It’s All A Matter Of Perspective

When I worked at Rational Software in the late 90s, they hired a new VP of Human Resources named Michael. My first impression of him was at our holiday party, where he shushed a few people who were talking during executive presentations, and then proceeded to look on and listen with an interest level I only wish I could ever have for executives giving speeches (yawn). The way he shushed the others kinda bugged me, but I thought “OK, the man got to be a VP – he must be doing *something* right.” My girlfriend at the time, who also worked for Rational, actually knew him from a previous job and said he was a really nice guy. But I hadn’t met him – I’d just made a snap judgment of him from his one action in front of me. I was just a lowly engineer, and he was at the top of the HR department – it was unlikely we’d ever meet on level ground.

Disco Mondegreen – Let’s Groove!

As a child in the 70s, I could easily blame my lack of vocabulary and crappy radio reception for misheard lyrics, but this one stayed with me into my 40s, where I now enjoy a much stronger vocabulary and the crystal clarity of digital audio. The song in question is Let’s Groove by Earth, Wind, & Fire.

Thanks To Gravity

In my sophomore year of college, I took a philosophy class, probably to fulfill a gen-ed requirement. The class was full of all kinds of characters, but one guy in particular always chimed in – you know, the kind of guy you love to hate. His name was Graham Smith, and for the longest time, I just loved to hate him … until one day he showed up to class with a small box that said on the side “Thanks to Gravity – CDs $7.” Truly, what went through my head was that he was selling CDs of various national bands, and thanks to gravity, their price had come down to $7 instead of the sky high $15 that they cost at the mall. I really thought that. Turns out that he was in a campus band by that name. I gambled and parted with a five and two ones to see what his gig was all about. I didn’t know I was in for a ride.

Name That Tune … Based On The Drum Intro

Being a bassist, I always have to lock in with the drummer if we’re to be a competent rhythm section. Combining that with my love of many types of music, I thought it would be fun to create a list of songs that start with just a drum intro and see if people could guess what the song is. When I consider a drum kit, I picture a limited set of ways to introduce a song, but it turns out that there are a LOT of ways that drummers have introduced songs over the years, and some of them are unmistakeable. Others … not so much. Watch this video and see how many you can guess. Oh, and share it with your friends if you enjoyed the challenge.

Nothing You Can Do About Happy

As my last band 49 Fingers was building up toward recording its first album, we had a smattering of songs that we did record but chose not to include for one reason or another. One of those is a song called Nothing You Can Do About Happy, or just Happy, for short. It was actually recorded in a couple hours on a whim as an attempt to place one of our songs in a movie. It didn’t make it, but I always think it would be a pleasant song to hear as ending credits roll.

Hummingbird Bridge

There is a song by Seals & Crofts called Hummingbird. It’s a 70s tune, and I have strong memories of hearing it as a kid. And then there was a big span of time when I didn’t hear it. In 2008, I bought the song and was able to revisit it. The bridge … oh the bridge.

Band Y

You know them – they’re the band that opens for the band you’re going to see, or the band you’re going to see is opening for them. If you’re really lucky, there are many bands in one night, so your $5 cover charge gets you oodles of great music to last all night. If you’re like most people I know, you like Band X, and you try to arrive exactly when Band X starts and leave right after they’re done. Why? Because most other bands suck!

Not Music Related – Dan, Meet Murderer … Murderer, Meet Dan

In 1987, I was 16 and took a job at a potato chip factory in Salem, NH called Granite State Potato Chips. It was a pretty cool job – I was making minimum wage ($4/hr) but I was able to eat all the potato chips I wanted for free. What more could a 16 year old want? And you haven’t had potato chips until you’ve had them straight out of the oil. Nothing like it!

File Under Stupid – Roxette vs Wilson Phillips

In the 80s, I was a top 40 fanatic. Not just a listener, mind you, but a fanatic. Not only would I read Billboard’s Hot 100 religiously every week, but I would actually sit down and *type out* the top 40, song by song, and memorize each song’s statistics (chart position this week, chart position last week, number of weeks on chart, etc). Yes, I know … nerd alert. Like, neon sign nerd alert. But hey, at least I had a passion!

Not Music Related – Lack of Faith and Foresight

In 1996, I went on a west coast road trip with my friend Dave. While we were enjoying a morning movie in the form of The Next Karate Kid on the Motel 6 TV, I decided to peruse the job openings in the local paper. I lived in Massachusetts at the time and had been contemplating a move to the Bay Area. One of the positions was for quality assurance of a new technology that would help you track your geographical location based on wireless satellite communications. My reaction was “Pfbllt! It’ll never work.”