Recently in Coup de Stereo Category

 
I actually spaced out on Bing Crosby's essential record, White Christmas, and his recording of "White Christmas" remains the biggest-selling single in all of pop history. But based on people's comments, the mighty Elvis Presley and the Jackson 5 still get pulled out the most when the snow starts to fall. I completely agree on the Elvis standing; he succeeds in making Saint Nick sexy and dangerous in "Santa Claus Is Back in Town." While there is just no denying the joy that the Jackson 5 bring to the holidays, I have to open things up to the entire Motown stable of blissful holiday music.

While you go over the list, feel free to listen to my Holiday Music Rhapsody radio station. Jazzers may want to go over to Cool Yule, while the college kids may want to check out Merry Indie Xmas! or share Rock and Soul Christmas with their families.

One of the pleasures of being a member of Rhapsody is getting to go nuts with holiday music one month out of the year. Thanks to Mike McGuirk, Eric Shea and Nate Cavalieri for donning elf caps and helping me out on a few of these.

Back in the late 1970s, every adult rock fan cried foul whenever one of their heroes released something with a dance beat. Today, almost all of the songs from that strange era actually hold up pretty well. The Bee Gees had already transitioned into an R&B outfit when Saturday Night Fever turned them into the biggest band on the planet. That said, they, like Rod Stewart, did not really survive the disco era with their reputations intact. I am not sure exactly why "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" was considered such an egregious sin that all of Rod's pure rock solo albums (and records with The Faces) suddenly became null and void.

Other bands -- like ELO (who actually merged The Beatles with the Bee Gees a number of times), The Clash and Kiss -- could go disco at will and were always thought of as rock acts (or even punk rock acts!). As it stands, Kiss have the only song on the list that I actively dislike, and even its inflated ridiculousness, Giorgio Moroder-style production and attempted falsettos somehow make me happy that it exists. It makes Queen sound like Motorhead.

The world of Disney (and now Pixar) movie music is vast, but here are my choices for the 10 soundtracks that should enter your family collection first. The Jungle Book is the only Disney LP that I had growing up; the rest of these I discovered on Rhapsody. We have so many Disney and Pixar releases that they are even featured on their own Rhapsody radio station called Small Worlds & Magic Kingdoms.

If you read either of my Oscar blogs (one on Best Songs and the other on Best Original Music Scores), you'll know that Disney & Pixar are still leading the way when it comes to movie songs. If you ask me, Randy Newman alone definitely deserved to win for at least three Oscars his Toy Story tunes alone.

Don't forget: these and countless other soundtracks are yours to enjoy whenever and however you want with your Rhapsody subscription. If you don't have a subscription, click here to sign up for a free trial and see what we’re all about.

Have you seen the HBO show Treme? It does something that no other fictional TV show has done before -- it captures how music can enrich, enhance and give special meaning to life.

The show's setting, Tremé, is one of the oldest neighborhoods in New Orleans, the epicenter of American popular music, and therefore, global pop. It has long been a center for the city’s brass band tradition and a breeding ground for jazz musicians. The co-creators of Treme, David Simon (who is famous for using Baltimore as a setting in The Wire and Homicide: Life On The Streets) and New Orleans resident Eric Overmyer, concentrate on flavor, atmosphere and setting as much as they do on the narrative. The stories come out organically from this sense of place, which in turn affects the music the characters create and listen to. These are people who have decided to make their lives harder because they love New Orleans -- and music -- so much.

The show wisely casts local musical giants such as Dr. John, Donald Harrison, Jr. and the ever-dapper Allen Toussaint, though Kermit Ruffins, one of the founders of the Rebirth Brass Band, is the breakout personality of the bunch. We'll likely be seeing more of him on TV and film.

Many Rhapsody members seem to be taken with Treme; people like STGB are creating playlists filled with the fantastic, life-affirming songs heard on each episode. So I’ve picked out a few select albums from artists who are featured in the show (I assume that your Louis Armstrong hutch is all stocked, buffed to a shiny glow and set to follow you up into heaven). Professor Longhair is long departed but his influence will never end, while Trombone Shorty is a young star-in-the-making.

AMC's Mad Men is a show that people either love, hate or have never watched. We love it over here at Rhapsody's "all things 1950s and '60s" desk, and we even put together a playlist of songs from the show's first season, which was its most musically rich (so far). There are actually a couple of modern numbers mixed in here (including the show's theme song by RJD2), though mainly the playlist gives you a good idea of the E-Z listening jazz and pop that was a vital part of the early 1960s.

Play the Mad Men playlist now  and be sure to sign up for your free Rhapsody trial membership today.  

I was thinking about summer songs, and one that has nothing to do with beaches, lakes, waterfalls or convertibles popped into my head -- "Bicycle," Queen's immortal ode to physical education. This number rules.

It's only three minutes long but Freddie and the boys build it into something that feels like "Bohemian Rhapsody," only the lyrics bring up cycling, Star Wars, cocaine and Vietnam (Mercury doesn't seem to like two of these things very much). But I'll tell you what Freddie does like -- he likes riding his bicycle. He also enjoys riding it where he likes.

The song is from the Queen album Jazz and its other highlight is the awesome (almost Southern rocking) "Fat Bottomed Girls." This has what I like in a summer rock tune -- those slamming, simple hand-clapping glam drums and a great guitar riff. Freddie brings up bicycle riding in this one too but I think he may be inferring something else.

As a child I just took lyrics at face value and I'd still like to think that Mercury was just so into cycling when he cut this album that he just keeps bringing it up all the time.

When I bought the Jazz LP as a kid it came with a poster that combined the two songs with a photo of voluptuous ladies riding bicyles.

Even as a green elementary school student I questioned the hygiene of cycling naked, but after all of these years both songs still sound like summer to me.

If you want to hear many more sun-stroked songs, why not check out my Summer radio station? 

We are all fallible. Remember that.

A week back, I wrote about the old synth-pop hit "Safety Dance." I may even have said that the song is "basically retarded."

Then, I returned to my ancestral home of San Diego, CA. The family ventured from Imperial Beach up north to the luxurious city of La Jolla for a seaside picnic. Towards the end of the day, I was standing on a cliff with my 11-year old nephew watching his older brother body surf over treacherous rocks. Yes, I was much too cowardly to go in and tempt death on those rocks. This timid nature helps explain my chosen profession of rock critic. We are a meek, bespectacled bunch.

