Last weekend Kevin Nealon came into town to perform four sold out shows at Laughs in Kirkland. I’m a big fan of Subliminal Man and his character Doug Wilson on Weeds and was lucky enough to get into a show and had a fantastic night. My face cramped up mid-act from all the laughing. I love sitting in the front during comedy shows in hopes that someone I’m sitting by will get made fun of. I was with my husband Joe (who has the beard of a logger) and our friend Dave. In the middle of the act my hubby got up and Kevin Nealon pointed him out and asked him to leave. Then said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, from the Deadliest Catch”. HA! I just love it when people make fun of that mass on Joe’s face.

We also got to enjoy Kevin as Mr. Subliminal making fun of other people in the crowd. He had a running joke about people who answer their own […]

It’s been a few days since Digital Signage Expo ended and we haven’t posted a re-cap on the event, but hey, its Vegas baby! So please grant us some slack, we needed recovery time. Now that we’ve slept it off we have to admit it was a pretty great event, and while what happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas, we’re just too excited by what we saw to keep it to ourselves. Share we must.

 Props to Karen Barone and the rest of the team over at ExpoNation for hosting the show.  Our techies were beside themselves with all the innovative ideas that were being shared amongst industry players big and small. A big theme on the show floor this year was interactive digital signage. There was even a sign at the show displaying the #DSE2010 Twitter feed (PlayNetwork is the top tweet 😉

  The DOOH industry has become a front runner in our “people driven economy” and we’re thrilled to be a part […]

My husband is a huge Iowa Hawkeye fan (and has converted me as well). So every day he reads about Iowa Hawkeye football, wrestling and basketball. When college football season rolls around he goes a little nuts. We dress up in our Iowa gear and head over to Buckley’s in Lower Queen Anne to meet with our fellow Hawkeyes, watch the game, drink, eat and sing the fight song with the trombone and an occasional sax and snare as our band!

Amongst our fellow Iowans, we stumbled across this gem of a video. It’s a Korean girl band called Girl’s Generation (who’ve topped the charts in South Korea) that apparently has some affection toward an Iowa Hawkeye football helmet. So random. But I love it—it’s so catchy! And who doesn’t love a good ‘I’m-having-so-much-fun-all-the-time’ Korean pop girl band?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGbwL8kSpEk]

Kym PlayNetwork, Inc.

So i found myself watching the Judas Priest ‘Behind The Music Remastered’ episode the other night, and it dawned on me that they may be the only Metal band worth listening to anymore. Back in the days of buying concert t-shirts from the local stoner at the arcade, Judas Priest were just one of the many on offer. However, all but they have fallen by the wayside, relegated to the bargain-bins, if you can even find a record store anymore…

Now, until the other night i wouldn’t have thought they’d have even survived my unpaid opinion, but while watching and listening, i realized that they have some fantastic songs! That’s the mistake most of the other dino-rockers made. Too much emphasis on flash and hairspray, not enough on the tunes. Though JP was one of the heaviest bands at the time, i suspect much of the catalog was actually written on acoustic guitar, though i can’t prove it…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoDbAd4fYBA]

Great song, but this was my jam back […]

I just went up this past weekend to check out what was going on in Vancouver with the Winter Olympics being so close. Turns out it looks almost like Vancouver does usually but with more drunk Canadians, much more Canadian flags and some photo ops on Granville Street near Robson Square. They had some crazy sculptures lining the sides of the road and Winter Olympic themed “Hole in the Wall” type cut outs.

It also had a small ‘lantern forest’. Children colored paper lantern and hung them up in the ‘forest’ made of small bare fake trees.

We stayed and watched a laser light show in Robson Square.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oNeKms7_Rc]

It was anticlimactic at best. It was much too bright all around to really see the lasers and whoever picked out the music was living under a rock. But it was exciting to see people dressed up in the outfits of different sports zip lining close overhead.

The bars were packed full with lines on the outside […]

The Knack – My Sharona

Doug Fieger, lead singer of The Knack, died yesterday after a long battle with cancer.  He was 57 years old.

The Knack formed in 1978 and had their biggest success with the ultra-catchy “My Sharona.”  The track features one of the most well-known guitar riff in pop music history and has been covered (or parodied) by countless artists.

I have always loved the song My Sharona, maybe because it was the number one song (it spent six weeks at the top of the charts) on the day I was born and so I probably heard it a lot in the womb.    Originally released in 1979, it hit the charts again in 1994 when it was featured in the movie Reality Bites and released as a single for the film’s soundtrack.

