themusicaddict's Greatest CD's of All-Time: Cinderella's "Long Cold Winter"

Hello,

"Long Cold Winter", Cinderella's second CD, was released on May 21st, 1988. As with Cinderella's debut CD "Night Songs" this CD also eventually reached sales of 3,000,000 units. Cinderella were able to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump as this CD might even be better than their debut CD. On this CD Cinderella embraces the blues more than their previous CD. I suggest with this CD is where Cinderella found their best sound. (Thanks to Wikipedia for information for this blog.)

I suggest that both this CD and "Night Songs" are just as good as other hair metal CDs put out by Cinderella's more popular peers.

For more about Cinderella see my previous blog.

Here's the full album for "Long Cold Winter":



1) "Bad Seamstress Blues/ Fallin Apart at the Seams": From the opening notes, Cinderella showed that the blues will be more prevalent on this CD.



2) "Gypsy Road": (This song kicks butt!)



The same song live:



3) "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)":



Tom Keiffer has had his struggle with his voice, how is he sounding lately?:



Tom Keiffer's biography on Youtube set to "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)":



4) "The Last Mile (another great, kick butt song!) ":



"The Last Mile" (Live):



5) "Second Wind":



6) "Long Cold Winter":



"Long Cold Winter" Live from Spain in 2011:



7) "If You Don't Like It":



8) "Coming Home":



9) "Fire and Ice":



10) "Take Me Back":



"Solid Ground" by Cinderella from June, 2013. This is on the Letterman show:



themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Greatest CDs Ever: Cinderella's "Night Songs"

Hello,

What bands do you think of when you hear the phrase "hair metal"? The first bands that probably come to mind are Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Guns N' Roses and Bon Jovi. How long until Cinderella comes to mind? If you're like me they are probably about the 6th or 7th hair metal band that comes to mind. I think that is unfortunate as Cinderella had a different sound than those other bands. Not a better or worse sound, just different. Cinderella embraced the blues fully in their music, which set them apart from the more popular bands.

On August 2nd, 1986 Cinderella released their debut CD, "Night Songs". According to the person who maintains this Wikipedia page for Cinderella, they broke out because they were the opening act for Bon Jovi on their "Slippery When Wet" tour. Indeed that may play part of it. However I  think there were a few other things working in their favor. 1a) They were in the right place at the right time- they were at the start of the hair metal boom. I remember being in Pegasus Records in the early 80s looking at how well Quiet Riot was selling CDs. I thought how cool it would be if several metal bands could sell a lot of records, never thinking that it would actually happen just a few years later. 1b) Like many other 80s bands, Cinderella took full advantage of MTV. 2) Cinderella did rock, but again it was a different type of rock. Like Led Zeppelin and many other bands before them, they included blues in their sound. That made them intriguing and also much more distinctive.

"Night Songs" has been certified triple platinum, meaning sales of 3,000,000 units. Of course that pales in comparison to the sales of Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" & Def Leppard's "Hysteria". It probably is a lot of the reason that Cinderella doesn't have the durability and influence of those bands. However I challenge you to listen to "Night Songs" and "Long Cold Winter" and not enjoy getting your butt kicked. Long live Cinderella!

Here's the full album of "Night Songs":



1) "Night Songs":



2) "Shake Me" (live):



3) "Nobody's Fool":



4) "Nothin' For Nothin' ":



5) "Once Around The Ride":



6) "Hell on Wheels":



7) "Somebody Save Me":



A live version of the same song:



8) "In From The Outside":



9) "Push, Push":



Live:



10) "Back Home Again": This is a great song in and of itself, it's a nearly perfect album closer.



For those of you wondering where "Don't Know What You Got ('Til It's Gone)"is. That song wasn't released until their second CD "Long Cold Winter". I remember seeing Cinderella in concert after "Long Cold Winter" was released. The whole band put on a hell of a show. But one of the highlights was "Don't Know What You Got". Lead singer Tom Kieffer descended from the Salt Palace's roof, playing a piano and singing that song. That was a very cool moment.

I can't remember which musician had the first so called heavy metal ballad, but once that idea caught hold it seemed every metal band needed their own ballad. Of all the heavy metal ballads I think that "Don't Know What You Got" is among the best.

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Greatest CDs of All-Time: Neneh Cherry's "Raw Like Sushi"

Hello,

Welcome to my 1800th published blog.

This blog is about Neneh Cherry's "Raw Like Sushi", one of the greatest CDs of all-time. It's one of the last great CDs of the 1980s.

"Raw Like Sushi" was released on May 2nd, 1989. I'd like to say I discovered this CD almost immediately but that wouldn't be the truth. I'm not even sure when I discovered it. As with more CDs that were a bit obscure or genres that I usually didn't listen to I discovered this through my brother's influence.

Cherry seems to be another musician who only had one great CD in her system. In 1992 she released her second CD, "Homebrew". Thanks to Spotify I was able to listen to it. "Homebrew" isn't a bad CD by any means, however it also isn't anywhere near the quality of "Raw Like Sushi". One song I really like on "Homebrew" is "Trout". When I first heard this song today, I thought to myself that sounds like Michael Stipe. Sure enough it is.



Another intriguing song from "Homebrew", "Move With Me":



In 1996 Cherry released her third and so far still last solo CD, "Man". The CD is best known for the song, "7 Seconds", which features Youssou N'Dour: According to Wikipedia "7 Seconds" was a worldwide hit, but this is the first time I've heard this song.



Also from the CD "Man" is the song "Woman":



This is a cool song from Teddybears that features Neneh Cherry, "Yours To Keep":

"Raw Like Sushi" is a classic CD although it does sound a bit dated now. "Sushi" only has two songs that would be considered "hits" in the USA. "Buffalo Stance" went to #3 and "Kisses On The Wind" rose to #8. Although this CD lacks in certified hits, it more than makes up for that in the number of great songs. The CD is definitely better than the sum of it's parts. (Thanks to WIkipedia for information for this blog.)

1) "Buffalo Stance": This CD starts off with one of the most intriguing songs in the very fertile 80s. Cherry could clearly see the coming of hip hop when she was creating this song. I'm not a big fan of most hip hop, but I'm a big fan of this amazing song:



"Buffalo Stance" (live):



2) "Manchild": Not a hit per se, but another great song on this great CD. This song deals with the challenging transition from boyhood to hopefully manhood.



3) "Kisses On The Wind":



The 6:00 Bass Dub version of "Kisses On The Wind":



4) "Inna City Mama":



"Inna City Mama" (Live allegedly, it appears she's lip synching and not very well):



5) "The Next Generation":



6) "Love Ghetto" (sadly there's no video on Youtube at this time:

7) "Heart" (a great song that hasn't received enough love):



8) "Phoney Ladies":



9) "Outre Risque Locomotive" (this is the best video available, but it's a great song):



10) "So Here I Come":



Neneh Cherry At The Big Chill in 2011:



themusicaddict

A Childhood In The 80's: Those Were the Days (A Very Early Rough Draft)

Hello,

I really hope my blog doesn't ever become only a nostalgia blog.  I love the 80s but many worthwhile things have occurred since then and are occurring now. But I honestly don't think the 80s will ever be topped in terms of great pop culture or the best time to grow up. Just a couple of days ago I wrote about one of the best CDs of all-time, Def Leppard's "Hysteria".  It celebrated its 26th anniversary this year. Today I've been listening to Tears For Fears' "The Hurting" on Spotify. That CD is celebrating it's 30th anniversary this year. Just a couple of the great CDs released in the 80s.

