MADABOUTASIA.com

Meet Gentle Giant (Derek Shulman & Gary Green)

2011-09-29T08:43:00.003+08:00

Update on the Gentle Giant remastering of Octopus and Three Friends - EVENT

News from Derek:

Derek Shulman posted on his Facebook page: (14 Sept): For anyone interested in my/our old band GENTLE GIANT!!..I'll be at FYE (old Tower Records) in Philadelphia with ex band-member Gary Green October 1st at 2PM. The address is 100 Souh Broad Street. We'll be signing the digipack remasters of "Octopus" & "Three Friends"...and generally be causing havoc in the city of botherly love.

Please share this with friends, web sites, whatever you can think of, and tell them to send it forward. Think of it as a good deed for music fans all over.

Promotional flyer - Gentle Giant lives!

Additional events/interviews to be added soon!

Gentle Giant - Press Release 18 Sept 2011

2011-09-18T17:37:00.008+08:00

Gentle Giant will be making a number of public media and marketing appearances that fans world-wide can tap into in support of new re-releases of the group's OCTOPUS and THREE FRIENDS (coming out on Gentle Giant's imprint Alucard through EMI on September 27).

Confirmed so far:

September 21: 12 noon EST: Gary Green and the band's catalog marketing gal Anne Leighton

online radio interview, INSIDE THE MUSIC with Nick Katona and John Orr Franklin at http://aiiradio.net

iPhone or other smart phone 3g plus or higher: http://mobile.livestream.com/aiiradionet

here is the show link https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=193991367335625

(Join the radio chat board at http://chat.aiiradio.net/)

September 25: between 9 and 12 noon EST: Band member(s): TBA

WLVR-BETHLEHEM, PA's Ear Responsible Radio w/ John

http://www.wlvr.org and at 91.3 FM in the LeHigh Valley, PA

September 25: 4:07 EST: Band member:TBA

with Mark From Holland

104.5 Mhz (cable) and 107.4 FM in the Ijmond Region of N. Holland

http://www.markfromholland.com/

September 27: 9 PM EST: Derek, Malcolm

Yowie, on line video conference

http://www.Yowie.com

September 29: 1 PM EST: Derek

East Village Radio's "Beyond is Beyond" w/ Mike Newman

http://www.eastvillageradio.com/

October 1: 2 PM: Derek and Gary

FYE Music, 100 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA

OCTOPUS and THREE FRIENDS are already listed as pre-sales on Amazon at

http://www.amazon.com/Octopus-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3M/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312829910&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Friends-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3C/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312828329&sr=1-1

One of the most renowned bands that came out of the British Progressive Rock

Movement, Gentle Giant spent their decade together pushing musical boundaries

and continually taking chances. Their music, while rooted in rock, had overtones of classical European composition, American jazz, British soul, medieval and even blues. They seamlessly integrated these disparate styles into the melting pot that epitomized the essence that was Gentle Giant.

Ray, Derek, and Phil Shulman, Kerry Minnear, Gary Green, Malcolm Mortimer and John Weathers are all available for interviews in anticipation of these blockbuster re-releases.

Please stay tuned to this page for updates!

Variations - 9 Women of Power (Gilles Tran)

2011-01-19T19:11:00.003+08:00

9 women of power, 9 seasons. Gilles Tran's website, http://Oyonale.com is dedicated to digital art, particularly art created with 3D rendering software, particularly POV-Ray, Cinema 4D, FinalRender and Poser. You will find also the Book of Beginnings (a series of hyperlinked ultra-short stories), some variations, a few fractals, many photos, a couple of image and text generators, dozens of free 3D models and many other things - including DAZ's Victoria 3 character. Images, animations and texts (i.e. the artwork on this site) are copyrighted in the traditional way: fair use is authorised. Music (CC3.0 Share-Alike) by the fantastic American Idol Season 6 Finalist Leslie Hunt (Your Hair is on Fire)

Moog and Theremin Artist Shueh-li Ong, Singapore Esplanade 7-10 June

2010-06-03T16:59:00.014+08:00

Multi-instrumentalist/performer Shueh-li Ong talks to Ted Ollikkala about her upcoming shows at Flipside, Singapore Esplanade.
Shueh-li Ong - Singapore's Very Own Diva of the Theremin
courtesy Shueh-li Ong

[Ted] Hi Shueh-li! You've got 8 performances set up (Flipside). All free, 30 minute shows with the Artsylum Quartet.

[SL:] This trip came about through an invite from the Esplanade. They are flying me over and making sure I am happy! The last time I was in here in 2008, I brought over an American team. My aim with Xenovibes is intercultural exchange. The show we did, “Xing Paths- Return to Singapore” at the Arts House in 2008 was my undertaking to raise money for the BT Budding Artist Fund.

This time around, the Esplanade has approached me to work with local artists for the outreach portion of the Arts Festival/Esplanade presents. I decided to put a different kind of exchange into action this time - that of working with an orchestral ensemble in order to continue raising awareness of different forms of musical expression. I discovered 'Artsylum', an excellent string quartet who are no stranger to the venue, and the people at the Esplanade hooked us up.

WHICH CD/ALBUMS WILL YOU BE PROMOTING? WILL THEY BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE BY THE PUBLIC AT THE ESPLANADE SHOWS?

[SL:] This trip is an extension of my wanting to reach out in a more personal way; in ‘acoustic’ setups such as the shows I am doing at the Esplanade.

This performance style allows me to get close to the audience and exercise skills from my musical toolkit. One such ‘tool’ is arranging for orchestral instruments.

At "Theremin-ising", songs from my 3 CDs "Shueh-li’s Xenovibes", "Music From Another Land" and ""Xing Paths" have been specially arranged for Artsylum and me to play.

To fulfill the 'outreach portion' of the show, I’ve also selected some popular tunes that put the mighty theremin(!) in a more familiar context. What you will hear is the theremin in 'effected mode' (through LogicPro/Mainstage) and also in its ‘natural’ state. For those of you who may not know what a theremin is, let me say that the theremin is one of the oldest electronic instruments, and the only one known that you play without touching. I am also an internationally endorsed moog artist.

At the Esplanade Flipside performances, besides the theremin, I will also be demonstrating what is called 'virtuosic synthesizer' work. My 3 CDs will be on sale, yes, and I will sign any CDs purchased, for people willing to post our photo on Facebook!

I will have 'meet & greet' sessions after each show at 7:45pm and 8:45pm over the four nights, so please come and chat with me!

ARE THERE PROGRESSIVE ROCK INFLUENCES IN YOUR MUSIC?

[SL:] Oh yes, it's in all aspects of my work, as well as many other musical styles.

For example, there are progressive rock ('prog') influences in my instrumentation as well as in my programmed 'sounds'. My sonic arsenal is not the ordinary 'run-of-the-mill' repertoire as you might think.

Additionally, when I write, whether it be vocals or instrumental, my songs usually follow a journey or storyline (maybe even an 'epic one') rather than just a standard pop song format.

Finally, I have always promoted the more virtuosic performance, even when recording in the studio. I favour clever melodies (a musician friend once described my synthesizer work as 'exotic and sexy!'), harmony, texture, tempo change and of course fresh ideas.

My material requires the listener to peel away the layers like that of an onion, to reveal the intricacies involved in the composition/sound design/performance/production. My method is that I write and produce simultaneously.

WHO ARE YOUR ROCK INFLUENCES?

[SL:] I would have to say Keith Emerson and Kate Bush. Kate Bush was probably the biggest influence, in terms of a female role model who had everything going for her. She was a songwriter, producer, a great singer, dancer and she was very progressive during her time. She had folk elements in her pop music much like what I like to do.

Keith Emerson - he really rocks his keys! Sure, in the sense that Keith is a true rock and roller; he also pushes the boundaries, is a great showman and has great chops. Of course, other keyboard players were a great influence on me as well as the music from many groups. We try to be progressive with the music that we do and I really appreciate their efforts which make this genre such an exciting field to be a part of.

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT PROJECT IN THE USA?

[SL:] I went to the U.S.A. on a special visa awarded to "Artists of Extraordinary Ability" in 2005 – with the specific purpose of creating new music, working on shows and touring.

My current project is a solo CD combining new and different elements to breathe fresh vision into my work. I am taking a major leap of faith onto new ground for a future tour emphasising this new performance style of being up close and personal with me. I am very thrilled about this! This new solo CD will put my friends and fans in the picture (more about this in my tweets and news posts at www.shuehli.com).

I am currently looking to collaborate with other artists either in a songwriting situation and/or as producer. Having staged various shows in Singapore with Electric Muse (www.electricmuse.com/) and my company in the U.S., one of my dreams is to someday stage a 'Tristram Cary and Robert Moog' tribute show, featuring artists who have used the creations of these inventors and compatriots from both sides of the Atlantic.

I was a student of Cary and as you know, and a Moog endorsed artist, so I would like to get the 'family' together for a tribute – taking the music to the people and paying homage to these wonderful gentlemen.

WHAT PROJECTS ARE YOU WORKING ON IN SINGAPORE?

[SL:] Besides returning to Singapore now for "Theremin-ising", I am open for invitations to write, produce, and stage in the near future. Contact me on my website, or follow me via Twitter feed or Facebook.

There are a multitude of things I do. I am a producer (Electric Muse USA is an ASCAP publisher). I’ve worked with theatrical companies and would like to do more. I am always willing to deliver masterclasses and I am open to artists who would like to collaborate or have me play on their album.

Hope to meet all my fans at the Singapore Esplanade! Cheers, Shueh-li

Theremin-ising
by Shueh-Li Ong & Artsylum Quartet (USA/Singapore)
7 – 10 Jun 2010, Mon – Thu
7.15 – 7.45pm
8.15 – 8.45pm
The Concourse

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore
3 June 2010

Awesome Unitopia video (Inside the Power) from THE GARDEN

2010-05-10T00:13:00.009+08:00

Australian prog band UNITOPIA is ascending with a vengeance

With artwork from renowned surrealist Ed Unitsky and groundbreaking musical styles (can't pigeonhole these guys) from Sean Timms and Mark Trueack - this band is a feast for the ears. Not withstanding, the eyes have it too - as evidenced in this incredible animation sequence to the Unitopia song 'Inside the Power'.

The 7:38 video full length music video kicks off with a roar at 0:43

I spoke with lead vocalist Mark Trueak (Truey) in November 2009 as they were recording the latest album 'Artificial'. He told me they were experimenting with new sounds and ready to break out on their own - with ambitious projects involving several top international musicians, and a world tour. Artificial is just the start... There's more for UNITOPIA fans, much more!

P.S. - in case you don't know, this band is VERY environmentally friendly

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

Renaissance Fanfare on Ning

2010-05-09T22:33:00.014+08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, a warm welcome please for Renaissance 2010!

Photos by Esa Ahola. Taken at The Rites of Spring Festival / Rosfest in Gettysburg, PA on May 1 2010 Posted with permission.

Longtime fans of the 1970s symphonic progressive rock group Renaissance are thrilled to have original members Annie Haslam and Michael Dunford together for 'Summer concert dates with Procol Harum and Steve Hackett, stretching across the north east of America up through Canada'.

These exciting photos were captured at George Roldan's annual Rosfest & Rites of Spring event held in Gettysburg, PA at the Majestic Theater. They come to us through the ambitious efforts of a longtime and very dedicated fan, Esa - a concert photographer from Atlanta. The new site (on Ning) is jam-packed with Renaissance goodies, from rare promotional material and vintage videos to up-to-the-minute photos such as the recent 'Meet and Greet' session shown here.

If you can't get enough of Annie & company (the new band includes Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford, Rave Tesar, David J. Keyes, Tom Brislin, and Frank Pagano) then get yourself over to Renaissance Fanfare (FANFARE is a great name: a short ceremonial tune or flourish played on brass instruments, typically to introduce something or someone important , LOL)... - thanks Esa!

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

Orianthi and band in Australia (May 2010)

2010-05-09T11:27:00.001+08:00

Tour Dates

Interactive Whalom Park Map with 50+ videos

2010-05-09T09:48:00.015+08:00

108 years of fun ended in '2000... But will always be remembered!

Puppeteer Paul L'Ecuyer from Drawbridge Puppet Theater has put together a fantastic tribute to old Whalom Park in Lunenburg, Massachusetts. The park operated from 1893 - 2000 and has thousands of loyal fans and former employees (I am one of them!) spanning several generations.

"This is an interactive map depicting the park as it existed prior to it's closing in '2000. Clicking on each button will bring back all the memories you have for this lost treasure in north central Massachusetts. We invite you to enjoy Whalom Park as many of us did - through photos, sound and video clips."

The physical park is gone forever, but you can relive your memory of Whalom Park by visiting over 50 videos and photos of every attraction. Mr. Paul has lovingly and painstakingly put together a true 'virtual' recreation of Whalom Park (including a ride on the Flyer Comet).

Visit Mr. Paul's Interactive Whalom Multimedia Map 'for a Whale of a Time'!

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

Related posts:

A Sentimental Journey for Whalom Park Puppeteer Paul L’Ecuyer

Where are they now… Paul L’Ecuyer – Master Puppeteer

Shoot High Aim Low by Yes

2010-05-09T09:17:00.000+08:00

The song, according to Jon Anderson's announcements on many shows of the tour, is about war; specifically, a future in which mankind will live beyond war. In most of these announcements, Anderson explains that the "blue fields" mentioned in the first line are in Nicaragua. At the time the album was being worked on, a legal battle between the U.S. and Nicaragua had occurred over U.S. aid to anti-government guerrillas.

Stairway to Heaven on American Idol - Mary J. Blige

2010-04-23T08:45:00.003+08:00

OMG, they did it LIVE!

Another version

according to you - Orianthi (Extended) Version

2010-04-04T11:15:00.005+08:00

This puts a WHOLE NEW FACE on the hit single by Orianthi - warm and fuzzy Pullip Dollies. With lyrics

Dollys:
Taeyang: Max (Fullcustom by Miema), Edward (Timulus)

Pullip: Papin

Orianthi - Stairway to Heaven (Mary J Blige)

2010-04-03T12:26:00.006+08:00

Multi-talented Aussie guitarist extraordinaire Orianthi Panagaris (According to You, Michael Jackson 'This Is It') has recorded in a superstar supergroup consisting of Steve Vai on guitars (Frank Zappa), Randy Jackson on bass (American Idol judge), and Travis Barkin on drums (Blink-182) for a track on 'Stronger with Each Tear' by Mary J. Blige. Blige's vocals are perfect for the song as is the headrush of instrumental guitar work.

Mary J. Blige Covers Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" - Watch more Music Videos at Vodpod.

LA Times Entertainment

Visit Orianthi.com

Ten Baby Steps to Creativity (video)

2010-04-01T23:03:00.004+08:00

Video created to accompany How to Be a Creative Thinker and Problem Solver

Emerson Lake & Palmer - A Time and a Place (official bootleg)

2010-04-01T20:56:00.003+08:00

Emerson Lake & Palmer – A Time And A Place Featuring 4 Discs with Never Before Released Live Tracks! Newly Remastered! Experience ELP live through the decades with this 4-CD box set. A Time And A Place features high-quality soundboard recordings on the first three discs and audience recordings on the fourth. This set brings together a select body of performances by Emerson Lake & Palmer captured before worldwide audiences during the band’s career and tenure at the sharp end of the Progressive rock genre. From the group’s raw and unrestrained sound of the early 70’s, their rearrangements of compositions by internationally renowned composers, to their timeless conceptual pieces such as “Tarkus”, “Karn Evil 9” and “Pirates”, “ The Endless Enigma”, ELP have always been a band to push hard against musical boundaries. With cover artwork designed by illustrator William Stout, internationally renowned as one of the first rock “n” roll bootleg cover artists. Includes Collectible Poster! Pre-Order this set today Plus special ELP packages at www.ShoutFactory.com/ELP Coming soon Newly Remastered Full Length Concerts! Track Information:

Disc One: The Early 70's
- 01 The Barbarian [Isle of Wight Festival, Isle Of Wight, UK on August 29, 1970]
- 02 Take A Pebble [Beat Club, Bremen, Germany on November 26, 1970]
- 03 Ballad Of Blue [Lyceum Ballroom, London, UK on December 9, 1970]
- 04 High Level Fugue [Lyceum Ballroom, London, UK on December 9, 1970]
- 05 Hoedown [Mar Y Sol Festival, Veja Baja, San Juan, Puerto Rico on April 2, 1972]
- 06 Still… You Turn Me On [The Civic Center, Tulsa, OK on March 7, 1974]
- 07 Lucky Man [The Civic Center, Tulsa, OK on March 7, 1974]
- 08 Karn Evil 9 (1st, 2nd & 3rd Impressions) [Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA on Feb. 2, 1974]
Disc Two: The Late 70's
- 01 Peter Gunn Theme [The Coliseum, Wheeling, WV on November 18, 1977]
- 02 Pictures At An Exhibition [The Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, TN on November 20, 1977]
- 03 Tiger In A Spotlight [The Coliseum, Wheeling, WV on November 18, 1977]
- 04 Maple Leaf Rag [The Coliseum, Wheeling, WV on November 18, 1977]
- 05 Tank [The Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY on February 9, 1978]
- 06 Drum Solo [The Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY on February 9, 1978]
- 07 The Enemy God Dances With The Black Spirits [The Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY on 1978]
- 08 Watching Over You [The Coliseum, Wheeling, WV on November 18, 1977]
- 09 Pirates [The New Haven Civic Center, New Haven, CT on November 30, 1977]
- 10 Tarkus [The Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY on February 9, 1978]
- 11 Show Me The Way To Go Home [The Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, TN on November 20, 1977]
Disc Three: The 90's
- 01 Knife Edge [Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA on March 17, 1993]
- 02 Paper Blood [Obras Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 5, 1993]
- 03 Black Moon [Waterloo Village Concert Field, Stanhope, NJ on July 31, 1992]
- 04 Creole Dance [The Estadio, Santiago, Chile on April 1, 1993]
- 05 From The Beginning [The Spodek, Katowice, Poland on June 22, 1997]
- 06 Honky Tonk Train Blues [Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles, CA on Sept. 25, 1997]
- 07 Affairs Of The Heart [Waterloo Village Concert Field, Stanhope, NJ on July 31, 1992]
- 08 Touch And Go [Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA on March 17, 1993]
- 09 A Time And A Place [Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, VA on August 1, 1998]
- 10 Bitches Crystal [Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles, CA on September 25, 1997]
- 11 Instrumental Jam [Obras Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 5, 1993]
- 12 Fanfare For The Common Man – America - Rondo [Obras Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina on Apr 5, 1993]
Disc Four: This Boot’s For You – A Fan’s View
- 01 Introduction [Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA on July 19, 1971]
- 02 The Endless Enigma [Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA on July 28, 1972]
- 03 Abaddon’s Bolero [The Town Hall, Louisville, KY on April 21, 1972]
- 04 Jeremy Bender – The Sheriff [The Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany on April 24, 1973]
- 05 Toccata (includes Drum Solo) [Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Ludwingshaven, Germany on April 10, 1973]
- 06 Jerusalem [Henry Lewit Arena, Wichita, KS on March 26, 1974]
- 07 Nutrocker [Boston Gardens, Boston, MA on July 12, 1977]
- 08 C’est La Vie [Boston Gardens, Boston, MA on July 12, 1977]
- 09 Piano Concerto #1 3rd Movement [Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium, Des Moines, IA on June 12, 1977]
- 10 Closer To Believing [Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium, Des Moines, IA on June 12, 1977]
- 11 Close To Home [Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA on March 14, 1993]
- 12 I Believe In Father Christmas [Beacon Theater, New York, NY on November 17, 1993]

BTW, Emerson Lake & Palmer have a new web site coming

Confidence & Self-Esteem (for Women)

2010-04-01T11:01:00.003+08:00

Here it is! The preview for my new eBook, Order from Lulu.com or Amazon.com

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

18 Green Living Tips (free Open Office Presentation)

2010-03-30T10:04:00.005+08:00

Big, bold, and simple presentation created in Open Office Impress. Download the ODP source (from Slideshare), remix and make it your own. The free stock photos are from PhotoRack.net >> Freely re-distribute and use in any commercial or non-commercial application under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (Ported) license.

18 Green Living Tips

Creative Thinking (10 Baby Steps)

2010-03-26T18:43:00.001+08:00

This is the Open Office Impress (odp) version of the ’Creativity’ theme. Feel free to remix, distribute, use in your presentation, download, etc. It’s your baby! (also available in PDF ebook)

Creative Thinking (10 Baby Steps)

View more presentations from Ted Ollikkala.

Marina Bay Sands Construction

2010-03-07T00:57:00.001+08:00

Marina Bay Sands Construction, originally uploaded by madaboutasia.

The two acre sky garden at 55 storeys. Problems with the sky garden have delayed the opening of the three tower project. Each tower has 1000 hotel rooms, and the sky garden has three swimming pools and a park for 3900 people. Learn more

Marina Bay Sands Construction

2010-03-07T00:53:00.001+08:00

Marina Bay Sands Construction, originally uploaded by madaboutasia.

Find out about this unique structure, part of the Marina Bay Sands IR

my Second life in Thailand

2010-01-14T12:04:00.001+08:00

my Second Life in Thailand

Written and published by Ted Ollikkala, Singapore

Checklist Toward Zero Carbon (14 page eBook)

2010-01-12T22:31:00.010+08:00

Checklist Toward Zero Carbon (14 page eBook), by madaboutasia.

The checklist is a step-by-step guide to comprehensively reducing your carbon footprint now, compiled by Ken Levenson. It is hoped that people will download the checklist, copy it, edit it for their local conditions, and make it their own.

While the challenges are enormous, let’s start with what we eat and how we live and work. Let’s begin by eliminating our personal carbon footprint.

DOC PDF / MOBI / EPUB (free download)
Shopping Cart by E-junkie

Please read the lists. Think about it. Let’s all do what we can.

Ken Levenson

Feb 29, 2008 (edited 2009)

Introduction and Cover Collage by Ted Ollikkala, Singapore

Illustrated Guide to Life (eBook)

2010-01-09T12:34:00.011+08:00

Download immediately from e-junkie.com (various formats). For Amazon Kindle and Mobipocket readers.

I don't see how spirituality can NOT be everybody's business.

Formats: PDF, MOBI, EPUB . Shopping Cart by E-junkie

Price: free

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

Emerging Wiser (Ebook)

2010-01-09T09:50:00.008+08:00

Download immediately from e-junkie.com (various formats). For Amazon Kindle and Mobipocket readers.

The writing is on the wall; has been for some time. People are starting to wake up...

