Author Archives: Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio

Reviews: 7.9.19: The Ebb and Flow of a Life: Cloud Eleven’s Illuminating Song Cycle

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

Cloud Eleven – Footnote (West Coast, 2019)

The minimalist front cover that houses Rick Gallego’s latest, meticulously crafted songs is bathed in a wash of lightened, sun-soaked grains of sand; at bottom right, water reaches a line on an ethereal beach. The new song’s titles are typeset within the upper half of the equally minimalist back cover; the small parade of players, all imaginary yet full of life, are listed below–cohorts in a dreamy song cycle (Gallego is the only actual living, breathing player).

The cover, an homage to the wrapper for Todd Rundgren’s 1976 album, Faithful, is no accidental nod; Gallego sends out “special gratitude to todd rundgren, who lighted the way to my own musical existence all those years ago” and sets the text in lowercase, just as Todd did.

Footnote is Gallego’s seventh go-round as Cloud Eleven’s chief cook and bottle washer. This new release is no mere footnote, however; it is, in fact, what the previous six releases have been traveling toward all along: a gorgeous song cycle about the ebb and flow of a life (a songwriter’s?) as one follows a path and discovers his or her essence along the way.

The songs on Footnote sound nothing like Todd Rundgren, even though the Hermit of Mink Hollow’s influence is in there; with each new release, Gallego paints a masterpiece colored as only a Cloud Eleven album can be.

Gallego’s songs and arrangements are crafted with a unique combination of hues, tints, tones and colors; one flick of his brush too many and his songs might tilt toward another form altogether. Here, as the songs on Footnote play, we get the feeling that Gallego is painting his soundscapes, touched by the spirit of ELO and the harmony-laden Beach Boys, while balanced on a tightrope of his own devising; what a gloriously creative and fulfilling place that must be to hang.

Footnote opens with a quartet of songs set in a melodically-charged dreamscape. The first song, “On Pismo Beach,” sets to sail with a ghostly strum of guitar that barrels into a rich blast of harmony before it draws a lyrical picture of a place where all is blissful and serene. “Aural Illusion” builds on that ideal, positing that in sound we prosper (“If you can believe that music is love / Then you’ll understand the meaning of / Aural Illusion”).

The second half of the first block of songs continues on the path set by the first. The lovely ballad “Solar Fields” suggests that, after allowing sound to enrich your existence, the warmth of the sun will help to complete you (“With the sun on your face / You will never fade away / In the bright glowing light / You won’t fail”). And, armed with the benefits realized from pleasing sounds and sunlight, you can trust in someone to lead you down a valid path of exploration (the Brian Wilson-ish “Bound to Follow”).

This emotional journey continues with the relaxed-sounding, Free Design-like “For Weal and Woe,” in which we discover that the days ahead bring a promise of discovery, so long as we are in tune with ourselves (“Our lives ebb and flow / For weal and for woe”). And then, we are transported to terra firma, where we learn even more about ourselves.

In “L.A. County,” we are entranced and inspired by a girl who gives us a reason to set down roots (“We will live our lives here”). “Skywriting” allows a songwriter to connect with the magical muse that surrounds him (“But I’ll try to do my best / Hope my muse will do the rest / It’s like magic when songs appear, I confess”).

Sometimes, though, it is hard–impossible, even–to connect. The subject of the grand, wistful ballad, “One Big Hideaway,” squirrels himself inside his home–inside his room–as the world turns around him. He misses his family, but can’t find a way to reach out to them. There will be no doubt in the listener’s mind as to who this song is about.

In the end, we are left to ponder the validity of our life’s journey. Do we learn from what we discover as we make stops along the way, or do we downplay what we have achieved and consider ourselves to be nothing more than a speck of dust because none of it will matter in the grand scheme of things? “Now I’m content to be / I won’t pretend I’m anything, but a / Footnote,” Gallego sings in the closing, title song.

Songs can teach us a lot about ourselves. Throughout our lives, we learn who we are by also learning who we aren’t. Rick Gallego’s illuminating song cycle won’t provide us with all of the answers we desire, but its beautifully rendered songs will at least provide us with some lovely, melodic hints.

