He’s the Sultan of Schmaltz. His songs are so square, one can divide them by four. It’s rumored that his music was played through loudspeakers in foreign countries to drive dictators out of hiding. And in the summer of 2001, Barry Manilow became a major hot-button topic in my marriage. Background. I was married from…
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Move over, Rebecca Black. Could “Hot Problems” by Double Take be the WORST SONG EVER???
Ah, Rebecca Black. Remember her? The high school kid whose parents ponied up $4,000 to a vanity recording studio, with the results being this little day-of-the-week classic? Okay, you’ve been punished enough. Besides, “Friday” was so 2011. I’m sure Rebecca Black’s latest record… er… um… give me a second, I gotta try to remember it……
Read MoreDick Clark, as remembered by Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon
A decade ago, I wrote an article for Goldmine magazine on the history of early rock/pop singer Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon. Cannon made over 100 appearances on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, more than any other performer in the show’s history, and many of Cannon’s biggest hits – “Palisades Park,” “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans,”…
Read MoreFive reasons why you should vote for SIRSY in the Times Union Best of 2012 “Best Blogger” category
Continuing on with my blog posts for the day, here’s five excellent blog posts by the rock band SIRSY and Melanie and Rich’s blog about the band: A Bat, A Rat and Killing Father Time You can really feel the kick drum in your chest … and in your face Sometimes Vanity Pays Godzilla and…
Read MoreMay 5th. Blotto. Fear of Strangers. The Penny Knight Band. Ernie Williams and the Wildcats. I am SO there!!
If you wanted to see top entertainment at a local, intimate performance venue in the late 1970’s – early 1980’s, you could go to the Ritz or the Chateau or the Falcon’s Nest… but really, you wanted to go to JB Scott’s. The Central Avenue locale was the place where everybody performed. U2 played three…
Read MoreWhitney Houston: Death of a Thrush
I remember hearing Whitney Houston’s music when I was in college. No, I’m not talking about songs like “Saving All My Love For You” or “You Give Good Love” – I actually remember a young voice singing a duet with one of my favorite R&B singers, Teddy Pendergrass. It was his last hit… and it…
Read MoreThe Failures of Spotify
I’m not very happy with Spotify right now. Spotify is the new online listening service, where you can set up your own playlists from millions of tracks and enjoy your own online custom-made radio station. You can build a playlist for listening to Spotify at work, you can build a playlist for listening to Spotify…
Read MorePan Am: From airline to TV series to … soundtrack album?
Regular readers will know about my feelings for the failed television drama Pan Am. The show is currently burning off its final episodes as quickly as it can, and hopefully the show can join the pantheon of failed airline dramas like LAX and San Francisco International Airport and The Loop and Flying High and a…
Read MoreK-Chuck Radio: Ten Great Songs by the Electric Light Orchestra
I always believed that if the Beatles took their Sgt. Pepper album and made a second one – and a third one – and a fourth one – in that same musical vein, they would morph into the Electric Light Orchestra. And realistically, how cool was it that a rock band calling themselves an “Orchestra”…
Read MoreYour new Class of 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees are…
Before I say who got in, let’s recap from my “betting sheet” earlier this year. THE BEASTIE BOYS I said: Pretty sure this is their year. Did they get in? YES!! My response to that: About freakin’ time. Welcome to the Rock Hall. THE CURE I said: Sure. Did they get in? NO. My response…
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Chuck The Writer 
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