Formats: PDF, MOBI, EPUB . Shopping Cart by E-junkie

Price: free

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

Keith Emerson Holiday Greetings 2009

2009-12-21T19:40:00.003+08:00

Improvisations on

"Summertime": George Gershwin 1935

"Jingle Bells": James Lord Pierpont 1857

ELP one-off 40th anniversary concert in London

on Sunday July 25, 2010, headlining the forthcoming "High Voltage Festival" details: http://www.highvoltagefestival.com/

"ELP into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame"

hosted on the web by our free online petition service, at:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ELPHALL/

QUESTIONS? - An Exhibition of Paintings by Paul Whitehead (Bali)

2009-12-08T08:41:00.003+08:00

by Ted Ollikkala, Singapore

SCULPTURE?
Artwork © Paul Whitehead

QUESTIONS?

An Exhibition of Paintings by Paul Whitehead

Daily 9am – 6pm

Opening: 10 December 2009, 6:30-8pm

Ganesha Gallery at the Four Seasons Resort at Jimbaran Bay, Bali (Indonesia)

If you happen to be in Bali during the Christmas Season, this would be your best chance to view the art of legendary surrealist painter Paul Whitehead (Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Trespass, Genesis 2007 Turn It On Again Tour, Van der Graaf Generator, Peter Hammill, Le Orme, Alex Carpani, Eclat, and 150 more).

KARMA?
Artwork © Paul Whitehead

PAUL WHITEHEAD IN BALI

"Whitehead's arrival in Bali and current exhibition at the Ganesha Gallery should be seen as serendipitous. A graduate of a phenomenal era, his paintings and antics are guaranteed to amuse, surprise and astonish art lovers." (Ganesha Gallery)

THE QUESTIONS?

Paul's latest work is a series of aesthetically pleasing, yet profoundly thought-provoking 'teasers', samples of which can be seen above and at the Ganesha Gallery announcement page.

HOME?
Artwork © Paul Whitehead

1. Peace?
2. Sculpture?
3. Painting?
4. Architecture?
5. Food?
6. Religion?
7. Rock?
8. Karma?
9. Accident?
10. Perfect?
11. Furniture?
12. Easy?
13. Love?
14. Success?

(two additional images will appear in the limited edition calendar, 'Music?' and 'Home?'*)

OTHER ITEMS

MUSIC?
Artwork © Paul Whitehead

Other items available exclusively from Paul Whitehead, who will be at the show ('on occasion', he tells me) include;

(1) Limited edition giclee prints on canvas;

Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, the Turn it on Again tour poster image and the Mad Hatter Charisma logo.

AND

(2) 2010 Calendars of the Questions images*

Paul also says that he is likely to do a sand mandala at the show during Christmas (to be confirmed).

The exhibit opening is on 10 December 6:30-8pm with Mr.Whitehead in attendance

Admission is free (proper attire required)

Greg Lake is back for ELP Reunion

2009-11-06T13:18:00.001+08:00

Greg Lake was interviewed by Carla Huntington of Newears.org (5 November 2009) Discussion topics: ELP Reunion, new Greg Lake website, Live Chat (November 15), writing together with Keith Emerson, the inventing the term 'super group', Dee Anthony, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, www.greglake.com

As the singer of “21st Century Schizoid Man” reached the 21st century, Greg Lake has been working diligently in many areas of the music industry. Writing and producing a new album and tour for his own “Greg Lake Band,” Greg has also appeared as a guest with many other artists including the likes of Ringo Starr, Jethro Tull, and the Trans Siberian Orchestra. With a highly anticipated “Emerson, Lake and Palmer” reunion looming on the horizon and the unveiling of Lake’s new interactive website, Greg graciously took time out of his busy schedule to talk about his views on life, music and give us a rare glimpse of the man behind “The Voice.”

Read interview Thanks, Carla - wonderful interview!

Digital bonus tracks from Gentle Giant

2009-10-24T14:26:00.007+08:00

Gentle Giant Digital Releases 2009

by Gentle Giant

Gentle Giant will be digitally releasing seven of their best-known albums and tracks in digital form for the very first time via their own Alucard label through EMI Music's Label Services unit.

The new Microsite, TedsGentleGiantDigitalReleasesAnnouncement.info/ (or http://bit.ly/3GPNAt) has MP3 Audio, Digital Discography, Press Releases, Band Interviews, Latest News and Promotional Photographs.

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

Prayers for Kerry Livgren (Kansas)

2009-10-18T11:35:00.012+08:00

In case you hadn't heard, Kerry suffered a stroke on 1 September 2009.

Our hearts and prayers go out to you, Kerry.

Latest updates will be posted on the Official Kansas web site

Kansas Celebrates 35th Anniversary With Live Symphonic DVD

A video trailer for the forthcoming DVD release (release date 13 October 2009) can be viewed here: http://kansasband.com/kansasdvd/

Christian movie: THE IMPOSTER

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

Gentle Giant - Kerry Minnear, Ray Shulman, John Weathers, Derek Shulman, Gary Green e-Interviews

2009-10-11T16:33:00.022+08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GENTLE GIANT NOVEMBER DIGITAL CATALOG RELEASE CAMPAIGN

Exciting news for all Gentle Giant fans. Here's your chance to be involved in a unique and historical campaign!

This is literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get inside the hearts and minds of the extraordinary talent behind this amazing pioneer group of progressive rock musicians. It's happening this year. And it's happening soon!

Endorsement by Derek Shulman

In fact, I got a message from Derek Shulman on 11 October (yes, 'the Derek Shulman', former A&R representative at PolyGram, former president of Atco Records, Roadrunner Records, and now running his own label, DRT Entertainment) emphasizing just how much this means to him and his former bandmates:

'Lets keep fingers crossed that we can get info out to all the fans of prog music ASAP...good luck.'
DS

I've been asked (being a Gentle Giant fan myself since 1975), by Anne Leighton Music Services to assist in this promotion. Anne Leighton provides music services to Jann Klose, Elliott Murphy, and publicizes Jethro Tull, Grand Funk Railroad, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Kim Wilson, Carl Palmer, Strawbs, Tower of Power, Joe Deninzon, Stratospheerius, Cevin Soling, The Love Kills Theory, Jay and the Americans.

Announcement by Anne Leighton:

"The group (Gentle Giant) is finally starting to release its catalog in digital format this November 3 on i-Tunes, Amazon, and all the other major web providers. For part of the campaign we'll be doing a blog tour. I'm looking to set up e-interviews in which bloggers and their readers will send in questions to Kerry Minnear, Ray Shulman, John Weathers, Derek Shulman, and Gary Green about Gentle Giant. And each day in November a different blogger will post the questions and answers on their site. So, if you're interested, let me know, and I'll let you know how it works. We'll be letting folks know about these blogs through Gentle Giant's web site, Myspace, Facebook, Twitter,last.fm...."

CALL FOR E-INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

We don't have much time for facilitating collection and processing of the questions submitted by bloggers/Gentle Giant fans like you.

Here's what to do:

Having read the information about the promotion, decide if you

(1) Want to submit a question for Kerry Minnear, Ray Shulman, John Weathers, or Derek Shulman.
(2) Want to be one of the 'host bloggers' in November to post the e-Interview replies. This is an excellent opportunity to unite with GG enthusiasts worldwide, thereby driving select traffic to your site, and finally the chance to influence a generation to the music of Gentle Giant.

Note: for either option above (1,2 or both) you may contact me, Ted Ollikkala at progrocktv at gmail dot com or leave a comment on this post. All information with be forwarded to Anne Leighton Media Music Services and ultimately to the respective members of Gentle Giant!

Update from Anne

I'm going more so for Q&As on what they went through, with a little bit of song discussions. We're hoping to have a song-by-song or album-by-album break down from the band, themselves!"

As for me, I would just like to say, "We have all appreciated the tremendous creative talent unleashed by the group, it impacted our lives, our thinking (and some of our professions) - yet even now, nearly forty years later - Gentle Giant is still too big... to fall ".

Ted Ollikkala
11 October 2009
Singapore

More GG links:
http://www.blazemonger.com/GG/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2212608914
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gentle-Giant/
http://www.myspace.com/gentlegiant45
http://www.gentlegiantmusic.com/
http://www.last.fm/music/Gentle+Giant
http://www.ilike.com/artist/Gentle+Giant

Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning (Live video)

2009-10-07T22:30:00.002+08:00

From their concert November 24, 1983 in Chicago. My all-time favourite Renaissance song (this is only the last part but features Annie's incredible vocal abilities).

Jann Klose Band with John Tout and Annie Haslam of Renaissance

2009-10-07T22:09:00.001+08:00

Jann Klose Band with John Tout and Annie Haslam of Renaissance, originally uploaded by jannklose.

Jann Klose Band with John Tout and Annie Haslam of Renaissance

Taken after the show at the Sellersville Theater. Photo: Krista Wallhagen

Renaissance at Ramshead

2009-10-07T22:06:00.002+08:00

DSC_0026, originally uploaded by Grudnick.

'RENAISSANCE 2009' 40th Anniversary Concert Tour at the Ramshead, in Annapolis, Maryland.
Annie Haslam and Michael Dunford, the voice and principal songwriter.
photo courtesy Grudnick

Transatlantic 2008 - 3RP Reunion videos

2009-09-26T11:24:00.003+08:00

23 August 2008 - Stranger in Your Soul at Three Rivers Progressive Rock Festival in Pittsburgh. A rare, 'partial reunion' performance by supergroup Transatlantic (Mike Portnoy and Roine Stolt join Neal and his band, but minus Pete Trewavas). In the first, ten minute video, Neal somehow comes into the audience and hugs the maker of the video! The second video clocks in at an impressive 24:41 (the same performance).

'RENAISSANCE 2009' 40th Anniversary Concert Tour

2009-09-20T12:24:00.005+08:00

In celebration of their 1969 formation, English "classical rock" pioneers Renaissance are embarking on a special 40th Anniversary Fall Concert Tour to re-introduce to new generations the lush, orchestral favorites that made them a staple of 1970s progressive rock radio.

Led by Annie Haslam and Michael Dunford, the voice and principal songwriter, respectively, of the band’s most popular lineup, RENAISSANCE 2009 will mount a nine-city East Coast tour of theaters and performing arts centers that kicks off Oct. 6 in Annapolis, MD, and includes New York, Philadelphia and Washington, home to the nation’s top progressive rock stations during the classic Renaissance era.

"I'm thrilled to be performing these truly unique masterpieces again," says Haslam, whose five-octave voice is one of the most legendary in rock history. “These songs are a big part of my life and I will sing my heart out."

Joining Haslam and Dunford in RENAISSANCE 2009 are keyboardist Rave Tesar and bassist-vocalist David J. Keyes, both of whom were previous members of Renaissance and the Annie Haslam Band, plus keyboardist-vocalist Tom Brislin (Yes, Debbie Harry, Meat Loaf, Francis Dunnery) and drummer-percussionist Frank Pagano (Bruce Springsteen, Smashing Pumpkins, Bette Midler, Barry Manilow). Together, these world class musicians will revisit the symphonic textures, stunning vocals and poetic lyrics that embody the band’s hauntingly compelling international themes, with fresh interpretations of their most admired compositions. “Carpet of the Sun,” “Ocean Gypsy,” “Mother Russia,” "Ashes Are Burning," “Running Hard,” “Prologue,” and "Northern Lights" are central to Renaissance’s most prolific period (1972-78), which produced the albums Prologue, Ashes Are Burning, Turn of the Cards, Novella, Scheherazade and Other Stories, and A Song for All Seasons, as well as 'Live' at Carnegie Hall (1976), the deluxe two-disc set recently reissued.

Renaissance originally rose from the ashes of the Yardbirds, with Haslam and Dunford joining at the dawn of the 1970s to define their work with folk rock and classical fusions, including quotations from and allusions to, such composers as Bach, Chopin, Debussy, and Rachmaninoff. It wasn ’t long before influential progressive rock FM stations like WNEW (New York), WMMR (Philadelphia) and WHFS (Washington) were turning on America to Renaissance, while the band was thrilling concertgoers on the world’s most distinguished stages, from Carnegie Hall in New York City to the Royal Albert Hall in London.

"We've wanted to bring these songs to American audiences again and now with these great musicians," adds Michael Dunford, "I'm looking forward to it with great anticipation."

Full details and tour dates: AnnieHaslam.com

An Open Letter To A Dying Planet

2009-09-02T23:42:00.000+08:00

An Open Letter To A Dying Planet
By Saleem Rana

It will soon be a new year and we are almost a quarter of the way into the first decade of the new century. Where are we heading now? What will happen to the human race? Will it overcome its shadow side and migrate to the stars, a vision of Star Trek, or will it annihilate itself, the way the Roman empire, the greatest empire on earth, the pride of the ancient world, whose brilliant legislature, political organization, unrivaled military might, grand architecture, innovative engineering and artistic achievements have now been relegated to dusty archives?

The future of humanity depends on awareness of its plight. Without awareness, extinction is highly possible. With awareness, a critical mass for change can happen.

At no time in the last ten thousand years since the Ice Age have we exhibited such astonishing genius or such abominable disregard for sentient life. Somehow we have arrived here in this new century despite the worldwide suffering and traumatic events of the past one.

The greatest peril facing our species may be the overpopulation of our planet. Our very success with science and technology to improve the survival of all human life may be our downfall. The current rate of growth is about 1.9 percent a year. This may not sound like an alarming figure but it means that the population doubles every forty years. Right now it is around 6 billion. By the end of this century it will be around 40 billion. By then, it will be too late to do anything. That is the current lifetime left for humanity unless we become sophisticated enough to migrate to the stars.

Can we do it? Can we survive as a species? In order to answer that question, let us look at the greatest century ever in the history of the human race, the twentieth century. Unless we learn from our mistakes, we will be condemned to repeat them. But this time, we may not have a second chance.

The journey of the exploration of inner space began in the twentieth century. Sigmund Freud explored the unconscious, linked neurosis to the sex drive, and sought to heal the past by examining it in the present. Initially shocked by his ideas, those who read and understood him then spread a new burst of awareness.

In the famous painting, The Scream, Edvard Munch, a Norwegian artist who followed the tradition of French Impressionism, epitomized the anxiety and terror of the human psyche, the grief that arose from recognizing the personal and collective pain in the unconscious mind.

Pablo Picasso's Cubism and Salvador Dali's Surrealism created more waves of awareness about the anguish of the individual soul tormented by the traumas of life, and this imagery of suppressed emotional pain spread even faster through the medium of surrealistic films.

But while a small proportion of artists were making public the existential angst of humanity, other great minds were marveling at the mystery of the universe. Albert Einstein declared that energy and matter could be exchanged, x-rays showed the insides of a living human being, and microscopes and telescopes started to reveal the world of the very small and the very large. In addition, amongst numerous other wonders, science developed contraceptives, giving couples the chance to experience intimacy without the need to raise a new family.

Human genius was on the rise everywhere. Startling discoveries were being made in the sciences that were radically transforming the very essence of human understanding and the way society functioned. But the most startling of them all, was the power of the atom. By isolating, smashing and splitting atoms, an enormous power of unimaginable magnitude had been discovered.

After the first atomic bomb was tested in Los Alamos, the chief scientist Robert Oppenheimer quoted a passage in the Bhagavad-Gita, "Now I have become death and the destroyer of worlds." The scientists were shocked at what they had discovered, but the use to which the power was put changed the entire history of humanity for the worse. The powers of the Western World opted for the short-term benefit of defeating Japan, but did not then realize that it had introduced an unfathomable nightmare of weapons proliferation that could destroy every living creature in the known universe.

Before the nuclear shadow fell on humankind, the most horrific cause of anxiety in the collective unconscious, total war had already been invented.

The first world war escalated human territoriality and aggression to an industrial scale. The mechanical energy that had been used to transform humanity from an agrarian and localized population to an industrialized and globally expanding population was now used for wholesale slaughter. Man became the victim of his own machines. Armaments could be manufactured on a large and rapid scale. The lethal invention of the gun now became the even deadlier machine gun; in the few seconds it took to kill one man, now a dozen could be killed.

But this was only the beginning of mass-scale suffering because never in the history of humankind had evil men had the means to exploit and destroy so many people so efficiently.

Joseph Stalin initiated the collective farms of communism. Under his interpretation of the ideology of communism, 22 million people died in the labor camps of his slave empire.

The Japanese invaded China in 1937 and slaughtered 60 million Chinese.

Adolph Hitler promised the German people the restoration of their honor and self-respect after the humiliation of Germany's earlier defeat and the penalty imposed upon them by their victorious enemies. Nazi Germany slaughtered another 50 million. 27 million of these were Soviet citizens. 6 million of them were Jewish people, who were systematically hunted and captured, stripped of all human dignity and murdered with ruthless efficiency.

Yet the havoc that was unleashed by the machinery of the industrial age was only the beginning of the flagrant abuse of raw power.

The second world war had leveled down many previously flourishing cities through continuous bombing over months like Rotterdam, Dresden, and Tokyo, but when the atomic bomb was dropped by America on Japan, two whole cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were leveled in seconds.

Despite the overwhelming violence of these horrors, human cruelty continued unabated on a scale that had never ever before been witnessed on the face of creation.

Mao-tse Tung promising the Chinese people "a great leap forward," publicly humiliated landowners, initiated widescale persecution and torture on anyone who disagreed with him and gave the land to the peasants. These peasants overworked the soil, creating a famine of immense proportions and 30 million Chinese starved to death.

In Cambodia, Pol Pot, waged a war on his own people and one out of three Cambodians was murdered.

In Cambodia, Viet Nam, Rwanda, and Kosovo the bloodbath was relentless.

War had become remote, precise, and deadly. Human beings had become the cruelest and most savage creatures ever to have walked upon the earth. Even the Dinosaurs that once roamed the earth in the distant past did not have the same vicious intensity. They killed to survive, but human beings killed because of wounded pride. Intelligence enlisted to satisfy dark human drives created unspeakable suffering.

Yet somehow, remarkably, humanity, despite its new penchant for efficient slaughter, as a whole, still continued to progress.

Around 1950, America's statue of liberty became a symbol of hope for immigrants from around the world. With their zestful energy they infused renewed life into the country. Some of these immigrants were the greatest scientists in the world, including Albert Einstein; others transformed the New World through backbreaking labor. The result of this influx of brilliance and massive effort transformed the United States into a formidable economic and military power. To the rest of the world, exhausted and depleted by the aftermath of war, everything appeared bigger and better in America. It boasted taller buildings, bigger cars, a vast network of roads and railways, and a love for innovation and technology. America became the new hope, its vision of a promising new humanity dominating the rest of the world.

However a migrational shift existed across the whole world. Those who could not travel abroad moved in large numbers from the country to the city. Calcutta became overwhelmed with a population of 10 million people; Tokyo swelled as millions of country people became urban dwellers; and in the 18,000 square miles of Mexico city, an urban sprawl developed around the fringes of the city and discarded waste materials spread outwards.

All over the world, in rich and poor countries, cities became highly attractive: a place for greater wealth, broader freedom, and more excitement. Running out of room, cities began to grow upwards, becoming vertical, climate-controlled, and neon-lit. Their growth was due to a flight from the poverty experienced in the countryside and the lure of the promise of living in a consumer paradise. Shanty towns became common place around the fringes of many cities in the developing world, and the gap between the rich and the poor widened, with women becoming the poorest of the world's citizens.

Europe having exhausted its resources and population in colonization and total war now experienced an influx of the people whom they had subjugated. In the spread of imperialism, ties had been made with the conquered people. For example, Asians from India, Pakistan, East Africa, and Trinidad made England their new home. In Wembley, North London, the local Hindu people imported a magnificent temple, stone by precious stone, from their native country.

In the United States, too, migration continued, not only from overseas and from the country to the city, but also from its borders. Los Angeles has the largest Mexican population outside Mexico city. Preserving their cultural traditions, the growing Hispanic population is slowly changing the European mix of America into a Latino one.

After its victory in the Second World War, the United States became the strongest economy on the earth. Besides the influx of new ideas and labor from immigrants, the emphasis on science and technology created a revolution in telecommunications. Radio, television, Hollywood movies, satellites, and advertising from America influenced the rest of the world. American celebrities became popular everywhere, from the songs of Elvis Presley to the fights of Muhammad Ali. A celebrity in America usually became an international celebrity. Towards the last decade of the century, America initiated the network of computers that we now know as the world wide web.

Communications created the first sense of a global community. Everyone was able to see everyone else and share common human interests and values. 200 million people watched the wedding of Princess Diana and a little over two million watched her funeral. During the final World Cup Soccer match in 1998, 2 billion people watched it on television. With the advent of the mobile telephone, anybody on any street in the world could talk to anyone else anywhere on the planet.

Besides the thrill of watching each other, the human race also had a chance to watch itself. Perhaps the greatest benefit of the lunar expeditions was not pictures of a dead moon but the pictures of a living planet. Humanity began to see itself for the first time as a single species, rather than a collection of warring factions. From space, the planet looked like a big, blue marble floating in inky darkness. People noticed more ocean than land, the absence of any political borders, and the possibility of multinational friendships and the sharing of common experiences. Besides seeing itself, humanity also vicariously experienced the thrill of watching their home planet as a whole. Listening in to the astronauts live broadcast, they shared in their sense of awe.

While the balance of power shifted from Europe to North America, it then slowly began to shift from the Atlantic to the Pacific Rim. American supremacy was being challenged by the countries of the East.

One thousand years ago, Japan was isolated; in the 20th Century it started becoming an economic super-power.

Similarly, other "tiger economies" also erupted around the Pacific, with Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore creating cities that rivaled the cosmopolitan grandeur of North America. In Singapore, for example, the island has become a metropolis whose breathtaking skyline is only rivaled by that of Shanghai.

One thousand years ago, the silk roads to China led to the most refined civilization on earth. China had already invented printing, paper currency, the compass, and gunpowder. In the 21st Century, it is poised to become the new global super-power, because of huge foreign investments, particularly from Chinese living overseas, as well as its population of one billion people.

The greatest dilemma of the future is not our powerlessness, but our power, and not our stupidity, but our immense intelligence.

Initially, we used industrial and nuclear power to create carnage that made the terror of Genghis Khan look mild.

Later, despite whole populations being destroyed, we built up cities, explored space and our own minds and hearts, migrated closer to each other, and shared technology and communication.

In our most glorious century, we have known both the agony of wide scale destruction and the joy of rebirth.

We have seen what we all look like and shared our fondest cultural snapshots with each other.

It seems that in the last century of the last millennium everything changed for humanity. Sigmund Freud exposed our dark human instincts. Evil men dominated whole nations and slaughtered millions. Conquering people began to coexist with those that they had once subjugated. Economic power shifted from one part of the globe to another. And the rate of knowledge expanded at a bewildering pace. Never before had humankind experienced so much, learned so much, and been exposed to so much raw power that it had learned to harness from nature.

In this new century we find ourselves experiencing an expansion of the cultural and global patterns we created earlier, and our greatest strength, our raw power and unsurpassed intelligence, can also turn out be our greatest weakness.