Pop culture was definitely great in the 80s, but growing up was even better in the 80s. Many others have written about those 10 great years, I won't be able to write better than many of them. I'm not trying to top them I just want to add my thoughts.

In June of 1980 I turned 13 and I had no idea the many things that was about to change my life in that decade. I had my first kiss, went to a few proms with very attractive women, graduated high school and went to Ricks College for a year. Going to Ricks College, located in a very cold, desolate, small town in Idaho, was a terrible experience in many ways. However it was my first time away from home and it helped me overcome home sickness. I also learned more about living with complete strangers in my "home". Overcoming homesickness was crucial, in 1986 I left for a two year Mormon (LDS) mission. I was very grateful for my tough learning experience at Ricks College.

About a month after I got home from my mission I started working at a family owned grocery store. I ended up working there for the next 17.5 years. It had a family environment and that enabled to make many lifelong friends. Some of the the best times of my life happened at that grocery store. Although we later divorced that's the place I met my future wife. Also returning home I continued my education at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC, pronounced Slick). I was on academic probation at Ricks College, not that I wouldn't have gone back on a bet. Thankfully SLCC was a lot better experience for me, it gave me a solid foundation to graduate from the University of Utah a few years later.  In those 10 years I also went to many great movies and concerts and had many other amazing experiences.

Later I graduated from the U of U, got married had kids and finally moved on from that grocery store. My time at that grocery store ended when a big corporation took over the family owned business. They took most things that had been very successful, changed and perverted them.

That's my background, here's a list of great things from the 80's and why those things aren't as great any more:

1) MTV was at it's peak in the 80's, I spent many an afternoon in front of the TV watching MTV. This was in the time they actually showed videos, I don't know if they even do that any more. MTV aided and launched the careers of so many amazing artists. Many of those musicians influence is still felt today. Also Ken Ober, Colin Quinn and Kari Wuhrer brought us the joy and fun of "Remote Control".

Now: Other than "Catfish" I don't watch MTV ever. What has MTV become, basically a bunch of crappy reality TV shows. It's gone from being the cutting edge to just one station of many.

2) Listening to the radio, in the 80's it was so great. There were specific genres radio stations then, but nothing as hyper focused. The music from the 80s was so good and also so diverse that multiple genres couldn't help but find their way on to the same radio station.

Now: let's be honest, listening to radio now sucks. It's one of the many things that corporate America has ruined. The most obvious example of how corporate America has ruined radio is the number of commercials. Not only are commercials up to 5 minutes at a time. Even when the DJ is speaking they work commercials into their conversation. It seems almost each segment or gag, no matter how minor, has a sponsor. Many times multiple sponsors are worked in for one promotion. Every once in awhile music is actually played. Most radio stations have a very small rotation of songs they actually play. I wouldn't do the following but if you listen to radio all day what will you find? My prediction is that commercials will out number each song at least a count of 5 to 1. I would be surprised if you hear more than 30 different songs in the course of one day.

I have to say one great thing about listening to music now is Spotify. I love that for almost any music I want to listen to I can usually find it on Spotify.

3) There weren't many restrictions placed on kids in the 80s. Kids walked to school mostly without fear of being in any kind of danger. Sure there were bullies, but aren't there always? I rode in many cars without seat belts and survived every ride. Kids seem to be trusted more by parents, although many of us didn't have a lot of common sense. We were allowed to learn for ourselves in a relatively safe environment. We were allowed to fail, we weren't over reliant on parents to guide us every step of the way. We grew up tougher, we learned how to get what we wanted. We didn't expect to have things handed to us and we wouldn't have wanted that anyway.

Now: It's a bit surprising to me many of those same kids have now grown up to be over protective. I have no idea why that happened, for many of us growing up wasn't that much of a trial. In the 80s no one would have ever used the term helicopter parent, parents didn't need to hover. Fearing that I'm sounding like a crotchety old man, but now kids seem to have a sense of entitlement that I never had. (And I was one incredibly spoiled child.)

4) The Dallas Cowboys were actually relevant in the 80's. Those were the years of Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, Cliff Harris and of course the legendary Tom Landry. Although Dallas didn't win any Super Bowls in the 80s there was always the sense that they could.

Now: sadly at the end of the 80s the great ego bought the Cowboys. The 80s is when the Ego made one of his few good decisions in his history of running the Cowboys into the ground. He hired Jimmy Johnson, thanks to Johnson's maniacal dedication and intensity he led the Cowboys to two Super Bowl victories. It was essentially his team that won a Super Bowl two years later. It was under Johnson's watch that the Cowboys would draft the great Troy Aikman and also made the Herschel Walker trade. That was the key to those 3 Super Bowls the Cowboys won in the 90s. The Cowboys third 90s Super Bowl is Johnson's Super Bowl title as much or more than Barry Switzers.

Those Super Bowls have very little to do with Jerry Jones, although he thinks they did. It cracks me up that just this week Jones said that he's doing a good job. This only shows how deluded he is, he made that statement a few days after his team gave up a FRANCHISE RECORD 625 yards of offense to the Saints. The late 80's, early and mid 90's held the promise that the Cowboys always had a chance to reach glory.

Sadly Jerry Jones started thinking he knew what he was doing and forced out Johnson. Surely the first coach who ever won two titles in a row who was forced out. And that was back when Jones was making better decisions. Now the Cowboys continue to get worse each year, which is directly related to the horrible decisions of Jerry Jones. 2013 will be the 4th straight year the Cowboys won't qualify for the playoffs. In 2013 it will ever be tougher to miss the playoffs as they are playing in the NFL's worst division this season. Even if the Cowboys somehow reach the playoffs they won't have a chance. Five of Dallas's six wins have come against mediocre or bad teams. The only team Dallas has beat with a winning record is the 6-5 Eagles.

I used to be proud to be a fan of one of the most loathed franchises in all of sports. However things have become so bad for Cowboys fans that many fan bases actually feel sorry for us. And there's no relief in site. In fact things have gotten so bad that I'm cheering against the Cowboys. I hope that the fake Cowboys fans who support Jones' delusion will stop putting money into the pocket of Jones. Then eventually real fans will take over the fan base once again. Hopefully someday I won't be embarrassed to be a Cowboys fan.

More to come later, themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Greatest CD's Of All TIme: Def Leppard's "Hysteria"

Hello,

Here's the next blog in my series of the greatest CD's of all-time. Today it's the Def Leppard classic "Hysteria". Recently it had it's 26th anniversary since being released, it's hard to believe it has already been that long. I'm listening to "Hysteria" as I write this blog, this CD sounds just as fresh as it did when it was first released. Also in 2013, just a few weeks ago, "Viva Hysteria" was released. It was taken from their residency in Las Vegas where they performed "Hysteria" in it's entirety every night. Here's a bit more about that:



Def Leppard first received mainstream notice when "Pyromania" had been out for awhile. Def Leppard was one of many bands that took advantage of the emerging MTV. Who can forget their video for "Photograph"? If you are about my age you probably saw that video at least dozens of times, many times on lazy summer afternoons.

