This is the first in what will hopefully be a short-lived series of sub/admissions to WFMU's Beware of the Blog that I have named Guilty As Charged. In these posts I wish to exorcise for hopefully more than myself some curious obsessions that stall, stop short or otherwise trip me up in the mainstream of popular culture, current and dated. Alright, there's a shorter term for it: Brain Farts. I find that seemingly unrelated thoughts snowball in my mind, gathering hysterical momentum over a few days, ultimately culminating in a delusional and erroneously-perceived synchronous event.
The latest whirlwind started when I heard a cover of Extreme's "More Than Words" by Latino R&B musician Frankie J. Which led to thoughts of Nuno Bettencourt. Who is the one-half hairball of that burned-to-memory MTV video (depicted on the left) that in the blush of the nineteen nineties brought America To Tears, for various reasons. A shudder ensues when I recall what was either the rumour or execution of placing other half-hairball Gary Cherone into the role of lead singer for Van Halen. But back to Nuno. He happens to be a hot accomplished musician, who has never had a problem getting accolades from in-the-know hard rock guitarists, guys who seem a million miles removed from the vanguard of music. I am lead, like that plastic thing atop a ouija board, to Paul Gilbert. The guitarist for Mr. Big, who had a fun song called "To Be With You" around the same era. Mr. Gilbert, according to my research is a huge star in all the Asian territories. No doubt why. Mrroww.
Now that we have our cozy retro jammies on, I feel compelled to pass on the info that same-era kings of the Shredd-Ballad Def Leppard are set to release a covers album called YEAH! . It's contents are being leaked out and then squashed on the web lately, so I guess that means it's causing a bit of a stir. Some of the numbers re-visited include songs by Jobriath, Blondie, The Sweet, Roxy Music, ELO, Kongos, Badfinger and The Kinks. You can listen to a clip of DL's quite nice rendition of Waterloo Sunset here. No Foolin' - talk about Pour Some Sugar On Me....
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