Where to Get It: Kool Kat Musik, Amazon (CD and digital), Apple Music (iTunes), CD Baby (CD and digital)

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Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995, and the 24-hour Pure Pop Radio station, which ended last August.

Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today.

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Reviews: 7.2.19: A Double Dose of Heyman: Richard X. and Richie Deliver Superb Garage Rock and Pop and Roll in Two New Releases

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

Richard X. Heyman | Pop Circles (Turn-Up, 2019)
The Doughboys | Running for Covers (Ram, 2019)

Perhaps the greatest gift that June brings us northern hemisphere dwellers is the first day of summer, a cue for couch potatoes and homebodies to welcome the sun, and globs of sunscreen, into our daily lives.

This year, June brought us another great gift, one that can be enjoyed either indoors or outdoors, depending on your mode of music delivery, allowing all of us to benefit from warm summer days and nights and some truly terrific music.

Just last month, a double dose of Heyman descended upon us in the form of Richard X. Heyman’s tremendous 13th solo album, Pop Circles, and Running for Covers, a fun, new long player from the Doughboys, the New Jersey garage rockers that count drummer Richie Heyman among their members. Whether billed as Richard X. or Richie, multi-instrumentalist Heyman always delivers first-rate pop and rock ‘n’ roll.

Richard X. Heyman’s Pop Circles
A double dose of Heyman allows fans to experience many sides of the artist at once. Pop Circles favors Richard’s pop side, where melody, harmony and instrumental brilliance are king; Running for Covers puts Richie on the drum stool, where he helps his Doughboy brothers kick out the hot and powerful garage rock jams.

On Pop Circles, Heyman continues to favor the one-man-band approach to his recordings, but with one important, and most welcome, change: wife Nancy takes on bass duties throughout most of the album, playing innovative and melodically-charged parts on her Hofner Empress.

Pop Circles is sort-of a two-part affair, the first 12 tracks being the album proper and the final five being solo versions of songs previously appearing on albums by the Doughboys. Each of the 17 tracks earn their place in the running order (an 18th, hidden track is an extended version of the song, “Guess You Had to be There”).

Richard X. Heyman, surrounded by pop circles

As you would expect from a Heyman album, always a treat and a shining light in any pop release cycle, the highlights are plenty. Throughout Pop Circles, Richard’s instrumental and vocal prowess prove their mettle (no surprise there); his singular, one-of-a-kind drum parts and thickly defined harmony stacks are particularly inviting. And, as I said up above, wife Nancy’s bass parts are innovative and melodically-charged, and essential to the overall sound.

One of Richard’s best songs and best-ever arrangements is the powerful, rocking “Marlena,” which posits that a relationship is now gone, regardless of which road the narrator travels on or the New Jersey towns he blows through as he works his issues out in his mind. Richard’s lyrics are vividly stated and metaphorical, such as in this descriptive couplet (“Trusted a lamb so gentle and wise (Marlena) / Now here I am with wool over my eyes”). The song’s melody is ingeniously seductive; the chord structure inventive and compelling.

The narrator of the breezy “In a Sunlit Room” is tasked with coming up with a way to salvage a relationship. He hopes to come up smelling roses, but he’s on a steep, uphill climb and seemingly has the most to prove. He is nothing if not poetically realistic (“You must know that love has its peaks and valleys / Mount Everest to the Grand Canyon and back”). It’s a deep crevice to climb out of, for sure. Richard’s guitars really shine here, and Nancy’s bass provides a creative bottom end.

“Land,” originally the opening, Rolling Stones-styled rocker on 2012’s Doughboys release, Shakin’ Our Souls, is my favorite of Pop Circles’ “Richie’s Three-Chord Garage” set, recast here as a less manic, no-Stones-turned rocker. Richard’s vocal is particularly strong here, and his piano playing is superlative.

Pop Circles was recorded at the Kit Factory and at Eastside Sound, both in New York City. It’s a dynamic collection of songs, just waiting for you to listen.

