Nowadays Olive Can't Even Write

January 24, 2022 - Today we celebrate the 70th birthday of Matthew Wilder, known for his hit song, " Break My Stride". Source: Ron Wolfson/Michael Ochs Archives Wilder has been active in the music industry since 1972, starting out as one half of a folk rock duo known as Matthew & Peter. They were based in Greenwich Village, which you may also recognize as a former home of famous musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and John Lennon. He moved to Los Angeles in 1978 to pursue a career singing in commercials, and became a backup vocalist for Bette Midler and Rickie Lee Jones.  Going along with the New Wave movement of the '80s, he released his debut album, I Don't Speak the Language , in 1983, which included his biggest hit, " Break My Stride ".  He released a total of 3 albums throughout his solo career. I Don't Speak the Language (1983), Bouncin' Off the Walls  (1984), and Especially on Birthdays  (2021). In the stretch of 37 years, he became...

 On January 14, 1980, Rush released their seventh studio album, Permanent Waves .  Following a six-week break after the conclusion of their eight month tour in support of Hemispheres , Rush began to write material for Permanent Waves in July 1979 at Lakewoods Farm in Flesherton, Ontario. The band followed a pretty solid routine, starting with Alex Lifeson cooking the three breakfast every morning, followed by Neil Peart walking down to a nearby cottage to write lyrics while Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson stayed behind and worked out musical ideas they had. Within days,  "The Spirit of Radio" , "Jacob's Ladder" , and "Freewill"  were put down and ready to be recorded. Image courtesy of Wikipedia In September of the same year, they traveled to Morin-Heights, Quebec to record the album at Le Studio. Many of their following albums, which include Moving Pictures (1981), Signals (1982), Grace Under Pressure (1984), Show of Hands ( 1988), Presto (1989), Roll the...

January 10, 2022 - David Robert Jones, known by his stage name of David Bowie, passed away on this day in 2016 due to liver cancer. He had just turned 69 two days beforehand. Source: Masayoshi Sukita Active as a musician from 1962 up until 2016, he started out in a band called the Konrads at age 15. He eventually left the band, citing his frustration with his bandmates' "limited aspirations" and joined the King Bees. Bowie went under his first personal management contract with Leslie Conn, but quit the band in less than a month.  He then joined the Manish Boys for a brief time before joining the Lower Third, where he adopted the stage name of David Bowie to avoid confusion between him and Davy Jones of the Monkees. He penned his first single under the name in 1966, which was " Can't Help Thinking About Me ". He was in one more group, Feathers, before embarking on a solo career, and found commercial success in 1969 with his first hit, " Space Oddity...

Today we celebrate the birthday of Mick Jones, co-founder and last remaining original member of Foreigner.  Source: Vintage Guitar Magazine An active guitarist since 1961, Jones has worked with various bands and musicians such as Nero and the Gladiators, Wonderwheel, Spooky Tooth, and the Leslie West Band before co-founding Foreigner with Ian McDonald (formerly of King Crimson). They recruited lead singer Lou Gramm, and he became a primary songwriter alongside Mick Jones, who has songwriting credits on all of their hit songs. Their biggest hit single, which was " I Want to Know What Love Is ", is one of those, as Jones wrote it himself. In the mid '80s, he also started a side career as a producer, working with artists such as Van Halen, Billy Joel, Bad Company, The Cult, and more. He started in 1986 with Van Halen's " 5150 " and ended with the Cult's 2001 album, " Beyond Good and Evil ". He also co-produced all of Foreigner's albums, includ...

December 21, 2022 - Today marks a special holiday for Rush fans - it's international Rush day! In reference to their legendary 1976  album " 2112 ", this unofficial holiday's date makes it a bigger celebration of the album than the its actual release date, as well as a rather popular day for Rush fans all over the world to crack out their albums, merch, and memorabilia. My plans this year will be very much tied with my plans for Yule, but there's no way I could miss a holiday for one of my favorite bands! Source: Wikipedia Although " 2112 " isn't the first album I had heard from them, it played a deeply important part in my discovery of Rush. It became part of my regular rotation of albums in my sophomore year of high school, alongside " Moving Pictures " and their self-titled album. Now, as an adult, I can happily say that none of these albums have left said rotation to this day. I've already pestered my own mom (who is also a fan) abo...

42 years ago, on the night December 8, 1980, the world was sent into shock by the unexpected death of John Lennon. Lennon was assassinated by Mark David Chapman, who had him autograph a copy of "Double Fantasy" almost six hours beforehand as he and then-wife Yoko Ono were leaving The Dakota, the apartment complex where they resided, and later returned to at 10:50 PM. As they were entering the building, Chapman shot him a total of four times (twice in the back, twice in the shoulder) at close range. He was rushed to the hospital in the back of a police cruiser and announced dead on arrival at 11:15 PM. Source: AP Photo The following morning, Yoko Ono issued a statement reading "There is no funeral for John. John loved and prayed for the human race. Please do the same for him. Love, Yoko and Sean." Many of the following details covering the aftermath of John Lennon's Death have been highly disputed, as many different versions of the event's timeline as well as...