Give me your music, your art, your huddled masses of words and rhythms yearning to breathe free.
Dana Spiardi 
In the early 1970s I was rounding out my collection of Beatles LPs, when I stumbled upon one called “The Beatles Featuring Tony Sheridan – In the Beginning, Circa 1960.” I considered this a real find! I hadn’t been aware of any pre-1963 Beatles recordings, and I had never known the boys to collaborate on … Read more
Who was the youngest person to perform on a U.S. top ten hit record? Thinking Michael Jackson or Little Jimmy Osmond? No, it was Susan Cowsill, 56 today, of The Cowsills – a family band that proved you could make psychedelic music even while promoting milk for the American Dairy Association. Susan had just turned … Read more
“Pete Townshend’s suicide note” is how music critic Roy Carr once described The Who’s October 1975 release “The Who By Numbers.” The band’s founder, songwriter and lead guitarist bared his tortured soul on this LP like no other. Yer blogger bought the record at the height of her teenage existential crisis…and needless to say, she … Read more
Man, I can’t tell you how many times my shrink has had to listen to me recount this dream: I’m strutting down the street decked out like Joan Jett – carrying a guitar/amp/tambourine/harmonica – when a car pulls over and a famous, seasoned musician asks me to stop by a recording studio and rehearse with … Read more
Those of us who embrace the adage “vanity trumps sanity” know it’s often necessary to suffer for beauty. But who among the world’s leading fashionistas would or could endure the discomfort of performing in an outfit that weighs 200 pounds? Flamboyant pianist-showman Władziu Valentino Liberace, of course. His famous, weighty King Neptune ensemble was one … Read more