The Doughboys’ Running for Covers
Speaking of superlative, the 13 well-chosen covers that constitute the Doughboys’ new release make a case for pleading with the band to fashion an all-fave-classic-songs-we-didn’t-write show for fans. For now, though, this knowing selection of covers will do quite nicely. The group gives each classic nugget their all and then some, infusing them with garage-rock fury or pure pop finesse, depending on the song.

Running for Covers stands out of the ever-growing pack of covers albums by not simply choosing from the well of usual suspects; mixed in with the familiar (Neil Diamond’s “Solitary Man” and David Essex’s “Rock On,” for example) are more obscure tracks from the Kinks, Mose Allison, and the Four Seasons, among others, that might not come to mind, even in a pinch.

The Four Seasons’ “Everybody Knows My Name,” from the group’s 1966 album, Working My Way Back to You and More Great New Hits, is an inspired choice, a lovely, catchy pop song that is very different from the other fare on Running for Covers (and holds special significance for the Doughboys–see below). Another track, Herman’s Hermits’ “My Reservation’s Been Confirmed,” from 1966’s Both Sides of Herman’s Hermits, is another straight-ahead, catchy pop song, also of the I-probably-wouldn’t-have-thought-of-that variety.

Two of the songs included on Running for Covers hold special significance for the Doughboys–they are the re-recorded a-sides of the group’s two Bell Records singles from the 1960s (“Rhoda Mendelbaum” and the aforementioned Four Seasons track, “Everybody Knows My Name”). They are jewels contained within this album of interpretation that shine from start to finish.

Other tasty highlights include a searing, four-on-the-floor take on Question Mark and the Mysterians’ “96 Tears,” and a powerful, rocking, crunchy guitar-ized version of the Band’s “The Shape I’m In,” which turns the original recording on its collective ears.

The Grip Weeds’ Kurt Reil produced, recorded, mixed and mastered Running for Covers at his House of Vibes studio in Highland Park, New Jersey (Kurt also helped out with vocals and percussion). It’s another fine job for all concerned.

The Doughboys

A Double Dose
The Doughboys’ Gar Francis, Mike Caruso, Myke Scavone, and Richie Heyman play up a storm on Running for Covers, a tremendously entertaining garage- and pop-rock testament to the classic songs of yesteryear; Richard X. Heyman does the same for his catchy pop songs contained on Pop Circles, that feature the singer-songwriter’s incredible, vital instrumental skills and intense harmony stacks.

This double dose of Heyman, where Richard X. meets Richie and garage-rock meets pop and roll, is a present for music fans all over the world. Obviously, you should be all in for some of the best music being made today.

Where to Get It:
Richard X. Heyman’s Pop Circles: Kool Kat Musik. Listen to sound samples and purchase: richardxheyman.com CD Baby, Amazon, iTunes
The Doughboys’ Running for Covers: thedoughboysnj.com. Listen to sound samples and purchase: Amazon, CD Baby, iTunes

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Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995, and the 24-hour Pure Pop Radio station, which ended last August.

Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today.

Leave a comment

The Pure Joy of the Laurel Canyon Sound of the 1960s: Fernando Perdomo Talks About Echo in the Canyon, a Glorious, Heartfelt Film and Album Celebration, on Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

Put a guitar in Fernando Perdomo’s hands–you pick the genre–and you’ll get a performance that will knock your socks off or, alternatively, blow your mind.

Perhaps both, if you catch him on an especially good day.

Perdomo talks with me about the Laurel Canyon sound of the mid-1960s and the film that celebrates it–Echo in the Canyon, now playing at a theater near you–on this week’s all-new edition of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation (listen below). (We also talk about the groovy soundtrack album.)

Echo in the Canyon is the glorious, passionate big-screen celebration of the Laurel Canyon sound of the mid-1960s that found music makers like the Mamas and the Papas, the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield making history and touching hearts around the world with their soon-to-be-classic recordings, waxed at some of the most famous studios in history. The film deftly spins a magical, melody-rich tale, told through interviews with iconic performers like David Crosby, Michelle Phillips, and Jackson Browne, and performances by the Echo in the Canyon band, headed by Jakob Dylan.

