RE:think

Top Ten Beatles Songs According to Rolling Stone

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/photos/28431/194023/0

10. While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

9. Come Together

8. Let it Be

7. Hey Jude

6. Something

5. In My Life

4. Yesterday

3. Strawberry Fields Forever

2. I Want to Hold Your Hand

1. A Day in the Life

It’s a pretty good list and a sneak peak of their 100 Best. Not sure how you could ever do a top time for such a prolific catalogue. Mine would be different, but so would anyone else’s.

What do you think of this list?

Why Current Pop Music is Delusional and More Self-Absorbed than Ever

(crotchety almost old man alert!)

I just watched the American Idol results show from last night on DVR. They had this new Chris Brown wannabe guy, Jason Derulo, performing on the show. For what he did, it was ok I guess. Not my speed, but he seems to be a good performer. However…

American Idol judge Kara Dioguardi happens to be who discovered and signed Jason. When Seacrest asked her what she saw in him before signing him, she said he is a great songwriter and that in his first two singles he has written great songs. (one of which I link to below)

Delusion.

This is the thing that bugs me about pop music today. They are taking themselves WAY too seriously. When you read the lyrics of his first big hit, how can anyone say “great songwriting”? And she said this during Lennon and McCartney week on the show!

Delusion.

Pop music is what it is and to try to  make it more just makes it more annoying than it already can be. He is writing songs about nothing and those pushing him on us are telling us it’s great?

Delusion.

What’s in the lyrics that makes them so great? He writes a straight forward song about cheating, with nothing of redeeming value, no artistry and no nuance, all backed by fake instruments and it’s great songwriting?

Delusion.

Here is a link to the lyrics of his first hit, Whatcha Say. Someone please show me where Dioguardi is right and I am wrong. http://www.elyrics.net/read/j/jason-derulo-lyrics/what_cha-say-lyrics.html

Kara et al… Please, let bubble gum pop music be the fluff that it is and always has been. Quit this new thing where you try to convince us that Derulo, Ke$ha, and a host of others are great artists who write great songs. These songs are not great. They are good fun in the moment possibly, but will be gone until MAYBE nostalgia kicks in for today’s youth as they  look back at them like my generation looks back at Prince, The Police, and John Mellencamp. Wait, those were great songwriters… Hmmm…

Technorati Tags: Pop Music,Jason Derulo,Kara Dioguardi,Ke$ha

Randy Jackson Comparing Today’s Music to Yesteryear

American Idol judge Randy Jackson is taking a good deal of ribbing for his comment that American Idol is “the Olympics for Singers”.

I get it Randy. You are defending the theme weeks. However, Olympics is a bit over the top. But while it is over the top, it wasn’t the most important part of what you said. I’m gonna get your back dawg.

I give you a huge pass because of some of the other things you says in the interview. Peep this:

"Here's the problem with [contemporary theme weeks] — guess what? It's a competition. I know that you know the latest Lady Gaga song," Jackson told MTV News. "I happen to think that songs of yesteryear are better songs and are harder to sing, so they create more difficulty for you who listens to the radio everyday."

Jackson explained that "Idol" competitors have to prove that they have the pipes to take on the big songs — so if you want to sing a Ke$ha tune, "Idol" may not be the show for you. (Although Jackson hopes that Ke$ha takes no offense to that.) "Give me Sinatra. Give me somebody who's just really emoting and engaging and making you believe.

"Give me Motown," he continued about the advantages of singing older songs instead of newer hits by newer artists. "Give me the greatest rock band ever, in my estimation — Led Zeppelin. The degree of difficulty to play Led Zeppelin music, let alone sing it, is so off the Richter scale. This is a competition. 'Idol' is like the Olympics for singers. We want to make it tougher for them."

I agree with Randy 100 Million percent. If American Idol was a bunch of kids singing today’s pop music, I wouldn’t watch. And guess what, lots of other people would quit watching too. The music is uninteresting as is. No one wants to hear an amateur do the karaoke version of it. Are there theme weeks I don’t care for? Sure. But if the finalists could pick whatever they wanted every week it would be a dumpster fire.

I’m so glad Randy chose Ke$ha as his example. I find her music grating at best. Auto-tuners and bad songwriting just don’t do it for me. I think they don’t do it for Randy either. He says he hopes she takes no offense, but his point it made.

[And yes, you did just see me type the phrase “peep this” above.]

Technorati Tags: American Idol,Randy Jackson,Ke$ha,Pop Culture Phrases

Steve Perry Follow Up

There happens to be a longer version of Oh Sherry, with some footage of how the video almost went...

This is that video...

Again, you are most welcome.

Technorati Tags: Steve Perry

What Can Make Anything Better?

