Halftime Show Adjacent
In case you haven’t heard, tomorrow is the Super Bowl. It seems like that is the only thing anyone is talking about on daytime shows, nighttime shows, entertainment shows, political shows. While one singer’s possible appearance to watch her boyfriend play in the game seems at times to be eclipsing the Super Bowl Halftime show’s headliner, it’s Usher that I want to talk about. Well, it’s actually Michael Jackson that I want to talk about, but that will bring us back to Usher.
I’ve been watching a lot of documentaries lately, and hands-down, one of my favorites of the past couple of months is Thriller 40, which celebrates the 40th anniversary of the iconic album from Michael Jackson. What I liked most about the film was that while it touched oh, so briefly on Michael Jackson’s relationship with his father and his brothers, the true focus of the film was the evolution of Jackson as a performer and the creation of this seminal album. The documentary doesn’t shy away from showing Jackson as someone who wants to be on top, and stay on top, and includes many examples of how that drive, combined with Jackson’s unending creativity, continues to put its stamp on music today.
The majority of the film is centered on creating Thriller and the immediate impacts that had on Michael Jackson, and in turn, he had on much of the world. Chock-full of archival audio, film footage, and present-day interviews, the documentary takes a deep dive into the album’s music- from the creation of iconic musical progressions and hooks to the concepts behind some of the best known videos. John Landis gives a very entertaining look at the creation of the iconic Thriller video, and there are interviews with celebrities sprinkled throughout. What I found most interesting though were the interviews with the people who were intimately involved in the creation of the music. The engineers, the musicians, and the backup singers. I also found the inclusion of interviews with choreographers Rich and Tone Talauega and dancers like Misty Copeland and Usher (told you we’d circle back) gave the story of Thriller even more depth. So many years out, we forget that before Michael Jackson, no one had taken the vast array of dance steps and genres and combined them the way that he did, and in a way that performers continue to do today.
His incredible talent as a dancer was on display when Michael Jackson headlined Super Bowl XXVII’s 1993 halftime show (you can find this performance online) and I imagine we’ll see reflections of that when Usher takes the stage tomorrow night. Jackson’s personal struggles may have eclipsed some of his musical brilliance in later years, but Thriller 40 was an enjoyable reminder that before all that, there was a young man with a creative vision for his music, his videos, and his career and he wasn’t going to let anyone stop him. Check out Thriller 40 and to paraphrase the immortal words of Vincent Price, “No mere mortal can resist the “music” of the Thriller!”
Hello Friends! I am so sorry that I haven’t posted in a while. I hadn’t had so much as a cold in 2.5 years and had evaded Covid for almost four years, but at the beginning of December, after spending the weekend with friends and enjoying some live Christmas music, Covid finally caught up with me. It left me with a cough and ongoing fatigue. Then, the first week of January, just as I was feeling a bit better, I found myself at the doctor’s office because I had caught a new virus that caused…coughing and fatigue. Needless to say that for almost two months, I only had the energy to make it through the day at work. Writing fell by the wayside. The Annual Children’s Music Roundup fell by the wayside. The hope to make last year’s interviews with the Best Children’s Album GRAMMY nominees an annual event fell by the wayside. All replaced by post-dinner naps.
Released on World Mental Health Day, “So Glad You’re My Friend,” written and performed by Laura Doherty and Reggio “The Hoofer,” is an important song any day of the year. The lyrics call out a whole list of things that you can do when you’re feeling down including – think of a happy place, put on a favorite song and sing along, and make a friend and walk together and talk together. Friends since their earlier days as teaching artists at Chicago’s famed Old Town School of Folk Music (Laura teaching music classes, Reggio sharing his talent as a master tap dancer), this is the duo’s second collaboration. Featuring Laura’s signature folk-pop sound, “So Glad You’re My Friend” combines Laura’s soft, crystal clear voice with Reggio’s slightly gruffer tone to create a soothing song that leaves the listener feeling cared for and loved. While the message of the single is mainly directed at the person feeling low, it’s also the perfect reminder that you never know what someone else is going through, so never be afraid to reach out and say, “So Glad You’re My Friend.” Take a 
One of the many great things about children’s music is how it can make learning fun. Sometimes it’s little things like ABCs or counting to 10, but other times, it’s bigger things, like scientific concepts. Over the next two album spotlights, I’m focusing on amazing albums that take science and make it fun. First up is the water-themed album, Aqua Phonic, from Marko Polo. In his second album for families, Marko Polo, aka Mark Pagano, a teaching artist based in St. Louis, takes listeners from the smallest drop of water to the greatest oceans of the world.
Along with the animals, Pagano also focuses on water as place. He takes listeners to the deepest depths where everything glows at the “Bottom of the Ocean” before taking them back into the light with “Follow the Water.” This lovely duet with New Zealander Claudia Robin Gunn features a melody and lyrics that eddies and flows just like the current of the water. The album closes with the beautiful, “Drip Drop.” This final track, so skillfully designed, aptly details the water cycle while also speaking to the experience of parents and caregivers – “Time keeps moving like a river/Feels like it’s going quicker as I watch you grow.”
John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand Prize Winner