Music

At long last, here it is: the final installment on my list of the most over-looked, poorly reported and/or under-appreciated deaths of 2012.  And of all those who we lost this past year, these five lives are five I felt strongest about making sure to include, as they either touched me personally, were the greatest at what [...]

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As I continued piecing together the stories behind this list of 40 people who died this past year, whose lives and impact were under-appreciated or mis-represented by many in the media, one thing became clear.  The deeper into the list I got, the harder it became to distill the legacies into two hundred or so words.  [...]

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Below, please enjoy part three of my four part tribute to those we lost this year whose deaths and legacies were largely overlooked, or at least under-reported, by the mainstream media. 21.  Helen Gurley Brown In one sense she was just like so many others girls her age.  Born in Arkansas in the 20s; raised [...]

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Please enjoy part two of my four-part list of 40 people who died this year whose lives, legacies and passings were given short shrift by far too many in the mainstream media. 30. Charles “Skip” Pitts He was a talented session man and a Memphis-based guitarist who scratchy, bold playing style helped lend the Isley [...]

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This list could have been even longer, but here’s part one of my four-part list covering some of the many people whose passing this year, whose lives, and whose legacies, were given far too short a shrift by far too many in the mainstream media. 40. David N. Martin It remains the single most iconic and successful tourist and travel [...]

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Adam Sandler may have once rued the dearth of great Hanukkah songs, but the same can’t be said of great Christmas songs – especially Christmas songs penned by Jewish songwriters.  Here’s a list of twelve of the best, not to mention favorites of mine. I’ll Be Home for Christmas A song with something of an uncertain genealogy.  But [...]

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Over the course of the past few years, many pop music insiders, fans and geeks have done their best to label them as the Wrecking Crew; the stable of ferociously talented studio musicians and sidemen that producers Quincy Jones, Phil Spector, Lou Adler, Lee Hazelwood, Brian Wilson and their ilk used to regularly use on [...]

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Happy 70th Mr. Hendrix

by M.C. Antil on November 27, 2012

I just heard that guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, had he lived, would have turned 70 years old today. Wow. Jimi Hendrix, the lord and high master of the bent guitar string and all things heavy as a creaky, thinning-on-top, shriking 70 year old in need of, most likely, reading glasses, a hearing aid and — who knows [...]

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Andy Williams’ Finest Moment — One Humble Opinion

by M.C. Antil on September 28, 2012

To most, Andy Williams will always be the guy who somehow managed to pilfer Moon River right out from under the noses of Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer and Audrey Hepburn and make it his own. To others, he will be the voice behind the Andy Williams Christmas Album, one of the iconic slices of Sixties [...]

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The 21 Best TV Theme Songs of All Time

by M.C. Antil on September 20, 2012

Just kidding, of course.  These are by no means the greatest 21 TV theme songs in history.  But they are, without question and in no particular order, my 21 favorites of all time — not to mention 21 songs that stand alone as terrific pieces of music, regardless of how brief they may be.  What’s more, they are [...]

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