As some of you know, I am a performer. Okay, maybe not for a living or anything, but I was involved in theatre and singing for, well, as long as I can remember, really. Chorus, stage band, musicals, a cappella, bands, cabaret shows — a constant parade of belting it out in front of an audience, from my youngest years to just after law school. Since then, it's been a little tougher to find a way to find performance opportunities. In NYC, either you do it professionally, or you do it catch as catch can. For me, when I'm jonesing for a taste of the stage, it generally means one thing — karaoke. Lucky for my, the city is filled with karaoke bars of every flavor, from private rooms to dive bars where you can sing to your heart's delight. Of course, given my nature, I prefer the more public venues to the private rooms, and I've recently discovered (thanks to @NYCBaby) the joy of live band karaoke, where you get up and sing with a live rock band backing you up. One good dose of "Goodbye to You" with Bunnie England & the New Originals (which I got in last Thursday) and my inner diva is rejuvenated for at least a few weeks (plus that particular song has the added bonus of getting rid of those clingy bits of ex-boyfriend remnants that stick around beyond their welcome). That said, I'm still hitting this up on Sunday, because hey — no one is going to nourish my inner diva except for me!
Category: Music
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The Current Soundtrack
It happens to all of us — we get a song stuck in our head, for better or for worse. I woke up yesterday with "Alone" by Heart in my head (perfect for belting in the shower, for the record). As the day progressed, I was influenced by a link that my friend Frank had in his GChat status to this, which featured a cover of Hall & Oates' "One on One" as the song of the week. Boom — stuck. This morning's song, prompted by nothing I can pinpoint, is "Love is Pain" by Joan Jett. Actually, maybe it was reading the interview with her in last week's Time Out over dinner last night . . .
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And Now, for Today’s Soundtrack
Todd Rundgren’s Pretending to Care. Stuck in my head. For all you Amalgamates out there. Enjoy!
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In My Head Today
And for the sake of clarity
They are "Faith", "Hope", and "Charity"
In the particle of me that cares for this
I betrayed those little atoms with a kiss -
Children by the Millions Scream for Alex Chilton
All I knew about Alex Chilton was that lyric by the Replacements until about 2001, when my friend Christopher introduced me to Big Star. We were dating at the time — he living in DC and I in NYC — so I listened to Big Star a lot during the time we weren't in the same city, mostly their first two albums. We also went to see them in New Orleans when we were down there together for New Years. Christopher now lives in London, but I texted him from the Big Star show last night letting him know I was there. He responded back immediately — not sure what he was doing up at that hour . . .
Thanks to Christopher for being in my life and introducing me to Big Star, and thanks to @livethelushlife, @mysteryaction, @winenshine and Ethan & co for being such good company.
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Rock & Roll
Last week, my friend Mayer came to town to see the concerts for the 25th Anniversary of the Rock & Roll Hall of fame. He took me along for the first night where I got to see the likes of Crosby Stills & Nash, Bonnie Raitt, John Fogerty, Jackson Brown, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Simon & Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen & Billy Joel. It was an epic-length show, starting at 7:30 and ending at 1:30 a.m. Mayer does a much better recap (part 1 & part 2), but I wanted to share a bit of Bruce & Billy singing New York State of Mind. PS — I need to learn how to use the video on my digi-cam. Thanks, Mayer!!!!
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Homecoming
I'm heading up to Tufts this weekend for the Amalgamates 25th anniversary celebration. The Mates are a coed a cappella group that I was in for three of my four years at Tufts and whose alumni and members have been a part of my life ever since. People are coming in from all over the world to celebrate and sing, and I'd be shocked if I have much of a voice left after the weekend. Can't wait to see everyone!!! Oh, and apparently there's a football game?
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Glee
I watched the first episode of Glee and absolutely adored it. It was like some sort of mash-up flashback to my years of MTM (Musical Theatre Machine), college and law school a cappella groups, stage band, musicals, the Law Revue show, and ACMAP (a.k.a. band camp) all rolled into one, except with a much healthier dose of angst than anything I ever experienced in reality. Or at least if there was angst, or if we were being called losers behind our backs in high school, I was too blissfully oblivious to notice. I spent so much time in my high school auditorium that when they remodeled it, I took a piece of the stage home (I wasn't the only one, for the record). It still sitting in a closet up in Maine to this day (I hope). I look back at all of those experiences with sheer, well, glee, and find that singing and theatre is the one thing that I don't have time for anymore that I truly, truly miss with all of my heart. Yes, I'm a dork, but proud of it as all hell.
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Mix Tapes
Last night I was at a bar on 10th Street called Black and White. It's nothing special — a dark, loud, dive-y bar between 3rd and 4th Aves, a little too loud for my taste. When I walked in, I thought that I had probably raised the average age of the place quite a bit, but at least they were playing the Clash — Police and Thieves. Turns out there was a DJ, playing some fantastic 80's music. It literally sounded to me like she had taken my personal box of mix tapes — the ones that I had taped off of the radio on WLIR back in the day — and put them on her iPod: New Order, Joy Division, Tones on Tail, the Cure, Depeche Mode, and more. If she had played it at a volume that had actually allowed me to hear my friends, I would have stayed all night.
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Love Child
As I said yesterday on my Facebook status update, I want to be the love child of Julia Child and Chrissie Hynde when I grow up. You can read about my love for Julia below. I got to see Chrissie and the Pretenders rocking out on Monday night at Summerstage. If I can rock that hard, sing that well, and look that good at age 57, I'll be thrilled.