The Recovering DJ

It was on this date in 1997 Michael Hutchence, lead singer of INXS died in a Sydney hotel room.  I’m assuming everyone knows the lurid story behind it all.  It seems like such a waste.  Creativity and crazy seem to go hand in hand, that fine line between lucidness and madness.

When it happened , it was one of those “I remember where I was when I heard the news” moments for me.  I was house/dog sitting, had just walked in to check on the dog and flicked on the radio.  That’s where I used to get a lot of my music news, back in those days, radio.  No Twitter or Facebook.  Just dial up AOL.

I remember being very sad.  INXS was a big favorite of mine, and I never got to see them live.  Plus let’s face it, he was hot.

I thought it was in poor taste when the rest of the band signed on to do the  2005 television show “Rock Star” to search for a new singer.  My two cents-change the name of your band out of respect.  Talking to you too Journey.  ((Stepping off soap box now))

There’s rumors of a movie coming out based on a bio written by his mother and sister, but so far no release date has been set.

INXS “Shine Like it Does” Melbourne 1985

Imagine you are checking out your local cover band, ready to kick back and enjoy some familiar tunes and Dave Grohl pops onstage!

Dave Grohl, performed a version of Queen and David Bowie‘s ‘Under Pressure’ with the celebrated California cover band Chevy Metal.

Their performance was part of a celebration for the California city of Costa Mesa’s 60th anniversary. According to UltimateClassicRock.com, Chevy Metal played covers of Van Halen’s ‘Panama,’ the Rolling Stones’ ‘Miss You,’ the Knack’s ‘My Sharona’ and the Vapors’ ‘Turning Japanese’

Everyone has ‘em…whether you’re into music big time or only a causal listener. The Songs That Take You Back. You know what I mean, the tunes that transport you to “back in the day”, suddenly remind you of a past place in such a vivid way that if you close your eyes and turn up the volume, you’re almost there.

The first dance in junior high, the first album you bought, the first band you saw in concert, the first kiss, The one song you played over and over again until someone in your household told you to knock it off.

We all have ‘em, and we forget. I have songs that remind me of my elementary days, my high school days, my radio days, when I lived in Ohio, when I lived in New Jersey, etc etc. Half the time, I forget they’re around, as they lie dormant in the back of my full of useless information head.

The other day I actually found myself driving and horror of horrors in a bit of traffic jam. I did what people do when stuck in a non-moving vehicle…fiddle with the radio. And lo and behold, I forgot for a moment I was stuck in Seattle somewhere, and instead was transformed to the Bonaventure Rolling Rink, full of popcorn, frozen cherry coke and dreams while jammin’ with my friends. All while on roller skates.

The song? “ Best of My Love” by The Emotions. I had the 45 and as I cranked the volume way past 11, I could see the Columbia label in my head. I did a little seat dance, (arms and head only, as I was still in a car), sang the lyrics as loud as I could and as the traffic began to move, hardly noticed people were looking at me like I was crazy.

What song takes you back?

 

 

John Hughes, Director, Writer, Producer and by all accounts all around good guy left us yesterday. His movies were the background to my generation and his passing has made me ponder my mortally a little bit, and the fact that I’m getting older a lot. It’s been a heck of a summer for our icon’s.

John Hughes made the movies that made me feel good at the end, no matter how implausible.

John Candy, Molly Ringwald, Michael Keaton, and The Red Wing Shirt wearing guy from “Ferris Beuller”…All favorite actors portraying great characters that have never left my subconscious.

Speaking of the jersey guy…I just read that John Hughes was born in a Detroit suburb…duh…I could never figure out why a Chicago boy would be sportin’ a Wing’s shirt.

My university lumped together Radio, TV and Film as “Telecommunications” so I have a bit of a film major. I studied a huge variety of “films” and “cinema” (those words sound fancier than “movie” don’t they?) I viewed the very first films in America like “Birth of a Nation” and Russian and French flicks, and through it all I learned to develop an appreciation of “film as art.”

I wrote a term paper on the “Auteur Theory” ( A paper created on a typewriter, and no copy exists which bums me out)

The “Auteur Theory” in a nutshell is this: It means “author” in French and is generally associated with the French new wave. Essentially it means that films created by a director all contain his/her ideas and visions, like a personal stamp. I had stated, that directors like John Ford, Billy Wilder, Hitchcock, etc etc were true auteur’s despite the fact that they weren’t French. There’s a certain essence to certain directors’ movies that resonate throughout all of them. It’s a “Stephen Spielberg” movie, it’s a “Michael Mann” etc etc. You get the picture.

I won’t go into it much more than that, but to say that in retrospect, John Hughes is a true auteur as well.

I’m sure many scoff at that notion. He’s never been recognized by the Academy, yet he put his mark on a slew of movies that have never been erased from the collective hearts of those of us, for better or for worse, grew up in that much maligned 80’s era.

Sure, some of his movies and characters are far-fetched and improbable, and sometimes very “cheese on cheese” (The end of Sixteen Candles…,the sister and principle character in “Ferris Bueller” etc etc.) But I personally LOVE cheese and John Hughes’ movies are slices of hope, happiness and entertainment all wrapped up in a sassy bow for enjoyment over and over again.

The music, the dancing, the sappy moments. They take you away for a minute, if only a minute. Because at the end of the day, isn’t escapism why we watch a movie anyways?