My drinking is killing me My smoking is killing me
My diet is killing me
My heels are killing me
My shopping's killing me
My ego is killing me
Can't sleep, it's killing me My label's killing me
Kickdrum
My friend Rich is always reminding me that I haven't been writing lately. Well, he's right, and for good reason...actually two good reasons. First of all, ever since school started I haven't had much time for writing on here, and second, I haven't been inspired to write. That's a sad thing, I know. Anyway, today is the first...scratch that...second and third day, of the new year, 2016, and I usually get to writing some sort of reflection/looking ahead piece around this time, so here goes...
My phone is killing me My email is killing me
These hours are killing me
My tour is killing me
This flight is killing me
My manager's killing me
My mother's killing me
My landlord's killing me
My boss is killing me The TV is killing me
Your nagging is killing me
My boyfriend's killing me
My talking's killing me
Killing me
Killing me
I lost my iPod on New Year's Eve. I think that was the straw that just pushed me over the edge. One minute it was there, the next it was gone. Ugh, the new year has already started off just like the old one left off and I think I am just about ready to check out...lol, nah, I'm not really gonna do that, but I'll honestly say that I don't think I've ever been as low as I am right now, and it's not the iPod (though that IS a killer!). I feel so lost these days, and I no longer seem to have a handle on what I'm searching for anymore.
Can't sleep, it's killing me
My dreams are killing me
TV is killing me
My talking's killing me
Let go, you're killing me
Ease up, you're killing me
Calm down, you're killing me
My god, you're killing me
By now you might be wondering by now what the heck is with these strange lyrics and the Robyn video. Well, it's kinda how I'm doing right now. I think there are some of us who get a little self-destructive every once in awhile, especially when there's something not right in the head and that'd be me right about now. When I feel like this, I tend to jump into my own little rabbit hole, cut myself off from the world and feel sorry for myself. Well I know that's not productive, and heck, by even writing this at least I'm trying to do something...
Well anyway, it's taken me three days to get to this point in my post and now it's Sunday night, the end of Christmas vacation. Sigh! At least I climbed out of my rabbit hole for a bit today, and maybe the order of life will set me off in a good place tomorrow. We shall see! To be continued...
Young boy, by the traffic light What your daddy never told you Is love hurts when you do it right You can cry when you get older
Not only is this Thanksgiving Week, but around these parts it's Birthday Week, as well. Yesterday was my bestie Rich's birthday and today is the birthday of yet another bestie, Kyle. Kyle is one of my friends that I know from bowling and we've become pretty close over the past two years or so. In that short time...well...he and I have gotten to know each other pretty darned well to a point where we stand today. He is probably the one friend who I spend the most time with and I want to wish him the best of birthdays.
Kyle is a youngin', 25 years old today, and a lot of times I feel like I'm not only his friend, but kinda sort of his mentor, as well. From what I know of him, Kyle is one of those people who's always found a comfortable spot in hanging around people older and wiser than he, and he not only found myself as one to look up to, but a whole slew of us from bowling, too. Al, Eric and Rick, Gary, J.C., Eric C., Bobby and Rich, and a whole host of fellow bowlers have all shared in helping to guide this genuine young man through these past few years, and though he doesn't always realize how much he is loved by all of us, he really is a special part of this extended group of friends.
Out of all of us, Kyle, myself and our pal Gary have been among the closest, and the trhee of us have shared plenty of good times together, as well, from our Monday night jaunt to Coney Island this summer, to catching up and teaching Kyle the great, great show, Six Feet Under, to gay nights at Great Adventure, P-Town, parties, bowling and more, the friendship that we share as three is a special one, too!
Anyway, last night Kyle was trying to guess which song I was going to post today for his b'day, and though he made some good guesses, he got it wrong. I realized that although I've spoken about soundtracks of relationships in the past, it's not only romantic relationships that can have a soundtrack. One of the things that bind he and I together is our love for music, and though we have some differences in our musical tastes, there are certain tunes that we both love, and today's song is one which I believe introduced him to Robyn (via me!) and one that fits this particular day and week for that matter. I'm not too sure about him, maybe it's too early, but I am certainly crying cause I got older, lol. Anyway, for what it's worth, Happy Birthday my friend!
