Listen to Demos

To hear demos for three of the songs on "Better Late Than Never," go here:

http://myspace.com/aheyheynow

Enjoy!

Cesar and "The Host"

Quick! Name two words that link the two items in this post's title. Hint: the third photo, of me at a sidewalk trattoria in an alley in Venice, preparing to devour my own personal prosciutto crudo pizza. You guessed correctly! The two words are Healthy Appetite!

You bring a healthy appetite to Cesar, a marvelous eatery on Piedmont Avenue my sister, the writer Marianne Lonsdale, took me to recently for my birthday lunch. We had some extremely savory tapas, including a mint and lamb sandwich, and a platter of smoked meats to die for, as well as some thick cut spicy sauced fried potato wedges. The menu definitely warrants further exploration. Cesar lives up to its reputation.

And then there's "The Host," the Korean sci-fi flick with the Bush administration critique subtext, without a doubt the best monster movie in years. Lotsa jumps and scares, lotsa laughs and mucho heart, too, and the locally designed monster is fascinating and convincing. And his appetite is...healthy. Trust and believe.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Words & Music by Jim Allio & Lamarr Standberry

Thought I'd missed the boat
Thought it sailed without me
Missed the punchline of the joke
While people laughed around me

Thought I was too late
Thought time's up was my fate
When much to my surprise
The door opened wide

Life welcomed me, welcomed me, heyeyeayeah
Life welcomed me, welcomed me, oh yeah yeah
Better, better late than never
Better, better late than never
Better, better late than never
Better, better late than never

Thought I held the joker in the deck
Used to a messy emotional wreck
Baby boomer, late bloomer
Happened later rather than sooner

Life welcomed me, welcomed me
Life welcomed me, welcomed me
Better, better late than never
Better, better late than never
Better, better late than never
Better, better late than never

Coffee from Peets and an iced maple scone
Watching Lesley Gore from the second row
Jogging 'round the Lake, it's a date
Then we'll stop by Bake...sale Bettys

Chillin' in the condo, hangin' out at Bimbo's
Best seats for The Roots
Feel so good, feel so loose
After hours with Slum and Dwele
Drivin' home from LA
Friends do a slow burn
Eiffel lunch at Jules Verne
Vegas, Paris, London
New York, Rome and then some

Better, better late than never...

Copyright 2007 2-5 Music and whitchoc38 Music

Musiq Soulchild At The Independent: Still Your B-U-D-D-Y

He came on stage twenty minutes late and twenty minutes into his set announced he would have to cut his show short to catch a plane to New York City. There were problems with the sound and with his ear monitors. He did a lot of talking and, on the hits, often just held the microphone towards the audience so they could do the work of actually singing the songs. There was a gamely performed but superfluous fifteen minute tribute to Rick James, Gerald Levert and James Brown - this from a man who in his first three albums could have filled up an entire performance with nothing but neo-soul classics. He danced some and shook hands, hugged and high fived as many of his ecstatic fans as he could reach from the stage, and he mugged for hundreds of digital cameras, cameraphones and camcorders. He did a medley of some of his hits, and full-on versions of a couple more. He actually included the biggest song from his underrated "Soul Star" album of a few years back, "Just for the Night," which he'd failed to do in his last local show at The Fillmore around the time of its release, and then led the audience in a singalong of the crazy creative title song.

It almost sounds like he was a disappointment. And yet...and yet...at times he sang like a reincarnated straight-up jazz singer, scatting and vocalesing his way through material that didn't realize it could be jazzified. His personality was winning and his showmanship superb. The term crowd-pleaser was invented for just such a performer as Musiq Soulchild. He teased the audience with promises of his current single, the summertime smash that is peaking in winter, the irresistible "Buddy," and even credited the inspiration for the song, the bass line from Taana Gardner's dancefloor giant, "Heartbeat."

