Earwitness
It’s a little tricky reviewing an event that you were the host of—so let me just get it out of the way right now: The 3rd annual AMP Awards for Music and Sound at City Winery/NYC last week was awesome. Better than the first or second by far. Packed house. ...
The very first time I heard “Blurred Lines,” performed by Robin Thicke with Pharrell and TI—all three credited with writing the song—I thought, “Sounds like Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got To Give It Up’—awesome!”
So it was no surprise to me when, after a year-...
Usually the day after the Grammys broadcast, folks gather round the water cooler—or, in the case of my workplace, the bourbon counter—and rip into the winners, performers and presenters. So much fun!
But this year there were unforseen obstacles to this happy tribal ritual. The snow...
LG: What an exciting time for you. “Love Your Bottom” just went to Number One on America's Hot 100!
KOS: I know, right? It’s what I’ve dreamed of my whole life. Boo hoo, Taylor!
LG: “Bottom...
In recent Earwitness columns I’ve discussed important trends and noteworthy moments in the music of popular culture, from Nikki Minaj’s booty to Meghan Trainor’s “junk” to Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.” Hey, I’m just glad to help....
As you know I have spent a lifetime searching for the sonic bond shared by all mankind through the music of popular culture. My own private Interstellar of sound. Imagine the years squandered in this endeavor I can never reclaim. (Thank you for your kind...
The theme of this epistle was intended to be the Return Of The Jingle—not in advertising, but in popular music. The irrefutable, inescapable fact that songs with mind-numbing hooks and catchy chants have been dominating the charts of late. I don’t know where it...
Should we talk about radio? I don’t mean streaming Pandora/Spotify/ Beats kinda radio, I mean radio radio, with DJs & local news, contests & requests. You don’t have to close the door—it’s not like we’d be talking about masturbation or menstruation. It’...
In the first three installments of the “Earwitness” column I’ve given us all a soundtrack / song to hear in our heads as we read my illuminating observations on popular music and culture. So fun and instructive. All I can say is You’re welcome!
But I’ve arrived at a bit of an impasse...
A few days ago Evelyn came to my desk holding a three-quarter inch video cassette. “Look at this!” she said, as if she’d discovered an arrowhead in Union Square Park.
The cassette contained archival footage of something—whatever it was—we’d done music for some time in the previous...