"One good thing about music is when it hits you, you feel no pain. So hit me with music, brutalize me with music." (Bob Marley)
Ode to Chuck Berry
I didn’t grow up knowing who Chuck Berry was. I grew up on The Beatles. One Christmas I got The Beatles Second Album - the first of many, many albums I would wear out - and Beatles ’65. Two songs from those albums always stuck out: Roll Over Beethoven and Rock and Roll Music. The... Continue Reading →
Jax Funny EP – My Musings
Two years ago, 18 year-old Jax was the most charismatic, captivating and capable Idolist in Idol’s penultimate season, and on her way to a third place finish – a result two places lower than it should have been. And not long after that, she was an 19 year-old with 12 cancerous tumors on her thyroid. Now, Jax... Continue Reading →
My Favorite Music of 2016
One of the best things ever written about lists was by the legendary New Yorker music critic Ellen Willis. It captures my feeling exactly if not way more eloquently than I ever could: "The list game is as integral to rock as statistics are to baseball. In fact, it’s not criticism I’ve been taking too... Continue Reading →
Gaga Goes Rock
Back in 2008 before the world knew it was supposed to be paying attention, I was telling the world it needed to pay attention to what I believed was the next big thing in pop music – Lady Gaga. Subsequent events have proved that I had that one totally right. (I should also point out... Continue Reading →
That Time I Sang At Motown
In March of 2011, I had the good fortune of being taken to the Motown Museum by two friends and loyal Musers J.L. and J.C. No photographs were allowed inside the museum but the photo of me standing outside is relevant to the story. Eventually we got to the garage that was converted into the... Continue Reading →
Ray's Musings 