It is in "Buddy" that the appeal of Musiq Soulchild has been distilled and finessed. He has always been our Buddy - the guy next door in love with the girl next door, hip, cool, but not too cool to be corny when it was called for, able to express the romantic dilemmas of that guy he portrays so well. Even when Musiq is trying to be a hard rock superstar (a hard on the ears metal show complete with audience dives at the Giftcenter one drizzly Valentines Day) or Vegas it up with the aforementioned tribute medley to fallen r&b stars, he remains knowable. Of course, the guy next door has rock star fantasies and, given the chance to live them out, he's gonna do it! Of course, despite the fact that he has written some of the most telling, candid, perceptive songs about modern romance of the past ten years, he doesn't want to be regarded as "soft." He's just like the guy next door, and underneath it all, still our Buddy.

Take Heart (Interlude)

TAKE HEART (INTERLUDE)

Written by Jim Allio & Lamarr Standberry

Take heart, we're all in the same boat
Take heart, we're all in the same boat
Take heart, we're all in the same boat
This too will pass
This too will pass
This too will pass
This too will pass

Copyright 2007 2-5 Music & whitchoc38 Music

"Zodiac" & "Daddy's Little Girls": The Best of Early 2007

Without a doubt, my two favorite films so far this year are "Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls" and David Fincher's "Zodiac." Yes, I know Perry is sometimes critiqued for being obvious and sentimental, but I'm a schmaltzy guy at times and I find his melodramas packed with situations I can identify with, people I recognize from my own life, and emotions very close to the surface. "Daddy's Little Girls" does not feature Medea or any of his more stock characters, but this story of an auto mechanic (the magnificent Idris Elba) trying to wrest custody of his three daughters from his scandalous ex-wife and her drug dealing boyfriend with the grudging help of a corporate lawyer (add hysterically funny to Gabrielle Union's bursting resume). Packed with drama, solid bellylaughs and not a few tears, it also stars the McLain sisters as the hero's children and they are cuter than cute.

Totally different but equally engrossing, "Zodiac" tells the story of the San Francisco Bay Area's most notorious (and still uncaught) serial killer. Based on the book by San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith, it is fascinating, spooky and riveting. Although more than two and a half hours long, I did not want to miss one minute of this superbly acted film. Robert Downey, Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Chloe Sevigny, Brian Cox and Arthur Leigh Allen (creepy!!) more than hold the screen and the cinematography is superb. I was around when the Zodiac was sending his letters to local papers and committing murders, and remember how scary that time was, and director David Fincher captures the 1970s milieu brilliantly. This may well be among the very best films of the year when all is said and done.

IN MY RIDE

IN MY RIDE

Written by Jim Allio & Lamarr Standberry

Think I'll drive into that wall

Thinkin' 'bout suicide in my ride

Thinkin' 'bout suicide in my ride

Thinkin' 'bout suicide in my ride

I think I'll drive into that wall

Think I'll drive into that wall

The car ahead of me

Swerves and hits that tree

Pop! Snap! Just like that!

It could be me

Is that man free?

Think I'll drive into that wall

Thinkin' 'bout suicide in my ride

Thinkin' 'bout suicide in my ride

Thinkin' bout suicide in my ride

Think I'll drive into that wall

Think I'll drive into that wall

This feeling came out of nowhere

Don't know why I wanna do it

Seems like there's nothing to it

(Do it, just do it)

Tired of the family, tired of my job

Tired of feeling like a loser and a slob

Sick of this depression and every 12 step session

Doctor, sponsor, clueless shrink

How in the hell do I stop the way I think

Think I'll drive into that wall

Thinkin' 'bout suicide in my ride

Thinkin' 'bout suicide in my ride

Thinkin' 'bout suicide in my ride

Think I'll drive into that wall

Think I'll drive into that wall

Jump off the building, it's the same feeling

Jump off the building, it's the same feeling

Thinkin' bout suicide in my ride...

Copyright 2007 2-5 Music and whitchoc38 Music