What will happen to humanity? Will the currently existing outbreaks of war expand to become an Armageddon? Will political, economic, military, industrial, and religious rivalry outweigh any common sense? Will we simply overpopulate and pollute ourselves to death? Will the accelerating economic inequality and exploitation of natural resources create its own brand of chaos? Will prevailing human helplessness at the size of our global problems overshadow us or will we choose to become more aware, educated, cooperative and communicative?

Humanity's future has become extreme: it faces either an apocalypse or evolution to a species that will live in space-stations and travel in star-ships. Everything hangs in the balance based on what we do this century. We have survived the past, but if the same naive patterns continue into the future, we will not make it.

Ultimately, even if we can overcome our individual and collective shadows, even if human decency can outweigh primitive aggression, even if human collaboration is finally possible and human genius is allowed full self-expression, we have one last hurdle to overcome, otherwise the past millennium will have been the last one for our species. Each decade, the stakes are rising. The warning of futurists has fallen on deaf ears. The probability of perishing in the coming millenium is no longer science fiction, it is becoming observable fact to even the most indifferent and ill-informed people.

A time will come when we will need a new home. No force on earth can stop over-population other than widespread devastation due to belligerence or the depletion of limited resources. Our only possible hope is to become star travelers.

Will we be ready to make the new leap to the stars or will the light of human genius, hindered by territorial animal disputes, fail to rise to a level that will save our race from oblivion?

Instant communication and rapid travel has shrunk the world. Can we now use our global brain, the Internet, to communicate in a meaningful way to create a collective change in the consciousness of humanity? We owe this not to ourselves but to generations yet to come. Positive action has to happen this century, a critical mass of awareness has to be reached, otherwise the resulting chaos will be beyond control.

In the past, according to the literature of various traditions, avatars would show up to guide us to wisdom, but we persecuted them. As witnessed by the atrocities of the past century, our shallow intentions and brute instincts are still with us. The only hope for humanity is a collective renaissance of awareness, because only the birth of a widespread intelligence will prevent catastrophe. An expansion of mind and heart has to happen at a critical mass.

Like you, I am no-one, but with you, we can be everyone. Please pass this message on. Throw this message in the bottle back into the ocean. A thousand years from now, one of our descendants will read it and be grateful for the life that they are now living; and it will probably not be on earth anymore. If you had the perseverance to read to this line, don't click "delete", click "forward." Here is why: The future can no longer be a revalidation of the past. There is too much at stake. Intelligence has evolved us from the apes, but the lack of it's positive application may also be our nemesis. Alone as individuals, we will not have much of a chance of saving our planet, but collectively, there is no limit to human genius. Can we evolve to a species that colonizes space or will we perish before we get there?

We are living on a dying planet, and you and I can sound the alarm bell. The Internet can make this possible. With each passing decade, the price of human ignorance will be extracting a heavier toll.

The antidote to apathy and withdrawal is awareness, which is the reason for this essay. Paraphrasing the words of Mahatma Gandhi, we can be the change we wish to see in the world. It begins with the click of a mouse button.

Unless sleeping humanity begins to wake up, it's emerging power of numbers, economic expansion, scientific exploration, and technological advances will be used for extinction not evolution. As you can see, we have already grossly abused the power that we possess; there is no guarantee that we will become wiser in the new year and in the new decade which will soon be upon us. Our power in all areas is expanding as our knowledge expands. Military toys are becoming deadlier; viruses are adapting to our most potent antibiotics and becoming unstoppably virulent; and ideological fanaticism is reaching a point where nuclear proliferation is not possible to contain. Awareness right now is our only hope. Unless, through awareness, humanity as a whole is willing to give up its conscious and unconscious hostilities, disaster is inevitable.

We can use the Internet to spread these ideas to every home and corporation and government in the world. Only 6 degrees of separation lie between us and anyone else in the world.

Without awareness, positive change is not possible. We owe it to generations yet unborn to spread awareness. This is the meme that will save our species. Awareness can blossom into knowledge and knowledge into positive action; but without awareness; through mere blind, reflexive living, chaos will erupt as surely as night follows day, or one century follows the next.

Please send this article to one or more people or post it somewhere. You can click "delete" or "forward." In a strange way, the fate of the world may have something to do with us. You and I will probably never meet, but we share a common bond. Despite all our differences, we are all connected. It is our greatest value. Let us act, each in our own small way, on an impulse, no matter how faint, to help the greater good.

Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas with you. Hunting everywhere for a life worth living? Discover the life of your dreams. His book Never Ever Give Up tells you how. It is offered at no cost as a way to help YOU succeed. http://www.theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Saleem_Rana
http://EzineArticles.com/?An-Open-Letter-To-A-Dying-Planet&id=388768

Launch of Spiritual Chicken

2009-08-03T00:24:00.003+08:00

The Spiritual Chicken multi-blogging platform (powered by b2evolution) was launched on 02 August 2009. Immediate plans are to expand the website content with more ’stickies’ and relevant (and intriguing) multimedia collaborations.

Future plans include a comprehensive full color ebook available through lulu.com

Right Here on Earth - Orianthi, Crossroads 2007

2009-07-06T20:11:00.001+08:00

Different performance (short clip)

A Taste of Bali - Bali Arts Festival Parade June 2009

2009-06-21T23:05:00.001+08:00

The very first day of my first visit to the island of the Gods in the heart of Indonesia

Massive Construction Project @ Marina Bay Sands (Singapore)

2009-06-08T09:14:00.007+08:00

Massive Construction Project @ Marina Bay Sands (Singapore), originally uploaded by madaboutasia.

A trip on foot across Benjamin Sheares Bridge (ECP) brings close-up photos of the construction of Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort, Art Science Museum, Marina Promenade, and the new Double Helix Pedestrian Bridge. Enjoy!

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

Full set of photos on Flickr.

Circle Line Discovery Photos

2009-05-23T22:06:00.001+08:00

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Singapore Circle Line Discovery Highlights

2009-05-23T21:50:00.004+08:00

23 May 2009 - Opening Ceremony at the new Serangoon Circle Line Station, riding the train, tunnel views, entertainment (surprise visit by Phua Chu Kang and Rosie!), and Channel Newsasia cameraman.

* The trains are driver-less and fully automated, just like the North East Line trains and can travel up to 80km/h.
* Instead of the 6-car train used in the existing MRT network, the Circle Line train operates with 3-car trains as it is a medium capacity rail line.
* Each train can take up to 931 passengers.
* The Circle Line train has large central windows at the front and rear cars, allowing passengers to have a good view of the tunnel while travelling.

Source: http://www.ccldiscovery.sg/about.htm

More of my photos/videos here.

PCK and Rosie visit Circle Line 23 May 2009

2009-05-23T17:49:00.008+08:00

I ran into Gurmit Singh and Irene Ang at Serangoon Circle Line Station, and caught them in some video footage. Seems they're BIG again ~ visible to MRT riders with their new slogans: "DON'T 'PLAY PLAY'. LET ME COME OUT FIRST!" (Phua Chu Kang) and "Wait, let me come out first" (Rosie).

More CIRCLE LINE DISCOVERY photos and videos here

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

Resort World Construction Sentosa (Singapore)

2009-05-10T01:16:00.003+08:00

What's that big hole in the ground on the way to the beaches on Sentosa? It's Resort World!

Construction sites include: The Theatre, Hotel Michael, WaterWorld Ampitheatre, Showroom, Festive Hotel, Equarius Water Park, Casino (beneath Maxims Residences), Ballroom (under Hard Rock Cafe), Marine Life Park, Maritime Xperiential Museum.

More construction photos here.

Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort (Singapore)

2009-05-09T20:55:00.012+08:00

How much do you know about those three 'casino towers' rising up over the Marina in Singapore lately? Do you know that the Esplanade is about to be linked to the waterfront promenade on the other side via a 'double helix' pedestrian bridge (under construction). Exciting changes are in store for Singapore's waterfront!

Did you know that the hotel towers are designed to look like decks of cards?

More photos and information here.

Singapore Flyer (movie clip)

2009-05-09T20:26:00.007+08:00

Learn the fascinating story behind Asia's largest ferris wheel.

At 42 storeys tall and 150 meters in diameter, this mega-attraction has other unusual trivia, including a wheel direction reversal and 30 minute rotation.

More photos and interesting facts here

Gamelan Performers from Bali

2009-05-04T02:14:00.007+08:00

Intercultural communication and music appreciation weekend!

My friends from Mekar Bhuana Conservatory in Bali. They performed rare Court Gamelan Orchestra music in Singapore for the first time at the Esplanade

More photos here.

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

Krrish actress Priyanka Chopra

2009-03-13T04:59:00.001+08:00

Krrish actress Priyanka Chopra, originally uploaded by madaboutasia.

New photos from the filming of Krrish in Singapore 2005 (exclusive)
Never before seen! Photo I took at Singapore Tourism Court (through the window!) in Sept. 2005 of the beautiful Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra obviously chilling out, between scenes with her co-star Hrithik Roshan on their very first day of filming Krrish in Singapore with Director Rakesh Roshan. I later had the pleasure of meeting him and his famous son when they were filming at the Fountain of Wealth at Suntec City :-)

Photos from Singapore Tattoo Show January 2009

2009-01-11T22:24:00.003+08:00

Singapore Hip Hop Collective XS.ONE

2008-12-09T00:52:00.030+08:00

XS.ONE THE REGIMENT at 'Beats and Breaks'

It was a real pleasure to learn about this well-intentioned 'collective' of Singaporean hip hop artistes who have pooled their various creative talents together in an amazing public showcase at the Esplanade on 5 and 6 December 2008 at the outdoor stage.

For hip hop fans, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The group's ambition is as diversified as the personalities represented within the collective.

Quoting from their 'mission statement' on MySpace:

XS.ONE THE REGIMENT is a collective of hiphop enthusiasts and activists in the form of lyricists, emcees, poets, wordsmiths and musicians that come together with a common bond and direction namely towards the elevation of the positive aspects of hiphop and music in general.

Through diverse styles of lyricism and poetry, The.XS Collective offers to push the boundaries through experimental efforts but at the same time maintaining the very essence of their art form via traditional and puristic methodologies.

More to come! I will be interviewing the members in detail and reviewing several of their releases very very soon. In the meantime, please acquaint yourself with THE REGIMENT and their various offshoots and side-projects at myspace.com/xsone, 65&HOPE and my photos from Beats and Breaks.

NEXT EVENT

Here are some 'goodies'...

Photos from RaUZaN Rahman's album launch (13.12.08) REWRITE

*New - photos from Protege: Last call

Cheers!
Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

Scenes from an Indian wedding

2008-12-06T09:24:00.026+08:00

Note: This gallery includes mehndi (henna body art) and the bride's bangle ceremony

Photos by Ted Ollikkala, Singapore

INTERVIEW WITH PAUL BIELATOWICZ (Carl Palmer, Neal Morse)

2008-11-08T21:59:00.010+08:00

by Ted Ollikkala, Singapore

SYNOPSIS

photo by Raimondo Luciani
courtesy Paul Bielatowicz

(September 2008) This post will allow fans of progressive rock to find out more about your playing. In my opinion, not enough people know about Neal’s work, or are even aware that Carl is actively touring ELP material.

Hopefully, fans reading the article will be drawn to your myspace site and new website (still under construction), and be encouraged to purchase the DVD with Neal, and your upcoming book. You can certainly plug your new website and book if you’d like – you must have interviewed some great bands and personalities!

THE GREATEST PROG GROUPS OF ALL TIME

Two of progressive rock’s best-loved groups are still creating tidal waves today. Emerson Lake and Palmer from the 70s jump-started the genre, and Spock’s Beard topped it off in the 90s. The sounds created by these legendary bands resonate strongly through the work of these dedicated musicians who are the masters of their trade.

Up and coming among them is a young and influential guitarist named Paul Bielatowicz, who plays with both Carl Palmer and Neal Morse in their touring bands.

INTRODUCTION

Paul leads the progressive rock revolution on two fronts. Old school wise, he is a modern age reincarnation of Keith Emerson with the Carl Palmer (CP) Band. And for Christian prog rock new schoolers, Paul's playing perfectly compliments Neal Morse's divinely inspired revelations.

Photo by Lee Millward
Photo courtesy Tony Ortiz

In this one-on-one interview with Paul, we get to know what makes him tick and how his experiences at the forefront of progressive rock are helping to shape the future of the genre.

Paul has a friendly and genuine 'boy next door' disposition and a real eagerness to connect with his fans. He shares his insights about working with prog giants Carl Palmer (ELP) and Neal Morse (Spock’s Beard) to carry classic progressive rock into the new millennium.

INTERVIEW

1. People are not calling you a prodigy; they’re calling you a youthful ‘virtuoso’!

(Virtuoso: A musician with masterly ability, technique, or personal style.)

1a. How old are you?

I get asked that question after EVERY gig I do (and even before some, if people get into the sound check)... I'm 29!

1b. How does one become a virtuoso (as in your case)?

Well, thank you, I'm flattered that you consider me a virtuoso. I certainly wouldn't profess to being a virtuoso but in order to get where I am now it's taken me a lot of practise (what a predictable answer!)... If I have been given a gift it's the gift of a hunger to practise and improve - I love it. When I was at college I'd regularly practise for 10 hours a day - just for the love of the instrument and the excitement of seeing myself improve as a musician.

2. Which came first; playing for Carl Palmer or Neal Morse?

Carl - I joined his band in 2003

2a. How did you come to know Carl?

photo by Raimondo Luciani
courtesy Paul Bielatowicz

Carl's previous guitar player (a guy called Shaun Baxter; actually one of my teenage guitar heroes) left the band after he started to suffer from tinnitus.

Carl had a few guitarists recommended to replace Shaun - one of which was Guthrie Govan (who was then playing for Asia). I knew Guthrie and, when he couldn't join Carl's band due to his commitments with Asia, he recommended me.

I contacted Carl and sent him a CD - Carl liked the CD and so I set about learning 1 and 3/4 hours of the most difficult instrumental prog rock music I'd ever had to play.

2b. How did you come to know Neal?

In 2006 The Carl Palmer Band did a tour of the US. Whilst I was over there I contacted Neal through his website to see if he wanted to come and see any of our shows (I knew he was a big ELP fan) - he replied and said that we weren't playing anywhere near him. After that we kept in touch by e-mail and in one such e-mail I commented that if he ever needed a guitar player to let me know. To cut a long story short, a little later I received an e-mail from him with the title 'wanna do a gig?'.

3. You blog about your adventures on the road. Why?

I started my blog on the Carl Palmer Band's US tour... to be honest the main reason was probably so I could look back on the entries like a diary.

First U.S. Performance, 29/5/06
Revolution Hall, Troy New York
Photo by Tony Ortiz

But, whilst on the US tour, I started to take an active role in some of the prog rock message boards and chat pages - chatting to people who had been at our gig, so I realised that there was an online community that was interested in following the progress of our tour.

One thing about touring with a band is that you tend to spend a lot of time travelling; this gave me the perfect opportunity to keep the blog up to date.

4. Most people, upon hearing that you play all of Keith Emerson’s keyboard parts on your stratocaster (is this correct?) in the Carl Palmer band; would claim this to be an impossible feat. Yet you walk away with rave reviews and standing ovations. How is it possible!? Any special technique you use in transposing from the one instrument (keyboard) to another (guitar)?

I play a PRS guitar in Carl's band.

Well, it's mostly made possible by a lot of time spent practising - trying to play parts that don't fall naturally under the fingers on the guitar. The 2 months I had before joining Carl's band was the most intensive practise and learning time I think I've ever had.

In terms of techniques - I employ as many techniques as I can to make playing Keith's keyboard parts possible... in later years I've developed and utilised a lot of two handed tapping techniques to play parts that sound (hopefully) more akin to a keyboard.

5a. Personal favourite Neal Morse song (or album) to listen to and why?

Sola Scriptura and Beyond (with Neal Morse)
photo by William Klopper

I'm a big fan of Neal's stuff with Spock's beard but to choose one, that's tough... maybe 'The Doorway'?

5b. Favourite Neal Morse song to play (in Neal’s Touring Band)

From a playing point of view, probably 'The Door' as it's got some great instrumental / unison parts. Plus I get to play the Paul Gilbert solo at the end - always a high for me!

From an emotional point of view, probably something like 'Wind At My Back'. It's such an amazing experience to look out into the audience and see all types of people, all with tears rolling down their faces - very powerful.

Sola Scriptura Band
courtesy Bill Evans Media

6a. Personal favourite E.L.P. song or album to listen to and why?

I really like 'Take a Pebble' from the first album - we don't do it in Carl's band, but I always mention it when we're thinking of new songs to add to the set list... not sure how it would translate to this band though.

6b. Favourite E.L.P. song to play (with the CP Band)

'Fanfare For The Common Man' - it's the last tune of the set and by that point (hopefully) the audience is really hyped and going for it. I always feel a special connection with the audience when we play this song - especially at the start, when the intro tape for the song is playing...

I try to take the time to look around the audience and to appreciate that, wherever you go in the world, we're all the same. That's what this song is about for me; a celebration of just how much we humans have in common - we're all simply human.

7. Do you feel uplifted, in a Christian sense, when performing Neal’s music?

Absolutely - to see the emotion in people's faces and the tears running down their cheeks... you can't fail to see and feel the presence of God in the concert and venue.

Sola Scriptura and Beyond (w/Neal Morse)
photo by William Klopper.

8. You’re fun to watch while you play! It is partially because you tend to ‘mouth’ the sounds of your guitar – is this for the audience’s enjoyment or is it a playing technique?

Mouthing the notes and pulling faces is something I always do - to me, it's just part of playing with emotion...

I can't imagine somebody reading a poem or story with emotion in their voice without it showing on their face. In the same way, when I try to put emotion into what I'm playing, my face naturally expresses it too...

I pull the same faces whether I'm on stage in front of an audience or in a recording studio on my own.

9. How do you challenge yourself?

Not sure this answers your question, but...

Every day I get up, make myself a coffee and write a TO DO list for the day. Then I write my daily plan; time-tabling my entire day into 1 hour slots to ensure that I achieve everything on my list. I first started doing this with my practise routine when I was in college, now I apply it to all areas of my working life. I find that if I don't plan like this, I don't get much achieved!

10. Who would you like to play with (individual artist or band)?

So many people - all my heroes... so, so many...

But right now I'm craving to do my own music - I can't think about much else before I've done that!

photo by Raimondo Luciani
courtesy Paul Bielatowicz

11. You do some singing on ‘Sola Scriptura’ (background vocals). Can you sing lead as well?

Err... not really. I've actually sung in choirs all my life, but that was actually the first time I ever did vocals in a band. I'd love to sing more - that's something I'm really wanting to work on.

12. About 13 minutes into the Sola Scriptura and Beyond DVD, on first song – ‘The Creation’, you have an extended solo where instead of strumming with your fingers, you hold some sort of device (it looks like a stapler with a blue light at the bottom). It’s not the electric toothbrush we’ve heard so much about, is it?

Sola Scriptura and Beyond DVD Conver
courtesy Bill Evans media

Ah, that'll be an ebow (an electronic bow). It causes the strings to vibrate using magnets - very cool and a must for any prog guitarist.

I'm not using the toothbrush so much these days - I only used it on one song in Carl's band... I stopped taking my toothbrush on tour when that song got dropped from the set list.

13. What inspired you to put up a new website (www. paulbielatowicz. com). Are you gaining lots of new fans?

Yeah, I usually have a lot of people contacting me about where they can find out more about what I'm doing, get lessons etc... so I decided it was about time to get one done. Plus I'm about to release a book I've just written - so I needed a way to let people get hold of that.

14. Do you prefer to play ‘progressive rock’ or do you play other styles too?

Photo courtesy Paul Bielatowicz

I've always been a fan of Prog music, but I also play other styles; I have a Jazz duo with my wife - we play some 'Tuck and Patti' tunes as well as all the usual standards.

To be honest, you name a style, I've played it in a band - you can't be fussy when you're trying to make a living out of playing music! But Prog and classical music are my two loves.

15. What do you teach at BIMM? Do your students aspire to be rock guitarists like yourself?

Last year I taught Sight Reading, Ear Training and Technique. Yeah, everyone wants to be a rock guitarist don't they?!!

Arlington, Mass.
Photo by Carla Huntington
Courtesy Tony Ortiz

16. You prefer to use PRS Guitars? Are you a PRS endorsee (like Orianthi)?

No, I'm not an official endorsee. I decided to get a PRS when I heard that Carl wanted me to join his band - that was the sound I had in mind and thought would work well for the music.

I don't think I'll ever find the 'perfect' guitar, but I think for what I use it for at the moment, the PRS does the job very nicely!

17. What do you like about working with Neal? What do you learn from him?

I learnt that music is more than the notes. A seemingly crap gig (from a gear and playing point of view) can move an audience to tears.

18. What do you like about working with Carl? What do you learn from him?

Playing with Carl was my first big gig experience. I learnt so much from being in professional touring environment - too much to mention here... maybe that could be my second book!

19. Any plans to compose with either Neal or Carl?

None at present with Neal (although I'd love to) but Carl is planning a trip to the studio with the band soon - we'll have to see.

photo by Raimondo Luciani
courtesy Paul Bielatowicz

20. What are your plans for the next 12 months? Have you finished your book?

Get the book finished and printed.
More touring with Carl.
Write and record my first solo album.

21. Question you’d like to ask me! Or plug your book

No questions...

It'd be good if you could send people in the direction of my website though - it should be up in a couple of weeks.

Thank you for your valuable time

No problem.

September 2008

Paul Bielatowicz
on MySpace
Official site

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

GENESIS, THE EVOLUTION OF A ROCK BAND - GABRIEL VS COLLINS

2008-10-04T05:28:00.008+08:00

GABRIEL

Peter Gabriel was very instrumental (no pun intended) in the early success of Genesis, garnering attention with his theatrical makeup and use of props.

Many purists relish this particular chapter of the band's evolution as being the birth of true progressive rock art form, culminating with the very esoteric production of 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway', practically a one-man show by PG - as he had conceived all of the lyrics quite independently of the band's music.

This caused a schism in the band leading to Peter's exit to pursue the freedom of solo creativity in 1975.

COLLINS

The Collins-era band continued to evolve and experiment, moving in new musical directions. The songs became shorter and had a more pop flavor; and the subject matter dealt with more modern themes in pop culture; relationships, politics, homelessness, illegal aliens, and the environment.

The 'Turn it On Again' tour of 2007 brought the full range of Genesis' music to the masses, although many fans of the current generation had yet to see Gabriel peform with his band-mates.

A full fledged reunion with original members Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett had been a distinct possibility, and would have consisted of a proposed mini-tour of 'The Lamb'. We can only dream :-)

Link:

Genesis: The Peter Gabriel Years (1967-1975)

Genesis With Gabriel Reunion? Definitely Maybe.

