I've Been Busy...

MEMORY UNLOCKED: Pop Shots Card (1985)

I had one of these when I was a kid and I remember buying it on a snowy night when I went for a long Christmastime walk in the city at age 12. My grandparents, aunt and uncle and I had taken the ferry from Staten Island to meet my parents at their offices in Lower Manhattan and we spent the evening taking in the very quiet (almost empty) wintry streets. With the city filtered through a gauze of snowfall we watched New York become a mystical snow globe from atop the World Trade Center and trekked over to South Street Seaport for dinner, where I bought one of these pop up cards. It was displayed on my dresser throughout middle school and high school. Somehow it got lost in the shuffle of adolescence but recently I was lucky to score a couple of them fully intact. I have them stored in my postcard albums: one stretched flat and one still folded within its cellophane packaging and square envelope. Only now do I see how instrumental this chaotic arrangement of urban elements was on my adult aesthetic. Time is indeed a flat circle, or if you’re someone like me, a pop up diorama card which mirrors my younger self from decades ago.

40 Years of Pretty In Pink...

And we STILL need to talk about that prom dress. 

Albums That Turn 40 This Year • Notorious by Duran Duran is one of them. 1986 was a stellar year for music. I was 13 years old and an avid reader of Star Hits as well as its UK companion magazine Smash Hits (and yes, I have many issues archived). DD was all over those monthly publications and had just come off a run of three successful LPs, a catalog of impressively cinematic videos and a Bond theme for the film View To A Kill (which still ranks as one of the greatest). With original members Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor absent for the completion of this album, they enlisted Warren Cuccurullo on guitar and Steve Ferrone on drums as well as genius and all around musical mastermind Nile Rodgers as producer. The results were stylish, funky and sophisticated. The vibration of their unique brand of pop music had been elevated for the fans that were growing up with them, signaling their own growth as artists. I will always have a special place in my heart for Duran Duran Mark 2 (as I call it) and the Notorious era. Those of you that only know the title track and singles Skin Trade and Meet El Presidente (both of which should have been bigger hits but Capitol Records flubbed the promotion during a change in leadership) should give this LP a listen. Some deeper cuts from Notorious that deserve more attention are American Science, Vertigo, So Misled, Hold Me and the emotionally stirring and timeless Winter Marches On. In addition, many live performances from the 1987-88 Strange Behaviour Tour are available on YouTube to feast upon including the concert film Working For The Skin Trade which boasts a KILLER rendition of the Rio-era gem New Religion. PS: Duran Duran STILL kills it live and their last few albums don’t disappoint either.

Happy 80th Birthday to Liza Minnelli!

Prints are being made at all times

and in a number of colorful ways...

Okay, so we had a blizzard...

TRUE STORY: One afternoon on a bright, clear post-blizzard day I went to clear the rock salt off my windshield and my wipers malfunctioned. I dropped my car off at a dealership thinking it could be fixed by the end of today and got a ride home. This morning I got a call that not only did the motor for the wipers need to be replaced but I also need new front and rear brakes and rotors. Apparently they were very weak and I hadn’t noticed. Had the windshield issue not occurred I wouldn’t have known how weak the brakes were. Upon hearing this I immediately knew I’d been cosmically protected by what at first appeared to be a nuisance. With my car at the dealership until Friday, I arranged for a rental car this afternoon and guess what… in a lot full of basic black and white cars the one waiting for me was Prince And The Revolution Purple. Thank you Universe… YOU GET ME. It’s quite simple. The “glimmers” that The Universe gives us are always there. We just need to identify them.

And then the blizzard melted...

Day one of matting for the Spring Art Shows.

Much more is happening behind the scenes.

Evidence of that stuff may appear soon. Cheers! - CDM

Duran Duran - Live In Camden, NJ: 21 July 2016

Last night Duran Duran brought the third leg of their

wildly successful Paper Gods tour to the BB&T Pavilion 

in Camden, NJ (with special guest Nile Rodgers and Chic).

Having seen this pairing at Barclays Center in Brooklyn 

in April of this year, I was ready for another great night

on the order of the performance I'd seen three months ago.

What ended up transpiring was a blockbuster performance

that far outstripped my already very high expectations.

Nile Rodgers and Chic opened the show 

with their storied (and highly impressive) 

brand of upbeat soul / disco / funk hybrids. 

Mr. Rodgers' formidable catalog of hits (both with 

Chic and other artists) delighted the crowd, injecting 

a celebratory breeze through the hot, sticky summer air. 

Apart from hearing both Chic classics and live

versions of Mr. Rodgers' collaborations with everyone

from Diana Ross to Daft Punk, one of the great highlights

of their nightly set is the VIP on-stage fan dance party.

Shortly after Chic's exit, it was time for Duran Duran.

Having seen them perform in arenas, outdoor pavilions 

and ballrooms, I am well aware of their power as a live band.

Nothing, however, could have prepared me for what my friend

Lorie and I (each having already seen shows on this tour)

ended up witnessing from the dead center of the 10th row.

Building slowly, the energy was higher than any other

Duran Duran show I've seen. There wasn't so much a sense of

tension as there was expectation as the band opened the show.

Thundering, but clear, the band's musicianship seems

to be on an upward trajectory as the tour has progressed.

Vocally speaking, Simon sounded wonderful.

The band was on its game in every way (and knew it).

One of the more touching moments of the night 

(and there were many) was watching Simon Le Bon

welcome Nile Rodgers to the stage. He spoke of their

collaborations on several tracks (past and present) and

further galvanized the celebratory tone of the evening.

New tracks from the band's latest album Paper Gods

fit seamlessly into a set full of three decades of hits.

"Pressure Off" and "Last Night In The City" sat side by 

side with "The Reflex", "Notorious" and "View To A Kill".

As they have on each night of the tour, 

Duran Duran took time out to pay tribute

to David Bowie by performing a mashup of

"Planet Earth" and "Space Oddity" which flowed

more seamlessly tonight than at their April NYC show.

Though the setlist was packed with DD's

upbeat dance tracks, the brief injections of

mid-tempo tracks and ballad, like the soaring

"Ordinary World", didn't deflate the energy of

the evening. They merely provided breathing room.

During a brief speech where Simon urged the

crowd not to despairin light of recent events in Nice,

 Paris, Orlando and Dallas, he reminded us that "music is a 

force for good". He also asked the crowd to be lights in the

darkness... something they literally did with their phones

aloft during the now-classic ballad "Save A Prayer". 

On this the band were joined by a chorus of thousands.

Bonus: I ended up taking away a Duran Duran souvenir

that wasn't for sale at the merchandise tables: A "Rio" beachball.

Many of these were being bounced throughout the crowd and I 

was unable to catch one. However, a nice gentleman seated in front

of us by the name of Trevor heard me say that I wanted to keep one and

captured one for me as the show came to a rousing close. Thanks, Trevor!

Many, many thanks to my friend Lorie for treating me to a

great show, a great day and evening of travel and conversation

and a long-standing friendship. Getting to share an event like this

with someone truly special makes the good times totally priceless.