Norman's Rockwell

Happy Birthday, Huckleberry Finn! My music video for "Huckleberry Finn" turns one today! It's an antebellum slice of my life at this point.  Since I didn't get to promote it properly the first time around, (one show and out) set yourself down a spell by the virtual riverside and cool your h eels with me and enjoy it all over again. Perhaps it will hit 5K views. It's still an amazingly produced track (thanks, Adam Marsland) and a fun video to watch (thanks, Andrew Shuford). And I see the good-lookin' kid in the video and say: I remember him. Sip some sweet tea and dig "Huckleberry Finn."

30 years ago tonight, my mother took some friends and me to see the King of Pop, Michael Jackson and the Jacksons at the Gator Bowl. It was the second (and final) time that I saw him perform with his brothers in person. The first time being the very first concert I ever attended at the Front Row in Cleveland back in the Iron Age. The Victory tour was an Event. It could have been called the Thriller tour; but Mike was being charitable. The brothers were more than capable, but everyone was there to see "Billie Jean" performed live. Period. Even as Thriller fever was about to be Purple Eclipsed and Borne out of the USA, MJ was still turning everything to gold with "P.Y.T.," "Say, Say, Say," "State of Shock" & "We Are The World" which made the globe mental the next year. Michael did not disappoint even though he looked tiny from our seats. This wasn't my first stadium concert. I had already seen the Beach Boys at old Cleveland ...

30 years ago today Prince and the Revolution unleashed the soundtrack album 4 a movie called Purple Rain. My (musical) life changed 4ever. The whole world of high school, MTV and beyond became paisley, purple gospel, girls and fuzzed out gu itars in 1984. Move over Michael Jackson. It inaugurated the Purple Reign of Prince. Purple Rain is rightly considered a masterpiece. I have my original vinyl, poster intact. I made several cassette copies of Purple Rain that I wore out. So many highlights on that record, the album opener, Let's Go Crazy; Baby I'm a Star; I Would Die 4 U; The Beautiful Ones; When Doves Cry and Purple Rain. And it's an Oscar winner. That's right! People forget that Prince and the Revolution took home the Academy Award for best Song Score. All from the LP that ultimately resulted in the parental advisory sticker. Purple Rain has lost none of its power in 30 years. It is melodic, heavy, groovy, melancholy and uplifting. Dig Prince and his new band 3rdEy...

The following mini-blogs were posted on my facebook page before and after attending Barry Gibb: Mythology the Tour at the Hollywood Bowl. The show was amazing. Barry was on a short list of living performers/heroes I had yet to experience in concert. The list is now narrowed down to one David Bowie. But now, the man of the hour is the biggest single influence the second half of my musical career, Barry Gibb... Dispatch 1, From June 3rd: Tonight, I have been listening to maximum BeeGees because tomorrow night, it's Barry F'n Gibb at the Hollywood Bowl! No, I am not mad about the Barry Gibb Talk Show. It's where Fallon finally won me over on SNL. But tomorrow it's Barry's Mythology Show, his own tribute to his brothers and his own fabulous musical catalog of hits. "Night Fever" is one of my 5 favorite records of all time. Main Cou rse & Saturday Night Fever are among my 25 favorite LPs of all time, with Idea, Spirits Having Flown, Children of the World ...

Eight years ago today, my band Rush Hour Soul embarked on its first tour of the United Kingdom. It was an exhilarating time. Not only did we perform a slate of shows, we had a recording date at Monnow Valley Studios in Wales and a music video to shoot for A Talent For Loving in London. We played all over the North of England (oop North) in towns like Sheffield, Huddersfield, Barnsley and York. I did the driving on the "other" side of the road. Talk about adventures. The highlight was a series of shows in Liverpool, including the historic Cavern Club, as a part of the International Pop Overthrow Festival. As a Beatles fanatic, it was incredibly meaningful and moving to play their hometown, trod their streets and to visit their childhood homes. So many indelible moments that I shared with Bryan and Doug; and Patty and Molly, our touring party. Even as time, space and life has separated the group, that magical season is ours forever. I am thankful for them and I still lov...

All 'BOARD! In honor of National Train Day next Saturday, I thought I would rattle off 14 of my favorite tracks about riding the rail. Mystery Train - Junior Parker or Elvis Presley Last of the Steam Powered Trains - The Kinks One After 909 - The Beatles Subway - Bee Gees Night Train - James Brown Ghost Train - Gorillaz Love Train - O'Jays It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes A Train to Cry - Bob Dylan Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight and the Pips The Day We Caught The Train - Ocean Colour Scene The Loco-Motion - Grand Funk Railroad The Last Train To Clarksville - The Monkees Downtown Train - Tom Waits I've Been Working on the Railroad - Pete Seeger Mystery Train is hands down the best; and you can flip a coin for which version. What Am I Doin' Hangin' Round? by the Monkees is another one I love, but the train is in the lyric not the title. Train in Vain by the Clash is a heavy favorite, but the lyric is not about trains. And Grand...

I really gravitated to Britpop from '94-'97. It was my thing; an antidote to hair metal and grunge. Alt-indie bands like Jellyfish and Weezer piqued my curiosity, but nothing grabbed me at the time like this 3rd British Invasion. This wave was more indebted to Paul Weller and The Kinks than the Beatles or the New Romantics. Here they came with thicker accents than ever. So, salute to blur's landmark album Parklife which turns 20 today (April 25). Most of you may only know blur - yes, small "b" - for Girls & Boys (see video via link) which was the first and only stateside hit from Parklife . And then, you may only know the band from their brisk rocker Song 2, which my old band Bat Country used to cover at the turn of the century. I can remember seeing the Girls & Boys video for the first time back when MTV still aired them, thinking, "My God, what is this? This is ridiculous. Please play this again." I found the CD in the used bins at a loc...