THREE PART PODCAST INTERVIEW with PHIL SHULMAN (Gentle Giant, Simon Dupree) 2008

2008-09-21T08:13:00.004+08:00

The Shulman Family - Dad (Phil Shulman)
Mum, Grandsons Elliot & Rowan

Three generations of the musical Shulman family (in ascending age order: Elliot, Damon, and Phil) sat down this summer at Room 15 (Damon's home studio) to mark their legacy in the history books by recording a series of podcasts.

This insightful idea was the brainstorm of grandson Elliot (15), to interview his grandpa – one of the founding members of both Simon Dupree and the Big Sound and Gentle Giant, whose influence to this day continues to inspire musicianship and experimentation.

Damon (read my interview with Damon Shulman 'Doing his own thing') told me:

"The podcast is hosted by my son Elliot. The interview is packed with lots of great stuff with Phil Shulman talking about his early musical influences, his history with Simon Dupree and the Big Sound and Gentle Giant and much, much more!"

"Believe me, it's an absolute must for fans of Gentle Giant and Simon Dupree. It wouldn't be possible anywhere else. Check it out."

So come along and join the family discussion as Phil enlightens us with his razor sharp memory, clever wittiness, and very charming voice! about a way of life we should dare to dream about.

Elliot Shulman - PODCAST #2 (29:34)

(0:00) Family introductions (Damon working on Vultures & Sheep, 4WD)

(3:00) Elliot asks Phil, “Tell us about your musical background, what were your early influences?”

(6:50) Damon asks, “At what point did you really pick up an instrument?”

(11:15) Phil explains how the young Shulman brothers (Ray, Derek, Terry and Phil) first started playing together (rehearsing in Phil's classroom, buying a van)

(21:10) Getting together a 'proper band' (drummer A, drummer B, drummer C, pissing in the paint can, Phil why don't you play)

(26:30) Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, all-nighters, and 'getting on'

(28:55) Closing (Damon Shulman) - The highlights of Part II

Elliot Shulman - PODCAST #3 (32:34)

(0:00) Elliot asks about the response to the earlier podcast

(2:00) Interview continues – turning pro, one gig – a series of coincidences (the big break!), on the books, on the radio - first hit 'I See the Light' (1966)

(9:00) Getting more gigs – Europe, second hit ‘Reservation’ (1967), the worst tour ever (awash in vomit), You’re on the Charts (top ten by December), Top of the Pops, Crackerjack, Germaine Greer in the dressing room, Groupie Documentary

(18:00) What it's like 'being acclaimed', local fame, international publicity, coping with family

(19:25) Extensive touring - on the bill with Gene Pitney, Status Quo, Andy Fairweather Low, Amen Corner, Mike Cotton Sound, Beach Boys, etc.

(22:00) The Screaming doesn’t stop, a nasty word – CABARET , Joe Cocker paid off!, playing The Cavern, John Lennon’s bed, The Hippodrome, The Who

(31:45) The band begins to change... the brothers decide 'We can’t keep on doing cabaret!'

Elliot Shulman - PODCAST #4 (33:02)

(0:00) What’s been going on with Damon Shulman (update) – 4WJ, driven by visualization in music

(6:30) Phil Shulman interview continues – On Gentle Giant: 'We just wanted to do something of our own', the influence of new bands like King Crimson, putting together the new band, Kerry Minnear (played just about bloody everything), Gary Greene (most unlikely) come on board.

(10:30) Writing and rehearsing the first GG album, elements of jazz & classical, playing 20 odd, 30 instruments between them

(12:00) A true band – no leader. Success from the start! 'We all sang lead, backed each other up, played as much as we could, as well as we could'.

(12:30) Phil’s lyrical contributions, translating literal ideas into musical terms. Comparison to 'progressive' groups: Genesis, Yes (they didn’t call themselves that!)

(16:00) The meaning of 'Funny Ways', 'Nothing at All' (conformist transformed into absurdities), common drumming, strange time signatures...

(20:25) Acquiring the Taste – a surrealist artist’s point of view

(21:00) Three Friends – childhood friends going different ways

(21:45) Octopus – the most popular album, John Weathers joins and the band changes again

(23:30) Phil leaves GG for his family, to become a family man and go back to teaching. Brothers not on speaking terms, but band continues for 7 more years. Phil pays tribute to his very musical family, updates on Derek, Ray.

(28:00) About being creative: 'What’s wrong with people, can’t they pick their own mind, why pick mine?'

(29:35) Opinions about modern pop scene – plenty of bloody crap, the difficulty in identifying quality.

(31:50) Good bye!

WELL DONE, ELLIOT! THANK YOU!!!

Send feedback to Elliot here

Podcasts annotated by Ted Ollikkala
with kind permission from Damon and Elliot Shulman
September 2008
Singapore

REFERENCES:

DamonShulman.co.uk (podcast page)

Damon Shulman (MySpace)

The Official Gentle Giant website (Blazemonger)

Gentle Giant (Wikipedia)

Gentle Giant (MySpace tribute page)

Simon Dupree and the Big Sound (MySpace)

Simon Dupree and the Big Sound (Wikipedia)

'Life-lines of Simon Dupree and the Big Sound’ & 'New to the Charts' (rare newspaper clippings from 1967)

Elliot Shulman’s YouTube Channel

4WJ (MySpace)

The cover artwork for KEITH EMERSON BAND featuring MARC BONILLA

2008-09-18T15:33:00.062+08:00

an inside look with Man In The Mountain - Martin Kornick

KEITH EMERSON BAND FEATURING MARC BONILLA
Artwork copyright 2008 by Man in the Mountain
* LIMITED EDITION VINYL - ORDER FAST!*

Hi Man in the Mountain

Your artwork is very recognizable and distinctive; perhaps we've got a prog classic on our hands here :-)

What was running through your mind as you did the artwork for this cover? Old ELP tunes?

"Holy shit I'm working for Keith Emerson!!!" That’s was about the only thing going through my head, really. I suppose the music of ELP was in my head as well, and their albums covers… I like to play the actual music that I am creating for, while I work, but in this case it wasn’t possible to hear the new music. That made it a little trickier.

I did listen to a lot of ELP while I worked on this, but also whatever I was into at the time, which at this time I was heavily getting into HIROMI. Mostly, I drew upon my art influences, which is 70’s album artwork. All the Hipgnosis stuff that I grew up on, which to me, that is real art… that was my school. I would much rather have a picture of a classic RUSH album cover on my wall, than say something from Monet. In my studio hangs some work by Roger Dean & some cool Pink Floyd stuff.

A growing number of artists are releasing new albums on vinyl , including 'KEITH EMERSON BAND FEATURING MARC BONILLA'.

From a graphic artists' point of view, is there any difference between designing for a 12" album and designing for a CD release?

Yeah, with the small CD artwork you have to make sure important details don’t get lost, so the art elements tend to be a bit larger, including the logos. But, Marc & Keith were very keen on creating that 70’s vinyl album cover feel, and that’s why they contacted me. The idea is we want people to put on the music and look at the artwork, and have it all work together. That’s hard to do with a small CD.

The great thing about album covers from the 70’s, is it wasn’t just packaging to be discarded... it was meant to give the listener a visual trip along with the music. The size issue has gotten worse in recent years too, because now people only see tiny icons on the web, and on Amazon, or their iTunes. So, I try and keep a balance for web presentation, but I still get pretty conceptual & detailed.

Would you advise fans to purchase the 12" (LP) version of this album? Do you think it will become collectible?

Keith had been saying since day one that he wanted a 12” vinyl release of the album. So I've developed this artwork for a larger scale... it came out more organic, rather than the sort of graphic collage that I have done a bit of recently… difficult to force anything with it, the art only went where it wanted to go. It will be in full bloom on the vinyl release with a proper gatefold and everything…. So if you’re into that sort of thing (and like your music pressed on vinyl), it promises to be worthwhile.

Marc Bonilla wrote me just the other day to say,

"I saw it last week in Hamburg and it's absolutely breathtaking".

It is a limited edition as well, so it will be a collectible. There definitely seems to be a strong revival of vinyl these days. In fact, I saw a TV special about it recently, and young people are starting to realize the warm tonal quality of LPs, and enjoy holding the album artwork in their hands.

Most kids really miss out on the full music experience today with iPods, and downloading. It’s no wonder there is decline in quality music, when kids are given the cheapest and lowest quality way of experiencing music, what is there to get passionate about?

What is the meaning of the organ washed up in the desert? Is there fire coming out of it? I saw some photos of Keith and Marc with a burning keyboard. This seems similar to the gatefold piece you did for the Tangent; is there a common theme here?

Ah, yeah there's similar theme with The Tangent's artwork... an expression of forgotten music, weathered away in a post apocalyptic world…, a lost treasure. Both Andy Tillison & Keith liked that theme, so it was carried on both projects. I guess prog keyboard players feel forgotten and weathered away. ;)

It’s really a man vs. nature theme, as you can see in a lot of my work. The same applies here with the instruments, and the blast, and the single tree standing throughout it all.

The fire is a sort of rebirth… transforming the old decaying organ into a shiny new one. This is something Keith really wanted to express about this new album, and it was up to me to figure out how.

In essence the cover was a mix of my ideas with Keith & Marc’s. We even butted heads quite a bit over the specifics, all three of us (Marc, Keith & I)... Even Marc & Keith didn’t agree on things, or Marc & I liked something one way, but Keith wanted it another way.

Some people thought I was nuts for arguing with them… but it was never about that, it was about making the best cover piece possible. We all wanted it to be the absolute best it could be, so it was never arguments about making one more change, or getting it done already… it was always about creating the best vision… so even though we disagreed a bit over things, they were never heated arguments. And besides, the more we argued, the more I got to talk with them! Hahaha

I have to give a lot of credit to Marc Bonilla as well… he spent a great amount of time with me on the phone & on e-mail going over the details of the art, he was very patient and good humored. Our ideas seemed to be in lock step a good deal of the time. And what you see in artwork has a lot of his stamp on it as well.

The photo shoot of Keith & Marc with the burning piano was then inspired by what we did on the cover. They even found a desert area that matched what I used in the cover.

KEITH EMERSON BAND FEATURING MARC BONILLA
Photo copyright 2008 Michael Tweed

How closely does the album cover tie-in with the themes from the music itself? Although you hadn't heard the music when you designed it, did Keith use your artwork for inspiration while creating the music?

Keith and Marc saw something in this piece I did, which had this desert scene with streaks of red going across the sky. Which tied in with the sonic landscape of the opening music on the CD (Ignition), perfectly.

They felt the scene really reflected the music on the album as whole, as well. It was all sort of magical. Which is great, because I'm big on magic... when you think about something too much it can become contrived.

How does this design stand up to your previous work?

I think it’s very much in the same vein. I’m using the same techniques and approach I used in many of my other covers, such as Neal Morse’s “? Live”. Though, Neal tends to have much tighter deadlines, so the work is more instantaneous. I don’t have much time to noodle about with details or 20 ideas... so I dive right in, often with great results.

With Keith, I was contacted well in advance of when he needed the work completed. I think both have their advantages and disadvantages. Pressure drives out great ideas, but I also love to have the time to bring the ideas to it’s greatest potential. Often I like to take a break from a certain piece, and return later to get a fresh perspective. This one I did for Keith falls in that category, it was a work in progress for some time.

KEITH EMERSON BAND FEATURING MARC BONILLA - Gatefold.
Artwork copyright 2008 by Man in the Mountain (ENLARGE)

You say on your website that you work without computer generated images; the 'objects' come from drawings and photographs which are then 'digitally manipulated' into a blend of fantasy and reality

I don’t use any 3-D software, or computer generated object/figures. Everything is taken from photographs, and manipulated. But, it’s not about taking one photograph and photo-shopping something into it, which is what you see everywhere.

I start with a blank canvas, and use photos almost like a brush, layering, and manipulating them into a whole new image, or some grand landscape. It’s not uncommon for me to use between 20-30 photos within one piece alone. And often what you see as one thing, can actually be something completely different.

The fire on the organ for instance, isn’t fire at all… but it sure looks like fire! The end result of my art often looks like a finely detailed illustration, but it’s all made from real life objects. I like to describe my art as being 'Real into Surreal.'

I had some time to gaze at the gatefold - There are several more instruments partially buried in the sand on the left.

That's Marc Bonilla's gear. His actual guitar and amp. I had him photograph them at several angles, to see what worked best. That's the beauty of the internet, that we can work together at such long distances. I'm from the Chicago area, and he's out in California.

Really, I owe so much to the internet to be able to have my work seen, and make it easy to work with others from all over the world. I work with Neal Morse from Nashville, The Tangent was out in England, and now I'm speaking with you Ted, in Singapore! And I never have to leave my studio.

Japanese Tour Promo Handbook
Photo courtesy eil.com

Did you also design the lettering for KE's album cover to match the background?

Yes, I did. It was funny because this was the first logo I did for the cover, and we went through a dozen more logos, before we settled on this one again.

Do you expect this artwork to feature in other KEB promo material? (such as t-shirts, concert tickets, tour booklet, advertising posters, stage backdrops, drum skin, etc.)

Yeah, it’ll be featured on other stuff... I just did a t-shirt with the image, and I’ve already seen it on billboards & advertisements in Japan. There was a big feature in Japan’s DIG magazine, with Keith, and they had a full color ad with the album art covering the page. I hope to see stuff like that here in the states soon.

Do you insert 'hidden messages', 'easter eggs', or other 'puzzles' into your artwork? (I'm thinking 'Paul is dead' messages) Any such messages in the KE album? Any hidden ELP symbolism - tiny Tarkuses, mini-Manticores?

Ha ha. Yeah, if you hold the album cover upside down, you can see Satan’s underworld. And underwear! Well, it’s up to you to find. Actually, I originally had knives in the organ, but Keith wanted them out, because that was an ELP thing, and this needs to be a new identity for Keith...

I think if you start throwing little Tarkus tanks into your artwork, it can make it rather kitschy... Wasn’t it Spinal Tap that said, “you have to walk that fine line between kitschy & brilliant”? I walk that fine line carefully.

What is your favorite ELP album cover/artwork?

Love Beach!!! Was there any doubt?... Oh, there’s that H.R. Giger cover for Brain Salad Surgery, that was good too, I guess! (note of mock sarcasm). I also love the Lucky Man ‘dove cover’ very much, and the gatefold inside the Trilogy album has always been inspiring to me. That was awesome!

Now that I think about it, that gatefold had a huge impact on me as an artist. I spent countless hours gazing at all the images of the band within that weird colorful forest, it was mesmerizing. You just don’t see stuff like that anymore today, and the impact is completely lost in CD booklets.

Keith Emerson and Martin Kornick, on Flickr
Photo courtesy Martin Kornick

At one point, Keith wrote something iconic to you after he had seen your latest updated art. What was it?

"Well done Martin!!! Just wait till you hear the music that goes with it - you're gonna shit yourself! Keith"

Yeah, that's a great quote. When I went to meet Keith for lunch, I made sure I had six pairs of under-shorts on. Because I knew what was going to happen, and you don't want Keith to whiff a nasty. Or maybe it's appropriate to let the smell waft, a sign of great admiration while listing to his music? (read Man in the Mountain’s blog entry )

Thanks so much, Man in the Mountain - for offering to share more of your insights. There's always a good story behind every top-selling album cover. Is there a Hall of Fame for them?

The pleasure is all mine! There should be a hall of fame for the best album covers... I know there's a Hall of Fame for the worst album covers... I want to try and get into both.

Readers can go to your blog (as I did) to read your fascinating account of meeting KE (with the blood, six pairs of underwear, and everything!).

REFERENCES

Man in the Mountain Official Website

Keith Emerson Official Website

http://www.hrgiger.com/music/emerson1.htm

http://www.vintagerock.com/kemerson_interview.aspx

Interview with Man in the Mountain (Martin Kornick)
by Ted Ollikkala
Singapore
August 2008

KEEPING PROGRESSIVE ROCK ALIVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

2008-09-12T17:18:00.022+08:00

EXPERIMENTS IN A LOST ART - SONNY GRIFFIN

Heavy metal tribute guitarist & musician Sonny Griffin, owner of Griffin Entertainment (Isanti, Minnesota) is a study in character. From a man who professes no other love in life than music, he has spent the past three decades indulging the whims of heavy metal fans; Alice Cooper, Motley Crue, Judas Priest, and others.

Sonny Griffin in the studio
Photo credit: Brandon Griffin

Call it a mid-life crisis, call it guilt, or simply unbridled creativity - the progressive rock spirit in Sonny Griffin has been unleashed. Put aside your stereotypes as you read about Sonny's quest for “prog” and the true meaning of life...

QUESTIONS ABOUT YOU

Are you married?

Yes, I'm on my third marriage and we've been married now for 14 years.

Your family I have two children by my first wife who are all grown up now, one child going to college by my second wife, and I have a fifteen year old that I'm raising now. I also have three beautiful grandchildren (yes I said it! grandchildren).

Hobbies (outside of music) I don't really have much going on outside of music. I'm one of those people that is completely consumed by music every waking moment. I'm either playing live, recording, building guitars, working on stage clothes, or doing something that relates to my music. I'm a hopeless addict to my trade.

How do you reach your fans I have several sites for the tribute bands that I play in, as well as my Entertainment Agency. There’s my personal site, http://myspace.com/sonnyg666, one for Wild Side (America’s Motley Crue tribute) http://myspace.com/wildsidemotleytribute, and School’s Out (Alice Cooper tribute) http://www.griffinentertainment.org/id1.html.

YOUR MUSIC

Self-taught? I'm very self taught. My grandfather had a knack of being able to play just about anything he picked up and I guess I got that from him. I started playing guitar at the age of thirteen when I begged my mom to buy me a $36.00 electric guitar from a Thrifty drug store in Santa Ana California where I grew up in the 60's and 70's. I had just seen my first big concert, Grand Funk Railroad and Black Sabbath a short while before and I was hooked; I wanted to be a rock star.

Instruments played I play guitars mostly. I have over 20 guitars of all kinds - I'm also a really good bass player. I think in the right group situation I could be just as happy on the bass as I am on the guitar. I play keyboards manually enough to write stuff but when I record them I usually compose the stuff on a simple computer sequencer program, that is also how I do all my drums.

Your ability as a keyboardist / modular moog (a.k.a. Keith Emerson) I'm by no means a Keith Emerson! He is a true God in the world of keyboards. I've seen ELP many times and he is simply amazing beyond words. I have some Yamaha keys, a Roland sound module, a midi controller keyboard, and a set of midi step bass pedals. I also use an old Mac computer as my sequencer.

Have you written many songs? (words and music) I have many songs written. I'm always thinking of new music. I'm taking a break from playing live (my day job) for a while so that I can focus on getting some of my ideas recorded.

Do you sing? I do sing, but I'm not what I would call a singer. People like Greg Lake, Jon Anderson, David Gilmour, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, John Wetton, now they are really good singers. I'm not at all in a class like those guys. I mostly sing to get the songs out the way I envision them. If I ever ran across the right singer to sing my material I'd have no problem handing the duties of singing over to a master. I also would love to hear a great artist like those I mentioned do one of my songs. That would be such an honor for me.

PRODUCTION / RECORDING STUDIO

Your own studio? I have my own simple recording studio in my house, that's the only way that I could get these things recorded. I pull these abstract ideas together in such an unusual fashion that I need to be able to record the things myself without having to try and explain what I'm going for to someone else that may not have my sense of direction.

Equipment used I have a small Korg Digital recorder, some Alesis compressors, and other assorted gear, nothing very fancy at all. I'm not really a tech type of guy. I don't want to have to read a manual the size of a phone book to be able to work a piece of equipment.

Mixing experience I just mix my stuff to reproduce the sounds I hear in my head, and sometimes that is very hard given my history with mind expanding drugs (back in the days). I'm TOTALLY clean now. For the record, my demons are all in my past.

THOUGHTFUL QUESTIONS (the journey…)

Your career has involved heavy metal tribute bands. How would your fans react if you made a classic 'progressive rock' type album reminiscent of the 70s style?

To be perfectly honest my heart has never been totally into the tribute scene, to me it's just been a way for me to be able to go out and earn money playing my guitar until something better comes along. I love playing music, period.

Playing the guitar and getting paid for it is just a bonus for me, and the tribute scene has been paying my bills.

For ten years I've been playing on the national tribute band circuit across the entire country (USA) and had lots of experiences good and bad. I've also met a lot of people, good and bad . I have played in Black Sabbath tributes, Judas Priest tributes, and most recently a well known Motley Crue tribute.

Many people are surprised when they come up to me after a show and ask me if I'm a big Motley Crue fan, because I tell them I'm not really that big of a fan of Motley's. I play the stuff really well but it does not take much more than an average musician to play ‘Home Sweet Home’. You can't say that for the music of ELP, YES, King Crimson, etc...

If I lost fans because I decided to follow my heart and play music I loved then so be it, but I hope that whatever fans I might lose I would be compensated for down the road.

Do you care how they would react (or are they not your intended audience?)

I do care what people think to a point, everyone wants to be liked, those artists who say they don't are usually the one who disappear up their own backsides eventually. I'm not making this new music to try to appeal to the same crowds that I was playing to in the tribute scene, I hoping to elevate into the larger concert world and if some of my fans follow me over through the change then that would be wonderful.

Who will care / who would notice if you make an outstanding progressive rock album? (it's not a tribute album right? All original material)

I really don't think a lot of the people that were digging the music I was playing in tribute bands would really dig this new direction, the stuff I'm doing now is more of an acquired taste, lol.

Peter Gabriel, Jon Anderson, Jethro Tull, or Greg Lake – who do you identify with most? (can name others)

I think I would identify with Greg Lake more because of the guitar thing I guess. Emerson Lake & Palmer were a true spectacle in every sense of the word. I would love to build up something that could just remind people of that sort of awesome presentation. That's why I'm calling my record "Experiments in a Lost Art".

Seeing the Brain Salad Surgery concerts changed me forever as did seeing the YES Relayer concert, and Genesis's Lamb Lies Down concert. In a way I can relate to all of those artists, they follow their musical visions and do so even when that may not be the most popular thing they could do.

Why don't more heavy metal people dig progressive rock (or do they?). Are they stuck in a rut?

I think the music of groups like ELP, YES, Genesis, etc.. should have been witnessed first-hand live at a concert when those bands were in their heydays to truly get what was going on. The majesty and grandeur of the experience does not always come across on record to everyone.

Believe me I'm a head banger from way back too, heavy metal people are very loyal to the groups they love just as the prog rockers are, if they are in a rut it's because the whole music industry seems to be in a rut.

There is nothing really new the way ELP used to be. Everything just seems to be recycled junk over and over again. My hope is that some brave people the likes of Ahmet Ertegun will step up and bring a new wave of progressive rock MUSIC to the world so that the exciting events of the past do not just die away, that would be a total shame.