In general,  I don't know what you do when confronted with a relative defying death amidst a setting sun. Cry for help? Pray? Perhaps conquor by demons and dive in and drag the child out of the sea and suggest a game of cards instead? 

That day, I discovered what I would do. It turns out, in times of crisis, I start to sing "We can dance if we want to/ We can leave your friends behind..." -- Yes,  the opening lyrics to "Safety Dance."

I have no idea why I broke into robo-song, but here is the beautiful part. My nephew didn't miss a beat, he picked it up with "Cause your friends don't dance/And if they don't dance/Well, they're no friends of mine."

You know the drill. I take two complementary songs and let them duke it out in my brain until one song emerges triumphant and the other slinks off defeated.

In the early '80s, you could do pretty much anything as long as you danced to it. Take Men Without Hats' immortal 1983 No. 3 hit "Safety Dance." This song is about dancing safely. Attaining this level of safety, the lyrics tell us, entails ditching your nondancing friends. Man, nondancing friends are the worst -- they grow up to be rock critics.

That same year, Re-Flex took "The Politics of Dancing" to No. 24 on the U.S. charts. It's kind of hard to figure out what this one is about. Dancing to politics and feeling good about it, I guess. The lyrics ask authoritatively, "Is this message understood?" Don't question it ... just start dancing to politics and feelin' good!

Hmmm. This is a tough one.

"Safety Dance" has safety on its side. I have a fear of pain so that makes safety good. But, it's also by a Canadian band, which would now be a big plus but back in 1983, this was considered a minus. The song is also basically retarded. Yet, when you add a couple of decades to "retarded" you get a good thing ("Safety Dance" now sounds like Kanye West minus the vocoder).

"The Politics of Dancing" made rock critics and college students mad because it actually has nothing to do with politics. I guess that should be a bad thing, but nobody but rock critics and college students actually cares about the political content of songs. It also sounds halfway between the Fixx and the new edition of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (minus the Neanderthal haircut and the misplaced coolness factor).

I'm kind of leaning toward Re-Flex because I've been listening to both songs on "repeat" for a good while now and "The Politics of Dancing" is somewhat less annoying. I also like it when the singer asks "Is the message understood?" a whole lot -- it reminds me of getting lectured by my father about how to hang his tools back up in the garage.

Listen to both 37 more times and have an epiphany.

So, the loser is (drumroll) ... The Killers' "Human."

"Human" reminds me of Ultravox's "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes," another 1983 song about dancing, this time while crying your eyes out (very hard to do safely and even harder to do while feeling good). Plus, if you are going to ape Ultravox, you might as well go for the superior "Reap the Wild Wind" (what a great song!) and not "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes." The final factor to make the axe drop is that the Killers' "Human" actually dares to ask the question "Are you human or are you dancer?"

That could be the lamest song lyric I have ever heard in my entire life.

Come home, "Safety Dance" and "Politics of Dancing" -- all is forgiven.

The unflappable Palmer seemed to lead a charmed life. He even managed to avoid various hairstyle crimes throughout the 1970s. No other pop-star coiffure survived that decade unscathed.

One editor in the Rhapsody office has pointed out that perhaps Palmer just thinks bikinis are funny. He says that there is no real evidence that there are supermodels behind him. This is merely evidence that that editor's life blows in comparison to Robert Palmer's.

Maybe he hadn't yet ramped up to supermodels; Palmer seems to be taken with a blind or drunk or blind drunk lady with a questionable perm.

Rumors abound as to the identity of this (possibly abducted) female. Some say it is a pre-fame Laraine Newman, while others have speculated that it is Jackie O, hiding out from the hirsute shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

Either way -- your life blows next to Robert Palmer's blessed existence!

This may fall into the "too much information" category, but the strangest mix of magazines is to be found in the Rhapsody lounge. Farm Friendly, Dental Hygiene, Wireframe Weekly -- what do any of these rags have to do with music?

So, it was with great relief that I got to cozy up with a copy of Billboard last week. Man, you learn all kinds of stuff reading that magazine. For instance, Billy Joel will be celebrating his 60th birthday soon, and Dolly Parton is rocking with Cracker Barrel (the restaurant, not the Southern rock outfit).

The thing that really caught my eye was a sidebar to the Dave Matthews Band cover story. It lists the artists who've sold the most albums since 1991. The Beatles (bless 'em) still lead with over 57 million. Metallica are No. 2 two with almost 52 million. Pink Floyd have shifted over 35 million. U2 have racked up almost 34 million.

No. 9 on the list is the Dave Matthews Band -- they've sold almost 30 million albums. Add in Matthews solo and you get 33 million. I had no idea they were that massive. I can't tell you the title of one Dave Matthews song. Nothing against them, but I don't hear them often.

Here's what I've been thinking about -- U2 and the Dixie Chicks (rounding out the Top 10 with almost 27 million albums sold) get played on the radio all the time. But I can't think of the last time I heard either Metallica or Dave Matthews on FM rock radio.

Growing up, if any rock band sold over a million records they'd be played on FM and AM radio -- Pink Floyd and KISS played in between cuts by the Commodores and Kenny Rogers, for example.

Why have bands such as Metallica and Dave Matthews been banned from radio if they obviously have tens of millions of fans?? I don't know the answer to this, but it's probably an example of why terrestrial radio is dying. It's also an example of how much of a fan base touring can give you.

Green Day actually broke the curse of dying CD sales in 2004 with American Idiot (11 million and counting). Fantastic album, though they did it with plenty of help from radio. With CD sales decreasing every year, it'll be interesting to see the sales numbers for Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown after it's released this month, even if it's the huge hit it's expected to be.

Will Green Day knock Dave Matthews off the list? Matthews has a new album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, coming out next month. 

It's possible that the two acts share a lot of fans -- you'd just never know it by listening to the radio. 

Dave Matthews fans who are totally into it and one lady (far right) who is just kinda into it.

I've seen a slew of concerts in my day, but Monday night's Leonard Cohen extravaganza at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, Calif., was the first time I've seen an audience burst into a standing ovation in the opening seconds of the show.

A fedora-ed Cohen came out skipping like a tyke and dropped to his knees like Elvis in Vegas (just for the record, if I attempted to do either of these things, I'd end up in traction). He made dozens of old-people jokes and cracked wise about analog synths, penile dysfunction and the bible while his backup singers literally did cartwheels beside him (repeat: cartwheels!).