Here is the original music video for My Sharona.  RIP, Doug.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukL_vlOKj8A]

Buy – iTunes

Buy – Amazon

Heather

Producer, Branded Music

PlayNetwork, Inc.

Tonight, the long-awaited Elton John and Billy Joel Face To Face tour makes it to Seattle.  Two shows slated for early November 2009 were postponed when Elton fell ill.  Tonight, the rescheduled shows begin at Key Arena.

I am a huge fan of both Elton and Billy, so I am beyond excited for the concert tonight.  I haven’t seen either one of them live before, so it’s a big night for me.

To celebrate tonight’s dream come true event, there are TWO songs of the day!

Billy Joel has the first slot with the 1980’s classic “Uptown Girl.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCuMWrfXG4E]

And of course, the other song of the day comes from Sir Elton!  Here’s a vintage clip from a 1970 performance of “Your Song.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTa8U0Wa0q8]

Enjoy!

Heather

Producer, Branded Music

PlayNetwork, Inc.

What makes a performer a legend? 1 Great song? 1 Great band? A Built in mythology? Possible alien lineage? Well, one man has more than one of the above, and he’s also got a dancing fool comrade. Mr. Shaun Ryder. Originally the leader of Happy Mondays, legends in their own right, he also went on to front Black Grape in the midst of Britpop hysteria. Co-existing while simultaneously taking shots at bands like Oasis, Pulp & Blur.

Black Grape are reuniting after 13 years apart, so let’s celebrate and relearn the BEZ dance!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbaMsukvPj4&feature=related]

It being a World Cup year, as well as nearing the MLS season opener, let’s have another; and if it’s cool enough for Joe Strummer, it’s cool enough for you!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvuqgyKj5iM]

Tony Media Producer PlayNetwork, Inc.

So, by the early 90’s i’d developed my style to the point that i was a mixture of all my prior influences, with a dash of youthful energy and rage. What it ended up sounding like was something very similar to Jimmy Chamberlin, drummer for Smashing Pumpkins. This was unintentional as i hadn’t even heard of them till ’93 or so. That’s not to say that i was anywhere near as badass as Jimmy, just that our styles were similar, which is why when i finally heard his playing, i was so excited by it. Here was someone coming from the same place as i, but was 100 times the player i was. Another benchmark to reach for…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC_GUmdC31A]

Wow! How 90’s was that? It’s hard these days to separate The Billy Corgan Show from the band know as Smashing Pumpkins, but once upon a time, they were a force to be reckoned with…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE2tQ1Fjg24&feature=related]

Jimmy Chamberlin is STILL a tornado…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqY0CDmvyc8]

Tony Media Producer […]

Enter the 90’s and England’s 2nd of 3 great movements; ‘Shoegaze‘. The best of these bands, and yes, better than MBV, was RIDE. They were the perfect band at the Perfect Time, and they had a secret weapon in their drummer; Loz Colbert. RIDE‘s music was full of melody & angst, and Loz contributed just enough chaos to bring it all home. Imagine Keith Moon without the crazy…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evgtkrcSXgw&feature=PlayList&p=566DE665690585D5&index=3]

Amidst the beauty and the noise, you can hear hook after hook! This next song taught me the ride/crash/ride/crash technique that i still love to use…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOnDVjxTKfE&feature=related]

Sadly, RIDE broke up and for some reason refuse to reunite! One guy went solo, another joined Oasis, another quit music and Loz joined indie-Gods The Jesus & Mary Chain…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ApJgcZZ_0Q&feature=related]

Tony Media Producer PlayNetwork, Inc.

Journey – Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)

So I could not let the day end without mentioning that it is Steve Perry’s 61st birthday.  61 years old!  Though he left the band in 1987 (and again in 1998 after a short three-year reunion) Steve was the lead singer of  Journey during their heyday.

Journey has given us many iconic pop songs; “Lights,” “Any Way you Want It,” “Faithfully,” “Open Arms,” “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’,” “Wheel in the Sky,” “Who’s Cryin’ Now,” and of course, “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

Whether you’re a Journey fan or not, you have to admit that Steve has some serious pipes.  He’s certainly one of the best vocalists of all time.  To honor Steve’s birthday, today’s song of the day is my favorite Journey song.  It’s the song I believe features Steve’s best vocal performance, “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart).”  The video is also totally cheesy and unintentionally hilarious!  Watch how Steve gets so into the lyrics, […]

In the late 80’s, something wonderful was happening in the UK. I’d always been a fan of British music growing up, but now my Anglophilia was being cemented with 3 distinct movements on the horizon. The first was what would later be termed “Baggy“. Lazy journalism is what coined such a term, but living in the states it did make a nice little package. The first of the “Baggy” bands that i’d heard and fell in love with was The Stone Roses. At the onset, i loathed this band. The first thing i’d seen or heard was the video for ‘I Wanna Be Adored‘, and my first reaction was “what a bunch of arrogant _______!” Somehow though, i got sucked in and when i bought their now classic self-titled LP, that was it, i was hooked.

