Tonight I’m absolutely exhausted. I worked on cleaning my garage knowing tomorrow it’s one year since my move to New York. From 9am till 10pm, the work stopped little.. the kids finished school, we did a ice cream soda night at the local library and here I am. It’s 11:45 and I’m compelled to write. Many times I’ve found this is the best time to write.. while fighting sleep, but really there’s so much to say.
I found out tonight through my neighbor Michael Jackson died. It was only after I lugged 4 bags of trash, and one container of recycling to the curb. I had NO idea of the happenings due to the intense rational of getting my work done, but was in entire shock after the news. Yes, he was young- only 50 and although in the past 10 years my enjoyment in his backwards walkin character waned, you have to face facts- he is one talented mother fucker. ALWAYS respected his creative side and his ability to pump out hit after hit. Growing up listening to him (in retrospect) has been a gem.
When I moved before attending my seventh grade, I knew little about music. Back then it was the whole Disco VS Rock thing and my sixth grade was in a school which had a make up of 50-60% black. I grew up with all the black comedies: “Good Times”, “What’s Happenin”, “Fat Albert”, “The Jeffersons” and many others. I got familiar with many groups of the disco era on account of my older sisters who were avid listeners. I grew attached to the music of the Jackson Five. Well, when I moved into a middle class white area I attended a school with a make up of probably 5-10% black kids.
I remember being in the boys locker room and a friend of mine- Les- asks me (as the new kid) what I listened to. Well, I said the Jackson Five…… WRONG thing to say….. He says, “are you kiddin me?”, he proceeds to yell across the boys locker room, “Hey- can you believe Steve likes the Jackson Five???” Everyone laughed…. and I shriveled up embarrased as hell. It was then I took note of music, and learned about rock groups at the time. Next time he approached me, I told him I liked Styx and it slid by. NO humilation. Kids are cruel… but so adults can be too.
I remember in an interview with Alice Cooper- ROCK God and dark guy- that during his time in the 70’s he’d do a show decked in dark mascara and horror makeup, but when he reached the limo after, with of course the dark tinted windows- alone- he’d request the chauffer to turn on disco…. ALICE COOPER listened to disco!! In the dark secrets that make Alice Cooper- he understood there is a quality to music which allows you to appreciate TALENTED performers, regardless of the TYPE of music. It wouldn’t surprize me if he listened to Michael Jackson because as weird as the guy was, he was MEGA talent.
In the late 1980’s I had the opportunity to see Michael Jackson or Prince. I was torn between the two. One played Madison Square Garden in NYC and the other Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands in New Jersey. My choice was to see the Purple one over the King of Pop. It was a fantastic show from what I remembered, but I somehow felt jipped I didn’t go to see Jackson. It was when he reunited with his brothers as the Jacksons. I was in a phase of denial it was a show to see- a reincarnation of the Jackson Five all grown. We all regret something and to me, I’m sorry I never got to see the gloved one. Yes, his music was powerful. Before the hits of Thriller, there were so many- Off the Wall. Rollerskating to “Want to be starting something”, “Don’t Stop till you Get Enough”, and “Rock with You”. Even as late as his hit “Scream” with Janet… guy was a super talent.
Often there is a place where super creative people go and in their spin towards the greatness- creativity and exploration take them to an area, others can’t comprehend. At least the majority of “normal” people can’t understand how they can get so twisted up. I’ll never claim to know what twists and turns this soul took to get there, but no matter how you cut it- guy dies a Fuckin superstar.
I must admit, the shock was a denial. I mean the guy was soooo fuckin young. HAD his problems, but with those problems his therapy through music was probably going to give the world another dimension to the man. Some people NEED to produce and because he’d been denied a childhood, I’m sure much of his output was done as the need to actually DO it. Many artists NEED to do their creative work as the result of something lacking in their own psyche.
Anyways, today is a sad day. I liked Michael Jackson and his music for I can honestly say decades. Before all the SHIT came up. So where ever you may rest Michael- we appreciate the times. Rest in Peace.
