Les Paul: Legendary Music Icon

Welcome back to Simple Man Music this Friday my friends. Today is not going to be a blog about another new artist, or classic artist, or even a particular genre, or style of music. Today I am going to write about a legendary figure in the music industry who has paved the way for all artists and styles. Do not get me wrong this man was also a great musician and performer, but I believe that he is the original father of what became known as Rock & Roll and the electric guitar too.

The man I am speaking about is none other than Lester William Polsfuss also known as Les Paul. At the age of 13 Les Paul was already a honky tonk guitar player who by the age of 17 had quit high school and was playing guitar in Sunny Joe Wolverton’s Radio Band. Lester also performed as a solo country act known as Rhubarb Red in addition to recording with other great artists like Georgia White. Les Paul also recorded a string of hits with people like Bing Crosby, his wife Colleen Summers also known as Mary Ford.

The Gibson electric guitar also known as the Les Paul is not the only technological innovation that we have to thank Les Paul for either. His interest and innovative thinking regarding multitrack recording have definitely played a pivotal role in the legend known as Les Paul and have helped this man to create and leave a legacy within the music world as well as helping musicians and studios by revolutionizing the recording process.

There are many notable guitar players out there who have carried the Gibson Les Paul out on stage and into the recording studio. These guitar players are from all ends of the musical spectrum too. Great axe men like Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Alex Lifeson, Duane Allman, Bob Marley, and Al DiMeola are just a few of the world renowned guitar players who have played the Gibson Les Paul to the great benefit of their music and their fans too.

For those of you who aspire to be the next guitar god on the music scene will almost certainly want to try out and maybe even own one of Gibson’s Les Paul Guitars. Just remember the pricing for these guitars are not to be looked at lightly. You might be able to pick up a used one at a reasonable price, but prices from $1000 to over $5000 are not uncommon. If you can’t afford that you may pick up an Epiphone Les Paul at a more reasonable price for you wallet, however the name Les Paul says it all.

All I have to add to today’s blog is that I am glad we had the pleasure of Lester’s company for the last 94yrs. You have to wonder if there is anybody out there who will ever fill Les Paul’s shoes. Have a fabulous weekend my friends I will see you again soon, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Ne-Yo - Young R&B Singer/Songwriter

Welcome to Simple Man Music. Today I want to take a look at a musician in a genre we haven't really delved into yet - R&B. Personally I love R&B music. It's the softer side of Hip Hop and Rap, often called "Hip Hop that tells a story."

One of top current R&B singers out there happens to be Ne-Yo, who was already established as a writer and producer in the genre before. He's collaborated cuts with people like Faith Evans, Jamie Foxx, Beyonce, Chris Brown, and Mary J. Blige. He's also known for being the co-writer of big hit "Let Me Love You" by Mario. Although he's been known for some time as a writer and producer, recently he's done a lot as a performer and artist, releasing a variety of excellent music within the past few years.

Ne-Yo is not quite 30, and for such a young artist in the R&B field, he's already established himself in a prominent way. Since he first debuted, he's had five different songs hit the top 10 list on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as two albums that have hit number one on the Billboard 200. He was signed back in 2005 by Def Jam, and then released his first album in 2006 - In My Own Words.

All you have to do is listen to various songs by Ne-Yo, such as "Mad," "Sexy Love," or "Make it Work," and you'll quickly become addicted to this guys smooth voice and slow rhythms. His songs have a slow groove that is incredibly sexy.

What I find so incredible about Ne-Yo, is that he not only brings a sexy, young, and new side to R&B, but he has contributed so much to music through all of his writing. He wrote "I'm You" for Leona Lewis, wrote "Take a Bow," a top single for Rihanna, "Irreplaceable," a number one single for Beyonce, and various songs for Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Ciara, as well as for Enrique Iglesias. Before the death of Pop-King Michael Jackson, Ne-Yo had even been working on collaborations with Jackson for the upcoming album that Jackson was supposed to release.

Apparently Ne-Yo has talents in other areas, appearing in movies Stomp the Yard and Save the Last Dance 2. He's even opened up a recording studio of his own and has his own production company, known as Compound Entertainment. This guy is definitely an all around artist, writing music, producing music, acting, and performing music.

