On Tuesday, September 29th at 7:15am I watched my wife give birth to our daughter who we named Lyla Grace Stewart. To say it was the greatest moment of my life is an understatement. I felt like a King that day walking on a cloud with a grin from ear to ear.
In the months that followed I've found myself being nostalgic and sentimental about lots of things. I've been reflecting on my own childhood and the different things that made it so great.
Many of my fond memories come from the music playing around the house growing up. Be it Christmas time when my Mom would bust out Anne Murray albums to my Dad spinning some Jim Croce, John Denver, and or even Friday night theme songs from shows like M.A.S.H., Hill Street Blues or The mighty Muppet Show. There was, and still is, always music playing at 793 Millbank Road in Pickering.
Although my daughter's only 10 weeks old - I'm already trying to introduce her to music. Music that reminds me of being a kid, catchy pop anthems from artists like Queen, The Beach Boys and of course The Beatles. I look forward to a lifetime when I'm playing new music for Lyla and learning about new music from her. I long for the day when we can go to outdoor concerts together and talk music over meals and a day when we can reflect on her childhood. Here are some songs that remind me of being a kid called - New Dad Playlist A house with music playing will always be a happy home to me. Thanks for reading/listening. Gregg
When growing up in central Ontario there were many different choices when it came to cliques. I don't think it exists the same way today - but picture a John Hughes film set to a soundtrack of music by the likes of Stone Roses, Violent Femmes, LL Cool J and R.E.M. and that was my suburban upbringing. Back then you identified yourself with specific groups and there were Rockers, Goths, Punks, Skinheads, Jocks, Mods, Hip Hoppers, Preps, Skaters, BMXers and many more. If I had to classify my own style at that time I guess it was a cross between prep and skater. I skateboarded but was partial to a good Ralph Lauren Polo shirt, Club Monaco khakis and a pair of Tretorn shoes. Tretorns with ollie holes mind you. Shoes were a big deal to me at that time - and still are today. I always wanted the best and most expensive ones. I was also very aware that I was in grade 9 and that older teens were known to "Roll" kids for their shoes at the time. All I wanted was a pair of 6 hole black boot docs with yellow stitches - but settled on Doc Marten shoes without stitching so I didn't get my ass kicked by skinheads. I remember buying pair of low cut no stitch Docs in Scotland while on vacation between grade 8 and 9. It was funny because the boots were basically the working man's boot and you could buy them for dirt cheap everywhere. My older cousin Kenneth had a pair for his job as a security guard. On this side of the pond it was different. You could only buy Doc Martens on Queen Street at places like Twinkle Toes or head-shops. Ironically there's an actual Doc Marten's store on Queen now. I do remember getting a great pair of Timberland shoes in grade 8 though. I must have only had them for a couple days before they were stolen from the gym locker room. I'm pretty sure I know who it was that took them too. The lone asshole skinhead in grade 8 name Darcy. I had to wear my indoor gym sneakers home that day and was so pissed. PS - how on earth was there a white supremacist skinhead in a catholic elementary school to begin with? I digress. With the wide array of lifestyles came a very diverse mix of musical choices. I was all over the map and really did love it all. That wasn't the case for most though and they were very strict in their choices to make sure that it was in line with their identity. Goths listened to the likes of Depeche Mode, The Cure and Bauhaus while Skinheads cranked Motorhead and David Wilcox. There was Run DMC, Kool Moe Dee and Eric B. & Rakim for Hip Hoppers and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Descendents, The Clash and The Cult for Skaters. Here are some songs that remind me of that time in my life...
Violent Femmes - 'Kiss Off' (This whole album is perfect)
The Housemartins - 'Caravan of Love'
R.E.M. - 'Stand'
Suicidal Tendencies - 'Possessed to Skate'
Kool Moe Dee - 'Wild Wild West'
The Stone Roses - 'Fools Gold'
The Cult - 'Heart and Soul'
De La Soul - 'Eye Know'
Depeche Mode - 'Everything Counts'
The crowd intros from the album 101 still give me chills to this day.
'I Can't Feel My Face' hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart last week. He's just announced an arena tour of North America for the fall. He's playing a club show TONIGHT in his hometown of Toronto. He just dropped a killer video for 'Tell Your Friends'. His new album 'Beauty Behind The Madness' comes out this Friday. AND he's performing at The MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday. The Weeknd is the KING of the World right now.
