SteveCoscia

I turned 67 in February. I've been self-employed for 21 years. Been trying to retire this year with some success. I say "some success" because I keep getting sucked back into new business opportunities. Don't really need the money, but it's tough to turn down client revenue. Most self-employed folks should relate to the 24/7 preoccupation with marketing and sales and these habits don't just go away. Our son got me started on using Reaper and there is potential to finally learn about a DAW - but this will take time. It'll be easier to delve into new music horizins if I can stop working. My brain is conflicted.

Watched it last night. Enjoyable, but a little narrow. Two scenes near the film's start captured a drummer's reality: 1 - Pots and pans used by those who didn't have a drumset yet. 2 - The emotional elation of getting that first drumset. I smiled broadly during those scenes.

RIP Charlie. There were rarely any surprises with Charlie Watts. He held down the rhythm with almost the same drum set for decades. But every now and then....like his drum lick at the start of Let It Bleed's Monkey Man, Charlie would play with bedlam and fury.

Thanks Joe. This documentary looks real good. Can't wait.

The Tony Banks interview is fun. Thanks for sharing. He is blunt. Tony bought the Pro-Soloist for all the correct reasons. Being able to push a button and get a sound must have been an epiphany. The Pro-Soloist gave Tony (and us) those early sounds that are such an integral part of the Genesis catalog. I was hoping he would have elaborated on the early Genesis albums and his synthesizer usage on each album. As a huge Tony Banks fan, his keyboard rig from 1970s through the early 80s albums was one of my major preoccupations. Interesting to hear about his collaboration with Michael Rutherford - their odd time signatures resulted in great rhythm for synth solos. The ARP Quadra was a major fixture for Genesis during the late 1970s and early 80s timeframe. Then Tony's blunt remark about ARP not selling many Quadras (during ARP's dark days). I smiled when Tony said he like the Sex Pistols song, Pretty Vacant (because it's also one of my favorites).

Made me stronger (and smarter). Two key life behaviors are perseverance and tenacity. If your future vision is worthy then stay at it.

In the early 1980s, I saw the Thompson Twins and their keyboardist (don't remember his name) played an OBX-A or an OB-8 with outstanding results. Very versatile. He utilized keyboard splits in almost every song to segment discreet patches and fill the band's sound. Never forgot that concert - events like that motivate me to want one.

So sad. Condolences to your family.

Sad news. RIP. Not too long after Bat Out Of Hell was a hit, Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf played a Long Island concert (don't remember where). It was a special night. Always liked him.

Informative article. The Pandemic's domino effect on entertainment is varied. A few of Philly's best club date musicians are advertising themselves as music teachers to grade school kids. Anything to stay in music and earn income. Will it ever be the way it was?

Here's my two cents. I bought the PX560 when it first came out. It stays in my music room 90% of the time. The remaining 10% is local travel to senior care facilities for piano concerts. Regarding the keys, the action, sound and playability, the PX560 is the best piano axe I've ever owned (and I've owned many during the last 40+ years). Besides the playability, the PX560's feature set is pretty near perfect. The display is a dream and parameters are easy to access. The USB stores arrangements simply and easily. The speakers add versatility when playing out and they're loud enough to deliver a concert. The size/weight ratio is just right for loading and unloading. But, it's the keys and the payability that adds the most value. At this stage of my life, the PX-560's PRESETs and Audio/MIDI Recording are my favorite features for creating musical arrangements which I can accompany. This activity delivers hours of programming and playing fun - I've creating prolonged Bossa Nova arrangements for tunes like Meditation, Ipanema, etc. My one suggestion to Casio for the eventual PX560 replacement is to beef up the PRESETs features to include FILL-INs programming and/or footswitch control of FILL-Ins. .

