Linda Ronstadt, 1970s. A couple of weeks ago Linda Ronstadt (67) announced to the music world she can no longer sing a single note as result of Parkinson’s disease. Diagnosed late last year, the sad news has only just been made public. In thinking about it all, I realised there is a case to be…
Tag: Music
My Dream Bruce Springsteen Concert Setlist
Bruce Springsteen, 2007. In August Bruce Springsteen wasn’t only in the news for announcing his largest ever Australasian tour (for February and March 2014), but because Bruce himself sent out his first ever tweet. Obviously one of those stories made more headlines than the other, but nevertheless, when @springsteen said on August 20th: “Bruce here… looking…
When David Frost Took On Margaret Thatcher – My Tribute Plus A Poignant Bee Gees Song
Sir David Frost with Richard Nixon – 1977. Just 15 minutes before the end of last night’s episode of The Two we heard the sad news that one of the finest British broadcasters of them all – Sir David Frost – had died of a heart attack aged 74. Pam and I were already planning…
Kenny Rogers’ 75th Birthday – 2 Songs The Bee Gees Wrote For Him Just As Good As ‘Islands In The Stream’
Barry Gibb & Kenny Rogers, 1983. A quick post to say Happy 75th birthday to Kenny Rogers for yesterday and to draw your attention to two of the other songs (aside from Islands In The Stream) from his Bee Gees’ written album Eyes That See In The Dark. 30 years ago Rogers teamed up with…
Why Bruce Springsteen’s Never Released A Real “Greatest Hits” Album
Bruce Springsteen in the mid-70s. Bruce Springsteen is coming back to New Zealand for the first time in just over a decade so I thought I’d use this opportunity to sort out my hero’s track-list for a compilation which has oddly never been released. Throughout a 40 year recording career which has given him critical…
How Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ Speech Inspired 1 Of Elvis’s Greatest Songs
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, August 28 1963. AUGUST 29 2013 UPDATE: Today in the States marks 50 years since one of history’s most famous speeches, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s I Have A Dream. Delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC on August 28th 1963, the “I Have A Dream”…
The Other Bee Gees Song About Staying Alive – How The Early 70s Were Their Most Underrated Era
Bee Gees in the early 70s. I had an email from a fellow diehard Bee Gees fan yesterday reminding me about arguably the most overlooked period in the Gibb cannon, the early 70s. Sandwiched between the brothers’ first wave of 1960s Beatle-esque hits (though that is a too simplistic descriptor) and their enormous R&B hits…
The Dark Gospel Of Johnny Cash – ‘God’s Gonna’ Cut You Down’
Johnny Cash Sometimes I need only the most tenuous* of links to select a brilliant song to play in closing on Newstalk ZB’s The Two (Pam Corkery / Tim Roxborogh – Fridays and Sundays from 8pm) and last night was one of those occasions. Pam had mentioned “ramblers and gamblers” in passing and it made…
40 Years Since Stevie Wonder’s ‘Innervisions’ – The Deep Cut ‘Jesus Children Of America’
Stevie Wonder. It’s 40 years this month since Stevie Wonder released not just arguably his greatest ever album, but an LP which is regularly listed as being one of the greatest by any artist of any era. Innervisions was astoundingly already Stevie Wonder’s 16th studio album when it was released by the 23 year old…
That Time Tim Finn Rapped In A West Indian Accent
Mark Greatbatch, 1992. With the schedule for the 2015 Cricket World Cup to be held in New Zealand and Australia announced yesterday (and you can click here if you’d like to read it), I thought it was time to bust out two not entirely beloved cricket anthems from the 90s. The first is the theme…
Mick Jagger Turns 70 – Why The Rolling Stones Never Play This Early 70s Song In Concert
Sir Mick Jagger turned 70 on Friday (or if you’re author David N. Meyer, Dick Taggart turned 65 on Wednesday) so to celebrate, here are my top five favourite Rolling Stones songs. At #1 is the dark horse Ventilator Blues, a song which is up there for me with another of Exile On Main Street’s (1972) songs, Sweet…
The Great Shame Of The New Bee Gees Biography, Plus 10 Of The Best Post Disco-Era Gibb Songs
Maurice, Robin & Barry Gibb – 1979. I can’t let this slide, I’m sorry. Half-way through David N. Meyer’s new and “definitive” biography on the Bee Gees I was thinking that despite the constant factual errors and the presumptions, it was gripping writing and unique analysis. I even contacted the author to point out several…
