Keywords by David Yonke

U2 is in the studio, working on a new album with producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. If things keep going as well as they are, the new disc should be out this year, according to U2.com.
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I'm a bit jaded these days about music and don't get excited about too many concerts or new album releases. But every time U2 releases a disc it's a huge moment for me -- and for the band's millions of fans. The last time, when "How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" came out in November, 2004, I went to Meijer's and bought a copy at midnight. I remember the clerk didn't have a clue about it and there were 2 or 3 other people waiting around for the new disc. I put it in the CD player of my Saab and cranked it up and took a drive out in the country, heading west on Sylvania Avenue toward Metamora. Oddly enough, as I was cruising along the country roads my car got hit with an egg. Some kids in the bushes must have thrown it. Strange memory, eh? I bought a regular CD and then later gave that one away and bought the deluxe version with DVD and book.
I loved the songs right from the start, especially "City of Blinding Lights," "Yahweh," and "Love and Peace or Else." I never did like "Miracle Drug," but that's just one song.
Anyway, I am excited to know the Irish lads are back in the studio. I'll probably go get the new disc at midnight but my beloved Saab is no longer with us... The transmission went out and it was not a good investment to get it fixed. I hope to have another Saab soon, however, and maybe I can take it out for another midnight drive to listen to the new disc. And dodge any egg throwing juvenile delinquents.
Toledo, Ohio
April 27, 2008

Rock and roll news from today's New York Post, not very flattering for the old guys:

THE Who's upcoming tour is expected to garner the legendary band a cool $100 million, but getting Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey to travel and perform together is turning into a logistical night- mare.

One insider said, "There is a lot of tension and fighting going on right now. Roger is furious with Pete. Pete has been writing all this new material and wants to perform the new stuff, but Roger wants to stick with 'My Generation,' 'Won't Get Fooled Again,' 'Pinball Wizard' and other classics."

Townshend and Daltrey are said not even to be on speaking terms, and have supposedly presented tour operators with a list of demands, including:

* The two rockers must have separate dressing rooms on opposite ends of the hallway.

* There will be no conversation between the two of them either before or after performances. "They will basically show up, play, and leave," the source said.

* They must have separate travel arrangements, separate hotel accommodations, as well as separate staffing.

"They're at each other's throats right now," our insider said, "But considering how much money is on the line, there's 100 million reasons why they need to do this."

A friend sent me these helpful tips via email... Don't know where it originated but it's been circulating in cyberspace for a long time. Funny stuff.
(By the way, when I interviewed Peter Tork recently, the former Monkee who is now focusing on the blues, we talked about what it takes to sing the blues. I mentioned Martin Mull's great comedy line where he is trying to sing the blues and goes, "I felt so low down and disgusted ... I threw my drink across the lawn." That is a perfect summary of the suburban white man's attempt at the blues. -- David

Keith Richards and David "Honeyboy" Edwards

HOW TO SING THE BLUES

*1. Most Blues begin with: "Woke up this '..."*

*2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you
stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with
the meanest face in town."*

*3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it.
Then find something that rhymes... sort of: "Got a good woman with the
meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in
town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher, and she weigh 500 pound."*

*4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a
ditch - ain't no way out.*

*5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues
don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues
transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft
and state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays
a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.*

*6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults
sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the
electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.*

*7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place
in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just
clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City are still the
best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place
that don't get rain.*

*8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male
pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg 'cause you were skiing is not the
blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chomping on it, is.*

*9. You can't have no Blues in a office or a shopping mall. The lighting
is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dump bins.*

*10. Good places for the Blues: a. highway; b. jailhouse; c. empty bed;
d. bottom of a whiskey glass.*

*11. Bad places for the Blues: a. Nordstrom's; b. gallery openings; c.
universities; d. golf courses.*

*12. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, unless you
happen to be an old ethnic person and you slept in it.*

*13. You have the right to sing the Blues if: a. you older than dirt; b.
you blind; c. you shot a man in Memphis. Not if: a. you have all your
teeth; b. you were once blind but now can see; c. the man in Memphis
lived; d. you have a 401(k) or trust/superannuation fund.*

*14. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger
Woods cannot sing the blues. Sonny Liston could. Ugly white people also
got a leg up on the blues.*

*15. If you ask for water and your darlin' give you gasoline, it's the
Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are: a. cheap wine; b. whiskey
or bourbon; c. muddy water; d. nasty black coffee. The following are
NOT Blues beverages: a. Perrier; b. Chardonnay; c. Red Bull; d. Slim Fast.*

*16. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues
death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to
die. So are the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a
broken-down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis
match or while getting liposuction.*

*17. Some Blues names for women: a. Sadie; b. Big Mama; c. Bessie; d.
Fat River Dumpling.*

*18. Some Blues names for men: a. Joe; b. Willie; c. Little Willie; d.
Big Willie.*

*19. Persons with names like Amber, Jennifer, Courtney, and Heather
can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.*

*20. Make your own Blues name Starter Kit: a. name of physical infirmity
(Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.) b. first name (see above) plus name of
fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, etc.) c. last name of President (Jefferson,
Johnson, Fillmore, etc.) For example: Blind Lime J. Jefferson, Jakeleg
Lemon Johnson or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")*

*21. And I don't care how tragic your life might be: If you own a
computer, you can't sing the blues.*

I'm interested in the new release by David Byrne and Brian Eno, "Everything That Happens."
Here is a link to the website where you can learn more about the disc.