There are lots of things one could write about on this album, but it seems that no one really mentions the drumming, which is phenomenal! Even more amazing when […]

I spent years in my bedroom playing along to records and honing my skills. It was time to get out and play with some real people. After a couple of false starts in bands with my brother and another with some kids from school, i finally found a band of like-minded souls in Isolation. That’s not to say that musically we were on the same page, but we liked each other and each brought something different to the collective. Now, playing to records and playing with other musicians are two completely different things. It took some time to get to the point where i wasn’t just emulated beats from those records, but eventually i found my own voice and started to realize that a band is a gang. It is your tribe and it’s you against the world! That kind of thinking and approach to music was highlighted by the emergence of Jane’s Addiction.

I first heard of Jane’s in my buddy’s Honda Civic on our way […]

So where was I? Oh yes… If Roger Taylor taught me how to keep time and make people move, and Scott Miller taught me how to play with passion and channel my angst into drumming, it was Larry Mullen Jr that showed me how to combine the two. Additionally, unlike most drummers and just like Keith Moon, Larry seemed to be listening more to the guitar player than the bassist. It’s different these days with U2, but back then Adam Clayton played more like a lead-bassist, while Larry and The Edge were the rhythm section. Overlooked by most people, Boy George excluded, Larry is truly one of the greats. From his poly-rhythmic patterns and unorthodox style to some of the most tasteful subtleties i’ve ever heard, he is truly an original…

Up until i discovered U2, i’d only ever seen the standard way of setting up your drums. Larry on the other hand added a timbale where the 2nd Tom […]

I was going through my drawer organizing t-shirts this morning and I came across one that I forgot I had. It was a Genesis “Turn It On Again” tour tee. My mom got it for me in Dusseldorf, Germany where she saw the concert. I saw the concert (for free!) in Rome, Italy with my little brother at the Circo Massimo. It was the most massive concert I’ve ever been to with over 500,000 people gathered in and around that ancient dusty hole in the ground. I remember thinking I was going to fall down that slippery, rocky hill into the pit and get trampled. But we ended up being just about smack dab in the middle of everything (safe and sound) surrounded by gigantic video screens and a full out Genesis spectacle. Check it out!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw15vqz56AA]

Kym PlayNetwork, Inc.

Most people didn’t know that Teddy Pendergrass started out as a drummer, myself included. He started with Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes as their drummer, then later moved to lead vocals.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7Ni7LGXW7g]

While he wasn’t a drumming influence on me, as i didn’t know he was a drummer till yesterday, I thought it would be a great reason to write today’s blog about him. My mom used to rock this joint in her Oldsmobile 8-Track player, here’s Teddy Pendergrass with ‘Love TKO’…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HPAgiVdILo]

See you in the next one Teddy…

Tony Media Producer PlayNetwork, Inc.

Everyday after school i would run home hoping to get some quality time behind my kit before the ‘rents came home. If Neil Peart set the benchmark & Roger Taylor gave me the grooves, then Scott Miller of Skate-Punk band Agent Orange gave me ferocity and energy! This was a whole new kind of drumming; fast and mad, which is perfect for the 14 year old suburban half-breed that was me! Here they back in the day with ‘Voices In The Night’

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_wPfSoF3LA&feature=related]

The first thing I’d ever heard from them was pure fury! Thanks KUNV! Here’s ‘Bloodstains’…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBwaypYjtXA&feature=related]

Tony Media Producer PlayNetwork, Inc.

When i was 13, i was losing interest fast in the kind of bands that were ‘cool’ to like. At that age, it was all Van Halen, Motley Crue & The Scorpions. I liked those guys, but really i was a closeted Duran Duran fan! I wasn’t the only one either. One friend and i would discuss their music conspiratorially when the macho metal heads weren’t listening. Anyway, when i finally scored my first drumset i never thought, ‘oh i wanna be like Tommy Lee or Alex Van Halen‘. I thought it would be far better to be Roger Taylor! Never really having a proper instructor, I used to just put on the headphones and play along. My ‘teachers’ were Duran Duran, Agent Orange & U2, but especially Roger Taylor of DD. For some reason, those rhythms really spoke to me. It’s hard to believe now, but that music was really quite strange for the times. Rhythmically it was a […]

The Chemical Brothers – The Salmon Dance

Tom Rowlands, one half of the English electronic duo, The Chemical Brothers, turns 39 today.  Happy Birthday, Tom!  To celebrate, I’ve chosen one of my favorite tracks, (and my favorite Chemical Brothers video) The Salmon Dance as the Song of the Day.

