jmh123

I object to the specific theology expressed in YWT, from the fact that the lyric about God saving Isaac completely overlooks the fact that it was God who told Abraham to take Isaac up there and kill him for a sacrifice in the first place ("And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Genesis 22:2), to the notion that blind obedience to God is always a good thing (do we feel that way about Islamic suicide bombers?) to the suggestion that God will take care of your real world problems. I thought the presentation was way over the top, and the song was kind of hard to ignore, what with the platform, the white suit, the flying Bibles and so forth. It was the very definition of preachy, with Clay in the pulpit. Now if you like being preached to, if that's something that resonates positively with you, it probably didn't bother you.

The last time I expressed my feelings about the lyrics of the song on this board, the response from many was, "I never listen to lyrics." I think that's true, and I also think that most Christians don't think about the theology of the song whatsoever, given the large number of people who always say, "I don't see the difference between this and AAL or the Christmas songs."

I would never say that anyone ought not to have enjoyed the song; I'd just say that I didn't. I freaked out at the time, but, and here's where I say something different, I learned a lot from the debates over YWT at my old board. I got to know a lot more about different kinds of Christians from the Bible-thumping, KKK hood-wearing, cross-burning, dancing-chewing-gum-playing-cards-is-a-sin Christians I grew up under, or the hyper-political types who get the most attention in the media. I learned that, as in most things, the people who lend themselves to reinforcing a stereotype are not typical. I got to know some people at that old board whom I didn't know very well before then: KAndre, Couch Tomato, ansa, ldyjocelyn--and look at me now hanging out with them on their (my) board because they're some of my favorite people. So I would say that overall it was a very good experience. And I wrote a lovely sacrilegious parody and had a stare-down with Clay in AC as he decended below stage on his platform in AC. So it's all good.

Generally speaking, YWT aside, I don't mind at all when Clay sings songs that express his faith. He feels them intensely, and his passion is hawt. Just didn't care for that one song. So the possibility that the current album might have CCM songs or a CCM flavor is no problem for me.

Wow. I fear this poor little project will never see completion, especially with OMWH just over 5 weeks away from release. Does anybody care?

I care, and periodically feel guilty too. We need KAndre to break out the spork and start threatening people.

I was over at the CD Release party board trying to find one I can attend (nothing much happening over there, which is kind of sad... )

My personal opinion is that for too many people, the CD release parties were tied up with the ATDW hate. I'd rather not go to a party if it means I have to listen to people whine about RCA and covers and so mean to him and so on. It's unfortunate because there's not any necessary connection between them. Still. I remember last summer at a wonderful gathering of fans for the NY concerts, I got pissy and let out a few f bombs because people just went on and on and on and on and on with the RCA/covers/mean shit. If people I love can piss me off that much, how much moreso strangers?

Another reason: money. These parties can be outrageously expensive. I'd like to buy the album at midnight, but I'm not interested in paying an exhorbitant amount of money for some huge party with way too many people that I wouldn't enjoy. People are tapped out from going to Spamalot too.

Another: A significant number of people are planning to be at the closing show of Spamalot and stick around for a release party there.

Another: the person running that party board was way too controlling last time. People may be organizing away from the party board.

Another: maybe people are tired of hosting parties for party-poopers like me.

I went to the Amazon UK site and saw 2 books there with the Clay Aiken stuff that I had not seen before. Can anyone tell me about.

1) The Underdog's Guide to Life by Clay Aiken (Hardcover - 15 Sep 2004)

2)Clay Aiken: Second-Place Star of American Idol (Blue Banner Biography) (Hardcover)

by John Torres

1) is an earlier title for Learning to Sing, I think. No such book ever surfaced, and LTS was listed shortly thereafter, but the listing lingered around Amazon for a long time (is it still there?).

2) is a children's book--older children. Has lots of minor mistakes. No surprises. Came out in 2004 too I think. I have a copy somewhere just because.

Hands keepingfaith a glass. Grape. My favorite. Hang in there--this has got to be rough for you. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

In addition to addressing the developmental issues, maybe find things that he is good at and give him lots of opportunities to do them and be rewarded for doing them well. Sometimes with school starting, all the emphasis goes on the basics--and while they are hugely important, kids do have differing abilities and different rates of development, and I'm positive there are things that he is great at and really enjoys doing, even if those things don't "count" in school. He can keep up his self-esteem by being able to succeed at the things that he is good at.

I watched my friend who has a severely autistic son do this with his boy. He takes great pride in the boy's ability to name every kind of airplane, for instance, or in whatever highly focused interest he might get, and he shares these interests with him and talks about them to others as well with great pride, even though he'll never get a better grade in 2nd grade classes for them. He advocates for him like the dickens in school too, so that he can succeed in the classroom, but he really delights in the kid's uniqueness.