The early and mid-80's was also the time the music industry was moving away from cassette tapes and gravitating to CDs. CDs were a tremendous upgrade in quality, although it took awhile for car companies to have CD players as a standard feature in their cars. CDs were a great upgrade and the music companies took full advantage of that by charging exorbitant prices for them. Pure greed is one of the many things that killed the music companies.

"Hysteria" was released on August 3rd, 1987. It's Def Leppard's 4th CD, after the release of this CD is when Def Leppard hit their peak. Previous to "Hysteria" Def Leppard released the decent 1980 CD "On Through The Night", it was followed by 1981's "High 'n' Dry" which was followed by 1983's "Pyromania". "Pyromania" went on to be their first classic CD. "Pyromania" set the stage and got the world ready for "Hysteria". Indeed Def Leppard went through many years of hysteria after it's release. For those keeping track at home, Def Leppard's follow up CD was 1992's "Adrenalize". Sadly "Adrenalize" didn't live up to the greatness of Def Leppard's previous two CDs. (Thanks to Wikipedia for reminding me some of the details about this CD.)

At the release of the CD Def Leppard was singer Joe Elliot, guitarist's Phil Collen, Steve Clark, Rick Savage and drummer Rick Allen. Also please remember the quickest way to piss off Elliot is to call Def Leppard "a heavy metal band. He will tell you in not a such nice way that "Def Leppard isn't a heavy metal band."

You can't mention "Hysteria" without mentioning two important names. The first is Robert "Mutt" Lange whose excellent production work helped make this CD what it is. Not only a great music man but he later went on to marry the gorgeous Shania Twain. While working on "Hysteria", the Lep's drummer Allen lost his arm in a car accident. Allen losing his arm and how the entire band dealt with it is one of the most notable facts surrounding the making of the amazing "Hysteria". Some of the featured videos show how Allen continued to perform with Def Leppard even after his injury. 

One of the best tours I've ever attended was the Def Leppard "Hysteria" tour. On the "Hysteria" tour the band performed in the round. During this concert I was only several rows away from the band who was near or at their peak. On that night Def Leppard lived up to the hype and they delivered a fantastic set. Also Joe Elliot was very personable and engaging. I remember him talking about the World Cup, which was coming to America just a year or two later. I also saw Def Leppard several years later at the Utah State Fairgrounds. Although the mighty Lep was on the downside of their career at that time, you wouldn't know it by their performance that night. They were on that night and delivered an amazing set.

Here's the full version of "Hysteria" thanks to our friends at Youtube.

1) "Women": This is a great, great song and I think it sometimes gets lost amongst the many other great songs on the CD.



2) "Rocket": Youtube user BamKlaus calls this the best live version of "Rocket" he has ever heard:



This performance is from 2013, sadly Joe has lost a bit on his vocals. The band still sounds pretty good, although they aren't as tight as they use to be.



3) "Animal" Here's the original video:



4) "Love Bites":



5) "Pour Some Sugar On Me": Now for the best track on the entire CD and one of Def Leppard's 2 or 3 best songs:



With Taylor Swift:



Live at Mountain View:



6) "Armegeddon It" (from 1993 with a "Black Betty" tag):



7) "Gods of War" (Ronald Reagan will not tolerate "outlaw states no more"):



With some help from "Top Gun", here's an official video for "Gods of War":



8) "Don't Shoot Shotgun":



9) "Run Riot":



10) "Hysteria":



11) "Excitable":



12) "Love And Affection":



themusicaddict

The Knicks Continue To Suck, Are The NBA's Version Of The Dallas Cowboys (Updated November 21st, 2013)

Hello,

Before the season started it was reported that Knicks owner James Dolan said he expected this Knicks team to win the NBA Championship. It wasn't on April Fool's Day so I think he was being serious. It's funny when billionaires, who surround themselves with yes men, think they know what they're doing. Please! This version of the Knicks isn't going to win the NBA title ever. When your best player and first, second and third offensive options are Carmelo Anthony, your team is in trouble. Especially when Anthony still hasn't learned to trust his teammates, of course with his shoddy teammates I can't really blame him. I'm waiting for one of Anthony's teammates to punch him one day for shooting so much.

On Tuesday night, November 20th Carmelo had another typical shooting night for him. He was 8 for 20  from the field and 8 for 11 from the free throw line. Although he took a combined 31 shots he only scored 25 points, once again failing the Meads Metric. The Meads Metric states that for every field goal or free throw attempt you have you should score at least 1 point. These are allegedly professional basketball players and some baskets count for 3 points. But the overrated Anthony once again failed the Meads Metric, it's pretty rare when Anthony can hit that minimum.

The Knicks dropped to 3-7 after losing to the not very good Pistons. The Knicks will fall to 3-8 tonight as the 9-1 Pacers are coming to town. New York has lost their last 5 games at home and have only won once at home so far. That's too funny, how ridiculous does Dolan's NBA title hopes look now?  I realize there will be 71 games remaining once tonight's game is over. But a 3-8 record would be a lot to overcome for this one dimensional team. Does anyone think that the Knicks are going to get past Miami anyway? Um, no.

Anthony has a reputation as being a great scorer, but is he really? For one thing he's not a great shooter. He has to shoot a lot to score as many points as he does. Sure he's averaging 25.7 points a game, but he's not even shooting 43% this season. It's very rare when he hits 50% of his shots in a game. I've just never understood the amount of love for this overrated player.

I realize the Knicks are missing their heart and soul. They miss Tyson Chandler so much, especially his interior defense, rebounding and toughness. Those are 3 things we see very little of in Anthony's game.

Who else do they have on that team? J.R. Smith? Please. Smith a career 43% shooter is only shooting 28% this season. Hey but you got Raymond Felton shooting 38% so what could go wrong? Oh yeah besides a poor shooter, he's also injured. At least Andrea Bargnani is shooting 51% this season, but it's hard for another Knick to get a shot with Carmelo taking so many shots.

Please the Knicks have no chance of winning a NBA title. Dolan is as delusional as the Cowboys Jerry Jones. Just today Jones said that his puppet Jason Garrett will be back for 2014 no matter what happens this season. (What would happen to Jones self-esteem if he held a press conference and no one showed up?) Both teams have so much dysfunction that they remind me of each other. With a clueless owner it's hard for a team to be successful unless they hire the right people.

After Jimmy Johnson, Jones has rarely hired the right people. Jones likes to hire people who are a bit unknown. Then when those people are successful, Jones thinks he'll look like a genius. See how smart Jones looked after the Cowboys gave up on Wade Phillips. James Dolan isn't great at hiring the right people either, but at least he delegates some. Also Dolan doesn't call for a press conference every time he has a bowel movement. Dolan's coaching hires have been less than stellar though. He hired Mike D'antoni and then fired him. At first I thought Woodson was a bad signing, then I thought he might actually know what he's doing and now I'm not so sure. Dolan is a slightly better owner than Jones, of course that's saying very little. Jones thinks he's the right person for anything to do with the Cowboys. But as both have surrounded themselves with yes men it's doubtful that either will change or that their teams will ever win a title.

Both the Knicks and Cowboys will continue to fail until they have someone that truly knows how to run their franchises. Don't worry Knicks fans you'll get use to it someday, after awhile you just get use to laughing at your horrendous team.

I'll enjoy watching the Knicks get thrashed at home tonight and enjoy watching Roy Hibbert keeping Carmelo from the basket. James Dolan, what's your plan to save your soon to be 3-8 team? Maybe you can throw some more money at Stoudemire?

