his coming weekend (Sunday) Stevie Wonder will be back in Manchester. Mariah Carey comes here a month later. They will perform across the road from us.

To people like me who grew up hearing them (in the 80s and 90s) there’s a sort of gateway to the “past” or “good old days”.

I don’t believe going to a concert makes one younger, even if it makes one feel that way.

I am relieved to know those two people are still alive, well, and actively performing.

For Wonder, as he’s blind and older than Carey, this can’t be easy. The last time he was here his children helped him.

Gone by so fast

oday “Sweepy” (formerly “Sleepy”, but she sweeps seeds a lot so the name changed) brought the partner. I think it’s the first time. It’s not hard to know it’s the partner because they kissed.

The birds are getting increasingly dependent on human-supplied seeds because tomorrow it is November already. It’s still not cold though, I nearly decided to sunbathe again (same as yesterday), but eventually decides not to because of plumes at the distance. Besides, I’d rather write articles than sleep while listening to Discman.

Tonight it’ll be the time kids ask for sweets, so Rianne purchased some packs of treats. I’ll need to keep the volume down (music) to hear when they knock.

Hard to believe it’s already end of October. On October 31^st at this time of day last year the trial was over already.

And not only youth

recently acquired some decently-priced gifts and one of them – which I had acquired for only a pound – was a non-Sony Discman. It still works OK, despite a few falls (those falls caused only temporary issues), and the CDs cost about 10 pence each. Being “behind” means not just cost-savings; it means owning and keeping (sometimes for a lifetime) one’s music collections.

How do we explain to young people that to own and keep your music used to be normal and should be normal again?

DRM and streaming are regressions.

We see insufficient protests over this.

China’s Fentanylware

his morning I asked, “What Has Happened to Singers Who Can Play Several Musical Instruments?”

“This leads me to a sneaking suspicion that artists got lazy,” I said.

A friend has responded by saying: “Not the artists [got lazy] but that the means to reach a public became centralized and under corporate control. They don’t want skilled people, they want easily replaceable minions who are in over their heads and know it.”

“That way the threat of replacement doesn’t need to be spoken (much) to gain unswerving obedience. Note that most successful 70s groups ran their own business side.”

“Even Led Zeppelin financed their own album before shopping around for a record company. Taylor Swift is first and foremost an astute businesswoman in the entertainment branch who’s schtick happens to be pop music.”

Well, Taylor Swift now leverages China’s Fentanylware (CheeTok) with an “Exclusive”. Way to close control. Quoting the report, “Taylor Swift teams up with Fentanylware (CheeTok) for another exclusive in-app experience celebrating The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore and her new single, “Patient Zero.”

So now she is bossed by China, indirectly.

“Her music is tuned for ear buds and those who listen on ear buds,” the friend has said. “That’s another factor. In the 1970s and 1980s having the best possible sound system at home was a status symbol. That required music to show off the sound capabilities and the musicians leaned into that. You also had many regional radio stations, not the centralized mess owned by a handful of companies. Streaming is even more centralized and, again, there are only earbuds.”

“Smart” phone is not a “Musical Instrument”

was not even born in the 1970s, yet in recent years I’ve developed some affinity for 70s music (80s weren’t bad, but I think I already became too familiar with the ‘repertoire’ of the 80s, both as a kid and as a young adult).

What strikes me is that back in the 70s many singers not only played an instrument but sometimes several very unique instruments. We’re talking about the likes of Stevie Wonder, who started with drums and later combined his vocals with harmonica, piano, maybe more.

This leads me to a sneaking suspicion that “artists” got lazy.

recently heard, repeatedly, the song “Bright Eyes“. I not only liked the song, I always liked the video. It’s relaxing except for one part.

Maybe one day we’ll buy rabbits.

Stevie Wonder coming here again

n Manchester and elsewhere, Stevie Wonder has new concerts coming up. We nearly went last year. My sister changed her mind at the end.

In my family, nearly everyone is a Stevie Wonder fan. Even my wife likes his music. I’ve asked my sister to invite us.

Stevie Wonder might not live for much longer. Based on video of his last performance here, he’s doing well, nowhere near rusty. But he is not getting younger, either.