I received a surprise phone call yesterday from straight out of my past. It was from someone who I never thought I'd hear from again, and it turned out to be a really nice conversation and not as uncomfortable as I might've thought such a phone call would be. Anyway, back in the day he and I shared a great fondness for Robyn. In fact, that was the time in my life when I really was first discovering this very talented singer and songwriter, so needless to say I found myself listening to my Robyn playlist a couple of times yesterday.
Here's one I discovered just recently. It's another well-written tune, much in the same vein as her other breakup songs like With Every Heartbeat, Get Myself Together, and Time Machine. She opened her Pier 97 show in August with it and it's one of my newest Robyn favorites. Check out Be Mine...
Last night was awesome! My buddy Kyle and I ventured into NYC to check out Robyn and Róyskopp at the brand new concert stage at Pier 97 on the West Side and it was a night of pure fun. Though the show wasn't nearly as good as the one I saw at Radio City three years ago, the beautiful and comfortable summer evening and the setting more than made up for it.
Pier 97
Pier 97 is the newest concert venue to hit the New York City stage. Located within the confines of Hudson River Park at the end of 57th Street, the place has partially filled the void left behind by Roseland Ballroom, which closed its doors for good earlier in the year. The venue is a nice spot for summer concert viewing, with the picturesque views of the city behind the stage and the Hudson River providing a nice backdrop.
The pier is just that, a large concrete structure jutting out into the river, and concession stands offering food, drink and merchandise line both sides all along its length, with a bar area towards the back. Being there is reminiscent of being at an outdoor fair, only there's some major concert happenings to be had as well. Along with Robyn and Róyskopp, the venue will be hosting New Zealand songstress Lorde on September 14th and hot rapper Iggy Azalea on September 26th.
The Show
Though tickets stated a showtime of 6 p.m., that wasn't really the case. Concerts at the pier do have earlier showtimes, probably due to local ordinances, but still an 8 'clock start, which was around the time the Norweigan duo hit the stage, is plenty enough to be finished by the mandatory 10 p.m.
Admittedly, I knew nothing much about Róyskopp before their collaborations with Robyn, and neither did much of the crowd. The electronica/dance duo put on a half-hour set of pretty darned good dance tunes before the star of the evening hit the stage. That's when the standing room only crowd started to rush forward to get a better view of the action.
As I stated above, this show wasn't nearly as good as the one at Radio City in 2011, and that's because it wasn't a tour in support of the hugely popular Body Talk EP's like that one was, though the songs from that album that she did perform were the ones that got the most response, of course. As is her way, Robyn entered the stage without the fanfare of your typical diva, simply segueing from Róyskopp's final number into her own Be Mine.
From there, the singer, who sounded absolutely dead-on, went into a couple of new songs, hopefully from a forthcoming album, greatest hits and tunes from the latest Do It Again project with her stage mates, which was what she was there to promote. There wasn't a lot of interaction with the audience like last time, but there was plenty of energy coming from the singer who no doubt is well aware and very appreciative of the rabidness of her fan base, who reveled in every move and every note.
Highlights for me included the funky new tune, Work It Out, the Body Talk smashes Call Your Girlfriend, Stars 4 Ever, and Indestructible and the finale, the title song to Do It Again. The crowd favorite, however, was surely the singer's best loved song, Dancing On My Own, to which Robyn held out her mike as the audience serenaded her on the chorus.
All in all, concert goers left Pier 97 last night with smiles on their faces, as did Kyle and I. Now I'm really looking forward to when she comes round again to promote the next project, which hopefully will be out very soon. Then we'll just do it again...