Well, it’s June 24th and I’ll be DAMNED if I know what’s happened to time. Seconds to minutes, minutes to hours, hours to days and where does it end? Yes it’s finite- life is finite and to make the most of it, one must realize all things end up there. I like to think I make the most of those seconds, hours, days capturing life as it passes. I do my best to seize opportunity and when it comes to scheduling- I again, attempt to put things in perspective. Everyone has commitments to one thing or another and in order to make your own important ones, planning is essential. “Wingin it” as ya get older rarely works when it comes to personal projects and other people. Anyways, I’ve been putting off this blog, like any thing which you know you have to do, but find yourself waiting for the inspiration. Often that comes when you’re doing the activity you do. Take our last session for example.
A few weeks back I joined forces with Mighty JV for some recording sessions. I went in determined to do a few funk tunes- in fact, I had a whole vision of what was to be done. In prior sessions, things got carried away with drinkin and bullshitting that what could have been done really didn’t wasn’t brought together. When the drive hits you, take it! This time, I pressured myself by waiting through the day into early evening and purposely getting caught in rush hour traffic to heighten my sense of pressure. We group for one evening between commitments. It took 3 hours to get there, but we went right into work, charged. As it happens we started to toy with a hard rock riff, and with our love of that music- “Spindle” was formed. An INCREDIBLE rock tune which lyrically, I couldn’t be happier with and a rock guitar solo which could BLOW YA outta the water. In retrospect, I’ve started to toy with forming a rock CD. We certainly have enough tunes and good ones- we may burn to new side project- but that’s another story. We put together a few tunes for a movie called “Meteorite for the Mantlepiece”- to be placed in it’s score. The director was thrilled with the surprize, because we’ve been so busy ourselves, we haven’t had much time to work on it. Hopefully (fingers crossed), that will complete the score and we can move into our own motion forward.
JV has his hands full with the Electro Faustus. A machine which generates sound and accents a bands capacity to compose music. It’s really an interesting device and has similar tones to a theremin. You can see the Electro Faustus on myspace in our top ten friends. As for me, I’ve done a little poetry but have been aching to get back to the novel writing. Since my writer seminar, I’ve had little time to work on the re-edit of my past manuscript or my new book which I haven’t been able to contribute to for some time. It’s a frustrating thing. Having kids complicates matters when it comes to time and they are finishing school this week. The summer I can only get small projects done, as most of you with kids understand. I have arranged for a rehearsal with the guys for the end of July to rock the studio. We haven’t gotten together since May 2008!
Recently, I met a phenominal sculptor named Najim Chechen who lives in upstate New York. A talented guy with fabulous vision. We met for coffee and discussed numerous ideas including the formation of “art oriented” towns. These are basically, towns which start off as poor neighborhoods but with the influx of various artists, change through way of vision. Artists always start the movements which bring change. Outside thinkers, intellectuals and believers can make things work- its how all towns turn around. There are several in this area, which could be turned around over the next 5-10 years in really fantastic ways. He wants to create a society of sculptors who motivate each other, who can teach and bring a unity. We all need that sort of thing and as I mentioned above- there’s a need for planning when it comes to this.
The Hudson Valley is celebrating the 400 anniversary of Henry Hudson’s exploration of the Hudson. I understand they built a replica ship for the occasion which is docked in Albany. There are activities going on here which I need to look into. Exploration is the cornerstone to any creative event. Just this past week I got to explore a tiny section of Albany thanks to musician Jefferson Thomas. Originally, an Albanyan- he opened for the Outlaws at an open festival. I did a little work for him with video cameras. The show was phenominal and they were right ON, despite the poor weather and the change in the line up (he was to open for the Marshall Tucker Band who had to cancel last minute for personal reasons). There will be some footage which will come out of that, maybe even reach youtube. I’ll keep you updated.
I must say I think we’ve changed positions with Seattle, cause the rain just can’t seem to get the HELL outta here. Last I heard we were up to 8 inches for this month and that was probably a week ago, while Seattle has been dry as a bone. We are expecting sun for the weekend, but I may have just jinxed us, so keep your fingers crossed. One things for sure, the green is everywhere!
There’s plenty of more things to go over, but that will come in more blogs shortly. For now I just had to “get my feet wet”. Hope you’re all well, and doing fine… Keep listenin and readin. Thanks!
Steve