Music Box – My New Boyfriend

Music Box – Happy Birthday, Chaka Khan. We Love You Still.

Love Me Still is a hauntingly beautiful song sung by legendary soul singer Chaka Khan, who co-wrote the song with Bruce Hornsby (who plays piano on the track and appears in the video) and was initially featured on the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s 1995 film, “Clockers.” I fell in love with the song and it remains one of those ballads that leaves me breathless, and even for a long while in the mid-1990s, I used it as the music on my answering machine (remember those?).

Of her myriad of sonic gifts – the funk, the grit, the spunk etc… – Love Me Still touches me for its pure simplicity; there are no vocal pyrotechnics, no improvisational scattering, no jazzy quirk – just a straightforward reading via Khan’s richly clarion vocals, accompanied by the gorgeous tickling of the ivories by Mr. Hornsby.

There are two versions of the video that were released, both directed by Spike Lee. The soundtrack version has clips of the film interspersed throughout and the standard version omitted that footage.

In an excerpt of the January/February 1997 issue of Performing Songwriter, writer Lydia Hutchinson asks Khan about the songs origin, and co-writing it with Hornsby:

Tell me about writing “Love Me Still” with Bruce Hornsby.

“I went to Virginia and visited with Bruce and his family and had such a great time. We were working on some songs, and he finally said, “OK, I know you like this melody so let me work on it some more and send it to you.” So he finished it and sent it to me and when I heard it, it just blew me away. It was this beautiful hymn-like piece and it just sort of told me what it was about—the sentiment was there. So I sat down and the lyrics just came out. And I recorded it immediately and was so happy with it that I called Bruce up and played it for him over the phone. And we were both knocked out by it.”

How long did those lyrics take you?

“Oh, they took a while … at least a couple of hours.”

(Laughing) A couple of hours?

“That’s a long time to be messing around with words!” (Laughs)

Have you noticed a maturing process that you’ve gone through vocally, such as “less is more”?

“Absolutely. My thing was always to kind of scream and go over the top. When I listen to my old stuff I also sound like I’m going at about three speeds faster than I am now. I sound a little bit frantic and young and wet. Now my vibrato has slowed down. My voice has deepened. So yeah, it definitely feels much more effective to pull back and then be choosier about the over-the-top parts.”

I really noticed a more reserved delivery in the song you and Hornsby wrote.

“That was one of the hardest songs I’ve ever had to sing, because I knew I had to really hold back on it and still get the message and emotion across.”

Ain’t nobody…like Chaka Khan. Happy Birthday!

Love Me Still (with “Clockers” footage):

Love Me Still (standard version):

Legacy: Drive Safely Home, Ric Ocasek

Ric Ocasek has passed away and another legend has left this realm to jam in Rock N Roll heaven. He was 75.

I once had a brief conversation with Ocasek back in the early-1990s, about a decade or so after the video for “Drive” was an MTV ubiquity, and after the song itself had become (and remains) one of the greatest rock ballads of all time.

Ocasek and his then-wife, Paulina Porizkova, were frequent shoppers at Tower Records, on 4th and Broadway, and one evening, while supervising the Rock floor for one of the other supervisors who called out sick, the couple were perusing the the racks and I saw my chance to chat with him. After the obligatory small talk of me telling him how much I loved The Cars, and what his music meant to me, I said to him “…and I appreciate that you were smart enough to know that Ben was a better singer, so you gave him “Drive.” You composed one of the greats, and giving it to his mellifluous voice, rather than yours, solidified its eternal classic status!”

Instantly, I realized that what I said could have been misconstrued as an insult, and I immediately started stammering, “Oh, no, no, no, I didn’t mean…I mean, you’re great too, but…you know…”, blubbering some gobbledygook I don’t even remember. When I finally shut up, he looked at me with a raised eyebrow. It lasted a second, but felt like 5 minutes. I thought I pissed him off, but he said, “You’re right.” And then he and Paulina smiled and walked away.

I don’t know if he just wanted to shut me up, if he actually agreed with me, if he thought I was a fool, or if he was being nice to the stuttering idiot trying to explain himself, but at that moment I knew that Ocasek was one of the coolest “rock stars” I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.

