken by then and Ticketmaster kept on giving me tickets with obstructed views.

So, I tried and tried and tried until the computer was really, really exhausted by my dogged determination (ha-ha!) and finally gave in and handed me tickets on the lower level about ten seats from the main floor and on the side about 25 rows from the stage. Not a bad deal for a latecomer so I grabbed the said tickets which costs me $120 each, cooled my heels and waited for the big night.

On the day of the event I drove about 90 miles and arrived early at 4 pm for the 8 pm concert. As I ate my Burger King hamburger in the sprawling but almost deserted parking lot of the Palace, I watched with a smile on my face as people began trickling in…

Grobanites in all colors, ages and sizes from near and far came in full force; some complete with face paints, banners and vehicles proclaiming their love for their idol. Ha-ha.

We went to the Palace and the guards proclaimed that no cameras and videos were allowed inside the venue which was a bummer. Many concert-goers heeded the said regulation or so I thought because as soon as curtains was lifted and the spotlight shone on Josh Groban while singing You Are Loved (Don‘t Give Up), almost everybody especially the ladies began clapping and screaming as they instinctively grabbed their digital cameras, camera-phones and what have you from their secret hideaways and began shooting him in wild abandon.

His beautiful voice soared amid the sea of flashes and the plethora of Palace guards tasks to enforce order could do nothing about it and could only shake their heads and grin in disbelief by the blatant show of “disrespect’ for the rules by the concert goers! Ha-ha!

But the night was special as he sang one great song after another and rocked the Palace like never before. He was a Prince, Preacher and Troubadour rolled into one, his soaring, smooth baritone mesmerized the audience all through the night---

He sang not only his English hits but also some of his Spanish and Italian songs, used a vocoder for Lullaby to make his voice sound like a choir, played the piano and banged the drums like a pro, joked with the audience while singing Stephen Sondheim’s Not While I’m Around from the musical Sweeney Todd, donned a Pistons Uniform to the delight of Michiganders, materialized at the far end of the venue and walked his way on the center aisle towards the stage while singing and interacting with fans, showed his new- found calling by playing songs with African music influence (Nelson Mandela named him as AIDS Ambassador to Africa) and a thousand other ways to thrill his fans.

I got my money’s worth to say the least and converted two people in the process, with one eventually one- upped me by becoming a Certified Grobanite and paid the membership fee right after the concert. I guess she became so enamored with Mr. Groban’s operatic but silky voice and buoyed by his wit and good rapport with the audience his messy hair and “aw- shucks“ personality notwithstanding. Ha-ha.!


The much ballyhooed homecoming of Michigan’s favorite adopted son did not disappoint. The Concert was one of the best ones I’ve been into in a long time. There was never a dull moment and it was a night to remember forever and I will definitely watch him again if given another chance.


Here’s the Awake Tour Set List

You Are Loved
Mai
Un Dia Llegara
Un Giorno Per Noi
So She Dances
February Song
Remember When It Rained
Alla Luce Del Sole
Lucia’s Violin Solo (Kashmir*)
Now or Never
Pearls
L’Ultima Notte
Lullaby**
Weeping**
Not While I’m Around
You Raise Me Up
Machine
Smile
Drum Solo Encore
Awake Encore



* Lucia Micarelli is an awesome violinist; playing barefoot on stage and attacked the Led Zeppelin Classic Kashmir with impunity. She was a human dynamo on the strings and a kick-ass performer.


Here's MY video of the concert at the Palace of Auburn Hills--

ENJOY...

O Sole Mio

...

Nobody shall sleep!

Nobody shall sleep!

Even you, o Princess, in your cold room, watch the stars, that tremble with love and with hope.

But my secret is hidden within me, my name no one shall know.

No!...No!...

On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines.

And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...

-Excerpts from Turandot's Nessun Dorma



LUCIANO PAVAROTTI
(1935- 2007)





Arrivederci Maestro!

Philippine King of Novelty Music

Yoyoy Villame (1938- 2007)

His music was part of my youth when childhood friends in the province would sing his songs over bottles and bottles of the Philippine National Drink, the stainless Ginebra San Miguel in endless drinking sessions that would last until the wee hours of the morning.

His Philippine Geography, Magellan, Hayop na Combo, Butsekik and many others once ruled the cold and dreary nights of Tiwi, Albay wherein intoxicated young men would play his music on their heavily- bandaged Lumanog guitars under the streetlight by the dusty roadside that would always elicit good- natured laughter from the usual kibitzers and passers- by.

Although I never really learned the entire lyrics of his songs but during those times it was fun and a necessary break from our usual stuff of slow rock and new wave music.

Brad Delp (06.12.1951- 03.09.2007)

"We've just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll."


Brad Delp was the original lead singer of the rock band Boston whose self- titled debut album that was recorded in bandmate and friend Tom Scholz’ basement remains as the most successful debut album in the US with over 17 million copies sold was found dead in his home.



His unmistakable big and soaring vocals on such songs as Dreams, Foreplay/ Long Time, Don’t Look Back, A Man I’ll Never Be, Amanda, and their anthem More Than A Feeling catapulted the band at the top and into the elite circle of rock and roll and into the hearts of classic rock fanatics.



He was 55.



Let us keep those lighters burning for Brad...

Official BOSTON Website



P.S.

Autopsy revealed that Brad died of Carbon Monoxide poisoning and Police ruled his death as suicide.

Prince of the Super Bowl Show

With songs like Let’s Go Crazy, Baby I’m a Star, All Along the Watchtower, Best of You, Proud Mary and the timeless Purple Rain, Prince really did a splendid job when he mounted that spectacular halftime show in the rain that was hailed as one of the best halftime shows in the history of the Superbowl.

At least that was the consensus of the people who watched the Super Bowl XLI where the diminutive performer proved once again why he is one of the giants of the music world, his height notwithstanding.

He did made us, vertically challenged people proud during and after the show. Ha-ha.

But not all were happy with his performance and some critics have found a way to once again revolt against the creative talent of the singer- artist.

Although he is considered to be one of the most gifted musical talents around many were turned off by his eccentricity with regards to his life and music that made him an easy target for self- proclaimed judges in the music business.

Who can forget when he changed his name to The Artist Formerly Known as Prince then to just a mere"symbol" then back to Prince again?

He was and still is a controversial figure ever since he made his debut album Purple Rain in 1984 that was further bolstered by his penchant for colorful butt-baring pants he wears on stage in his shows.

And now some people have accused him of sending some subliminal symbols in his Superbowl performance like it was “demonic” and his guitar which was fashioned like a purple-colored shaped of his now famous/ infamous symbol as having some phallic connotations.

Of course in the world of rock and roll, the guitar is always a phallic symbol; anybody who has watched the late Jimi Hendrix do his thing or seen Eddie Van Halen strokes his "Frankenstrat" guitar would know what I’m talking about.

And Of course, any person with a dirty suspicious mind and a hyper-active imagination can surmise that that was his real intention.

Rain or shine though, his performance at halftime of the greatest one day sports spectacle in the world was a classic from a music aficionados' stand point and his choreography that trademark his shows was outstanding.

He gave the fans their money’s worth and a show to remember for years to come and he obviously did not rain on their parade.

Hail to the Prince of Rock & Roll!