If you like sixties pop with a modern edge, try Sharlene Spiteri. The ex lead singer of the band Texas has a cd called MELODY on which she seems to be channelling Dusty Springfield in a really good way. It's retro, cool and hip.
There's a great, FREE, LEGAL mashup ep from Metermaids who've taken Illinoise (the Sufjan Stevens recent classic) and revinvented it as Nightlife in Illinoise by mixing it together with their own Nightlife release. It's a strange but workable combination of rap beats and sonic landscapes.
Metermaids are a fresh hip hop combo that have been getting a lot of attention recently in the digital world. They're bubbling under on several fronts. It's not for everyone, but give it a try...
Check out the download at www.metermaidsnyc.com
If you call your new album 'Backwoods Barbie' you're obviously not taking yourself too seriously. But Dolly Parton is no joke. She might laugh at herself but it's all the way to the bank.
Apparently she's also known as 'the iron butterfly'.
She's the most successful female country artist ever. 25 Number One country singles. 42 Top 10 Country albums. More than 155 million records sold. 600 songs published and 37 BMI awards for them. 7 Grammy Awards and 42 nominations. 3 American Music Awards and 18 nominations. 2 Academy Award nominations. Golden Globe nomination. She's been a touring success, a recording success, a film and television star and a tv producer. Hell, she even set up a wig company!
She's Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus' godmother and frequent guest star on the hit show..
Dolly has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And the world's first cloned sheep was named after her.
Of course, she's also a huge philanthropist. She set up the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to help encourage reading ... it mails a new book to pre-schoolers every month until they enter kindergarten. So far it's given away more than 2.5 million books. She has been named a 'Living Legend" by the Library of Congress and was the first person, rather than organisation, to receive Good Housekeeping's Seal of Approval.
She has her own theme park "Dollywood" which has brought employment, renewal and revenue to what was a seriously depressed region in America.
Did we mention her rumoured $6 million in royalties off Whitney's version of "I will always love you" ?
Her album's on both emusic and itunes.
So here's the thing... you've got Elvis. OK? Now, you've got Elvis imitators. Still with me... Then there's electronica and remixes and mashups. Starting to get the picture? It's not to say this is all good, but it's not to say it's bad either. It's just what it is and that's FUN. Spoken "Elvis-like" intros with a whole lot of fresh beats. OK, it's never going to win a Grammy. But hey, it's like fish and chips that you know you shouldn't eat, but that taste great at the time. King Junior - a tribute to the King. What more is there to say.
You can check him out at www.kingjunior.com or at emusic.com What's more, if you like him, you can buy the clothing, the coffee cup, mouse pad, clock or even the King Junior teddy bear.
M A S T E R B L A S T E R
We saw Stevie Wonder in concert a couple of months ago. He was great. Just like you'd expect. Fairly much exactly what you'd expect. right down to the head nodding like one of those dogs in the back window of an old car ...
The last time Stevie Wonder was scheduled to play in Christchurch it rained.
I mention that because it was over twenty years ago, well before the Westpac Trust Centre, in the days of the big outdoor concerts - Neil Diamond and Rod Stewart at QEII, Elton John at Addington Showgrounds, U2 & B.B. King, Tina Turner and Billy Joel at Lancaster Park. Anyway, the rains came and Stevie didn't.
Back then, in the early 80's, Stevie Wonder was a still a major force on popular radio. Despite having being around since being a kid, he was cranking out the hits and a stalwart of the record industry. These days he's moved much more into that 'living legend' space where you keep your profile up by being a mentor on American Idol and jazz musicians do instrumental tribute albums to your music. "I thought he was dead," said my eleven year old. "No," I replied, "...but it must get hard to compete with your own legacy."
After all, Stevie's own career started when he was just eleven.
This man has sold more than 150 million units, had more than 30 top ten hits, won 26 Grammy Awards dating from 1974 - 2007, received an Academy Award for best song and has been ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as #15 on the 100 Greatest Rock and Roll Artists of all time.