Cohen may have a songbook that is littered with depression and despair, but he's old enough to remember when people put on A SHOW. The guy is like a svelte, well-coiffed Mickey Rooney in a '40s musical. Cohen and his amazing backing band played two 90-minute sets, did numerous encores and had the audience laughing and cheering at lyrics such as "Everybody knows the fight was fixed/ The poor stay poor, the rich get rich."

Critics always mention Leonard Cohen's lyrics. That's because critics are writers -- they work with words. The most surprising thing about the show was what a fine vocalist the songwriter is. Cohen has stated that his best song is "Hallelujah," and he lavished the most vocal attention on it, employing his Voice of God baritone on the spoken verses and then swooping high and low on the joyous chorus.

After more than three hours, an indefatigable Cohen ended the show by thanking the lady who took care of the band's hats.

It was definitely one for the history books. If you missed it, you can listen to a recording of the recent London concert.

I've been out of the blog game for a while now but have been drawn out of my shell by all the scruffy, bearded kids who are walking barefoot on my lawn. Whatever happened to earning your beard in a shipwreck or a mining disaster?

Also, I've been noticing that every new indie, pop, R&B and country single that I hear either sounds like a discarded Cars  or Ultravox b-side. How can we have disgusting gold prospector beards and an '80s revival happening at the same time?

Speaking of analog synths, I am really digging the new live album from Leonard Cohen, age 73. An old world gentleman and songwriting genius, the sartorially elegant Cohen is the only person left standing who knows what a haberdashery is. Word is, he even has a haberdasher on retainer. The two-disc set also illustrates that Cohen's newer songs, such as "Tower Of Song," "In My Secret Life" and "A Thousand Kisses Deep" are going to be with us as long as his universally accepted acoustic classics.

As I always say -- the only people who make better music than old people are dead people. Unfortunately, we lost the great film composer Maurice Jarre yesterday. Jarre brought a new understatement and complexity to epic movie scores and had a special working relationship with the brilliant director David Lean. Jarre deserved the Oscars he won for scoring Lawrence of Arabia, A Passage to India and Doctor Zhivago (the soundtrack to this one even went to No.1 on the pop charts). We'll miss Maurice Jarre but are very glad to see that Leonard Cohen is still kicking out the well-coiffed jams!

Thanks for reading this on the Rhapsody blog -- it's been fun. I'm taking a nice long James Bond style vacation and will come up with something else for Play when I return.

I don't think I've ever written about Elvis Presley so here's one last quick entry of one of my favorite Elvis songs --  "If I Can Dream."

It's a bit unfair. America doesn't have any problem with rich, old white men running our country, our economy, our wars and our world.

But if an old rich white guy tries to put a record out everyone goes nuts, grabs their pitchforks, lights their torches, grabs an angry mob and wants to kill.

That's too bad. First off, have you heard the kind of music the kids are making lately? It's like the pop charts have some sort of Special Olympics exemption nowadays. Secondly, even Old White Men who have been out of the game for years/decades/eons have been chugging the Geritol and getting back into fighting shape lately.

On the top of my list is Paul McCartney, who released his first good entire album since....well in a long, long time (that said, Macca's been in an artistic upswing since 1997). Paul's Memory Almost Full doesn't do itself any favors by starting out with "Dance Tonight" but the CD really gels on the second cut. "Ever Present Past" kicks off with the statement, "I've got too much on my plate/Don't have no time to be a decent lover" (boy, how I long for the equally aged Mick Jagger to stop strutting around and start singing lines like that).

Like most cuts on Memory Almost Full, Paul plays everything on "Ever Present Past." He keeps the age/memory/impending death thing going with AARP approved tracks like "Vintage Clothes"   and other numbers.

One of the best things about living in San Francisco is all the free concerts you can go to.

A few years ago, we took off from work and went down to city hall to watch Devo play. I often walk my dog down to Amoeba Records and see great free shows by everyone from the Raconteurs and Badly Drawn Boy to Los Lobos and that couple from the movie Once.

It as such a nice, sunny day on Friday that I was thankful for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival giving me an excuse to go hang out in Golden Gate Park with the wife.

Put on by a local eccentric billionaire, the HSBF seems to get bigger every year. Friday shows used to be pretty quiet but this year it was already packed. We had unfortunately missed the indie pop band Augie March but Rhapsody's own Sassy Sarah Bardeen told us that they were tops.

We did get to see Buddy Miller, who even rocked the gospel music hard and brought up Allison Moorer (Shelby Lynne's stunning younger sister) tosing with him.

It was during Miller's set that the Blue Angels and other planes started flying over the park. For a minute there, I thought maybe the rest of the nation had decided to have all of us San Fran Freaks napalmed now that we were in one easy to find spot  Don't Fear, America --we're just like you only we call rock'n'roll and country music by the name "bluegrass."

Things really started to fill up after Miller's set with Ms. Moorer. It was an uncharacteristically long wait for

Styles come and go, but good music always endures no matter what style it was originally recorded in. So, while Miles Davis' 1950s recordings may have seemed passe in 1973, today they still sound amazingly fresh and vital.

That brings me to the Great Joni Mitchell Resurgence of the 2000s.

Have you noticed that Joni Mitchell is everywhere today? Having suffered through a loss of relevance during the 1980s and '90s, Joni is once again being listened to, raved about, and name-checked by today's fresh faces. And those influenced by her cuts across all musical genres, from jazz and soul to indie pop and adult alternative to something that was called freak-folk a couple of years back. No kidding -- I can't tell you how many celebrity playlists I've put together that feature Joni on them. And these are from artists who weren't even born the last time Ms. Mitchell had a hit single (that would be "Help Me" from way back in 1974).

First up this year was the aptly titled Tribute to Joni Mitchell, which features such ace numbers as Sufjan Stevens' doing "Free Man in Paris" and Prince's amazing cover of "A Case of You" (this one is so special that I made it a Rhapsody Song of the Day selection a couple of weeks back).

Then, last week I interviewed the great Herbie Hancock about his new album, River: The Joni Letters. I was actually so nervous talking to Herbie that it almost ruined the interview (jeez, was that humiliating). Thankfully, Herbie was so nice and patient that I managed to get it together and talk about Joni's music with him. He put together a beautiful musical tribute to his friend's songs.

There are many guests on the album, the most surprising of which is Tina Turner, who delivers an ocean deep reading of Joni's

OK, finally back from Big Sur, when I assisted in an epic grunion run. I had to take a nature break and rest up from all the big city concert going and hip-hop madness that is going around right now.

