Attack of the Madonna Clones

February 19th, 2012 Posted in Music
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The recent public feud between Madonna and Lady GaGa isn’t anything new to the material girl. She’s endured copycats and clones ever since day one when she started back in the early 80s. Here are a few of the ones that I remember and actually liked. Obviously, none of them had careers as successful or as long as Madonna. Some of them still perform shows and have fan bases from the 80s who enjoy reminiscing about their club days.

Let me start with my favorite clone.. Alisha who had a few hits so she wasn’t a one-hit wonder like the rest.
Baby Talk

All Night Passion

Stargazing

Here’s Nocera who also had a couple of hits. She wasn’t only Italian like Madonna but actually from Sicily.
Let’s Go

Summertime Summertime

Regina had a hit called Baby Love that not only sounded like a Madonna song but the music video reminded me of Borderline.

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Dreamin’

March 17th, 2011 Posted in Music
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A contestant on American Idol season 10 (2011) sang DREAMIN’ by Amos Lee which brought a huge new audience to this incredible singer. Here’s the original version by Amos Lee following by the lyrics and then the one by Scott Dangerfield from his audition on Idol.

I love this song not just because it’s simply beautiful and the vocals are heavenly but also because of its message. He knows people are calling him a dreamer and he accepts the fact that he is and he’s perfectly fine with it. He even boldly proclaims that he has every intention to continue doing just that, dreamin’. He also says that love is what pulls him through.

I love that because I know that I’m a dreamer too. It took me a long time to accept it and I’ve stopped thinking of it as a negative label. Quite frankly, I love being a dreamer in this crazy thing called life. Are you one too? Don’t let the dreamkillers steal your bliss or get in your way as you make your dreams come true. Remember that the road to every dream is littered with naysayers and excuse-makers so keep on dreamin’!

"Dreamin’"
My soul,
is as open as the sky.
Often time,
it’s just as blue.
People tell me,
I need to keep on dreamin’.
That’s just what I’m gonna do.
Now everybody,
wanna treat me like a house fly.
Turn me around,
and tell me to shoo.
Wanna tell me,
keep on dreamin’.
That’s just what I’m gonna do.
‘Cause every moral,
has a story.
Every hand needs a glow.
Sometimes it’s full of glory.
Oh, but mostly, it’s for the love.
It’s the love..
Mmm..
It’s the love.
It’s the love that pulls me through.
‘Cause when they tell me,
keep on dreamin’.
Thats just what I’m, I’m gonna, thats just what I’m gonna do.

 

Here’s Scott Dangerfield who did a wonderful job. He made it to Hollywood week but dropped out because he didn’t want to miss the start of his new career as a teacher. He might come back next year. I sure hope so.

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Return to Innocence

January 18th, 2009 Posted in Music
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I’ve always loved Enigma’s “Return to Innocence” which is about recapturing the magic and wonder that we had in our youth. It’s so important for us to never lose touch with our inner child and remain ever wide-eyed and full of hopes and dreams.

Favorite passage:

Be yourself don’t hide
Just believe in destiny
Don’t care what people say
Just follow your own way

“Return To Innocence”
That’s not the beginning of the end
That’s the return to yourself
The return to innocence
Love – Devotion
Feeling – Emotion
Love – Devotion
Feeling – Emotion
Don’t be afraid to be weak
Don’t be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence
If you want, then start to laugh
If you must, then start to cry
Be yourself don’t hide
Just believe in destiny
Don’t care what people say
Just follow your own way
Don’t give up and use the chance
To return to innocence
That’s not the beginning of the end
That’s the return to yourself
The return to innocence
Don’t care what people say
Follow just your own way Follow just your own way
Don’t give up, don’t give up
To return, to return to innocence.
If you want then laugh
If you must then cry
Be yourself don’t hide
Just believe in destiny.

