Hey, hey kids.

Sup? Hope all has been well since the last time you were here. 

Good morning...

To paraphrase Walter Winchell, "good morning Mr. and Mrs. World and all the ships at sea."

Another pleasant valley Sunday...

... somewhere, anyway. Looking out the sliding glass door in the kitchen, it seems sort of cloudy here. I'm not of a mind to go outside and look, though. I mean, it was 79⁰ when I left the bar at 1:15ish last night, so I'm gonna stay inside and soak up every bit of Willis Carrier's brilliant invention that I can.
And maybe do some laundry. 

Ah, summer. Or close enough, anyway.

Good morning, friends. Hope you're all enjoying your weekend.

Me? Well, I've been really busy doing a bunch of nothing. It's something I am absolutely great at.

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I'm pretty sure I've mentioned a number of times that I work a "regular" job during the week at a sign company. My current gig is one I enjoy (well, as much as one can enjoy working, anyway!), with good hours, good benefits, a generous PTO schedule, and- best of all- they're pretty flexible about my schedule (mainly because I get my work done in a timely manner, and also because there's not a whole lot I'm not familiar with as far as how to do it).

My employer specializes in large scale projects, like hospital campuses, government facilities, universities, and the like. Every bit of signage that you see at one of these locations, we do it. Last week, there was a rush on to get some replacement sign panels completed for a school out in the western US. Because of my "jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none" abilities (though, to pat myself on the back, there are a few aspects of "the business" that I am very, very good at), I occasionally get asked to pitch in to complete jobs, and that's where this-un comes from. My task was to prep the copy for application- a simple task, really, once you get the knack for it- you're just peeling up "waste" and putting what's called transfer tape on what you need. The tape enables the installer to pick up all the vinyl at once and apply it to whatever surface it's going on (transferring it from one place to another, hence the name transfer tape).

Anyway, part of this simple task is making sure you don't accidently pull up something that's needed, and (for me, anyway), proofreading what's there to make sure there aren't any obviously mistakes. As I was doing that this week, I noticed that one of the panels read "Arts & Music Building" and it got me thinking- why the separation?

Music is art. Yes, even the songs I hate. Someone put time and effort into creating the pieces we listen to. Just like a painter putting brush to canvas, or a sculptor putting chisel to stone, a songwriter putting together the notes for a tune is an act of creation that leads to a piece of art. The lyricist who pens the words we sing is an artist, as well. Both efforts are a creative process.

Our life, our experiences, our moods, our world view- every aspect of your life informs your view of art. While some may prefer the works of the classical masters, others may find the surrealists more to their liking- just like one audience might prefer Leadbelly to Led Zeppelin. A preference for one, rather than the other, does nothing to diminish the artist effort. So, while I might consider songs by, say, Shania Twain to be pop garbage, someone created them- and plenty of people find them enjoyable.

Music is emotion- joy, sadness, longing, love. Music is language. Music is mathematics. And, yeah, like I said: Music is art.

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You know what is, maybe, the only thing I like about summer/warmer weather? The way the day's heat feels coming off the car seat at the end of the day. For someone with (evidently progressing) arthritis, that warmth does wonders to soothe the "old bones."

Oh, also smaller clothes, if you catch my drift! (Hey, I'm evolved, but not that evolved.)

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Songwriter Cynthia Weil, Grammy winner and Songwriters Hall of Fame member has died at the age of 82, according to her daughter. While you might not immediately recognize Weil's name- or that of her husband and co-writer Barry Mann- you're sure to recognize quite a few of her compositions, including On Broadway, He's So Shy, You're My Soul and Inspiration, Here You Come Again, and You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling.

In a statement, Mann called himself "a lucky man. I had two for one: my wife and one of the greatest songwriters in the world, my soul and inspiration."

Weil- an NYC native- was one of the top songwriters working at the Brill Building in Midtown Manhattan throughout the 1960s, writing hits for the Righteous Brothers, the Ronettes, the Drifters, the Monkees, the Animals, and many others. Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, Neil Sedaka, Neil Diamond, Shadow Morton, Mort Shuman, Otis Blackwell were among the writers working alongside Weil and Mann- though many of them remained mostly anonymous (King, Sedaka, and Diamond aside), working out of cubicles and producing timeless music.

Songwriters Hall of Fame CEO Linda Moran said on Friday, "At a time when there were relatively few major female songwriters- and even those who were working often were not sufficiently acknowledged in the credits or financially- Cynthia played a major role in paving the way for future generations of women to not only be creative, but to claim the credit due to them."

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It's callow and crass, and I've said it many times before: Dying is good for sales. Or recognition, at the very least. Week-ending reports from Luminate Friday say on-demand streams of Tina Turner's catalog added some 40 million plays in the six days after her death at age 83. The number of airplays from May 24-30 represented an increase of 1367% over the previous week's numbers.