I first heard about The Weeknd around the online release of 'House of Balloons' in 2011. I was part of the grand jury for that year's Polaris Music Prize to which this album had been shortlisted. It never won the prize but local music journalist Anupa Mistry was there to champion the album and made many of the jury, myself included, take notice.
The process of Polaris' grand jury calls for members to listen to the albums in their entirety while preparing to vote. I chose to listen to the 10 albums while running in the early morning hours before going to work. I remember this one vividly as it was on a rainy morning and I was running through the woods near my home at Davisville and Mount Pleasant in Toronto. Haunting, beautiful, shocking and just god damn cool at the same time. This album is still fire today.
For the next 3 years we tried various times to get The Weeknd to perform on The Much Music Video Awards to no avail. The timing never worked out and or he wasn't ready. Well this year he was more than ready and performed a medley of both 'Earned It' into 'The Hills' - Watch it here.
When preparing for the release of 'Kiss Land' in 2013 Abel and his management came into the office to meet my team. They wanted to say hello and show us the latest video for 'Belong To The World'. Abel was super shy and very humble. He told us how crazy the last year had been for a kid that grew up in Toronto being courted by everyone. Everyone from P. Diddy to Jimmy Iovine. He also told us that until then he'd never been outside of Ontario let alone on an airplane. His team took him to Japan and it blew his mind. I'm certain that a mere 2 years later it would take a lot more than a visit to Tokyo to blow his mind. This man headlined Coachella this year and has fast become friends with the likes of Kanye West and admired by all for his talents.
Able won 4 MMVAs this year for his videos and artistry. He's likely to win a few Moonmen this weekend and I'd hope a Grammy or 2 come February of 2016.
I'm lucky enough to be going to TONIGHT's show and can't wait. This is the exciting stuff in the music business watching artists become Superstars right before your eyes.
Andrew Patton and I at soundcheck for Up In Smoke 2000.
In 2000 I went to the 'Up In Smoke' tour at the Molson Amp in Toronto. It still stands as the greatest live show I've ever seen. The production. The vibe. The attitude and of course the music. The show ended with a semi N.W.A. reunion featuring Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and Snoop standing in for Easy-E. This is the actual opening from that night -watch it now.
I worked at Universal at the time and had the pleasure of watching Dr. Dre soundcheck that afternoon. He walked all the way back to the lawns with his platinum plated microphone to test levels. A master of sound who was meticulous with it for every single show.
That was just the opening! Eminem, Warren G and Devin The Dude opened the night before these legends event hit on stage. Holy shit did that ever set the tone for an incredible night.
Like many I went to see the movie 'Straight Outta Compton' this past weekend and LOVED IT. I was a mere twelve years old when both 'Straight Outta Compton' and 'Easy-Duz-It' came out. These albums were dangerous and scary as fuck - but my friends and I were hooked. We all knew the words to these songs inside out. I can still rap (I won't) every single lyric to Easy-E's 'Radio' or 'We Want Easy'.
For me the next few years would be all Brit Pop and Hip Hop aka Rap music. It was a backdrop while I skated the mean streets of Pickering. Truth be told they were the furthest thing from mean - but skateboarding in strip mall parking lots with a ghetto blaster playing albums like these and then Dr. Dre's 'The Chronic' and Ice Cube's 'Predator' made it feel that way.
Found this in my parents basement :)
The movie probably wasn't even close to being in my top 10 favourite movies of all time - but I was still perfect. Perfect because it invoked great memories of my youth coupled with important memories of historic times that my generation grew up in. It's actually sad to see that racism is still as rampant as it was at that crazy time in 1991. I'm pretty sure that if you were to turn on CNN right now that it won't look too different from the news stories at that time.
I love Dre's music and production but for me it was all about Ice Cube and Easy-E. The movie solidified Ice Cube as the main rapper. He was the writer and lyricist that made this all come together. His career may be very different today - but this guy was a real gangsta. A true G.
Here's a Spotify playlist featuring some of my all time favourite songs related to Compton entitled - Straight Outta Compton Tunes
I never had the chance to see Nirvana before Kurt died - nor did I catch Blind Melon while Shannon Hoon was still alive. I did however see Amy Winehouse the very first time she performed here in Toronto at The Top of the Senator in June 2004.
It was at an industry showcase for the recently released album 'Frank' that I sat front row to take photos for Universal Music's website.
*Actual photo from that first night - just not mine. I can't find mine.