You mention going back to the roots of prog (ELP, Genesis, YES) with the songs you've written. I was wondering about the sub-genres of progressive rock that have developed over the years. I think you might be influenced by them since they're already a cross-over of sorts with metal.

I don't follow a lot of the newer stuff although I do like some of the Evanescence stuff. I was very much into the Dream Theater band at the beginning but they are such great musicians that they seem to be playing over everyone's head, and the records are hard to really get into because of it. I'd like to hear more song writing from them instead of playing ’million notes a second’ riffs, but they are a great band and that is just my opinion.

THE NEW ALBUM – ‘EXPERIMENTS IN A LOST ART'

Songwriting - you mentioned in one comment:

"After many, many years of compiling odds and ends, bits & pieces, stuff I scribbled on cocktail napkins, and drug induced ideas, I'm finally making my first ever solo album"

How many years? The stuff on this album I started writing about 14 years ago when I had a short live progressive rock band, and I've been stockpiling away ideas ever since.

How do you write these new songs? (Music first, or lyrics)

Usually I just have an idea for a melody floating in the back of my head then I just sit down with a keyboard or acoustic guitar and search out the notes to fill the space that I'm hearing in my head, sometimes all I need to do is get a small section written and then that 20 or 30 seconds will dictate where the whole piece needs to go, sometimes it's a very rapid process once I get a song started, and other times it's like pulling teeth.

For me the lyrics are a strange kind of thing, I usually write the music first then the music suggests to me what the lyrics might be about, then I just shape the words to fit the spaces where it feels the words need to be.

How do you record these songs - track by track, remix, add new tracks, instruments, etc.

I usually construct a basic theme skeleton on my computer to get the arrangements sorted out, then add all the bells and whistles that are needed for the drums and keyboards.

Writing the keyboard parts and the drum parts are very different processes. The keys are more melodic and with the drums it's all mathematics. Once the drums and keys are recorded I add the bass to fill out the skeleton and begin the guitar overdubs.

The vocals are always last, I look at doing the vocals kind of like going to the dentist, I don't like it but it has to be done.

Who besides myself, Tony Ortiz, and Nikki Squire have heard your demos?

That is about it, I don't usually send out stuff too much. A while back I started up a pen pal type of relationship with Nikki when I sent her some of my material to consider using it on her new Esquire project, she seems to be such a sweetheart, she said that she liked my material but that their management wanted to keep the writing between her and Nigel for paperwork reasons. I really, really love the songs on her first Esquire record.

I think that anyone that loves progressive rock music should check it out, it's very YES like, which is not unusual considering who her ex was. As for Tony Ortiz, he's ELP's archivist and again with him he's a pen pal that I've struck up a friendship with because I'm such an ELP fanatic.

I'm kind of looking for some kind of a management situation to negotiate a record deal for me. I have been playing in live situations all my life and those contracts are very easy to negotiate, each gig is a little different but they are all basically the same. I haven't been through the recording artist process yet, I know it's a lot more complicated, but that is really where I want to go.

Do you think you would ever perform any of these new songs in public?

That will be the logical next step. Once I get legal things sorted out and a record deal in place the next thing on the agenda will be to assemble a band to it play live. Then I will be back in more of my element, the live stage where I'll get to ham it up a bit. I'm used to traveling the country in a van and trailer so touring will be nothing new to me.

Can you envision at any point in the future forming your own prog band (probably a new band) and doing a tour?

I will be on a mission to pull together a very cool band once I get all the record stuff sorted out. Then once the full band is in place and playing together the next record would for sure be more of a group effort as far as the writing and recording. I really want to try and get out there on the concert circuit maybe as a support act for a major progressive act and play for people that are already into that type of music. I have a lot of big ideas to create a show that will be visually entertaining and not just some guys with blue jeans and T-shirts standing around playing music.

What's your time frame for completing the project; up to release on a label?

I should have the record done within a month or so (October 2008), as for the rest it's all up in the air right now. I'm looking for someone who can help me take the next step, and get it out to the masses. Maybe I'll just end up selling it out of the back of my van, or door to door. LOL, couldn't you just see someone like Chris Squire selling ‘Fish Out Of Water’ door-to-door in a suit and tie like a vacuum cleaner salesman, that would be too funny!

Will your new album be a 'concept' album?

I would love to do a concept record like Brain Salad Surgery, Relayer, or The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway but I think that would be a bit too much for people the get their heads around from a new artist. When YES made the "Tales From Topographic Oceans" record I think it was too much for even a lot of die-hard YES fans.

Just for the record I love that record, especially ‘Ritual’, but I think it would have been YES's finest moment if they would have condensed it down to one single melody-packed record, but again that's just my opinion, I know Jon would beg to differ LOL. For my first time out I don't want people to have to think too hard about the music, just take it piece by piece.

What are the songs about (in general, not song by song)?

My songs are mostly about the human condition and emotions, either in the past or the present. The song ‘Your Ghost’ for example is about the loss of someone in your life, but it's not anyone in particular. I don't get caught up in the whole sex, drugs, and rock n roll type stuff.

Another of my songs, ‘Dancing On Water’ is about someone on a beach at dusk watching the sunset and encountering an alien life form in the shadows from a UFO and panics and runs away because he thinks it's a spirit meaning him harm, but in the process of fleeing he sees the flying saucer fly away and regrets the chance he could have had to meet this figure, and again I just want to state for the record I'm not doing drugs… anymore.

LIVING IN THE WORLD OF ROCK N ROLL

Which rock concerts have you seen, and how (as a paying customer, friend of the band, roadie, supporting band, etc.)

My first rock show was The Doors and a couple support acts when I was 12. I know that everyone has elevated The Doors to some kind of God like status but I hated that show. My next attempt to see a concert was Grand Funk Railroad who were my heroes at the time, they had Black Sabbath as an opening act and that concert changed my life forever. Since then I've seen many acts, some, numbers of times.

These are some of the acts I was lucky to see not in any particular order:

The Doors, The Seeds, The Grass Roots, Grand Funk Railroad, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Uriah Heep, Jethro Tull, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, YES, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Queen, Paul McCartney & Wings, Bad Company, Rainbow, DIO, Asia, Foghat, Montrose, The Eagles, Rare Earth, The Who, Earth Wind & Fire, Seals & Crofts, Black Oak Arkansas, Ozzy Osbourne with Randy Rhodes and without, Judas Priest, UFO, RUSH, Sparks, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Average White Band, Iron Maiden, Wrabbitt, Vic Vergott, Nazareth, Van Halen, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, Sparks, Roy Woods, The Rolling Stones, Robin Trower, Mahogany Rush, Aerosmith, Foreigner, The Tubes, Sha Na Na, Steppenwolf, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Golden Earring, Ratt, Motley Crue, Warrant, L A Guns, Return To Forever, Jeff Beck, The Guess Who, Ringo Starr, Peter Frampton, Elton John, David Bowie, Kiss, Styx, R.E.O. Speedwagon, Michael Schenker Group, Motorhead, The Kentucky Headhunters, Giant, Dream Theater, Whitesnake, Humble Pie, The Kinks, Ted Nugent, Axxe, Autograph, Lover Boy, Kansas, LaRue, Ruby Star and Grey Ghost, Savoy Brown, King's X, Grim Reaper, Helloween, Armored Saint, Wasp, Metallica, Korn, Eric Johnson, Z Z Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Point Blank, Elvin Bishop, Jefferson Starship, Dokken, Love Hate, Pantera, Marilyn Manson, Queensryche, Todd Rundgren, Megadeth, Nuclear Assault, Savatage, Thin Lizzy, Eddie Money, Slayer, Primus, Def Tones, Def Leppard, Roger Waters, Roger Daltry, James Taylor, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Charlie Daniels, Joe Perry Project, Brad Whitford Group, Roy Buchanan, Doobie Brothers, Head East, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Mark Farner, Stryper, Molly Hatchet, 38 Special, Blackfoot, America, Cheap Trick, The Black Crows, Wolf Mother, Live, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Steve Miller, Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer, Mott, Pat Travers, Nickelback, Blue Oyster Cult, Night Ranger, The Police, and many, many others I can't think of at the moment.

Have you actually met people like Keith Emerson, Roger Waters, Ian Anderson, etc.?

The only one of those type of people I've actually met was Chris Squire. After a YES Symphonic concert in Minneapolis the YES guys were leaving the venue in a van and they stopped at the street. Jon Anderson popped out the side door and started to shake hands and chat with the people lingering after the show.

Chris was in the front passenger seat, he rolled down the window and very much like a crazed stalker I leaned into the window of the van shook his hand and proceeded to throw my complements at the master, but most of the responses he gave me were the stock answers, "Thanks man… thanks man", but I was still on cloud nine because he's one of my all time heroes. It took me a while before I finally washed that hand LOL. Soon a worried looking man with a clipboard persuaded Jon back into the van and they were off. I have met many other rock artists but none of the real prog rockers.

You mention that you had seen ELP in concert 'many times'.

I first saw ELP on the Trilogy tour, then I saw them three times on the Brain Salad tour including the California Jam. I saw them on the Works tour without the orchestra, I also saw them twice on the Black Moon tour and the last time I saw them was on the In The Hot Seat tour where they were playing with Dream Theater and Deep Purple.

You've got several ELP tattoos!

I have the whole heavy metal vibe going on in my appearance with the tattoos and the long hair, I look more like Ozzy Osbourne than say, Greg Lake, but I have some tattoos of my favorite groups, the ELP ones are to show my love for those two specific records; Brain Salad Surgery and Tarkus, two of the finest records ever made, and life changing moments for me.

Read Sonny’s extremely insightful analysis of Brain Salad Surgery (A Lesson In Thinking Out Of The Box)

Cheers and rock on!

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore
September 2008

PAUL WHITEHEAD TURNS IT ON AGAIN FOR GENESIS

2008-09-08T16:05:00.043+08:00

Legendary artist returns with characters and illustrations of the songs of Genesis

Genesis 2007 European Tour Poster (click to view more)
Photo copyright 2007 Paul Whitehead, CypherArts.com

Paul Whitehead is special to fans of the popular progressive rock group Genesis as the artist who painted their most beloved ‘Gabriel-era’ album covers, Trespass (1970), Nursery Cryme (1971), and Foxtrot (1972).

Not only that, Paul Whitehead has achieved the impossible – creating iconic representations that reflected exactly the content of the songs. His surrealistic artwork has been missed by Genesis fans for 35 years – until 2007.

Latest News: Meet Paul Whitehead in Bali

2007 REUNION

On November 7, 2006 the members of Genesis; Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, and Tony Banks announced ‘Turn It On Again: The Tour’. Not only did this event turn out to be a reunion for Collins (who had left Genesis in 1996), but for artist Paul Whitehead as well – who was commissioned to design the Official Genesis Tour Merchandise.

Turn It On – Lineup (click to view more)
Photo copyright 2007 Paul Whitehead, CypherArts.com

Now once again, the original characters such as The Fox in the Red Dress, Harold the Barrel, Cynthia and Henry, the Musical Box, the Saintly Shrouded Men, Salmacis and Hermaphodite, and even the Charisma Mad Hatter have been imbued with second life. Mr. Whitehead has painted new interpretations and collages for Genesis fans old and new to re-discover.

NEW ARTWORK

These updated representations and ‘mashup-style’ collages from the first three Genesis albums, painted by the original artist, must be seen to be appreciated. Paul Whitehead has gone one step further; he has created brand new artwork – such as ‘the lineup’ (above) from all the other Genesis albums.

Wind & Wuthering (click to view more)
Photo copyright 2007 Paul Whitehead, CypherArts.com

For the first time, fans will be able to glimpse how other ‘classic’ Genesis albums might have looked had they originally been painted by Paul Whitehead. For example, Mr. Whitehead has re-interpreted the classic ‘Selling England by the Pound’ cover by Betty Swanwick, and the ‘Wind & Wuthering’ tree (Hipgnosis).

Selling England (click to view more)
Photo copyright 2007 Paul Whitehead, CypherArts.com
I asked Paul Whitehead personally to describe the experience to me:

"It was quite an interesting project for me especially as I had never been a huge fan of the later Genesis music (the baseball stadium version of Genesis) but when I listened to the music some it inspired me. I have often been asked what I would have done for the covers of those later records - as the artwork was basically non existent - and this was a chance for me to explore that idea".

"I particularly like the Fat guy from 'Misunderstanding'. Those that know something of the early history of the band will know that this image is a little tip of the hat to their first manager, Tony Stratton Smith, who was instrumental in the early success of the band as he stood by them financially and gave them carte blanche in terms of creativity." - Paul Whitehead, 08 September 2008

OWN ONE!

The most popular new artwork, already seen by thousands of fans during the summer of 2007, comes from the painting ‘Turn It On – Lineup’, which features a collage of the most beloved characters and the ‘Genesis 2007 European Tour Poster’ (shown at the top of this article).

Fans should know that other Genesis inspired paintings are available as highly prized, limited edition collectible fine art signed by the artist. Visit paulwhitehead.com for full selection and ordering.

Or... you could just get yourself a t-shirt :-)

Official Genesis Tour Merchandise (click to view more)
Photo copyright 2007 Paul Whitehead, CypherArts.com

Photos courtesy:

Dan Shapiro
Agent, Paul Whitehead
CypherArts.com

All photos Copyright 2007 Paul Whitehead, CypherArts.com

PAUL WHITEHEAD, REFERENCES

Turn It on Again by Dave Thompson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_(band)#Album_cover_art

http://www.worldofgenesis.com/PaulWhitehead-interview.htm

http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/paulw.htm

http://www.progressiveworld.net/html/modules.php?name=Interviews&rop=showcontent&id=31

http://borgsymphony.com/ - home of Paul Whitehead’s music group: Borg Symphony

Video/interview (Quicktime required) of Paul Whitehead regarding his musical ensemble the Borg Symphony.

MEET PAUL WHITEHEAD ON DECEMBER 10TH IN BALI (2009)

Paul's latest exhibit is called 'Questions' (read more)

Article by Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

KEITH EMERSON BAND featuring MARC BONILLA : Song Samples!

2008-08-22T00:46:00.020+08:00

Keith Emerson and Marc Bonilla are touring in Russia and Japan to promote the new Emo album, which harkens to the good old days of progressive rock.

Post moved here - The Significance of the new KEITH EMERSON BAND featuring MARC BONILLA. Available in limited edition 12" vinyl

ALAN WATTS ON YOUTUBE, SOUTH PARK

2008-08-18T21:00:00.017+08:00

An interview with Mark Watts on the resurgence his father’s work

Alan Watts on YouTube? Absolutely! This is a dream come true for students of Zen philosophy who can never quite get enough of the pioneering work done by the late Alan Watts during the 60’s.

Alan Watts - On Nothingness

Interpretive Works and a ‘Film Projects Forum’ are being encouraged by the late philosopher’s son to bring 'Beat Zen' and 'Square Zen' to a wider, more contemporary audience.

“Let the mashups begin”, says son Mark Watts

There are animations, collages, remixes, dubs, and other creative film-maker applications featuring the voices and images of Alan Watts with his unique blend of Eastern mysticism. Mark calls them ‘interpretive works’.

The interpretive works are legitimately sponsored and encouraged by curator, and publisher Mark Watts (alanwatts.org), who oversees the large collection of material accumulated in the Alan Watts archive. This collection includes manuscripts, audio lectures, artwork, music, and television programs.

How it all happened

One day I stumbled upon a YouTube channel purportedly run by one ‘MarkWatts02’ and wondered “Could this really be Alan’s son?”. Indeed it is. This online interview was conducted through YouTube mail and has also been posted by Mark on the official website 'alanwatts.org'

Having done my ‘Alan Watts Homework’, I sent a set of questions to Mark. In true Zen fashion, I suppose - three months later... I finally got Mark’s reply.

Mark Watts:

"Personally I view every authentic response, regardless of the cultural framework, as vital to his work, and I'm very encouraged by the creative response that has sprung up around YouTube. Back when I was studying film and photography in the 70"s this forum would all have been a dream come true.”

Alan Watts – a brief background

'Alan Watts is one of the most widely read philosophers of the 20th century. In addition to his 28 books, Alan Watts delivered hundreds of public lectures and seminars the recordings of which have been preserved in the archives of the Electronic University, a non-profit organization dedicated to higher education.' (quoted from source)

For years and years the only access we had to the popular teachings of Watts was to read the books, which honesty I find a ‘bit dry’ as compared to listening to him speak (which is a real treat) or listen via cassette or on public radio.

These audio programs were broadcast regularly, sometimes for years, as a weekly feature. Videos clips and television programs are fewer and were much harder to obtain. The best were recorded by KQED in San Francisco.

Alan Watts for the masses

I asked Mark how this recent outreach of encouraging people to re-mix his father's material came about.

Mark Watts:

“It came out of the Southpark project, 'Alan Watt's Theater' originally and the enjoyment of authentic responses to my father's works that have been appearing on YouTube and elsewhere. I'm not talking about someone posting a picture or two over our audio, but about the sincere dialogs that result when one takes his ideas in and they resonate and something fresh comes out.”

South Park’s Trey Parker

"Trey Parker, one of the creators of South Park, was raised in Colorado, where his father attempted to teach him Buddhism. Now, years later, Parker and his animation pal Matt Stone have brought to life the teachings of Alan Watts, the comparative religion expert and philosopher. Under the FurryCarlos Productions banner, the two tapped two animators from South Park Studios, Chris Brion and Todd Benson to keyframe three of Watts’ recordings..." (quoted from source).

More Questions for Mark

What are the copyright restrictions on the use of the material? (Creative Commons; Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License?) Do people need permission to re-mix, mashup, etc.and should people contact you?

'We are posting clips on the alanwatts.org site with the intention that they be available for non-commercial creative use. All we ask is that you let us see what you've done, and let us post the end product on the org site as well if we like it.'

'If you have a commercial project, idea, or want to use something else specific, just get in touch. We're ready to make things happen. The material is still copyright protected, so we aren't too happy when people just grab things and post them as we're trying to keep the energy focused around our sites to create a sustaining community for these works.'

Why YouTube? It seems to be very 'low-key' -- are you promoting the fact that your father's video programs are available for free on the Internet? (It was a pleasant surprise to me)

'Yes, we list our favorite YouTube posts in the Public Video section under Multimedia on the alanwatts.org site. http://www.alanwatts.org/public/video We will ask YouTube to take down unauthorized postings of audio and video that have no creative components.'

Note: Mark himself runs a YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/markwatts02 and has so far posted the very rare and insightful “Conversation with Myself” (complete in 4 parts).

Alan Watts: A Conversation with Myself - Part 1

How did you get involved with GPGDS / Reflected Flicks http://www.youtube.com/user/ReflectedFlicks ? Who else are you collaborating with... Trey Parker? Any comment about his work?

'Peter sent us a link to the piece he'd done with Radiohead's piece Videotape and we enjoyed it. Since then we've tried a few things with him, and they all worked out well. So now Peter is working on a full length documentary film with us. The SouthPark project was a few years back, but we hope to do a few more segments when the film goes into production.'

Which of your father's audio lectures seems to be the most popular over the years?

'There are too many to pick one, but "Coincidence of Opposites" which was the basis for "Music and Life" is always well received.

What does the future hold for Mark Watts?

In addition to playing around with my father's works I have a few projects I'm involved in, one having to do with 'rock art; and Native American cosmology (turns out they were way into pattern language in a slightly different vein than the Chinese) and another involving ecological architecture. So these will all continue to move forward together as there are many internal connections between the projects.

Our other website is alanwatts.org, and a new alanwatts.com site is in the works.

Alan Watts and Environmentalism

Leila Conners Petersen, co-director of the award winning documentary, The 11th Hour was quoted as saying (Treehugger.com):

"Environmentalism has long been considered an issue that one can choose to accept or not; as if, the environment is something 'over there' that we can choose to engage in it if and when we want to. The reality is we ARE the environment, and the environment IS us; the environment is not separate from the human issue."

This certainly sounds like what Alan Watts has been trying to tell us all along through Zen philosophy. Let's see if we can bring this utterly important guideline to life, and to action on the planet through Alan's ongoing media mixes.

News about the new film project: here

REFERENCES

Book: Still the Mind – An Introduction to Meditation (Mark Watts)

Audio: Alan Watts Podcast

Video: The Electronic University Presents a Mark Watts Production in Collaboration with Reflected Flicks - Alan Watts meets Giant Pandas (older demo)

RADIOHEAD Videotape: Music Video- Alan Watts Mix

All things Alan Watts: AlanWatts.org(audio, video, books, film project, etc.)

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Through the eyes of Tony Ortiz

2008-08-07T23:53:00.009+08:00

ANNOUNCEMENT (02 April 2010): Emerson Lake & Palmer – A Time And A Place Featuring 4 Discs with Never Before Released Live Tracks! Newly Remastered! Experience ELP live through the decades with this 4-CD box set. Read more

1971 E.L.P. Melody Maker Pop Poll Awards

Die-hard and part-time music fans may not realize that 70's progressive rock superstars Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, and Carl Palmer are very much active in the music business; marketing and leasing their trademark E.L.P. sound on DVD and CD, and continue to tour and release new material with their respective bands.

(reverse side of top photo)

Let's take a look behind the legacy of Emerson, Lake and Palmer with a man who has been working with all three members of the original supergroup since 1998 and plays a crucial role in maintaining the legacy with his important archival work.

Thank you so much, Tony. I know you're an incredibly busy guy!

I find your answers extremely interesting, I was literally hanging on every word... This will be good news for progressive rock fans, to hear that the band members actively support and encourage the archival work. Let's hear it from your point of view:

1. In 1992, you say that you “began a friendship with ELP”. How exactly did you get to know them?

TONY ORTIZ, ELP BAND ARCHIVIST:

Well it all began on July 25, 1992 when a friend of mine who worked for A&M records was able to get me backstage passes for the show at Jones Beach in Long Island, New York.

I had seen 'Emerson Lake & Powell' and '3' in concert but this would be the first time I would see all three members performing together. After the concert at the meet and greet, I think my friend and I were the only people with ELP records to get autographed, so the band were happy to see us. I also had tickets for the next night at the Garden State Arts Center in New Jersey.

After that show I went to the entrance to where the meet and greet was and was able to get a pass from a fan that was leaving. So when I handed Greg some old concert programs to autograph he recognized me and said "You were at the show last night!"

I told him “I had been waiting 14 years for this."

Greg Lake and Tony Ortiz at East End Studios Rochester NY Nov. 2001
Photo credit: Mike Gallagn

When I was leaving, I met a fan that gave me tickets for the next show at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. So a friend and I went.

After the show we walked around the back of the venue and were able to buy a set of passes off a fan that was leaving the meet and greet.

We met Greg, who was kind of shocked to see me again. On this night I got some old magazines and CD’s autographed one of the CD’s just said ‘Greg Lake Live In Concert’ on it.