November 21st, 2013: I enjoyed watching the Knicks blow the game against the Pacers. The Knicks played hard and with heart, but did too many stupid things to get the win. (Like their NFL brethren, the Cowboys, it's amazing how many stupid things both franchises do.) It seems Iman Shumpert hasn't ever heard the saying to not foul the jump shooter. He fouled Paul George, who calmly went to the line and hit all 3 free throws to tie the game and force it into overtime.

The Pacers out scored the Knicks 14-4 in overtime until J.R. Smith hit a meaningless 3 pointer with the game all but over. Smith had a good shooting game by his standards, he shot 19 shots and only missed 11 of them. Shooting 42% in a game is a hot streak for Smith. One of the many dumb decisions the Knicks have made was resigning Smith.

Carmelo Anthony had yet another game that catches your attention until one breaks down his stats. Carfailo failed the Meads Metric again. He took a combined 38 free throws and field goal attempts and only managed 30 points. Read below to see how ESPN compares Carmelo to Allen Iverson. Ain't that the truth. Except that Iverson's 76ers reached the NBA Finals, something Carmelo's Knicks will never do. I have to give props to Anthony for one thing, he did grab 18 rebounds. For one game at least he came closer to living up to his contract than he usually does.

I love what ESPN says about Anthony: ESPN Fantasy Projection: "In many ways, Melo is the modern version of Allen Iverson. There is an endless debate about whether he truly understands the nuances of winning games through team ball, but there is no doubting his love for hogging the rock and hoisting a ton of shots. In other words, just like A.I., Melo is a beast in fantasy! He will continue to be a statistical force as a scorer, including plenty of 3s and a ton of FTs this season, too. The only drawbacks are a mediocre FG% at high volume (20-plus FGA per game), no hustle stats and a propensity for missing 10-15 games each season. He'll be highly motivated, though, since he can opt out and become a free agent at season's end." (Thanks to ESPN.com.)

The terrible Knicks fall to 3-8 on the season, and 1-6 at home, and next go on a 4 game road trip. I'd love to see the Knicks return home 3-12. I don't think it will happen, but that would be hilarious.

I think when Knicks fans talk about they want from Carmelo, they are expecting what Paul George gives the Pacers. Sorry but if I have to pick between those two players, I'm picking George every time. Like Anthony, George took a combined total of 38 free throws and shots from the field. He didn't meet the Meads Metric either but had 5 more points than Anthony. Anthony finished with 13 more rebounds, but George is more of an all around player. George also actually plays defense.

themusicaddict

As A Long Time Cowboys Fan, I'll Be Cheering For The Giants This Weekend! (Jerry Jones You Are The Problem!)

Hello,

It's another mediocre year in the life of the Jerry Jones led Dallas Cowboys. After finishing 8-8 the last two seasons the Cowboys continue that trend this season. Dallas remains at .500, as they are 5-5 in 2013. Of course that may be a good record in a couple of years as the quality of the Cowboys franchise continues to deteriorate. As the old expression goes: Shit rolls downhill and look who's at the top of the heap, King Crap himself. I thoroughly enjoyed watching King Crap's Cowboys get blistered in world record fashion by the Saints a little over a week ago.

Even the ultimate Cowboy homer, Skip Bayless, seems to have stopped drinking the Cowboys kool aid. It took him at least 5 years too long, but Bayless has finally seen the light. Now how do we get Jones to see the light?

The egoist's team was exposed on that Sunday Night Football, all of Jones' flaws as an alleged GM were exposed. Not that his many weaknesses hadn't been exposed for the last several years. The first sign of trouble for the Cowboys under Jones "leadership" was when Jones couldn't get along with Jimmy Johnson. Jones ego forced the man who was mostly responsible for the Cowboys back to back Super Bowl titles out. Jones wanted to be seen as the genius behind the Cowboys titles, Dallas' 17 years of futility speak to Jones actual skill as a football man.

Sadly things have gone downhill since the days of Johnson. Other than Barry Switzer winning a Super Bowl with Jimmy's players, the Cowboys have mostly deteriorated and Dallas keeps on getting worse and worse. The Cowboys had a brief resurgence with Bill Parcells, after he tired of Jones shenanigans Parcells was on his way out. It's been downhill since then. Jones resumed complete control of the Cowboys and followed the Super Bowl winning coach with two coaches who had won a grand total of 0 playoff wins. Following the Hall of Fame coach was buffoon Wade Phillips. After Phillips' players quit on him, Jones decided it was time to promote his ineffective offensive coordinator to head coach. Thus puppet Garrett became head coach of the Cowboys. With Jones having a complete inability to hire head coaches, who cares if Garrett is fired at the end of the season? Jones will just hire another puppet and the deterioration of the once proud Cowboys will continue.

The Cowboys head into Sunday's games with a lot of injured players as Jones loves injured players. Jones said that oft injured Miles Austin will play on Sunday. Is Austin ready, will he be any good even if he is healthy? Austin has missed 5 of the last 7 games and was virtually ineffective in the those two games. The last time he made a catch was on September 22nd- yes it's been almost two months. (Thx to ESPN Dallas.)

I'm hoping the Giants destroy the Cowboys, although I probably can't hope by as much as the Saints did. After losing to New York, the Cowboys and Giants will both be 5-6. They'll be tied for second place in the NFC Least. Let's be honest the Cowboys are only in playoff contention now because they are in the worst division in the NFL. What would the Cowboys record be if they were in the NFC West? It would be great to see the Cowboys find a way to lose their final 5 games of the season after they lose to the Giants. Although the Cowboys will probably beat the Raiders on Thanksgiving. About the only sign of life the Cowboys have shown this season is against bad teams at home.

The Cowboys again will be on national TV on December 9th when they play the Bears on Monday Night Football. The Cowboys continue to get these prime programming slots based on their history and the Jones hype machine. Dallas closes the season playing against Green Bay, Washington and Philly. Given the Cowboys trends this season, they'll finish 6-10.

I know Jerry's ego is overwheliming any logic he has, but hopefully that will be enough for him to see his team continues to get worse and worse. But will that be enough for him to admit he's destroyed his own franchise? Will he finally let know someone who knows what they are doing take over? And that wouldn't be his son, it would be a real football man. Sadly I doubt that Jerry has enough self awareness to realize he's the problem. I do wonder does Jerry believe his own lies? It seems so. Because of that Cowboys fans will continue to suffer the consequences of Jones bad decisions.

All real Cowboys fans have to do is to ban together and stop supporting the dictator. Please fellow Cowboys fans stop buying tickets and worthless Cowboys merchandise. Let's put a financial hurting on Jones until he's forced to sell the Cowboys.

Long live real Cowboy fans.

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Greatest CDs Of All-Time: "Pretty In Pink" Soundtrack

Hello,

This is another one in my series of themusicaddict's greatest CDs ever. For this blog I'm writing about the amazing "Pretty In Pink" Soundtrack. I suggest that "Purple Rain" is the greatest soundtrack ever, however Prince doesn't allow his music on Youtube. Without the songs how can I properly chronicle such a great CD?

I'm pretty sure I've blogged about the amazing "Pretty In Pink" soundtrack previously. If I have, I apologize but I'm doing it again! Without a doubt it's one of the greatest soundtracks of all-time. The 10 songs perfectly capture the music of the 80s and it's also a very good sampler of so-called new wave music. There isn't one weak song on this soundtrack.