Maybe a "mom sitter" would be better, if you could find one, someone to stay in your house with her or visit for a few hours a day, depending on what her needs are. Would your sister be able to supervise that? You could ask the people at this place about the options for home care, and how much caretaking she will need when she comes home. A lot would depend on what her condition will be. Of course they're probably just feeling their way along now as well, trying to figure out what's wrong and what they can do about it, but thank goodness they're going to take a closer look at her and try to figure out what's going on.

That's great news couchie! I'm so glad she's getting some expert help with her medical issues. Those ER trips had to get getting old for you both. Any idea how long she'll stay? Any diagnosis yet?

Thank you--much better sound quality. That vid's from the Walmart Soundcheck series, here: http://soundcheck.walmart.com/chriscornell.html in case you like some of the rest of his stuff.

Yeah, I found out later that they did credit the arrangement properly - but hell, the only thing I actually watch and/or listen to are the songs - I have the TV on in my bedroom, wait until the music starts, give the contestants 10 whole seconds to capture my attention, and if they haven't done it by then, I'm gone. So I didn't hear the credit. Or what the judges said.

They simply aren't capturing my attention...

Hey! You watch just the way I do!! I only know they credited the arrangement cause I read it at the CH, but I'd also read in advance that it was a borrowing. Damn good performance though.

I love ATDW. My response to YSRN and Claygasm in defining the term 'cover' was never meant to devalue any of Clay's cover work. I defended ATDW prior to listening to one note over at the OFC. I have the battle scars to prove it....

Clay is a vocal stylist in my opinion and I have great respect for his glory chords...regardless if he is recording a cover or not.....Even though I may not particularly care for or gravitate to a certain song/track, I always find some aspect of his phrasing that touches me.

:F_05BL17blowkiss:

Oh gosh!! I know that you love ATDW. We did battle side by side. My post was much more general and esoteric--having to do with the use of the term in general and not specific to ATDW. Sorry for giving the wrong impression.

:F_05BL17blowkiss:

Hey, he found that arrangment, and the unique arrangment for Hello as well. And both were credited on the show, either by Ryan or during the interview segments. There's nothing to stop the others from doing the same, but no one else has done it.

Word, couchie! I guess dead men are allowed to do covers.

Clay also mentioned on the JBT that UM was on the charts in four different versions in the same year (none of them the original). One of my attractions to Clay from the demos on was his ability to find great songs--songs that worked for him. I think he has a terrific ear for that. At the JNT05 my sister was momentarily disappointed when she found out that Clay hadn't written the Christmas songs she didn't recognize, until I said, "but he found them."

First, I've got to join in on the ATDW love. It was wonderful for me to see that video again yesterday of Clay talking about the songs and the album with such love and excitement. I agree that the album should be a classic someday.

About covers: There's a guy on my Grateful Dead scholars list who is always seeking the originals of songs the Dead have done. What? The Grateful Dead a cover band?? No, I wouldn't say that they were, but, in addition to the songs written by Garcia/Hunter and Weir/Barlow (only half of each pair being band members) the Dead did a lot of covers and folk tunes. Just got a message yesterday about his tracking of a song, one of my favorites, "Man Smart, Women Smarter," which folks thought was a Harry Belafonte original. He had a radio hit with it in 1956. There was another version that came out about the same time, maybe one year earlier, maybe one year later, no one could say for sure, by the Brute Force Steel Band. Now this guy has found a recording 10 years prior by Macbeth the Great (who is the father of a guy from Weather Report). The liner notes from that album mentioned another recording, by the song's composer Norman Span--aka King Radio, although the notes had the date wrong. Eventually the guy was able to track down a 1939 recording in which the composer is backed by Gerald Clark & his Caribbean Serenaders. Clark also backs Macbeth the Great on his live version from seven years later.

The same kind of story is often the case for songs that were hits before the era of the singer/songwriter. The version that becomes a hit is rarely the original version, and even in the era of the singer/songwriter, the version that becomes most popular isn't always the original. While I don't think popularity is the ultimate criterion, I don't think I can accept the term "authentic," which for me has implications that any subsequent version is inauthentic in some way. Musically, some versions are superior to others, although always a matter of taste, and the original isn't always the best, IMO. "Original" works better for me than "authentic." Clearly in today's industry parlance, for some that term "originals" is stretched quite a bit, and seems to mean any song that wasn't a hit already in the US. But if "original" refers to the original recording, it can always be found and identified.

I love covers with a passion, which isn't to say that I love them just because they are covers, but I'm always interested in hearing what another artist or group does with a song. I think it's cool that the Grateful Dead will sing a song in the 80's that was a hit in the 50's and originally recorded in 1939. And if people never covered songs, then so many songs would be lost. Seems like my boyfriend was talking about something like that when he did the "Classics" medley on the DCAT tour (that losing some of these current songs would be no great loss).

oops...how did that happen?

