Eddie Money knows he’s an archetype, and he doesn’t mind it one bit. His 15-year run of AOR hits and arena-rock stardom, from the 1978 double shot of “Baby Hold On” and “Two Tickets to Paradise” through MTV hits like “Take Me Home Tonight” and “Peace in Our Time,” was interrupted in 1981 by a drug overdose that nearly took his life. Rehab stints for drug and alcohol problems later put a dent in his always healthy touring schedule, but Money soldiers on as he approaches his 60th birthday next year — staying clean and “trying not to smoke a million cigarettes,” as he rasped during our talk a couple weeks back.

He’s happy to talk about being a rock ‘n’ roll survivor; in fact, he’s happy to talk about anything at all, at approximately 1,500 words a minute. An interview with Money is almost guaranteed to feature at least one burst into song (in our case it was “Ferry Cross the Mersey,” during a discussion of Gerry & the Pacemakers’ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame prospects); when he gets tired of talking about his career, he’ll turn the tables and start peppering his interviewer with questions. The extracurricular topics ranged from his hometown Giants’ Super Bowl win (he’s still excited, more than a month later) to Roger Clemens’s stupidity, and on to politics. (”It had better not be that frickin’ Obama,” he said; when I told him I am, indeed, all about Obama and explained why, he conceded, “Yeah, you may be right. My kids like him, too.”)

Money’s most recent album, last year’s set of ’60s soul covers called Wanna Go Back, turned the spotlight on his daughter Jessica; she’ll soon be featured in an MTV reality series about rock-star offspring called Rockin’ the Cradle. Meanwhile, Eddie is writing a stage musical about his own life, and he’s plotting to become the latest rocker to go country. He’s working with Vince Gill and John Ford Coley (among others) on songs for an album called The Other Side of Money that will feature, yes, a Nashville-ified version of “Two Tickets to Paradise” and which he hopes will “open up a whole new market for me.”

So how’s it going, Eddie?
Oh, man, I’m just tryin’ to pull it together this morning. It ain’t as easy as it used to be, comin’ down from a road trip at my age.

You were playing a casino near Portland this weekend.
Yeah, it was great, we had a lot of fans come out. I’m breaking in a new keyboard player. The old one was with me for 10 years, but he decided he didn’t want to do any more of those 4:30 a.m. calls to get on the bus and head out. Can’t say I blame him.

The great thing is that I’m taking my daughter Jesse on the road with me these days. She’s a miracle. We do a couple duets, she sings “Turtle Blues” by Janis [Joplin], it’s a lot of fun. She’s a great singer — I think she’s gonna go far. (more…)

Two Canadian artists back to back?

Hey, don’t blame me. Blame Paul Myers.

If you happened to check out the comments in last week’s column, you might’ve seen the entry written by a man who described himself as a “Canadian in Berkeley, CA.” I’ve never actually met Paul personally, but we’ve traded E-mails a few times, and he and I have been fellow subscribers on an invaluable E-mail list called Audities. (The group sprung forth from Audities Magazine, and it’s been a haven for pop fanatics for quite a few years now; I can’t remember exactly when I first joined, but I know that when I attended the 1999 International Pop Overthrow in Los Angeles and met several listees, I’d already been a part of the list for a fair while.) The first time I received an E-mail from Paul via the list, though, I did a major double take, wondering, “Is this the Paul Myers?”

For the answer to why I asked myself this question, we must flash back to the mid-1990s, when I was sale-bin diving at a used CD store and happened upon a 2-disc collection of indie bands from Canada. I mostly bought it because it included an early version of “Be My Yoko Ono,” by Barenaked Ladies, and truth be told, most of the bands on the collection didn’t really do much for me, but in addition to discovering one of the great band names of our time (the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir), I also stumbled upon an incredibly groovy pop song called “Rome Wasn’t Built In A Daydream,” by The Gravelberrys. After one listen to the song, I knew I’d gotten my money’s worth and then some…like, to the point where I desperately needed to find out if the band had anything else available.

Fortunately, they did: a full-length album entitled Bowl of Globes.

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We may scoff at his constantly smiling public persona — not to mention vintage bits of ’80s cheese like the “Mornin’” video — but anyone who tries to deny Al Jarreau’s talent is simply a fool, and we’re not too proud to admit we were, to borrow a phrase used in an earlier Darren Robbins post, “chuffed to the ‘nads” to have a few minutes on the phone with the voice that made Grammy history with wins in the pop, jazz, and R&B categories. You aren’t too cool for Al, kids — quite the opposite. In fact, he was too cool to answer some of our questions directly, but we accept that. Jarreau exists on another, hipper plane, which is why this interview kicks off Al Jarreau Week here at Popdose. Meet us at the roof garden from now ’til Friday!

Mr. Al Jarreau! How are you?

I’m okay! Sorry I’m late. I’m just sort of stumbling, bumbling, tumbling downhill. Where’s a tree stump when you need one? It’s not today, it’s everything up to today, and what I gotta do tomorrow! (Laughs) That’s good stuff, you know. Having things that demand your presence and require you to be on the job!