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The Chain of Love

December 12th, 2008 Posted in Music
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Here’s a wonderful song called “The Chain of Love” by Clay Walker from many years ago. I’ve never forgotten it or the amazing truth it tells about the power of each and every kind act that we do. One small act of kindness can lead to monumental joy and change. We just never know what the true end results will be for any nice thing we do for someone. We all should try our best to do something kind every day, even if it’s for a perfect stranger. It can be online or in real life, it doesn’t matter. We need to pay it forward and keep the chain of love growing ever stronger and longer.

“Chain of Love” by Clay Walker

He was driving home one evening,
In his beat up Pontiac
When an old lady flagged him down,
Her Mercedes had a flat
He could see that she was frightened,
Standing out there in the snow
‘Til he said I’m here to help you ma’am,
By the way my name is Joe
She said I’m from St. Louis,
And I’m only passing through
I must have seen a hundred cars go by,
This is awful nice of you
When he changed the tire,
And closed her trunk
And was about to drive away,
She said how much do I owe you
Here’s what he had to say
You don’t owe me a thing, I’ve been there too
Someone once helped me out,
Just the way I’m helping you
If you really want to pay me back,
Here’s what you do
Don’t let the chain of love end with you
Well a few miles down the road,
The lady saw a small cafe
She went in to grab a bite to eat,
And then be on her way
But she couldn’t help but notice,
How the waitress smiled so sweet
And how she must’ve been eight months along,
And dead on her feet
And though she didn’t know her story,
And she probably never will
When the waitress went to get her change,
From a hundred dollar bill
The lady slipped right out the door,
And on a napkin left a note
There were tears in the waitress’s eyes,
When she read what she wrote
You don’t owe me a thing,
I’ve been there too
Someone once helped me out,
Just the way I’m helping you
If you really want to pay me back,
Here’s what you do
Don’t let the chain of love end with you
That night when she got home from work,
The waitress climbed into bed
She was thinkin’ about the money,
And what the lady’s note had said
As her husband lay there sleeping,
She whispered soft and low
Everything’s gonna be alright, I love you, Joe

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Me

December 9th, 2008 Posted in Music
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Paula Cole’s “Me” is a wonderful song about our own worst enemies sometimes, our own selves! It’s amazing how often we sabotage our own successes whether consciously or subconsciously. We get in our own way on our journey to happiness and impede the path to bliss with negative thoughts and behaviors.

This was the pinnacle of Paula Cole’s career as she received massive success critically and commercially. She even received several Grammy Award nominations. In this record she’s given us a great collection of songs like “Me” along with “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone” and “I Don’t Want to Wait”.

While cleaning up my Outlook I stumbled across a note I wrote a while ago but forgot all about. So I shared it with everyone on Twitter. It seems to fit in perfectly with this wonderful song and its message.

me

I think we’ve gone from the “ME” generation to the “Them” generation where it’s become en vogue to place the blame on others for our lot in life. We need to stop the whining, get off our buts…and if only’s and start taking charge of our lives and become responsible for our own happiness.

 

Me
I am not the person who is singing
I am the silent one inside
I am not the one who laughs at people's jokes
I just pacify their egos
I am not my house, my car, my songs
They are only just stops along my way
I am like the winter
I'm a dark cold female
With a golden ring of wisdom in my cave

CHORUS:

And it is me who is my enemy
Me who beats me up
Me who makes the monsters
Me who strips my confidence

I am carrying my voice
I am carrying my heart
I am carrying my rhythm
I am carrying my prayers
But you can't kill my spirit
It's soaring and it's strong
Like a mountain
I'll go on and on
But when my wings are folded
The brightly colored moth
Blends into the dirt into the ground

Chorus

And it's me who's too weak
And it's me who's too shy
To ask for the thing I love
And it's me who's too weak
And it's me who's too shy
To ask for the thing I love
That I love (6 times)

I am walking on the bridge
I am over the water
And I'm scared as hell
But I know there's something better
Yes I know there's something
Yes I know, I know, yes I know

That I love (5 times overlapping chorus)

But it's me
And it's me
But it's me (4 times)
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Does She Love That Man

December 5th, 2008 Posted in Music
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heartbreak1 I’ll never forget the first time that I heard the song “Does She Love That Man?” by Breathe. In was one of the most painful holiday seasons ever for as I was suffering the immense anguish of heartbreak from a major breakup with some I truly loved. It’s never easy when you have your heart broken but to experience during the holidays adds insult to injury because it’s truly is the most wonderful time of the year. While you’re licking your wounds and try to make sense of it all, you have to endure all of the happy and romantic couples that seemingly appear everywhere you go.

