All posts by Kev Brock

I'm a musician, singer/songwriter, blogger, writer, poet, bodybuilder, movie lover, music lover, video gamer, history/political buff, conservative/republican, etc. I like to do a lot of things.
music

This Day In Music: 2/12/12

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Musician Birthdays: Ray Manzarek (keyboardist of the Doors, born in 1939), Lisa Hannigan (Irish folk singer, born in 1981)

– In 1964: The Beatles returned to New York City by train from Washington, D.C. for two performances at Carnegie Hall. There was such a demand for tickets that some extra seating was arranged surrounding the stage. Tickets ranged from $1.65 to $5.50.

– In 1968: Billed as ‘Tour 60 cities in 66 Days’ The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at the Centre Arena, Seattle, Washington.

– In 1970: John Lennon performed ‘Instant Karma’, on BBC TV’s ‘Top Of The Pops’, becoming the first Beatle to have appeared on the show since 1966.

– In 1972: Al Green went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Let’s Stay Together’, his only US chart topper. Tina Turner took the song to No.26 in 84.

– In 1977: Barbra Streisand started a six-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘A Star Is Born.’

– In 1977: The Police recorded their first single, ‘Fall Out’ for £150 ($255) at Pathway Studios, London, England.

– In 1978: Rush appeared at the Birmingham Odeon, England, promoting their new single ‘Closer To The Heart’, which was in the shops for 99p.

– In 1989: Aretha Franklin lost a court case against Broadway producer Ashton Springer, who sued for $1 million (£0.58 million) when Aretha failed to turn up for rehearsals for the stage show Sing Mahalia Sing, blaming her fear of flying on the non appearance.

– In 1994: Alice In Chains entered the US album chart at No.1 with ‘Jar Of Flies.’

– In 1994: Celine Dion started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘The Power Of Love’, the singers first US No.1, a No.4 hit in the UK.

– In 1995: Van Halen, scored their first US No.1 album with ‘Balance.’

– In 1997: U2 held a press conference in the Lingerie Department at the Greenwich Village Kmart store in Manhattan, New York City, to announce their Pop Mart world tour. The tour was set to start in Las Vegas on April 25th of this year.

– In 1997: David Bowie received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

– In 2003: Former Doors drummer John Densmore took out legal action against The Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger for breach of contract, trademark infringement and unfair competition. The band had reformed with Ex- Cult singer Ian Astbury and former Police drummer Stewart Copeland. Densmore said “It shouldn’t be called The Doors if it’s someone other than Jim Morrison singing.”

– In 2004: Eminem’s ex-wife Kimberly Mathers was jailed for a month after being found using cocaine while on probation. Mathers was also put on a 90-day drug abuse programme.

– In 2005: A train was named after Clash frontman Joe Strummer at a ceremony in Bristol. The diesel train owned by Cotswold Rail, was named after the singer, guitarist who died aged 50 in 2002.

– In 2007: During a press conference at West Hollywood’s Whisky a Go Go club Sting confirmed that The Police were getting back together. The band were set to kick off a world tour on May 28 in Vancouver, Canada, supported by Sting’s son Joe Sumner’s band, Fiction Plane.

movies

My Marilyn Monroe obsession is still going…

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I can’t stop watching Marilyn Monroe movies for some reason. After watching the 5 movies through that Marilyn Monroe DVD boxset, I picked up a while back, I just kept watching her films in Netflix.

So far the films I’ve watched of hers are:

– Gentlemen Prefers Blondes

– Niagra

– The River of No Return

– Let’s Make Love

– The Seven Year Itch

– Monkey Business

– There’s No Business, Like Show Business

– How to Marry a Millionare

I still got more films to watch of hers. I’ve just been watching her films on the weekends. I like ’em all, but so far, my favorites are “Gentlemen Prefers Blondes”, “The Seven Year Itch”, and “Niagra”.

