Category: Music and Entertainment

Now that I am closing out this month of musical memories, I feel compelled to talk about something that has always bugged me.

This need people have to live through the lives of stars by watching shows like Entertainment Tonight, TMZ, Extra and the others, amazes me.  Do people really have that little to look forward to in their own lives that they need to follow people this religiously?

Take, most recently, the death of Michael Jackson as an example.  It is sad that he died, he did leave his mark on the world, but why were people camping out for hours just to see what???  his body?  This mooching family?  What were they hoping to gain by sitting out in front of the house or the hospital?

Go back a few years and you see the same thing happening with Elvis.  Elvis was, in my personal opinion, a much better overall performer than MJ, yet when he died, I was not really moved except to think that my hopes of ever going to a concert to see him.

When Pink Floyd split up the last time, I was upset because I knew that I would never see them in concert, but I did not lose sleep over it!  I bought more of the CDs and moved on.

I do understand that there is a need to follow the people that we idolize or respect.  There is a desire that we all have to be a part of that success or that life.  But can’t you see that spending your life following that closely only causes you to lose track of your own life?  I would have to think that the James Browns, Michael Jacksons and Elvis Presley’s throughout time would not have wanted people to be so infatuated with them that they dismiss the lives that they could have.

I know that there are varying levels of fanatics and followers… so not all of you that went to the funeral or watched it on TV are in the category that I have suggested above.  But you who are reading this now, know that there are those out there whose entire world revolves around the objects of their obsessions.  People that spend their lives to become as much a part of their Idols as they can.  In some cases losing all that they love or desire.

Follow your own dreams and desires.  Be what you are meant to be and allow what you have experienced from these stars and singers to complement you and add to your uniqueness.  Be the best person you can be without trying to be someone else, you will like yourself better for that and so will others.

Bordering on the demented, there no better way for me to end this month of musical conversation that to talk about Warren Zevon.

Like most people, my first experience with his music was with the song “Werewolves of London”.  But not being able to stop there, I went out and picked up the single.  Yes… the single that had the wolf on the red vinyl record with “Rolland the headless Thompson Gunner” on the B-Side.  Man… what I would give to still have that disk today!

I played that record until my mother threatened to use it as a Frisbee.  So I relented and only played it while she was away at work or out of the house in general.  I had other Zevon records and tapes, but that one always stood out to me as the best one.

Unfortunately for all of us Warren left us to cancer on September 7, 2003.  He was only 56 years old, which is still young by anyone’s standards.  In his case, however, it can be said that he met his death with honor and dignity.  He knew it was coming and made no efforts to seek sympathy.  He simply kept working on his music right up until the end.  This can be best seen by watching the last interview he gave with David Letterman in 2002, which you can find on YouTube.

The reason I started this article with the performers death is because I think that Warren is one of the more unsung players in music.  You really never hear people talk about his work that much and when they do play songs like “Rolland” and “Werewolves” many people have this look like ‘who’s that?’  That is not to say that he is not appreciated, of that there can be no doubt… but there is a lot of people out there that either do not know about him or have heard the music and do not know who the artist is.  That is unfortunate for him and them.

Zevon’s early musical career was pretty much unremarkable to most of us, but not unimportant as it led to the the advance of his style and eventual success in 1978.  With the release of Excitable Boy and the success of the Werewolves single, he became a much more well known name.  This was the point where I first heard his music, because the radio stations just could not seem to play enough of his songs.

It is hard for me to talk too much about the other music he released because I have not heard all his work.  I only have personal experience with three of his albums, but his musical legacy is so much stronger that just Excitable Boy, A Quiet Normal Life and Life will kill ya… these being the CDs that I have now… the first two records long since disappearing from my collection.

That is not to say that I do not have an opinion about the rest of his work.  I have heard several of his other works over the years, but the money has just not been there for me to go on the CD shopping spree that I would like to.  You see… as much as an audiophile as I am, I would go broke in no time if I were to buy all the CDs and Vinyl that I wanted.  There is just too much good music out there.

His last CD that was released was The Wind… which he was lucky enough to live long enough to see it released and become a success.

In all the interviews I ever saw of him and all the reading I have done to write the piece, I have learned much more that I really expected to about the man.  His image has changed in my mind… I no longer see him as the rebellious recluse that some had made him out to be.  I have found that he was more of the “Everyman’s Musician” in that he seemed to come off as the kind of person that had something in common with all of us.  When he talked, it was with a personality of a person who did not think of himself as any more important than the rest of us.

To me, his music was always fun, inspirational, singable and something that I am not sure anyone could find any fault with, and there really is no song I have heard by him that I did not like and there is still a lot out there for me to hear in all the CDs that I have not yet purchased.

