Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

Gimme Some Lovin'

The band was called the Spencer Davis Group. According to one member of the band, it was because Spencer liked doing interviews and the rest of the band liked sleeping in. But, make no mistake...it was Steve Winwood's band. His vocals. His distinctive ownership of the keys and the growl of his Hammond organ. And, at only 18, he uncorked the instantly recognizable "Gimme Some Lovin'."

Shortly thereafter, he decamped for the Supergroup Traffic (before heading off a couple years later for the Supergroup Blind Faith). On the live album entitled Welcome to the Canteen, Traffic covered Steve's already classic hit in a decidedly different style. Utilizing the unique percussion work of Rebok Kwaku Baah and the innovative reworking of the bass line from Ric Grech, "Gimme Some Lovin'" becomes a completely different song.

Play 'em both and enjoy.

And have a lovin' weekend!

The audio on this version of the Traffic track is cleaner...but no video.

Something / Anything

Honestly...can it really be 50 years this month since Todd Rundgren's tour de force double album was released?

The hits almost seem trite when one goes deep into the depth of this amazing compilation of masterpieces.

Yes, there was "Hello, Its Me" and "I Saw the Light," but there were so many more sensational tracks.

"It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" and "Cold Morning Light," should have been hits.

And then, there were the songs on Side 4, featuring "You Left Me Sore" and others.

On the Music Friday we ask...Wizard, a True Star?

Yeah...pretty much.

The Dirty Mac

Supergroups. You don't hear the term as much today as in the '60s and 70s, when the most talented artists were often in a "Musical Chairs" scenario in which successful groups would shatter and the pieces were reconfigured to create an ever greater collaboration. CSN&Y, Blind Faith and Bad Company were just a handful of the new configurations that created sensational music.

On this Music Friday, we share a one-day Supergroup, that never went forward, that could have been amazing. In December of 1968, John Lennon (Beatles), Eric Clapton (Cream), Keith Richards (Rolling Stones) and Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix) jammed in front of a live audience on John's "Yer Blues."

That the video still exists is incredible. What they could have been...one can only imagine.

Meat Loaf

It was the Fall of 1977. I was a young FM Rock Radio programmer in the Chicago Metro. At the time, there were conventions that we would attend to network, learn from others' success stories and witness the newest acts in concert.

At some point during the conference, I stumbled into the Epic Records Hospitality Room...and bumped into a big guy in a satin jacket (favored by roadies, at the time). It was just the two of us and the "Bat Out of Hell" album was on the turntable. We struck up a conversation.

Back then, radio stations often received preview copies of new LPs in white album covers...so, while I had listened to the album, I had no idea what the artist named Meat Loaf looked like. I was late to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, so I didn't realize that Meat Loaf had starred as Eddie.

But there we were, he knowing I didn't know who he was, asking me what I thought of the album on the turntable. "Four hits," I confidently said, to his mischievous smile. It was then I connected the dots...and we laughed our asses off. He was one of the most gregarious artists I ever met.

As we say farewell to the man known as Meat Loaf, the hits speak for themselves. On this Music Friday, we go to the more obscure.

Well...besides this version of Paradise by the Dashboard Light with Karla DeVito in the ultimate on-stage battle.

Then there was his rendition of Lawyers, Guns and Money on Letterman in 1999.

Among his covers, this version of River Deep, Mountain High was inspired.

But, of all the album tracks, this is my favorite: Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer than they Are. Powered by the lyricism of long-time conspirator Jim Steinman, this is the track that stops me every time it shuffles forward.

Thanks Meat. Thanks for a generation of stellar music that helped define an era.

R. Dean Taylor

When we bid farewell to Ronnie Spector last week, a commenter lamented that our Music Friday posts are increasingly highlighting those artists who have departed terra firma. True dat...but celebrate them we must.

Which brings us to the one-hit wonder R. Dean Taylor. Part of the songwriting team at Motown/Rare Earth in the 60s and early 70s, he nailed a number one hit on his own with a song he said was inspired by the movie "Bonnie & Clyde."