Also, as displayed in the below video – where he performed an acoustic version for a select audience in 2005 – his voice suited “Drive,” if not definitively, just lovely still.

Ocasek’s written (and yes, sang) some of the greatest songs of my youth, and he’s been a prolific producer, painter, and even a poet. The Ben I spoke of was, of course, bassist Benjamin Orr, who sadly died back in October of 2000, and who, again of course, also sang lead on other Cars classics.

Whenever I hear “Drive” – or watch its haunting video – it brings me back to my beloved Tower Records days, a moment in time frozen in my memory. And it always reminds me of how much I loved – and will always love – The Cars.

Broadway Baby: The 2013 Tony Awards Opening Number -“Bigger” is Best

If we’re lucky homo sapiens, every few years a splendid anomaly occurs in the usually vapid space-time continuum of television awards shows that negates the basic dreary tropes and widens eyes with something that is, if you’ll excuse the cliché, purely magical.

The last time we were borne witnesses to such a thrilling spectacle was on June 8^th, way back in 2013, and it was the opening number of the 67th Annual Tony awards. Renaissance man – and future Tony winner – Neil Patrick Harris (he would win the following year for Hedwig and the Angry Inch), performed the original song “Bigger,” written by Tony Award winners Lin-Manuel Miranda (In The Heights) and Tom Kittening (Next To Normal), and choreographed by Tony/Emmy winner Rob Ashford, and the number remains, (in?)arguably, the greatest opening number in any awards show history. Starting off with an ode to the 2012s Best Musical, Once, while alluding to the smaller Beacon Theater, where the awards took place the prior two years, Harris slowly morphs from intricate Irish troubadour…

I can break your heart with a work of art.
And a song that’s quiet and small.
But we’re back where we began it all. Radio City Music Hall.

So tonight we might go bigger…

…to full-on song & dance Master of Ceremonies, with a razzle-dazzle, lollapalooza EIGHT minutes of pure Broadway heaven. Saturating the stage of Radio City, Harris not only pays tribute to that year’s nominees, he also jumps through Pippin‘s circus hoops, gets hoisted in the air as a flyer for the cast of Bring It On, then landing without a beat, and even performs a classic, still confounding magic trick, all while continuing singing Miranda and Kitt’s brilliant ode to the theater, breathlessly and exuberantly.

It’s exhilarating to behold, and despite the spectacle of it all, with all its grandiosity, never once does it feel scattered, or discombobulated – it is overwhelming in the most wonderful way, never inundating the senses yet always dazzling them. You just sit there, mouth agape, taking in the beauty and wonder of it all. It defines the true essence of “Bringing down the house.”

Anna Kendrick and Debra Messing are ALL of us!

There are so many great lyrics in “Bigger” that it’s worth repeat viewings just to not miss them. From, “And you could bounce a quarter off the ass of Billy Porter. Lord he does eight shows a week in eight inch heels!” (Kinky Boots would go on to win 6 Tonys that night, including one for Porter) to “Hats off to Berry Gordy. He runs Motown like a boss. He dominates Top Forty and he banged Diana Ross!” (Gordy produced and wrote Motown: The Musical which ran that season, and was up for numerous awards) to poking fun of the ersatz movie version of Les Miserables (“Can I have my Tom Hooper ‘Les Miz’ closeup please? See, on Broadway we don’t need extreme closeups to prove we’re singing live. We sing live eight shows a week. Check it!”). Even Kathy Lee Gifford gets a lighthearted jab: “Mamma Mia, Lion King, The Jersey Boys are tappin’, Kathie Lee’s a Broadway lyricist so anything can happen!” (Gifford wrote the books and lyrics for Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson, which ran briefly that season to some surprisingly favorable reviews.)

But it’s not all comedy. By the time Harris sing/raps…

There’s a kid in the middle of nowhere,
Who’s sitting there living for Tony Performances,
Singing and flipping along with the Pippins
And Wickeds and Kinkys, Matildas, and Mormanses.
So we might reassure that kid,
And do something to spur that kid,
‘cause I promise you,
All of us up here tonight,

We WERE that kid!

