Pause & Play (the music site)

Arthur Lee, founder of legendary 1960s band Love, is gravely ill and has no health insurance. Arthur has undergone weeks of chemotherapy, but he will need continued treatment, which could include a costly bone marrow transplant. Friends are organizing a Los Angeles benefit concert for late May or early June. Please consider a donation of any size to Arthur. To donate to the Arthur Lee Tribute Fund, click here.

Quick update: Turns out that the Christina Aguilera release that was posted last night is actually the CD-single for "Ain't No Other Man." (That change will be reflected later today.) In the meantime, you can hear samples here. There's no release date yet for her album "Back to Basics," though it is expected sometime this summer.

# posted by Gerry Galipault/Pause & Play @ 12:08 PM 0 comments

Neil Young doesn't mince any words. He says President Bush must go.

On his upcoming Reprise album "Living With War," Young lays it out on the line, criticizing the Bush administration and the war in Iraq. His "metal folk protest" is no "Ohio," but it does accurately reflect a growing dissatisfaction with the United States' direction that can't be ignored.

The full album is available today for streaming here.

"... this is about exchanging ideas ... it's about getting a message out," Young said on April 18. "It's about empowering people by giving them a voice. I know not everyone believes what I say is what they think. But like I said before ... ya know ... red and blue is not black and white. We're all together. It's a record about unification."

All I can say is: God bless America.

Some holier-than-thous say rock 'n' roll is the devil's handiwork. Then they won't take kindly to an upcoming release date: 6-6-06. Yikes!

Obsession song of the day: "I Love New York," Madonna. Pedestrian lyrics, but it's one great workout track.

Someone please tell Tom Cruise to shut up. Better still, tell the media to stop quoting him, and maybe he'll just go away.

I've never watched more than five minutes of "American Idol," and I'm a better man (and music fan) for it.

Feist ... why isn't she a huge star by now?

# posted by Gerry Galipault/Pause & Play @ 1:05 PM 0 comments

"It's official, The Smashing Pumpkins are currently writing songs for their upcoming album, their first since 2000."

Color me underwhelmed.

Obsession song of the day - "Ame Caline (Soul Coaxing)," Raymond Lefevre and His Orchestra (1968).

Why do I even have this song on my iPod? I'm into collecting obscure hits. This instrumental only reached No. 37 on the Billboard pop chart, but for some reason, the minute I heard it for the first time in decades, it immediately reminded me of the Muzak piped into the Lazarus department store in my native Columbus, Ohio.

Someone should take this song, put words to it, keep the original music and make it an even bigger hit (i.e. Swing Out Sister's "Am I Same the Girl," which was based on Young Holt Unlimited's "Soulful Strut"). If it scores big, send a token royalty check my way.

Speaking of iPods, my Nano won't play purchased iTunes music. Go figure.

# posted by Gerry Galipault/Pause & Play @ 11:50 AM 0 comments

Ah, yes, the obligatory blog from Pause & Play. Everyone has one, right?

But here goes ...

Pause & Play (the music site) began in October 1997. Seems like eons ago. Back then, we all were still pretty new to the Web. P&P wasn't new, really. I began writing about rock music online (before most people knew what "online" meant) in 1990, when CompuServe was the computer trend of the moment. Whenever I would call a record company publicist to see about setting up an artist interview, they would say "You write for what?" I could see the fish-eyed stares over the phone lines.

By '97, I was eager to strike out on my own. Music sites have come and gone, but Pause & Play has lived on. How? I kept my day job - as a newspaper copy editor. Working in the long-suffering newspaper business pays the bills; P&P helps me maintain my sanity.

So, what do I want to accomplish with this blog? Well, it will be used to provide some P&P updates, the latest music news, some commentary and observations and other goodies. This will allow me a chance to write about things while I'm away from my laptop and am stuck in the day job. Off limits: politics and religion (shudder).

Sure hope you'll enjoy it ... and visit soon and often.