Pete Burns, lead singer of '80s band Dead or Alive, died Sunday of cardiac arrest at age 57.
Bobby Vee, performer of the classic hits "Devil or Angel" and "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes," died Monday from Alzheimer's disease complications at 73. Pete Burns, lead singer of '80s band Dead or Alive, died Sunday of cardiac arrest at age 57.
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Bob Dylan winning the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature: Proof he is the coolest musician alive.
It seems as rock acts get older they do one of two things: get stuck in a predictable rut of rehashing the same music over and over or having a change of heart by recording dull albums of schlock songs from their youth that were the same pieces of songs that they supposedly got into rock to rebel against. Paul McCartney fits both of those categories, The Knack do not. After listening to The Knack's 2001 release Normal As the Next Guy, I have decided that they are one of the few acts have actually improved over the years. I have The Knack's 17-track best-of CD Retrospective that cover their brief 1979-81 fame, and there are exactly three good tracks on it, which also happen to be their three Top 40 hits. There's the classic "My Sharona," the follow-up "Good Girls Don't," and "Baby Talks Dirty," which sounds a mite like "My Sharona." So The Knack are not exactly a band I had previously credited with creativity, but a listen to Normal changes all that. Influences range from '60s rock like Box Tops and the Grass Roots to early '70s Badfinger. Not all of it works (especially the Devo-esque title track) but by the time you get to the Beach Boys-sounding closer "The Man on the Beach," you'll have been taken on a trip through songs that will wake you up and set you on your feet, much like stomping "Sharona" beat did many years ago. Grade: A-
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Walburgh's BlogMostly retro, mainly music, but generally whatever's on my mind. Archives
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