I did manage to squeeze in a couple of shows before I left though. I read a rave review of The Cinematic Orchestra's London concert in Mojo. I also like their mellow new album Ma Fleur quite a bit.

So, I went and checked them out over at Bimbo's. For their British tour, the Cinematic Orchestra had violins, cellos, vibraphones, backing films and a supporting cast of hundreds. While Bimbo's is undoubtedly the swankiest club in San Francisco, it doesn't have the capacity to hold that many people, so the band was stripped down to its core members. It was a solid mix of jazz, ambient rock and electronic music with echos of  what Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Miles Davis did back in the '60s. The sellout crowd dug it.

While Cinematic Orchestra are definitely more about mood than tunes, songs are something that the Canadian outfit the New Pornographers have in spades.

Though I've often loved such NP songs such as "The Laws Have Changed" (which, like a lot of their numbers, deserved major radio play) their albums can be too full of non-stop catchy hooks and smart pop goodness to take in all at once. Like with the Pernice Brothers, I often end up liking the New Pornographers better when I take them in one song at a time.

That's changed with their latest album, Challengers. From the start of "My Rights Versus Yours" I'm hooked into the album all the way through to the end of the set. This one just has a little breathing space on it between all the hooks and its made all the difference -- Challengers is one of the year's best albums.

I had seen the New Pornographers in concert a few years ago and they've only gotten better since then. Great show all around, with the Warfield's sellout crowd greeting the band like they were Cheap Trick playing Japan circa 1979. Whereas Neko Case once ruled the New Pornographers stage, now she and chief songwriter A.C. Newman have formed a real comedic partnership. She'd crack a joke and he'd follow it up and she's rejoiner and he'd mutter something ironically and then they go directly into another song. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- "Showmanship, People! Showmanship." The New Pornographers can now do it all -- some rock, some jokes, a little soft shoe. Just the way I like it.

The New Pornographers are now following up their roadshow with a new video contest over on youtube. Basically, they want you to film your silly dances or do a N.P. song parody or go on a grand journey to get a ring back. There seem to be many challenges they are issuing out there in cyberspace. So, head over to youtube and either compete for prizes or just join the fun. 

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Is that MTV Award stuff over with yet? Can I come out from under my desk and unplug my ears? Great! Because if I had to hear about Britney and Justin and Joe-Bob anymore I was gonna pack it in and move over to www.OldStuffWeLike.com.

Speaking of old stuff... did you see Clint Eastwood's laid-back documentary about Tony Bennett over on PBS? It was aces. Clint and co-writer Nick Tosches made it into a veritable celebration of all things pre rock'n'roll. Eastwood mixed in footage of Lady Day, Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Nat Cole and Louis & Bing (whose duet on "Now You Has Jazz" never fails to make me very happy) with Bennett's life story. Clint & Tony even did an entire segment on Johnny Carson's promotion of jazz before Eastwood brought out Marty Scorsese and Gay Talese to discuss historic Italian immigration patterns (something more music docs need to do, by-the-way). To top it off, Clint did a mellow Jimmy Durante impersonation and Alec Baldwin came on to talk about his SNL bit with Tony. As a bonus, Mel Brooks was also on the show (if Marty Feldman had returned from the grave and appeared on the show, my life would pretty much be complete)!

Basically, Eastwood used Bennett's life to showcase some of the best music and entertainment that 20th Century America gave to the world. Every time a song came on, Eastwood told you who wrote it and almost every time Tony sang, you'd get a montage of Bennett's influences and heroes (or shots from his entire 6 decades long career).

Back when Tony was celebrating his 80th birthday, I made up this playlist of Tony Bennett's best jazz-etched sides from the 1950s and '60s. Of course, it was never featured on Rhapsody -- we had some Britney and Justin and Joe-Bob to spotlight instead.

Excuse me, I gotta go slug down some Geritol and finish reading an article about contract bridge.

On Sunday night I was still on strict doctor's orders not to get my heart-rate up, not increase my blood pressure and not to move around to much (sadly, all of this -- like my many dog-vs-shark stories -- is completely true).

So what did I do? I grabbed my cane, slapped in my false teeth and took off to go see the reformed Crowded House in concert.

How good were Crowded House at Oakland's historic (and completely massive) Paramount theater?

They were great! Since I couldn't really clap too energetically, I tapped my cane against the ground to show solidarity with Neil Finn, Nick Seymour and crew.

The band is supporting their superb new album Time On Earth, which has went to No. 1 or Top 5 in Britain, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. It only went Top 40 in America, proving once again that there is something wrong with us.

New Crowded House songs such as "She Called Up", "Don't Stop Now" (one of two tracks on the album to feature the Smiths' Johnny Marr) and "Transit Lounge" mixed with old hits seamlessly. Another plus, was that the suicide of drummer Paul Hester (which got the band to reconnect after about 15 years) did not diminish the very funny improvisational riffs between Finn and Seymour (who have always been like a less-slow version of Flight Of the Conchords -- there must be something in the New Zealand water). The band also made up goofy disco numbers and psych-rockers on the spot and just kind of decided to do a blessedly right-on cover of the Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning" (which had started as a cover of the Mamas & the Papas' "Monday, Monday" !!!). 

It was a brilliant night. If I felt any better I would tell you about it in more detail, but this is a blog, not a newspaper, so I am allowed to be truly half-assed. I do still have the strength to tell you that Nick Seymour created a striking, often beautiful set for the band (which changed throughout the evening) and that Crowded House turned a couple of thousand strangers into friends -- that's what a great concert does...it takes you outside of yourself and connects you to something greater.

OK, now I have no strength left...too bad, Crowded House deserve better.

Eric Shea and I had been excited about Hall & Oates coming to San Francisco for weeks. We've both been forgetting everything lately (going to work, showering, paying taxes) but we never forgot that Daryl Hall and John Oates were going to play San Francisco on August 1st.

Shea was so stoked that he actually grew a beard just for the concert. That wasn't enough for him, though. He also bought an enormous '70s van and somehow found an amazing Welcome Back Kotter leisure shirt (I'm not joking! The picture of the shirt at right is really the shirt Eric had on! It even had Kotter sayings on it, like "Up your nose with a rubber hose.")