Greg looked at me confused and asked what it was. I told him it was a bootleg recording of one of his solo concerts with Gary Moore. I could see in his eyes that he wanted it, so I offered it to him and he hesitated and said no, but I insisted that he take it.

He then called the tour manager over and introduced us and told him to give us anything we wanted, I asked Greg if he could get us tickets and passes for the next five shows, he said "You guys don’t work?"

I told him that was up to him, he turned to the tour manager and told him to make sure that we were on the guest list for the next five shows, by the end of the tour we exchanged e-mail addresses and became good friends.

2. You are a man with many hats. In what capacity do you support ELP (roadie, archivist, gopher, lighting, drum kit setup, etc.?)

I first started working with them on their last tour in 1998 by helping them with the load in at some of the venues. I had some input on the greglake.com web site.

Just recently I’ve been given the carlpalmer.com web site to update, for which I have two people working on, as we speak.

I’m also working some tentative Carl Palmer related CD’s and DVD’s

I did a lot of research for the Emerson Lake & Palmer 'Beyond the Beginning' DVD, and I worked on the 2006 Carl Palmer band US east coast tour.

Carl Palmer & Tony Ortiz: "You Bastard!!!"
Photo credit: Paul La Raia

I’ve been working with Carl quite a lot recently on the US east coast ASIA tours with merchandise, load in, as a driver, setting up the drums, running the autograph sessions, etc.

I really do a little of everything, but what I mostly do is search for unpublished photos and video footage of the three members of the band.

3. What company do you work for now?

I work with Bruce Pilato of Pilato Entertainment on all Carl Palmer related merchandise and web site. Bruce is also the Director of Marketing & Public Relations for ASIA, and also Carl Palmer’s manager.

4. What and where are the ELP Archives? You list yourself as a curator – what does this entail?

Well, there’s an archive in London that consist of some old film footage that needs to be restored as well as some photos, and Keith and Carl have some 8 mm footage, some of which appears on the ‘Beyond The Beginning’ DVD.

But unfortunately, there really isn’t much archival material in the hands of the band as far as audio, video and photos, which is true with most bands from the early 70’s. The archive that I started began sometime in 2003, about a year before the making of the ‘Beyond the Beginning’ DVD.

Greg had contacted me and asked me to gather as much memorabilia as I could like photos, newspaper clipping, posters, tour memorabilia, audio/video for possible inclusion on the DVD.

I never stopped searching for the past six years, so I’ve been searching for anything and everything ELP.

1978 ELP Works Tour limousine bill

The archive I possess consists of over 3,000 photos, 2,000 pieces comprising news clippings, posters, press releases, etc., and over 200 hours of video/film and over 300 audio recordings, some of which has made it onto the following products:

EMERSON LAKE & PALMER - Beyond The Beginning DVD
EMERSON LAKE & POWELL - The Sprocket Sessions CD
EMERSON LAKE & POWELL - Live in Concert CD
GREG LAKE - From The Underground Vol. II Deeper Into The Mine CD
KEITH EMERSON BAND, Featuring Marc Bonilla CD / DVD

Basically the archives are a massive collection of photos, news paper/magazine clippings, as well as audio and video that have been donated by fans from all over the world who also receive credit for anything that we use.

5. Let me ask you some personal questions about ELP. Whatever happened to Greg Lake’s Persian rug, and how many did he have?

He only had one Persian rug, and he walks on it every day. It’s in his living room in his house in London.

6. In your humble opinion, what is the most valuable item in the archive?

It’s hard to say, Keith still uses his Modular Moog in concert and Carl still has his bell that he used on the Brain Salad Surgery tour and Greg has the carpet. It would have to be one of those.

As far as the archives that I have it would have to be some of the rare video and 8 mm footage and maybe some of the concert file documents. My archives have more of a historic value that documents the band’s career more than anything.

7. How long will the ELP Legacy go on?

Keith Emerson & Tony Ortiz, Nearfest 2006
Photo credit: Marc Eisenoff

Hopefully until the end of time…unfortunately we can’t count on the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame to keep ELP’s legacy going, or for that matter, any other Progressive rock band.

Ten years ago it was cool to be inducted, but seeing some of the bands that have been inducted in the last few years ahead of ELP and Yes is just ridiculous.

The Hall is a great thing but it’s just not the same... but life’s about change, right? So why can’t the Hall change back to when it was all about Rock and Roll not disco and punk.

8. Are any of the members of ELP showing signs of slowing down? Keith had problems with the nerves in his hands some time ago… has he recovered?

Yes, Keith recovered years ago, and has just finished recording a new album with Marc Bonilla that will be released in Japan on August 20th (see cover art below) and will include a DVD with some live footage from his 2006 tour. The CD release will be backed by a 2008 Tour with dates in Russia and Japan already booked.

As for Carl, he’s playing faster then ever, and has played over sixty five shows already this year between ASIA and The Carl Palmer Band. He also made the cover of the latest issue of Classic Drummer magazine, and has just started production on his next CD release “Working LIVE Vol. 3” that will coincide with a 2009 US Tour.

Greg is singing like a bird, he was a special guest on the last night of the 40th Anniversary Jethro Tull European Tour at the Royal Festival Hall in London on May 28.

He’s also been a special guest the last two years at some of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concerts in the US.

Just last month (June 2008) he launched a new web site to help stop the human cruelty towards animals on the island of Seychelles, off the east coast of Africa, seychellesrescue.org.

9. Does Carl ever use a revolving drum set anymore?

Carl’s really not into that big production stuff any more. As a matter of fact he doesn’t like to play on a riser, he prefers to have his drums on the stage. The only thing Carl revolves on nowadays is his jet ski, he loves jet skiing.

Steve Howe, Carl Palmer (ASIA) & Tony Ortiz, J & R Music World NYC 2008
Photo credit: Ernesto Ferro

10. Aren’t these guys getting sick of touring?

I honestly don’t know, every time I’ve been with them they seem to enjoy it. But I can honestly say that being on the road can be very boring sometimes.

11. Should the ELP ‘purists’ pay attention to the ‘spin-offs’: Emerson, Lake, and Powell – and “3” (Emerson, Berry, Palmer)?

Absolutely, there is some very good material on those two LP’s. Both Cozy Powell and Robert Berry played some great concerts. We recently released two Emerson Lake & Powell CD’s that are only available in the ELP gift shop; one is a recording of them rehearsing in the studio for the tour and the other is a concert recording from the One and Only tour.

12. Keith has a son involved with music. How about Greg and Carl?

Keith has two sons I believe only one is into music, the other, I’m not sure. Greg has a daughter who is into painting, and Carl has a daughter that’s in college.

13. From your interview answers so far, it sounds like Keith, Greg, and Carl are all busy touring with their own bands yet on friendly terms with each other, while not currently a band themselves.

Yes, they’re all on speaking terms. What most fans don’t know is, from the very beginning they were only together when they were recording or performing. Once the recording sessions and tours were over they all went their separate ways until the next project came up.

Music is the only thing they have in common. But it’s like a family, sometimes you disagree, but at the end of the day they all respect each other. Right now they’re more interested in their solo projects and are focusing all their attention on that.

Tarkus stage prop being repaired, April 1973
Photo credit: Richard Kneubuehler

14. Do they maintain all the rights and royalties to the music and the name Emerson Lake & Palmer?

Yes they own all the rights to their music as well as the name. As a matter of fact their catalog was just up for bid in 2007, and is now handled by Shout Factory.

Andy Pearce from Masterpiece Media in London remastered the first nine LP’s (except the Brain Salad Surgery), as well as their 1992 release, Black Moon. I must say that Andy and Derek Dressler from Shout Factory did a great job with these reissues.

15. In your opinion, and from what the individual band members tell you - is ELP likely to tour together at some point? You may be the one consistent point of contact between the three of them.

1977 WORKS Tour Promo Poster.

That would be the ultimate question… at least it would be comforting to know that they're open to the possibility of reforming for a tour or album, or doing a special event (like Live8), at the very least. A ray of hope!

I never thought that I might be the most consistent contact between the three. Regarding a reunion, Keith recently said that they all met up in early June in London (2008). I don’t know if they talked about reforming or not; I honesty don’t know.

If they were, I don’t see it happening any time soon because Keith has his new LP and tour this year, and Carl will be touring Europe with ASIA and The Carl Palmer Band into the next year (tour dates).

My opinion is, I’m hoping they will get together in late 2009. I think this is the earliest they could get together, but who knows? However, if their solo careers continue to grow, they may never play together again.

16. I was wondering if you've heard any of Keith's new album (featuring Marc Bonilla).

Martin Kornick said that Keith played it for him (he's doing the cover art) in his van, and that in his opinion this is the best thing he’s done since Brain Salad Surgery.

Keith could be making a big comeback... that's more exciting to me personally than having ELP reunite. I would like some fresh material from the old vein, so to speak.

No, I haven't heard it. Martin is a good friend, and a great guy. He had just finished creating artwork for a further release that I’m working on, when one of Keith’s people saw his MySpace page on my friend's list and contacted me, saying they liked his work and asked if I thought he was capable to do the job. As you can see (below), he’s more than capable.

Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla (2008)
Cover art: Martin Kornick

Next, I contacted Martin Kornick, who designed the cover for Keith's new CD and DVD.

Note: read about the significance of the cover artwork for KEITH EMERSON BAND featuring MARC BONILLA and why you should consider owning the limited edition vinyl release: 'An inside look with Man in the Mountain' (Martin Kornick)

17. Martin, as a prog-rock follower myself, I was most intrigued by your comment that Keith's new album of prog is his best album since BSS (you actually heard it with him!).

How true is this - are you sticking to your original reaction?

MARTIN KORNICK, GRAPHIC ARTIST:

It's been a few months now since I heard Keith's album (and have not heard it again), so I have to go on my original reaction. The music definitely was of the same progressive style of Trilogy, with some BSS type pieces as well. It had that real vintage ELP sound, with plenty of wailing B3, pipe organs and Moogs. Plus there’s a lot of very ballsy guitar work from Marc Bonilla mixed in, that gave it a new, and much heavier sound at times.

It was very cool! So, it wasn’t just retro, it very much came into it’s own as the Keith Emerson Band. I also didn't hear any attempts at writing radio hits... this music was far more conceptual and epic in nature (with a 35 minute suite), and features Keith doing what Keith does best. Fans will be pleased! But man, I’m dying to get my hands on a copy too, so I can hear it again!

I’m actually more excited about a new KE Band tour, than a ELP reunion with them playing of the same old stuff we've heard forever. This new material needs to be played live in full. And that's exactly what I told Keith after hearing his new album.

* * *

CONCLUSION

You can have your tea and crumpets; you have have your tasty plates, but if you want Emerson, Lake and Palmer you'll just have to make a date!

In other words; it's out there, it's readily available, and fresh material is being added and archived..

If you have memorabilia that you would like to add to the E.L.P. archive, please contact Tony Ortiz (myspace.com/tonylortiz or ELPTony at msn.com)

And finally, to get all the latest news first go to Tony’s MySpace blog.

Ted Ollikkala
Singapore
7 August 2008

Karda Estra - the Mellowest Prog on the Planet

2008-08-01T18:53:00.003+08:00

There's a new group in my progressive vocabulary - Karda Estra and they're possibly the most 'symphonic' band that still falls a shade over into the progressive genre.

For those who like the classical guitar pieces from Steve Hackett you are at low-risk when listening to the compositions performed and written by Richard Wileman, accompanied by a distinguished group of femme fatals who make up the orchestral and vocal ensemble heard on all Karda Estra albums (11 of them) since 1998.

Peforming as a studio band, Richard Wileman in his incarnation of gothically inpired Hammer horror ghoul-master, has created adventurous symphonies of the melodramatic to delight the heart and the senses. Indeed he is celebrating a decade of Karda Estra by releasing a series of free mp3 singles over the coming year. The first new free mp3 single (November 2007) is entitled 'The Atom Age Sense Of Impermanence.

Taken so fully by the otherworldliness of this surreal 'chamber-prog', I immediately wrote to Richard and offered to create an appreciation page which represents a safe haven to indulge in the works of Richard Wileman; band radio is available for both of his groups; "Karda Estra" and "Lives and Times".

Richard and I would like to invite all lovers of symphonic prog to visit the new Karda Estra appreciation page.

Credits: Richard Wileman (composer, producer, classical, electric and bass guitars, keyboards, percussion, rastrophone), Ileesha Bailey (vocals), Helen Dearnley (violin), Caron Hansford (oboe), Amy Hedges (clarinet).

More of the best of the 70's - part 2

2008-06-13T18:22:00.002+08:00

Free music from finetune.com

Unknown Cutiemish Youtube videos

2008-06-11T00:34:00.033+08:00

These are some of the ultra-rare mishy-mashups made by the adoring (and sometimes horrible) fans of CutieMish on Youtube. They're so rare that even Mishy doesn't know about them. But what THE HEY, when you're as ~~famous~~ popular as Michelle Lam it comes with the tide. Ride it in, ride it out. Be sure to see Michelle's response at the end!

So let's see how effectively these folks have caught the 'Great Big Mishy Wave'

1. DANCE LESSONS

First off, we have the world reknown master of Latin dance at the International Institute for the Advancement of Dance Art, well - you know who, giving us no less than FIVE PERFECT EXAMPLES OF Latin Dance Lessons! And you know what? She's fantastic. It's like falling in love with Mishy all over again. CATCH THIS WAVE IF YOU CAN. Thanks to spaghettio. I give it FIVE STARS

DANCE LESSONS

2. THE BIG QUESTION 2.0

Next up, we have The Big Question 2.0, described by the editor as 'a documentary I made for the BBC'. It's a healthy, self-analytical 11:38 look at the real Cutiemish phenomena, tracing the path of least resistance to Mishy (it doesn't take much).

How-evver, there's simply too much filler in between clips of Michelle; tighter editing puh-lease! WE WANT OUR MISHY 24/7 - Wowever, all-in-all, this is an excellent retrospective which took me back to my youth. Thanks to BillyBughead

THE BIG QUESTION 2.0

What is Mishy's opinion of these butt-smooching videos? Will she say YEAH or NEAH... maybe she doesn't even care. But i will ask her. To be sure

Here is a short interview I did with Michelle Lam (June 13, 2008):

Ted: give me some feedback; your opinion on people re-mixing your work.
Michelle Lam (Cutiemish)"hi hunny. sorry it took me forever to reply! hope you've been well :) awww hehe i would have thought people have totally forgotten me already, not that i mind!

wellllllllll, hehe i've actually seen them videos, people tend to send them to me and sometimes "video response" it to me. i love it when people post nice video mash-ups to me, cause' it reminds me that there are real people watching me, if you know what i mean. it's sorta like, i'm making all these videos and i get views and to me they're just digits, i don't think wow 3million people have watched this video, because it's just a number! i don't have any proof that there are that many people watching my video, so when people post comments, and post video responses, and actually say my name/address me personally and such, i can see that there are real people that watch me and "take me in", people i've never met - they actually know who i am. you know!?

as for the horrible videos, i've never watched them! i just know they exsist! i know who doesn't like me, so i don't need to waste my time on such crap. i still don't know how on earth someone can hate someone without having to talk to them. i'm not that annoying am i!? haha but yeah... i don't really watch the horrible vids, i have watched 1 or 2 i guess, i thought they were pretty funny, it actually made me laugh out loud!

anyways sweetie! thank you for remembering me. you always know how to make me smile! hope your well and everything! xXx"

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, MISHY-MASHERS

“MELODY” (1971 MARK LESTER / JACK WILD)

2008-03-17T19:11:00.033+08:00

THREE BEST CHILD ACTORS

This delightful 1971 flick stars the “duo from Oliver!” Mark Lester and Jack Wild. Described as a sensitive coming-of-age movie, make no mistake that this Alan Parker scripted film (original story and screenplay) has left a significant impact!

It's also notable for introducing one-hit wonder and accidental-Japanese cult star Tracy Hyde as the title character. “Melody” proves to be a most under-rated gem of pre-teen love and romance in the midst of working class London.

Seen through the eyes of eleven-year-old classmates from an educational institution run by pathetically overworked, but well-meaning disciplinarians, it also miraculously features five melancholy Beatlesque tunes from the pre-disco Bee Gees and an early hit from CSNY, “Teach Your Children”.

The pace may seem at first stifling to those spoiled by the non-stop rapid fire action Harry Potter films, but languishing in those moments are scenes to be truly cherished.

THE CHARACTERS

Remembered for his precocious yet innocent charm, baby-faced blonde Mark Lester (b.1958) is the gallant underdog as he tries to liaison his way through a series of crucial gaps; including generations, income class, and gender friendships.

Class deviant and warmonger Jack Wild (b.1952), in real life six years older than Lester, is the catalyst supplying the usual immature, impulsive logic to guarantee his friends a good time – yet they always get caught in no predictable way. Indeed, this movie has enough drama and unexpected circumstances to woo the viewer through until the end.

Receiving second billing only to Lester, newcomer Tracy Hyde (b.1959) holds her own against the two more experienced actors. One may say that she plays the part ever so perfectly lest we forget that she may not be acting when she and Lester cuddle in the pouring rain; who can say?

CULT STATUS

A curious note is that while the film was not a commercial success in the UK, it for some reason rang true with a generation of Japanese who elevated Tracy to larger than life status, voting her "Top Actress of the year" on her second trip to Japan in 1977 and even years later in 1994 sourced both her (she had settled down as a housewife in France) and Mark Lester (who had moved on to a second career as an Osteopath) for a reunion.

Former Artful Dodger, Jack Wild sadly succumbed to oral cancer (he blamed it on excessive ciggies and ale) in 2006 at the age of 53. Like many child actors, he literally burnt (out) his candle (at both ends) very early in life and was unable to maintain working status. After several attempts at a comeback he lived out his last years unable to speak, a result of cancer surgery and communicated via his wife.

AN AUTHENTIC GEM

For all of the clichés about the 70s, this movie shows the heartache and inconvenience of being a pre-teenager (in or out of love). In an age without microwave ovens or cell phones, you will forget the feeling that ‘these were the good old days’ and empathize with the drudgeries of daily routine (wooden matchsticks play a keen role) when the characters are seen in their authentic surroundings. This was actually the seventies, not a movie ‘about the seventies’.

This movie will tear at your heartstrings and dredge up those embarrassing and immature moments we’ve all had in our childhood, so be prepared to face yourself as well as you watch a classic performance by some of the finest child actors who ever lived. And if you’re not careful, it could even make you ashamed to be a grownup!

WATCH THIS MOVIE

TRIVIA:

The movie is also known popularly as "S.W.A.L.K.", which means 'Sealed With A Loving Kiss' and it was something school kids in Britain wrote on the envelopes of their love letters.

Sources:

http://www.tracyhyde.net/faq.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy_Hyde

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Wild

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melody_%281971_film%29

http://blogs.ya.com/mark66/c_4.htm

http://www.archbishoptemples.co.uk/

DOING HIS OWN THING- MAKING A CONNECTION WITH DAMON SHULMAN

2008-03-02T11:53:00.020+08:00

Feb 24 2008, by Ted Ollikkala

In the cosmo-sphere of musical experimentation, Damon Shulman is a musical anomaly. Located in a region of the galaxy populated with Progressive Giants, he is among a younger generation of artists who gives life through musical interpretation.

Stars come and go – some turn super-nova while others spurn out their energy in the guise of white dwarfs or pulsars; a few implode under the pressure of their own weight and become absorbent monsters; black holes!

Not all stars, however – are clamoring for attention. Some, like Damon Shulman – are content to shine in their own way, as the sun. The son of Gentle Giant.

I caught up with Damon in February 2008 on the eve of his latest release - VULTURES AND SHEEP (Alucard Productions).

It was an interesting interview that should set the record straight once and for all about the special connection that Damon seeks to make with his fans. Oh – and I think he doesn’t want too many fans 'cooling the flames' – he wants something much simpler: People to respect his music.

Damon talked about his musical family, the purpose behind his music, the creative process (including a home-studio), and the support he receives from musical friends.

1. Hi Damon! What would you like to say about the new album?

DS: Most of what I want to say is contained in the material. I called the album Vultures and Sheep. Like the last album, the themes of each song tend to revolve around general observations I’ve made in life. This time I’ve chosen not to write quite so personally and take more of a third party view on each subject.

The opening song ‘HOW YOU WANT IT’ acts as a kind of springboard for the rest of the album in which each song depicts characters or situations that I may have found to be particularly irksome or even endearing.

I wanted to write about the kind of environment where unscrupulous or ignoble people prospered and decent hard working people suffer.

The subjects on the album vary from delusion, corruption, indolence, ambition, retribution, injustice and vulnerability to good old fashioned love and nostalgia. I’m not suggesting in anyway that I have answers to any of society’s problems in writing this way I’m merely making observations.

I intended the sound of the album to have a certain rawness but I hope there is enough in the arrangements for the listener to be both entertained and in some way emotionally stimulated.

I do find it difficult talking about my music as apart from making me sound pretentious and pompous I often forget my original intent for a composition. I certainly wouldn’t want to mislead anyone.

2. Names of the instruments you play on the latest album; did you write all of the songs / lyrics and who does vocals. Did you also do the engineering / producing?

DS: Yes, I write the music and lyrics and yes I do the vocals though two of my sons also help out with some backing vocals. The whole album is recorded in my home studio. I call it ‘Room 15’.

I’ve done all of the recording and production on my own. After the recording and mixing is done I send the finished pieces to my uncle Ray (Ray Shulman) who polishes the stuff up with some expert mastering. Ray has an excellent ear for sound and is the best reference point for me.

My father (Phil Shulman) will often pass his opinions while I’m writing. He’ll sometimes identify highlights in a piece and will tell me that I should be repeating a phrase or using appropriate dynamics. Sometimes I listen, sometimes I don’t.

I love the whole recording process, though it can be frustrating sometimes being on my own, but I’m used to it now and possibly prefer doing it this way at the moment.

The instruments I play on this album are: electric, acoustic 12 and 6 string guitars, bass, keyboards, mandolin, recorder and some drums and percussion. I also used sampled drums which I edited and pieced together. I think that’s everything.

3. What is your motivation for creating and sharing your music?

DS: First of all I’m a musician and I love to play and write music. That may sound a little facile but from my point of view that’s the integral ingredient of wanting or needing to create music.

I don’t know why I love music I just do. Maybe because it can touch me in a way that literature and the visual arts don’t, though I do read books, watch films and view paintings with a great deal of enthusiasm.

But the music I love and admire takes me through a myriad of emotions that are so difficult to convey in words and vision alone so, I feel compelled to air my own views in music. The actual motivation is triggered by events either in my life or by what catches my attention in the world around me.

I suppose that’s why I want to share my music. I would like to think that I’m offering up something that will contribute positively to another person’s life. I’d like to think that if someone hears my music it will evoke and provoke thought, joy and entertainment. In conjunction to that I’d like to think I’m writer with integrity, in other words I write to give pleasure rather than to receive adulation for myself.

