SINGLES GOING STEADY: "I'LL NEVER BREAK YOUR HEART" BY BACKSTREET BOYS

Here it goes...

(Sigh)

Why is it that I feel like I'm opening a huge can of worms by admitting that I like a song by Backstreet Boys? I think it's because I'm a straight man and their music is meant for girls? That shouldn't make a difference.  The song "Purple Rain" is geared to girls just as much as anything by Backstreet Boys.  Listen to how girls scream at The Beatles when they sang "I Want To Hold Your Hand."   Maybe the girlie-man connotations come less from the song and more from the way an artist sings it.  I suppose high notes and curly vocal runs are aphrodisiacs? But there isn't any stigma associated with a man liking "Isn't She Lovely?" by Stevie "The Boy" Wonder.  

Okay, I got it!  They have muscles.  But, so does Bruce Springsteen!  

Or maybe it's this: they're marketed to girls.  But come on, so were the Beatles.

But Backstreet Boys aren't just marketed to girls.  In essence, they were manufactured for the purpose of making girls go crazy.  Sure that's part of it.  But, more than that, they were manufactured to make money.  Therefore, if aliens from the planet Venus bought a lot of records, you could say bands were manufactured for them—but wait... Aren't women from Venus?  Oh, gee, I sense an unsolved mystery here. If only I didn't lose Agent Mulder's and Scully's numbers when I dropped my phone in a pool!  ;)

Do you see where I'm going here?  It's not me who's crazy.  It's the stigma that's crazy.  The stigma only serves the purpose of continuing the trend of guilty pleasures.  And I've never believed in those things.  I used to.  My guilt was literally the only reason I never ran out and bought this single when I was a kid.

"I'll Never Break Your Heart" by Backstreet Boys

If you don't think this is catchy, you're lying—YOU ARE FUCKING LYING.   The song's chorus is so instantly singable that you know how it goes before it comes around a second time.  Fact. Gotta give a shout out to the main songwriter, the retro R&B artist Eugene Wilde.  Kudos.

One more thing.  If for some reason you have a record label and some capital, I'm willing to make a bet with you.  If for no other reason than it makes fantastic kitsch, some Backstreet Boys CDs will be on vinyl record someday.  Think ahead and reissue them first.  

LET'S HEAR IT FOR JACKIE MCLEAN!

Jackie McLean (1931-2006)

That saxophonist Jackie McLean doesn't have the same kind of name recognition as other sax greats like John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Ornette Coleman and Branford Marsalis is an indication that something is terribly wrong in the music appreciation world.  Maybe it's because he doesn't have a "Giant Steps"—aka, an instantly recognizable magnum opus that changed jazz forever.  True, but that doesn't really matter.   McLean's gorgeous sax can be heard on so many landmark jazz albums.  Here are some of my favorite examples.

"Blues and Roots" by Charles Mingus

Cornbread by Lee Morgan

Cool Struttin' by Sonny Clark

A lot of people know those records.  If you don't, take a hint—it's time.  Though he's a sideman on these three albums, his sax is the lead or most prominent instrument on so many of the tracks that you could easily mistake him for the bandleader.  True story, Corey.

AMBIENT 1: MUSIC FOR AIRPORTS BY BRIAN ENO

Ambient 1: Music For Airports by Brian Eno

There's a man named Keyth who lives and works in my neighborhood.  He isn't a friend, relative or even an acquaintance.  I know Keyth because he set up a security system in my parent's house.  You see, Keyth is a locksmith and I find that mildly funny because his name is practically made for his occupation.  It's like, if my name was Joe and I made coffee for a living.  

What does this have to do with anything? 

Brian Eno's 1978 album Ambient 1: Music For Airports is the musical equivalent of my Keyth story.  There has probably never been an album whose title indicates exactly what the music is meant for.  But Music For Airports is literally that.  There's nothing ambiguous about it, because it is played 24/7 at the Marine Air Terminal at Laguardia airport in New York.  I think that might mean that Music For Airports is the most played album in all of New York City—or certainly all of Queens! 

Rumor has it Brian Eno came up with this concept while—get this!—sitting at the terminal of an airport.  He wanted to create an album that could alleviate the anxiety commonly associated with flying.  It certainly helps.  The music, which is made up of mostly pianos and synthesizers is so deceptively simple that you'd think there'd be millions upon millions of albums like this.  There could be, but I don't know of any.  Even when you're not in the airport, the album makes you see calming images of planes and clouds, bringing you into a heavenly sort of apathy.  It's fantastic music to sleep to and I put it on often.

P.S. You can often hear pieces from Music For Airports on NPR's This American Life.

Ambient 1: Music For Airports by Brian Eno: