Music Monday | Barrett Strong & Eliza Neals – bringin’ Motown back!

Once upon a time in 1960, a tiny little record label in Detroit named “Motown” released a song called “Money (That’s What I Want)” (you may have heard of it) that became its first hit and the beginning of a musical movement. The artist and songwriter was a man named Barrett Strong, who became a pivotal figure in Motown’s formative years and one of the most influential songwriters of the last century. Teaming up with legendary producer Norman Whitfield, Strong is credited for giving the world such classics as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby,” “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” “Ball of Confusion,” “War,” and “Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me.”

Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal.

A handful of years ago, Strong started collaborating with some new Detroit musical talent and decided to take them under his legendary-Motown-figure wings. His first protogé is an incredibly talented woman whom I am lucky enough to call a good friend, Eliza Neals. Together, they co-wrote her albums “No Frogs for Snakes” and “Liquorfoot,” both available for download on iTunes.

This summer, they’re bringin’ Motown back. REAL Motown.

Written fifty years ago when he was only 16, Barrett Strong released a single called “Misery” that didn’t get the marketing that it deserved. Now, he’s re-releasing it, sung by Eliza, and she’s putting her awesome Detroit diva soul spin on this authentic Motown tune.

Below is the video, just released, and Strong makes a cameo alongside super producer Tino Gross, also of renowned funk band Howling Diablos.

This is the sound of Detroit, folks — the sound that gave it the nickname “Motown,” the sound that started it all. And we all have Barrett Strong to thank.

The single will be available for download on iTunes soon (official date pending), but if you want it now, the only way you can get it is through email via private release. $3 will get you a limited edition copy of “Misery” with the video & outtakes with Barrett Strong and Tino Gross.

Eliza Neals lives in New York now but makes it home to The D once every couple months, and you can see her perform “Misery” and hear some more of her real Motown sound this Friday, July 2nd at Memphis Smoke in Royal Oak, and the following Monday, July 5th at Black Lotus in Clawson.

Find/hear more of Eliza Neals on iTunes, ReverbNation, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, and Barrett Strong on MySpace and CD Baby.

(Note: None of the links in this post are affiliate links, and I am making no money off this post whatsoever. My only disclosure is that Eliza is my friend, and years ago I did a little bit of work with Tino Gross.)

Musical Monday Podcast Edition: What I listen to on the road.

Since I posted the last post announcing my new gig, I’ve been so busy I haven’t been able to keep my head on straight, let alone blog. People ask me how it’s going, and I won’t lie – the commute is kicking my ass.

My schedule is not one to be envied — I leave for work by 7:30 a.m., around the same time most of my coworkers are just waking up. Both morning and evening rush hours are a pain, and now BOTH expressways I could take to Detroit have major construction on them. I drive over 120 miles a day, and spend a total of at least two and a half hours on the road daily. I’ve found myself staying after work many times because it wouldn’t matter if I left at 5:30 or 6:30, because of rush hour traffic I’d get home at the same time either way.

When I get home (sometimes not until 9:30 or later), I am so exhausted from everything that I’m ready to collapse. In fact, many times I have. The ironic thing is that I haven’t even had a chance to look for a place in Metro Detroit because of all this.

When I told a friend of mine how much time I spend on the road, he replied with, “Wow, I’d be totally catching up on audiobooks.” I’m not much of an audiobook person, but I am a long-time podcast addict, and I told him that I’ve been listening to a lot of those. We then got in a discussion about our favorite podcasts, and I thought I’d share a few of my favorites here. I’m going to split this up into two posts, music podcasts and non-music podcasts. I’ll start with music since it’s Monday (or a pseudo-Monday because of the holiday).

Dave’s Lounge -  Podcasting the best in chillout, trip hop, and downtempo electronic music. For some reason, people are surprised when I tell them I’m a big fan of this kind of music. I have no idea why, as my musical tastes are as diverse as they come. I’ve been a loyal listener of Dave’s Lounge since 2006, and it’s through Dave that I discovered some really incredible artists, like Natalie Walker, All India Radio (they’re actually from Australia), Edison Gem, and the awesomeness that is The Atomica Project. I can’t say enough good things about Dave’s Lounge. Oh, and you can follow Dave on Twitter at @permanent4.

Idyllic Music -  In the same vein as Dave’s Lounge, Idyllic Music features songs by indie artists working outside the mainstream, likely people you’ve never heard of before but can’t get enough of once you do. It might be trip hop, ambient, jazz, dub, downtempo, or even something more in the “world” category. I highly recommend visiting the site not only for downloading back episodes, but they’ve got a great store and a nice list of links to other podcasts like this and Dave’s Lounge. You know, if you’re into this kind of thing.