4. What direction is your music taking?

DS: I don’t think I really have a direction. I’m a straight forward family man who has the same concerns of any other man in my position. So there is no agenda or direction. I will write when I feel compelled to write. Styles and subjects are incidental. When I write it’s just me and my frame of mind at a particular time. I guess I’m a product of many influences so my direction is often dictated by what is having a major influence on me at a particular time.

5. You're also a member of 4WJ - what's going on there?

DS: THE 4WJ. Must get the ‘THE’ in there. It’s a wonderful release for me. For a start I do it with 3 fantastic musicians and more importantly great friends. Tim Didymus, Toby Phillips and Steve Grainger are my band mates. Each has their own style and abilities which together, I think, creates a wonderful sound.

There’s no project as such, all I know is that when I’m in their company, playing music, I feel creative and happy. We get together and jam (YouTube video). From the jamming we make a mix of what has happened. Tim puts together some great visuals to our music. I think he’s done some really powerful stuff to enhance the music.

We have different tastes and views on music which makes it all the more interesting, but fundamentally we’re of one mind. We’ve been doing this for many years now and I think finally we’re getting a little attention. For anyone who hasn’t heard of it, check it out (Myspace site).

6. What kind of audience do you think you would appeal to? Why should people listen to your music?

DS: I would like to appeal to all kinds of people. I don’t feel that I’m trying to target an audience. That would be sending the wrong message, I think.

My philosophy is, if you like my stuff that’s great, we’ve made a connection. What ever the connection is, it doesn’t really matter. I don’t take the view that people should listen to my music. I’m not a prophet or a sage or in anyway suggesting that I can change people’s lives by writing songs.

I believe in choice and if people find me and make the choice to listen, I should be happy and more importantly grateful. I apologise if that seems evasive.

7. Why aren't you famous?

DS: Well, why should I be? No, I’m not being facetious, I’ve never really pursued fame and doing the stuff I do I’m never likely to encounter it at least not on a large scale.

I’m not particularly enchanted by the culture of celebrity anyway. It all seems to be about selfishness and egotism, and essentially I’m a private person who likes to hang out with my family and friends.

Apart from that, most really famous people probably deserve their fame. They put in the hours and commitment and I guess reap the rewards for their endeavor. I’ve not made any concerted effort to be famous so, it’s hardly surprising that I'm not.

I suppose it appears contradictory to release albums, but the way I do it is without compromise, it’s solely about the music and not to attain adulation or a public image. Again, that may sound pompous but that's honestly the way it is.

8. You have a 'head start' in the music industry (you don't openly acknowledge it on myspace). How have you used that to your advantage?

DS: I think it’s fairly evident by observing where I am that I have never gained an advantage or had a head start in the music industry. If that’s the perception, there’s nothing I can really do about it. But seriously, I only have a head start in that I come from a musical family.

There is an advantage, I suppose, from being encouraged by my father to explore my own musical proclivities. In that sense I guess I am privileged. But from the professional view I’ve had no advantage whatsoever.

The Shulman family really doesn’t carry that much weight in the music industry apart from maybe my uncle, Derek Shulman. It’s true that he has a pedigree in the mainstream of music but, he lives in another country (the USA) with his own family and has his own priorities.

I’m not sure that he has ever really had an interest in assisting me with my endeavors anyway, and why should he? My dad (Phil Shulman) has been out of the music industry a long time and I was virtually a baby when he left Gentle Giant. So, when I started out in the late 1980’s the Gentle Giant name and certainly my dad really didn’t cut any ice with the industry at all.

Anyway, I’m a big boy now (age 40) doing my own thing and quite honestly my stuff and my image aren’t really commercially viable.

My other uncle, Ray does help me out when I’m recording. He has mastered my recordings, I confess. Anyway, I love Ray and music is good common ground for us to make a connection. But apart from being on gentlegiantmusic.com, I don’t believe I have used my background to my advantage or that it would do any good if I had tried.

I have had friends on Myspace ‘spread the word’ about me by making the connection between me and Gentle Giant but that's not so bad, surely.

9. Living in the shadow of GG. Is it a curse?

DS: No, it’s not a curse, and I don’t really feel that I’m in their shadow either. If that’s how it looks, again, I can’t really do much about it, but I’m not gonna cry in my beer about it. Gentle Giant were brilliant but got their break at a timely point. The music industry was very different to now and was prepared to put up with experimentation in the mainstream, which was great for the music lover but probably not so good for the business.

If Gentle Giant were starting out today I think they’d find it a little more difficult getting on. It’s not as if they got a lot of breaks anyway, certainly not in their own country where they are hardly known at all except by real hard core music fans.

10. Were you involved in the remastering of the recent GG releases (2005)? Did you know that Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) covers 'JUST THE SAME' on his latest album?

DS: No, I have nothing to do with GG projects. That’s their thing. They don’t need an upstart like me in the loop.

I have heard the Jordan Rudess version of ‘Just the same’. It’s a great song and it’s nice to see someone pay homage to it.

11. What's your father (Phil Shulman) doing these days?

DS: My dad has retired, and is enjoying life with his family. We are a very close family. Both he and my mum have been a great influence on my own kids and my whole family live in each others pockets without reservation. After he left GG, dad returned to teaching. He was a teacher before he entered the music business. He then left the UK and worked in the USA with my mum, then came back home after two years away and ran a retail business with my mum for a while and then they both retired.

I’m working on a music project with him at the moment and Kerry Minnear. We have done this before with a piece called ‘THEN’ for which I scored the music and my father wrote the prose. It’s about his own childhood living in Glasgow, Scotland.

12. What is your uncle Derek (read an excellent interview by Pete Pardo) doing nowadays? He's had a successful career discovering new bands (Nickelback, Slipknot)

DS: You probably know more than me. As I said, Derek lives far away from the rest of the family and we maybe see him once a year, though he does call my dad regularly. All I know is that he is in the ‘music business’. What business he does, I can’t really say.

13. Any other members of GG and your family that you are in contact with - Yael, Noah, Gary, Ray, Kerry, John - any collaborations in the works?

DS: Hey, Yael and Noah (Derek’s children) are my American cousins. No, we don’t really have much contact. Had contact with Yael through Myspace a couple of times but other than that, not much else. It’s kind of difficult to maintain a relationship when you live thousands of miles apart. But, obviously we’ve been in each other’s company and yes, my cousins are lovely people.

I’ve viewed their work from afar and I’m impressed. They both make films. Noah seems to be into music video and documentary but Yael is more art house, you know. Good luck to them both. I love them, they’re part of my family.

I really don’t hear too much about Gary or John. The odd story but there’s no contact as such.

Kerry (Minnear) runs Alucard Publishing along with his wife Lesley. Kerry is a music teacher and does speak with my dad frequently over the phone.

14. Why do you feature your children on your albums?

DS: Because they’re talented and beautiful. There’s a proud parent for you. But, why not? I have three beautiful children with their own view of the world so, for me it’s good to get their slant on things in my recordings. Plus it gives them some experience of the creative process and they’re cheap and always available.

Does that sound like exploitation? Oh well…

15. You have a very pleasant voice for narration (‘RATS’) - was that song done for your children? Would you like to do voiceover work (I'm thinking Ringo Starr in Nilsson's 'The Point' and 'Thomas the Tank Engine').

DS: The voice on Rats is actually my dad. It’s part of the piece ‘THEN’. ‘Then’ was written by myself and my father and was about his childhood in Glasgow. I may have said that before. Sorry. But I agree, dad has a great voice for narration.

I wish it was me as you’ve been so complimentary about it.

16. Is your back catalogue available?

DS: Yes, I think everything I’ve done on my own is available, through GentleGiantmusic.com and GEP. GEP (IQ, Renaissance, John Wetton, Big Big Train, Spock's Beard) released the album ‘On the Right Track’ with my band, ‘Different Trains’. The only album you won’t be able to get now is ‘In Pieces’. That was never officially released but, there are copies around but they’re hard to find.

17. You don't tour (because you haven't got a band). If you did - who would you tour with? And would you play any GG songs (if people asked nicely and of course they might)?

DS: The conditions would have to be pretty damned good to make me tour. There’s a girl band in the UK called ‘Girls Aloud’. I’d probably choose to tour with them. I think they would understand where I’m coming from.

I think it would be a little tawdry for me to play GG songs at a Damon Shulman gig. I can’t see any circumstances where it would be appropriate for me to play their music other than as a specific but morbid tribute.

18. How extensively do you use your home studio?

DS: That’s all I use when doing my own stuff. I think it’s all I need. I play in various studios when doing the 4WJ thing but that’s simply a space issue. No, my studio is great. It’s a simple set up and very comfortable.

19. What's the latest instrument you learned to play. Latest technology you have experimented with.

DS: That’s a good question. I do play the mandolin on the latest album, but I’m learning to get the best out of it at the moment. Great instrument, at least the sound is great but it’s horrible to play. Listen to Nickel Creek (not Nickelback) for great mandolin playin’. I’ll generally pick up anything and give it a go. Same with technology.

20. Talk about your presence on YouTube and MySpace.

DS: Myspace is great and weird at the same time. I’ve had some great conversations with people I have never seen or met. I’ve have relationships with people I’ve never seen or met. It’s good though. Most the people I’ve communicated with seem really nice. I should particularly mention Jim Trainer.

Look him up on Myspace. A great artist and, a good friend to me. He’s been the most supportive person with respect to my music than anyone I've encountered on Myspace. He's helped me out a lot as well publicising the new album.

YouTube is OK. My son posted up a couple of my videos. To be honest I don’t pay much attention to it. But, it's a good thing.

21. Any freebies from you?

DS: I've got the clips or tasters from Vultures and Sheep on the Myspace player and all 8 songs are available as clips on damonshulman.co.uk

I had the title track from 'Vultures and Sheep' in it's entirety on the Myspace player until fairly recently but it had been there for quite a while so I didn't want people to become bored with it before the album was released.

There are full tracks from other work I've done on the player. I will change the clips about a bit and when the CD is released on 1st March 2008 I shall put a whole song on every now and then. I will certainly be making some videos for this album. I may even try to do a video for every song this time. I would really like to do some more work with Mike Muscarella who did the videos 'Self Pity at the Guildhall' and 'Soul Seeks Rebellion' (see below) from 'A Brief Moment of Panic'.

Mike is very talented and really gave something to the music in those vids. He is very polished and professional in his approach to video making, which I really like where as my approach to video making is very clumsy and raw. He also really cares about the music and adds to it with extreme sensitivity.

But, yes there will certainly be vids to see and I will get them posted in the usual places.

VIDEO: Soul Seeks Rebellion Soul Seeks Rebellion

COMMENTARY by DS: It's a tricky choice for my best video but I'll go for 'Soul Seeks Rebellion' because of the great work Mike Muscarella did on the images. Mike and I built a great relationship from a far whilst creating 'Self Pity at the Guildhall' which, I think made the process of creating Soul Seeks that much easier.

I love the morphing images Mike did on the embryo evolving into my almost naked body. He really caught the humour of the piece in the opening sequences and injected some appropriate drama as well. In fact, it was Mike who storyboarded the whole project and deserves all the credit. Much of the video footage is shot by my son Elliot. The vid also features my nephew Sam on the double bass and doing the Fire Poise emulation during the instrumental. At 10 minutes long I think it represents quite an entertaining little film.

22. Feelings about the state of the music industry and how music is sold / how it affects you.

DS: Really? I guess I do have opinions about the industry but they’re of no consequence. The music industry is what it is. It doesn’t affect me because I’m of no consequence, at least not to the music industry. So, I don’t have an axe to grind. They can do what they want to do and I’ll do my thing.

23. Favourite songs:

a. Your own. At the moment, ‘Scum’ from Vultures and Sheep

b. GG. 'Prologue' from Three Friends. In fact, everything from Three Friends.

c. other artists (can name several) -

'Once In a Lifetime' by Talking Heads and 'Who Are You' by The Who, 'Maria' by Leonard Bernstein, oh the list is too long, I'll stop there, I think.

24. Top people that you respect in the music industry (artists and/or performers) -

DS: Always a difficult question, because I have so many influences from so many different artists. The list is huge but it would seem a little trite to mention them all now surely.

I suppose - The Who (Pete Townshend as a writer is phenomenal), Gentle Giant (of course), The Band, Talking Heads, Stevie Wonder, Steve Reich and Leonard Bernstein come to mind without hesitation, then I have to start thinking a bit. There’s plenty more music I love and lots of different styles too but that’ll do for now.

25. Other: Ask and answer your own question ('cos i might miss something you'd like to include)

DS: I’m OK with what we’ve done. Cheers man.

LOST IN THE 70S - MUSIC VIDEO NOSTALGIA

2008-02-24T14:29:00.038+08:00

The baby boomers generation is approaching the golden age of fifty this year (2008). Their formative years were inspired by an important period of history known as the 1970's in music, which dominated and influenced much of their lifestyle.

THOSE 70S - MUSIC VIDEO CHANNEL

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BABY BOOMERS IN 1970

Although the baby boom generation were in their teens at the time, the older kids (the ones who got to stay up past 11pm) often got a taste of rock 'n roll from the very same television sets that were providing 'tween food' from the die-hard family oriented television sitcoms ("The Brady Bunch" and "The Partridge Family" are two that come to mind).

THE CREATIVITY OF THE SEVENTIES

The large number of music videos in this player focus mainly on the early 70's, which were a time of outstanding creativitiy in music. Having recovered from an overdose of Woodstock peaked madness and the freakish voyeurism of the late 60's the music industry and the artists themselves set on the task of rebuilding music, predominantly the airwaves but increasingly so the music video (this was pre-MTV, remember).

ROCK SHOWS ON TELEVISION

Lucky for us, a few foresighted pioneers of music television, mainly Don Kirshner (Don Kirshner's Rock Concert), Burt Sugarman (The Midnight Special), Soul Train's Don Cornelius and the BBC's Jimmy Savile (TOTP) provided not only the faces, but actual 'live recordings' unlike groups which previously only mimed (or lip-synched) on television.

SIXTIES CROSS-OVERS

Performers who started their careers in the 1960's such as The Byrds, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Peter Paul and Mary (PPM), The Kinks, Ike & Tina Turner, Simon and Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, Crosby Stills Nash & Young (CSNY), The Cowsills, The Bee Gees, Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), Grand Funk Railroad, The Hollies, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson Five, The Guess Who, Three Dog Night, Dr.Hook, and Elton John continued to top the charts in the 1970s as well.

LEGENDARY BANDS

The seventies marked a time when many legendary rock bands started, or hit their peak, including ABBA, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Queen, Kansas, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Lynyrd Skynyrd, AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac, Nazareth, Status Quo, Family, Free, Badfinger, the Eagles, Heart, The Doobie Brothers, Seals and Croft, Rush, Styx.

MUSICALS AND MOVIES

There were musicals, the risk-taking production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" (how many know that Ian Gillan of the rock band 'Deep Purple' sang the part of Jesus?), "GodSpell" and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" ('Time Warp'), ('Opening Credits) all premiered during the seventies. One song from a group called 'The New Seekers' was used in the most successful television commercial of all time ('I'd like to buy the world a coke').

GLAM ROCK

In Europe, there was a surge of popularity in the early decade for glam rock, thanks largely to the rise of Marc Bolan and T. Rex, Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, and bands like Slade and The Sweet.

ONE-HIT WONDERS

My favourite is the 'one-hit wonder'! Think of 'Seasons in the Sun' (Terry Jacks), 'Silver Moon' (Michael Nesmith of the Monkees, who also wrote Linda Ronstadt's hit, 'Different Drum'), 'Timothy' (a very controversial song involving cannabalism by the Buoys), 'Me and You and a Dog named Boo' (Lobo), 'Sugar Sugar' (The Archies - this cartoon group was Don Kirshner's answer to the Monkees, who fired him!).

To continue the list: 'Living Next Door to Alice' (Smokie), 'MacArthur Park' (Richard Harris, although revived successfully during the disco era by the Three Degrees and Donna Summer), 'Sweet Mary' (Wadsworth Mansion), ' Reflections' (Marmalade), 'Stay Awhile' (The Bells), 'Ma Belle Amie' (The Tee Set), 'Indiana Wants Me' (R. Dean Taylor), 'Hold Your Head Up' (Argent) and 'Montego Bay' (Bobby Bloom).

TWO-HIT WONDERS

How about the two-hit wonders? Golden Earring ('Radar Love' and 'When the Lady Smiles'), Paperlace ('The Night Chicago Died' and 'Billy Don't Be a Hero'), Donna Fargo ('Happiest Girl' and 'Funny Face'), Middle of the Road ('Soley Soley' and 'Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep'), Edwin Hawkin's singers ('Oh Happy Day' and backing Melanie on the song, 'Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)', Don McLean ('American Pie' and 'Vincent').

BUBBLEGUM ROCK

Bubblegum poppers (as opposed to 'rockers') Donnie Osmond ('Go Away Little Girl', 'Puppy Love'), David Cassidy ('I think I love you') and Bobby Sherman ('Hey Little Woman', 'Julie' (Do Ya Love Me), 'Easy Come, Easy Go', 'Jennifer' , 'La La La' and 'The Drum'), all had their own television programs, and were the three big bubblegum hunks of the early seventies. Did you know that a 14 year old Michael Jackson appeared on the Dating Game television show in 1972?

ROCK DEATHS

Of course, life would not be without its tragedies. The world was shocked by the untimely deaths of Jimi Hendrix (1970), Janis Joplin (1970), Jim Morrison (1971), Jim Croce (1973), Gram Parsons (Byrds)(1973), Cass Elliot (1974), Bobby Bloom (1974), Pete Ham (Badfinger)(1975), Keith Relf (Yardbirds, Renaissance)(1976), Elvis (1977), Cassie Gaines, Steven Gaines, Ronnie VanZant (Lynyrd Skynyrd)(1977), Marc Bolan (1977), Terry Kath (Chicago)(1978), Keith Moon (1978), Sandy Denny (1978), Minnie Riperton (1979), Lowell George (1979).

THE END OF AN ERA

What began as a time of experimentation in music continued to diverge and innovate, but not to everyone's liking. Purists take heart; two new genres of music, Disco and Punk Rock began to dominate after 1975 and except for several classics, are not included in this collection.

Whether or now you have 'the nostalgia bug', these 35 year old videos are sure to inform, warm, and entertain your heart and mind.

CUTIEMISH RIDES AGAIN – COMING TO MTV?

2008-02-11T02:08:00.003+08:00

February 2008 Interview with Michelle Lam (a.k.a. Cutiemish)

There’s good news for CutieMish fans the world over (how do you say ‘hot dog’ in Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese and Russian all at the same time). Breaking a long silence between periods of intense study (she is only 19 and studying ‘properly’) – the original Youtube PowerPuff Queen has released her 29th video – and “xXx love ya! xXx” (in Mishyspeak)

Shock waves from Mishy’s site were picked up on my blog’s stats traffic again, as they are on a regular basis coinciding with each new video posting. Mishy herself has statistics which continue to follow the truly mind-boggling trend set by her ‘video-in-a-minute’ Director’s classic; Tetris (a film-maker’s greatest challenge). I’m sure you’ve seen it.

However, what has become even more unfathomable is the rate at which fans are flocking to Cutiemish Central (the Cutiemish YouTube channel) when something new becomes available.

Long or short, these sensible or seemingly senseless videos have pulling power. Cutiemish is an all-in-one icon of pop culture; everything she touches with a webcam turns to gold. Already a legacy among an entire generation of 'Tetris' playing teens and having been analysed by global economists confounded by the unlikelihood of her success (the playing field is level for all in this medium) – Cutiemish has taken cuteness to new heights.

MUSIC VIDEO

Michelle Lam’s latest offering is a very generous music video (3:31) directed by and starring CutieMish. It’s called “WAH Companion - Kir Royale”. That’s right, a real music video. We want our MTV, and we want Cutiemish – can we have both? Dr.Hook wanted the cover of the Rolling Stone (and they got it), so would we expect any less from someone whose star attraction is stronger than steel?

If it’s possible to get over the extreme cuteness factor of this video (Michelle has never been sexier, it seems) you might notice the music. No lip-synching here, folks! This is an original song, performed by a band with the guts (let’s say, ‘pin-point accuracy’) to actually seek out our girl and convince her to take on the challenge.

Mishy says:

“well it's probably closer to a school project than a comeback! the band WAH Companion wanted me to make an official music video for them. at first i thought they were jokin so i never messaged them back but they were actually being very serious. and so i did! i think they want to release the video to music channels and such.”

1doseCUTIEMISH + 1doseWAHCompanion = Kir Royale

Mishy’s Kir Royale video (it’s catchy and cute) is here.

To learn more about WAH Companion (MTV, are you reading?) click here.

THE CUTIEMISH INTERVIEW (FEB. 2008)

MARRIAGE PROPOSALS

Seems what not with half a million people viewing your videos (just one video has that many) that there must be some very adoring fans out there (try wading your way through some of the 2769 comments generated by Michelle’s recent, ‘a whole loada crap2' [a mere 1:03] and you will see some marriage proposals from ambitious fans who are victims of her infectious charm).

Are you counting the marriage proposals? What's the message for your boy-fans? (you're taken, right?)

CutieMish: “haha theres a few marriage proposals but not as much as i used to (get)! hehe i've got a lot of love to share! i'd love to marry everyone in the non zeus/greek god type way!”

PROJECTS

Anything happening with your film/movie/acting career? Has MTV or Top of the Pops signed you to a contract yet? (seriously)

CutieMish: “ah nothings happening. i'm at uni so i'm taking things easy. i've been acting in shorts for people's projects and i'm currently writing a screen play for myself to enter into a competition! but i have been looking for open auditions and trying to keep my uni life less work orientated! i absolutely love acting and miss it very much!! funny enough as it sounds.”

HOPES AND DREAMS

What do you want out of life and how can we help?

Cutiemish: “what do i want out of life... hmmm happiness... good friends that will always be there... obviously a family! but in terms of my career, i'd love to be an actress, money isn't the most important thing to me, in fact i hate money! i sorta wish it was never invented! but hey! i'd love to be a well-known actress... not famous 'cause i know it's not fun to be famous!”

* * *

CutieMish, I have one thing to say to you.

You’re energy is very inspiring :-)

Keep it up!

PAN'S PEOPLE BBC DANCERS ON VIDEOS

2008-01-25T01:07:00.011+08:00

Remember the dancers who appeared on BBC Top of the Pops? In the days before music videos, this sexy dance troupe choreographed some unforgettable routines for hit songs when the original artist was unable to appear. Sometimes they had to work on very short notice!