Good morning and happy Wednesday! I am back from my 10-day trip to P-Town and Maine and am basking in the afterglow of a great time. Before I get down to the nitty gritty grind of work again (just one more week of summer vacation!), I have one more great thing to look forward to, and that is seeing Robyn play with Róyskopp tonight at Pier 97 in NYC. I haven't seen Robyn perform live since 2011 and I'm very excited. I checked the playlist and she should be performing this track, one of my favorites, from the Body Talk series. Enjoy!
Check out some videos I posted of Robyn's performance at Radio City back in February of 2011 right here.
I've been listening to a lot of Robyn lately, probably because she's coming to NYC in a couple of weeks, and have been enjoying her immensely. When I'd first heard about the show I was aching for new Robyn music, so I downloaded her eponymous 2005 album and am loving it. It's nice to have some of her music that I don't still associate with a former love, though the Robyn of Body Talk is still awesome. Anyway, this one isn't from either of these albums, but much earlier...in 1997. It was one of her early hits and I first saw this video in a gay bar in Nashville last month and thoroughly enjoyed it. Check out Show Me Love...
Robyn is BACK baby.....Since I posted this one about a month ago, I've been listening to it...and loving it...more and more. Typical Robyn song: great beats, great lyrics, great vocals. If you like Robyn, you're gonna love this...
Great news for Robyn fans. Though this one's been out for a little while now (I don't know why I waited so long to post it!), many of you may not know it yet. The song is from the singer's upcoming mini-album with longtime collaborator, Norwegian electronica duo Röyskopp. The threesome will be touring the U.S. this summer, with each artist following up with projects of their own once the tour is over. They'll be hitting NYC on August 20th and the mini-set is due out May 26th. I can't wait for either! Oh, and the song is pretty darned good, too! Typical Robyn tune that's mindful pop set to a nice track. Check it out...
Ooh, I've been missing Robyn so much lately, and for whatever reason I decided to check her out on iTunes the other day and downloaded a whole bunch of stuff I didn't even know existed. Man, she was always good! This one's from her 2005 album, Robyn, and it's very catchy, very Robyn! Enjoy!
Maybe we could make it all right We could make it better sometime Maybe we could make it happen, baby
We could keep trying but things will never change
So I don't look back Still I'm dying with every step I take But I don't look back
Just a little, little bit better Good enough to waste some time Tell me, would it make you happy, baby
We could keep trying but things will never change
So I don't look back Still I'm dying with every step I take But I don't look back
We could keep trying but things will never change
So I don't look back Still I'm dying with every step I take But I don't look back
And it hurts with every heartbeat And it hurts with every heartbeat And it hurts with every heartbeat And it hurts with every heartbeat And it hurts with every heartbeat And it hurts with every heartbeat And it hurts with every heartbeat And it hurts with every heartbeat
Yesterday a friend of mine asked me if I could help him figure out a song. It turned out to be Robyn's Dancing On My Own. I spent the next hour or so digging into the past and listening to her whole Body Talk set, reliving some memories and enjoying the great, great music that's there, including this one.
Indestructible is one of the best songs on the album(s). There are two versions of it in the series. The first one is purely classical, and by classical I mean classical music, with strings providing the music to the lyrics, and the remix version here is found on one of the later editions of the three-album set. Both versions are great. so check it out...
Welcome and thank you for checking out another edition of Music News Bytes. I subscribe to new music on Google Alerts and I read a lot of blogs, such as the ones on the left pane of John's World, so whenever I see new music items I find of interest, I like to share them here.
In this edition, I throw my two cents in on the new Destiny's Child and Justin Timberlake records and I've got some more new and exciting news about some new music heading your way. So please read on...
The first song from Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle in a long, long time is a 90's-stye, R&B jam. The track has a much more mature sound than earlier stuff from the girls, and reminiscent of some of the stuff off Bey's 4 album. I'm not loving it, perhaps because I'm partial to the fast n funky stuff I'm used to from them. Check out Nuclear.
The girls will be performing the song as part of Beyonce's Super Bowl Halftime Show set on February 3rd, along with old faves Survivor and Bills, Bills, Bills. Should be fun to watch.
I'll be on my suit n tie, suit n tie, suit n tie...
