In The Zone

Imagine if you will...two posts- a Flashback and a Song of the Moment, having nothing to do with each other except the fact that they were thought of at the same time. One is sad, the other gross. Both will find a home here...at the Twilight Zone.

There once was a band, one of the first to be signed to Geffen records. We'll call this band Quarterflash. Supposedly named after a Shakespeare quote that says man is one quarter flash and three quarters fool (so speaketh the soothsayer Casey Kasem). Before that title the Portand, Oregon band went by Seafood Mama (which probably went over well at seafood restaurants. Have the Silver Platter special for $5.00 along with some Seafood Mama!). Led by the husband and wife team of Marv and Rindy Ross, Quarterflash were able to play mainstream soft rock as well as any Firefall or Ambrosia. They hit it big right out of the gate on their debut single, the Pat Benatarish "Harden My Heart". Quarterflash got decent album sales out of their smash and gained a reputation for playing their big hit early in their live sets to separate the pop fans from their true followers. Unfortunately, Quarterflash couldn't come up with another "Harden My Heart" despite their best efforts and by 1986 they were playing the County Fair circuit.

That's when I saw them perform live at the local County Fair. It was the Summer after High School Graduation and with my city not being a big Rock town, I was able to stand in the front row. In the front row I ran into a classmate who I knew casually but had never hung out with. We hadn't talked to each other much in High School but weren't on bad terms (it was that sort of we're-just-out-of-high-school-and-you're-someone-I-recognize-so-we're-cool-now kind of thing) and he left right after "Harden My Heart" played about the fourth song into the set. Before he left I remember shaking hands with him as we probably wouldn't see each other around much afterwards.

A few months later I read in the paper this guy had died in an accident returning from a camping trip. He was the first person I knew of from my class to pass away. Since then, when I hear Quarterflash's "Harden My Heart" I think of the last time I saw this guy, full of life, standing in the front row before Rindy Ross yelling "You can swallow my tear baby!" as she warbled her ticket to one hit wonderdom. If you told me that guy would no longer be alive a few months later I would not have believed it. Quarterflash seemed to end shortly after that, leaving their music tied to that moment of this guy's youthful exuberance as a permanent record in my memory.

Quarterflash "Harden My Heart"

The Song of the Moment is inspired by tonight. Warning - this one is a little gross. My wife cooked up some delicious chili with cornbread for dinner. I ate it along with two glasses of milk, a dangerous thing for a lactose intolerant person like me to do. The hours that followed were tough for my wife as she sat through...we'll say a carpet bomb attack of chili powered explosives. As the night wore on, a song that fit the occasion for me popped into my head (obviously something that happens to me often...songs in my head, that is). So I'll say sorry Bunny, here's a song so we'll always remember tonight.

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John Parr was a British rocker in love with American AOR. He even played with a guitar painted as the American flag and had a minor hit in 1984 with the excellent Naughty Naughty. He then teamed up with Producer David Foster for the title track to the film St. Elmo's Fire which became a #1 hit. How does this relate to tonight? Because I can feel St. Elmo's Fire burnin', burnin inside of me (big rock howl while the music plays on at this point). Take me to where the future's lying - St Elmo's Fire! Oogada Boogada Ah Ha Ha.

John Parr "St. Elmo's Fire"

Sweet Soul Sister

No mercy, she knows she is good...Adele is the latest gal from the U.K. to apply 60's R&B to a modern setting.

Last Christmas I bought my wife the CD by Adele, the latest in the recent line of British retro R&B acts. Her album is named 19, which I think was her age at the time of recording and belies the older, wiser tone of her voice. Of the new wave of R&B divas, Adele has the best natural sound with a strong, smooth tone that has warmth and a touch of roughness that conveys heartfelt feeling. In this world of British Soul sirens Amy Winehouse is the "saucy crack whore" and Duffy is "sexpot heartbreak" by way of Dusty Springfield leaving Adele as the "nice girl next door". She doesn't go out of her way to impress, she just lets the music speak for itself.

Her hit Chasing Pavements takes a sweeping melody to a yearning ballad that allows Adele to stretch her vocals out nicely. She has a touch of jazziness in the slow numbers that distinguishes her from the pack. Even the well worn Make You Feel My Love gets new life under Adele's supple approach. But hey, everyone in this genre does ballads and midtempo foot tappers. What Adele's strength lies in is performing up tempo dance tracks. Right as Rain and Tired are standout cuts that get my head bobbing whenever I hear them.

Adele's music doesn't knock me out or amaze me, I just enjoy the high level of consistency she maintains throughout her disc. Her music is pleasant, fun and relaxing - which explains why I hear her songs in shopping malls. That's not a knock in this case, it's nice to hear music of this type done with sincerity. And who knows, if she takes home some Grammy awards she could even be the next big thing.

You've Got Chops

Back for another round of endless auditions, so far Simon Cowell's best zingers have been in his battles with new girl Kara Dioguardini.

We're into the second week of the eighth season of American Idol, one of my favorite past times. Like every year, the show kicks off with auditions where a mix of delusional insane asylum screechers mix with Hollywood kids in training. After being a cultural juggernaut for most of it's existence, Idol stumbled a bit in season seven as ratings sagged a bit and participants failed to reach beyond the Idol faithful. Longtime producer Nigel Lythgoe left and a new judge, Kara DioGuardini, was brought in. This left the question: what's the status of the Star Search of the new millennium now?

The answer so far seems to be going Back to Basics. Unlike previous seasons, Idol has become more unassuming - not taking viewership for granted and constantly ramming it's greatness down our throats. It still plugs itself of course, just not every three minutes as in prior shows or extended documentaries on the making of the show. There's a genuine focus on the contestants this time out, much more than last year. An even mix of funny oddballs, showstoppers and sob stories goes a long way. The presence of the judges and Ryan Seacrest have been more subdued, less indulgent so far. They still bicker and needle possible Idol's and each other but are edited into shorter bursts.

Which leads to the new kid on the block, Kara DioGuardini. Being the new person, DioGuardini is getting a sizeable push in camera time equalling Cowell himself. Fortunately, DioGuardini seems to be what the show needs. Her presence gives a slightly bored Cowell a new person to badger, stabilizes Paula and takes over on the musicianly critiques that Jackson used to do before he became content to clown people. She hasn't shied away from saying her opinion and fueled the most noteworthy contestant interaction so far this season. DioGuardini's catch phrase seems to be "You've got chops" as she used that relentlessly during the first week's episodes. By mid-season, "Chops" could be the new "Pitchy" in overuse.

American Idol is settling in for the long haul, it's stopped tripping over itself to wow us and is serving up plenty to talk about. There's already been Bikini Girl and the guy who is like a human Gollum from Lord of the Rings to cause some minor sensations. This is shaping up to be a season of modest yet still watchable fun, assuming they don't find a breakout superstar. Idol may not have the fantastic runs and high notes it once had, so they are showing what they do have: chops.