They were a durable musical icon of the 1970’s. You could play them in your cars and trucks, you could use them in portable players and take them places where phonographs and records could never go. And this week, a museum devoted to their existence just opened in Dallas. That’s right – I’m talking about…
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Ten French Rock and Pop Songs
One of the first followers to my Twitter account was Rob Madeo, he of the keyboardkrumbs.com blog. He made a comment about how there was no decent French rock and roll music. I postulated that yes, there was some very decent French pop and rock and R&B tracks out there. The discussion continued. But I…
Read MoreWilliam Shakespeare, rock star!
What if I told you that in the 1970’s, William Shakespeare had two international pop music hits? Yeah, I’m getting that glassy stare from you. I understand. I’m used to it. Well, it’s true. Sort of. I’ll explain. In the 1960’s, singer John Cave was the lead vocalist for an Australian rock band called the…
Read MoreRest in Peace, Guitar Hero… and Guitar Hero 2… and Guitar Hero Aerosmith…
I remember playing Guitar Hero at the Best Buy in Crossgates Mall back in around 2006. Yeah, I played the demo in the store – probably played it for hours every time I went to the mall. It was fun. I enjoyed the game immensely, and when I finally got an XBOX 360, the first…
Read MoreWhy I cleared out 95% of my entire record collection
I blogged about this a few years ago on my old blogspot.com website, but hey I feel like sharing today – and in the years since that blog post was written, I think it’s important to follow up. Flash back the spring of 2009. Vicki and I are living in a two-family house in Pine…
Read MoreDickie Goodman – the music pioneer you never heard of
Once upon a time, back in the 1950’s, two struggling New York City songwriters, Bill Buchanan and Richard “Dickie” Goodman, came up with a musical concept that, at the time, was controversial and litigious – yet today, is as much a part of popular music as an auto-tune machine. Today we call the concept “Sampling,”…
Read MoreTen rock acts that aren’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame … but should be …
Around this time of year, I look at the upcoming list of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Of the hundreds of musicians and songwriters inducted into the Hall, I am blessed that during my time with Goldmine, I was able to interview six of them (the songwriting team of Kenny Gamble…
Read MoreA Memorial Day Blog Post: Victory Music
NOTE: I wrote the following article, which was originally published in Goldmine magazine in February, 1999. I wrote this piece after interview several members of the original V-Disc project, a program designed to bring music to World War II soldiers and sailors throughout the theater of battle. It is being reprinted here as part of…
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Chuck The Writer 