RHYTHM FOREVER: This past week saw the passing of Jimmy McGuirl. If you weren't from Roselle Park, you probably don't know who he is, but if you were from my hometown, you definitely knew him. He grew up on the west side of town and he hung out a lot in my apartment complex. He was a year behind me in school, but I knew him well from him being in band class. He was a drummer, alongside friends Tom Corea and Mitch Lilien, who, like those two, continued to pursue the love for music into adulthood.
What I remember about Jimmy, was that, during a band performance in one of the elementary schools, he did a drum solo, and I remember the words "Rhythm Unlimited" on the bass drum. And like many of those classmates who loved performing, his participation in the band was just the top of the iceberg. He was active in many ad-hoc garage bands around town, and many friends have so many recollections about him. A few years after he graduated, he moved to Florida, got married and started a family. But he also continued his love for music as he was involved in many bands down there in the sunshine state. Like another late classmate of mine, Tom Colucci, who also moved to Florida and became an actor, he didn't hit the big time, but he did what he loved to do.
He was a Facebook friend, but he was also a friend. He wasn't online much of the last few years, only being active the last several months, after it was discovered he had cancer. His son, also named Jimmy was and is a musician in his own right. He has written many songs for his Dad, and have duetted on many of them, and he was nice enough for him to share them with us. I am not sure if these are commercially available, but I plan on checking out the videos. Jimmy was a well-loved person, and he will be truly missed. My prayers and condolences to his family and his many friends. There will be a benefit for him, which was planned when he was still alive and battling the disease, but of which the proceeds will now go to pay his medical bills, as well as serving as a celebration of his life, August 2nd at the Caribbean Club, in his town of Key Largo, FL.
You will be missed, Jimmy.
MIRANDA RIGHTS?: By now, you have heard the news that two country music superstars, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, have filed for divorce. It had pretty much come as a shock to many fans, as they were thought to be a solid couple. They had been married for four years, but were together longer than that, it seems. Granted, couples in show business has always been a bit tender, but, like another couple in that genre, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, it seemed like they were inseparable. Both stars made my SNS 100 once. Miranda reached the lower rungs of my chart with "Heart Like Mine" which reached #94 in a four week run during the summer of 2011. Blake, more visible due to his coaching job on the TV show The Voice, had a #11 during the summer of 2013 with "Boys 'Round Here". They have said that things weren't turning out the way they were expected to, and that they will go it alone. However, it appears the split was amicable.
Like the movies, it's hard for a couple to remain together, and in music, probably even more so, as all eyes are constantly on the charts, both for radio airplay and sales. I remember the whole Carly Simon - James Taylor situation. Taylor had much success in 1970 and '71 with songs like "Fire And Rain", and "You've Got a Friend" and was of the prime examples (along with Carole King who wrote the latter song) of the singer/songwriter movement of the early part of that decade. Simon was a fledging singer/songwriter in her own right, with her first hit in the summer of 1971, "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be". But it was in the latter part of 1972 that Carly became huge with her "You're So Vain" and No Secrets album. That song, with it's ambiguous reference to a man in her life, was the talk of the industry, and she was very popular, often dwarfing Taylor, who had a less successful album out at the same time. People jumped on the Carly bandwagon, calling Taylor "Mr. Carly Simon", or "the former James Taylor", even though James was very talented.
They stayed together the rest of the decade, and both were successful, into the 1980's, but the two of them divorced in 1983. Unfortunately, they no longer speak to each other (in spite of being parents of another singer, Ben Taylor).
It should be interesting to see what happens to Blake and Miranda.
TO THE MUSIC: Ed Sheeran, in part because of references to him on a weekend trip up to the Berkshires, as well as a friend posting the song on Facebook, retakes the number one position on my chart, for a fifth, non consecutive week, with "Thinking Out Loud", which returns The Decemberists' "Calvary Captain" to the runner-up spot. The very popular Elle King slides into the #3 position with "Ex's and Oh's", also a song to be recent posted by a friend. Courtney Barnett's "Bad Fox" jumps to #4. The biggest entry into the top 20, is the side project by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, The Arcs, "Outta My Mind", which jumps from 30-13.
