Under a Red Roof

Don’t Change

January 30, 2009 in Listening, Remembering, Spotlighting by Colleen | 1 comment

Isn’t this a beautiful cover? When I first saw it, mind you, this was on a cassette tape, so the image wasn’t terribly large, I thought it was a photograph of an exquisite sculpture. Only upon further inspection did I learn man and canine were made of flesh and bone. I find it both incredibly sexy and tender at the same time. The man has beautiful shoulders and arms, and the dog – a Greyhound or Whippet? is awfully sweet and poised, paws balanced just so. Definitely on my top ten list for album covers. Yes, definitely.

In keeping with yesterday’s post, I thought I would give a full blown Spotlight on this, my favorite INXS album. I first heard “The One Thing” and “To Look at You” when I watched Reckless with Aidan Quinn and Darryl Hannah way back in 1984. Save these two songs, and especially “The One Thing,” I have no recollection of the film, but the music is enough for me.

I know that taste in music is highly subjective, but I really feel like this is a timeless classic. While it does bring back many memories, the music never seems dated to me. INXS never went over the top with gimmicks or synthesizers, so there are no Flock of Seagull moments while listening to it. Not that the FOS were bad, but when you listen to them now, you know they are an 80’s band.

One of the finest and exceedingly rare occurrences in music is to have an album where every song is a gem. Shabooh Shoobah is one such example. It starts with “The One Thing” and keeps up the pace with clever lyrics, Michael’s very sexy, sometimes tender, and powerful voice, and ends with the crescendo “Don’t Change.” It is really difficult for me to choose favorites because I have a really hard time hearing the end of one song without longing for the next, so I will tell you my favorite lines from each song:

“The One Thing” – The way you move soft and slippery, cut the night just like a razor, rarely talk and that’s the danger.

“To Look at You” – I understand, I sympathize for a day dream, fairy tales and I love you

“Spy of Love” – Standing above this moment, listening to all I say, the spy of love will track me, will catch me.

“Soul Mistake” – Promises are carved out of lust, with a fire in the heart, that burns without regret, I vow to play the part.

“Here Comes” – Here comes my kamikaze, here comes God’s top ten.

“Black and White” – Got a need inside and I don’t know why, it’s a strong feeling that grows and grows.

“Golden Playpen” – Night club, ice cubes crackin’

“Jan’s Song” – Friends won’t argue, friends don’t care, now is the moment to get out of here.

“Old World New World” -Natives wearing turquoise and silver, dirty dogs barking in the distance, ooh people of a thousand tongues, I’m learning the primitive rites.

“Don’t Change” – Don’t change for you, don’t change a thing for me.

Oh my goodness, twenty-five years later and I still love it!

Tags: Music

Old World New World

January 29, 2009 in Listening, Remembering by Colleen | 3 comments

That’s the name of a stellar INXS song, from my favorite album Shabooh Shoobah. The awesome and, quite sadly, departed too soon, Michael Hutchence sings: “Old world, new world, I know nothing, but I keep listening.” Just a little aside here, too, INXS was my first concert at Red Rocks, and it did not disappoint.

Anyway, I’ve had the song and the sentiment stuck in my head ever since I started seeing people from much younger days on Facebook, for some it has been almost twenty years! I sit in wild wonder at all that I do and don’t know about their lives. It is both strange and wonderful, to see long lost faces and know where everyone is and what they’re doing.

Take these photos. This is Rob, the Batman fan formerly known as Bob. We met in high school, but neither of us has any recollection how it happened. There are plenty of other clearer memories, however, like opening day of Batman (the occasion for cooking a steak at my house), the opening of the Super Saver Cinema (Rob, do you remember what we saw?), and a night at the drive-in to see the Gubernator in Total Recall where I promptly fell asleep (that’s our giant bag of popcorn I’m holding).

As luck would have it, Rob found me just last week, and, even luckier, was in Portland on business on Monday, so the hubster and I met him at the Kennedy School for dinner. It was a grand evening of Gregory getting to know Rob while reminiscing for hours over cocktails and yummy food. We also reveled in the fact that it seemed as though no time had passed. That is friendship. Thank you, Facebook, for this lovely reunion, and Rob, see you next time you’re in town!

