Freshman year of high school I cut three old lady’s lawns to get enough money to buy a song I had heard on the radio. I ran four miles to the nearest record store on a blazing hot summer day. Todd something - I didn’t get the last name. Thirty something years later, I still get crazy with anticipation at the mention of a new Todd album. Last year's Arena, Rundgren's 20th solo album, was a riff rockin', power chord fueled assault on the senses as the artist reclaimed his status as guitar god. Last night, in front of a packed house at the Iron Horse in North Hampton, Rundgren laced into one dazzling solo after the next with a fierceness and intensity that left no question he's still as vital as ever. After beginning the night with a fistful of 70's rockers from his vast and varied catalogue, Rundgren launched into Arena playing all 13 tracks in order and barely coming up for air.

In 1977, nearly every page of my trig book had some Rundgren lyric scrawled in a corner: "I'd rather live by a dream than live by a lie"; "Souls come so cheap some people give theirs away"; "Chapter 6 and verse 11, if you want to get to heaven you've got to ask the man who owns the property." And during his performance of Courage, track 5 on Arena, I found one more Rundgren lyric to hold onto..."And when push came to shove, I lost the thing I loved, when I lost the courage of my convictions.' And for three and a half minutes or so, everything seemed right with the world.

One near 60 degree day and I'm reminded just how much I HATE BASS. And that's coming from a bass player! Gone are the days when the bass part moved as a counterpoint to a strong, well crafted melody; subtle and unnoticed until it was taken out of the mix. Now you're lucky if you get the root AND the fifth out of any boom car stereo's 150 decibel assault on the senses. What bothers me the most is the advertising campaigns looking to boost the testosterone levels of every young adult male between 16 and 25. Check out some of the neighborly slogans of the biggest car audio manufacturers:

JL Audio: "Be Very Afraid."
Kicker: "You deserve a beating...Kicker's loudest, meanest subwoofer ever!"
Lightning Audio: "Sonic submission."
Boss Audio System: "Turn it down? I don't think so."
Cerwin-Vega Mobile Audio: "Shake the living, wake the dead."
Orion High Performance Car Audio: "Be Loud. Be Obnoxious."

But the real killers are Sony's "Disturb the Peace" and Pioneer's "Disturb, Defy, Disrupt, Ignite".
Brilliant...just what every male teen needs to hear.

One thing is for sure: it's no longer about the music; it's all about the power...to disturb. And that in and of itself is disturbing. Hate to sound like an old fart, but something needs to be done. Otherwise, this is only the beginning of what could prove to be one long, hot summer.

Anyone lucky enough to get tix for the J. Geils reunion last night to open the new House of Blues on Lansdowne St.? Brought back a late 70's memory of bagging groceries at a local supermarket and, after my shift, brown-bagging a change of underwear and a toothbrush and thumbing down to So Yarmouth to catch Peter Wolf and company at the hotter-than-hell Cape Cod Coliseum...ah, the good old days. Caught Peter Wolf a few years back playing at the Middle East and half way through the set he jumped up onto the bar showing those same signature dance moves I remembered from high school. With a new CD out next month, Wolf shows no signs of slowing down, most recently touring with Kid Rock. Sleepless, his last solo project, may have been a sleeper in sales but was listed in Rolling Stone's top 500 albums of all time. If you haven't heard it, pick it up...you won't be disappointed. With guest appearances by Mick and Keith, and masterful guitar work by local wunderkind Duke Levine, Sleepless is a country/blues gem of a record. The new release has Wolf sharing the mic with Shelby (my favorite concert of last year) Lynne and Merle Haggard...can't wait!

OK...it's been two days now and I've had some time to think about exactly what I witnessed on Sunday night and to determine whether in fact my halftime cringe was merited. I believe it was. I keep having the same dream...Patty Scialfa tossing and turning all night until finally she says, "Honey, what were you thinking?...Put down the chicken wings? It's Boss time? I'm going to Disneyland? And baby, what were you trying to prove sliding across the stage on your knees like you're 25 again...or windmilling like a cheap Townshend copy and slinging your guitar like you just learned how to hoola-hoop...I know you've still got it! Your fans know you've still got it! You don't have to prove it all night or any night. You're Bruce Born to Run Springsteen and you've proved it all already. Darlin, I know you're anxious about turning 60 but you and Stevie looked like cartoon characters of yourselves tonight. Next time I hope you let your fans know who the REAL Boss is. (she rolls over) Goodnight, baby."

A few years back, Brown University students Josh Boltuch, Elliott Breece and Elias Roman hit on an idea to apply the social power of the web to solve the age-old challenge of connecting musicians and fans through their music. Rather than charging .99 cents or as much as $1.49 for a song, or $10-15 a CD, the three envisioned a marketplace where eager fans could get a taste of new music for far, far less--and at the same time reward the artists with greater royalties and wider fan bases too. Their idea has been brought to life as Amiestreet.com, (pronounced like the name--"Amy"), and it's attracted not just the finest in musical talent--but also venture funding from web retail giant Amazon.com, who has backed a major site release this past year, with big plans for the future.