Perdomo, who plays in the Echo in the Canyon band along with such stellar musicians as Geoff Pearlman, Matt Tecu, and Jordan Summers, talks about how he got this golden gig and what it was like to play with such heavyweight guests as Beck, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young. The film, now playing in theaters nationwide, is memorialized on the powerful soundtrack, produced by Andrew Slater, who also directed.

The soundtrack releases on CD tomorrow, June 28, and on vinyl August 2. Thirteen classic songs are featured, including the Byrds’ “Goin’ Back,” the Mamas and the Papas’ “Go Where You Wanna Go,” and Buffalo Springfield’s “Expecting to Fly.” Here is a taste of the great sounds contained in the film and on the soundtrack:

Listen below to my in-depth interview with Fernando Perdomo, talking about the 1960s Laurel Canyon sound and this moment’s magical, musical experience, Echo in the Canyon, on this week’s all-new edition of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation.

pprListen to my interview with Fernando Perdomo about the 1960s Laurel Canyon sound memorialized in Echo in the Canyon by clicking the play button on the following player, or by clicking on the Pure Pop Radio button to the left to download (then right click and choose “Save audio as” to save the file to your computer).


Be on the lookout for the announcement of the next all-new edition of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, coming soon.

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Listen to a wide selection of archived Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows by clicking here.

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Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995, and the 24-hour Pure Pop Radio station, which ended last August.

Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, hosted by Alan Haber, is the Internet’s premier talk show presenting melodic pop music artists in conversation about their work. New episodes appear here exclusively on the Pure Pop Radio website. Podcast versions of previously-aired episodes are archived here.

Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today.

Leave a comment

Reviews: 6.25.19: Astral Drive’s Plea for Love, Butch Young’s Stories of People in Crisis, and Farrington’s Retro-Fueled Pretty Pictures

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

Astral Drive | “Wishing I Could Change the World”
(Lojinx, 2019)

Phil Thornalley, Britain’s champion of 1970s-era Todd Rundgren, returns as his Astral Drive nom de plume with a joyful Dave Bascombe (Tears for Fears) radio remix of “Wishing I Could Change the World,” originally waxed for 2018’s self-titled Astral Drive album. Also on board: two new tracks.

A plea for love becoming the constant that makes everything alright (“I keep wishing that the world would change / Love come pouring down like gentle rain / I’m still praying / Dreaming like every boy and girl / Wishing we could change the world”), the song’s jubilant, hopeful arrangement, and yearning vocal signify the coming of a melodic pop standard that really can change the world.

Accompanying the Bascombe-ized “Wishing I Could Change the World” are two new tracks, easily slottable into your growing Astral Drive collector’s bucket. A passionate, slowed-down take on the classic “Up On the Roof,” complete with Thornalley’s Rundgren-ized, understated vocal harmony stacks, draws new levels of emotion from the lyric (“Right smack dab in the middle of town / I’ve found a paradise that’s trouble proof”). The roof, in the case of Goffin and King’s classic song, is the perennial happy place, where hope triumphs over the alternative.

“Who Loves You,” essentially a new song (an unfinished number that didn’t make the Astral Drive album), “…is about how life can change in a heartbeat and how insecurity can haunt us just as easily as love can lift us,” according to Thornalley, quoted on the Lojinx website. Another Rundgren-esque number and as good as anything on the Astral Drive album, “Who Loves You” is a question perhaps best asked…up on the roof, where the answer should become clear.

Another melodic triumph for Astral Drive, this new single shines a light on the world at large, praying for love to conquer all.

Where to Get It: Lojinx, Amazon, iTunes

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Butch Young | “Captain Serious” b/w “Beautiful Dreamer”
(Big Stir, 2019)

For all the sour, sad sack boys and girls out there, Butch Young’s eminently catchy, sweet-with-the-sour, Brian Wilson-with-a-touch-of-George Harrison ditty “Captain Serious,” about a guy to whom a smile is just a frown turned upside down, is your song. For everyone else, this song is a melodic pop confection par excellence from a Pure Pop Radio favorite.

