Roxanne Tellier – Summer of Songs Redux

I’ve been overwhelmed, recently, with the events swirling around us. It’s too much. And today, although I had planned a look into trump and Ford’s plans to re-open schools this fall, I’m gonna take a pass, and a day off. Instead of current affairs, let’s enjoy the summer sun, and take a stroll down Memory Lane, to this slightly edited column that I first wrote in August of 2015.

How very different things look now, from the perspective of 2020, and this time of plague! Seems almost naughty to see people gathered together, without masks or social distancing! And I’m not sure if any of the places I mentioned then, are open now. Never mind… Take my hand, come along with me on the wayback machine, and forget about today for a while ….

JAIMIE VERNON: UN-MERRILY DOWN THE STREAM

This week came the revelation that digital music streaming services are both ripping off artists AND generating no revenue. Rarely has there been a non-story generating so much sucking and blowing simultaneously.

Doug Thompson: ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE MISSES THE MARK…..AGAIN!

Rolling Stone Magazine recently released their latest ‘list’, “The 100 Greatest Songwriters” rollingstone.com).  Let me repeat that title, “The 100 Greatest Songwriters”.  Their descriptive line states “From Brill Building tunesmiths to Punk poets, from Woody Guthrie to Max Martin, the visionaries who defined music history.”

Roxanne Tellier – Summers of Songs

This is not my Wet Hot American Summer. I’m not cavorting on beaches, fending off amorous, slightly intoxicated hotties while sprinting across hot sand in an improbable bikini, and then gathering around a romantic campfire eating s’mores while some talented and ‘mature’ looking fellow strums a guitar for a singalong.

Pat Blythe: The Women of Rock – Part Four

Hello everyone. Let’s give a warm welcome to Debbie and Cyndi. Two unique women who dance to their own drummers and whose talents encompass a variety of musical fields in two decidedly different decades. These ladies can pop and rock, disco down or jazz it up, sing the blues, or pour their soul into a ballad. Their many talents run the full gamut and they have led the way for a new kind of woman in music, adding their own twist and turns to rock and roll. Quirky, outrageous, individualistic, sexy, ballsy, entertaining, exuberant, clever, brilliant, artistic and really, really smart.

Roxanne Tellier – Who’s Sorry Now?

Is it just me, or does it seem like every week – every day, even – of 2015 to date has been rife with some new horror, political revelation, or  scandal involving everyone from the guy on the street to a British royal?

JAIMIE VERNON – I’D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING

I’ve got a shitload of CDs to review sitting on my desk – Bob Menzies’ “One More Highway”, Goddo’s “The Pretty Bad Boys Return” (which is also a DVD), Half Past Four’s “Good Thing” and Klaatu’s “Sir Army Suit” re-issue (also with DVD). I have had no time to sit and listen to any of these with the attention and intent I always reserve for my reviews because of a million personal things going on right now – not the least of which is a day gig. To give the music a cursory listen would be an insult to the artists who put blood, sweat and cashola into seeing these things to fruition. Sometimes it takes years to get a disc off the ground. I owe the creators more than 5 minutes of listening to them.

Roxanne Tellier: I Like Dreaming …

Those who know me too well say I’m an “insta crash.” I have the ability to fall asleep in the most awkward of places and the strangest of times. It’s a gift.

And I dream. I dream in colour, the dreams have plot lines, no matter how insane, and if I don’t like my dream, I can wake up, figure out how to change the plot, and fall back asleep to finish off the story. In the words of that insipid 1977 Kenny Nolan song, I like dreaming. And I do it very well.

Nadia Elkharadly: Don’t forget the Lyrics

Music is such an amazing thing.  It can tell a story with the pluck of a string, the beat of a drum, the sound of a voice, and of course, the combination of all of those things with words: stories, poetry; in short, lyrics.  Words set to music; it’s such a simple, even a common concept.  But sometimes, maybe even more often than not, these words, the lyrics to even the most popular songs go unlistened to, overlooked, even…ignored.