If you’ve ever seen Mike Milazzo play the guitar then you already know what an amazing experience it is to watch him – his fingers fly effortlessly over the strings producing almost unbelievably complex sounds that are not only beautiful and powerful but raw and real. As a songwriter Mike has the ability to find the core of what connects us all and finesse it into thoughtful words and haunting melodies. As a singer, Mike’s voice is earnest and true; evocative and filled with emotion. He takes you on a journey with every line he sings, and it’s not until he’s strummed his last note that you’re able to break the hypnotic spell which his music has cast over you. You only have to sit through one of Mike’s performances to know that he is one of the best musicians around.
For those not lucky enough to be able to see Mike perform in person, he’s working on getting a new album out called “The Show”. Mike Milazzo took some time in between gigs to chat with us about what inspired him to write these songs, what the differences are between collaborating and going solo, and he finally solves the mystery of who, exactly, “Mr. Barry” is. Read on …
It has been a long 13 years since hiphop artist EMINEM burst onto the music scene and the charts with his first studio record, “The Slim Shady LP”. An ecclectic and shocking album, 5 more equally shocking albums would follow, and be placed at number 1 on the American Billboard Charts for years to come.
Today, in memory of Michael Jackson’s passing, we re-post a great tribute written by Michael’s friend and business associate, Howard Bloom, who shared his memories of Michael with me one year ago.
Guest Blogger Howard Bloom
Guest Blogger Howard Bloom began his legendary career in music public relations when he co-founded The Howard Bloom Organization Ltd in 1976, and helped build or sustain the careers of Michael Jackson, Prince, Bob Marley, Queen, Billy Joel, John Cougar Mellencamp, Simon & Garfunkel, Bette Midler, Joan Jett, AC/DC, Talking Heads, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and roughly 100 other stars of the 1970s and 1980s. Here he shares some of his personal reflections on the passing of his client, Michael Jackson, and takes us past all the noise to a quieter place.
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On the night of June 25th, when I was on my nightly mile-long 1 am walk that loops me up to Prospect Park then takes me back to my brownstone, I passed a pair of 18 year olds sitting on a stoop at this lonely hour when the streets and sidewalks are usually utterly devoid of human beings. The guy had long dark black curly hair and the girl had a short, blond haircut and was wearing shorts. The male said something to me as I passed. I walked back, took off my headphones, and asked him to repeat it. He said, “Michael Jackson is dead.”
I asked him why he said that to me. I wondered if he knew me from the Tea Lounge on Union Street, where I do my writing, or from the streets and if he knew my Michael Jackson connection. No, he didn’t. He was telling it to everyone. He wanted no one to ignore it.
He was particularly emphatic about making sure that no one over the age of 30 pass it by or dismiss it. Michael Jackson’s death, he felt, was a loss to all of us whether we realized it or not.
It’s no secret that I’m a huge Gaga fan. But fan or no, I’m not actually writing this post as a person who loves the Lady. This is a response to the bashing Lady Gaga’s Telephone video has been getting in the media. Bashing which is so unwarranted that it’s caused me to go on a tirade to anyone who will listen. And yes, at this point it’s almost a “so what?” but at the same time, I’ve got this blog and rather than repeating these same points over and over I’ll take it to the web, where at least I can accentuate my points with exhibits that I can write funny captions for.
So Much Scandal, So Little Bandwidth
I would like to present the case that absolutely nothing in Telephone can’t already be found in pre-existing mainstream media – media which, I might add, is often far more exploitative of women and far more pointlessly violent, and pointlessly pornographic. I would also like to illustrate how many of the Telephone images that are being isolated and vilified have, in other contexts and for other artists, been celebrated. My question is – are we honestly going to crucify a woman who creates a video that is a veritable homage to Tarantino films just weeks after nominating him for Hollywood’s highest honor without someone crying hypocrisy? What’s REALLY going on here?
Of all the things I never thought I’d be interesting in (vacations on the beach, camping in some nature preserve, going vegan, studying mathematical theory) well, Irish folky type bands top that list. I grew up in Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish, where every March the Catholic grammar school went Green (back when that meant something else entirely) and all the halls were plastered with posters of 4 men dressed as leprechauns and smiling gleefully over their respective instruments. This was my introduction to Irish bands.
It has been a long 13 years since hiphop artist EMINEM burst onto the music scene and the charts with his first studio record, “The Slim Shady LP”. An ecclectic and shocking album, 5 more equally shocking albums would follow, and be placed at number 1 on the American Billboard Charts for years to come.
