The first 45 record I ever bought with my own money – or at least the first 45 that didn’t have the words “Disney” or “Cricket” on it – was the 45 of “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. I’ve blogged about this before, about how I went to the Blue Note Record Shop in downtown Albany…
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Some post-9/11 memories…
I have two stories to tell. One of the stories took place on the anniversary of 9/11, one only tangentially involves 9/11. So bear with me. The first story takes place on September 11, 2004. It’s the three-year anniversary of that somber date. At the time, I was freelancing for an antiques and auction publication…
Read MoreMarcia Howard: A voice from the past brings the past to The Voice
Way back in 1982, one of my favorite international rock songs was a track called “Solid Rock,” by the Australian group Goanna. I loved this song, I played the bejeebers out of it on my college radio station, and I’ve featured it several times in this blog. You know … this track. Over time, Goanna…
Read MoreThat’s not the Little River Band that you remember…
On June 17, a band calling themselves the Little River Band will perform a concert at Proctor’s Theater. This band will perform many of Little River Band’s classic songs and hits. There’s just one little problem. The current lineup taking the stage at Proctors is not the classic lineup from the 1970’s. In fact, there’s…
Read MoreEarth Wind and Fire: I’ll Write a Song For You
I originally wrote this article, a profile of the legendary band Earth, Wind and Fire, for Goldmine magazine way back in January 1998. The article consisted of extensive interviews with Maurice White, Philip Bailey and Verdine White. This article is being reprinted in today’s blog in honor and in memory of the legendary Maurice White,…
Read MoreCongratulations to Shane Howard, now a Member of the Order of Australia
I first discovered Shane Howard’s music in 1982 when, as a student at Hamilton College, I worked at the college radio station WHCL. I received an imported copy of the Australian band Goanna’s Spirit of Place album, and proceeded to play the LP on air as often as I could – including playing the LP’s…
Read MoreThe Drifters: A Legacy of Harmony
This Chuck Miller article was originally published in Goldmine magazine in 2000. == It’s October 30, 1998, a brisk afternoon along the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame inducts its first class of trios and quartets and quintets of harmony. Among those who received honors for their golden throats and platinum hits…
Read More“That’s lower case ‘m’, lower case ‘o’, lower case ‘e’, period.”
The other day, one of my Facebook friends and former editors of the music magazine Goldmine, Wayne Youngblood, went on a screed about the use of two spaces after a period. He was editing his latest magazine, a stamp collecting guide called Topical Time, and posted this: Time to vent: Typographically speaking, two spaces before the start…
Read More“Muslim Man” – the Deen Squad combats stereotypes and bigotry
Jae Deen and Karter Zaher have a tough task ahead of them. The two Canadian college friends have created a rap group, the Deen Squad, with the hopes of bringing an Islamic twist to their hip-hop music. So far, they’ve had some success, plenty of media coverage and some nice magazine articles to their credit.…
Read MoreI see your Billy Joel and raise you a Blotto.
Colorado College is setting up a musicology conference in October 2016, with subjects and topics based on the music and career of Billy Joel. I’m not kidding. Click here and see if I’m kidding. Okay, now that you’ve seen that… here’s part of the symposium’s proposal. “In the spirit of Joel’s music, this public musicology…
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Chuck The Writer 
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