As you know I have always championed the obscure, up-and-coming, undiscovered music act, and my top 20 has added another one, as New Jersey artist Ken Johnston's project, Kjband, jumps into the upper echelon for the first time with "Our Art" from his most recent album Real Life. Johnston currently resides in Livingston NJ. In the past, he would assemble a band of various members and play private parties and other local functions, but for the most part, this is a studio project. We were once close, but I haven't seen him in fourteen years, as I had pointed out in a prior blog. Johnston, however is a good example, along with Paul Czekaj, and yes, Jimmy McGuirl too, of someone who loves playing music and not worried about "making it big". I feel the best musicians out there do it for the labor of love.
Speaking of these kinds of artists, there are also many of them who do aspire for success. Rachel Allyn, who I had wrote about recently, is attempting to fund her new forthcoming EP, is over 50% toward her mid-August goal, is definitely one of them. Omnia Hegazy and her sister Leila are others, not to mention Taylor Centers and Phoebe Ryan. But perhaps I have stumbled into another one with artistic ambitions.
My top debut this week goes to "Black Magic" by Matt Weiss. Unless you are from a portion of Long Island, chances are you've never heard of him, but he has quietly been making the local rounds near his Huntington Station home. The song, written by him, is a nice, low-key mostly acoustic gem. While that is all and good, its his soulful voice that scores points. I had read a review of him in a Long Island article on the web, and there are comparisons to the singer Shawn Mendes who has had some chart success. Upon listening to this song a few times, it sounds like many others but at the same time it sounds unique. A bit more "electronic" than say a Sam Smith or Ed Sheeran, but still at a down to earth sort of way. I have a good vibe about this 20-year-old and I like his chances for success. If you love on the Island, check him out at the club "89 North" and Patchogue on August 16th.
So, how did I "discover" this singer/songwriter? It's an interesting story, which I will reserve for another time, as "Black Magic" ascends my SNS chart.
COUNTING EM DOWN: As we near the fifth anniversary of starting this blog, I have compiled my top 100 favorite songs of the last five years. From the first blog dated August 23, 2010 and ending with last week's July 12, 2015 edition, I have tabulated my hundred songs that permeated my brain. I have started to count them down on my "Scenes 'n' Soundwaves Music Page" on Facebook. There are some popular favorites (six of the songs have topped Billboard's "Hot 100" chart, and some ones you may have never heard of, but that I'm crazy about. I will be publishing them in a blog in the near future. Stay tuned!
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
July 19, 2015| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 2 | NUMBER ONE:
"Thinking Out
Loud"
Album: x
(5 weeks at #1)
|
20 |
| 2 | 1 | The Decemberists - Calvary Captain | 15 |
| 3 | 5 | Elle King - Ex's and Oh's | 10 |
| 4 | 9 | Courtney Barnett - Dead Fox | 4 |
| 5 | 3 | Florence + the Machine - Ship to Wreck | 11 |
| 6 | 4 | Grace Potter - Alive Tonight | 9 |
| 7 | 8 | Tame Impala - Let It Happen | 15 |
| 8 | 6 | St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Like a Mighty River | 12 |
| 9 | 7 | Calvin Harris f. Ellie Goulding - Outside | 12 |
| 10 | 10 | Coin - Run | 8 |
| 11 | 12 | Beck - Dreams | 5 |
| 12 | 11 | Alabama Shakes - Gimme All Your Love● | 13 |
| 13 | 30 | TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
"Outta My Mind"
Album: Yours, Dreamily |
4 |
| 14 | 17 | Locksley - Let It Ride | 17 |
| 15 | 22 | Kjband - Our Art | 8 |
| 16 | 23 | Allison Iraheta & Halo Circus - Gone | 6 |
| 17 | 16 | George Ezra - Budapest | 22 |
| 18 | 20 | Kid Rock - First Kiss | 15 |
| 19 | 24 | Saint Motel - My Type | 12 |
| 20 | 15 | Walk the Moon - Shut Up & Dance | 17 |
Tremors:
| 101 | 99 | Ratatat - Cream of Chrome |
| 102 | 103 | James Ray - Hold Back the River |
| 103 | ---- | Nothing But Thieves - Trip Switch |
| 104 | 104 | Ok Go - Turn Up the Radio |
|
|
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.
● Songs
with 25 or more plays on my iPod.
▲ Songs with 50 or more plays on my iPod. 