Both men are musical mavericks and geniuses. Byrne was the brains behind the Talking Heads and Eno had his own ambient music and has produced albums by U2, Coldplay, David Bowie and Paul Simon, among others.
The two collaborated on "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" in 1981 and have been busy with their own projects, but collaborated on this new disc via email and the internet. Jon Pareles of the New York Times, one of my favorite and most dependable music journalists, wrote a great article about the CD that piqued my interest. Here's a link to that article.
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What I'm listening to now: "Memory Almost Full" by Paul McCartney. Also: "One Kind Favor" by B.B. King and "Dukie Treats" by George Duke.
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Sylvania, Ohio
Sept. 1, 2008

Went to see Sanctus Real perform last night in Toledo. It was the start of a nationwide headlining tour by these Christian rockers from Toledo. The band keeps getting better, focusing on their songwriting and musicianship and ministry.
The group also will be playing in town Sunday for a benefit concert organized by Extreme Makeover, which is building a home in Toledo next week.
Here are a few photos I took at last night's concert.

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Sylvania, Ohio
Sept. 5, 2008

I was speaking with Matt Hammitt recently, the lead singer of Sanctus Real, and he said his band has been touring so much with other artists that it has not had many opportunities to promote its own favorite causes.
You know how it is at Christian rock concerts: Almost every band brings out a spokesman for from a worthy causes, usually Compassion International or World Vision -- both excellent global Christian relief agencies -- and asks people to make donations.
Now, however, Sanctus Real -- Hammitt, Chris Rohman, Mark Graalman (the 3 Toledo members), Pete Prevost and Dan Gartley -- is headlining its own We Need Each Other tour and will get a chance to put the spotlight on two nonprofit groups that are doing great things.
One is The Mocha Club, which asks people to skip two cups of mocha a month and donate the $7 they save by giving to a group that builds wells in Africa. People who sign up pay $7 up front and then pledge $7 a month.
An average well in Africa costs about $3,000, and at Thursday's concert at CedarCreek Church, the first night of Sanctus' 30-city national tour, the audience pledged more than $30,000 (Janet and I signed up, although I must say that the guy Sanctus Real had giving the appeal was so longwinded and disjointed that he almost drove me away.)
You can read more about this great ministry to the needy in Africa here.
The second cause that Sanctus Real is boosting is Toms Shoes, which will donate one pair of shoes to a needy child for every pair that is purchased. Since starting the outreach in 2006, Toms has donate more than 60,000 pairs of shoes to children in Argentina and South Africa. The company hopes to give away 200,000 pairs by the end of this year.
You can read more about Toms Shoes here.

They do look like comfy and stylish footwear, don't you think?

... and they have shoes for the politically minded...

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Yesterday was a sad day for me: it is the birthday of my late brother, Roy. He was two years younger than me and died of cancer in 2003. On his birthday, a lot of the fun times we had as children came back to me.
I can't understand why people you love leave this earth at such a young age. And I don't expect to understand such things as long as I'm looking through a glass darkly, as the Bible describes the view of mortals trying to see "the big picture".

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Toledo, Ohio
Sept. 6, 2008

I watched a movie recently, the well-crafted drama Things I Lost in the Fire, with Benicio del Toro and Halle Berry, and there were two scenes where the background music featured Lou Reed singing "Sweet Jane."
That song triggered memories of my college days, sitting on the bed in a blacklighted dorm room with a bunch of other immature Dukies, cranking up the Pioneer tube amp and Marantz speakers and blasting Reed's "Rock and Roll Animal" until we could hear the neighbors pounding on the wall.

That album is one of the greatest live rock albums ever recorded, and that is no overstatement.

I learned something important from that album: that the mood and the attitude of the artists are just as important, actually more important, than their technical prowess on their instruments.
Up until that time, I was really into Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Doors, Led Zeppelin, the Stones and Beatles of course, Yes, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Johnny Winter, Allman Brothers -- remember, we're going waaaay back here.
Then I was introduced to Lou Reed by some New York intellectual punkers who seemed angry at being stuck at Duke instead of NYU, and we listened to this weird looking dude with the pasty face and short black hair and lipstick and eyeshadow, and the music and the lyrics just rocked my little closed-up sophomore mind.