Since I look like a naval intelligence officer circa 1966, I couldn't grow a beard or wear a Kotter shirt to the show. But even Shea wasn't being ironic -- both of us truly dig Hall & Oates (and Shea is also really into beards, vans and leisure wear adorned with pictures of Gabe Kaplan). Now, on to the show....

Hall & Oates came out strong with a full band and a string section. We have arguments here in the Rhapsody office about whether there really is a style of music called baroque pop. So, when the string quartet started playing, Shea leaned over and said that he wished our editor was present to see that baroque pop actually exists. Anyway...

One of the weird things about reviewing music for a living is that when you discover a great new album you can't just keep listening to it like a normal person. You have to put it aside and go on to the next thing.

(I know, I know.. this job is tougher than being a fire fighter, test pilot or chum scrubber -- but some jerk has to do it).

The tough part comes when you hear a new release as fantastic as Star's In Our Bedroom After The War.

Here is my short Rhapsody review of the new album:

Stars' Set Yourself On Fire added guitars to the band's synthy retro sound, resulting in one of the finest albums of the '00s. On this equally superb outing, Stars bounce between digital and analog sounds, always letting Torquil Campbell's lush pop hooks and novelistic lyrics carry the day. Campbell's razor sharp songwriting and his vocal harmonies with Amy Millan are just a couple of things that put Stars miles ahead of their retro-new wave contemporaries. Whether it's the mad rock rush of "Take Me To The Riot" or the Feist-y romance of "My Favourite Book" or the private pain exposed on "Personal," the band always delivers.

What the above doesn't say is that Stars only released In Our Bedroom After The War four days after it was all done! That turnaround time is pretty much unheard of.

The album isn't getting its physical CD release for a couple of months now, but the Stars wanted their fans to get it right now instead of waiting for it to come out in a couple of months or stealing it from the inter-webs.

Is that groovy or what -- it makes me feel like I'm Mick Jagger or John Phillips getting to listen to the acetates of the latest Beatles release. What makes this even better is that Stars' In Our Bedroom After The War is so good it's actually worth not waiting for.

I get the feeling that this is the very first time we've seen this but it will quickly be a growing trend.

Rhapsody's own Diamond Dave Krinsky has done it again. First, Dave cleared a bunch of out-of-print Psychedelic Furs albums for us. Then, he got a mess of out-of-print David Bowie E.P.s and B-sides for Rhapsody.

Well, The Psych Furs and Bowie are all well and good. but Rhapsody subscribers are a demanding -- not to mention violent -- lot. They grabbed pitchforks, lit torches and then gathered outside of our palatial Rhapsody compound in a mass protest.

Instead of screaming at us, they just let out a massive, collection sigh.

Listen up boppers...

Just a few minutes ago, Rhapsody's own Fil Rodriguez sent out the trailer to the upcoming Joy Division feature film Control. I have to admit that I was skeptical of this project but it looks great -- more  a grubby kitchen sink portrait than a deification.

The movie went over big at Cannes, which probably explains the French subtitles on the trailer.Now that we're on the subject of Joy Division, here's the band playing "Transmission."

Wanting to ride the bummer out a while longer, I'd go for this old clip of Nancy Sinatra singing "Bang Bang" -- the best thing that Sonny Bono ever wrote.

If you need a pick-me-up after that, head straight for the Small Faces' old promo for "Lazy Sunday". This one never fails to put a smile on my mug.

The best video I've seen lately was sent to me by my old friend JBL.

It's better than "best" -- its fantastic. If you doubt that The Who were just about the best live band ever please watch this. This is from a TV show the Rolling Stones did but pulled at the last minute. The rumor is that The Who were so amazing that the Stones were embarrassed.

The other thing that JBL sent my way is the intro to the movie Dance Craze. After a groovy intro it kicks off with The Specials performing "Nite Klub." Wow, what an incredible band -- they do the song more in the style of their trippier second album. This music is so good that it had the power to take "high spirited youngsters off the street."

Finally, why not check this one out? It's got Big Bird and Leslie Uggums in it...the Ian Curtis and Nancy Sinatra of the Sesame Street set.

I still have plenty videos to send out but lets save em for another day.

Recently, two artist catalogues went live on Rhapsody to surprisingly little fanfare.

First off, a batch of prime David Soul has gone up, including the song "Don't Give Up On Us," his immortal No. 1 smash hit from 1977.

Now, I can't say that I want to listen to that one too often, but Soul's previous album from 1976 has some decent, Bread style, soft rock on it.

Put down the cell phone, unplug the Tivo and stop selling arms to hamsters!

Paul McCartney's entire catelogue is now live in Rhapsody!!!!

Here's the deal....Wait, first let's give you some more exclamation's points: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright -- go that out of my system. Paul McCartney has debuted on Rhapsody this week. Can you find his music anywhere else on th internet that won't land you in the big house? I can't. I think Rhapsody's the place to be this week.

Was Band on the Run as big a part of your childhood as it was mine?

Isn't "Jet" one of the best classic rock songs of the 1970s?

Wasn't "Live & Let Die" a better Bond theme than a Bond movie?

Isn't "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" the strangest No. 1 single ever?

Couldn't Paul be an confounding fellow? He was so into trying to look like he wasn't bothered by the legacy of the Beatles that he'd frontload an album with songs like "Bip Bop" and then would bury shoulda/woulda been big songs like "Tomorrow" and "When the Night."

Want a Paul song to go along with a Dazed & Confused style road trip? Try "Hi Hi Hi."

Feel the sudden need to have Paul expose his love of Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra? Try "Secret Friend."

Want to hear Paul record an entire album by himself in a rundown shack? Play his groovy solo debut.

Want to hear Paul play an old Beatles tune? Play "I've Just Seen a Face."

OK, how about just listening to my 25 song playlist of the best Macca songs of the 1970s.

Welcome to Rhapsody, Mr. McCartney!

I've been getting so many ultra-groovy videos lately that I've decided to share some of the best ones.

First off, one of my favorite bands broke up recently. The Beautiful South never made it in the States, but they were huge in Britain and Europe. The video to the single from their final album spotlights their typically scathing celebration of everyday English horribleness.  They shall be missed.

The Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset" is one of my all-time favorite numbers. I found this completely beautiful acoustic version of Ray Davies performing his song on TV during the early '70s.

Paul Weller recently got in the news for declining the offer of a knighthood from the Queen (Weller joins Bowie in saying no to the old lady). Last year, he earned the British equivalent of the Grammy's Life Time Achievement award. Here, Weller brings down the house playing his old Jam tune "A Town Called Malice."