While she is sexy in almost every movie she’s in, I think she’s the sexiest in the “Seven Year Itch”, of course. I love Marilyn movies. Can’t get enough of her.

Watching Marilyn movies, makes me want to watch other classic movie actresses other than her. I like the old classic movies from the 50’s. Good stuff.

Kev

music

More thoughts on Whitney Houston’s death…

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Ya know, I was honestly not that big of a Whitney Houston fan. I never bought her albums over the years. This music is not really my cup of tea. The music that I mostly listen to is rock n’ roll and metal, but I will listen to a little bit of everything else. Even though I wasn’t much of a fan, I did respect her legacy and her talent herself. You couldn’t deny that she was a talented singer and actress.

Over the years, she would be everywhere. Everywhere you go, you’ll hear Whitney’s songs on the radio or watch one of her videos on TV. Somebody will even play one of her albums somewhere. I did liked her singing, it’s just that her music wasn’t really my style.

I did like “The Bodyguard” movie, and did like her Dolly Parton cover of that iconic song. I’m planning to cover that song, “I Will Always Love You” as a little tribute video to Whitney for youtube. Just to give it a try. See how it goes. Of course, I won’t be able to sing like Dolly or Whitney did it, I’m just going to give my own take on it.

I never did love songs. Never covered love songs or never wrote original love songs myself. Always been a little embarrassed and a little shy about it. I thought I would look pretty silly performing love songs, but I wouldn’t mind trying this song just for Whitney.

Love her or hate her, she was an inspiration for us all.

Her death was more evidence of what fame and fortune can do to you. It can destroy your life easily. Fame can turn you into an alcoholic and drug addict. I wouldn’t blame it on drugs and alcohol just yet though, for now it’s all speculation. People blaming Bobby Brown is not cool either. Bobby may have his problems with drugs & alcohol too, but Whitney had an addiction problem years ago before she even met him.

I’m pretty sure actor, Kevin Costner, is very devastated and heartbroken with the news too, her “Bodyguard” co-star. I’m sure he’ll speak out on her death soon, I think he’s still filming the new Superman movie, “Man of Steel”.

This is a sad loss in the music world. I’m honestly kind of pissed about it.

Kev

Celebrity/musician deaths

RIP: Whitney Houston 1963 – 2012

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I was watching the news on CNN tonight for the Election coverage, and a breaking news story interupted, with reports saying that Whitney Houston just died. Like everyone else, I am very sad and heartbroken by the news. I’ve admired Whitney’s music ever since I was a child, and used to watch, “The Bodyguard”, movie all the time.

Whitney began her music dreams at the age of eleven by singing for a gospel choir. She got into music inspired by her mother, Cissy Houston, who is also a famous singer. Whitney started to learn to sing as a teenager. Whitney was inspired to become a singer with the likes of Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight and Roberta Flack, who are her influences. In Whitney’s teenage years, she would get her start at performing clubs with her mother, Cissy. Clive Davis, first saw Whitney and her mother perform, so he signed her a contract for Arista Records and Whitney signed. After the record deal, Whitney made her television debut on, “The Merve Griffin Show”.

Over the years, she has been releasing albums, and releasing a lot of hit singles such as “Saving All My Love For You”, “All At Once”, “I Will Always Love You”, “I’m Every Woman”, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”, etc. The List goes on. She has also won many Grammy’s and many other awards.

She was also an actress, who did films such as “The Bodyguard”, “Waiting to Exhale” and “The Preacher’s Wife”. She was in the middle of doing a new movie, called, “Sparkle” this year.

Nobody knows her ’cause of death, but she has been struggling with drugs & alcohol addiction for years. She was a beautiful lady and talented. Whitney Houston was 48 years old.

Kev

Random/off topic posts

Another Valentine’s Day rant…

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In facebook, I see a lot of complaints of single women complaining about how bad men are in relationships. Women also accuse men that all we want is sex from them. Not true at all. A lot of us guys want to be loved and be cared for just as much as the women do.