Well, this one night in December I flipped the channel to the Joan Rivers Show, yes, she had a talk show back then. She introduced Breathe which was one of my favorite artists thanks to songs such as “Hands to Heaven” and “How Can I Fall”. So I prepared to enjoy a live performance from the british band and I noticed something strange. The lead singer David Glasper had an extremely short hair cut, almost like it was shaved for some reason. What provoked this handsome bloke to do this to himself?

Then the song began and it started to make sense. It also started to rip my already shattered heart out. The song was all about a man dealing with the torture of breaking up with the love of his life during the holidays and to make things worse he actually runs into her with her new man!

The music and lyrics were beautiful and powerful but the performance the lead singer gave that night was unforgettable. All singers are performers but this guy was baring his soul for all the world to see. I don’t know if this song was actually auto-biographical or if he was just getting into the song but it sure looked and felt like it was. I think his commitment to the experience and my own personal heartbreak resulted in me in tears that I’d been resisting for the longest time. The floodgates were open and I didn’t mind. As a matter of fact, it felt great and ultra cathartic. The song actually began a healing process for me.

The emotions climaxed in this part of the song:
The waitress talked to me, but I could not hear her words at all
The only sound that I could hear was the screaming of my soul
My world revolved around one single thing I wish to know
Does she love that man?

I don’t think I’ll ever see that live performance from Breathe that night on the Joan Rivers Show but I was thrilled to finally find the official music video for the song which has never appeared anywhere online in all the years that I’ve checked until now. So, here’s the video followed by the lyrics.

Here are the heartbreaking lyrics

DOES SHE LOVE THAT MAN?

Endlessly walking through a winter that’s so bitterly cold
Christmas is coming all the stores are wrapped in their neon glow
But I don’t feel festive
Oh I’ve lost the woman I held so dear
I’m so reflective as I think of all our happy years
I brush against a stranger,
So I turn to apologize
And I saw her, with another man, and a sparkle in her eyes
Does she love that man?
The way that I’m loving her still
Does she love that man?
For she has broken my will to survive
I walked to a cafe where I sat and stared at an empty wall
The waitress talked to me, but I could not hear her words at all
The only sound that I could hear was the screaming of my soul
My world revolved around one single thing I wish to know
Does she love that man?
The way that I’m loving her still
Does she love that man?
For she has broken my will to survive
The weather was changing, snow began falling
The sky became dark like the mood of my heart
I watched all the lovers
Sharing together, their smiles and laughter were painful reminders
I seem to recapture the moment I held her
I made her swear that she’d always be there
But she left me sorrow and fear of tomorrow
As soon as I wake there’s a pain I can’t shake in my heart
Does she love that man?
The way that I’m loving her still
Does she love that man?
For she has broken my will
Does she love that man?
The way that I’m loving her still
Does she love that man?
For she has broken my will
Does she love him?
Does she love him?
Does she love that man?

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Shayla

December 3rd, 2008 Posted in Music
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I’ve always been a fan of Blondie and love all of their well-known songs such as Heart of Glass, Dreaming, Atomic, and many more. However, there’s this one obscure song that really captivates me still to this day. It’s called Shayla and it’s about a woman who loses her job at a factory. The music is hauntingly wonderful and atmospheric. Deborah Harry’s vocals are magnificent and she looks radiant. The lyrics are spellbinding and artistically cryptic all at the same time. I might have interpreted it incorrectly but it seems to indicate that Shayla commits suicide which is a heartbreaking conclusion to the story of course. I always thought it would make a great movie too.

Listen to the song and read the lyrics and tell me what you think it all means. I could be way off base and I hope I am!
Still, either way, it’s a beautiful and memorable song in my book.

