Ivan May

Mary Weiss, the lead singer of the 1960s girl group The Shangri-Las, died at her home in Palm Springs, CA, at the age of 75. Weiss died from COPD. The Shangri-Las proved to be one of the most successful doo wop groups, of the 1960s. The other singers in the group included Mary’s sister, Betty Weiss, and twin sisters Marge and Mary Ann Ganser. Their biggest hits included the 1964 chart topper, Leader Of The Pack, and Remember Walking In The Sand, which was later covered by Aerosmith for their 1979 album Night In The Ruts. Hats-off. Mary Weiss had a beautiful singing voice.

No, you aren’t seeing things. That really is Dale Earnhardt Jr. And Tony Stewart in the video for The Road I’m On by 3 Doors Down.

Keith Emerson on Clavinet

Peter Schickele was an excellent composer, I always loved his ability to play the tromboon. Not only was Peter Schickele the creator of PDQ Bach, he also worked with Joan Baez and Buffy Sainte Marie, and he was also the composer and narrator of the music of an animated version of the Maurice Sendak book Where The Wild Things Are in 1973. I even had a VHS of this exact film!

The lead singer and guitarist for The Bangles, Susanna Hoffs, is 65 years old today.

Maybe a prophet 5 or DX7? Sounds like it to me.

Happy holidays to you too, TommyRude!

I can play keyboards, guitar and bass. I can also play the keyboard bass on my Casio Casiotone keyboard, and I really want to save up my money and buy a Fender bass.

Happy belated birthday to Elvis Presley. His Christmas album is an excellent album, I always try to play it every December.

I love Rick Wakeman, and I think my love and respect for him gets bigger every day. I think The Six Wives of Henry VIII, And Journey To The Center Of The Earth are his most important albums. I liked how he overdubbed dozens and dozens of keyboards, arranged each part individually and used electronic keyboards like the Mellotron, ARP Synthesizer and RMI Electra piano. He is very enthusiastic.

I got a Casio Casiotone keyboard for Christmas in 2019, so I guess I should be sponsored by Casio.

Happy birthday to the one and only Jimmy Page!

While primarily remembered as the husband of Betty White and host of TV game shows Password and GE College Bowl, Allen Ludden also released an album in 1964 called "Allen Ludden Sings His Favorite Songs", released for an RCA Records subsidiary. The album is not exactly a rock album, but features Ludden singing pop standards a la Andy Williams or Ray Conniff, including a cover version of They Can't Take That Away From Me and I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face. The album is now out of print, but I guess you can say that the password is "collector's item!" And I also seem to remember that singer Jon Bauman (Bowser from Sha Na Na) hosted the short lived The Match Game Hollywood Squares Hour alongside Gene Rayburn in 1983.

Yeah, I remember seeing this movie's trailers on TV all the time! I wish I had seen it now, but here's the trailer, if anyone is interested:

I actually liked Thankful and Thoughtful, the song Dave Grusin did in 1984 with Phoebe Snow. Be careful: there are lots of Simmons electronic drums on this track!

Dave Grusin also used a Yamaha GS1, if I'm not mistaken.

There isn't a lot of rock and roll today. But I do like Sleater Kinney, I think they encourage and promote female empowerment. They have a new album coming out, I heard them performing some of it on Jimmy Kimmel Live and it is actually very good.

I really like the way Bon Scott plays the bagpipes on the song "It's A Long Way To The Top" by ACDC.

I was trying to think of an iconic keyboard sound...how about Bloody Well Right by Supertramp? Rick Davies Wurlitzer electric piano is what gives that track (and so many other Supertramp songs) its distinctive sound.

Happy New Year 2024 everybody. I hope you guys will enjoy starting over, cause that's what I'm gonna do!