Rhapsody's old indie rock guru, Michele K-Tel, went to Ireland and actually scored a bunch of neato videos while there.

In Dublin, she discovered this young Irish singer-songwriter. Here, Fionn Regan sings a little bittersweet tune while beaming all over the place (the library/bookstore with the wee old lady in it is Fionn's best spot to me).

The other band she discovered while in Ireland is an English group called Good Shoes. I question the lead singer's choice of too-tight mint green cardie, but this is a fantastic song. I can't wait for Good Shoes to get an American release so we can feature them on Rhapsody.

MKT was so skilled at ferriting out these videos that she went over to youtube to find them for a living.

That's where she found this one by Lavender Diamond. This has pretty much everything you want in a video -- namely a singer in a prom dress rollerskating, dancing girls, and a hard-boiled egg (hip-hop pool parties seem to dominate videos now, but back in the day -- it seemed like ALL videos had eggs in them). 

Right now, just as I was typing this up, MKT found another great video. The music on this one kind of makes me want to stab myself with a pencil but the featured performer (a baby hedgehog named Uni) has got what it takes to become a star.

Most people hate cover versions. Well, that isn't exactly correct. Most people only like one version of a song -- it doesn't matter to them that The Animals covered "House of the Rising Sun" or that Hendrix covered "All Along the Watchtower" -- those brilliant covers become the official versions in people's minds (even Dylan preferred what Hendrix did with his song and changed his own reading of it accordingly!).

Things weren't always like that -- once the song itself was more important that the one hallowed recording of it. During the late 1960s, when The Doors had their first major hit with "Light My Fire" practically everybody immediately covered it.

Loadies the world over remember Jose Feliciano's reading of "Light My Fire" as a joke but I've always liked it. So did The People back in 1968 -- it went Top 5 on the pop, jazz and R&B charts! Actually, every cover version on that Feliciano! record is pretty great. They're all covers, so no need to ask which ones I'm talking about.

The lovely Julie London's slow-core crawl through "Light My Fire" is considered a joke too, mainly because it just sounds so swank and uptown (flutes! bongos! John Barry style strings!). But listen to it -- it's fantastic -- London pretty much invents Downtempo with this one, as it sounds like Morcheeba's Big Calm record boiled down to 200 concise, yet still languorous, seconds. Don't believe me? Give it another listen.

Shirley Bassey's version of "Light My Fire" uses similar James Bond style strings as London's but is more acid rock-y. Also, where as London is seductively inviting you up to her palatial penthouse, Bassey is pretty much demanding you get over there right now and service her or she is going to beat the crap out of you.

The Free Design on the other hand, are about the least sexual band in history. Yet, the FD also do an amazing cover of "Light My Fire." This baroque ez pop-goes-modern jazz reading basically takes the Doors song out of the bedroom and expands it until it reaches some higher plane of spiritual consciousness. Like intergalactic!

And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to groovy "Light My Fire" covers. Everyone from Stevie Wonder to Nancy Sinatra has cut the song (Nancy falls somewhere between a croaky London and a less murderous Bassey on her recording).

Some may say that this is a symptom of these artists being too lazy to write their own songs, but that is just incorrect (after all, The Doors did an awesome cover of "Alabama Song" on their own debut record). What these covers do is show that "Light My Fire" is a really well written pop song and that it's open to many interpretations.

Good tunes used to be the norm. Today, pop songs that have that special, eccentric something are much rarer. That's why everyone from The Raconteurs to Nelly Furtado rushed out and covered Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" when it came out -- because its a solid tune that doesn't sound generic or written by committee yet it's themes are universal. Furtado's acoustic reading of the number is far better than anything on her recent slut-hop hit album.

All of these songs, by the way, are on my Rhapsody radio channel Crazy for Covers -- which is probably the only place in the world where you can find 3 different versions of "Light My Fire" -- and none of them by The Doors.

There have been some swell use of songs in movies lately. Blades of Glory (which is the Lawrence of Arabia of ice skating pictures) does wonders with Billy Squier's "The Stroke".

In a noble attempt to get even more ridiculous, Blades climaxes with Queen's theme to Flash Gordon.

The best thing in Grindhouse were the fake trailers (and the best of these was the one called Machete, it even made me seek out this Mexican historical cartoon that teaches kids how to use machetes, how to fashion them into musical instruments and how to kill foreigners with them).

The other best thing in Grindhouse is the soundtrack to the segment called Death Proof, which is actually a more satisfying experience than either movie is. The CD is chock full of fine songs, the best of which is Joe Tex's ballad grinder "The Love You Save." What a beautiful number -- it's even better outside of the movie.

Before he disembarked to Asia to lead a quiet life studying flora and fauna, Rhapsody's own Mike McGuirk would sometimes walk around our palatial office park cursing out Donovan.

Mike would raise his fist in the air and say things like "I hate Donovan!" and "Donovan is stupid!" and "I don't care if Donovan fathered Ione Skye, he is still terrible!"

I've always liked Donovan myself. I even think he had some good kids.

That said, I saw the super-amazingly-great movie Zodiac recently and the filmmakers take Donovan's already ultra creepy "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and turn it into something that is beyond a nightmare.

On the other hand, you can tell who the good cop in the movie is because he enjoys listening to Miles Davis' "Solar" while relaxing at home. Boy, if only today's cops listened to more jazz we'd probably have less crime out on the streets. But, until Miles Davis becomes a course subject down at the Police Academy, at least Zodiac will help Mike see Donovan in a new light.

The first time I noticed Clive Owen was in a British detective series called "Second Sight." In it, the ever dour actor played a homicide cop who hides the fact that he's going blind and experiencing visual hallucinations.

The character was suffering from a disease that ate away at his eyes.Besides blindness, this disease only led him to brood, drink, smoke, and bed female coworkers even more than before (we all handle the loss of vision in our own way). It sounded very much like what Paddy McAloon had been suffering from. A brilliant songwriter, McAloon led a band called Prefab Sprout. His career was derailed for years because of increased blindness. Once he got used to the vision problems, McAloon developed Maniere's Disease and lost the hearing in one ear. And you thought you had it rough!

I first heard of Prefab Sprout in high school. Every British artist, from Morrissey and Robert Smith to Mick Fleetwood and Phil Collins were raving about the band's Steve McQueen album. I figured if you could get all those people to agree on something, it must be pretty good. If you're wondering about the album title, the record sleeve features a visual quote from the resistance epic The Great Escape.

