All articles filed in Music

Tim Hauser is best known as the lead vocalist of the ultra-superb vocal harmony group Manhattan Transfer.  And it’s a group whose music I’ve enjoyed ever since my high school music teacher, George Mastrangelo, turned me on to their sound by introducing me to their Extensions album. Over time, I’ve seen them in concert numerous…

Thirty-plus years ago, when I was a radio DJ in college (WHCL 88.7 FM), one of the bands whose music we played was a California group called The Din. In case you want to appreciate the Din’s music – at least the same music we played on our turntables in the basement of the Minor…

Once upon a time, there was a music producer named Frank Farian.  And Frank Farian wanted to create a popular dance / singing act, even if it meant finding someone with a great image – whether or not they could sing, that’s another issue. But this blog post is actually about the group BEFORE his…

Calling Bob Dylan a genius is like calling the sun bright. And today, on his website, he presents a brand new music video for his decades-old classic “Like a Rolling Stone.”  It’s part of the premiere of his new CD-box collection of his complete Columbia studio recordings. And you’re saying to me, “Chuck, big deal. …

It’s 1979 and I’m in high school.  Street Academy of Albany.  And it’s there that I discover this musical genre called rap. And back then, “rap music” was pressed on 12-inch vinyl records, and usually contained one long rap song on side A, and an instrumental version on side B.  I bought my first rap…

You know it has to happen.  Songs like these that come completely out of right field.  Artists whose songs just get played over and over and over again.  To the point where you like them, then you really like them, then you’re sick of them.  Then you never want to hear them again. I could…

Sometimes I look for inspiration in the oddest of places. And today… the inspiration comes from singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg. No, I have not turned in my “man-card” by admitting that I enjoy Dan Fogelberg’s music.  Trust me.  There are more than enough guys out there who will not only admit to liking Dan Fogelberg’s ballads;…

I’m sure many of you have seen this video clip at some point in time. It was created in 1986 as part of Albany’s Tricentennial celebration, and featured several celebrities at the time – Bob Mason and Bill Sheehan, for example. See it? Like it? Good.  This was the “Let’s Have a Party, Albany!” song…