AMERICAN IDOL CHANGED THE MUSIC COURSE

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THE WEB GOSSIP
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David Cook

COOK IS KING --- Regular readers of this column know already my feelings about American Idol. Sure, it's changed the course of popular music; introduced some decidedly strong personalities like Kelly Carkson, Carrie Underwood, and Jennifer Hudson; but, to tell you the unvarnished truth … I don't know if it's been for the betterment of music. Any of those Idol-artists … I mean, can you really put them against, say, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Paul Simon or, The Beatles? More than anything, I think it's been a perfect no-fail showcase for Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and, Steven Tyler. Truth be told: no one ever heard of Cowell before, and Abdul's career was pretty much on hold. And, what can you say about Steven Tyler's phoenix-like rise from the death-hold of substance abuse. Heck, Aerosmith was on the verge of breaking up …. hmmmm … they still are! So, all this is to say that last night at NY's Hard Rock Cafe, our friends at WPLJ had one of their reoccurring Up Close And Personal Shows with none other than Idol's David Cook; the winner of the seventh season of the show. It was an acoustic show (with guitarist Neil Tiemann) and I must admit, I was totally blown away; and, made me re-think my Idol-ology. The second track he performed was his hit “Light On,” which became a monster hit out in the going almost two years back. By the second week of its release, on September 23, 2008, the song had reached #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was certified platinum on January 20, 2010. I have to admit that when I heard it on the radio, I rather marveled at it's precise lyrics and sumptuous production. Hearing it live, it was even better. A terrific and cleverly written track … it is to me, almost perfect. Every artist worth their salt, has their signature tune … this will forever be his. He also played several tracks from a new album coming later this month called The Loud Morning as well as its first single “The Last Goodbye.” He also performed an absolutely terrific cover of The Cars' song “Tonight” a great song that though maybe not having stood the test of time, was wonderful to hear again. A terrific onstage interview with the station's Race Taylor was spot on perfect … and, funny. A nice transition, as Cook appears resolute and serious. A pre-show meet-and-greet showed him to be all business, which at first is a bit-off putting, then on second reflection, positively refreshing. You know, these days, being a tad too serious cannot be a bad thing ... right? Taylor had some serious questions too, but prodded a laugh or two out of Cook. In fact, he even got Cook to pluck the first few notes of Adele's “Rolling In The Deep.” He didn't do the whole song, though I bet it would have been outstanding. Taylor, in his years at the station has turned into just a wonderful personality; both funny and insightful. I predict even bigger things for him very shortly; a TV show … an interview show … most definitely. Also seen at the show, were PLJ's Theresa Angela; Tony Mascaro; new-dad Tony Cafarelli; Blake Hayes; Matt Sucich; PR-pasha David Salidor with client Dayme; and, promo-exec Jerry Lembo. WPLJ consistently has brilliant evenings like these; thank you all.

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David Bowie

HOUR 23 FOR JAPAN --- From a thundering, drizzling midtown we made it down to the Nickel (Nick-Kel) Spa For Men for a fundraiser for victims of the Tsunami Disaster with proceeds going to the NY-chapter of the American Red Cross. With the just-outstanding DJ Spencer Blake (who played everything from David Bowie's “Let's Dance” to Coldplay), we witnessed a terrific gathering of some of NY's best glitterati. World renowned dancer ShokoTamai performed a traditional Japanese dance and, a great performance by Old Soul with the marvelous Lincoln Schofield and steel drum player Freddy Haris III. There were also some terrific displays of Japanese-hand crafted jewelry from Kyoko Honda and Telina Webb. We caught the beautiful Melissa Daniels there who helped produce the show, and Angelina Beliech, both resplendent in traditional-Japanese kimonos. We also spied Keith Girard, from The Improper enjoying the festivities. One last thought; Spencer Blake played the best music we've hears since an event last year where DJ Cassidy spun. Inventive; enjoyable; and, fun! Also, Poco (www.pocony.com) catered the event and their food was of a such high caliber and quality, I thought I was in Little Italy. Their pasta and lobster was sooo good! Check this little gem out!

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Carly Simon

RIP --- In the last few weeks, we've lost some outstanding members of the entertainment community: recording producer-Roger Nichols; music-executive Steve Poppovich, and singer/songwriter Andrew Gold. Nichols was the recording engineer and co-producer for some of the best works from the legendary-band Steely Dan. He was a primary force behind most of their significant works, including the album Aja and developed several new recording techniques, and, was very significantly involved in the production of Donald Fagen's 1982 The Nightfly (a amazingly great album!) He wrote some terrific articles for several publications and consistently championed new and developing artists right up to his death. He will be greatly missed. Steve Popovich was an A&R exec for Epic records and had his own label Cleveland International, where Meatloaf's Bat Out of hell album was released; going onto selling 14 million copies. He was also directly involved in the careers of the Jacksons, Boston, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent, Ronnie Spector, Bravo Combo and Ian Hunter. Steve was of the loud-is-more world, but I must admit that whenever I was around him, there were so many things going on, I could never quite focus. He was one of the last great execs for sure. He may never have reached Clive Davis-type highs, but if you were a player in the biz … you knew the name in a nano-second. Regrettably he went onto having to sue CBS, as royalties due and expected were never forthcoming … boy, is that a golden story or what? I always loved the Ian Hunter records for their unrivaled audacity. Steve will be missed! Andrew Gold, who will forever be remembered for his wonderful songs “Lonely Boy” and “Thank You For Being A Friend” passed last week as well. A tremendous musician and songwriter, Gold figured prominently in the careers of Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Carly Simon, Maria Muldaur, as well as his burgeoning solo career. His excellent production work on Ronstadt's 1974 album Heart Like a Wheel, helped propel that album to much success. His father was film composer Ernest Gold, who wrote the Oscar-winning score for the movie Exodus and his mother was singer Marni Nixon, best known for dubbing the movie singing voices of Natalie Wood in West Side Story and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. He also formed the group Wax with Graham Gouldman of the Brit-group 10CC. I got to know him a bit in the halcyon-70's and 80's and always found him to be, besides a brilliant artist, a funny guy. I'll miss him a lot.


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Mark Bego

PALISADES PARK --- The highest grossing movie in the country last weekend was the super hero prequel X Men:First Class, bringing in over $55 million in its first week of release and the soundtrack includes a 60's smash by rocker Freddy 'Boom Boom' Cannon. A part of the movie’s timeline is 1962. When the film’s director, Matthew Vaughn, was given a list of hit songs from that year he chose Freddy's version of "Palisades Park." Cannon said "Of all the great tunes released in 1962, it is such an honor that Matthew chose mine to represent the era." The song was written by game show host Chuck Barris, peaked at # 3 on the Billboard charts. Cannon first performed the song on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, which Freddy holds the record for the artist with the most appearances (110 times). Cannon is currently writing his life story with author Mark Bego, a best selling author of biographies on rock stars. The book is tentatively titled Where The Action Is, and is slated to be published late this year.

Photos By: Derek Storm/RD/Dziekan/Retna

David Cook Photo Courtesy Of WPLJ