It is a fantastic record, probably Prefab Sprout's only real classic. album is well produced by Thomas Dolby but it's lasting power stems from Paddy's songwriting, which is all about subtlety-- a turn of a phrase or a little musical quote or an ever shifting moral conflict. Obviously, this is the kind of album that other musicians and songwriters would celebrate...more so than the American public, who ignored the record... in droves.

Paddy's gone on to write other albums under the band's name (of which, Jordon: The Comeback is the best -- in Europe it was widely considered the best album of 1990) but after Steve McQueen Prefab Sprout went from sounding polished in a good way to being a little too smooth.

Steve McQueen has been released in the States for the first time under its original name (it was retitled Two Wheels Good over here for legal reasons). It's completely remastered and includes beautiful acoustic version of every song on the album. The acoustic renditions of songs like "When Love Breaks Down"and "Bonny" don't really reveal anything new (the album versions are perfect, I tell ya!) but they sound lovely all the same.

Many great mainstream records came out of the early 1980s. Not too many have come out of the mid '80s (or any time after that, come to think of it). It may take a few listens to sink in, but 1985's Steve McQueen is a truly great record.

Way back in the 1970s, when I was knee high to a grasshopper, one of my favorite songs was Harry Nilsson's "Coconut." It was pretty much the best kid's song ever, even though the filthy, adult hippies loved it too and probably for different reasons.

I also perked up when dark Nilsson ballads like "One" or "Everybody's Talkin'" came on the radio. But truth to tell, I doubt that I had any idea that the same person sang all of these songs or even that someone named Harry Nilsson sang any of them. As a matter of fact, I think I believed that Nilsson's birth-of-the-power ballad "Without You" was sung by the exact same guy who belted out "All By Myself."

As an adult, I now know which songs Harry Nilsson sang and I listen to them fairly often. I always heard that he was a friend of the Beatles and that he was somehow tied into John Lennon's "long weekend" in L.A, during the 1970s and that his career ended tragically... but that was about it. Recently, I read Jaan's Nilsson bio on Rhapsody and discovered a little more.

Tonight, I have to opportunity to find out much more about the man (and better yet, see old footage of him performing), because the Noise Pop festival is screening a documentary called Who is Harry Nilsson (and why is everybody talking about him?).

The movie has won rave reviews from Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, Leonard Maltin and something called Ain't it Cool News.

The trailer looks great. For those living in San Francisco, the movie plays tonight at 7pm at the Roxie. For those living elsewhere keep an eye out for it or for the upcoming dvd. The star-studded trailer alone has already taught me that his name is pronounced "Nealson" and not "Nill-Son." Maybe I need to get one of those Nilsson Facts 365 day calendars they sell down at Target.

Some of my co-workers were walking around the luxurious Rhapsody compound complaining about the Oscars again. Now, it's too much to ask that your favorite movie wins Best Picture evey year. But, at the very least, a decent movie wins takes the top prize. Sometimes this movie has been made by Clint Eastwood and you can turn off the TV in a good mood.

But the Grammies?

Now, many superior songs/albums were nominated this year and some of them even won an award or two (like Dylan's "Someday Baby" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy") but the real winner of the Grammies Awards this year wasn't the Dixie Chicks or the Red Hot House Painters. It was Justin Timberlake -- who dominated every part of the show.

A great entertainer, JT is the new (non-insane, non-creepy) Michael Jackson. He can sing, he can dance and he can act like he's having a great time doing it. He appeals to all races and age groups even as he dirty dances and collaborates with "edgy" hip-hop artists. Oh yeah, and like post Thriller Michael Jackson, if Timberlake just has one or two halfway decent songs on an album the public is satisfied.

While the Grammies helped prove that the Dixie Chicks don't need Clear Channel controlled radio stations or Southern concerts tours to succeed, the real Song of the Year was Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy," Grammies be damned.

The duo also (easily) scored one of the best live moments on the telecast by performing the song dressed as airline pilots. I think this would've been an even better moment if the director of the Grammies had shown that the heavenly choir in the distance was dressed up like 1970s stewardesses. To make up for that slight against our swinging matrons in the sky, here is an old advert from the era when airlines actively sold "their girls" as part of the flying experience.

"Crazy" is so good that its already been covered by the Raconteurs, Shawn Colvin and Nelly Furtado, who almost makes up for her conversion from a free-thinking hippie type to a fake slut-R&B star with her acoustic cover of the Gnarls smash.

The other real winner this year (and she walked away empty-handed at the Grammies!) was Corinne Bailey Rae, a soulful singer-songwriter who came up with an entire good album of songs -- try it sometime, Justin. Her ace single "Put Your Records On" almost sounds as if its built on top of Nelly Furtado's old hit "I'm Like a Bird", only its way better.

Charisma also pours out of Corinne, even when she just stands there and sings. Beyonce, on the other hand, has no stage presence at all even though she really can really sing, she can act and she's amazingly beautiful. But it's weird, both on the Grammies and in the movie Dreamgirls, the ever professional Beyonce does everything right without ever making much of an impact (except with her bank deposits). Beyonce has everything but that star quality that Justin Timberlake has -- he shows that having charisma is a talent in itself.

Did you see the Prince concert on TV yesterday?

Holy smokes!

It was right in the middle of some football game that the Baltimore Crabs won. The game doesn't really matter. What matters is that Prince gave the first halftime performance I've seen that didn't a) completely suck so bad that it ended up representing the end of the world or b) make me uncomfortable and embarrassed for a band that I really like.

A bunch of old Prince albums recently went live on Rhapsody, included an odds'n'sods collection that his label just blindly threw together. The thing about Prince though, close your eyes and grab a bunch of his songs and you're gonna get a couple of gems. One song on it, "Old Friends 4 Sale," is completely amazing... one of my all-time Prince favorites.

It's a twisted soul ballad that matches the feel of old R&B and jazz records with an orchestral score straight out of a classic flick like On the Waterfront. Prince matches the overwrought music with half-surreal lyrics about fame, trust and betrayal, filling it with the kind of wounded emotion and mounting paranoia that experience has planted in the hearts of the lasting musical icons.

Sam just found this Prince performance where he's promoting his Superbowl show with a completely different set. His voice isn't even micced correctly and it doesn't even matter! Eric sent out the Superbowl performance link. Damn, that's talent!  

