A tribute to an Icon

June 25th was a sad day around the world. We lost a great man, an Icon. He was innovative and always seemed ahead of the musical game. He's dance moves are not like any other and it's going to be hard to imitate him. His video for Thriller was way ahead of it's time and is still, in my opinion, the best video ever made. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyJbIOZjS8 I remember rollerskating to P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) and Say, Say, Say a duet with Paul McCartney. When Thriller came out I remember the red jacket with the black V being very popular and a few kids at school had one. They thought they were so cool. And the piano shirt from Beat It was the thing to have. Some of his videos played out like mini movies.

His love for children is well known and he did amazing things for children's charities. He was eccentric, unusual, talented in many ways and the world was fascinated by him. His moonwalk was legendary and imitated everywhere. His songs were very well written and you can't help but sing along with them as everybody knows them. He will be greatly missed as the music industry now a days just doesn't have the power players that it did back in the day (I just sounded like my dad). Regardless of your opinion of the man you have to agree that he was a musical genius. I saw him as a shy person, not comfortable with people only comfortable when performing.

Artist Of The Week

CAGE THE ELEPHANT

http://www.cagetheelephant.com/

Cage The Elephant is: Matt Shultz (vocals) / Brad Shultz (guitar) / Daniel Tichenor (bass) /
Lincoln Parish (guitar) / Jared Champion (drums)

Mel's Review:

Rating:

I first discovered Cage The Elephant on iTunes. Their song 'Ain't No Rest For The Wicked' was their free download of the week, so of course I downloaded it and was instantly infatuated. I could hear a tinge of White Stripes and Becky pointed out their similarities to The Ramones. But don't be fooled, this band definitely rocks out with their own unique and funky style.

Known for their wild stage antics, these boys hail from Kentucky and you can definitely hear the southern rock influence in their jams. This band has successfully captured their garage band days in the studio which makes the CD all that more appealing. No synthesized studio editing here, their sound is rebellious and raw which makes them a choice listening selection for me.

When I listen to their self titled debut, I’m thrown back to my party days where the alcohol flowed freely and you could cut the smoke in the room with a knife. Ah, those were good times.

So whether you’re road trippin' like Bec or you’re looking for some decent party tunes, I highly recommend checking out Cage the Elephant, I know you won’t be disappointed.

My song recs: Tiny Little Robots, Free Love, In One Ear

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Bec's Review:

Rating:

Mel asked me if I had ever heard Cage the Elephant, and when I said no, she gave me her cd to listen to. From the very first song I was hooked and had to go get my own copy. You can hear the influences from The Ramones, Killers, White Stripes and a little bit of Kid Rock. I recently took a road trip and listenend to this cd non stop to my destination and back home. This is their self titled debut and I really hope they release more stuff, this is great. My favorite songs:

In One Ear
Ain't No Rest for the Wicked
James Brown
Tiny Little Robots

All About Mel

*waves* Hi! Yup, that's me, Melissa. I'm a mom of two teenage boys who share my love of music. Like Bec, my interests in music are very eclectic. I like music for many different reasons, sometimes it's for the lyrics, sometimes for the instrumentals and sometimes I'm simply attracted to the originality of an artist...I tire of not being able to distinguish one band from the next. My earliest influences were 80's icons such as Prince, Madonna and Michael Jackson and I will still turn the volume all the way up and sing my heart out when I hear their early stuff - Little Red Corvette, Like a Virgin, Billy Jean - fucking classics! As I entered my teen years my music taste graduated from 80's pop to 80's 'hair bands'. Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Cinderella, Guns-N-Roses...guys with long hair and tight pants, wearing more make-up than me....*sigh*....I miss the 80's. By the late 80's I was fully into Metal and somehow managed to avoid whiplash from all the concerts I attended. Some of my fav 80's Metal bands were Metallica, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Judas Priest and of course Ozzy. In the 90's I went through the whole grunge/alternative trip, expanding my tastes to bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam & The Smashing Pumpkins. Today I enjoy everything from pop to rap to techno to alternative to rock. Pretty much the only genre you won't catch me listening to is Country. Sorry Country music fans, it just doesn't float my boat.

All About Bec

That's me (top left) and my twin Michelle.

About me, well, I'm a proud Auntie of two wonderful nieces. I've been described as feisty, fun loving and loud (but in a good way). I love all kinds of music. From the old Crooners to new stuff. I have a very eclectic collection. Some of my favorite bands are: Aerosmith, Killers, Nickelback and Bowling for Soup. A few of my favorite singers are: Dean Martin, Tracy Chapman, Frank Sinatra and Alan Jackson just to name a few. I'm always on the look out for new stuff and will listen to anything except rap. To me that's not real music, it's just annoying.