Chesney Hawkes--The One and Only (1991)

     I have always liked Michael J. Fox. "Family Ties" was one of the only sitcoms I bothered to watch in the 80's (heck, it's one of the few I've bothered to watch period), mainly because of his talents, and his movies have been consistently good, even though many of his best known roles were variations on his Alex P. Keaton persona. Although many point to the "Back to the Future" movies as his best, my favorites were, "Secret of my Success" and "Doc Hollywood". It's the latter movie which leads me to today's blog.
     British singer, Chesney Hawkes was only 19 when this song became a hit in 1991. His father is singer Len Hawkes formerly of the group, "The Tremeloes" ('Silence is Golden', 'There Goes My Baby' both in 1967) and his mom was TV personality  Carol Dilworth. He wrote this song for the movie Buddy's Song in which he also starred in with Who's lead singer Roger Daltrey in 1991. It was from this movie that the song was chosen at the opening of "Doc Hollywood" in that same year. The song became a number one hit in the UK and also reached the top ten in the states as well.
      It was the only big hit for Hawkes in either side of the Atlantic. He has done well enough in his home country to stay visible, but never had the success that his early promise had forecast. In 2012 he released his first album in six years with, "Real Life Love". His website can be found here: http://www.chesneyhawkes.co.uk/ .

Read More

Whitney Houston (1963--2012)

     Am writing after just hearing about the death of Whitney Houston, and at this time (8:00 pm Central US) it is has not been released where she was or how she died. Which is why I want to write now rather than to have anything color my initial writing.
     During a 15 year period she could do no wrong professionally. Eight to 10 albums, twenty-two top 10 hits with eleven of them reaching number one. A starring role in three major hit movies during the 90's, "The Bodyguard", Waiting to Exhale", and The Preacher's Wife. And who could forget her rendition of the National Anthem during Super Bowl XXV in 1991?
     I always appreciated her talent, although couldn't necessarily call myself a fan, but watch warily as she entered into a romance then marriage with Bobby Brown... watched her slow decent and pulled for her as she attempted to pull out of her drug induced haze. Was always hoping that she could make a career comeback, but was more hoping that she would make a life comeback. As news will eventually leak out about her death....we will know more about how successful she was at that. No matter what the cause however, we will be left with many good memories, but somewhat haunted about the potential of a star gone way too soon.

Read More

The Ace of Base Essentials

My brief review of the recording history of the 90's era Euro pop group can be found here:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/9083623/the_ace_of_base_essentials.html?cat=33

Read More