Category Music
Beatles II – Concert Memories
I never saw The Beatles in concert. I blame my parents for that. It was 1964 and they were playing at the Forum in Montreal. All my friends wanted to go. My parents, like most other parents of the day, said no. I think the only person I knew who actually made it to the […]
Beatles I – 10,000 Hours in Hamburg
Sometimes stories take on a life of their own. Author Malcom Gladwell, in his book Outliers, makes a point about the importance of repetition, the idea that practice makes perfect, which is something I agree with him about for the most part. He says if you practice something for 10,000 hours you will become really […]
Bits and Pieces from the Culture Wars
Some truly random thoughts today on aspects of the entertainment business. I tried to watch The Interview yesterday. I felt it was important that I exercise my free speech rights, though it did not seem like the type of film I would enjoy. I came to two very definite conclusions: First, the North Korean government […]
The Hippopotamus Song
I take requests. It’s a hangover from my days as a radio disc jockey. I always enjoyed that interaction with a listener on the telephone who wanted to suggest a song, especially when doing an overnight shift. At night there aren’t as many listeners as in the daytime; you can get to know your regular […]
The Greatest Night
I dismissed the title out of hand. “Be a part of the greatest night in Christian music history.” Right. I didn’t even bother to open the email. I figured they were going to try and sell me a cruise or something like that. Which meant I almost missed the big event this past Wednesday. There […]
A Pioneer Passes On
I bought my first Andrae Crouch album sound unheard. I knew his name, that he and his band The Disciples were supposed to be really good, but there was no way to hear the music beforehand. My local record store didn’t stock such music; radio certainly didn’t play it. I had to get it by […]
Tinkling The Ivories
I learned to play piano as a child, though using the word “learned” might be stretching things. I wasn’t willing to practice – probably because I didn’t like the music I was being asked to learn. As an adult I understand the importance of the musical tradition, but back then I might have been a […]
Messiah
For some reason a piece of what should rightly be considered Easter music has become an annual Christmas tradition around the world. For many people the season would not seem right without taking in a performance of Handel’s Messiah. I think we have four recordings of G.F. Handel’s most famous oratorio on compact disc. We […]
The Christmas Pageant
It was the three-year-olds on stage that impressed me. Not with their cuteness, though that seemed to be what most adults were focusing on. It was their poise. I didn’t pay much attention to the song, “Away in a Manger,” I think. They weren’t singing; that was the older children’s job (further back on the […]
Recent Comments