In my opinion, women can be much worse at the dating scene and relationships. They can be so confusing and you can’t understand them sometimes. Yeah, I dated women before and got nothing but bad experiences out of them. So I gave up on the dating scene, and just enjoyed life. I’ve had plenty of crushes on women, which a lot of them rejected me of course. Even if you want to spend time with them as a friend, just a friend that’s it, they’ll reject you on that too, when it’s not like a date or anything. Women are just weird, I’ll tell ya.

That is my goal is to find the love of my life someday, and those are really hard to find. I would like to get married and start a family of my own down the road, most definitely. It’s all about finding the right woman. I can treat women like a queen if I can find the one who knows what true love is all about.

True love isn’t about money or how good looking you are, it’s about caring for you as the person you are, no matter what happens. I’m going to try and get myself a nice lady friend, this year, hopefully. I’m not going to look for one online, I’m going to have some confidence and try to meet somebody somewhere in town. Probably the gym would be the best place to meet somebody. There are some nice looking women that workout at my local gym in Greenwich. I would very much go for a local woman, I won’t do the online long distance dating thing.

I’ll admit, that I have a lot to learn with women myself, and I’m going to do something about it this year. Actually do something, and not talking about it. Start off as friends first and see where things go from there. That’s the way I’m going to do it. That’s the best way.

Of course, there are fears of rejections, getting your heart broken and getting screwed by women, but I guess you have to go through all the bad women before you find the perfect one you want.

I’m no relationship expert, I’m just learning from other people. I hope I’ll actually get somebody soon.

Kev

Politics/war, WWE news

Rick Santorum briefly worked for WWE (WWF)??? Yes, it appears to be true…

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Rick Santorum is a wrestling fan? Maybe so! I was just doing some research on Santorum’s life, reading more about his past, and I learned he briefly worked for the WWF (now called WWE) back in the old days. He was around his 20’s and 30’s. He worked as a lawyer and lobbyist for Vince McMahon. It was said he was lobbying for Protection Against Steroid Regulation. I thought that was kind of interesting.

Kev

music, Politics/war

This article, “Rick Santorum declares war on heavy metal” is fake, a tabloid…

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There’s this article going around the web, facebook and other sites, a Rick Santorum article titled, “Rick Santorum Declares War On Heavy Metal”. In the article has a small quote where he said how the genre corrupts the minds of young kids. How the genre turns kids suicidal and all that stuff.

The article is not true. It’s fake and made up. Some idiot with too much time on his hands, trying to make him look bad online because of his religious beliefs. Hoping, it’s a way to turn off Santorum supporters.

There’s no evidence or proof where he said that at one of his campaign rally’s.

In reality, Rick supports the Constitution, 100%. So he would believe in the 1st Amendment and Freedom of Speech. He would not put a ban to a genre ’cause he doesn’t agree to it.

I bet Rick himself would respond to that article sooner or later. He supports us Americans and cares for everyone, even the metal heads. I’m positive he won’t ruin things for us.

Kev

music

This Day In Music: 2/11/12

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Musician Birthdays: Gene Vincent (US rock singer famous for the Blue Caps, famous for the hit, “Be Bop a Lula”, born in 1935), Bobby Boris Pickett (US singer/songwriter, famous for the hit, “The Monster Mash, born in 1938), Sheryl Crow (US singer/songwriter/guitarist, famous for hits, “All I Wanna Do”, “My Favorite Mistakes”, “Strong Enough”, and more. Born in 1962), Brandy (US R&B/soul singer, famous for hit, “The Boy Is Mine”, born in 1979)

– In 1956: Elvis Presley appeared on American TV’s ‘Stage Show’ and performed ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ and ‘Blue Suede Shoes.’

– In 1963: In less than ten hours, The Beatles record ten new songs for their first album plus four other tracks which would be the next two singles. John Lennon’s vocal on The Isley Brothers ‘Twist & Shout’ was recorded in one take to complete the album.