…we are all already screaming, or crying, or both.

“Bigger” nears it’s finale by filling up the aisles and stage of Radio City’s with countless Broadway gypsies, singers and dancers from nearly every show running that season. And when this miraculous extravaganza reaches its climax, not only does Radio City’s audience roar with a thunderous, beatific ovation lasting more than 60 seconds (a lifetime for a live TV awards show), but we at home are doing the same, emotionally drained, exhausted and intoxicated.

When Audra McDonald and Zachary Quinto walked out on stage to present the first award, Quinto wisely says to the still recuperating audience, and to a smiling, agreeing McDonald, “That’s the definition of a tough act to follow!”

Indeed, Mr. Quinto. And to paraphrase Harris’s womanizing sitcom character Barney Stinson, “This Tony performance is legen…wait for it…DARY!”

Music Box: Happy Birthday, Stevie Nicks & The Wild Heart

Once in a million years a lady like her…rises…

Happy Birthday to the Rock Goddess, and the indisputable Queen of Rock N Roll, Stevie Nicks!

To commemorate that, plus the upcoming 36th anniversary of the release of The Wild Heart, released on June 10, 1983, here is a rarely-seen “Liner Notes” interview Stevie did way back in September of that year. This interview aired only two weeks after I saw her astounding shows at Radio City Music Hall. Those pre-internet days of concert going was always an adventure; I trekked into the city overnight, and waited in line with a few dozen other Stevie fanatics, at Radio City’s box office. It was summer, it was warm, it was the 1980s so the area was mostly desolate at 3am. But when the box office opened I purchased three tickets for both nights. I went with my friend, Spike, the first night on September 12th, and I went solo the following night. It was an incredible show, the highlight being her transcendent live version of “Beauty And The Beast,” my favorite track off The Wild Heart, which reduced me to a puddle of tears both evenings.

In this interview, Stevie was promoting that recently released, now classic album (it was released on June 10th), and she discusses the beginning of her musical journey with Lindsey Buckingham, her duality of being a member of Fleetwood Mac and her successful solo career, her great new solo band, Prince (whom she collaborated with on “Stand Back”), and of course, the album itselft and her devotion to her fans.

And after all these decades, we are still devoted to our Queen.

Music Box: Madame Zzz

Staunch defender of her previous two releases (MDNA and Rebel Heart), I am supremely underwhelmed with the two songs released from Madame X, Madonna’s upcoming new album. The saturation of autotune aside, both tracks lay flat, delivering none of the Madonna mastery I’m used to: songcraft.

“Medellin” is breezy enough, but really a piffle – cute as cafe background noise, forgettable once it’s over (and dueting with the grotesque, misogynistic hack Meluma doesn’t help).

“I Rise” should have been bold and anthemic, but instead is musically chintzy, with neither memorable hook nor melody. And that she wrote it as a rallying cry for marginalized people and as a way to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall, the genesis of the Pride movement, makes it all the more frustrating that it’s not the clarion call the Queen of the Gays (as I like to call her) could have delivered. It doesn’t soar – it just floats, lazily along, until it doesn’t.

But, I won’t let any of this deter me. Madam X was influenced by Madonna living in Lisbon, Portugal, according to the press release, and celebrates her love affair with Latin music and culture and global influences. That alone intrigues me. I won’t let my distaste for these two tracks dictate my anticipation for the full album, which drops June 14th.

Legacy: RIP James Ingram

Buttered Soul Pop is how I once described his emotional, sweet, passionate baritone voice…and now it – one of my favorite vocalists – is silenced at 66.

Rest peacefully, James Ingram.

Here he is in 1981 on “Soul Train” singing one of his (many) signature songs (and one of my eternal favorites), “Just Once.” Yes, it’s lip-synced (all Soul Train performances were), but no less magical.