In the early days he hung round Motown, played a mean harmonica and recorded with a young Marvin Gaye, toured with Smokey Robinson and other stars in the Motor Town Revue and became what Diana Ross described as "Motown's musical genius". Little Stevie Wonder, as he was known then, recorded albums like his "Tribute to Uncle Ray" (Charles, of course).
By the seventies he'd added synthesisers and forged a unique musical direction of his own, creating influential album after influential album and, really, setting the tone for the much of the music of that decade. His five albums of the early seventies are now all regarded as classics. In fact, Kayne West was recently quoted as saying that he wasn't competing against artists now, but trying to top Stevie's albums from back then. Songs like "Living for the city" were so cool and groundbreaking they turned the music scene around. When you went to listen to a new stereo system in a hi-fi shop they always played his music. That's why so many stars from Michael Jackson to Mariah Carey, Mary J Blige, Beyonce and Justin Timberlake cite him as one of their major influences.
The Bo Derek braids and African-style kaftans aside, the eighties saw more commercial success, classic soul ballads and the reggae/jammin' funk that has since become synonymous with his name (along with a couple of cloying megahits that are best brushed over). Since then he's popped up here and there and collaborated with other friends and artists.
His disctinctive harmonica playing has appeared on Chaka Kahn's 'I feel for you', the Eurythmics' 'There must be an angel", Elton John's 'I guess that's why the call it the blues', the Dionne Warwick led aids-fundraiser 'That's what friends are for', Sting's 'Brand New Day' and a whole host of others including tracks by Andrea Bocelli, Barbra Streisand, Snoop Dog and Dr Dre. If he did nothing else, that would be enough. It's more than most can achieve.
But no, he's a force.
He 's been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall Of Fame and, amongst many others, wrote 'Until you come back to me (that's what I'm going to do)' for Aretha Franklin and 'Tears of a Clown' for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.
His last album, 2005's "A Time For Love", featured Prince, En Vogue and India Arie, while his recent appearance on Tony Bennett's duets album garned him his latest Grammy award.
Huge accomplishments for anyone, but you've also got to remember that Stevie Wonder has been blind since birth. He was a black kid in Detroit who taught himself how to play drums and harmonica and worked his way from there to being an international icon. He's reinvented himself and his music several times and proven an inspirational role model, political activist and humanitarian. Barrack Obama, US Presidential candidate, says "If I had one musical hero, it would have to be Stevie Wonder". (True to form, President George Bush was caught giving the famous blind performer a happy wave when he walked onstage at a gala in 2002!)
If our lives had soundtracks, so many of them would include a few of his hits. Let's start with 'For once in my life', 'My Cherie Amour' and 'Signed, sealed, delivered - I'm yours'. Now, imagine the 70's without 'Superstition' or 'You are the sunshine of my life'. Or the eighties without... no, please, no, not "I just called to say I love you".
His last tour, A Wonder Summer's Night, was his first full concert tour in ten years, dedicated to his mother who died a couple of years ago and provided much of his inspiration - including, as folklore has it, the phrase 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered - I'm yours".
This time, I was glad he made it. I took my kid to show him what he can achieve if he starts now.
I wasn't really surprised to hear that HRH had an ipod. Good on her. I'm not sure what she's into and the Royal Variety Performances wouldn't give you much of a clue. Well, one would hope that's one's grooving along to something different to that, wouldn't one? I can imagine some Rat Pack. Tom Jones maybe. Dame Shirley Bassey. Maybe some ambient or classical....
I've refound my Mary Coughlan collection. I listened to her so much that I went away from it for a while and it's even better rediscovering some of my all time favourite tracks. I so like Mary. And she's fun as a person too. Her version of "Ain't nobody's business" with the tango in it is top of my list. Then there's "Black Coffee", "I'd rather go blind" and so many more... Although she could probably sing the phone book and I'd still be a fan. If you haven't checked her out, you need to. It's music with real heart.
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