I would like to thank all those that have joined me this last month on my personal trip through my musical favorites.  I especially would like to thank all those that participated in the conversations with advice and suggestions for my listening experience.  Your input was invaluable and what this site is all about.  I post my stories and articles to share, and this month I learned that there are people out there reading my work.

I thank you all.

If I were to describe Enigma in any ONE statement, it could only be “The sound of sensuality.”

I suspect that there are people out there that would find other ways to describe the sound, as everyone hears something different when they listen to the same music.  But for me, when I listen to the music of Enigma, I hear several emotions, among these would be love, lust, passion, anger, desire and romance.  Listening to any of their CDs, for me, is like listening to someone share their emotions with me through music.

Naty and I first heard music by Enigma when we had the misfortune of seeing the movie “East of Eden”, which featured the song Return to Innocence.  That song, in spite of the movie, caused us to wait until the credits and see who performed it.  We then went to the music store and picked up a copy of the Tape MXMXC A.D., CDs were still a bit of a luxury for us back then… and listened to it.  We were both very moved by that tape and, literally, played it until we wore it out.  Playing it, in my estimate, several hundred times.

The Group or Project.

There is not really a lot of background to the group, Enigma, itself.  In fact, they only sprang into existence in 1990, though the founding leader of it, Michael Cretu, had a decent musical career dating to the late 1970s.  He founded the group in 1990 and the rest is musical history.  Fortunately it does not stop there…

You see, Enigma was always expressed as a concept or a project.  I do not think that Cretu expected for the group or the sounds to catch on as well as it did.  After the success of MXMXC A.D., and the subsequent releases by Enigma, it became apparent that not only were they a success, but they had touched on a sound that had mass appeal.  Not only were their own CDs and Tape flying off the shelves, but other groups were picking up the ball and running with it.

In the early nineties you will see a surge of groups with that same style of sound, such as artists like Ray Lynch and Michael Oldfield, both excellent examples of people who appear to have been inspired by Enigma without sounding like they are copying the style or work.  There are other groups that fall into that same category, but my purpose here is to talk about the one and give some examples in the hopes that my readers might go out and look into them.

Their current album, Seven Lives Many Faces, is nothing less that what I would have expected from them.  The music pulls you in and keeps you entranced.  There is something about this, as well as all their other work, that almost feels like it is calling you into it.  Hypnotizing you, if you will, to go a little deeper, listen to a little more.  This best way to prepare you for your first listen to them is expressed in the first track on the MXMCXC A.D. CD…

Good evening
This is the voice of Enigma

In the next hour
we will take you with us
into another world,
into the world of music, spirit and meditation

Turn off the light,
take a deep breath
and relax

start to move slowly,
very slowly
Let the rhythm be your
guiding light

All in all I do not see how you could go wrong with anything that is put out by Enigma… the music is incredible.  You will find a little of all the emotions in this… but hopefully you will find the sound to be as uplifting, motivational and spiritual as I have.

When you talk in music circles about 80’s bands, there are few circles, at least in the US that you will hear people talk about Eurogliders.

In fact, they did very poorly in America and are among the list of many “one-hit wonders” with the release of their “Heaven” in 1984 on “This Island” album.  But when it comes to overall popularity, they just did not seem to win over the listeners.  This is not to say that they were not a good band, but in my opinion they were just not well marketed here.

Discovering this group myself was completely by accident.  If it were not for a sales person that was willing to talk us into trying something different, then we (my wife and I ) would have never had a chance to hear them.  There was, maybe still is, a place here in Bakersfield called World Records,  They were well known for having music that most others do not…  carrying things other than the usual top sellers and top 10 and top 40s musicians.

When we went in, we told the guy that helped us that we were looking for something different and “Progressive”…  his first selection for us was “The Island” by them.  This was back in 1989 or 1990 that we picked up the album, and it was released in 1984.  So it was certainly not a NEW release, but when you really think about it and listen to the music, they have a style that really does not age and there are not really that many groups that you can say that about.

Even though they broke up in 1989, with various member pursuing their own paths in the music field,  they eventually reunited in 2005 and, in my opinion, sound just about as good as they ever did.  They hold to their history a long line of former members, people that played with them they went on to other things, but I think that this constant mixing of the pot, so to say, helped keep their musical style fresh.  Much like what the changing of the guard from time to time did for Chicago.

If you have not already looked them up while reading this, then I encourage you to follow the links below to get a feel for their style and sound, then maybe buy a copy of one of their CDs.

Click here to see their MySpace site

View their videos below.