Dear Uncle Sam,
Muller and Patton, in our songwriting / producing role, have begun our peaceful infiltration of Filipino pop music. More on that to follow.
Want to hear a funny story? Good.
In a newspaper interview concerning Kelsey Adam’s album, Jaye and I were asked which contemporary songwriters we respect the most. We answered Adam Schlessinger, and explained that his biggest hit to date was the movie song “Way Back in to Love”. The article was translated to Filipino for the paper’s sister publication, and apparently not very accurately, because word got around that we were claiming to have written “Way Back into Love” ourselves. In a press conference / performance in a prominent Cebu mall a few days later, the first and only question a journalist asked me was if I’d really written “Way Back Into Love”. I said “No, did you?” There were no further questions.
I recently had the pleasure of hearing a song I wrote called “The Stuff That I’m Made Of”, performed in Mandarin. The song appeared in the thriller / drama “Hui Lu”, sung by beautiful Chinese actress Margaret Wang.
I have no idea if my lyrics were translated faithfully, but I could care less. Here is a recording. : )
Dear Uncle Sam,
I was introduced yesterday to an elderly filipina who is greatly renowned for her gifts of perception into the future, and unseen aspects of the present. I found her to be a charming, kind woman, with an undeniably magic aura and very cute grandchildren. Putting my innate skepticism temporarily aside, I asked her, among other things, if she could tell me anything about the future of my work. Would I be able to entertain a much larger audience someday? A stream of words spilled from her mouth, in a Filipino dialect called Bisayan. When she was done, the translator said to me “Yes, okay.”
Here is another peek at the upcoming concert DVD “Live Double Feature”. This is from the unplugged show in Burlington, Vermont, featuring two other Pattons, my sister Anna on clarinet, and my father Will on double bass.
The song we are playing is one I wrote about ten years ago. (Yikes.) It’s a sort of homage to Cole Porter, and it has become, arguably, my most popular song.
Will I someday write something that will dramatically exceed the appreciation this early song has received?
“Yes, okay.”
Captains Log, Stardate 5 / 9 / 2009,
A whole lot of entertainment is coming from myself and the Muller and Patton team this year, much of it already finished, simply queued up for deployment.
Here is a little peek at my upcoming solo concert DVD “Live Double Feature”. The DVD will feature two concerts, one stripped down show in Vermont, USA, and one fired up show in Cebu, Philippines. This clip is from the latter.
That’s all for now. Live long and prosper.
Dear Uncle Sam,
I put together a little virtual tour of my new home in Cebu, Philippines.
Well, not just MY home. I share it with the the Count and Countess, our dear friend Alexander (a great German actor), his brilliant wife Connie, a very successful German entrepreneur named Jan, a model named Romeo, and an Iranian prince (no kidding) named Khashayar who is also a gifted filmmaker (he did a celebrated segment for Oprah recently).
In putting together this little slideshow today I omitted a few rooms, the resident’s of which were not around to give me permission to snoop. Also omitted is our kitchen, which is unfinished and in no state for the internet, and the quarters where our *gasp* HOUSEKEEPERS live.
One interesting detail is that the house (which once belonged to the Governor, we’re told) contains one quite small, quite empty secret room, with a corresponding secret stairway beneath it, which we’ve yet to see, as it’s boarded up.
I think it would make a hell of a game of “Clue”. Was it Colonel Muller in the study with the tuning fork? Or perhaps Professor Patton, in the dining room, with the B-flat half diminished?
Enjoy the video. And remember, if you want your children to grow up to have a life as fabulous as mine, encourage them to drop out of school.
Incidentally, the music is From the “Mikado” by Gilbert and Sullivan - “If You Want To Know Who We are”.
Dear Uncle Sam,
Kelsey Adams (Or Special K, as I call her) launched her power pop into the Philippines with a triumphant bang at the Waterfront Casino, last week. Count Jaye and I, not content with the anonymity of the songwriter / producer role, decided to step into a sliver of Special K’s spotlight, by playing in her band, for the show. Filipino superstars Jed Madela and Billy Crawford stopped by and sang a few tunes, and much fun was had by all.
Those humongous letters on the backdrop should clear up any confusion about who’s party we’re attending.
Me and Special K.
Incidentally, the Count and I have moved into decidedly more glamorous diggings. I will soon give you a virtual tour of our new mansion, and it’s grounds.
March 10, a little powerhouse of pop named Kelsey Adams will bring to Cebu’s city’s Waterfront Casino a sensational evening of music. She will be joined by Filipino superstars Jed Madela and Billy Crawford…. and a couple eccentrics named Muller and Patton. For more info, go to www.kelseyadams.net.
In an otherwise trying month, it continues to be a joy to work with Miss Kelsey. At the show, she will introduce the songs from her upcoming debut album, all of which were written and produced by the Count and me.
Somebody shot my dear friend Pauline a few weeks ago. Despite serious, massive internal damage, I’ve watched my brave friend go from unconscious to conscious, from eating through an IV to eating solid foods, to talking, to walking.
I posted this video earlier, but I thought I’d repost it, to celebrate how nice it is to still have my friend on the planet. Here again is Ben and Pauline’s pajama party:
Dear Uncle Sam,
The count and I could not be more excited about the latest project to come our way.
Kelsey Adams, the singing prodigee of Cebu, Philippines, and darling of the “Little Big Star” talent contest of Filipino TV, is preparing the release of her first full length album, written and produced by the Count and I.
Also, on March 10, she will perform a concert at Waterfront Hotel, Cebu, in which Jaye and I will make a brief appearance. This young girl has the kind of innate musical talent that only blesses the very few, and for Jaye and me, hearing our songs come to life in her voice has been a rare treat.
Kelsey needs little coaching- in the above photo I’m pretending I know something she doesn’t.
Stay tuned to www.kelseyadams.net to watch her career blossom.
I have a good feeling about 2009.
This installment of “A Song I Wish I’d Written” seems quite appropriate as we face a new year. It’s by one of the most underrated British bands of the 1960’s, the Zombies, on their 1968 masterpiece, the curiously mispelled “Odessey and Oracle”. (Recorded, I must add, at Abbey Road by Muller and Patton’s friend and collaborator Nick Webb).
The song was written by Rod Argent and Chris White, the band’s killer songwriting duo, lead by Argent’s soulful piano, and sung by the honey voice of Colin Blunstone.
“This will be our year / took a long time to come.”
I feel a bit that way about 2009.
Incidentally, here is a little teaser from my recent concert, which will be released on a DVD some time this year, along with the rambunctious show I did in Cebu, Philippines this past November. It’s called “The Encore Song”.
(This is not the mixed audio, excuse it’s crudeness).
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