Lou Reed took me on a trip I wasn't expecting. The music has such energy and emotion it sweeps you away. And Reed's band was right on cue and the attitude was perfect for the era, a pioneering punk rock band that shook its fist at the establishment.
After that, I got into Patti Smith and Television and a few other NY punk rock pioneers (not the NY Dolls or Twisted Sister, mind you -- you have to draw the line somewhere) as well as the inimitable David Bowie.
One Thanksgiving break we went to New York and saw Television at CBGB's, and I remember asking the girl checking ID's at the door if Lou Reed was there tonight. She looked at me, checking me out, and said, "We would never let that little faggot in here."

After watching the movie and hearing Lou sing, I dusted off my CD of "Rock and Roll Animal," which had been sitting on a shelf for years. I hadn't even removed the shrink wrap!
I put that little disc into the player and turned up the volume and found myself being taken down that rock and roll road once again.
The music is just as vibrant and relevant today as it did when it was recorded live at the Academy of Music in New York on Dec. 21, 1973.
You can't say that about too many '70s bands.
My values and my life have changed drastically since then but the music remains the same -- to quote Zep. It was a nice trip down memory lane.
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Sylvania, Ohio
Sept. 14, 2008

The singer on this YouTube video is almost too bad to believe, but after a couple of views I have to think this man is serious.
As much as I resist poking fun at people, this rendition of "Omazing Grace" is out there on the net, viewed by hundreds of thousands of people, and it's really too "omazing" to miss.
It starts off bad and gets worse, so make sure you don't leave early.
The singer seems like he's truly trying to praise God with this song. It makes me wonder: How does it sound to the Lord?
Click here for this must-see, must-hear video.
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On a more positive note, here is a hilarious YouTube video of two girls singing "Money" -- the girl on the right makes the video.
Toledo, Ohio
Sept. 30, 2008

Saw the legendary bluesman Riley B. King, aka B.B. King, in concert at Toledo's Stranahan Theater on Thursday night. It was a nice evening but Mr. King did a bit too much talking and joking, I would have preferred to hear more music.
I tried to be respectful but honest, as always, in my concert review, which you can read here.

This may be the last time the 83-year-old blues legend comes to Toledo -- although he may still be touring for years, who knows. I thought it was worth the effort to document this show.

Those pics on the Blade's website that ran with my review were mine, although there's no credit line. I love my Panasonic Lumix FZ camera.

Here are a few more photos I took at B.B.'s concert, from about the 12th row:

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Sylvania, Ohio
October 4, 2008

I've been reading Joel Osteen's "Become a Better You" (background for an article I'm writing), and listening to John Tesh's music and his radio show, "Intelligence for Your Life."
All I need now is a Norman Vincent Peale book, a Dr. Phil show, and a Yanni album and I'd probably try to run for president of the world.
Tesh and Osteen know how to motivate people and give people a positive outlook on life.
I'm an optimistic person by nature, although like anyone I have my down moments, but I can see how Tesh's and Osteen's words of encouragement and Tesh's uplifting music can help raise the spirits of people who lean toward gloom and doom.
Sometimes I forget how easy it is to look at the glass as half empty instead of half full, and to start feeling sorry for yourself and sink into depression, insecurity and even despair.
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I did get home in time to watch the World Series from the 7th inning on (I used my phone to check the score during the Tesh concert). The Rays lost but it was a close one, 3-2. Once Brad Lidge gets on the mound for the Phillies these days, there's basically no hope for hitters. The guy's slider has been unhittable this year. The best thing the Rays can do is try to avoid close games so they don't have to face Lidge with the game on the line.
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Getting back to John Tesh's concert in Toledo, I was amazed that he and his band played a number of very Christian songs, including "Yes, Lord!," "Draw Me Close To You," and "I Can Only Imagine."
John also told the Stranahan Theater audience -- a jammed house, probably 1,800 people -- about the need to get out of the house and help others, do some mission work or find a ministry.
My wife Janet and I got to chat with John at intermission, and he said he never has gotten a complaint about being too religious in concert. I've interviewed him a number of times by phone so it was nice to finally meet him in person. He joked that when he sings "Draw Me Close To You" he doesn't look at his female singer, Chelsea Ward, or it might give the wrong impression.
I enjoyed the concert a lot, partly for the music and partly for Tesh's engaging showmanship.
There never was a dull moment with Tesh telling funny stories and offering conversational chats in between songs. He's a decent musician but probably better at composing and organizing and being a team leader. His keyboards and vocals were backed by a superbly talented band, amusing hip-hop dancing by Breeze Lee, and first-rate visuals with strobe and robotic lights, digital screen imagery, smoke machines and the like.

