The Real Memphis Mike (don't settle for imitations)

Someone has created an "app" on Facebook regarding their idea of the 100 Most Influential Records of All Time. I disagreed with most of it. That said, what influences who is a matter of personal taste. I didn't find the list to be overly influential by genre either...but that again is a matter of personal point of view. As a musician/songwriter/producer, I see things one way...not necessarily the only way. After a few messages back and forth with the person behind the app, I decided to come up with my own list. I'm admittedly too lazy to come up with my Top 100 of anything...let alone go through my entire music collection...so here's my own unfluential Top 40...right off of my head. You may agree, disagree, or just scratch your head in wonder. It's my list and it's in no particular order. I've written notes about some of it. See what you think: 1)The Blasters - “Over There: Live At The Venue, London” This record knocked me on my ass the 1st ti...

A friend and I have been discussing (on Facebook, where such important issues are discussed) what it must be like to be a son of a Beatle. I queried that it must be Hell to be a Beatles' child. No matter what they do, they will always be known, first and foremost as the son/daughter of one of The Beatles. In my own small way, I understand this. My own childhood relegated me to being "Dr. Metzger's son". In fact, until I finally left Ohio for good, I was frequently asked if that's who I am or I would be referred to as such. My ego didn't like it...but it also taught me a lot about who my dad is. Unless you lived in Steubenville, OH (or the surrounding areas) in the 70s/80s/90s/early 21st century, my dad's name probably means nothing to you. But, if you did, you've heard of Dr. Clyde Metzger. He was, for years, the only cardiologist in the area. If you or your loved one had any type of heart condition, from high blood pressure to cardiomyopathy to ...

Cancer...aka The Big C. I saw a post on Facebook today saying something to the effect of "How many people out there wish cancer didn't exist". As a 2 time survivor, I have to admit, I chuckled. I, for one, have found cancer to serve a few purposes in my life. First off, just what exactly is cancer? Simple: can·cer /ˈkansər/ Noun The disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body. A malignant growth or tumor resulting from such a division of cells.   That's really all it is. You don't catch it like the flu, it doesn't miraculously appear out of nowhere...you have cells, sometimes they do things you don't want them to. Sometimes it's controllable and/or treatable...sometimes it's not.   Since my initial diagnosis in 2000, I've come to know a lot of people who have or have had cancer. Each one of them amazes me. One friend developed spinal cancer as a baby and had at least one surg...

I want to rock and roll all night, and party every day...so went an old song by Kiss. Amazingly enough, Kiss is still around. Let's be honest, their music was always fun...loud and over the top...but essentially pretty sophomoric in content. It was the 70s, the decade that gave us "serious" singer-songwriters like James Taylor (blech), Carol King, Elton John, etc. The 70s also gave us a fair bit of good, old fashioned rock and roll like the aforementioned Kiss, The Runaways, Thin Lizzy, and more. The 70s also gave us punk rock (yay!!!!!!) and disco (zzzzzz). So, what's my point,you may be wondering. Well, simply put, I've been noticing a trend lately. Lots of my friends, and not just the old farts like myself, have been posting a lot of videos of the old 70s bands lately. Has this music become suddenly hip again...or is there something else? As for my friends and contemporaries, aka the old farts, it could be chalked up to strolling down memory lane. But what ab...

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!!!!!! 7th YEAR!!!!!! I post this every year. Why? Because some folks ask for it....also because I like it. I hope you will too. We probably shouldn't need a holiday to remind us to be thankful for whatever we have...but I'm glad we do. So with out further adieu.... Thanksgivus Thanksgivus: that's what she called it. The 'she' in question would be a very short, loud, middle aged black woman with retardation who I supervised for years. Her name is Omega...fitting because she truly is THE END! Omega didn't exactly have a speech problem but I think her hearing wasn't 100% on the mark, as certain words would get slurred together such as "Thanksgivus". Another fave was her version of Social Security, which often sounded more like "sociable secretary" (of which I've known a few). Thanksgivus (which is what I now prefer to call the US holiday Thanksgiving) is the last Thursday of November (this is for my over...

If you're a musician, or have ever gone to see a live band, chances are you've heard some drunk yell for the band to play FREEBIRD!!!!!! 99.99974658% of all bands will say no. (proof that God loves us) If YOU are that person...stop it. If you want to hear FREEBIRD!!!!!!!!!! so damned much, go home and crank up your 8-track. The rest of the civilized world doesn't want to hear anyone other than Lynyrd Skynyrd play that damned song...and most of us don't even want to hear that. I say this not because it's something that I have to deal with often but because it's 2012 and people still do it. Every bit as bad is when people in the audience think that the band onstage knows every single song ever written and can/will/wants to attempt to perform them all. My personal favorite was once when we were playing at a street festival and a gal of around 18 or so came up to me to ask if we do any Mariah Carey. Mariah Carey?????   I had to call her out in front of th...

Tuesday night, Obama won re-election. This is neither news (now) nor a surprise to anyone with a functioning brain. He was the better of the two (main) candidates, and he won the election. Early Wednesday morning, I heard (via the interweb) that a neighbor was considering flying the flag, OUR flag, upside down in protest. I told this person (again, via the interweb) that if that were to happen, I would be more than happy to come over and fix it. I chalked it up to election night mania. I mean really...who in their right mind would be so disrespectful of OUR flag to actually do such a thing. Then came the news. This was not a random, isolated thought. It appears to be a conspiracy of like-minded folks...aka, The Tea Party...the uber right wing fanatical pawns of the Republican Party. It's pretty much a given that Teabillies are less-than-correctly informed. They like to believe they are informed because they give credence to the fear mongers who play on their deepest collectiv...