Obviously these songs are the soundtrack to one of the great 80's movies, "Pretty In Pink". Like the music a movie that perfectly captured it's time and always brings back great memories when I think of either. Long live the memory, movies and influence of John Hughes.

"Pretty In Pink" brought us the great Andrew McCarthy, James Spader and of course the amazing and gorgeous Molly Ringwald. If "Pretty In Pink" had nothing else at the least it would have introduced us to Ringwald. The story and the acting are also great and the music is sublime.

While I was listening to this soundtrack on iTunes, for some reason I fell into a nostalgic rabbit hole. This CD and these songs took me back to my favorite decade ever, the 80s. Back when I drove a green truck, had no real direction in life and girls didn't like me then either!

1. If You Leave - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark:



2. Left of Center - Suzanne Vega w/ Joe Jackson:



3. Get To Know Ya - Jesse Johnson:



4. Do Wot You Do - INXS:



5. Pretty In Pink - The Psychedelic Furs (Oh how do I love this version of this song!):



6. Shell-Shock - New Order (a slightly different version than what appears on the soundtrack):



I didn't like the abrupt ending of the above video for "Shell Shock", here's the soundtrack version:



7. Round, Round - Belouis Some:



8. Wouldn't It Be Good - Danny Hutton Hitters:



9. Bring On The Dancing Horses - Echo & The Bunnymen (This is another amazing song.):



10. Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want - The Smiths:



11. This is a bonus song for this blog, it's from another soundtrack to a John Hughes movie "Sixteen Candles". This is one of the prettiest songs of the 80s, the Thompson Twins "If You Were Here":



themusicaddict

"ArtPop": Lady Gaga Has Done It Again! (I Just Wish She'd Stop Overdoing the Sex Angle)

Hello,

This week Lady Gaga released her latest magnum opus, "ArtPop". It's 15 songs of her trademark sound which is a mix of multiple genres. It's also full of Gaga's latest lyrical and theatrical flourishes. Both Google Play and amazon.com are selling the MP3 version "ArtPop" for only $5.99. That's a fantastic deal. I recommend to go with Google Play to buy the MP3, amazon.com has a clunky new way to download music. I probably won't be buying any more MP3s from them until they fix this. Of course iTunes is the easiest way to download music, but they're also the most expensive. "ArtPop" on iTunes is $14.99, you also get a digital booklet along with the 15 songs. But just how many digital booklets do you actually look at?

I bought "Born This Way" at an actual record store on its first day of release, but since then I kind of had burned out of Lady Gaga. I get tired of her skankiness, she tries to be provocative but I don't see the point of that. She's going to sell a ton of music anyway. I get that sex sells, however Lady Gaga doesn't need sex to sell her music. She's one of the most intensely creative people currently making music. Let Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears use sex to sell their lesser quality pop songs. Although I would say that Ms. Spears is looking fantastic of late.

One of the bizarre things about Lady Gaga using sex to sell her music, she doesn't have that great of body. We've already seen that side, every side in fact, of her. Now maybe instead of relying on the least creative thing of using sex to sell CDs, maybe she can use actual creativity and find something else that catches our eye? Again not that she needs any more than the great songs she already creates.

As this is mainly a music product, Lady Gaga is very much selling herself and her ideas, but the focus should remain on the music. Without a doubt Lady Gaga remains light years ahead of most other musicians. Her influence is already felt in the music other people create, a remarkable achievement considering that Gaga has only been around for a few years. Anyway here are some of my favorite songs from "ArtPop".

This is the track listing for Gaga's latest triumph:

ARTPOP track list:
"Aura"
"Venus"
"G.U.Y."
"Sexxx Dreams"
"Jewels N' Drugs"
"MANiCURE"
"Do What U Want"
"Artpop"
"Swine"
"Donatella"
"Fashion!"
"Mary Jane Holland"
"Dope"
"Gypsy"
"Applause"

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lady-gaga-shares-artpop-track-list-20131010#ixzz2kYQ6ZOP8 
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

My favorite song on the CD is "Sexxx Dreams", which highlights both her creativity and her want to use sex to sell her music. It's a great song that doesn't need anything else to point how of great a song it is. Did you catch that she used 3 Xs in "Sexxx Dreams", obviously a nod to XXX rated movies. About as subtle as a Miley Cyrus "Wrecking Ball":



I quite like "Applause", a song that is a good lyrical sampler of "ArtPop". "Applause" is a great dance song:



One thing about "ArtPop" is that it's front loaded, the first few songs on the CD are also the best. "Venus" is another one of those songs:



"G.U.Y. (Girl Under You)":



"Manicure":



"Aura":



While this CD has many great songs, there are a few clunkers on "ArtPop" as well. For some reason she decided to remake "You and I", using nearly the same music and dumbing down the lyrics beyond comprehension. At least she changed the name of the song, now she calls it "Dope. Sadly it's anything but:



This is the original and much better version of the song when it was titled "You And I". ( I was going to post the Lady Gaga made video, but as usual it's unnecessarily skanky. It's bad enough the cover of "ArtPop" is Gaga holding her boobs. Come on Gaga, use your creativity to create an album cover that has a bit more creativity.)



At the end of the day "ArtPop" has it's weaknesses, but overall it's a pretty fantastic CD. I suggest you to add it your collection.

themusicaddict

Veteran's Day: Thanks Veterans and Families, Boycott The Dallas Cowboys Until The Jones Family Sells

Hello,

The main thing I want to say today is Happy Veteran's Day. I want to personally thank all the soldiers that have fought valiantly, laid down their lives and those who are still serving. Thanks for all your sacrifices to keep America great. Also thanks to all your families for letting you go and fight for our country. Thanks again for all that you have done, let's hope that we can return the favor and take care of you.

Now from some of the most honorable people in America to perhaps the most delusional, Jerry Jones. Jones continues to be one of the worst GMs in the NFL. He's also a GM that can't be fired, he's inept and unfireable. I'm a Cowboys fan and will always be a Cowboys fan. However right now I'm very much a disgusted Cowboys fan. The only hope I see for the Cowboys future is that things become so untenable for the Jones family that they sell.

For now I'm actually cheering against the Cowboys and hope that will quicken the pace that the Jones family will finally sell the Cowboys. Last night I enjoyed the Saints steamrolling the Cowboys. Dallas was blown out 49-10, the Saints could have easily scored even more points. This loss exposes all the bad decisions that have been made over the years by Jones.

All blame for this latest debacle goes to Jerry Jones. He's the "mastermind" behind the success and failure of this franchise. Even when the Cowboys have a bit of success Jones trumpets his moves. So when his Cowboys look pathetic it's definite that I'm going to hammer him for his ineptness.

Let's look at some of the stats from the Cowboys latest debacle. The defense gave up a franchise record 625 yards and a NFL record 40 first downs. The Cowboys are also threatening to break the Saints record for most average yards given up in one season, they're periously close to the record the Saints Bounty Gate torn apart defense gave up last season. Monte Kiffin is currently the Cowboys Defensive Coordinator. Could horrible stats like these have been predicted? Yes, when 70 year old Jerry Jones hired someone even older than himself, that could have been a sign. Jones also hired a man that had been forced out by his own son at USC. The reason is because Kiffin's defense was lit up through his tenure there. There's two more signs, where's Bill Engvald when you need him?