Local Lowell musician Melvern Taylor hasn't failed to notice. His and his Fabulous Meltones' fabulous new CD, "Love Songs for Losers", is currently available for FREE on Amiestreet.com (that's no misprint--get it while it's HOT HOT HOT) and it's taken the leading edge on a new wave of musical entrepreneurship. Don't worry if it's a little bit more by the time you get to it--the premise at Amiestreet is simple--the more people download a song or a CD, the higher it goes up in price. Be the first to discover something great, like Melvern Taylor's latest, and it can be yours for free! As an added bonus, if you recommend your favorites to others, you can also get cut in with a cash bonus from Amiestreet based on how high those songs go up in price on the site. For fans, this means even MORE great music for the money, and it's all DRM-free and fully iPod compatible. This week's Amiestreet top 25 includes names you might know: Guster;Taj Majal; Nick Lowe. Next week, however, Milltown recording stars Melvern Taylor and His Fabulous Meltones will be hoping they're the ones reaching out to a whole new group of fans. Check them out!

submitted by KadBarma

If asked to name my favorite films of 2008, I wouldn't have to think twice: Slumdog Millionaire; Man on Wire; WALL-E. Ask me to name my favorite CDs of 08 and the list wouldn't come quite as easily. This could largely be due to my obsession with the early 70s... my CD dollars being spent adding 70's classics like Mott the Hoople's Mott, Bowie's Hunky Dory, and Sly and the Family Stone's Stand to my collection. Locally, Melvern Taylor's Love Songs for Losers gets my top pick. A sparkling collection of timeless gems, Love Songs spotlights a gifted songwriter at the top of his game who continually works to refine and polish his craft. Nationally, I loved Jenny Lewis' Acid Tounge and Ron Sexsmith's Exit Stategy of the Soul.

Your favorite 08 album, local or otherwise? Favorite song? Was 08 a good year for music? Memorable concert or live performance? Any dogs or disappointments? Love to hear from you as I continue to make my own year end evaluations. And I swear next year I'm dropping that extra fifteen...a change IS gonna come, dang it!

A few Christmas’ back, when Nixon was president and Three Dog Night’s Joy to the World was #1, the only thing on my list that year was the Partridge Family Album. It never made it under the tree but my Dad packed us all into the Country Squire on Christmas vacation, drove to some hip little record store in Malden and let me buy it with my own money. On the ride home I was overcome with complete joy and happiness; pure childhood ecstasy. My hands were shaking as I thought about watching the album spinning on the fold up, portable stereo in my bedroom. And then it happened. Grinch-like and with a Pall Mall dangling from his lower lip my Dad uttered, “I don’t understand what you’re so excited about; they don’t even play their own instruments.” In a second I was scouring the credits to prove him wrong. A tear trickled down my cheek as I realized he was right. At that very moment there was no more Easter Bunny, no more Tooth Fairy, no more Santa Claus.

Once home I forced myself to listen despite the violation, despite the deceit. Within days nothing else mattered: the songwriting was impeccable, the vocal harmonies were luscious, the musicianship outstanding. (Later I would discover the Partridge Family session players were also laying down tracks with Steely Dan, Paul Simon, Harry Nilsson, Joni Mitchell, John Lennon and Jerry Garcia to name a few; not bad company to keep.)

Digital sampling, loops, editing…keeps getting easier and easier to make music now a days. But one thing hasn’t changed since that fateful Christmas; a great voice is still a great voice and a great song is still a great song. Merry Christmas.

Anyone else finding themselves tuning in to Nights with Alice Cooper on Manchester's the Mill 96.5? Last week I picked up Billion Dollar Babies after making sure no one was watching. But today I'm coming clean...with all the PC radio up and down the dial, Alice is winning me over with his shockingly refreshing 7:00PM- midnight show. Rare live recordings, trivia, Cooper's Covers; I'm eighteen all over again...AND I LIKE IT, LOVE IT, LIKE...sorry. But seriously, I haven't found myself this enamored with a radio personality since the Duane Glasscock days at BCN. So if you're feeling a little sedated by the River, give Alice a try. Where else are you going to hear Van Halen covering Won't Get Fooled Again?

I love the Lowell Memorial Auditorium:the architecture, the history, the acoustics. One of my favorite concert moments was seeing Tony Bennet there a few years back. At one point he chimed, "They don't build them like this any more. You're so lucky." He then politely asked Tom McKay to kill the PA. Without a microphone it sounded like Tony was serenading me in my own living room. And then it came...that magical moment when art and reality fuse together. It started somewhere behind my neck and surged downward. A little quiver. Ah... to be moved.

Appears the likes of Tony, Aretha, Springsteen, hek even Peter, Paul and Mary have been tossed aside in favor of over commercialized top heavy tribute bands. I mean one a season's OK but three in four months?

The fun starts tomorrow night when Dark Star Orchestra channels Jerry and the Dead and continues with the Pink Floyd Experience in January and One Night of Queen in March. Dare I ask...Who's Next?

A few weeks back I ventured to Wormtown, (Worcester for the non-locals) to catch Melvern Taylor and his Fabulous Meltones at a cool new joint called Nicks. With a moosehead behind the bar, a killer micro brew list, and a juke box cranking out the likes of Hoagy Carmichael and Gene Kupra, Nicks is the kind of neighborhood bar that would make any Lowellian long for the days of Evos and Capos. It wasn’t that long ago that Maria “Midnight at the Oasis” Muldaur graced the stage at Capos and sang her heart out to an appreciative but sparse crowd of twenty five to thirty people. After singing along to Melvern classics like “Working Stiff”, “Angel on My Shoulder” and “Salisbury Beach, we left the church pews of the listening room at Nicks and started back up I290. With the rain dancing on the windshield and Melvern’s CD blaring on the stereo the same thought began to haunt me like a scratched LP… I’m driving to freakin Worcester to see a Lowell musician! And next week I’m driving to Somerville to see Jen Kearney at Johnny D’s. And after that I’m driving to Cambridge to see Frank Morey at the Plough. Lowell is overflowing with talented singer/songwriters and they’re playing in every hip city EXCEPT Lowell. We need a Johnny D’s; we need a Toad; we need a Tupelo! And more than ever before we need Middle Street to be the music haven that it once was. Someone step up to the plate. I’m begging you. And maybe someday as loud as the screams for Kevin Youkilis at Fenway we’ll all be screaming for Melvern to take the stage for one more in some Middle St. bar. Uke , Uke , Uke…