Last night’s “American Idol” results show was a grueling hour long, but at last, we are down to the final 12. As they have been doing the last few seasons, they had 12 seats and filled them one by one, slowly working their way to who was being eliminated this week.
But first, last season’s runner-up, Blake Lewis, performed his new single, “How Many Words.” As you would expect, it was heavy on the beatboxing. But the song’s chorus absolutely soars. Then, after giving some love to Paula Abdul for having the #1 song on iTunes right now, it was on to the lengthy recaps of the last two nights.
Finally, Ryan Seacrest faced the guys and started to swing the axe. First up, David Cook, who sang that great version of Lionel Ritchie’s “Hello” on Tuesday. Seacrest said he spoke to Ritchie, who admitted he loved David’s version of the song. Cook was Continue reading »
Last night, the ladies took the stage on “American Idol” and for the most part, were a bit disappointing when compared to the guys the night before. Simon Cowell said it at the end of the show, and he’s absolutely right. Still, a couple of them stood out and should have no problem advancing this week. Here is how it went down….
THE GOOD
Amanda Overmyer is back. No more light-socket hair, ridiculous outfits or over-the-top-sausage-fest classic rock. Amanda sang Joan Jett’s “Hate Myself For Loving You,” and it was maybe her best performance on the show to date. She even looked really good. I’m telling you people, this girl is a rock star if she holds it together. Anyway, Randy said “that’s the Amanda we know and love,” Paula said she picked the right song, and Simon said it was “fantastic” and one of his favorites of the first few rounds so far. And remember, dude was not a fan last week.
Last night kicked off this week’s installment of “American Idol” with the guys going first, and the theme was ’80’s music. There have certainly been some surprise song choices the first few rounds, but last night almost every choice was out of left field. And some of the guys sounded awesome, while others did not….at least two of the Davids will sail through, but you already knew that.
And they did a bit about the contestants’ most embarrassing moments before they sang…but aside from David Hernandez’ giant booger story, they were all forgettable, so we’ll leave that alone. With that, let’s go to the videotape…..
Paul Shaffer might play the part of the oft-befuddled but always fawning bandleader to perfection on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” but the guy’s a musical legend. He spent 1975 to 1980 as the musical director of “Saturday Night Live” band, did the same duty for The Blues Brothers, is regularly called upon to provide backing for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, and, of course, played Artie Fufkin in “This is Spinal Tap.” He’s also a songwriter (he co-wrote “It’s Raining Men,” you know) and, on rare occasions, he’s even stepped out and been a recording artist in his own right. In 1990, Shaffer released an all-star collaborative effort entitled Coast to Coast, where he attempted to take listeners on a cross-country musical expedition which blended different musical genres, often within a single song. The album’s first single was a little ditty called “When the Radio Is On,” and when Shaffer premiered the track on “Late Night with David Letterman,” I was watching in awe as the breathtaking harmonies washed over me.
The first couple of minutes of this clip are strictly Shaffer introducing his crew for the song, so if you want to skip ahead to the 2:26 mark, I’ll save you the time by providing you with the roll call: Will Smith (then still known solely as The Fresh Prince), Daddy O (Stetsasonic), Jay Siegel (The Tokens), Johnny Maestro (The Crests, The Brooklyn Bridge), songwriter Ellie Greenwich, actress Carol Kane (filling in for Carole King, ho, ho), and the King of the New York Streets himself, Mr. Dion DiMucci.
As Shaffer describes it, “It’s doo-wop, it’s hip-hop, it’s a nutty thing.” Me, I’m not saying the song’s perfection, mostly because Shaffer shouts his vocal contributions, but the overall enthusiasm is downright contagious…which, I suspect, is why I still have Coast to Coast in my record collection.
Yes, we know that writing about music is like dancing about architecture (even if we’re not convinced that Elvis Costello said it first), but let’s be realistic: if you’re a music fan who likes to read, you can achieve a very special level of bliss when you get the opportunity to dive into a book about music. The Bullz-Eye staff knocked their heads together and came up with a list of 45 books that span several musical genres and include autobiographies and biographies, histories of record companies and music magazines, essay collections, and straight-up reference tomes. It’s not intended to be all-encompassing, nor would we presume to call it a definitive list of the best music books of all time. It’s simply a selection of some of our personal favorites, none of which would be out of place on a music fan’s bookshelf…and you can find it right here.
We also got some of the authors in on the fun, as well as some of our favorite musicians, which resulted in enough responses from folks from Kyle Vincent to Henry Rollins to warrant Rock of Pages: Celebrity Edition.
But we know: we’ve missed one (or more) of your favorites. We always miss one (or more) of your favorites. So call us out already and leave a comment. We can always use another addition to our Barnes & Noble shopping list…
