Heavier Octaves Radio

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Heavier Octaves gives a shout out to Michael, as his tremendous energy and showmanship is celebrated in the documentary film highlighting his last concert effort, “This Is It”.  This Is It was a planned series of 50 concerts to be held at The O2 arena in London. They were scheduled to begin in July 2009 and continue through March 2010. Less than three weeks before the first show was due to begin and with all concerts being sold out, Jackson died after suffering cardiac arrest. For more about the concerts, click here. The CD is available now and you can listen to the song, “This Is It”, in the right hand margin of this page. The song is infectious… takes you back to the old school Jackson Five days.

Michael,  we love you and appreciate your generous spirit.

With the bulk of Jackson’s estate going to his mother Katherine Jackson and his children, the remaining twenty percent of Michael’s estate is being donated to unspecified charities. We do know that Michael made the Guinness Book of World Records in 2000 for pop star supporting the most charities. A song he co-wrote with Lionel Richie, titled “We Are the World,” sold 20 million copies and generated millions of dollars for global famine relief. According to a USA Today article, Jackson supported a variety of individual organizations as well, including the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the American Cancer Society.

By the way, if you have any “This Is It” movie or song reviews to share,  we invite you to post them in the comment section below.  If you have already posted one to your blog or on another website you are welcome to share an excerpt or link in the comment section as well.

For more on charities Michael Jackson supported, click here.

To borrow a line from John’s new single,”Who Says?” brewing up a subtle controversy all its own on a rather hot topic these days… Who says you can’t be free? If you don’t know what I am talking about then take a close listen to the lyrics next time you spin the song.

This is part 3 of John’s first online radio show which was broadcast back in August. It lasts little over an hour,1:01:28, to be exact and seems to be liberating for the gifted singer-songwriter guitar player. There are some real treasures to be found here, a few have been hidden in the broadcast if you are listening for the obvious. If your keen is on keen, you will easily tune in, no worries. And if some of the rap language offends thee on several of the tunes he mixes with self-professed difficulty lining up the beats, cover your ears, think beautiful thoughts, do good works, and then, face the multi-faceted reality known as life…

This show segment, starts out with some hip-hop flair with Dilla(hope I spelled that right) and segues into a Jay-z rap song filled with a signature blend of smooth and jaded lyrics, and rap beats to match which made him famous. John throws in some creative DJ mash-ups and provides a real treat to fans with some unpublished creations of his own, self-dubbed intended demos from the “failure file” or once planned “bonus tracks”.

My favorites:

Johnny Guitar Watson-”Real Mutha for Ya” Warning: some parental advisory lyrics… riddled with truth as he waxes poetic and parodies the “spirit of the times” during this economic downturn. Redemptive and definite blues anthem.

“Chicken Grease”-the name says it all. Enjoyed John’s verbal intro to this piece. May “Spanky”, a real fine guitar player,who passed away, rest in peace.

Prince’s “When Doves Cry” live performance with a guitar solo and shout out to Wendy.

John’s cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues”—splendid. “Gold Digga” sample and the “interview of an old blues artist.” That one is special. See if you can guess which blues artist he is interviewing.

Will be editing and updating soon. So,please stay tuned.

Listen Now:

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Here is some inspiration until the next time…This is a random find for today’s cranial jukebox. I now know what time it is.

Nice wake up call!

Peace,

Cynthia, Chaplain of Pop

This weekend inspiration goes to Keep A Child Alive and this year’s Black Ball event honoring former President Bill Clinton and his Global initiative.

Dynamic duo, John Mayer and Alicia Keys perform Bill Withers tune “Ain’t No Sunshine” at the October 15, 2009 Black Ball Gala to benefit Keep A Child Alive Foundation, Co-founded by multi-platinum recording artist Alicia Keys.  Mr. Mayer has attended most of the annual events to support his good friend and her worthy life saving cause. To learn more about the organization’s efforts to save children infected by the AIDS virus in Africa and the lives of their family members, and what you can do to help,visit the website. To hear the song,watch the video below:

Thought I’d post this one for and to the Benefit Concert Archives as an early “Weekend Inspiration”. “Answer the Call” was a Live Television Event to benefit The New York Police & Fire Widows’ & Children’s Benefit Fund broadcast exclusively on Fuse TV. Other artists performing that night, included Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Kanye West and P. Diddy. Yes. They ran the town that night.

John Mayer was featured on Jay-z’s “D.O.A. and performed a guitar solo on “U Don’t Know”. See video below:

For videos of Beyonce,Rihanna’s and Kanye’s performances, click here.

Ruby Dee pictured at reception honoring her and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) as she and onlookers enjoyed the show featuring Ali Woodson former member of the Temptations-Photo-Cynthia Wilson