James Ingram performs Just Once on Soul Train, 1982

Legacy: Jerry Orbach – We’ll Always Remember

***Jerry Orbach photo courtesy Masterworks Broadway***

Of course we all loved him as Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order, a role he played for 12 years before succumbing to prostate cancer. But many of us, who are old enough, have loved Jerry Orbach for years prior, whether as a leading song-and-dance man on Broadway (he originated the role of Billy Flynn in Chicago, and his Tony-winning role as Chuck Baxter in Promises, Promises), as a great character actor (amongst my favorites was as Jack Rosenthal, a gangster who’s hired by his brother-in-law to get rid of his mistress, in the 2nd best Woody Allen movie, Crimes & Misdemeanors), and of course as the unforgettable voice of Lumiere, the candelabrum, in my favorite Disney musical, Beauty & The Beast). A few of many, many others.

One of his earliest roles was, in 1960, as El Gallo, the narrator/bandit from the classic musical, The Fantastiks. And from that show came this gorgeous song. I’ll never tire of watching Orbach on TV or in the movies. And I’ll never tire of hearing him sing one of my very favorite songs, “Try To Remember” (performed here in 1982 on the TV special Night of 100 Stars).

Orbach was taken away from us (#FuckCancer) on this December 28, in 2004.

“Deep in December, our hearts should remember…then follow…”

We’ll always remember, Jerry~

Legacy: George Michael – The Grave

Remembering him on the second anniversary of George Michael’s too-early death, here’s his haunting version of Don McLean’s “The Grave.” Originally released on McLean’s 1971 landmark album, American Pie, Michael recorded the song in February 2003, as a protest to the imminent invasion of Iraq. McLean wrote it as a Vietnam protest song.

After hearing Michael’s version, McLean, on his official website, praised not only George’s recording, but his reasons for recording it.

I am proud of George Michael for standing up for life and sanity. I am delighted that he chose a song of mine to express these feelings. We must remember that the Wizard is really a cowardly old man hiding behind a curtain with a loud microphone. It takes courage and a song to pull the curtain open and expose him.
Good Luck George-
Don McLean, March 1, 2003

On the day that George died, McLean, via his Facebook page, wrote a loving tribute.

I never met George Michael but I wish I had. I would have thanked him for the beautiful performance of my song “The Grave” which he did to protest the invasion of Iraq and the disastrous war which he knew would follow and still continues. The authorities had everybody cowered in the shadows as we hoped for a ’60s style protest which never materialized. George Michael was fearless and had a great artist’s need to speak the truth even in cowardly times. We should remember what he did. I always will.

We all loved George and his death still stings. And hearing his ethereal vocal on this cover is a painful reminder of the scope of talent we lost.

Long live George ~ 1963-2016

Music Box: The Queen of Soul-pra

In 1998, twenty-two minutes after she was asked to cover for her ailing friend, Luciano Pavarotti, Aretha Franklin walked on stage at the Grammy Awards to perform the legendary aria “Nessun Dorma.” With little time to prepare Franklin performed the aria as is. In Pavarotti’s key. No one knew what to expect. No one knew what he or she was about to witness.

That performance begets one of the most extraordinary musical moments in awards show history, in a canon as mammoth. It brought the audience to a thunderous ovation and remains, in my opinion, the greatest performance in the history of the Grammy Awards.

Happy 75th Birthday to Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul. The Queen of everything.

Music Box: Nobody Beats “The Wiz”

Too many changes pissed me off: Ne-Yo is curious enough, but Ne-Yo writing an original song FOR this? Ugh. Removing “I Was Born On The Day Before Yesterday” and replacing it with a song not even good enough to make the cut of the dreadful movie version, called “You Can’t Win”? Feh. (Though, I do know it was originally written for the stage, but never used.) Queen Latifah and Mary J Blige? As much as I love them, both are ubiquitous. Enough. Now I’m not really adverse to change, but sometimes I’m guilty off being too much of a traditionalist, particularly when it comes to something I cherish. Oh well. Sue me.

Still, my anticipation was – and is – very high, as THE WIZ was the very first Broadway musical I ever saw, and it remains an indelible part of my very heart. And then I saw this. Now, I’m a religious-free man, but…oh my god. Oh. My. God. OH. MY. GOD!!!!! This sent tremulous shivers pirouetting down my spine.

December 3rd can’t get here fast enough.