Why is the defense so bad? Well who was the one who signed Monte Kiffin? Who's the person that has ignored both lines in order to add the flashy players? Jones that's who, Fail!

Kiffin was brought in to replace the loud and brash Rob Ryan. I know that it's impossible to compare teams against each other. But Tom Benson seems to be near the exact opposite of Jones. He hired a great head coach and seems to stay out of the way. Sean Payton, who has won a Super Bowl. hired Rob Ryan to try and improve on that historically bad Saints defense of 2012. Jones coaching hiring, Jason Garrett, hasn't even taken the Cowboys to the playoffs and they aren't going this year either.

Anyway Ryan's defense gave up 193 yards, while the Cowboys defense gave up 625 yards. Alone both the Saint's rushing and passing games had more yards than the Cowboys entire offense.

Who's the one who chose to fire Ryan as a scapegoat for Jones many weaknesses? Once again Mr. Jerry Jones. Fail again.

I don't want to hear the excuse about the Cowboys losing so many players to injury. Dallas always seems to lose a lot of players to injury. Obviously they aren't doing something right in training/ avoiding injuries. One of Jerry Jones many GM weaknesses is that he loves to sign injury prone players. How has that worked out so far? Anthony Spencer is out for the season. Jay Ratliff should've been released before the start of the season, he's been injury prone and also a malcontent. After not playing one down Ratliff was released during the season adding to the Cowboys dead money. You know that Ratliff looks forward to playing against the Cowboys when Dallas visits Chicago. Bad contracts is another one of Jerry's many shortcomings as a GM.

Miles Austin also should have been released this past off season, this week he missed his third straight game due to injury. He needs to be released at the end of this season. The heart of the defense seems to be Sean Lee and he has been playing fantastic this season. He's also injury prone and has been since college. However he signed a cap friendly contract that pays him but also allows for the fact that he might have more injuries in the future. He hurt his hamstring last night, it looks like he'll be out for 3 to 4 games. Even with Lee the Cowboys defense didn't look very good. Without him the Cowboys looked even worse.

Who has fallen in love with the injured player? Jones that's who. And like clockwork all the injury prone players have missed games this season: Austin, Murray, Ratliff (not even on the team now) and Lee. Jerry Jones Fail again!

DeMarcus Ware was also battling injuries Sunday night but he manned up and played as long as he could. A tip of my hat to Ware. Not Jerry's fault, sometimes injuries just happen.

Tony Romo struggled last night, but I can't say a lot of that is his fault. Jones does very little to surround his franchise quarterback with a great offensive line. He traded up to get Travis Fredericks in the first round. It seems he's been a pretty good player, but the 'Boys need more than just one offensive line upgrade. For the past several years the Cowboys/ Jones haven't prioritized the offensive line. The fruits of that inattention is coming to fore now. Before the season started the Cowboys signed Brian Waters. However he hurt himself against the Lions and this past Saturday he was put on season ending injury reserve. With Jones not prioritizing the offensive line the Cowboys are forced to sign players like Waters. Looks what happens when they make desperation moves.

Fail: Jones again. I don't remember a time that Jones has made either one of the lines a priority.

Romo didn't have a good game, but I can assure you he would have had a better game if he had a solid offensive line surrounding him. The Cowboys finished with 9 first downs, 31 less than the Saints. The Cowboys were 0 for 9 on third downs. Meanwhile Romo was 10 of 24 for 128 yards, 1 TD and had no interceptions. The Saints blanketed Dez Bryant and he was only targeted twice, he caught only one pass for 44 yards. And of course they couldn't throw it to the frequently injured Austin.

One of those oft injured Cowboys, DeMarco Murray, actually played this game. He's missed a couple of games this season. However on Sunday he played and had a good game. He had 16 rushes, 89 yards and 1 TD.

Of course the Cowboys biggest problem is the inept, egotistical Jerry Jones. He owns the Cowboys and can do anything he wants with them. I'm not sure why he has decided to destroy his own franchise though. I keep on reading about him being the next Al Davis, no I think he's already passed Davis. He's hell bent on doing things his way and proving his way is right. However he's the only one who doesn't realize how inept and wrong he is? I would think that he would be pretty good at admitting his failures by now, he's had so many.

Will Kiffin survive the season? Will alleged offensive coordinator Bill Callahan survive the season? And how in the hell is Jones going to find a way to keep his good little puppet Jason Garrett for another season? Jones said that on Tuesday his staff will survive the season. Heaven forbid that changes are made during yet another mediocre season.

Since the Cowboys are in the NFC Least they are still tied for first place. The Cowboys actually own the tie breaker as the Cowboys beat the Eagles earlier in the season. That was the game the Eagles forgot to show up for. That's still the only road game the Cowboys won this season.

Dallas has a bye this week, that gives this deteriorating franchise much more time to have drama. Jerry is going to say several stupid things (which he did on Tuesday), I expect at least one Bryant meltdown and Garrett will continue to be a puppet. That's something that Garrett does everyday.

After the bye the Cowboys go back on the road and play the Giants. Look for Eli Manning to have a big game against this ragtag Dallas defense. Drew Brees finished 8 yards short of being the 5th quarterback to have at least 400 yards against the Cowboys. Look for Manning to have over 400 yards for a second time against the Cowboys on November 24th. Dear Giants please destroy the Cowboys, at some point reality has got to set in in Valley Ranch. Right?

Once again Cowboys fans I beg you to stop attending games and buying anything with a Cowboys logo. We must band together and force the Jones family to sell the Cowboys. Dallas is going to suck until the Jones family sells the Cowboys. Jerry Jones I hate you and what you have done to this once proud franchise. Please sell the team asap. I would love to be part of a fan base that is loathed rather than felt sorry for.

themusicaddict

Dwight Howard Is Nothing More Than An Overpaid, Glorified Dennis Rodman

Hello,

Seriously I don't get the love for Dwight Howard. What is it that people see in him? Is it that he can't hit a free throw in the clutch or pretty much any other time? After shooting .492 from the free throw line last season, Howard has improved his shooting percentage all the way to .500. Strangely enough in his rookie season he shot .672 from the free throw line. If Howard really cared about winning, don't you think he would be a much better free throw shooter? Why has his shooting percentage deteriorated so much since his rookie season?

Is it that he likes to act like a smiley asshole all the time? Is it his lack of heart and desire? Does anyone thinks that he has that maniacal drive to win? Again will someone please let me know why anyone would pay Howard so much money?

I think Howard is a big waste, but I have to admit he looks better than he did last season. That being said Howard not resigning with the Lakers will end up being a good thing for them. Now if LA could only figure out a way to pay Kobe Bryant what he's worth, then maybe they could return to glory. Not that's what I'd want to see, I'm so tired of the Lakers. But the Lakers do owe the Rockets a thank you card for signing Howard away.

Let's break down Howard's game last night. He was on the floor for 37 minutes and some of that time he actually played hard. Howard will always be wildly overpaid until he can expand his game. He was 5 for 10 from the field, although he should shoot an even better percentage since his range is only 3 feet and in. He was 5 for 16 from the free throw line, a not sterling 31% on the line. The Lakers took full advantage of one of his many shortcomings, his poor free throw shooting. Why did Houston agree to pay him so much money when is Achilles heel is known so well throughout NBA fandom. That and obviously he was little desire to improve on his free throw shooting.