– In 1964: The Beatles made their live concert debut in the US at the Washington Coliseum. Over 350 police surrounded the stage to keep the 8,000 plus screaming fans in control. One police officer who found the noise so loud stuck a bullet in each ear as ear plugs. The Beatles had to stop three times and turn Ringo’s drum kit around and re-position their microphones so that they faced a different part of the audience. The set list: ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, ‘From Me to You’, ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, ‘This Boy’, ‘All My Loving’, ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’, ‘Please Please Me’, ‘Till There Was You’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’, ‘Twist and Shout’, and ‘Long Tall Sally’.

– In 1969: The Monkees set a new record when their second album, ‘More Of The Monkees’ jumped from No.122 to the top of the US chart. The album then stayed in pole position for eighteen weeks.

– In 1972: During their Dark Side Of The Moon tour, Pink Floyd appeared at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England. The show was abandoned after 25 minutes due to a power cut.

– In 1985: The Police won Outstanding Contribution to British music at the fourth annual Brit Awards held in London. Other winners included Prince for best International Act and Best Soundtrack for Purple Rain, British Single was Frankie Goes To Hollywood ‘Relax’, British Video was Duran Duran for ‘Wild Boys’, British Comedy Recording Neil ‘Hole In My Shoe’, British Album went to Sade for ‘Diamond Life’, British Male Solo Artist was won by Paul Young, British Female Solo Artist, Alison Moyet and Best British Group went to Wham!

– In 1989: Paula Abdul started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Straight Up’, the first of three No.1’s in 1989, a No.3 hit in the UK.

– In 1992: Motley Crue fired their singer Vince Neil when he turned up for rehearsals, claiming that he had lost his passion for the band and was now more involved with racing cars.

– In 2008: Heather Mills and Sir Paul McCartney appeared at the High Court in London for a hearing to reach a financial settlement for their divorce. The hearing in the Family Division, which was taking place in private, was expected to last five days. The couple, who had a four-year-old daughter, Beatrice, announced the end of their four-year marriage in 2006. There had been speculation among divorce experts, based on recent cases, that the settlement could reach £60m.

 

Local music

Are band opportunities really something special or just a big fantasy???

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When bands & musicians get bigger opportunities in their careers, like opening for national acts, winning Battle of the Bands competitions, winning radio station contests, winning songwriting awards, etc. Bands get all that, and soon after, they act like they’re so big and cool. Acting like they’re so popular.

If I got all that stuff with my music, I would act like that stuff means nothing to me. None of that stuff is important to your career. Bands obsess with opportunity too much. They want to get bigger things and move forward.

I do want success with my music, yes, but I’m not gonna have anything to do with Battle of the Bands or any of the stupid contests. No offense to you bands out there, that goes for this kind of stuff. This is never going to be me.

Bands act like winning contests and awards, is a pretty rewarding thing for their careers. It actually means something to them. In my eyes, the most rewarding thing about music, is writing the songs for the people and having the people enjoying it. That should be rewarding.

I would like to open for a national act someday. If I ever got that opportunity, it wouldn’t be a random national act because they’re famous. It would have to be an artist that I like and admire.

I would like to get signed to a small indie label someday, but I won’t go for any random label. When a label asks you to sign with them, you have to be careful. You can’t jump up to any opportunity that is thrown at you. You have to be careful with everything in the music business. If I were to get signed, it would have to be with the right label with careful research.

I would like to release an official album on a real CD someday but I don’t think I’m gonna bother, because nobody’s buying CD’s anymore and people are downloading music off the internet mostly. Therefor, I would try to get my music on Itunes sometime down the road.

As you all can see, I would like to be taken seriously as a good songwriter, instead of treating it in a negative direction. I don’t obsess with opportunity. I’m all about creating the music and making the art. That’s all that should matter.

Kev