The music world was unclear where this young jewish cockney jazz singer fit in. She was like nothing else at the time and so this showcase at a downtown Jazz club was the first attempt to see who might be interested. I remember thinking that her band was insanely good. The drummer was like nothing I'd watched on stage before. He was so smooth and on point while working with Amy to bring out the soul. He would wait to see where she was going and follow - then she'd look at him and he'd lead the way. I also recall thinking that she was very pretty and looked a lot like Gina Gershon.
The next time I saw Amy Winehouse was when she came back through Toronto in support of 'Back to Black'. I was now working at MTV and she came by to be on our then flagship show MTV Live. She then headed down the road to be on MuchMusic's flagship show M.O.D. where she actually went missing from her dressing room. The producers of the show were about to have Dallas Green come on to perform in her stead. She had decided to take stroll down Queen Street - but finally made it back to play a quick song as seen here. From there she went to perform in the amazing Orange Lounge Studios. She capped that day off by playing the MOD Club later that evening as seen here.
I've just come from the movies where I saw the new documentary about her life. It's heartbreaking, eye opening and down right sad all at the same time. My single favourite moment was the footage of her watching the Grammy Awards live while in London. It was real. It was raw and so very genuine. Her short life was overshadowed by drugs and torment - but her music will be remembered and stand the test of time. This is a really great documentary and I recommend you see it.
Here's a best of playlist I've made to remember the late great Amy Winehouse
It's tough to keep up with new music these days simply because there's so much of it coming out each week.
I have the luxury of being privy to lots of new music as it comes out - and am afforded the insight as to what's going on surrounding and artist. It's a great position to be in because it's the social currency required to survive. It's definitely not rocket science - but you need to keep up and listen to the right people that know there stuff. You always need to be listening for new music and learning about music from the past at the same time.
My first new recommendation this week is from a Canadian girl named Alessia Cara. She samples Portishead's smash 'Glory Box' with her new track 'Here' with perfection. The video is beautiful and the lyrics are spot on for an 18 year old.
My first old track comes to us from LL Cool J. I listened to him on my way to work today because my wife was watching his lip sync show on television last night. I can't ever hate on for doing all these shows because he truly is one of the greatest rappers of all time IMHO. His catalogue speaks for itself. Check out this classic cut!
My second new pick is from Jamie XX. Maybe one of my favourite side projects ever. This side project is better than most people actual projects. The album comes out next week and I can't wait to hear the rest of it.
My second pick is from my favourite band of all time Oasis. I know that some of you may have just rolled your eyes - but I could care less. These guys embodied everything I love about music and the rock n roll lifestyle. Here's a track off their album 'Don't Believe The Truth' which came out almost 10 years ago to the day.
I've decided I want to make my posts more frequent. In an attempt to do so I'll need to keep it quick and to the point. Here goes...
I'm going to aim for a weekly post suggesting 2 NEW tracks that I think people need to hear and a couple OLD tracks that may have been missed - or require another listen.
I selfishly write this with hopes my nieces, nephew and own children will one day click and learn a bit about the music that make me tick.
I recently went down a worm hole of Led Zeppelin's music - so the 1st of this week's Older selections has to be 'Ramble On'. It embodies rock n roll and reminds me of my youth. I want to go on a long road trip with the windows down when I hear this song.
I still listen to radio shows to learn about new music. It's different these days in that you can stream on demand - but it's still a voice on the other end telling tales of how songs came to be and tidbits of information about a song to give it context. They keep it exciting and I continue to learn daily. Here's one I heard for the first time a couple week's ago on The Strombo radio show.
The 1st New track I'd like to suggest is something from Hot Chip. The track is called 'Huarache Lights' and it's fucking amazing (pardon my language relatives).
This Wednesday David Letterman signed off for last time and I was among the many that shed a tear. That show had some of the finest musical guests perform through the years. I was actually at a taping one day but cannot remember the musical guest for the life of me. I do however remember that Bill Cosby was the other guest :(
Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam, was the musical guest on Monday's show and he performed the song 'Betterman' with Paul Shaver and CBS orchestra. It was insane and solidified Eddie, once again, as a rock God.
Suffice it to say I've been listening to the Pearl Jam ever since and would like to recommend something from their Vitalogy album that still gives me chills.
The 2nd new track I've selected this week is something from a BC Rapper that goes by the name of SonReal. His latest EP is called 'For The Town' and the title track is just perfect. This is an artist my team's been watching for ages - and he just keeps getting better. I truly hope he gets the big break he deserves and soon. Take notes kids - Production is EVERYTHING.
I hope you check enjoyed my picks and I look forward to suggesting more next week.
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