Okay, now that I've had about two weeks to digest Justin Timberlake's newest song, I've concluded that I'm still not crazy about it. Compared to SexyBack from his last album, FutureSexLoveSound, this one's a real sleeper. Oh, it's not a bad song, but hardly a jump-out-loud, must-have song that one might expect from such a huge comeback. The track is a little too slow for my taste, and like the new Destiny's Child record, it is very R&B. I've still got confidence, though, that the new record's gonna be slammin! Check out Suit & Tie if you haven't heard it already.
Robyn on the Horizon
One of my favorite singers over the past couple of years, Robyn, has finally reached the end of a long round of touring in support of her Body Talk trilogy of stellar albums, and she's finally settling in to working on her next project. She told Idolator's Pitchfork that she's been listening to a lot of Balearic House music for inspiration. I for one, cannot wait! Check out the interview at Idolator, and check out the club version of her Indestructible:
Idolator is also reporting that Rihanna and Chris Brown are working on a new song together. The former flames have been making a lot of music together over the last couple of years, including RiRi's Unapologetic track, Nobody's Business, and the remix for her Talk That Talk song, Birthday Cake. No one knows when the song will come out just yet, but stay tuned...
The iconic Prince is making a return to the spotlight in a big way this month, as Billboard Magazine will be honoring the singer with a Billboard Icon Award for his contributions to the music industry. Prince was a huge thing in the 80's, and even though he had faded from the spotlight, he's been continually making new music. I featured his hit Erotic City as Song of the Day yesterday, and I've always been a fan, having seen him perform twice (both fantastic shows!). I'm planning a piece on him and his music, but there's plenty of other stuff out there on the man these days, so in the meantime check out some of the links in this portion of the post.
Just a short while ago while looking back through the posts on this blog, I discovered that it was one year ago today since I began John's World "Song of the Day" with Robyn's "Hang With Me." It was one year ago today that I saw Robyn at Radio City Music Hall, and I remember that listening to her all morning was what led me to go to the concert in the first place.
I was in a very different place back then and I'm happy to have gotten through that miserable time in my life. Since that day, I've done 365 (and then some!) "Song of the Day" posts without missing a beat. These daily appreciations of great music past and present have been the crux of this blog and I hope you've enjoyed them.
I figured I'd mark the occasion with another Robyn song, this time with the one that started it all for me as a fan, "Dancing On My Own." As always, thank you for checking me out from time to time and here's to another year of great "Songs of the Day."
Happy Friday all! It’s another beautiful day out on Long Island and I should be at the beach….maybe later… There’s been lots of things going on the past few days and lots of catching up to do, so here goes nothing…
My House
Crisis averted
Last week, I shared some disturbing news about a mortgage escrow statement I received in the mail. It had said that I either had to come up with almost $5000 or have my mortgage payment go up by $400 a month, neither of which I can afford. I thought I was going to lose my house, and even though I do eventually want to, I don’t want to lose it that way.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I made a few phone calls last week and the bank investigated the escrow account, finding three errors on their part. In the end I may even end up having a surplus in my escrow. Now it looks like I’m going to be able to stay here…for now. Whew!
I went to the movies the other night only because it starred Ryan Gosling, the hunky actor who my buddy Rich told me about. The movie is called “Crazy Stupid Love,” and it stars Gosling, Steve Carell, and Julianne Moore. The movie was okay, but boy was my friend right about Ryan Gosling! Absolutely gorgeous in every way and well worth the price of admission!
I’m almost getting to the point where I know I’m going to start missing going to Circus on Wednesdays once school starts. Once again, I had a fabulous time and I’m making new friends. It really is a special place, so if you’re a PLU (People Like Us – or rather “Me”!) and you live on Long Island, you should definitely check out the Lizard Lounge in Bohemia on a Wednesday evening.
Ms. Ruby Diamond in action at Circus
That’s what friends are for
They say a person is lucky to have one or two good friends in their life. I’m starting to find out that although I thought I had just a couple, there are others who either are or have the potential to be true friends, and I feel very blessed to have each of them in my life.
