Yesterday it was my birthday – number 31 – and somebody who has become a dear friend in the short space of less than a year helped make it a very memorable one. Pam Corkery, my co-host on Newstalk ZB’s The Two (Friday and Sunday evenings from 8pm), organised me a succession of gifts –…
Tag: Music
President Obama’s Lost Theme Song – The Pointer Sisters Funk Classic ‘Yes We Can’
It’s election season (which is almost a permanent state of mind in the USA) and I’ve just rediscovered a Pointer Sisters song which somehow wasn’t Barack Obama’s theme tune four years ago. With wife Michelle delivering a powerful speech yesterday at the DNC and Bill Clinton knocking it out of the park today with a…
The Perils Of Discussing Gay Marriage In Talkbackland & The Rod Stewart Song That Saved The Night
The last two nights on talkback were undoubtedly the most challenging of my career. For those outside of New Zealand, a bill on gay marriage passed its first reading in parliament by a vote of 80 to 40. I tried to encourage nuanced thought on the topic, but when it’s an issue as emotive as…
Why Aren’t The Commodores In The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame?
At the moment I’m indulging in one of my favourite past-times which is listening to old Commodores albums. For those who don’t know, Ronald LaPread was the bassist in the Commodores from 1969 until his departure from the band in 1986 when he fell in love with an Iranian / Kiwi and moved to New…
Barry Gibb At The Grand Ole Opry – An Emotional ‘How Can You Mend A Broken Heart’
Barry Gibb at the Grand Ole Opry Barry Gibb: “He brought me through the darkness and I’m smiling.” After much speculation about what three songs Barry Gibb would perform in his debut appearance at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, he showed what has always been the case with his writing: that a great song is a…
Barry Gibb At The Grand Ole Opry – The Top 10 Bee Gees Country Songs
A few hours ago the last surviving Bee Gee, Barry Gibb, walked off the the most hallowed stage in country music, the Grand Ole Opry. He performed three songs alongside country star Ricky Skaggs and received a standing ovation. As far as late career moves go, this is a home-run for Gibb. No other A-list…
The Meaning Of Don Henley’s ‘The End Of The Innocence’
On last night’s episode of The Two (myself and Pam Corkery, Newstalk ZB, Sundays 9pm-midnight) we ended the show with Don Henley’s melancholy masterpiece, The End Of The Innocence. The reason being was Henley’s 65th birthday and the fact it has always being my favourite of his solo works, but there’s also something about The…
Bee Gee Robin Gibb’s Sad, Beautiful Funeral
Barry Gibb laying a rose for brother Robin A few hours ago Bee Gee Robin Gibb was finally laid to rest with his funeral in Thame in Oxfordshire. The only surviving Gibb brother Barry spoke and spoke beautifully, his voice trembling with emotion. Barry talked of his brother’s “magnificent mind and beautiful heart,” who was…
Robin Gibb Dies – The Fight For The Bee Gees’ Legacy
I heard the news about Robin Gibb yesterday without even reading his name or that of the Bee Gees. On holiday in Bali, I borrowed a friend’s iPhone and checked my Facebook for the first time in a couple of days and saw I had dozens of notitifications of condolences. The first one I read said…
Donna Summer Dead At 63 – Her Finest Forgotten Song
Yet another music great has died and died too soon with Donna Summer succumbing just a few hours ago to cancer at the age of 63. In a refreshingly un-rock star finale, her life ended as a happily married grandmother with a devout Christian faith. But make no mistake, Summer was a rock-star, with a…
Lionel Richie – ‘Tuskegee Volume Two’ Track-list
Lionel Richie is riding high in the charts with his first US number one album since 1986’s Dancing On The Ceiling, Tuskegee. Richie’s album of countrified duets of 13 of his most famous songs is described as a return to his country roots, though any true fan knows those roots have always been pretty close…
Death Of Levon Helm – 3 Stunning Songs
Just as Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees clings on to life, we recently learned that Levon Helm from The Band has lost his battle with cancer at the age of 71. For a group filled with such Americana, Helm was the only member who was actually from the States, with the rest Canadians….
