Introducing: Mr. John Parr, 2006

John Parr, the werewolf of Worksop, Nottinghamshire. I don't know what I expected Parr to do in this clip, after his passionate introduction and all, but that wasn't it. His performance is just beyond the surreal. If he had any trace of pride left... no wait, that's not an option.

You know, I believe that Limahl has a lot more credibility than John Parr at this point in time. Some years ago I played in a 80s cover band, and we opened for Limahl. To be exact, we played 90 minutes with a full 8-piece band, then Limahl went on stage, performed The Neverending Story and Too Shy backed by a DAT cassette and left the building.

Now, (1) Limahl had two songs up his sleeve, (2) he didn't lip-sync his performance, and (3) he wore a fun 80's "Limahl-wig" for the occasion. He (4) sure as hell didn't sport a keytar with the American flag all over it - being British and all, and finally, (5) he performed in front of just over 800 twenty-somethings in a real concert venue. Whereas John Parr... well, you'd better just have a look at it... enjoy!

A request...

The Adventures of Air Supply

To Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell, she was always the woman. I seldom heard them mention her under any other name. In their eyes she eclipsed and predominated the whole of her sex. It was not that they felt any emotion akin to love for her. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to their cold, precise but admirably balanced minds. They were, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machines that the world had seen, but as lovers they surely would have put themselves in a false position.



"Every Woman In The World" reached # 5 (12/31/80) on the US charts. It was written by Dominic Bugatti and Frank Musker, and you can find it on pretty much every compilation they've ever released, or in it's original context on the album "Lost in Love", 1980.

Theme from a Dream

Has everybody seen this yet?

If you have any idea who Michael McDonald is you have to take a look at this. Listen to his soulful voice, learn how he went about re-Michaeling the Doobie Brothers.

The Places You Find... David Foster

Ever wondered what would happen if David Foster got to produce Alice Cooper? As 2 or 3 or you may know, it did actually happen, in 1978. Foster produced the entire From the Inside album. And Alice Cooper was instantly turned into a mellow crooner - this sounds just like Mandy by Barry Manilow...

Soft imperative

In popular music 1976-1984 was a period of contrast. On one side you had punk and new wave - aggressive music influenced by youth, strong emotions and rebellion. On the other side there was soft rock - a genre that more or less became the definition of everything music shouldn't be - and the complete opposite of cool. This kind of music was also certainly emotional, but on an entirely different level. These artists were typically contemplating lost love - soft men with acoustic guitars, often sporting a beard and beige velour. When the lady walks out on them, the guys rarely blame her. They understand her reasons - even though she breaks their hearts, even though they don't know how to go on. And when they're happy - when they sing about the real thing - they really do pour their hearts out.

The sound is... well, it's really just very soft. The drummer cuddles with the sharp drum and tickles the hi-hat, the bass player gently weaves a backdrop for a fuzz-free or acoustic rhythm guitar and mellow Fender Rhodes. It could be vaguely funky, jazzy - or it could be folk-inspired. It doesn't really rock, ever... The male vocals are usually high-pitched. Most songs feature some kind of solo - most often a guitar or sax solo, but every now and then there's a flute or a vibraphone.

In my humble opinion it's time for this music to be rediscovered. For all it's faults, there's a lot to admire in soft rock. There's an undeniable charming and disarming honesty to this music. The musicianship is often impeccable. And when you take a look at the guys who were performing the music, you realise that it was all about the music, certainly not about the visual...

As my previous post implies, the renaissance of classic soft rock is already in the making. On this site, I'll guide you through some of the highlights and low points of the genre. It will be subjective, it will be in poorly written English - other than that you'll just have to stay with me and see if anything of value ever pops up...

Wussy Sea Songs

I purchased a couple of discs by veteran Canadian songwriter Marc Jordan recently and I've really enjoyed them. I love his voice, and most some of his songwriting is excellent decent (although there are some bummers). His sound has changed quite a bit over the years, but he's been pretty consistent quality-wise. I don't know for certain, but I don't think he's ever had a solo hit in Europe. Rod Stewart had a big hit with one of his songs, though, Rhythm of My Heart, in 1991. Pre-listen to some of Jordan's songs on Amazon.

A few months ago I came across jasonhare.com. He has a regular post entitled Adventures Through the Mines of Mellow Gold, in which he covers a couple of soft rock tunes every week. He carefully considers every aspect of the track he's covering, down to hairstyle, make-up and clothing. He mocks our heroes in hilarious fashion (and rightfully so), no doubt about that - but deep down he has a mellow heart, I'm sure. A key aspect of Adventures Through the Mines of Mellow Gold is the wussiness of the music.

To fully understand this term, start off with AOL's list of the 111 wussiest songs of all time. Then you should take a look at Stereogum and Down with Snark for an in-depth discussion.

"Yacht Rock" offers a brilliant take on the L.A. studio musician's scene in the '70s and early '80s. We get to meet Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, the guys from Toto and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter behind the scenes, there's lots of beautiful, smooth music and some really interesting footage. Excellent show!

As far as I'm concerned, this show single-handedly redefines the entire genre. The creators define yacht rock as the more polished, up-scale productions with studio aces like McDonald, Loggins, Lukather. But there's also the term marina rock, dedicated to the not-quite-so-polished acts, such as Rupert Holmes and possibly Jimmy Buffett. The nautical references are thoroughly appropriate - it's a recurring theme both in the lyrics and in the cover art of these musical acts (Christopher Cross - Sailing, Loggins & Messina - Full Sail, Pages - The Sailor's Song, Peter Allen - I Could Have Been a Sailor, Lionel Richie and Commodores - Sail On.)

To prove the point further, I just realised that one of the songs on my new Marc Jordan disc is entitled Let Me Be Your Boat (from Cool Jam Black Earth, 1996).

Smooth Is the New Cool

I turned 35 years old this fall. I grew up somewhere in Europe in the 1980s. My first vinyl LP was Make It Big by Wham! Don Johnson in Miami Vice was my idol, and I worked hard to emulate his style - all slick hair, white suits and pastel colored t-shirts - in high school - at age 14...

I grew up, thankfully, and reconsidered both my hairstyle and my clothes, but I never stopped looking back, musically. Since turning music into an obsession at about age 14, I've never really been hooked on any contemporary trends. Guns'n'Roses, Kurt Cobain, Oasis, Red Hot Chili Peppers - or Madonna for that matter - all of them more or less eluded me. I wasnt' indie-cool, and definitely not mainstream-cool. I wasn't any kind of cool. Instead I went back in time to smooth and jazzy acts, like Michael Franks, Steely Dan, Al Jarreau and Pat Metheny Group. I don't mind hard rock or avant-garde classical, and I love hard bop jazz. I do, however, have a definite soft spot for the mellower side of rock music, often with a touch of jazz, and that's going to be the main focus of this blog.

It's a guilty pleasure, for sure, nevertheless I have a genuine affection for this kind of music. Whenever Sometimes when I hear some Stephen Bishop or vintage Michael McDonald, I'm in musical ecstacy (unlikely as that might seem to most of you).

But if you feel the same way, stay tuned. I'll be back in a couple of days with a few useful links to help explain this particular brand of rock music.