Battle of the Bands Results: Bad Romance

 In this battle Jeff Beck beat Halestorm 3 to 1 covering Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." You probably would expect either contestant to cover Lady Gaga. I don't think the crowd on Jeff's performance new how to react. I thought it was hilarious to perform a pop hit at a classic rock award show. I have also heard Lady Gaga covered by other classic rock artists so she is obviously gifted with some great songs.

Talking about pop music check out this video from the 80's. There are some appearance from some 80's pop stars and pop culture. The song is "Ambitious" off of Jeff Beck's "Flash" album.

What are some pop stars of today that have some great songs that could be covered well by other musicians? 

Anyway I will be back May 1 with another Battle of the Bands.

Sam Smith's Stay With Me and Tom Petty's I Won't Back Down

Almost like an in between Battle of the Bands. Sam Smith and Tom Petty have come to an agreement over Smith's song "Stay With Me." Apparently it is too close to Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down." Under the agreement Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne will receive 12.5% of the song royalties each as co-writers. According to several sources including USA Today.

         To be honest I am a bigger fan of Tom Petty's music than I am of Sam Smith's music.             However with that being said I do think Sam Smith is a talented vocalist and his song "Stay with Me" is a beautiful pop song. Take a listen for yourself...

I also like Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down." Though musically the songs may be similar I find the content of the two songs and the overall sound to be quite different.

What are your thoughts? 

Remembering Casey Kasem

I don't know if the Pop Top 40 is as important to musicians as it used to be. It is not as important to me. I still listen to pop music. I have a seven year old daughter who enjoys a lot of pop tunes. However I listen to a lot of other genres that you just don't hear on pop radio. Back in the day, Pop music included a lot more music than it does now.

One of the reasons the Top 40 was so important was Casey Kasem. I have found memories of listening to  him count the songs down in the early 80s.  He would always close with his catch phrase..
"Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."

Here Casey Kasem appears on David Letterman's show...

A news report of his death..

If music wasn't your thing or if you were never a fan of the American Top 40 you may remember Casey Kasem as the voice of Scooby Doo's Shaggy.

Casey Kasem was a legend of the airwaves. A medium in decline with internet radios, satellite radio, streaming songs, and other replacements. If it is not in decline it is ever changing. It is not what it once was which is fitting with the news of Casey Kasem. No new or current radio personality will ever come close to catching Casey Kasem's star.