I totally see the forehead and hairline on that hi-res photo!

What I was thinking is maybe the cover "folds out" and behind it are pictures of Clay in his former 'looks'.

It is a bit spooky tho! It looks a bit like the MCWL cover hair, or the TV Guide photo shoot.

Emmy's red carpet??

Okay , so Muski wants me to find a good but relatively inexpensive restaurant for she and I and our hubbies to enjoy before the show tonight. Does anyone who has been to Spamalot have a suggestion? Something not too far from the theater would be great. There are so many restaurants here, and so far we've really enjoyed the ones we've tried.

EEEEEEEE!!!!!! I'm going to Spamalot in less than 24 hours!!!!!!!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!! for you all--have a blast!!

I'm sure you've heard of Junior's by now--it's right across the street. John's Pizzeria is a few blocks away: John's Pizzeria. Great food and very reasonable. I like Roxy's Deli--huge sandwiches. Not cheap, but if you split them, you'll be full and well fed. It's the next block after the Marriott Marquis on the same side of the street (Broadway) headed away from the theatre.

.

Here here, couchie. Forward ho!!!

Who you callin' a ho?

heee yeah I didn't catch that.

BWAH!

jmh123... I have eyes in the back of my head. Hee.

:F_05BL17blowkiss:

Does anyone see the "ghost" looking over Clay's shoulder in the Hi Res picture?

What IS that?

Look closely -- there's a forehead and some hair... or is it just an illusion? Maybe it's younger Clay on his way "here".

Damn, the eyes in the front of your head are impressive too!

Here here, couchie. Forward ho!!!

Now, that is as much as an over the top press release that anyone could want! heh.

looks around interestedly - I wonder who vetted and approved the "he’s known for his signature ballads", even through the first single will be "pop-rock"? I can live with signature ballads, because he's got a handle on that like no one else...

I wonder who are the other three artists whose first three albums debuted in the top five? Somebody google that for me.

Except it isn't a press release, and there was an even more over-the-top album bio for ATDW that a lot of people have forgotten. It's still up at Clay's MySpace at the moment.

I don't think we ever found out who the other artists are. Maybe we'll find out something when this album also debuts in the top five?

I remember reading somewhere that changing looks was one of the keys to superstardom. I'm too lazy to try to find it now.

shudders briefly...

I like the cover and him on the bike - that's it. Give me made up, metrosexual hottie Clay any day of the week!

And EVERYBODY, not just YSRN, were just raving over the pics....

I loved/still love the EW pictures, every one of them. I liked seeing Clay without make-up, freckles showing, red hair--he looked real. The photos were playful and goofy, not like the artsy fartsy Rolling Stones pics, of which I really only liked one (black suit, boots and arms crossed). I thought the guy captured in that article was a really likeable guy, and more like the guy I imagined Clay to be, both in the interview and the photos. Personal tastes are so different--we're very lucky there are so many Clays that there'll always be a version to please right on the heels of any you don't care for.

Hee, liney... my mom (YSRNorElse) made that Clay-to-bunny animation. I've never seen anyone else post it. Cool!! The funny thing is it was a Halloween .gif/joke. On WMS, we used to joke years ago that Clay was like the killer bunny (Monty Python ref for sure). We'd all need protection from him and his weapons (of mass seduction). Ya kinda had to be there cuz that makes absolutely no sense right now, but funny how stuff like that comes around again. LOL!

Oh, I'd almost forgotten the killer bunny. LOL.

Oh my, I remember this too!! Ah, we had some great times back then. Would you ever have guessed you'd still be having good times with this 5 years later?

Keep in mind, I just prefer red-heads:

That's kind of hot, actually. Hmmmm.

I remember hearing Eric Clapton say once that the longer he made music, the more he appreciated simplicity. The seemingly simple Beatles songs are amazingly difficult to sing well, and the difficult, esoteric ones like "A Day in the Life" and "Back in the USSR" are impossible.

I remember way back in the 60's when my future brother-in-law (guitar player who adored the Beatles) was playing lots of Donovan stuff like Season of the Witch, and Cream riffs and the like ... I asked him to play Beatles one day, and he said that the Beatles had such inventive and difficult to learn chord changes that it was at that point beyond his capability. And those songs sounded so simple.

Interesting. Ah ha.

When Randy said "Here, There, and Everywhere" was a "safe choice" and too easy, a gazillion Clay fans leaped through their TV screens and smacked him. This is when I knew that Randy Jackson doesn't know shit.

I guess that guy forgot about the Idol contestant who won a little thing called an Oscar?