Ne-Yo has a variety of awards under his belt as well. He's been nominated for a Grammy 11 times, and he's won 3 Grammys. He's won two BET awards, a couple MOBO awards, and has been nominated for more than 36 awards over his short career. It's easy to see that this R&B star is just getting started, and I'm sure we'll continue to see more from him in the future, including writing and singing.

Here are a couple of tunes from Ne-Yo to check out. Enjoy.

Pearl Jam: “Backspacer”

There appears to be another Pearl Jam album on the horizon and it is called “Backspacer”. This is the bands ninth album and it is definitely not like any other collaboration that this guitar driven band has laid down for public consumption before. I also assure you that you won’t be disappointed this time either.

“Backspacer” is just a pure, simple, fun; rock your brains out, great album. It is not filled with any gloom and doom, or political rhetoric as in past songs or performances. I must say that makes me happy because Eddie Vedder and company do not appear to be politically astute, just my opinion.

It would also appear that Pearl Jam is going about the release of this album much differently than with past releases. The album is set for release on September 20th through several different retailers both physical and digital. They have also secured a deal with national retailer Target to release “Backspacer” as well.

The album will also be released to Indie music outlets by the Coalition of Independent Music Stores Junketboy division and Universal Music will be the label that the album is released under internationally. All in all this method that the band has chosen to release their new album while risky seems to profit everybody.

For those of you who are gamers as well as fan’s of the Pearl Ham sound you can find “Backspacer” on “Rock Band” the day it is released. There will also be a dedicated Pearl Jam game that may hit store shelves by 2010. Also look out for the reissue of PJ’s “Ten”, which is sure to be an instant hit for the fans.

Simple Man Music will be back with more on the Pearl Jam/ “Backspacer” front as soon as more info becomes available. In the meantime get set for Pearl Jams fall tour, because it is sure to spotlight some of this albums music. Some of these tunes have already been performed in public venues. The new single “The Fixer” just flat out rocks too.

I hope you all like this video by Pearl Jam too it is one of my favorites enjoy "The Fixer" too. I will see you all again real soon folks. Thanks for stopping by Simple Man Music and CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Talented Tunes - Whitney Houston is Back!

Welcome to Simple Man Music. I'm back with another Talented Tunes post, and today we're going to have a look at Whitney Houston's new release. We haven't heard from this female pop star for years. She is definitely considered to be one of the biggest female stars of pop ever, so many have wondered why she has been "silent" for so long.

That silence has ended. Her new album is coming out at the end of August - I Look to You. Have a listen to the main single on that new album "I Look to You," and you'll realize that she's back with a bang.

This is a great piece of music, perhaps even more powerful than music she has released in the past. Her voice is still incredible, and I personally think her voice sounds even better - it's mellowed with age. I believe Houston said it best herself "I'm back home where I belong."

Check out her new single "I Look to You," below. Right now you can also download this tune free at her website.

Marilyn Manson

I started this blog as a way to talk about great music from any genre, not as a forum for attacking any performers who I disagree with or don’t like. However I think that today’s blog is almost certainly going to sound like I have an axe to grind, although I really don’t. For the record like all of my other blogs I don’t write anything until I have researched the subject and have all of the facts.

Quite recently Goth Rocker Marilyn Manson posted a piece on his MySpace blog that attacked and threaten journalists and bloggers who take issue with him, his tunes, and his band. The blog was in response to an interview that Travis Keller who founded BuddyHead.com gave to LA Weekly. In the interview Keller suggested that Manson was a “paranoid cocaine addict who is nothing like his onstage persona”.

Now I personally can understand anyone not just entertainers getting angry if someone said such a thing about them and it was not true. A statement like that is a very inflammatory remark to make about someone. I for one would never say such a thing unless I could absolutely prove it, and even then I probably wouldn’t simply because that is not what this blog is about.

However there is one lesson that Manson has apparently failed to learn in his let’s educate the rock start class. That lesson is that when you are in the public eye as he certainly is, and you are making statements publicly about what you think, feel, and believe in, you have to be ready to here the other side’s point of view. After all if you are going to exercise your right to free speech so are your detractors.

