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DUSTY GROOVE
LOREZ ALEXANDRIA/For Swingers Only: Universal hasn’t had a problem with reissuing old Alexandria sides in the past, but if they think they are better off farming it out to specialists that know how to handle a hot set like this, so be it! Between jivey vocal sides that didn’t let her loose and later vocal dates where Bob Thiele was trying to cast her as a later day Billie Holliday, the Chess Brothers saw fit to write a meager check and let her do her thing. The result was one of her major artistic triumphs where the natural swinger in her was really given free reign, even infusing life into hoary stuff like “Baltimore Oriole” that has to be heard to be believed. When she kicks it on stuff like “All or Nothing at All”, forget about it, this is where her legend and legacy really came from. A set that can wear a title like ‘overlooked classic’ easily, swinging vocal fans better grab this before it disappears into the vaults again. Hot stuff!
(www.dustygroove.com)
LIVE SUPPLEMENT
KENNY LOGGINS Live at Ravinia: I’m not really that big on these oldies tours. Actually, I hated them when Dick Clark used to put them on and that feeling has stayed with me. These Live Nation things where the tickets are over priced, you can’t see or hear and you are surrounded by douche bags that are only there to send camera phone pics to their friends to show they are there in $300 seats? Bleh. Club tours/mall parking lot tours by goofs that should have saved their money and show contempt for being there? Bleh. Ravinia is doing a fine job of hitting the sweet spot with the right oldies acts. Playing to a botox/bald spot demo, they seem to be getting acts that aren’t going to break new ground but are respecting those that came out to see them. Let’s start with this. Loggins was never my cup of tea. When it comes to 70s hits, I don’t think of him in the same thought balloon as Eagles but goddamn if he didn’t write to soundtrack to the story of a lot of people’s lives. I can fess up to being suckered in by “Pooh Corner”, “Danny’s Song” and even “Angry Eyes”… but beyond that… After warming up the crowd with his new stuff that’s available exclusively at Target or from the website, he launched into a high octane hour and a half of greatest hits that had an awful lot of AARP aged asses out of their seats showing they cold still shake their asses with some enthusiasm. The guys that were out of their seats were still doing the white guy dance or else were taking it easy to they wouldn’t need oxygen, but I vote white guy dancing. Loggins gets high marks for taking care of his voice, interacting with the audience, being able to take a joke and getting rousing sing-along’s going like he was Pete Seeger. All told, it was an energetic, engaging show that had enough on the ball to keep it from feeling like a casino-rote check grab. Even if you aren’t a fan, you can feel good about this guy accepting his ‘oldies’ status gracefully and having a successful second act to his career.
Volume 31/Number 229
June 16, 2008
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
©2008 Midwest Record
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