Like this new Love Songs compilation. How did that come about? You haven’t been affiliated with Warner Bros. for awhile now…

Yeah, well, it should have happened years ago! In fact, seven years ago, this package got put together. My wife did it — she put it together, and said, “You should have a Valentine’s project, Al. You should do a compilation of all the love songs — you’re a love song ballad singer, and people are asking for these songs in concert, so put one together and call it Al’s Valentine Card,” you know? So all I did to complete this was to add a few things from newer projects, and make sure that “Like a Lover” was included. (more…)

You remember these guys, right? Okay, maybe you don’t. But I sure do.

Not that they’re not a great band, but the reason that it’d be easy enough to forget the Pursuit of Happiness (henceforth to be referred to as TPOH) is because Chrysalis Records seemed to want to focus almost exclusively on making the smart-ass “I’m an Adult Now” into their signature song rather than trumpeting the way more important fact — at least to music geeks, anyway — that their debut album, Love Junk, had been produced by Todd Rundgren. It’s not that “I’m an Adult Now” isn’t a funny song; it’s just that the older you get, the less often you find yourself interested in spinning it, as opposed to the follow-up single, “She’s So Young,” which has all the harmonic hallmarks of a Rundgren production to provide a lifetime of listening enjoyment. Of course, that really just means that it sounds like something from one of Rundgren’s own albums, but it’s not like that’s a bad thing. After all, if you give me the choice between listening to “I’m an Adult Now” and “She’s So Young,” I’ll go with the latter every single time.

Unfortunately, when Todd turned up to produce the band’s sophomore effort, One-Sided Story, Chrysalis pulled the same stunt again, opting for the awkwardly catchy “Two Girls in One” as the first single rather than the way more obvious (and way more Rundgren-esque) “New Language.” The result: the novelty angle didn’t work the second time around, the album died a quick death, and TPOH found themselves without a label.

Enter Mercury Records, who presented the band’s next record, The Downward Road, in 1993. Rundgren wasn’t producing this time around — that honor went to Ed Stasium — but he did schedule time to provide a guitar solo for “Love Theme for TPOH.” Also in tow for a song was Jules Shear, who wrote the lyrics and cowrote the music for “A Villa in Portugal.” Alas, despite the first single, “Cigarette Dangles,” getting a bit of love, The Downward Road continued the downward commercial spiral for the band and served as the swan song for their major-label career. And that’s where I lost pursuit of the band, as did most of America.

I’ve since gotten the impression that their 1995 indie album, Where’s the Bone, only picked up a tiny bit of steam because of the novelty hit “Gretzky Rocks.” As for me, I didn’t even know it existed until well after 2000, when I eventually stumbled upon it in a used bin; I discovered the 1996 follow-up, The Wonderful World Of…, first, and that’s only because the group’s label at the time, Iron Music, spontaneously sent it to the magazine I was writing for.

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Yeah, yeah, we know what you’re thinking: “The Hooters? Are they even still together?” Well, actually, if you’d asked that question between 1995 and 2001, the answer would’ve been a resounding “No.” After the tremendous success of the band’s 1985 breakthrough, Nervous Night, their commercial success in the States began a gradual descent; simultaneously, however, their stock was rising overseas. When the band took a break in 1995, singer-guitarist Eric Bazilian proceeded to keep very busy as a songwriter, working with everyone from Midge Ure to Jon Bon Jovi, but when the gang got back together in 2001 he was right there with them. The Hooters did a fair amount of touring in Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden, but it wasn’t ’til 2006 that the band finally started doing some shows in the U.S. The next thing you know, the band was back in the studio to record Time Stand Still, their first album in 14 years. Popdose had the good fortune to speak with Eric about the history of the band as well as his solo career, touching on subjects like the Hooters’ omission from the Live Aid DVD, what it’s like to meet three out of four Beatles, and what a glorious gift it was to have Joan Osborne record “One of Us.”

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I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’m a big fan of the band Marillion, although I came to be one in a roundabout way: finding a cassette tape of their concept album from 1985, Misplaced Childhood, in a cutout bin. By the time I had it, the synths had already dated the recording somewhat, but I listened obsessively anyway. In 1989, original lead singer and lyricist Fish struck out for solo territory and was replaced by Steve Hogarth. Hogarth’s voice added a new dimension to the band — he was suited for just about any material the band presented, and was able to give those songs a great pop feel.

While that would have made “H” the new guy, the position was once assumed by drummer Ian Mosley, who joined in 1984 for the band’s second album Fugazi. Now the band — Steve Rothery on guitar, Mark Kelly on keyboards, Pete Trewavas on bass, “H” at the microphone and Mosley behind the kit — is in full write/record mode for their fifteenth studio album. It is projected to be a double CD, lavishly packaged in a hardcover book in slipjacket, as was their 2004 entry Marbles, and funded primarily by pre-orders from ravenous fans. While the band may be only a blip on the radar in the US, their fans have been known to migrate to the UK from to attend the band’s convention/festival Marillion Weekend.

Popdose recently contacted the band via e-mail, and Ian Mosley took a moment away from the rigors of the creative process to answer a few questions about what’s happening with the group, with music in general, and with the state of the music professional in the up-for-grabs world of illegal downloading. (A side note: You will notice we have posted some MP3s from the band — in the interest of full disclosure, these examples are just that, examples, and have been cleared by the band through their communications manager Lucy Jordache. It is the intention of Popdose to expose new listeners to the music and, hopefully, compel them to buy the full albums.)

Now, on to the interview with drummer Ian Mosley! (more…)