Personally I can give a rat’s ass what kind of lifestyle Manson chooses to live, and I also don’t give a damn about his religious views either. I will also be honest and tell you that I am not a devotee of his music and I don’t even know what his thoughts are on politics, economy, ecology, or anything else that might be considered relevant to the times we live in, but now I know how he feels about other people’s constitutional right to free speech.

What is sad about this whole thing for me is that I will probably never write anything else about Marilyn Manson on this blog, but that is just because I haven’t heard anything musically that has sparked my interest. I will tell you that I saw hem at an Ozzfest concert a few years ago and he put on a great show, but I hadn’t even thought about him since then until now.

Now if Manson takes exception to anything that I have written here today well I am real sorry about that. Therefore If Manson feels the need for me to repeat any of this to his face he is more than welcome to come here and I will. However should Manson decide to do just that he needs to know that I am not only a vicious defender of the 1st amendment, but I am also an avid practitioner of my 2nd amendment rights as well.

So there are no mistakes or misconceptions made about myself and those who write for Simple Man Music in the future the readers of this blog to know that we reserve to right to write whatever we want. We will without reservation take full advantage of our 1st amendment right to free speech/free press and if that is unacceptable to anyone then simply don’t read the blog.

I hope you all have a great weekend and I also hope you enjoy this blog as well. I will be back again soon my friends CIAO4NOW!!!!!

J-Rock: A History

As I said when I started this blog there is no genre of music that is off limits, but after this I will change that statement that there is no genre of music that is relative to the industry that is off limits. The reason being is that my daughter called me out on the no genre off limits thing so I let her write this blog, and this style of music is what she is currently into. I hope you all enjoy this post.
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In Japan, the most popular type of music is often referred to as ‘J-rock’ or Japanese Rock.

Often times when people hear about or even listen to Japanese Rock music, they have this idea in their head that it’s just another type of music, that the Japanese were copying the Americans when American rock music first started, but that isn’t true. J-Rock got its start back in the 1960’s when The Beatles performed at Bodokun. The music intrigued the Japanese in such a way that they started to play their own music, but without copying the Americans. In America, rock music was often about sex, drugs and revolution, but the Japanese, being the conservative type of people that they usually are, didn’t want anything having to do with that. J-Rock is cleaner and very drug-free.

The very first Japanese rock music was still as rebellious as the Western alternative, only it mainly focused on the political issues going on in everyday life. The 1960’s became a very important decade in the Japanese music culture; especially for the fact the Kyoto student rebellion took place in that time period (which happened to have a very big impact in the whole entire J-Rock world). In the beginning, the sound was much like the sound you would’ve found here in America, but as the time passed, the sound (as well as the look) changed rapidly. Visual Kei (often referred to as ‘VK’) was born.

When people think about the VK look, they often think of the term “Emo,” which would be the American version of it, they never stop to think where the American version originated or even why it did; but it did come from VK. There are also a-lot of “sub-styles” that evolved from the Visual Kei look.

1) Visual Kei is the darker more “scary” type of music, much like the “Emo” music Americans have; but it’s so much more then that. Visual Kei has to do with a movement among Japanese artists that is labeled by the use of colorful and sometimes completely “out there” type of looks, and often includes lots of dark make-up and elaborate costumes. It also often (but not always) includes aesthetic. Most inside sources have said the the VK’s clothing and make-up is just their participation (which also happens to be just as important as the music itself).

2) Nagoya Kei is another “sub-style” of VK and is centered all around (and in) the city of Nagoya, Japan. VK is usually darker than the VK style and is greatly influenced by British “punk rock” but quickly turned into “gothic” and/or death-metal in the late 1970’s and early 80’s.

3) Oshare Kei is a Japanese music and fashion style (much like all of the other “sub-styles” of VK). Oshare bands are unlike any of the other styles in the way that they are bouncy, bright, and generally happy. Both the music and the style try very hard to send out a positive message to the listeners. The songs are normally about friends and relationships. When people think of the term “Oshare Kei” they often also think of Decora, and that is simply because that is what influenced the whole OK look in the first place. OK is the newest style that has come out of VK; it started back in 2001 by Ryo of Baroque in their PV (official video) "Anakuro Film".

4) Lolita is another “sub-style” of VK; it is pretty much a fashion sub-culture in Japan that was greatly influenced by Victorian style clothing. The unique thing about the Lolita fashion is that it became unique simply by adding “gothic” elements to the look itself.