THE HISTORY OF PAN'S PEOPLE

Permalink for this video (Veoh)

The original Pan's People line-up consisted of:

Louise Clarke, Felicity "Flick" Colby, Barbara "Babs" Lord, Ruth Pearson, Andrea "Andi" Rutherford, Patricia "Dee Dee" Wilde (founder of the group)

(from Wikipedia)

PAN'S PEOPLE ON VIDEO!

Search for more Pan's People on Youtube

The final Pan's People line-up by the time of their final routines for TOTP in April 1976 were:

Mary Copse, Cherry Gillespie, Sue Menhenick Ruth Pearson (the only remaining original member of Pan's People), Lee Ward.

More wonderful 70s stuff here

Diary of a Roadie: Working with 70’s Springsteen, Dylan, ELP, Procol Harem...

2007-10-31T18:20:00.008+08:00

by Don Carrico and Ted Ollikkala

At Tom Field in Somerville, Massachusetts as a Spotlight operator, I worked more than 100 different Rock and Roll Groups from 1972-1975. I will try to remember them and the halls that we worked, and some interesting stories ‘from the road’ to share.

How I became an accidental roadie

The story begins in the Anti-War movement of the Vietnam War.I had been involved with the Vietnam Veterans Against The War. I actually had my 15 minutes of fame - as one of 15 Vietnam Veterans who occupied the Statue of Liberty in 1971 for 3 days:

Seizing the Statue of Liberty 1971: Three Days With A Lady By Don Bristow-Carrico (from ‘The Veteran’ Spring/Summer 1999)

[1] http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=195

National Parks Service website, Statue of Liberty CHAPTER 1:THE STATUE OF LIBERTY: MONUMENT TO AN EXPANDING SET OF IDEALS (photo: Members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War leaving the Statue of Liberty, which they had occupied for two days. The demonstrators emerged in response to a court order, December 28, 1971)

[2] http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/stli/adhi1.htm

In the Beginning there was Light (1972)

Bill Raeder (who turned Boston’s current ‘Orpheum Theater’ into a Venue for Rock and Roll Shows when it was called the Aquarius) was a supporter of VVAW and offered us the Stage for a show to benefit a Vietnam Veterans Drug Recovery Center. I was in charge of putting the show together and had Bonnie Raitt, James Montgomery Band, Screemin’ Jay Hawkins, Bill Colwell Band...we had a great show, but we didn't make much $... anyways Bill liked me and asked me to work for him...

I worked with Robert, his Stage Manager and learned how to run a fly floor, hang lights run the Boards and load in load out, run super troupers and everything else to run a show from an empty stage and rigging!!! I helped run shows every weekend for about a year working incredible groups such as:

The Kinks, Procol Harum, James Brown, Joe Walsh, Bonnie Raitt, J. Geils Band, Cars, Boston, .... many more I'll try to think of..

But, the Aquarius lost money and it got sold to Don Law..(I personally hated him... I was looking for his support to throw our show, but, instead he scheduled a major event at the Music Hall up the Street and hurt our attendance)... so I left with Robert and went to Tom Field Lighting...That is where I again "did it all" I have many stories that I would like to share, but I am going to go back and answer your questions...and look forward to telling you more of some amazing times...

Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt

For a while at Tom Field I carried Spot lights to auditoriums and theatres up and down the East coast from Long Island NY to Moncton Canada. I would travel with the lights, load in, set up, run shows, strike and load out every night for months at a time. They all look the same and everything is closed by the time we got back to the motel!! So we drank ‘til we moved to the next town....

I did a tour with Jackson Brown and Bonnie Raitt. Every night Jackson Brown would sing to his roadies with the song Load Out!! We would go nuts with the lights!!! Then Bonnie would come on and say "get that spot outa my face!(I LOVE Bonnie in spite of that!)… she too got recovery and then recorded ‘Nick of Time’...a lot said there!!

‘Discovering’ Bruce Springsteen at the Harvard Square Theater

I did the lighting for Bonnie Raitt for a while. One night she performed at the Harvard Square Theatre. The Harvard Square Theatre was amazing… That is where Bruce Springsteen started and I was lighting him the night that he opened for Bonnie Raitt. So this unknown band from NJ opens for her, and Bonnie allowed Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to perform the entire set.

He drove the crowd nuts! Jon Landau was in the audience and wrote in Rolling Stone that he had "seen the next Bob Dylan". Six months later Bruce Springsteen was on the Covers of Newsweek and Time - the same week.

She let him play the entire set.

Workin’ for the Boss?

Bruce Springsteen..I have a whole story on the Boss...I told you about the concert at the Harvard Square theatre/ well he came to us for lights for his tour.. I got a friend of mine a job at Tom Field. He (Rick Seguso) gets the job to drive Springsteen on the tour in a small motor home.. and after the tour, Rick becomes The Boss' tour manager!

I was still doing one nighters!! Rick came to me the next year when I had left Tom Field in 1975 and asked me to do the tour. I had just got married, was going back to school at Emerson and declined...I wonder where my life would have gone if I had taken that job...

I did get to ride in the Limo with Rick and the Boss to the show at the Boston Music Hall 1976... Rick lost his job when Mike Apel got canned...Rick is an artist now in Florida...

Bob Dylan

I did work a Bob Dylan Concert after I "retired" from Tom Field. A friend called for help to run a spot for a show at the Harvard Square Theatre, so I had fun lighting up Bob Dylan and Emmy Lou Harris (Dylan was in white face and strange) in such an intimate setting as a small theatre.

The Super Trouper Spotlights from Woodstock

One interesting side note: The Super Trouper Spotlights that I used at Tom Field had been the spot lights used at Woodstock. I saved a knob from one as a keepsake. I was still in the Marine Corps during Woodstock.

Carl Palmer’s Revolving Drum Set

I worked at the Orpheum Theatre (it was the Aquarius, run by Blind Bill Raeder until Don Law took it over in 1972). I moved to Tom Field Assoc. in Cambridge, Ma. -moved to Somerville Ma. and that is where we built the drum riser. I worked there until 1975. We were a Stage Lighting Company and provided the lighting for all the major tour groups of the early 70's including Chicago, ELP, Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan.

For weeks in between tours, we would work at the shop in Somerville Mass. That is during the time we were building lighting trusses and sets for Chicago, Emerson Lake and Palmer and the Stones and others. Once the shows were set up they left our shop and went to ‘union houses’. Sometimes, I would deliver extra lights or cable and sit in the seats and get paid to watch a show...

Arena Rock at the Orpheum and Boston Garden

We did set up lights for Genesis and Yes tours, I was not involved directly. The Orpheum has always been a great Boston venue. I worked the lights at the Orpheum stage for such greats as the Kinks, Procol Harem, Joe Walsh, Chic Correa, John Mahavishnu MacClaughlin, Bonnie Raitt, J. Geils Band, Boston, Cars, James Brown, and many more...

I worked as a Lighting technician and helped set up the shows for Chicago, ELP, Rolling Stones - omg, there are so many more, I need to rack my brain. I went out to the shows when they were in town and spent time backstage at the Boston Garden (not working) for the ELP concert and the Rolling Stones (I delivered equipment along that tour, to Buffalo NY and Long Island).

Tin Foil for James Brown

I did most of what you mentioned. Some stories stand out… James Brown was doing an anti-drug show as a Public Service for a drug bust he had, his road manager asked me for some tin foil...I was like a gopher, I did everything… I finally found some tin foil... so he takes it and rolls it into a pipe! So much for the anti-drug message!

Greg and Duane Allman’s Drug Feud

Another quick story...Greg Allman asked me for coke...I found someone in line that had some and got them into his dressing room and show (I regret!) Later that night in his motel room Duane came in furious that Greg was doing drugs...and was bullshit at all of us- Sorry that was the last time I saw Duane..

The J.Geils ‘Tree Stash’

Touring with the J.Geils band, when we hit the Canadian Border we found a tree on the US side to hide our MJ ... it was there when we got back!

Assistant Stage Manager and Lighting Tricks

Define your services; When I was Assistant Stage Manager, Robert really knew a lot about Theatre so I was fortunate to have a good teacher. I ran the big knife switch lighting boards (piano boards) and we used the house lighting of fresnels, leikos, Pars and Spot lights to each band without much prior knowledge. Robert didn't know a lot of the groups (actually, he didn’t know most of them - he was a real nerdy type) so he would ask me for opinions on the lighting design he came up with. He would let me do the opening act design and run the show. One of them was Peter Frampton!

Lighting Designer

We would set up the lights for the lighting designers of the groups, but, the opening acts didn't usually have a designer so I handled it many times. I also provided lighting design for one night shows, including: Chic Corea, Peter Frampton, Dave Mason, The Cars, as they didn't have a designer on site. It was awesome to run a show. Dave Mason showed up at a show in Cape Cod without a lighting designer, so I did it. But I was generally a "gopher" and spot operator (grunt!).

On the Road – Up and Down the East Coast

I worked Primarily the Northeast from Moncton Canada, to Long Island, and as far as Buffalo. I carried Super Trouper Spotlights and ran the follow spots for the shows. None of t I worked primarily the Northeast from Moncton Canada, to Long Island, and as far as Buffalo. I carried Super Trouper Spotlights and ran the follow spots for the shows. None of the halls and theatres we went to had their own follow spots, so we provided them. I told you that one of the spots was from Woodstock.

We would start working on a show weeks before we went on the Road. About 3 weeks of pulling instruments (lights - mostly PAR cans) make sure they work, paint them and stencil our logo (a leiko light that spelled ‘Tom Field’). We would put together trusses, road boxes and sets, make sure they were clean or painted. The road manager would figure out how to pack the truck(s). The whole show would be put together in pieces, broken down and packed up.

We would all go to the Irish Bar behind the shop for last minute talk and bash. Then get on the road for the tour. Either fly out, drive a truck, or a van and off to the first gig. The first show, we would set up ahead and tune everything and fix what is needed. The lighting plot had been made by lighting designer and we would rehearse to canned music. Later we would work a live rehearsal with the band and often run a live show the next day.

Bigger shows would rent a hall for a week or two to hone everything. The Orpheum was used for J. Geils Band rehearsals, so I got to go back there, for a bit. Once the first show was over, we would go on to the next show, either the next day or shortly thereafter, not much time between. Every city looked the same.

Jackson Browne sings to the Roadies

I worked for Jackson Browne for a while...his songs, "Running on Empty" and "the Load-Out" tell quite a story of the road. He would always recognize the roadies! We would do special effects with the lights (flash on and off) when he sang Load-Out! It was awesome, most bands hardly knew we existed, until they didn't have lights.

Once he toured with Bonnie Raitt. He would praise us and then Bonnie would come out and say "get the lights out of my face!" (But I love her anyways..I know I wrote this before did you get it?)

Every Town Auditorium or theatre looked the same. The same groupies were there...(very few for the crew, however) We would pick some guys to help us load in (when it wasn't a ‘union house’). If it was a Union House, we would back the truck in and watch the show!! We were scabs... but, got paid pretty good... We would set up around noon, run a show at 8, load out at midnight and be finished by 2, hopefully a bar would be open, but usually we ended up in a Motel room with some beers, get up the next day and do it all over again.

Hot Tuna plays all night

I can't remember the names of all, but OH Yeah, I lit Hot Tuna in the Nassau Colloseum. They played all night! The crowd never sat down, so they kept playing...I was about to drop the next day, but we had to go to Providence and do the same thing over again! By the time we got to Bangor Maine… the show was out by midnight!

Trashing it up with Aerosmith

Once I left the Aquarius/Orpheum, I went to work at Tom Field, which was an incredible place in Somerville Mass. Tim Mahoney was the boss, I worked with his brother Pat Mahoney... who has been a roadie for the BEST groups in the world over the past 30 years, if you could get a hold of him, he will remind you of the time that he and I went to a University show at UNH with two Super Trouper Spotlights to light Aerosmith.

We did not bring enough cable to reach to the power supply so we used some extension cords, when the two of us cranked up 30amps each at the same time WE HAD A FLASH ACROSS THE ENTIRE BALCONEY of burning zip cord! It was funny but could have been deadly!

That was the same show that Aerosmith destroyed the dressing room and caused thousands of $ in damage! The entire group went into rehab a few years later. I found that out, because, I went to the same rehab in Pennsylvania (Galen Hall) that they went to a few months after them. There was always drugs and drinking on the road. I stuck most to drinking, but, got into trouble with that.. now I don’t drink. I like doing recall, because it was an amazing time – EPIC because we all thought we were gonna change the world through music.....when you see that all we got was George Bush you realize we didn't listen to the words! Excuse the politics…

Losing the Truck in NYC

I was about to go out on a major tour with David Bowie in 1975 but, I ended up getting drunk and forgetting where I parked the truck in NYC - well , but Tom Field drove me around trying to find the truck somewhere in the Village of NYC. Found the truck, but was sent back to the shop to cleaning instruments (lights), and working local shows.

Rehab and Bicentennial Pyrotechnics

My boss suggested AA, so I went. I only worked one more tour after that. I worked the 1975 Bicentenial for the National Park Service. We toured all the National Parks... this is a whole ‘nother story... but it is pretty good: I was the pyrotechnician for the re-enactment of the Revolutionary War.

I got to be the entire British Army! I set up simulated musket fire from a hidden area in the woods. The actors (from college of the arts-NC) were the Americans and they would come at me as I fired off about 25 rounds every nite. We went from Concord Mass to San Francisco, hitting many of the National Parks. After this tour, I went to Emerson College, but decided Stage lighting wasn't my future. I ended up at UNH with a degree in Environmental Conservation 1980... working in Solar Energy now.

I love your last comment –Yes, now I am working with the Big spotlight in the Sky, or perhaps the real "Boss"!

List of Groups: Anyways. between the Orpheum and Tom Field and some gigs I did on my own...I have to say it is probably 200, or more. I will rack my brain but there are some groups that I don't even know their names! It was from 1972-1975 so I will do some youtube searches... I did not physically light the Rolling Stones or ELP. Besides building the Lighting trusses and Sets, I went to a number of the shows, backstage and helped with load out and delivered equipment. After I left the biz, I used to go to lots of concerts because I could find someone I know to get a complimentary ticket.

Plus I did Revival shows where you get 8 or 10 oldies groups in one night....but, I will have fun re-collecting:

Kinks
America
Orleans
Commodores
Electric Light Orchestra
Marshall Tucker
Traffic
Tom Rush
Johnny Winter
Edgar Winter
(Bob Hope! in Newport)
Dave Brubeck
Steppenwolf
Tommy James and the Shondells
Seals and Crofts
Jim Messina
Hall & Oats
Eagles
Van Morrison
Earth Wind and Fire - that reminds me. I ran the lighting for Earth Wind & Fire on a College tour in New England,they had no designer with them so I had a ball, and I knew the music... usually we set the shows up,and then someone from the band would "call the show" -In fact, I would miss hearing the concerts, because I was always on a headset listening to commands, but this show I just listened to the Music and designed as we went!

Beach Boys
Badfinger
Blue Oyster Cult
Boston
Cheap Trick
Alice Cooper
Dr. Hook
Foghat
Rick Derringer
John Fogarty
Three Dog Night
Yes
Loggins and Messina
O'Jays Bread
4 Seasons
James Taylor
Liv Taylor
Seals & Crofts
Judy Collins

WATCH THESE ARTISTS ON VIDEO NOW

The rest of the groups names are obscure.. You have to realize for all the name acts, there was an opening act. And some of the Festivals (Freedom Jam-I remember in RI, for one) had multiple groups. Also not counting Bob Hope(!) - I also Lit Opera, Ballet, Magic shows, Royal Lippazon Stallions,etc. All fun but not all Rock and Roll!

One group, The Moody Blues, I didn't work for in the 70's, but know more recently, because Norda Mullen (flute &vocals) is a friend. Just a coincidence...

Nowadays I operate a myspace site: rockandrollreturn - my daughter set up when I was running local Band Rock shows at the American Legion a couple of years ago. I hope to do some more when I get back to Maine...

I have no pictures left from that era (70’s), except for three that are on Myspace (View My: pics) from when, prior to the roadie era, I was with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War "taking over" the statue of Liberty 1971. The picture of John Lennon is signed "merry christmas war is over John and Yoko"- they sent one to each of us, but mine burned along with all my belongings in a fire at my Beacon Hill apartment back in the 70's. I was on the road at the time. I got these copies from one of the brothers that was in the Statue with me. There is a picture of me today on my website www.photovoltus.com/ on the Who we Are page, scroll down.

Don Carrico

PROG ARTISTS JETHRO TULL, ANNIE HASLAM, ASIA, SUPPORT SERENITY HOUSE CD

2007-10-01T19:00:00.001+08:00

All proceeds to benefit Doylestown PA. community hospice program

There are times when an idea rings true like soothing music, comforting to all who listen.

The founders of the ‘Serenity Hospice Program of Doylestown’ are startled by the outpouring of sympathy and offers of support at both the international and local level, including some very special progressive rock personalities.

Seventeen outstanding artists have contributed their songs for a limited edition benefit CD, including Annie Haslam, Geoff Downes, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer & John Wetton of Asia, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge, Jann Klose, Robert Hazard, ‘Think of 3’, Pat DiNizio from ‘The Smithereens’, John B. Austin, Dave Rentz Quartet with Bob Miles, Tony Repici, Sterling Koch, Fran Jones & Kevin Mackie, James D. Harvey, Mickey Litt, The Luck Brothers, and Steve Pullara.

This is their story.

Annie Haslam standing next to the banner of her painting 'Serenity House'
created for the CD cover. Photo by Krista Wallhagen

The Serenity House Hospice Program

This program was created by registered nurse and Doylestown Borough resident Nina McKissock, whose dream is to create which she describes in comforting terms as, a ‘bed and breakfast’-type facility for the terminally ill”.

The mission statement from the program reads:

"Honoring last wishes of the individual, listening to life stories, providing support for the caregivers and ensuring safety and soothing for the dying is our motivation"…

The non-profit program will offer free services to the surrounding municipalities. It is based on five core values: compassion, comfort, privacy, dignity and cooperation. The goal is to raise 1.7 million dollars by spring of 2008 for the building of the new hospice facility in the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside.

A site has been selected and as soon as enough funding is generated, the construction companies are ready to do the work.

The Serenity House CD

The Serenity House CD is the brainchild Kevin Mackie, one of the founding partners of East Coast Recording Studio in Warminster, PA.

Kevin Mackie learned of Nina’s program one day from an article for the Serenity House hospice in a local newspaper. He said: "Until my own grandmother became terminally ill, I didn't know what a hospice was. I was very impressed with the specialized hospice environment we had chosen for the care of my grandmother until she passed on."

Kevin is the bassist for the band ‘Think of 3’. His own band donated the song ‘Somewhere’ for the CD, written and sung by Alexis Hoover, who administers the MySpace site where the CD can be purchased.

Kevin had previously produced a CD for the fund-raising project, Enviro-Aid and was looking for a worthy cause. He found it in Nina McKissock’s program and immediately started contacting musicians.

The Musicians join in

The Serenity House CD itself was a labour of love involving a community of musicians who banded together for a common purpose. Kevin managed to get aid from international recording artists such as Asia and Jethro Tull.

Says Kevin: “I decided to start contacting (from information I obtained through the Internet) artists that I felt would be interested in this kind of project. Early on, Annie Haslam (who is from the Bucks County area) agreed to be part of this project. Soon after that, I was talking to my friend Steve Pullara (Cool Beans Music) and he suggested I contact a woman named Anne Leighton (Media Relations) for help.”

“Anne quickly got permission from Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) to use one of his songs, ‘Brown Mouse’. She also recommended other national acts which included Jann Klose, whom she manages.”

Annie Haslam

Kevin has been awed by the passionate support he has received from the artists who donated to the new CD. Annie Haslam, the golden voice of Renaissance, in particular, went over the top and surprised everyone by volunteering to paint original artwork, a semi-surrealist rendition based on the actual architects’ plan for "Serenity House".

Giclee copies of Annie’s painting on canvas, are available through her website http://www.anniehaslam.com/ah_letter.html. She is donating all proceeds to the 'Serenity House' fund.

Annie designed the whole CD package with graphic artist Krista Wallhagen, as well as contributing a song for the CD and being involved in the creation of a very special video (more about this below!).

Kevin: “Annie Haslam became more involved with the project and helped me get other artists, too. Both Annie and Anne are caring individuals and saw that this was a cause that they believed in.”

Annie said, “The actual CD is wonderful - an unusual array of musical styles that are quite diverse but fit together so well because of the sentiment behind them.”

The Serenity Centrifuge video

Kevin had another trick up his sleeve as well. A video was filmed at the brand new facilities of the East Coast Recording Studio and released on YouTube to create awareness for the Serenity House project. This is not an ordinary video by any means!

What you will see is Annie Haslam singing a rendition of "'Michael' Prince of Angels" (the song that she and Rave Tesar donated), in a centrifuge chamber.

What's that about a centrifuge chamber? Well, you'll have to watch to believe it!

The idea for recording a video in the centrifuge is a great attention getter - the video description reads:

East Coast Recording company makes an amazing discovery in their new facilities: the Original Centrifuge used to train the Apollo Astronauts!

Kevin said: "I thought using the centrifuge, for extra publicity, for the CD was a good idea. Annie Haslam and Anne Leighton were talking about it and came up with the idea for putting it on YouTube."

In fact, the East Coast Recording company had only been at the new location for about a month when the video was shot. They don’t have any plans to use the centrifuge itself, as the equipment takes an enormous amount of electricity to run and it has to be operated by a team of professionals. But the chamber itself does have wonderful acoustics!

Kevin: "I do know that it is the original centrifuge used for training Air Force pilots and Astronauts. Sam Cravero (Jim Cravero's brother. Jim is one of our partners) owns the building and is restoring it for future use. He’s also looking into the idea of trying to find a museum for the centrifuge to find a new home in"

Kevin mans the control console in the video while Annie jokingly refers to herself as a 'nuclear physicist' – yet the clarity and emotion of this unique performance will send shivers down your spine.

(Learn more about the centrifuge here).

Release Party

A CD listening party emceed by Grover Silcox - Producer/Reporter for PBS Channel 39 featuring live music from local musicians that took part in the CD was held on September 6th, 2007 at PUCK (85 Printers Alley), in Doylestown. The event was covered by local newspapers/radio stations. Photos are here.

Media Support and Internet CD Sales

This special CD is being marketed on the internet. All proceeds go directly to the 'Serenity House and Hospice Support of Doylestown, Inc.'

To make a donation, purchase the benefit CD or to meet the wonderful people involved in the program and learn what you can do to help, visit http://myspace.com/serenityhouseCD.

For information, call Serenity House and Hospice Support of Doylestown at 267-880-3480.

To learn more about the proposed hospice facilities, click here.

My thanks to Kevin Mackie for assistance in providing information on the program. May you reach your goal in the shortest time possible!

Release party photos by Krista Wallhagen

This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website to show your support of the 'Serenity House Hospice Support of Doylestown'