The Poetry of Rock: Before The Deluge

  Jackson Brown has been one our finest songwriters since the seventies. He has a very unique voice and writes exceptional lyrics–it can’t hurt that, at one time, he, along with John David Souther and Glenn Frey and Don Henley (Eagles) all lived in the same apartment complex in Los Angeles. His best work–at least …

The Hunt For New Music: Marvin Gaye, 1983, "What's Going On?"

The Hunt for New Music: Marvin Gaye singing “What’s Going On”. The song is one of the classics of all time and the meaning and lyrics have never been more appropriate than today. It’s posted here today not just because of the music (which is great) but Marvin’s intro to it and his comments on …

The Hunt For New Music: Lovd Ones w/ Leilani Wolfgramm "Sail Away"

Hawaiian Progressive You never know where you’re going to find the next piece of really good music. It’s a hunt, an adventure, and you can turn a corner or click a link or open an email and you’ll find something new and inspiring that fits the time and the mood. And, if it’s really nice, …

Transitions: Y.A. Tittle (1926-2017)

The Latest Word: Y.A. Tittle (Yelberton Abraham) Tittle, died on Sunday night, 8 October 2017, at age 90. For football fans in the 1960s,  Y.A.Tittle was the classic drop back passer who–banged up and battered and bloodied–always got up for the next play or the next game. As Quarterback for the New York Giants,coached by …

The Art of the Movie Trailer: Star Wars, The Last Jedi

Paying Attention: Only one movie trailer could be so eagerly awaited that it was featured at half-time of the Monday Night Football Game: it was the trailer for Star Wars: Last Jedi. The trailer of the long awaited next installment in the classic Star Wars franchise got top billing at halftime and the folks at …

The Weekend Concert Series: Steely Dan, Two Against Nature

The Hunt For New Music When we lost Walter Becker on 3 September 2017, we lost one of America’s great and innovative musicians. As one half of the music group Steely Dan (named after an item in a William Burroughs novel…so you get immediately the drift of the intellect of these two), Walter Becker teamed …

Stormwatch: Dan Rather Makes Weather History

The Latest Word:  On September 11th,  1961, a young Houston news director, Dan Rather, of KHOU-TV (Channel 11), made television weather history with his coverage of Hurricane Carla. Rather risked his life to provide coverage of Carla to Houston viewers. The storm was monstrous, a Category 5 hurricane, with winds of up to 175MPH. The …

The PGA Championship: Video Flyover of the Course

Nightshift Sports:  The last of golf’s four major tournaments is being contested this weekend at Quail Hollow, in Charlotte NC. To give you an idea of the course layout, it’s complexities and challenges, we’ve posted an “official” PGA Championship video flyover of the course. Take a look and you’ll know what the best golfers in …

A Fourth of July Anthem

The Hunt for New Music. Does anyone sing America the Beautiful better than Ray Charles? No, is the short answer. In addition to our national anthem, this may be our second greatest song. Ray Charles sings it here, live, with an orchestral accompaniment. Take some time and take it in. He was–and remains via his …

The Poetry of Rock: "Peace Like A River"

Music: It’s been a while since anything from the Poetry of Rock series has been published and that just not  a good thing, as I was reminded this morning when, while working on another project, Paul Simon’s “Peace Like A River” came on the audio system. It is one of his most melodic compositions–very streamlined …