The Broadway musical Wicked has flown back into town, thrilling fans at the Overture Center now through June 9th.
I got a chance to see the production for the 2nd time last night, and once again was blown away. Even though I saw Wicked in 2010, I had forgotten most of the story--so it was (almost) new to me...and unlike some musicals, the plot was intriguing, the songs and dialog were a great mixture of drama and humor, the dancing was amazing, and here's the kicker...even a Wizard of Oz purist like me enjoyed it!
I tried reading Gregory Maguire's book Wicked when it came out..but just couldn't get into it. Maybe now that I know the story, I'll give it another try.
If you want to go but don't have a whole lot of money--this is a pretty cool thing the Overture Center is doing...selling a limited number of $25 tickets for every show. Here's how it works--go to Overture Center 2 1/2 hours before showtime and get in on a drawing..and 30 minutes later they'll draw some names for a limited number of main floor seats for just 25 bucks! Sweet!
Today we traveled back to 1975 for a Rendezvous with The Hudson Brothers. This song didn't make it to high on the charts, but Kitty enjoyed it. Her favorite brother was Brett. She also loved their television show. We've included a skit from that show too.
I'm not sure why Pete Yorn decided to name his new music project after a European cave dwelling aquatic salamander, but if he stops by to play us some songs in Studio M, we'll have to ask him.
The Olms is a collaboration between Pete Yorn and L.A. musician J.D. King, two guys who definitely have an old-school approach to recording. That means real instruments, real singing, recorded onto real tape...not a computer. And when they started recording, they really had no expectations, so the true inspiration shows through.
The Olms' self-titled album comes out June 4th.
If you sign up for their newsletter, you can get a FREE DOWNLOAD of their song "Wanna Feel It."
Today's song was written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. It was inspired by the 1957 novel Doctor Zhivago. No one was inspired by the song this morning. It was rejected by almost all the listeners.
Today is World Goth Day,a day to celebrate the post-punk, anti-establishment, dark clothes-wearing subculture.
I'm pretty sure I was a Goth for at least for little while, for two reasons.
1) I almost hardly ever wear pastels.
2) I used to listen to a lot of the Smiths in the '80s.
It all started when I found a Smiths 2-record set("Louder than Bombs") in the giveaway pile at a radio station where I worked. For some reason I was attracted to songs like "Unloveable," "Shoplifters of the World Unite" and "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now."
I listened to that record over and over again. And then for Christmas the next year, my brother bought me the Smiths "Strangeways Here We Come," and that had some doozies on it as well, including "Unhappy Birthday," "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me," and "Girlfriend in a Coma." Pretty dark stuff, isn't it?
But I think that the very fact that I used the word "doozie" disqualifies me as a Goth. But don't worry, you won't catch me wearing pastels any time soon.
Hello to all from Nfusion. Another round of challenges has moved beyond us all. Congrats to those of us lucky enough to have survived to this point. Sad to see the others eliminated as they were all very creative and talented. Good Bye to our new friends of Flippin Westies, Royal Clark, Crash the Lights and The Earthilings. It was a pleasure working with you all and keeping the competition fun. Carry on to all and best of luck.
We were delighted that we are still in the heat of things and are looking forward to the remaining 2-events. It will be nice to break from the writing and just jam with the others at The Club on Thursday nights. We're hanging in there. Come out to see us and have some fun. Take care.
This morning it seemed like just about everyone was in the mood for some Funky Cold Medina...except Kitty. This ridiculous song made it all the way to number 3 in 1989. Jonathan says any song that references advertising dogs from the 80's has got to be played.
Madison's summer music festival season kicks off this weekend with Brat Fest at Willow Island, where there are more bands than you can shake a bratwurst at! Check out the Brat Fest website to plan your itinerary.
Next up is theMarquette Waterfront Fest at Yahara Place Park June 8th and 9th. This year, there's a definite international flair, with bands including Tani Diakite and the Afrofunkstars and Hurray For the Riff Raff, from New Orleans.
Jump forward to La Fete De Marquette July 11-14th at South Dickinson and East Washington Avenue on Madison's east side. 105.5 Triple M is excited to be a part of La Fete again this year, as they welcome a wide roster of stars, including Marcia Ball, Kenny Neal and Irma Thomas.
Atwood Summerfest happens July 27th and 28th with a fun list of bands that include the disco group VO5 and even a bluegrass Madonna tribute band!
On the horizon, there's Orton Park Fest August 22-25th, and while a full itinerary has not been published, I did see on the Bottle Rockets website that they'll be there on August 24th.
And that's followed by the Willy Street Fair in September...but I don't want to even think about that, because that marks the END of summer.
Hope to see you out and about at one of these festivals this summer..and if you insist, yes, you may buy me a beer!
John Fogerty is making the talk show rounds this week, stopping in to see David Letterman Tuesday and Wednesday, and the ladies of "The View" on Thursday.
He's promoting his new album, "Wrote a Song For Everyone" which comes out next Tuesday (5/28). The 16 song album features two new songs, and a 14 classics recorded with special guests.
Among those collaborations: John with the Foo Fighters doing "Fortunate Son," which definitely contains the urgency of the original..if not a little bit more! And John's voice still sounds great. (Check out a snippet of the song in the video below).
Other guest artists include Dawes, My Morning Jacket, Bob Seger, and Jennifer Hudson. There's a little something for the country fans too..with appearances by Miranda Lambert, Zac Brown Band, Keith Urban, and Alan Jackson.
The album is available for pre-sale now on Fogerty's website where you can choose from a variety of different bundles, ranging in price from $30 to $275. For the big bucks, the bundle includes the album on CD and vinyl, and other goodies including a John Fogerty pen and journal, and a "Fortunate Son" flannel shirt, so you can sing along with the record and really feel the part.
It's a miracle that both Jonathan and KItty wanted to hear Barry Manilow this morning. They were not alone. Plenty of Fanilow's called in to vote yes. One caller claimed to have seen Manilow in concert 25 times!
The Broadway musical Wicked has flown back into town, thrilling fans at the Overture Center now through June 9th.
I got a chance to see the production for the 2nd time last night, and once again was blown away. Even though I saw Wicked in 2010, I had...
Today we traveled back to 1975 for a Rendezvous with The Hudson Brothers. This song didn't make it to high on the charts, but Kitty enjoyed it. Her favorite brother was Brett. She also loved their television show. We've included a skit from...
I'm not sure why Pete Yorn decided to name his new music project after a European cave dwelling aquatic salamander, but if he stops by to play us some songs in Studio M, we'll have to ask him.
The Olms is a collaboration between Pete Yorn and...
Today's song was written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. It was inspired by the 1957 novel Doctor Zhivago. No one was inspired by the song this morning. It was rejected by almost all the listeners.
Today is World Goth Day, a day to celebrate the post-punk, anti-establishment, dark clothes-wearing subculture.
I'm pretty sure I was a Goth for at least for little while, for two reasons.
1) I almost hardly ever wear pastels.
2) I used to...
Hello to all from Nfusion. Another round of challenges has moved beyond us all. Congrats to those of us lucky enough to have survived to this point. Sad to see the others eliminated as they were all very creative and talented. Good Bye to our new friends...
This morning it seemed like just about everyone was in the mood for some Funky Cold Medina...except Kitty. This ridiculous song made it all the way to number 3 in 1989. Jonathan says any song that references advertising dogs from the 80's has got...
Madison's summer music festival season kicks off this weekend with Brat Fest at Willow Island, where there are more bands than you can shake a bratwurst at! Check out the Brat Fest website to plan your itinerary.
Next up is the Marquette...