I don’t know a single person who doesn’t like this video.  It’s like a super-psychedelic Finding Nemo.  It’s also surprisingly educational.  Plus, I bet that once you listen to The Salmon Dance you won’t be able to get it out of your head.  Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDj7DuHVV9E]

Heather

Producer, Branded Music

PlayNetwork, Inc.

Over the weekend i finally had the chance to see the much hyped doc “It Might Get Loud“… Man, what a snooze-fest! Actually, i was very interested in what The Edge had to say, but those other two? However, i powered through it with the occasional daydream of how a doc about drummers would be so much more interesting. Then it dawned on me; in the 25 years that i’ve been playing drums, maybe 3 people have asked who inspired me to play initially, as well as who is still inspiring to me. So, this blog goes out to those 3 peeps, the rest of you may want to check back in later 🙂

No drummer of my age can escape the influence of Neil Peart. I loved Rush as a kid, but not one single band i’ve been in has sounded in any way like Rush. Nor am i capable of the kind of Mojo required to play most Rush songs. That being said, […]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGQjyGT1-mc&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]

I’m just gonna come right out and say it: “Never My Love” is one of my favorite songs of ALL TIME.  It’s way up in my top 10, maybe in my top 5.  The song may be a little on the cheesy side, but come on!  Who doesn’t need a sappy love song now and then?

I am not alone in my love for this song.  Broadcast Music Incorporated (commonly known as BMI) lists the song as the second most played track (in TV and radio) of the 20th century.  Quite a feat, and well deserved, as far as I’m concerned.

I was excited to see that a cover of “Never My Love” was recorded by another favorite of mine, Har Mar Superstar.  He collaborated Adam Green of the Moldy Peaches on the song for  the soundtrack to the 2009 film Whip It.  While it’s a great version, The Association’s cover of the song is still my favorite.  Here is The Association performing live […]

When i was 13, my best friend Mark was way cooler than i was, though i would never have admitted it at the time. Consequently, he was the first to find out about cool bands, and today’s band is one of the most enduring of all the cool bands of the 80’s. In 1985, The Cure had been around for 5 or 6 years already, but they were just being heard on a large scale in the states. They would become a ‘gateway drug’ for all of the other great music I would soon discover, like The Smiths, New Order, Echo & The Bunnymen, et al. It seems strange to think about nowadays, but The Cure were really really weird! With the hair and the makeup they were a suburban nightmare, and exactly what i wanted more of…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYWcCRhdClY]

Buy ‘The Caterpillar’: Amazon or iTunes

Mark had the “Japanese Whispers” EP on Cassette, so his house was the place to listen to […]

The Clash – London Calling

30 years ago today, British punk band The Clash released one of the most iconic albums in rock music history.  London Calling took the world by storm and brought punk music to the pop charts.  It’s one of my favorite albums of all time.  Here is the video for the title track.  Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGf82oCyLEo&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

Heather

Producer, Branded Music

PlayNetwork, Inc.

Buy track on iTunes.  Buy track on Amazon.

When i was a kid, i could only get MTV at my Grandma’s house. The other cool thing about my Grandma’s house was my Uncle Ricky’s record collection. It was through that collection that my earliest tastes were developed; Journey, Parliament, Frampton, Pat Benatar, The Eagles & The Commodores were all early faves. But best of all, was Cheap Trick! One word; Budokan…

So, fast forward a bit to the MTV days, and you get this next video. By this point Cheap Trick’s stock was falling, and this line-up contains that “other” bass player, however, this is actually my all-time favorite Cheap Trick song! So, here’s ‘If You Want My Love’ from the One on One album…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8qMLWpzwPc]

Buy! Amazon or iTunes

I actually walked from my Grandma’s house to K-Mart to buy this record! Well, tape actually. Here’s another great song from that highly overlooked album, ‘She’s Tight’…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADWG6EXrbcE&feature=channel]

Buy! Amazon or iTunes

[…]

R.E.M. – Finest Worksong

Heather’s Song of the Day returns!  Today my post celebrates one of the greatest frontmen of all time, Michael Stipe.  The R.E.M. singer turns 50 today, so I have a great excuse to post one of my favorite songs by the rock superstars.  From 1987, here is “Finest Worksong.” Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=559eWB93jW4]

Heather

Producer, Branded Music

PlayNetwork, Inc.