Too many to mention here. My favorite concert memory occured in summer 1981. My band had the night off. I knew Genesis was playing at the Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, but I didn't have a ticket. On a hunch, I drove to Forest Hills, parked my car and saw a guy inside the stadium fence who offered me a $20 ticket. I paid the $20, got inside and it was a perfect summer night for a concert. Genesis was at their peak. Duke was their current album and they also played Suppers Ready in its entirety. Best $20 ticket ever. Someday I'll tell you about a J. Geils Band groupie I met during a 1975 hitchhiking trek through Canada and how she got me backstage passes for a J. Geils concert in Montreal.

Sad news. RIP Chick.

Here's a gem that features Bobby Whitlock's soulful vocal exchanges with Eric Capton. Much of my late teens and early 20s were wrapped up in this album. [video:youtube]

Yes, I started watching the Bobby Whitlock videos last month. They're wonderful. Some of these videos contain rock-n-roll history never heard before. Those late 60s and early 70s anecdotes are priceless. Watching these videos motivated me put the Layla album on the turntable for the first time in about 40+ years. Listened to all four sides and it was just like yesterday - truly a great album.

Interesting. There were many of these among Long Island club bands in the 1970s. The MiniKorg-700 was versatile and it enabled keyboard players to emulate sounds from Top 40 hits. Manfred Mann's "Blinded By The Light" was a big hit back then and the MiniKorg-700's portamento fit the bill.

The Pretenders "Live In London" DVD is killer. It's not the original lineup, but the energy is there - nonstop. That first Pretenders album is one of the best debuts of all time - a whole new ball game.

Somehow I believe the word "gear" factors in as a modifier to the word that follows it, like an adjective. The two words are contextual. Musicians have colorful language (not that this is good) and it's the world in which we live. Musicians say things like, "I'm gonna whore myself out as a hired gun." after their failure at writing their own tunes or failing at getting a recording contrct. Context matters in terms of the audience and participants. There's a YouTube channel by an RV woman who goes by name "WonderHussy". Is this OK because she's a woman? Will she get reported someday as being offensive?

In 1970, I attended a drum clinic hosted by Sam Ash Music's Hempstead NY store. Carmine Appice was the clinician and to everyone's surprise, Tim Bogert was there too. One thing led to another and it became a jam session. Tim Bogert was a monster on bass. It went on for hours and Richie Ash joined in on guitar. That was a great night for Long Island rock-n-roll. Lots of local musicians huddled together and enjoying a pre-COVID world. RIP Tim.

Lots of great tunes. RIP Gerry.

Hmmmmm.....

For me, it's a nostolgia thing. A second chance at gear I couldn't afford in the 1970s. That being said, I am on the fence about the 2600 mostly due to no patch memory. I bought the Poly D and am enjoying the knobs and the sounds, but I'm not sure I need another piece of gear on which I can't save a patch. I might just wait for the UBX and/or CS-80.

Using the piano to convey customer service concepts seemed like a worthwhile project. I created three videos and they went nowhere. Project aborted. Oh well. [video:youtube]

Interesting article. My favorite albums were bought when I was about 17 until I was about 27 - those are the years 1971 until 1981. From 1981 onward, my musical preference got static, although I bought a few new albums here and there. My 30s and 40s were very career driven and reading business books replaced listening to albums. When our son became a teenager (in about 2007 or thereabouts), he introduced me to new music that I wouldn't ever have found otherwise. But my 17 to 27 albums are so much better than the music introduced to me by our son. The music from my era endured the test of time.

Honest. I didn't know who Bob Lefsetz was until now. I just read his article and the second paragraph (starting with: Too much of the internet is about manipulation.....) had me locked in for a variety of personal and professional reasons and I bet I'm not alone on that one. The paragraph is very well written and a synopsis for much of today's societal ills - IMO. Bob's message about us gearheads, the old equipment, 1960s expression and the Beatles brought back long lost memories. Much of what we loved and enjoyed got tainted somehow or as Bob wrote, "...dragged through the mud". I look forward to watching a fresh film that conveys 1960s happiness, creativity and musical development. Thanks Craig, for posting Bob's article.