I quote lyrics fairly often in my reviews, because I believe the words married to music are just as important in the long run, if not more so. Young’s depiction of this much-too-serious captain of his industry includes some rather clever wordsmithing. To wit: “Captain Serious / Is looking sour as a lime or a grape / His face is dour as some days-old lemonade / Left to spoil in the rain”. And this: “Oh, did your mom make you so? / She never really let you play your rock ‘n’ roll / Oh, did your Dad come home / And catch you reading Tolstoy all alone?”

The flip of this sterling Big Stir digital single, “Beautiful Dreamer,” a wonderful, dramatically orchestrated, catchy ELO-ish ballad, charts the course of a person who hides within sleep to avoid doom and gloom (“Bad feelings bottled up and then / An imminent calamity / Run baby, run”). Will these bad feelings pass, beautiful dreamer? “Have another wink or two / Before you spring to life / When will you open up / Your heart to see / The spell you’re under?”

Young’s 2016 album, Mercury Man, was a big hit for me, and was one of the bright stars of my Favorite Records of the Year: Stars of 2016 feature. I wrote: “Butch Young’s miraculous, hall-of-fame-worthy album is a modern classic by way of its dazzling array of 1970s-styled instant classic songs, peppered with a mix of Paul McCartney and Harry Nilsson-esque magic. Every one of these Los Angeles-based artist’s songs is a clear winner, like the title track, ‘Persephone,’ ‘One Foot In,’ and ‘The Fools of May.'”

I also said Mercury Man was awesome. And so are these incredible, miraculous songs that make up the 31st Big Stir digital single offering (both are earmarked for an album release next year). Don’t miss this one.

Where to Listen and Get ’em: Big Stir Digital Singles (scroll to the second entry)

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Farrington | Pictures of Pretty Things (2019)

This monumental, audacious bundle of retro-fueled imagination, wackadoo musical composition and performance closes with a majestic, classically-influenced instrumental in which impassioned orchestration and lyrical guitar work play as the audience exits the auditorium–you being the audience and your music listening room being the auditorium.

But don’t exit the auditorium just yet: hang in there for the last 12 seconds of this album’s title track, the very last track, when a burst of packed-tight harmony voices shouting “Pretty things!” bounces off the walls like a Spalding® High-Bounce Handball. It’s a reminder of what you’ve just heard: a never-mind-the-boundaries kind of album in which glam meets pop meets rock meets all sorts of other stuff, too.

Farrington’s Pictures of Pretty Things packs a box set’s worth of ideas and musical manipulations into just about 35 minutes of–what’s the word I used up top? Audacious? Well, audacious it all is, without a doubt.

Farrington, aka mad musical scientist James Patrick, works his magic in a Queen frame of mind, singing like a glam superstar with a pure pop heart. And save for a few harder-edged rockers, the artist stays put squarely in a melodic pop sandbox which, for my tastes, is an eminently satisfying domicile.

Piano and other keyboards, played with passion, save for one song, by Farrington, majorly drive these songs, although the drums, played by co-producer Marcos de la Cruz, also pack quite a desirable punch. Anthony King, playing a good chunk of the guitar and bass parts, and other fine folks, including Kai Danzberg and Fernando Perdomo, help to make this astounding mix of great songs and performances a towering achievement. These songs are all about the sound and how the hooks aplenty grab hold of you and don’t let go.

Achieving towering status are any number of top-drawer tunes, including the ultra-poppy “The Love Show,” a mid-tempo Queen-tinged song which is ultimately about love, love, love; the power-poppy “Long Way to Nowhere,” ultimately about the power of music (“Blondie dancing in a heart of glass / She makes me dizzy”); and “When I Was You,” an uptempo beat-driven pop song about ultra-disappointment in a doomed relationship (“I wish you were dead, she said / Yeah, I guess the feeling is more than mutual / So take me back to yesterday / When I was you”).

These songs are all about the sound; frankly, I’m not entirely sure what most of these songs are about, but they sure sound good as good can be. “Blue,” a mid-tempo pop-rocker bops ahead with a decidedly Sweet “Love is Like Oxygen” vibe that is intensely infectious. And “Violins,” another poppy pick-to-click, tells the tale of a girl in a shaky relationship who finds solace in the sound of violins (“She listens to violins / And her imagination runs wild again / She listens to violins / The music makes her smile again”).