Lyric of the song “Shayla” of Blondie

Shayla worked in a factory
She wasn’t history. She’s just a number
One day she gets her final pay
And she goes far away
Green trees call to me
I am free but life is so cheap
Scenery is still outside of me
All alone, trapped by its beauty

Shayla turned to run away
To leave in peace and end her stay
Years of fear were in her way
Lost in space and down she came

Suddenly some subtle entity
Some cosmic energy brushed her like shadows
Down here we stop to wonder
Cars on the freeway. Bright lights and thunder

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She’s Not Just a Pretty Face

December 3rd, 2008 Posted in Music
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Maybe it’s because I have a daughter now (three years old), but I view women differently than I used to. Most men, especially Italians I’m afraid, look at women as these objects of beauty. While there’s nothing wrong with admiring the beauty in females, it’s wrong to ever objectify them in such a manner. Whenever we reduce anyone to merely their physical appearance it limits everyone involved. We all are much more than what we look like. Male or female.

I should know this from experience because growing up I always looked like a sports jock type. You know, the dumb athlete stereotype which annoyed me to no end. No one knew that beneath the ruggedly handsome exterior (tongue in cheek of course) existed a deep thinking, soul-searching poet. Most people didn’t know that about me because all they wanted to see was the jock stereotype. Totally unfair to me as a person so I can understand how women feel whenever people judge them merely by their looks.

I love this song from Shania Twain (Beautiful AND talented) called “She’s Not Just a Pretty Face”.
I couldn’t embed my favorite video of this song because the YouTube user disabled it for whatever reason! Anyway, it’s all about the different kinds of professions that women are successful in today even though they might still be labeled pretty. The moral of the story is that women are much more than the flesh.

Lesson learned: Don’t judge a book by its cover!

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Tragedy

December 2nd, 2008 Posted in Music
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I remember this oldie from John Hunter called “Tragedy”. I always thought he sounded a lot like Leo Sayer whom I liked a lot. Cute song and video. Simple story about how your tragedy can turn into a happy ending unexpectedly.

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Fire and Rain

November 30th, 2008 Posted in Music
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James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” still moves me every time I hear it. Doesn’t matter how many times I hear it, I just feel something. The music and JT’s voice and the words are all perfect together. The meaning behind the song makes it all the more special. There’ve been many false rumors surrounding the song, but Taylor finally set the record straight in an NPR interview in 2005. Here’s what he said about the inspiration for the song that had three different parts:

  • The first part was about Taylor’s friend Suzanne, who died while Taylor was in London working on his first album after being signed to Apple Records. Friends at home, concerned that it may have distracted Taylor from his big break, kept the tragic news from him, and it was only some time later that Taylor found out.
  • The second part details Taylor’s struggle to overcome drug addiction and depression.
  • The third part deals with coming to grips with fame and fortune, looking back at the road that got him there. It includes a reference to James Taylor and The Flying Machine, a band he briefly worked with before his big break with Paul McCartney, Peter Asher and Apple Records. The lyric includes a reference to “sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground”; the reference is to the name of the band rather than a fatal plane crash in the rain that killed his friend, as was long rumored.

Here’s a special live performance of “Fire and Rain” by a young sweet baby James. It’s a timeless classic. I guess we can all relate to the song in our own way with our own experiences. Perhaps thinking of our own lost friends or dreams that crashed into a million pieces along the way. In any event, it’s a beautiful song.

Lyrics

Fire and Rain

Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Susanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just cant remember who to send it to
I’ve seen fire and Ive seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that Id see you again
Wont you look down upon me, Jesus
You’ve got to help me make a stand
You’ve just got to see me through another day
My body’s aching and my time is at hand
And I wont make it any other way
Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that Id see you again
Been walking my mind to an easy time my back turned towards the sun
Lord knows when the cold wind blows it’ll turn your head around
Well, there’s hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things
To come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground
Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that Id see you, baby, one more time again, now
Thought Id see you one more time again
There’s just a few things coming my way this time around, now
Thought Id see you, thought Id see you fire and rain, now

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