The Lakers intentionally fouled Howard several times in the 4th quarter. Howard responded with being 5 of 12 from the free throw line in that quarter. Those 5 points were the only points he scored in the 4th quarter. One could argue, and I don't think that it would take much of an argument, to say that Howard hurt the Rockets more than helped in the 4th quarter. Due to Howard's limited offensive game obviously Houston isn't going to draw up a play for him with the game on the line.

Howard finished with 4 fouls and 4 turnovers. One thing that Howard excels at is grabbing rebounds. He finished with 14 rebounds last night, which is why I call him a glorified Dennis Rodman. But is his one outstanding skill enough to cover up for his many other deficiencies?

Yes, I know one game is a very limited sample size. However he has so many games like this that it's fair barometer of how good of a player he is. I'm sorry but $20.5 million just doesn't buy the same type of player that it has in the past. I'm glad that a team that I like isn't the team paying this fool that much money. That's especially when sometime this season he'll miss some games for "injury".

I'm sorry Rockets fans but Howard won't be leading you to the promised land, he just doesn't have what it takes to be that player.

Another player like that is Carmelo Anthony. And what are the average Knicks going to do without Tyson Chandler for 4 to 6 weeks? The Knicks will miss the fundamentally sound and hardest working Knick.

themusicaddict

The Thompson Twins: One Of The 80's Most Fun and Creative Bands (But Why Has "Queer" Disappeared?)

Hello,

One of my favorite Thompson Twins songs is "Sugar Daddy", it's one of their only songs that I don't have on my iTunes. For some reason it's not available to buy anywhere. Are The Thompson Twins ashamed of this song? If so I can't see why, this was their last song that made at least a minimum impact before they completely fell off the map. However I think "Sugar Daddy" is up there with their classics.

"Sugar Daddy":



"Sugar Daddy" comes off the 1989 CD "Big Trash", which other than greatest hits CDs, ends up being their second to last CD. In 1991 The Thompson Twins released a CD titled "Queer", this is the first I've even heard of that CD. Sadly at this time Queer" isn't available on Spotify yet. "Queer" embraced more of a dance music vibe and many thought it would relaunch the band. Sadly that didn't happened. (Thanks to Wikipedia.)

For some reason "Queer" is on lockdown, it's not available at all at iTunes or Google Play and most of the copies are very expensive at amazon.com. The best thing for it I can find on Youtube is a preview of "Queer". From the too short preview I quite like the songs on "Queer". I hope to be able to add it to my collection some day.



A couple of individual songs from "Queer", this is "Come Inside":



"Groove On":



Other than "Into The Gap" CD the only other Thompson Twins music available seems to be "Greatest Hits" collections. Why have they and so much of their great music been swept into the dustbin of history? Maybe this blog can stir up a bit more interest, I really like the direction the Twins were going in with "Queer".

Now here are a few of my other favorite Thompson Twins songs. I love their hits as much as everyone else, but two of my favorite songs are lesser known songs/hits.

"Get That Love":



"You Take Me Up":



"King For A Day":



"Hold Me Now":



"Doctor Doctor":



"Lies" (Thanks to "Solid Gold" for having these great time capsule videos):



"In The Name of Love" (Live):



"Lay Your Hands On Me":



"Love On Your Side":



"Don't Mess With Doctor Dream":



"We Are Detective":



This is a mixture of two great things: a great song from one of the 80's best movies "Sixteen Candles". Long live the movies and influence of John Hughes! I still have a crush on Molly Ringwald. The great song is "If You Were Here":



themusicaddict

The Amazing Debut CD of Cassadee Pope "Frame By Frame"

Hello,

I used to be a big fan of "American Idol", I loved the few great singers it introduced. But after just a few years the law of diminishing returns kicked in with a vengeance. Way too quickly there was the likes of Danny Gokey and the ridiculously over the top Adam Lambert. Once "Idol" became so stupid I had to stop watching it. Then a whole bunch of other stupid singing competition shows came and I already had enough. I was sort of tired of all the singing competition shows. What once was such a good idea was quickly ruined, sadly "Idol" continues to deteriorate. Let's hope Season 13 is the show's last season.

"American Idol's" last good season was Season 7. I wouldn't say that Season 7 was "Idol's" peak, but that was it's last good year. David Archuleta finishing in second place because of some silly teenage girls voting too much was a sign of things to come. "Idol" started going downhill after that as the judges kept on crowing about each new season having the best singers ever and somehow the awful Randy Jackson kept his job.

I'm grateful for shows like "American Idol" and "The Voice" for bringing us great singers like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Pope.

Because of how bad "American Idol" became I didn't spend much time watching "X Factor", "The Voice" or any of the other shows of that ilk. There have been some good singers that came from those singing competition shows that I've missed. I was able to later catch up with a couple of the better ones. I quite liked . But I didn't know anything about the lovely Cassadee Pope when I first heard her name. I was first exposed to her when I saw her show "Frame By Frame" on the Comcast On Demand listings. Before I started watching her show I first wanted to check out her music. Thanks to my friends at Spotify I was able to listen to her "The Voice" highlights, her EP and her debut CD "Frame by Frame". I was impressed by many of her songs and I'm a sucker for amazing female voices.

I wish I could have seen Pope on "The Voice", but I'm glad that I didn't watch the whole show. Youtube and the highlight CDs are both good ways to still experience great music we might have missed. I love Pope's version of "Torn", I think she nails that song perfectly. With all due respect to Natalie Imbruglia, I think Pope's version is better than the original:



I also love her version of this song and I love the sound of her voice on "Not Over You":



I love Pope's voice, she reminds me of a cross between Taylor Swift and Hillary Scott. She's also very attractive in that better looking than one would think girl next door look. I like her personality she shows in "Frame By Frame", the CD and the show.

In the "Frame By Frame" TV show we follow Pope along on her radio tour. She's going through the process of trying to get radio stations to play her new CD and also the laborious process behind picking the very crucial first single. The show doesn't show over how many weeks that first single is "Wasting All These Years".

"Frame By Frame" is a great CD, 11 great songs. I don't know it will ever become one of my greatest CDs of all-time, but that wouldn't surprise. Honestly that's a bit of a shock as I rarely listen to radio, let alone country radio. Anyway here's a selection of some of my favorite songs from her debut CD. Enjoy.

Here's that lead single "Wasting All These Tears" (live):



The heartbreaking song based on her life "11":



"Good Times":



This song sounds so much like a Lady Antebellum song, in fact every time I hear it that's who I'm thinking is singing it. "One Song Away":



"Proved You Wrong":




"You Hear A Song":



themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Greatest CD's Of All Time: Living Colour's "Vivid"

Hello,

This is another in my continuing series of themusicaddict's greatest CDs of all-time. This blog is about Living Colour's "Vivid". I listened to it recently with fresh ears, I wanted to see if it's still a classic CD. Not only is it still a classic CD, but it's even better than I even remember. There is a lot of 80's music that sounds terribly dated. However this CD sounds as relevant in 2013 as it did in 1988. (Sadly Death Cab For Cutie's "Transatlanticism" hasn't aged as gracefully.)

Remember Living Colour is a band and "In Living Color" is a TV show. The show launched the careers of various Wayans, Jim Carrey and featured J Lo as a fly girl.