We say safe passage to an incredibly underrated artist, who COVID cruelly took from us earlier this month, with the classic, "Indiana Wants Me."

 

Music Friday: Ronnie

She was a performer that was known by her first name. She was a groundbreaking talent in a genre that was just emerging in the 60s. She was, simply, bad ass.

Ronnie Spector departed terra firma this week...but left us with a treasure trove of unbelievable art.

She fronted the seminal chick anthem "Be My Baby" and was always the pivotal voice of a generation of female singers in a male dominate world.

And, when Eddie Money invited her to join him on one of his biggest hits in the 80s...oh yeah.

On this Music Friday, we say fair passage to an incredible voice with this duet.

With love...

 

New on DMOU: Michael Novakovich

This one was a hoot.

Last month, Michael Novakovich (Visit Tri-Cities) joined me on the DMOU podcast microphone to share how outlandish video (by DMO standards) has become such a positive tool for destination brand awareness...and organizational brand awareness. But, the real fun starts when we start riffing in the Bonus Round.

We dropped the latest episode last night. Check it out.

Sammy, the Tourism Ambassador

Often, destinations engage spokesmodels that may have a fan base, but their resonance with the destination is tenuous (Arnold for Madrid, Richard Gere for Indonesia and, most recently, Rebel Wilson for Fiji).

Then there are the ones that do make sense (Paul Hogan for Australia and Josh Duhamel for North Dakota).

But, with all due respect to Croc and Josh, this week's announcement of Sammy Hagar as the Tourism Ambassador for Los Cabos is simply brilliant (though, what took y'all so long?).

Sammy opened the now iconic Cabo Wabo Cantina in the Spring of 2000 and that investment absolutely transformed a community that didn't have paved roads 22 years ago. He built several multi-million dollar tasting businesses there and he plays his club several times a year, driving an insane influx of visitors hoping to catch his impromptu appearances.

Dude put Cabo on the map. Truth.

On this Music Friday, Cabo's new spokesman shows his bonafides from the club he's owned since the turn of the century. It's Mas Tequilla, babies!

A New Year's Toast

As is our custom, we offer up a music video each New Year's Eve. For the most part, these posts shudder at how inhuman humanity is becoming.

It started in 2006 with an exceptionally powerful song by the forgotten Living Loud. In 2008, the late Jimi Jamison moved us with "Can't Look Away." In 2011, it was Michael Jackson's "Earth Song." In 2016, we questioned how our government had become a monster with a song from 1969 (some things were clearly prophesied). The following year, we suggested that we might / should be on the "Edge of a Revolution."

Of course, that just didn't happen.

In 2017, Jackson Browne asked us all, "How Long." At the close of 2019, Martin Sexton begged us to join "One Voice Together." Of course, 2020 was a shit show of a completely different proportion, and we closed with a reworking of "Auld Lang Syne" from Yam Haus and Jaybird Studios.

This year however, we're of a different mind.

On this final Music Friday of 2021, just "Raise Your Glass."

And all the best for a powerfully enriching New Year, y'all. And be loud.

A NYE Like No Other

Followers of this blog know that Terri and I love our New Year's Eves to be hot and sweaty on a rolling dance floor. But for another New Year's Eve...we'll be passing on our passion because of the plague.

But this year, there's something to actually look forward to for us that are electing to stay in. As we shared with you previously, the 50th edition of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve will have its first countdown at 11E/8P live from San Juan, Puerto Rico...not too shabby a way to celebrate the city's 500th birthday. And, quite a coup for the team at Discover Puerto Rico.

Which is why I had to laugh when CNN announced earlier this month that they, too, would be counting down from Old San Juan tomorrow night.

Hey, you gotta love a two-fer, eh?

Should be fun...and we can't wait to see Puerto Rico on the world stage with these two international broadcasts.