Michael Jackson - GONE TOO SOON

My wife and I are deeply saddened to hear about the untimely loss of Michael Jackson, the undisputed King Of Pop, a man that is considered to have single-handedly changed the face of pop music & pop culture in the 80s and 90s. From his beginnings as the youngest member of the Jackson 5 to setting new standards in dance and music videos Michael was in more ways than one – an icon who through his sheer talent and artistry unified the world through his music.

We will always consider him a representation of our age; someone who inspired our generation (and so many other generations). We grew up listening to his music, watching his videos, collecting his memorabilia & keeping track of his exploits.

I “Remember the time” I was a kid and looked forward to doing the moonwalk in front of friends and family to “Beat It” and “Billie Jean”. His music was so universal; it appealed to everyone no matter if they were “Black or White”. He was always trying to do so much, trying to “Heal the World”. We danced to his music and had to “Blame It On The Boogie”. His music is so invigorating, “You Can’t Stop Till You Get Enough”. No matter what anyone says about Michael Jackson, most people will consider his life quite the “Thriller”, most people will always consider the King of Pop an indubitable part of “HIStory”. In one simple word he will always be – “Invincible”.

REST IN PEACE & GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS!

The Eighties - Reliving the music!

Thanks to my previous post about TV shows in the eighties I've been inspired to put up another post about the music at the time. Eighties music has been inspirational to a lot of people for a lot of reasons. Great music, weird dress sense, bad hairdos would be the way I'd describe the era!

Listed below are some of my favorite tracks of the eighties:

Take on Me – Aha
Billie Jean – Michael Jackson
Every Breath You Take – Police
Thriller – Michael Jackson
Rebel Yell – Billy Idol
With Or Without You – U2
Karma Chameleon – Culture Club
Broken Wings – Mister Mister
Maneater – Daryll Hall and John Oates
Enjoy The Silence – Depeche Mode
Piano Man – Billy Joel (this was actually sung in the 70s but I listened to it in the 80s)

The list goes on! Anyways, peeps, please feel free to put in your favorites – web space is infinite…or is it? ;-)

A New Passion - Come Sing With Me

So there I was last thursday night waiting for something exciting to happen and while we all know that in Kuwait this could take anything between 2 days to about 7 years in some cases, my friends and I decided to jam. Three guys in a room with some equipment; laptops, speakers, amplifiers, one acoustic and another electric guitar and a set of keyboards - and we think of strumming a tune.

Nothing in particular, we just strum and yoodle (try yoddling after a few drinks and about a pack and a half of Davidoff Lights!). People, I kid you not, about 3 hours later we had actually written a song, composed the music and sung dummy recordings in our makeshift studio in 3 pitches......and that too in 2 different genres; rock (the original version) and reggae!!!

Come...
Come sing with me,
A distant melody,
A hardcore symphony.

Don't...
Don't change yourself,
Don't sow unsure seeds,
Don't make yourself bleed.

You've got to be yourself now,
You've got to do what's right.
You've got to make life work for you,
Without taking a bite.

You've got to be yourself now,
You've got to do it right.
You've got to make life work for you baby,
Without taking a bite.

Come!

To some of you pros out there this may sound like some childish or drunken (or perhaps both)attempt at a Kuwaiti-Indian version of Rockstar but I think with some practice, dedication and the right strategy, we might be on to something big here.

I'm not saying we're the next big thing after Supernova. Hell, we might not even want the accolades and the fame. All we want is something to do creatively, something to collaborate among friends with, something to entertain with. And possibly a cult following! ;-)

In the meanwhile my friends - come sing with me!

Karaoke Kings - In Kuwait???

Karaoke is one of those new fads that actually allows you to become the lead singer of the rock band you always dreamed of fronting. At least if you don't mind losing your inhibitions after a few minutes at a karaoke bar.

Karaoke bars of course were always around but the prevailance of new gizmos and software has now made it possible to bring it home to the confines of your own living room! And we here in Kuwait are doing just that (it's funny what the absence of a good pub or bar can do to you).

Karaoke singing is a great release, a way to let all the events of the day disappear, to let loose and have a good time! If you're feeling a bit voyeurish, you can just sit back and enjoy everyone else’s attempt to sing karaoke (and look stupid mind you). It is quite entertaining, listening to people that are really good, people having fun with it, and people that just have no clue whatsoever(these are the people you might want to clobber with a baseball bat because they've murdered the song for you)

All in all I think we've finally managed to catch on to a new fad and we'd hopefully like to hang on to it until we get bored (which will be in a few weeks) or until the next best stress release is released! ;-)