Seeming to come out of nowhere near the end of the best decade for music, the 1980s, was Living Colour's "Vivid". While the 80's had plenty of music by black artists, Michael Jackson and Prince are the first that come to mind, there were other black musicians that carved out their own niche. MC Hammer, Tracy Chapman, Neneh Cherry and Living Colour all had their moments in the sun.

In 1988 "Vivid" was released and Living Colour made a huge impact on American rock and roll. I remember them coming to Salt Lake when they were beginning to get famous and they sold out a crummy club in downtown Salt Lake. I'd known about them previously, but that sellout caught my attention. I thought maybe this band was going to be a last longer than many of the bands that passed through the 80s without barely making an impact.

Sadly Living Colour joins many other musicians who had a great debut and sadly that was their peak. In fact both Tracy Chapman and Neneh Cherry peaked on their first CDs as well and sadly both have been lost to the dustbins of time. Living Colour seems to be making a bit of a comeback now, they are touring behind the 25 year anniversary of "Vivid".

Living Colour was made up of certified rock god and guitarist Vernon Reid, charismatic singer Corey Glover, bassist Muzz Skillings and drummer Will Calhoun. All of the members of Living Colour have their moments in the spotlight, although it's Reid and Glover who've achieved the most fame.

"Vivid" made such an impact because it took full advantage of the burgeoning rap movement. Both Chuck D and Flavor Flav make appearances on this great CD. Living Colour's first CD combines elements of funk and rock. Taking the best of both and combining all those ingredients to make up their outstanding sound. Many of their lyrics were a scathing indictment of 80's racial politics and the less than great condition of much of Black America. They obviously had heard Run-DMC's "Raising Hell" in how they mixed so many forms of music in such a satisfying mix. Also they are a bit of a forerunner to the combination of butt kicking music/ political messages that Rage Against The Machine excellently explored a few years later.

"Vivid" didn't have a lot of so-called "hits", although it has many popular songs. "Cult of Personality" is obviously their most well known song. But "Open Letter (To A Landlord)", "Middle Man" and "Glamour Boys" also were great songs and raised their profile. "Glamour Boys" is one of the most memorable videos of the 80s.

As I like to do on this kind of blog, this is the full album for Living Colour's "Vivid":



Vivid's Track Listing:

1) "Cult of Personality": Although this video didn't quite have the visual impact that "Glamour Boys" would later have, it's still memorable in it's own right. Plus this song is the one that introduced us to the band.



And how are Living Colour live? The live version of "Cult of Personality":



2) "I Want To Know" (Live on Bourbon Street September 19th, 2013):



3) "Middle Man":



4) "Desperate People" (This video begins with snippets of Jimi Hendrix and Pat Benatar):



5) "Open Letter (To A Landlord)":



6) "Funny Vibe":



7) "Memories Can't Wait":



"Memories Can't Wait" (Live In Chicago April 11th, 2013):



8) "Broken Hearts":



9) "Glamour Boys":



10) "What's Your Favorite Color (Theme Song)":



11) "Which Way To America?":



"Which Way To America" (Live):



Then in 2002 "Vivid" was rereleased with bonus tracks:

12) "Funny Vibe (Funky Vibe Mix)":

13) "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" (Clash Remake):

14) "What's Your Favorite Color" (Leblanc Mix):

15) "Middle Man" (Live):

16) "Cult of Personality" (Live At The Ritz)

themusicaddict

The Frustration Of Following A "Rebuilding" Team: Utah Jazz Edition

Hello,

The Utah Jazz cast off many of their veteran players from the last few years, letting Big Al Jefferson and Paul Milsap go elsewhere. I always loved Milsap, but I can't believe anybody paid the one dimensional Jefferson so much money. Utah also cut ties with a few other veteran players from last year.  I was perfectly good with the Jazz going with the youth movement, in fact I wish they would have gone with the movement before last season's trading deadline.

The Jazz are building around Derrick Favors, an absolute beast. I don't think that Favors will live up to the incredibly high hopes I had for him. However I still expect him to be a game changer and I look forward to following his career for the next few years. The Jazz are also building around Enes Kanter, Gordon Hayward, Alec Burks and when he gets back from injury Trey Burke. I'm expecting at least solid futures from Rudy Gobert and Mike Harris.

Hayward is a perfectly good player, but I wasn't heart broken that the Jazz didn't sign him to a contract  extension before the exclusive signing period expired this last Thursday. That means that Hayward will be a restricted free agent in July, which means the Jazz can match a contract that anyone offers him. If I am the Jazz any contract more than $8 or $9 million a year, I'd have to let Hayward go. He does have a high upside, but he'll never be a superstar. He's too small and isn't bulky enough to get a clutch basket around the basket when the Jazz absolutely need it. He will make the Jazz, or some other team, a great complimentary player though. (Thanks to espn.com.)

Sadly the Jazz youth movement has already been stilted twice. Once when the Jazz management wasn't more aggressive last season. The second time was when Trey Burke injured his finger and is out until around Christmas time. Sadly injuries are just a fact of the professional game. It's too bad the Jazz can't use this time to develop another young point guard. The Jazz will get by with the veteran combination of Jamaal Tinsley and John Lucas III. Perhaps the Jazz can throw a few point guard minutes to Burks, after all you can never have too many ball handlers.

On Saturday night the Jazz jumped out to a 56-40 lead and I thought they had a great chance to win the game. However that wasn't to be, led by James Harden the Rockets stormed back to win 104-93. Again Harden showed just how great of a player he is. He's so deceptive in how dominant he can be.

Meanwhile Dwight Howard continues to be a over hyped fraud. I love that people think the Rockets are going to the NBA Finals because of the addition of Howard. Please. Watching that game last night reminded me of how glad I am that the Jazz stayed far away from the Big Brick in free agency. Will the  Rockets get past the Thunder, Clippers, Grizzilies or Spurs? Nah I don't think so.

Yes I know that Howard had a lot of rebounds in his first two games, but that was when he was trying to make a statement that he was worthy of all the Rockets money. He had 42 rebounds in his first two games but only had 9 rebounds on Saturday night. Howard was 4-8 from the field and 7-10 from the free throw line to finish with all of 15 points. The 7 for 10 upped his free throw shooting percentage to 50% for the season. I'm sorry but when Howard is making $20.5 million this season, shooting 70% from the free throw line should be his mininum free throw shooting percentage.

I still maintain my prediction that the Rockets will regret Howard's 4 year contract within 2 or 3 years. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if Howard is out of the NBA about the same time as his contract ends. He clearly has no passion for the game, shouldn't his offensive game be much more advanced after being in the league for 9 years. Anyone that buys into the Howard or Carmelo Anthony hype, I sure don't want to hear your stock picks. Howard is nowhere in the same league as the great Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwan.

Anyway the Jazz were doomed by the two things that killed them in their first two games, less than great free shooting and a complete inability to close out a team. Part of that is due to the youth of the team, but also to the coach. I don't think Tyrone Corbin is the head coach that will be able to take the Jazz to a NBA championship. The Jazz still have a long way to go to learn how to close out a team, it's going to be a long, long season.

This is a great time for the young Jazz to learn these lessons and hopefully they'll be utilized in upcoming seasons.

Coming tomorrow, time allowing, another one of themusicaddict's greatest blogs of all-time. It will be for Living Color's "Vivid".

themusicaddict