I read in the "New York Times" that Mariah Carey’s "We Belong Together" was
the song of the summer.<\/p>\n
The only time I heard it was at the MTV Movie Awards.\u00c2\u00a0 She sang the shit out
of it.\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s not my definition of a summer song.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s not MY summer
song.\u00c2\u00a0 MY summer song is Bryan Adams’ "Open Road".<\/p>\n
I’m sittin’ at the wheel So let the engine roar That’s a summer song.\u00c2\u00a0 One that you crank up loud as you let loose on the That’s what I remember.\u00c2\u00a0 Cruising in my mother’s Country Squire to the beach, I heard a Fat Joe song on XM last night.\u00c2\u00a0 I got it.\u00c2\u00a0 It had hooks galore.\u00c2\u00a0 This Fat Joe song was made in the studio.\u00c2\u00a0 Probably like most hip-hop the That’s not rock and roll.<\/p>\n Rock and roll is something played on guitars.\u00c2\u00a0 Something that loses control.\u00c2\u00a0 It doesn’t matter how good you are.\u00c2\u00a0 Take the Ramones.\u00c2\u00a0 It was the energy, But somewhere along the line rock and roll mutated.\u00c2\u00a0 In 1970, Led Zeppelin In an era when old rockers like Rod Stewart cut standards, playing regular But it’s this sound, the one the media ignores, that drives the heartland.\u00c2\u00a0 Bryan Adams is not bitter, he’s just frustrated.\u00c2\u00a0 Well, more like flummoxed.\u00c2\u00a0 Not that I knew all this until I caught up with him backstage in St. Paul.<\/p>\n I was worried he didn’t recognize me.\u00c2\u00a0 He was doing a meet and greet with But I didn’t get quite the reaction I expected.\u00c2\u00a0 I got the big smile, the I was a bit creeped out.<\/p>\n I expected a bit of a reaction from the stage, a nod to me in the wings.<\/p>\n But that was not forthcoming either.<\/p>\n And then I realized I was wearing a hat.\u00c2\u00a0 And sunglasses.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe Bryan didn’t I figured I’d get one more shot when he left the stage.<\/p>\n But he exited on the other side.<\/p>\n So, on instinct, I left my little sister behind.\u00c2\u00a0 Her husband.\u00c2\u00a0 I ran down I KNOW WHO YOU ARE!<\/p>\n It was funny.\u00c2\u00a0 Kind of like connecting with a buddy from summer camp, someone And if you’re in this business.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’ve been backstage.\u00c2\u00a0 You know when the But I wanted to make the connection.\u00c2\u00a0 I didn’t want to leave on a bad note.<\/p>\n So now we’re walking.\u00c2\u00a0 Talking.<\/p>\n And that’s when I told Bryan "Open Road" was my song of the summer.<\/p>\n He was kind of shocked.\u00c2\u00a0 Which surprised me.\u00c2\u00a0 Usually stars are used to being But I meant it.\u00c2\u00a0 I only say what I mean.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s my rule backstage.\u00c2\u00a0 Like a I started telling Bryan how I listened to "Open Road" on my iPod, as I was And then I told him how I downloaded ACOUSTIC versions from the Web.\u00c2\u00a0 Which But I wanted to make my point.\u00c2\u00a0 I REALLY REALLY liked "Open Road".<\/p>\n So Bryan turned, jaw dropped, looked into my eyes, and told me he’d send me a I said I’d send it to my people.\u00c2\u00a0 If that was fine with him.\u00c2\u00a0 I wanted And like the savvy businessman he is, Bryan said NO PROBLEM!\u00c2\u00a0 He owned the I was under the illusion that Bryan was going to send a studio remix.\u00c2\u00a0 But It’s hard to discover music, to GET INTO IT, when you’re exposed to it live.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, live there’s an energy that studio music just doesn’t have.\u00c2\u00a0 Live Unlike so many of today’s acts, Bryan Adams has no problem hitting the notes. And there are no synths.\u00c2\u00a0 No computers.\u00c2\u00a0 No recordings.<\/p>\n Just a band.\u00c2\u00a0 Like the one you used to play in in your garage, but BETTER!<\/p>\n Throw off your A&R hat.\u00c2\u00a0 Throw off your commercial hat.\u00c2\u00a0 Throw off your <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I read in the "New York Times" that Mariah Carey’s "We Belong Together" was the song of the summer. The only time I heard it was at the MTV Movie Awards.\u00c2\u00a0 She sang the shit out of it.\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s not my definition of a summer song.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s not MY summer song.\u00c2\u00a0 MY summer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s96vPs-112","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