Let's face it people, times are tough. We are in a recession and unemployment is rising. We just finished up a tough election season and while a little over half the people are pleased, just a bit under half the people are not. While gas is low now, we were gouged like never before over the last year. Food prices went up during the same period.

Things haven't been as good as they could have been. And we are looking for answers. We are looking for something to make us feel better both about the state of the world and ourselves. We could turn to many things in these tough times. Some people go down the wrong roads and look to drugs, or alcohol. Others choose religion and find peace in God. Some buy things to feel better and others turn to comfort foods.

I offer you something else to make you feel good, if only for a moment. It can take your day, and turn it around. It can bring friends together and help them share a song and a laugh. It so simple, yet at the same time, very complex. It is a miracle cure in my estimation. What is this wonderful answer?

People of the world, I give you...

Steve Perry

You are welcome.

Something I Think I Think About Music

Here goes...

When not so great music becomes old or older not so great music, nostalgia kicks in and it's not so bad anymore.

Follow me? Cause there has to be a good reason I found myself rockin' out in the car today to Higher by Creed (a song I hated the first time around). Otherwise I flat out suck.

In the spirit of my recent oppressive stance towards comments,the first person who says I suck in the or anything remotely close to it, I am hunting you down. I am looking for validation here people. :-) Also, Clint is not allowed to post one on this post. ;-)

That is all. Peace, Love, and validation.

Christian Radio... Ugh.

It's been a while since I have listened to Christian Radio. I had either forgotten why I quit it or maybe hoped for improvement when I turned the dial to the local station. I gave it 30 minutes.

Yikes.

Now, I don't want to step on toes or hurt feelings, but I am going to have to throw out a little honesty. The stuff on Christian Pop Radio is quite horrific. The words embarrassing and money come to mind too. I hardly know where to start, but I will give it a try...

First, I noticed the "praise and worship" music is still hanging in there. I actually heard Chris Tomlin's "How Great is Our God" for the 1 millionth time. Love the song, but really, could we move on please? These 3 and 4 chord wonders with lyrics as deep as bottle caps are stale. Extremely stale. No wonder older people were so grumpy about them when they hit the scene so hard about 10 years ago. I find myself inching towards those folks everyday. Too bad guys like Charlie Hall or Stuart Townend are not hip or shallow enough to make the radio regularly.

Second, if you listen to secular music much at all, and I do, then you know that Christian Pop is a rehash of styles and sounds that are on a lag of at least 2 years, and sometimes more. And again, could we be anymore shallow in our lyrics? It's embarrassing. Christian Music needs more Derek Webbs. But wait, those guys will never get on the radio. They call the church names like "whore" and are against wars. They tackle real issues and actually try to do something original. Oh well... I hope Switchfoot is still popular.

Next, was that chick seriously singing to Jesus like that?  I've talked about the "Jesus is my boyfriend" songs before. Unfortunately, it seems they are still out there. I had a friend that called these ladies "breathy girls". Cause that's how they sing. All breathy and sexy, like the song is romantic or something. Gag. And the lyrics are so ambiguous, they really could be about some dude, and not, you know, the Savior of the world.

Last, while some of you are good and mad at me, why must you have a Christian version of ________? If you like ________, and they don't offend your sensibilities, then just listen to them. You'd be shocked at how often you can find God and the search for him in ________'s lyrics. Christian music, like Christian anything, keeps us in our ghetto and out of touch with the rest of the world. I don't think that is God's plan for us. I may be wrong, but I just don't see it. Our subculture is so commercial and goofy that it makes me want to hurl.

Now, there is some good Christian music out there. Stryper comes to mind. :) Seriously, there is some good stuff out there, and even SOME of what I have blasted in this post has it's place. But I plead with the industry, quit trying to create the next Christian ______, and develop some truly original artists. Cause if you don't, then you are just another industry that is a slave to the almighty dollar. There are some awesome Christian Indie artists out there who don't need you. And Christian artists, could you keep up with secular music a little better? Really, if all of them can keep up with each other, surely you don't have to be on such a lag. I mean, if you must be a clean copy of something, don't come late with it. And finally, please quit re-recording worship songs that someone else already did. Because when you do (Michael W. Smith) and I click over to the Christian station for a few minutes, I still here your version of Forever by Chris Tomlin all these years later.

Technorati Tags: CCM,Christian Radio,Praise and Worship,Michael W. Smith,Chris Tomlin

I Gots To Get Me Some Yellow Pants!

Ah, the late 70's and early 80's. I feel like I am back in 4th grade, when life was easy...

After I get those pants I wanna bust out my old saxophone and find a good flute player!

OK, maybe just one more, while we're REMINISCING...

Main Event!

Opening Act

Saving Jane