A box set’s worth of magical ideas imaginatively whipped into shape by a mad musical scientist who knows how to mix just the right ingredients, Pictures of Pretty Things is one heck of an achievement.

Where to Get It: Check back soon for purchase links

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Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995, and the 24-hour Pure Pop Radio station, which ended last August.

Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today.

Leave a comment

Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation this Thursday, June 27: Fernando Perdomo Joins Alan Haber for a Celebration of the Film Sensation, Echo in the Canyon


Fernando Perdomo talks about the Echo in the Canyon film and soundtrack on Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation this Thursday, June 27

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

Oh, what it must have been like, wandering through Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, among the songwriters and performers who struck gold in the Hollywood Hills and draped the burgeoning folk-into-folk-rock landscape with hit after lasting hit.

Echo in the Canyon is the glorious, passionate big-screen celebration of the Laurel Canyon sound that found music makers like the Mamas and the Papas, the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield making history and touching hearts around the world with their soon-to-be-classic recordings, waxed at some of the most famous studios in history. The film deftly spins a magical, melody-rich tale, told through interviews with iconic performers like David Crosby, Michelle Phillips, and Jackson Browne, and performances by the Echo in the Canyon band, headed by Jakob Dylan.

Pure Pop Radio favorite Fernando Perdomo, the “it” musician of the moment, whose imaginative, passionate playing elevates music being made in genres far and wide, from pop to prog and back again, talks with me during the second in the new series of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows about becoming a member of the Echo in the Canyon band, giving unique, widescreen insight into the project. The show debuts here on the Pure Pop Radio website this Thursday, June 27.

The Echo in the Canyon band is currently entertaining filmgoers at certain film showings with exciting live performances that help to turn audiences in cities across the country onto the gospel that is the Laurel Canyon sound. The magical band performs era-defining songs like the Mamas and the Papas’ “Go Where You Wanna Go” and the Byrds’ (by way of Gerry Goffin and Carole King) “Goin’ Back,” testifying to the ongoing vitality of the music that helped to shape a generation and beyond.

Echo in the Canyon is now playing in theaters nationwide; the soundtrack, produced by Andrew Slater, who also directed the film, is powered by the core band (Geoff Pearlman, Matt Tecu, Jordan Summers and Perdomo, among others) and guests such as Beck, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young. The soundtrack releases on CD this Friday and on vinyl August 2. Thirteen classic songs are featured; two can be heard above and another, Love’s majestic “No Matter What You Do,” can be heard below:

Don’t miss Pure Pop Radio favorite Fernando Perdomo, a member of the Echo in the Canyon band, talking with me about the film, soundtrack and live performances during the second in the new series of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows. The show debuts here on the Pure Pop Radio website this Thursday, June 27.

Stay tuned for announcements of more all-new Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows, coming soon.

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Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, hosted by Alan Haber, is the Internet’s premier talk show presenting melodic pop music artists in conversation about their work. New episodes appear here exclusively on the Pure Pop Radio website. Podcast versions of previously-aired episodes are archived here.

radio1

Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995, and the 24-hour Pure Pop Radio station, which ended last August.

Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today.

Leave a comment

Gather Ye Hippies! Join Hands, Flower Children! The Summer of Love is Alive Once Again on Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

It’s a lovefest of epic proportions: 20 musical merrymakers, gathered together on the stage of the Count Basie Center for the Arts, sending good musical vibes out to an all-ages audience thirsty for the sumptuous sounds of the Summer of Love and Woodstock eras.

It’s a gathering of waiting angels, hip to the sounds filling the vaunted Basie structure. And those sounds? Why, it’s Glen Burtnik’s Summer of Love Concert; the performance from last March is contained in all its peace and love and glory on the just-released, whole-lot-of-fun two-CD set from Jem Records.

Burtnik, a longtime (20-plus years!) Pure Pop Radio favorite and one of the lovely Weeklings, and Tony Pallagrosi, manager of the Weeklings and producer of this momentous, warmhearted, exciting CD, spoke at length and in-depth (the only way we do it!) with me about this Summer of Love Concert release, zeroing in on what goes into crafting the concert, and how the songs, performed so passionately by the cast, connect with the audience. I’m thrilled to present this outtasite conversation as the first of this new series of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows.