I got a green light
I’m not afraid of nothin’ cuz heart and soul
I’m built for life<\/p>\n
Push the pedal down
I want the white lines on the highway
To lead me out of town<\/em><\/p>\n
highway, one of the few freedoms left in this country, one available to all over
the age of sixteen.<\/p>\n
the Beatles’ "Get Back" pouring out of the one speaker in the dash, punching
the pedal to the line about California grass.\u00c2\u00a0 Driving my 2002 just outside of
St. Louis as the traffic broke, the sky finally cleared and "Sweet Home
Alabama" started pouring out of the speakers in the rear deck.<\/p>\n
Made you want to move your body.\u00c2\u00a0 But it wasn’t rock and roll.<\/p>\n
beats, the groove, the music was created by a producer working almost solo in a
dark room, with Mr. Joe appearing later to tell a tale atop this other person’s
work.<\/p>\n
Something that’s played like it means EVERYTHING!<\/p>\n
the changes.<\/p>\n
was considered heavy metal, Black Sabbath was derided for being too far out
there.\u00c2\u00a0 Today almost all rock purveyed is way out there.\u00c2\u00a0 Its edginess is its
badge of honor.\u00c2\u00a0 The fact that parents don’t like it is what makes it good.\u00c2\u00a0 Or
does it?\u00c2\u00a0 Is this music good?\u00c2\u00a0 Can’t be TOO good, because its sales pale in
comparison to those of hip-hop.<\/p>\n
rock and roll is declasse, deemed irrelevant.<\/p>\n
It’s this sound that Creed and Three Doors Down rode to success, chastised all
the way, as the press extolled music with attitude but few hooks like the
songs of the Strokes.\u00c2\u00a0 Attitude trumped changes.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas just the way you strum
your guitar can display attitude.\u00c2\u00a0 If you know how to do it, if you feel it.<\/p>\n
"Room Service" sold over a million copies worldwide, but he just can’t get
traction on American radio.\u00c2\u00a0 And this doesn’t square with the reaction he
garners when he hits the boards.\u00c2\u00a0 Because when he plays "Open Road",
when he gives it his all, the crowd goes wild.<\/p>\n
some Best Buy people outside his bus.\u00c2\u00a0 I didn’t want to miss him.\u00c2\u00a0 I knew he’d
hit the stage soon.\u00c2\u00a0 I went up and interrupted.\u00c2\u00a0 I figured I was entitled.<\/p>\n
firm handshake of a friend that most musicians will not give for fear of
negatively affecting their livelihood, but there was not much of an exchange, Bryan
went back to signing autographs.<\/p>\n
RECOGNIZE ME!<\/p>\n
the gangplank.\u00c2\u00a0 I got right up alongside Bryan and introduced myself.<\/p>\n
you went to college with, someone you haven’t seen for a long time but you
know so well, who you instantly click with when you reengage.<\/p>\n
gig is over, when the band is leaving the stage, they’re in a trance.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s
like talking to a prizefighter between rounds.\u00c2\u00a0 Their head’s STILL IN THE GAME!<\/p>\n
complimented, they think EVERYTHING they do is great.<\/p>\n
well-bred child, if I’ve got nothing good to say, I keep my mouth shut.<\/p>\n
doing my back exercises, as I was hiking in the mountains.\u00c2\u00a0 How it was the very
first song I played on my Sonos system.<\/p>\n
is kind of weird if you think about it, telling an artist you’re stealing his
music.<\/p>\n
new mix.<\/p>\n
everyone to hear "Open Road".<\/p>\n
song, the copyright, the track, not to even discuss it with Bruce, just to send
it.<\/p>\n
what I received in e-mail is a live take, from Lisbon, recorded earlier this
year.<\/p>\n
It doesn’t have the studio tricks, it’s not polished.<\/p>\n
you’ve got to deliver.\u00c2\u00a0 You can’t roll back tape.\u00c2\u00a0 If you don’t nail it, the
audience starts making noise, they head for the bathrooms.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to give
it your all, you’ve got to NAIL IT!<\/p>\n
You’ll hear it here.<\/p>\n
preconceptions of Bryan Adams.\u00c2\u00a0 Just listen.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ll hear rock and roll.\u00c2\u00a0 That
straight-ahead music that probably got you into this business to begin with. <\/p>\n