Lisa
This summer I’ve met a few good people with potential for long-lasting friendships and one of them is Lisa. I’ve mentioned Lisa before. She’s the woman that remembered me from religion class way back in the 2nd grade, about 40 years ago. Though I actually first met her again last year, I’ve spent a lot of time with Lisa this summer and I’m starting to enjoy her company more and more.
We had a good time over at the Grove last week and I even drove her home. She’d told me she owned a barber shop and I had promised her a visit there, which I made this week. What a nice place she has! It’s called Hats Off and it’s kind of in between an old fashioned barber shop and a beauty salon, nicely decorated and very comfortable. Lisa made me feel so welcome when I got there, telling the whole crowd of people waiting how we met, and I’ve got to say she gave me probably the best haircut of my life!
Rita
Rita is a fellow teacher in my school district. We’ve known each other a couple of years and have grown to be good friends. I hadn’t realized until I had breakfast with her yesterday just how much I missed her not being around. What started off as what should have been an hour breakfast turned into a three-plus hour talkathon. Love ya Reet!
Ozzie
Ozzie is one of the newest people in my life and I’ve already spoken of him a few times in this space. We don’t know each other well enough yet, and I haven’t been sure just what kind of place he’d take in my life, but I think I’m starting to figure it out. We were supposed to go to Splash together last night, but at the last minute he couldn’t make it. He did figure into the night though, when all was said and done…
When you least expect it, expect it!
Every once in awhile I‘ve wondered what it would be like to run into him again. I couldn’t imagine how I’d react, and now a day later I know. Just like in our old days together I feel like I always either do or say the wrong things concerning him and last night was no exception.
It’s funny, for the past several weeks I haven’t gone out alone and yesterday I almost had a car-full. I was kind of hoping to go alone for a change and things seemed to align themselves for this most unexpected purpose for I did end up going alone and for the first time since January, I bumped into him, and it wasn’t pretty.
All I will say about it is that I was standing on the dance floor at Splash and spotted him. He’d already seen me and was coming my way. I don’t know why, but I just turned in the other direction and started walking away. It was just a gut reaction and of course, it wasn’t a good one. In the long run we did speak a little, but I think both of our nights were kind of soured and definitely uncomfortable afterwards. I told him later on that I wish I had a redo, and that’s the truth!
A Developing Friendship
During the evening I texted Ozzie to tell him that I wished he was there with me. I was uneasy and I could’ve used someone to talk with and dance with. After a couple of texts back and forth, he told me to come through on my way home, which I did. Since he’s new in my life and doesn’t really know about this particular history of mine, he was a good person to talk to. I got to his house around 3:30 and we talked for at least a couple of hours. I went home feeling much better.
In all I’m learning that even though he’s got this public persona and has a lot of acquaintance ‘friends,’ he is really a genuine person beneath it all and I’m really glad I met him. I think he was brought into my life for a purpose and little by little I’m starting to believe ours will be an enduring friendship. So for like the umpteenth time, thank you Oz!
The Department of Health comes a calling
Yesterday I received an email from a guy at the NY State Department of Health. He said that he wanted to speak to me regarding some articles I’d written on Examiner. He’s with the HIV/AIDS area of the department and I have done some pieces on the subject, so I’m sure those are what he wants to talk to me about. Right now I’m waiting for a phone call from him and I’m a little nervous as to what this is about. Stay tuned…
Well, I think I’m all caught up now. If you’re still reading this, I want to both thank you and apologize for giving you so much to read. I’m always humbled by how many people are following this blog and I hope that whatever I put in here, whether it be cool music or my silly, innocuous personal stories, gives people some entertainment, perhaps a few laughs, and lots of smiles. My friend Michael even gave me a nice shout-out on FB this morning, telling others in a comment to read my blog, so thank you Michael!
Here’s a Robyn song to mark how I’m feeling right about now. Yes, what’s past is past and no one can go back and change it, but if only to dream…
