2010 was a great year for Guster. They released their “Easy Wonderful” album which contained this song “Do You Love Me” among others. A light pop song, very catchy and feel good, the band captures a touch of quirkiness which comes through very clearly in the video. The song is full of hooks, and comes across as a genuinely well constructed power pop song. I hope you enjoy.
I believe that if CBC2 did not exist, I would not have a blog. This number is from Canadian songwriter, Toronto based Elise LeGrow. The song, No Good Woman. reached number 6 on Nielsen’s Canadian Adult Contemporary chart in April 2012. Not a new song, but new to me. Her first album was released in December of 2012, and it includes this tune as well as songs written by Ron Sexsmith and Jon Levine. A bit of a push??
English: Dutch jazz singer Caro Emerald at Zoetermeer Stadhuisplein, Netherlands. September 19th, year 2008, time 14:20:55 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Kind of a fun song from the “Michael Jackson of The Netherlands”. Her most recent disc broke Micheal’s long standing record for biggest selling album (Thriller) in Holland.
Toronto born Canadian pop-rocker, Scotty Newlands has recently released a new disc titled “Starting Over”. He was kind enough to send a copy of the album for me to review. First, a bit of history behind the singer.
As noted, he was born in Toronto and has travelled a winding road to this point in his career. His musical journey started out like many others. The school choir and an introduction to an instrument at an early age. In this case, he was 8 and began playing the clarinet. In 2003 he was one of thousands to audition for Canadian Idol. While he failed to make the final 11, he did gain valuable experience and contacts. He released his first album, “New Roads” in 2009.
The album has a definite pop feel to it, heavily accented by a great singing voice. Scotty shows great potential in this song. It holds up well with comparable artists and should be be getting some airtime. All in all, a nice listen.
The first song I have featured off the disc is titled “Don’t Wanna Get Over You”. A nicely constructed tune, it features a strong vocal performance by the artist.
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Don’t Wanna Get Over You
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The second tune is called “Now That You’re Gone”. This song features a repetitive back beat and again shows off Scotty’s range. He advertises a 4 octave range and you can hear them in this song. Very nice tone.
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Now that You’re Gone
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I’m liked the album in general and see something in Scotty that I really like. If you want more, please hit the links.
Big band singer Toni Arden passed away on May 29. She was 88. Toni’s real name was Antoinette Ardizzone. She started recording in the 1940’s with a lot of bands, including Frankie Laine. Her only major hit was Padre in 1958, which was also her only million seller. The song I have chosen is a good showpiece for her voice and is typical of the early 50’s. Good song. Hope you enjoy.
JD Greer is the subject of today’s post, @jdgreer is his how to find him on Twitter. JD is from California and plays and writes his music. He is an R&B/Pop style artist with a very good voice, well suited to what he does. He is working on an album, and has recorded several songs in the past. This song is a pretty good R&B number called Never Alone. I could not find material for purchase, so if JD reads this maybe drop a comment on where one can buy his music.
Today’s set has a wide spectrum of musical taste. We have some hip-hop, a diva or two, some classic rock and some pop. Lets start with some classic rock.
The Stampeders are a 70’s group from Calgary that had a string of hits during this period. This is a live version of the song. Ah, memories. The radio played the crap out of this song in Canada.
Today I will be looking at a Canadian artist, Zaccheri Gray. He hails from Revelstoke, BC, which, coincidentally, is one of my favourite towns, and pursues his career in Vancouver. I haven’t found much on YouTube, but did find this cover of Paula Abdul’s Straight Up. Not bad, changed it up some and made it work.
Straight Up
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His home page has several tunes to listen to and his music his available at iTunes. Myspace also has a selection of his music here. If you wish to follow him on Twitter he is at @zaccherigray . Very likeable pop style music, check him out.
First up, we will take a quick look at Brigitte M. A French-Canadian star out of Quebec, Brigitte M released “From Metal To Crystal”. The song attached is an interesting take of “I Was Made For Loving You”.
“I Was Made For Loving You”
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Our second release this evening is a unique project from Maritimer, Joel Plaskett. The album “Scrappy Happiness” is the culmination of 10 weeks of recording and releasing one new song per week. I have been an avid listener of CBC Radio Drive for the past couple of months to catch the newest release. This song is my favourite (so far).
“Lightning Bolt”
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Our 3rd band is out Vancouver. Chains of Love are an Alternative band with some fire. Nice live song. The album is called “Strange Grey Days” and this song is from it.