On the Billboard R&B charts for digital sales, Turner took eight of the top 10 spots, with What's Love Got To Do With It? at #1 followed by We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome), Proud Mary, Better Be Good To Me, and Private Dancer in the two through five spots, I Don't Wanna Lose You at #7, Let's Stay Together at #9 and River Deep-Mountain High at #10. Her 78,000 plus in digital sales represented an increase of more than 6200% over the previous week.

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Snoop Dogg has postponed two upcoming shows at the Hollywood Bowl in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the release of his Doggystyle LP.

In an Instagram post from Friday, Snoop the decision was made in support of the unions involved in the "WGA strike and the DGA and SAG/AFTRA negotiations. (Dr. Dre and I) stand in solidarity with the unions and are hopeful that the AMPTP will negotiate fair deals as soon as possible and everybody can get back to work."

Snoop added that "we gonna push (the shows) back to October 20 and October 21."

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Cage the Elephant singer Matt Shultz has plead guilty on three charges of criminal weapons possession after being arrested in New York in January with two loaded guns. The New York Post reports that Shultz pleaded guilty in exchange for avoiding jail time.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Cori Weston told Shultz during court Friday that he must "stay out of trouble for one year" and be present for for scheduled court dates under the terms of the deal- at which point he will be allowed to withdraw the guilty pleas on the two felony counts and receive a one-year conditional release for the misdemeanor charge. Failure to abide by the agreement could see him serving up to seven years behind bars.

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Foo Fighters have released their eleventh studio album to streaming. But Here We Are is the band's first album since the sudden death of Taylor Hawkins just over a year ago.

A press release call the album "the first chapter of the band’s new life... the sound of brothers finding refuge in the music that brought them together in the first place 28 years ago, a process that was as therapeutic as it was about a continuation of life."

Dave Grohl's daughter, Violet, provides vocals on the track Show Me How.

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Billy Joel will say goodbye to Madison Square Garden in July 2024 after a 10-year stint of over 150 shows he said at an MSG press conference. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was also at the presser, told reporters there was "only one thing that’s more New York than Billy Joel- and that’s a Billy Joel concert at MSG. For more than 50 years, Billy’s music has defined our city and brought us together. On behalf of 8.5 million New Yorkers, congratulations, Billy, on a historic run of sold-out shows at MSG, and thank you for a lifetime of bringing joy to us all."

The first of Joel’s final 10 concerts at the arena will be October 20th of this year, with future dates to be announced. Pre-sale for the show begins Wednesday with general sales beginning Friday. I would've loved to have seen him when he played here earlier this year, but the concert was on a Friday and started at something like 5 PM. That is not the kind of commuting nightmare I was going to get involved in- especially after missing half of the Elton John concert to traffic fuckery on a Wednesday.

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Don't forget to join us for another rip-roaring edition of Saturday Night Karaoke next weekend, live and loud at the Iron Horse Tavern in historic downtown Norcross. Showtime is 9:30PM.

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Upcoming birthdays of note include:

June 4: Roger Ball of Average White Band (79); Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas (79); Keith David (67); Paul Taylor of Winger (63); El DeBarge (62); Sean Pertwee (59); Al B. Sure! (55); Izabella Scorupco (53); Noah Wyle (52); and Angelina Jolie (48)

June 5: Freddie Stone of Sly and the Family Stone (76); Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden (71); Kenny G (67); Brian McKnight (54); Mark Wahlberg (51); and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy (44)

June 6: Gary “U.S.” Bonds (84); Tony Levin of King Crimson (77); Robert Englund (76); Harvey Fierstein (69); Björn Borg (67); Jason Isaacs (60); Paul Giamatti (56); and Uncle Kracker (49)

June 7: Tom Jones (83); Liam Neeson (71); Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction (56); Bear Grylls (49); Anna Kournikova (42) and Iggy Azalea (33)

June 8: Nancy Sinatra (83); Boz Scaggs (79); Sônia Braga (73); Bonnie Tyler (72); Griffin Dunne (68); and Mick Hucknall of Simply Red (63)

June 9: Pete Byrne of Naked Eyes (69); Michael J. Fox (62); Aaron Sorkin (62); Gloria Reuben (59); and Natalie Portman (42)

June 10: Shirley Owens of The Shirelles (82); Jürgen Prochnow (82); Kim Deal of The Breeders (62); Gina Gershon (61); Jeanne Tripplehorn (60); Elizabeth Hurley (58); Joey Santiago of Pixies (58); Mike Doughty of Soul Coughing (53); JoJo Haile of K-Ci & JoJo (52); Faith Evans (50); Leelee Sobieski (40); and Kate Upton (31)