One more time, with jazz hands!

Sounds Like Fall

October 17, 2008 in Listening, Remembering, Spotlighting by Colleen | 1 comment

I had some friends over last night and this was one of our musical selections. It is such a great soundtrack for fall, though I don’t quite know why I make this association. Which reminds me of a funny story.

When I was in high school and college, I listened to a lot of Van Morrison, because, well, that is what one does isn’t it? Golly, he was everywhere I went back then. Anyway, there is this song, “Jackie Wilson Said,” one that I always associated with Christmas. I was with my friend Mitch and we were singing along to it, and I mentioned that fact to him, when suddenly the answer came. He smiled and said, “It wouldn’t be that would it?” Sure enough, it was, “ding-a-ling-a-ling…” I just about peed my pants with laughter. Darn Christmas bells hiding in plain sight like that.

So there may be something that I’m missing with The Hour of Bewilderbeast, but here’s what I do know. The CD is nice and long (no feeling cheated – I paid that much for thirty minutes?!) and, musically, it goes all over the map. There are some ethereal themes, rockin’ tunes, quirky sounds (think underwater), and down right sweet lyrics. If you are a fan of the film About a Boy (Hugh Grant’s best, I think), this is the man in charge of that sound track. Good listening!

A Moment of Forever

September 5, 2008 in Inspiring, Listening, Spotlighting, Watching by Colleen | 4 comments

Sometimes it is really difficult for me to put my feelings into words because they feel so inadequate or they just seem silly, and in this case, both. I do not tend to get starry eyed about celebrities. Yes, I do find them interesting, as I do all people, and occasionally get the gossip via magazines, but I know that, ultimately we are all human in the end. We all eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom every day.

One exception to this rule is this fella here. Good golly, Gregory and I were so darned excited to see him last week at the Oregon State Fair. I mean, the guy’s done so much – Farm Aid, Bio-Fuel, and all that singing! When we first arrived and perused the various sites, we’d look at each other and ask, “Do you think he’s here?” Then, after we’d seen the Honeysuckle Rose and knew he was, indeed, at the Fair, we wondered aloud, “What do you think he’s doing now?” And then, when we finally got to take our seats and his roadie brought out Trigger, we just about burst. “Willie Nelson is back stage and he’s gonna sing – for us!”

Well, my friends, he did not disappoint. The man, who is seventy-five, played for an hour and forty-five minutes without stopping. When the band played “Bloody Mary Morning,” I thought old Trigger might break at the seams. Willie was strumming so wildly, and me, right there with him, whoopin’ and hollerin’, hands drumming on my thighs, feet stomping to the pulsing beat. Hot damn, he is good! Sometimes, he didn’t even finish a song before starting the melody for another. The man was on fire.

He played old favorites, like “Whiskey River,” “Crazy, ” and “On the Road Again,” and new songs, like “You Don’t Think I’m Funny Anymore,” and “Over You Again.” Of course he played “Georgia,” and of course, I cried, but sweetly, because the night was so magical there in Salem. Big clouds threatened us and a cool breeze blew, but the sky turned starry, and the people were so kind, happy as clams to be in the presence of this sweet, generous, and funny man. Oh Willie, it was a delight to spend a “Moment of Forever” with you.

Turn It Up

June 22, 2008 in Listening by Colleen | Permalink

Why is it that when we hear a song that we like, we turn up?

A while back, Greg and I were shuffling some songs on our I-Pod when “Kashmir” from Led Zeppelin came on. I jumped out of my chair, dashed to the volume control and turned it way up, even though I could hear it perfectly well before.

Maybe hearing the song is only the tip of the iceberg, the more senses we involve the better. We want our ears full, as well as feeling it vibrating in our bellies. Perhaps this is akin to smelling something delicious just before popping it into the mouth for a fantastical flavor explosion.

I’m just wondering…