By now you've probably noticed that TV shows have largely down away with starting off the program with a theme song.

They've done this because they don't want the typical, itchy fingered, remote clicking TV consumer getting bored and switching channels. That's why they've also gotten rid of end credits on TV. Boy, are we a sad society. I remembered when we gladly watched whatever program was put in front of us.

Today, when a TV them is still used, it's most often tied to a show (like The O.C.) that is aimed at the kids and older slackers who just want to watch teenagers frolic on the beach. These shows almost always use pr-existing pop songs or covers of known tunes. My favorite of these is probably the Von Bondies track "C'mon C'mon" used in the opening titles of Rescue Me. My least favorite is almost all the others.

Once upon a time, most every show had its own original theme song. The first huge hit to come out of TV themes was probably Henry Mancini's unstoppable opener to Peter Gunn. The soundtrack album to this was a surprise smash, and is still widely heard today. Not only did it help establish Mancini's then struggling career, but it helped employ a lot of jazz musicians, since every crime show after Peter Gunn copied its sound. (btw -- the entire soundtrack album is awesome).

One of the best hits of the 1970s was John Sebastian's timeless soft rock theme to Welcome Back Kotter. Sebastian, of Lovin' Spoonful fame, was such a solid songwriter that the title sequence to Kotter was by far the best thing in the show. Just take a minute and watch the title sequence. It made me want to live in a crumbling, sinking concrete jungle when I was a kid!

The Mary Tyler Moore show was a way better show than Kotter and it also had great title sequence. Noted television scholar Joan Jett even did a head-bobbing glam/punk cover of the MTM theme song.

While I don't like the theme song to The Rockford Files as much as "Love is All Around" or the others it does work really well with that show's titles.

Rockford even had a different phone message start every show -- they were usually about how Jim Garner's character owed somebody money, had bounced a check or had lied to a preacher. Basically, Jim Rockford is the greatest TV character of all time, with his shifty, ex con pal Angel earning the coveted Best Sidekick award.

Listening to these songs made me create a new Rhapsody radio channel called TV Tunes. It is the cure for whatever ails you. The next best thing to watching TV is definately listening to an endless, maddening stream of television theme songs.

There have been a number of superior music movies coming out over the last few years. Even the biopics -- like Ray and Walk the Line -- are better than they've ever been.

All the elements that make a good rock documentary -- early poverty, sudden success, breakup, drugs, dissolution, rediscovery by a new generation, never making a dime, etc... can make for grim viewing after a while. So, it was a pleasant surprise to see New York Doll. It had everything that you want in a rock movies (see above list) but it was also an actual feel-good movie.

New York Doll (watch the trailer here) is the story of the Dolls' bassist Arthur "Killer" Kane and his road from revolutionary pre-punker to slightly brain damaged Mormon librarian (Arthur fell on his head in a failed suicide attempt). If that journey sounds like a downer, the movie isn't.

Instead, New York Doll is an ingratiating portrait of niceness. Everybody is this movie ends up being great -- the Clash's Mick Jones, Morrissey, members of Blondie, old Mormon ladies, people on the street, and even David Johansen (stay after the credits are over for his acoustic folk number).

The arc of Kane's life is such that if it were a fiction film you wouldn't believe how perfectly everything fits together in the end. As good as  Ray and Walk the Line were, they both kind of end with a "thud!" because Ray Charles' and Johnny Cash's actual lives were too messy and complex to neatly sum up in a movie. Arthur isn't as complex an artist as those two giants (who is??) but he makes for a great central character.

End of the Century: The Ramones and The Mayor of Sunset Strip are superb movies about similar subjects really, but they are both anything but heartwarming (see them anyway! they're fantatic). So, New York Doll ends up being a kind of Little Miss Sunshine of rock docs. It brought a smile to my face while I was watching it and I'm still smiling a week after seeing it.

The minute I walked into the luxurious Rhapsody complex this morning, Linda Ryan asked me if I had seen the AARP commercial that featured the Buzzcocks song "Everybody's Happy Nowadays".

I did see it. And I had the same reaction as her -- YIKES! We are old.

Of course, this doesn't just happen when I see the Buzzcocks associated with a group that reps the Gray Panthers instead of the White Stripes. It also happens when I stand still and watch as my arches fall, my back collapses, my hair turns white, and when I see photos of Lil Wayne. I can't stop myself from thinking, "Lil Wayne's parents shouldn't allow him to look like he's mentally challenged. That isn't right."

More old people blather: "The Sex Pistols kick-started another rock revolution. The Clash were the better band. Blah-blah-blah."

But, today's bubblegum rockers and punk poppers don't really sound like the Pistols or the Clash. They sound like the Ramones and (if they are lucky) the Buzzcocks.

And now, one of the best Buzzcocks' numbers is being used to sell stuff to pensioners. And instead of indignation, I am now old enough for my reaction to be -- "Good. I hope the Buzzcocks are getting a nice big royalty check. The deserve it."

Now, if you'll excuse me, I used up too much energy already. I need to go lay down for a nice long nap. Max has already beaten me to the punch.

I've been enjoying the soundtrack CD for the movie Children of Men for a couple of weeks now.

It has a bunch of terrific songs on it. A few tracks I'm very familiar with (and always happy to hear), while most of the songs on it are so good that they sound like they've always been part of my life. The cover of the Stones' "Ruby Tuesday" makes me very happy (don't be scared away by the guy's Latin accent at first -- stick with it, it's fantastic).

The singer is Franco Battiato (yikes! he can't be that ugly in real life!). I've never even heard of him but I did some research and I guess he is the Italian version of Os Mutantes and Brian Eno all rolled up into one psych-folk goes art-rock Italian Rocker. Rhapsody has a recent album that Battiato cut and its pretty impressive.

The soundtrack is so good that I actually went out and saw the movie Children of Men. Holy smokes -- what a fantastic picture! It's even better than the soundtrack CD (which made my "Best of 2006" list). The "Ruby Tuesday" cover gets played twice in it and both times its associated with Michael Caine's old hippie character (Caine should spend the rest of his life in the clothes he wore in the flick).

Another cover in the movie is Junior Parker's radical slow down of the Beatles beyond revolutionary "Tomorrow Never Knows."

If you like cover versions as much as we at Rhapsody do, you'll want to check out our new radio channel called Crazy for Covers. Something familiar and something new -- that's a good cover version in a nutshell.

You owe it to future generations to listen to it. Do it for the children.