Here are a few photos I took at last night's show at the Stranahan Theater:

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Sylvania, Oho
October 23, 2008

I am already excited about the new U2 album now being recorded. It should be out early in 2009. Few bands have been able to tap into the spiritual and cultural world and create such a brilliant and meaningful combination of commentary and entertainment.
Many of their songs hit me like sermons.
Of course, U2 will always be known for their 1987 breakthrough album "The Joshua Tree" and such classics as "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "With or Without You." But there is much more to this mighty band. Every one of their discs has produced some fantastic songs that are both musically brilliant and lyrically powerful even if they don't make the singles charts or get airplay. "Playboy Mansion" from "Pop" is one such song; "All That You Can't Leave Behind" is another.
I think one of the reasons they are so successful is that they were childhood friends. They grew up together, became rich and famous together, and stuck it out through good times and bad together. That is the kind of bond and interpersonal chemistry you don't find very often in the cutthroat music business.
The last time U2 came out with an album of new material was late 2004, with "How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." It went on sale on a Tuesday and I went the store to buy it at 12:01 a.m., the first time I'd ever done that for a new album. I guess you could say I was pumped for it.
I put the CD in my car stereo and headed west into the farmlands of Fulton County to crank it up. I thought it would be better than blasting the new disc at home and waking everyone up... and listening on headphones is not my favorite way to hear music. Listening to music in the confines of your own automobile as you're zipping along the highways and byways is one of modern life's true pleasures.
So here I am, around 12:30 in the morning, cruising blithely along the backroads in my classic Saab 900, when somewhere in the middle of the third song, "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own," I heard and felt a loud "Thwap".
Something hit the car. I got out and checked and saw that some moron had thrown an egg. No harm done but it knocked me out of my reverie.
That's my pleasant memories of my first experience listening to "Atomic Bomb." Touching, isn't it?
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So on we go to 2009 and the next album. Here's what Bono had to say on the band's official website, www.u2.com., about the new songs:

'We’ve hit a rich songwriting vein and we don’t want to stop.' Bono has been talking to U2.Com about how the songs are shaping up for the new record and plans for 2009 to be their year.

‘This is our chance for us to defy gravity once again, ‘ explains Bono, calling in from a break in recording sessions in the south of France. ‘ We have what it takes, we have the songs, new rhythms and a guitar player who is not ready to re-enter earth's atmosphere until he's taken a slice of the moon!
'It's been fun, it's been maddening... there have been injuries and recoveries, no babies born that I know of, but this one is nearly ready for the new year of 2009.'

The band have been writing and recording the follow-up to ‘How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb’ since last year, and the feeling is that they’ve hit a creative groove so there are no plans to stop. Everyone, he says, is excited about where the recording is taking them.

‘When we set out on this record it was Larry who came up with the plan not to have a plan. He put up this idea that wouldn’t it be great just to make music for its own sake, not for the purpose of a live show or on album but just to see what we’re capable of…’

It’s an idea that’s paid off. Following sessions in Morocco, in Dublin and through the summer in France, the band have written ‘fifty or sixty’ tracks. And counting.

‘We’ve hit a rich songwriting vein,’ he explains. ‘It gets a bit dark down here but looks like we've found diamonds not coal. I thought a while back we might have the album wrapped by now, but why come up above ground now if there's more priceless stuff to be found?

For now, they’re keeping a promise they made to themselves when they started writing: ‘We said to each other that if we got to the great place then we wouldn’t stop…’

So the writing and recording continues and while they now know what shape most of the album will take, they're not leaving the studio just yet.

‘We know we have to emerge soon but we also know that people don’t want another U2 album unless it is our best ever album. It has to be our most innovative, our most challenging … or what’s the point ?’

They have no doubts that it will be as important a release for U2 as any. ‘It’s a brand new chapter for us, and everyone we’ve played the tracks to has said that musically it feels like another departure.

‘The last two records were very personal, with a kind of three piece at their heart, the primary colours of rock - bass, guitars and drum. But what we’re about now is of the same order as the transition that took us from The Joshua Tree to Achtung Baby.’

He also mentions that the recording in Morocco was the first time the band have worked in a studio open to the sky: ‘On that track you can hear the sound of a swallows nest close to the building - it’s beautiful.’

Longtime collaborators Danny Lanois and Brian Eno have joined the band at different times, and, more recently, Steve Lillywhite – usually a tell-tale sign that a record is nearly done. ‘Steve has that ear for a top line melody and a good hook.’

But while Bono is itching to get the music out he says it’s going to be early 2009 when we first get to hear the songs.

‘I’m always the one who underestimates how easy it is to simply 'put out the songs now', if it was just up to me they’d be out already! But early next year people will be able to start hearing what we’ve been doing. We want 2009 to be our year, so we’re going to start making an impression very early on …’
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Sylvania, Ohio
November 8, 2008