I’m always getting asked why I like this type of music so much in the first place, and it’s very hard for me to answer that question. The music itself is just so unique, you can almost hear the history in it… but to do that, you’ve got to listen with an open mind and you’ve also got to understand why the songs are written the way that they are. There aren't a lot of people outside Japan that really find the music fascinating, and that is also part of what makes it so unique.

An example of VK music is
Miyavi – Jibun Kazumei



An example of NK music is…
Lynch – Ambivalent Ideal



An example of OK music is…
SuG - 39GalaxyZ


An example of Lolita music is…
Lolita23q – Siren Blue.

One Hit Wonders of the 80s

Most of you probably remember that a few posts ago here on Simple Man Music, I highlighted one hit wonders of the 70s. Today I'm back again with some of the most popular one hit wonders of the 80s. If you do a bit of research, the 80s was actually one of the time periods that had the most one hit wonders. It's hard to choose just a few, but here are some of the most popular ones from this decade.

"The Safety Dance" - Men Without Hats
One of the top one hit wonders of the 80s is no doubt "The Safety Dance." With a catchy tune, but a totally scary music video, it is definitely a tune that sticks in your head. Crank this one up and dance around your living room, your kitchen…grab the kids and dance…after all, "it's safe to dance."



"99 Red Ballooons" - Nena
Another of the one hit wonders of the 80s came from NENA. This was actually a new wave hit in Germany - a protest song in the era of the Cold War. It became popular in Germany and then made the charts in the United States as well. There is an interesting story behind this song, read it HERE.



"Angel Eyes" - The Jeff Healey Band
Jeff Healey's story is indeed an interesting one. A musician from Canada, he was blind, learning how to play guitar on his lap. He would later form the Jeff Healey Band. Although he has released quite a bit of other music, it was this song "Angel Eyes" that really became a big hit during the 80s. Many people have referred to Jeff Healy as "Angel Eyes" himself.



"Keep Your Hands to Yourself" - Georgia Satellites
This song is a favorite of mine - you just can't help but like this upbeat song by the southern rock band, Georgia Satellites. "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" is the song that they are known for and it hit #2 in the rock charts and the US Top 100 charts. When it comes to the one hit wonders of the 80s, this song just has to be on the list. The guitars are screaming, Rick Richards belts out the lyrics, and you can't help but sing along.



"Whip It" - Devo
"Crack that whip." You just can't get away from this one hit wonder of the 80s. In fact, it scored #15 on VH1s top one hit wonders of the 80s…big surprise. Teens of the 80s (and adults too) went nuts over this song. They didn't do much else that really got the attention of the nation, but this song was the one song they did succeed with, and we still remember it today. In fact, I bet you can even sing along…lol.



"It's Raining Men" - Weather Girls
Okay, for all you women out there, I know you remember this one. After all, we women can't forget a song that's all about "raining" down hot men. This song was actually offered to many of the female singing legends, but it was finally the Weather Girls, who accepted the song. Their version of the song became a hit, not only in the U.S., but it was considered an international hit. These girls didn't go much further, but hey, they got it all didn't they? After all, it rained men for them. "Hallelujah"



"Mickey" - Toni Basil
Toni Basil is known more today for her influence on dance and is one of the most incredible choreographers out there. She is also an actress, and many don't realize she has been involved in music as well. Although you probably haven't heard most of her music, her song "Mickey" was an international hit, and it's been featured in many different movies. It's one of those songs that just gets stuck in your head.



"Puttin on the Ritz" - Taco
Taco is actually a Dutch singer, and he was made famous by the one hit wonder, "Puttin on the Ritz." Although he did some other songs along the way, it was this song that made him famous and most people have only heard this song by him. Not only did it perform well on charts in the U.S., but it hit top chart positions in Norway and Sweden.



"Relax" - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood was a dance pop band in England and "Relax" was their debut single. It hit #6 on the charts, the BBC banned the song, and then they hit the #1 spot for five weeks in a row. Interestingly enough, the song is still one of the top hit singles of all time in the UK.



I hope you have enjoyed this look at the one hit wonders of the 80s. What other one hit wonders do you remember? Feel free to let us know.