“They were pulling up gold out of the ground for the first time,” said Pallagrosi, looking back at the classic rock pioneers whose work is performed during the Summer of Love concert. Classics from the Turtles, the Doors, Joe Cocker, and the Mamas and the Papas to the Lemon Pipers, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and Sly and the Family Stone are the order of the day; master of ceremonies Burtnik pulls off a 17-song show that will put a smile on the face of anyone who loves great, classic pop and rock music.

Here are some of the songs that make the Summer of Love Concert CD sing:

Listen to my in-depth interview with Glen Burtnik and Tony Pallagrosi below. Get Glen Burtnik’s Summer of Love Concert 2-CD set at Amazon. Peace, love and good vibes to all!

pprListen to my interview with Glen Burtnik and Tony Pallagrosi, talking about the new Summer of Love Concert CD, by clicking the play button on the following player, or click on the Pure Pop Radio button to the left to download (then right click and choose “Save audio as” to save the file to your computer).

Listen to Glen Burtnik and Tony Pallagrosi talk about Glen Burtnik’s Summer of Love Concert CD, in conversation with Alan Haber.

P.S. Look forward to the announcement of next week’s all-new episode of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation. The announcement is coming this Monday, June 24. This new show’s a good one, and quite timely! Think: California…

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Listen to a wide selection of archived Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows by clicking here.

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Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995, and the 24-hour Pure Pop Radio station, which ended last August.

Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, hosted by Alan Haber, is the Internet’s premier talk show presenting melodic pop music artists in conversation about their work. New episodes appear here exclusively on the Pure Pop Radio website. Podcast versions of previously-aired episodes are archived here.

Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today.

Leave a comment

Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation Returns with Glen Burtnik and Tony Pallagrosi Grooving in the Summer of Love

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

A new series of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows, appearing exclusively here on the Pure Pop Radio website, kicks off this Friday, June 21–the first day of summer–with Pure Pop Radio favorite Glen Burtnik (The Weeklings) and producer Tony Pallagrosi before the microphones to talk about the groovy two-CD set recorded live at Glen’s Summer of Love Concert.

Another new episode of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation debuts next Thursday, June 27. Stay tuned for details for this timely and tuneful show.

Glen Burtnik’s Summer of Love Concert: Live Love, recorded live at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, New Jersey and just released by Jem Records, presents groovy performances of favorite rockin’, poppin’ and rollin’ songs from roughly the years 1967 to 1969 and the early 1970s, including classics recorded by artists that played at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969 (this year, the fair celebrates its 50th anniversary).

The 17 songs on this two-CD set, from the Turtles’ “Happy Together” and Melanie’s “Brand New Key” to the Mamas and the Papas’ “Creeque Alley,” the Lemon Pipers’ “Green Tambourine,” and Crosby, Stills and Nash’s “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” are performed by a cast of 20 top-flight singers and musicians, including Burtnik, The Weeklings’ Joe Bellia, and many more.

During this informative and in-depth interview, Burtnik and Pallagrosi talk passionately about the history of the Summer of Love concert series (the series kicked off 10 years ago), how the shows are put together, and what makes the songs that are performed loved and treasured through the years. It’s a fascinating discussion that all manner of music fans will love.

The Summer of Love Concert series is on tour this summer. Check upcoming dates in this exciting video:

Don’t miss Glen Burtnik and Tony Pallagrosi on Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation this Friday, June 21st–the first day of summer. The show will be posted exclusively here on the Pure Pop Radio website at approximately 11:45 am EST. (Remember: another new show debuts next Thursday, June 27. Stay tuned for the timely and tuneful details.)

Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, hosted by Alan Haber, is the Internet’s premier talk show presenting melodic pop music artists in conversation about their work. New episodes appear here exclusively on the Pure Pop Radio website. Podcast versions of previously-aired episodes are archived here.

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Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995, and the 24-hour Pure Pop Radio station, which ended last August.

Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today.

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