Thunderbolt

What can you say about a song that is like a parasite? It latches into your brain, your heart, your soul, and grows tendrils, sucking the life out of you. It becomes everything that you are, everything you think about, everything you want. A song like that is what I find so wonderful about music. A song like that is what loving music is about. It’s not something you can explain. Good song. Bad song. It’s your damn song, so who gives a shit what everyone else says. A song like that is magic. A blessing and a curse. A song like that is the definition of a basement song. Last week I received a copy of Robert Plant’s “Fate of Nations” album that was released in 1993. Last week I was riding a wave of euphoria. Life felt good after several weeks of depression. For those of you who keep up with the blog, you know why I’m depressed so much. You may not understand it. I don’t even understand it most of the time. I like to think of myself as an optimist, but I continually find my...

Went to a going away party for my old friend Harry and his wife, Holly, on Saturday. First of all, let me tell you how damn old I am. I was up until almost 2 and I was dead all day Sunday. Someone please explain to me how these old rockers carry on the way they do (I'm talking to YOU Keith Richards). Anyway, he had several friends over, but the two of us kind of gravitated to each other most of the time I was there. Harry and I used to talk so much and share our thoughts about music and movies when we worked together at Klasky. I hadn't seen him in over a year and I failed to realize how much I really missed him all of this time. And now... he's moving back to New England. We get so caught up in our lives that some people, those peripheral important folks that provide us with creative outlets often get forgotten. I truly regret not keeping in touch with Harry all of this time. Sad thing is, we'll probably share more emails now that he's moving. Things Harry...

Here is the article I mentioned from the previous post.-S Friday March 16, 2007 Family Life Lived with a Challenge By Annemarie Donkin Signal Staff Writer Cystic fibrosis. The name alone is too difficult for many of its youngest patients to pronounce, many of whom lisp it as "64 Roses." Primarily hitting children of Northern European ancestry, the condition is popularly known as the "pale, blonde, blue-eyed," disease. According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive systems of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States. A defective gene causes the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections. It also obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb nutrients. In the 1950s, few children with cystic fibrosis lived to attend elementary school. Symptoms, some of which a...

I had a majority of this week's basement song entry written and it became pointless after I began listening to a 10 year old Robert Plant album, "Fate of Nations". I already knew five of the tacks on the cd, one of which is a favorite, ("29 Palms") and another that I have trouble getting through without tearing up, his tribute to his son, "I Believe". Plant's son died in 1977 when he was 5. I never gave much thought to this album, despite liking the songs I had heard. It came out during the alternative wave in '93. I was so over him by then. So you can imagine my surprise when I began listening to the album and was blown away by the beauty and emotion that resonates in this music. What's more, a wave of sadness washes over every track. As much as I should stop listening to this music, I can’t. I just want to listen and cry my damn eyes out. I'm sure you know why. An article about our family appeared in the local newspaper this ...

It's been a rough week and I haven't gotten to this week's installment. I plan to have it up this weekend. Thanks for checking in. Aloha

I want this to be an interactive experience. I may not have as much to say as some of my favorite bloggers, but I do want your feedback, especially when I make the Basement Songs posts. I realize that some of the songs I write about many of the ten of you have never heard before. Thus, I am willing to create a Basement Song mailing list. Here's how it will work: For each song that I write about, I will send it to whomever signs up for the list. Each week, after the post is made, I'll email the song to the folks on the list so you all can hear what I'm talking about. I think that's only fair since some of you may not get what the hell I going for if you don't have that week's particular melody swimming around in your noggin. This is purely a selfish act on my part. See, I will be asking you all for help in the Malchus family battle against cystic fibrosis. Whether it's by donating or by volunteering, I need your help. And you'll get at least 45 new songs ...

Sometimes a song latches on to your soul and refuses to let go. You may listen to it one thousand times and declare that you're through with the damn thing. And weeks, months... a year later, it will sneak up on and sucker punch you in the kidney. And like an old love that keeps a room in the darkest corner of your heart, that song lurks. Waiting. Waiting. It's a curse, but often the greatest cure. Such is the case of Badly Drawn Boy's "I Love N.Y.E." from his wonderful soundtrack to the film "About A Boy". I came across this album long before I even saw the movie. It must have been a good year because I did not see "About A Boy" until it was on DVD. But I had read some glowing review of Badly Drawn Boy's music stating that it was one of the greatest soundtracks since "The Graduate." I knew that Badly Drawn Boy was a hug Springsteen fan, and I am also an enormous fan of Simon and Garfunkel and "The Graduate", so...