The R3-30 - Weekly countdown of the best in independent Canadian music from CBC Radio 3. Another one I’ve been a loyal listener to for a few years. This is hosted by Craig Norris and Pedor Mendez, a duo of shenanigans not to be reckoned with. These guys are hilarious, and I look forward to it every week. Oh yeah, and the music’s great, too. In fact, it’s through listening to CBC Radio 3 that I discovered many artists that most people in the states don’t discover until I’ve been listening to them for at least a year or more. People like Tokyo Police Club, Amy Millan, Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton, The Handsome Furs, Thunderheist, etc. One the one hand it’s been really cool to listen to a lot of this stuff years before most people have heard of them. On the other hand, it’s really annoying when friends are all ga-ga over “this new artist” that I’ve “got to hear” who is actually old news to me. All I can do is sigh.

NPR: Live Concerts from All Songs Considered - Contrary to popular belief, NPR isn’t all talk radio. Their music coverage is incredible.  There are few things I love more than live music, but since I don’t get a chance to go to many shows anymore, this is the next best thing. I’ve discovered a lot of new artists through NPR music, and relived some old times listening to some live shows of old favorites. A few favorites include Liz Phair’s “Exile in Guyville” Live, Björk, Cat Power, Tom Waits, and a couple mentioned above, like Emily Haines.

So there ya go. A few of my favorite music podcasts that keep me company on the road. In the next installment I’ll share my favorite non-musical podcasts, a.k.a. “the ones that talk to me.” If you’ve got any recommendations of music podcasts you think I should check out, please leave them in the comments. My ears are always on the lookout for new music!

Photo by akeg.

Musical Monday Highlight: Hayley Westenra

One of the many reasons I love Twitter is that I discover some pretty awesome things because they discover me first. Heck, it’s because of Twitter that I discovered WildEarth.tv and was able to share it with you. I always take a look at each new follower when I get a notification because I never know when I’m going to find somebody or something truly remarkable.

One such instance was last week, when I was followed by @HayleyWestenra, whose bio says:

Purpose is to further the distribution of information about singer Hayley Westenra, her upcoming events and albums, and her family.

I have very diverse (if not obscure) musical tastes, and until then, had never heard of her. Intrigued, I followed the link to Hayley Westenra’s official site and was floored by such an amazing voice that loaded on the site’s auto-loading audio player. If you’re a fan of Sarah Brightman, Lorena McKennitt, or other “pretty music” of that vein, you’ll totally dig her.

My first thought was, “HOW is it possible that I haven’t heard of her before?” then upon reading that this 21 year-old soprano New Zealander already has a “Best Of” album, I realized that she’s pretty big all over the world, yet has yet to catch on here in the States.

Here are a few snippets from her official bio:

Hayley Westenra began performing when she was just 6 years old and made her first recording in a professional studio at 12. She was still only 16 when she released her debut international CD, Pure. It rapidly became the fastest-selling debut album from a classical artist, and reached the Top 10 of the pop charts in 11 countries. Her albums have sold more than four million copies worldwide to date. “Pure” was certified by the official UK chart compilers as the best selling classical album of the 21st Century. . .

Hayley has performed for Her Majesty the Queen on a number occasions, President Bush and Tony Blair, Prince Charles, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and in July 2007 Hayley was asked to perform for the Dalai Lama. . .

[She] has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, Wembley Arena, Royal Albert Hall, The White House and Kensington Palace. Hayley sang at Capitol Hill, Washington as part of 2008 official Fourth of July celebrations.

Hayley has duetted with Andrea Bocelli, José Carreras and Bryn Terfel. She has also appeared as a special guest with the World’s leading orchestra’s including the Moscow Philharmonic, The Boston Pops and the RPO.

Not bad for 21, eh?

I promoted Hayley in my Facebook stream because I knew a few people in my friends would like her, and commented that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of her until now. To my surprise, neither had my “vagabond actress friend” Phyllis, and she’s the person I usually rely on to introduce me to stuff like this. Good to know I wasn’t the only one living under a rock. If you haven’t heard of Hayley Westenra until now, take a listen to the widget I’ve embedded and welcome to your newest musical obsession. If you’re moved enough to purchase a piece of her music, here’s an affiliate link to her “Best Of” album at Amazon.