The Rest of the Top 100

[fusion_text] Aerosmith, Dream On Lee Andrews & Hearts, Teardrops The Band, The Weight Bee Gees, I Can’t See Nobody David Bowie, Changes Laura Branigan, Gloria Garth Brooks, Callin’ Baton Rouge Jackson Browne, The Load-Out/Stay Mary Chapin Carpenter, He Thinks He’ll Keep Her Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah Sam Cooke, You Send Me Elvis Costello, Allison Jim Croce, […]

SOB

A shout-out to the #1 Song of the Year on Sirius XM’s Spectrum station: S,O.B. by Nathaniel Ratefliff and the Night Sweats. Although the title is abbreviated, the song’s principal lyric is “son of a bitch,” sung in a raucously infectious style. How long ago was it that “son of a bitch” would not have […]

Florence & the Machine

If Joan of Arc were reincarnated today, she could do worse than finding herself in the person of Florence Welch, British rocker and star of Florence & the Machine, who performed at the Bowl last night (10/20/15). With barefoot purity, strong voice, handsome face and flowing red mane, Florence overflowed with charisma and could have […]

Buffett at the Bowl

[fusion_text]It doesn’t seem fair or nice to describe a Jimmy Buffett concert as “ho-hum,” but that is the word that comes to mind as I look back on his appearance at the Santa Barbara Bowl on Thursday night (10/15/15). Jimmy is so ebullient and appears to be having such a good time, you can’t help […]

Moussorgsky Lite

[fusion_text]The USC Symphony Orchestra came to the Granada Theater in Santa Barbara to play “Pictures At An Exhibition,” the only classical piece I can hum, not counting those that have been turned into rock songs. The orchestra was fine, so far as I can tell, and the Moussorgsky work remains my favorite. The gimmick was […]