Liam Kinnon

I was looking for another quote by Sting and found this one instead. Thank goodness for songwriting!

That sense of failure, I don’t know where people put it who don’t write songs and aren’t able to emote physically. It must go somewhere.
-Sting

The other quote said something along the lines of this: “Melodies are these little gifts that happen to you. You just have to be grateful when they happen because they aren’t really something you think up.”

I think that about hits the nail on the head. All the other parts of the songs I write I tend to “think” out.  I know what chords are available to me in the key I’m playing in.  I know what suspensions and adds I can use to increase the tension, but the melody itself just happens. Even when I’ve tried writing one on the guitar or piano it usually happens first somewhere outside of me.  A little gift I’m grateful for.

Well it’s another Friday and another top five for you all. I’ve been listening to more music but don’t think I have enough new songs to give you a good new selection of music. This week instead will be the top 5 things to come out of the eighties. That is right, I’m under the impression that we can do some work at redeeming the 80s this week.

#5 Peter Gabriel. An artist who can trace most of his biggest hits to the 80s Peter Gabriel may be one of the more brilliant songwriters and arrangers out there. While songs like 99 red balloons dominated the air Peter Gabriel released subversively intelligent music like “Red Rain” and “In Your Eyes”. I say subversive because it also did quite well on the charts. He is someone I hope I get to see live.

#4 Footloose. A fun movie about dancing, rock n’ roll, and the small town mentality. Also has a great song by Kenny Loggins.

#3 The Police. As you can read here I love the Police. They came from the eighties. That is all.

#2 The Princess Bride. I really don’t think you can talk about this movie. All I can say is that it is hilarious, fun, and an all around good time. I heartily recommend it. I’ve linked to what may be the greatest scene in any movie ever. Which also features a line that I frequently use in Risk.

#1 U2. I throw them here because they too are amazing. It’s hard to call a band that has managed to stay relevant and continues to have chart topping albums an “eighties” band. But if you have such classic albums as “The Joshua Tree” released in the eighties there is no choice but to place these guys at the top of the list. The song I linked to has one of my favorite solos of all time in it. As well as my favorite Edge solo.

Notable Mentions… MTV, Michael Jackson, and I was born in ’87, so you can throw me on this list if you want.

I just saw the police.  I have very few words, only that this was a dream come true, to finally see a band I thought I would never get the chance to see.  A band that has heavily influenced my music writing and my guitar playing (Andy Summers is brilliant).  It was not only a dream come true, but is now the best live performance I’ve ever seen.

Sting is still my favorite vocalist, and managed to go for two hours with very little difference between when he started (awesome) and when he finished (still awesome).  Andy Summers, as previously mentioned, had fantastic tone, was dead on with the riffs and solos, and dead on with the new riffs and arrangments they’ve come up with.  Stuart Copeland has always been one of my favorite drummers.  His work tonight was beyond the recordings.  He was so much fun to watch, and whether playing drums or hopping over to his percussion set up, he was everything and more than their catalogue shows.

Anyway, I’ll stop the gushing now and go to bed, with a little tune running in my ears. De do do do, de da da da, is all I want to say to you.

Well, I guess I said a little more than that.