Friday, August 27, 2021

A Power Pop Rescue From Nick Piunti!

Looking for a couple of excellent songs to liven up your summer? Nick Piunti & The Complicated Men have just the explosion of power pop energy you need to brighten your day in these difficult times. When I reviewed their outstanding album, Downtime, for the music and arts website CultureSonar back in 2020, I mentioned that Nick and his band might just be "power pop's best kept secret." A long-time fixture on the Detroit rock and roll scene, Nick's been making great music for years now, and Downtime, as well as some of Nick's earlier records, including 13 In My Head, and Trust Your Instincts, are well worth your time and attention. Hot on the heels of his knockout version of "Hang On To Your Ego" for the recently released album JEM Records Celebrates Brian Wilson, Nick and his band have issued not one, but two terrific new singles.

"Heart Inside Your Head" is a power pop-tastic number that combines all the key elements of Nick's music; "can't get it out of your head once it's there" hooks, catchy lyrics, and the joy-infused musical chemistry between Nick and The Complicated Men, aka Kevin Darnall on keyboards, Jeff Happ on bass Ron Vesko on drums, and Geoff Michael on synths. Nick's terrific vocals and guitar top it all off to achieve the perfect power pop confection. Don't believe me? Just give the tune ( which was chosen as a Coolest Song In The World on Little Steven's Sirius XM radio show, Underground Garage) a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmhkgay_Ee8.


The band's other new single is "One of the Boyz," a sparkling mixture of power pop and modern rock styles in a tale about a guy who doesn't appreciate the girl in his life, and treats her like "one of the boyz." The song features delightful lyrics that will make you smile (I dig "When you get strong and you move on, there'll be no looking over your cold shoulder...") and an effervescent mix highlighted by Piunti's excellent guitar work. It's another great tune that should absolutely be played loud with the car windows down as you sing along. Check 
"One of the Boyz," out here: https://nickpiuntimusic.bandcamp.com/track/one-of-the-boyz. Both of these singles are fantastic, and should immediately be added to your power pop playlist. You can find music by Nick Piunti and The Complicated Men at bandcamp: https://nickpiuntimusic.bandcamp.com, and discover more about the band at: https://www.nickpiunti.com. Nick Piunti & The Complicated Men's new singles are just the power pop rescue you need at the end of this long, hot summer!

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Laura Nyro's Passionate Musical Life

What do the hit songs “Eli’s Comin” by Three Dog Night and “Wedding Bell Blues” by The Fifth Dimension have in common? They were written by the late Laura Nyro, who had many of her wonderful songs turned into chart topping hits by artists like Blood, Sweat & Tears and Barbra Streisand during the 1960s and 70s. Nyro released her first record, More Than A New Discovery, in 1967, and went on to record several now classic albums, including Eli & The Thirteenth Confession (1968) and New York Tendaberry (1969). She was a gifted performer who stayed out of the limelight when she wasn’t recording or touring. 

Laura remained elusive offstage, and kept her personal life very private. Despite not being a household name to the casual listener, Nyro has gained a loyal following among music fans, critics and fellow musicians. The 2003 biography Soul Picnic: The Music & Passion of Laura Nyro by Michelle Kort does a good job giving us some deeper insight into the life and career of this talented artist, who passed away in 1997. Kort wisely focuses on Nyro’s music, and uses it as a window to tell her story. There are compelling reminisces by Nyro’s family and friends, and stories about her upbringing and musical journey.

The real pleasures found in the book concern the creation of Nyro's music: the stories behind classic tunes like “And When I Die” and “Stoned Soul Picnic,” showcase her gift for unique lyrics and melodies. Despite her innate talent, Nyro often clashed with producers as well as record company executives who didn’t understand her vision for her music, and how she felt her records should sound. Kort does a great job covering Nyro’s passionate, unflinching commitment to her music and how it should feel to the listener. There’s a lot of detail about the making of her albums and her concert tours, including input from studio musicians, producers and band members. There are also recollections from well known artists who either worked with Nyro or were influenced by her, including Todd Rundgren, Patti Labelle and bass player Will Lee. Kort does a great job analyzing Nyro’s music and its origins in her personal life, and shares some facts that the average fan may not know, including Nyro’s relationship with a young Jackson Browne.

This is a well-written biography that will appeal to music buffs who want to know more about Nyro’s background and history as an artist, as well as fans wanting an in-depth look into her creative process. The book also includes a discography, which was current at the time of the book's release, circa 2003. It was also published before Nyro’s induction into the R&R hall of fame in 2012, so there are no details about that well-deserved honor, but this is still a beautiful portrait of an acclaimed, powerful singer. Highly recommended, Soul Picnic: The Music & Passion of Laura Nyro is available in paperback and hardcover from online retailers like Amazon. For more on Laura, you can check out two pieces I wrote for CultureSonar about her music. Here are links to my articles on her terrific collaboration with Labelle, Gonna Take A Miraclehttps://www.culturesonar.com/laura-nyro/, and a look at some of her very best songs: https://www.culturesonar.com/8-genius-songs-by-laura-nyro/.

Thursday, August 5, 2021

Retro Film Noir: Nightmare Alley

The world of film noir is full of murder-filled cityscapes, rain-slicked streets and doomed characters, but one of the bleakest and most cynical stories in noir cinema actually starts out not in the big city, but at a carnival. Nightmare Alley, a 1947 tale from director Edmund Goulding, is a cynical tale filled with a sense of foreboding, which features some very dark twists and turns. The movie stars Tyrone Power as Stan Carlisle, an ambitious guy, who's something of a heel. He’s eking out a living as a barker at a slightly low-rent carnival. He also assists Zeena, a mentalist, and her husband Eric, with their act. Stan, who’s both a con man and a ladies man, is having an affair with Zeena, and wants to find a way into the big-time.

Stan learns that Zeena and Eric had a popular vaudeville show, before her extramarital affairs and Eric’s drinking ruined their careers. They used a shared “code” which made it appear that Zeena truly had supernatural powers of perception. Stan’s desperate to get a hold of it, believing that he and Zeena could put a successful act together. But she won’t share the code or leave her husband. Then tragedy strikes, and Pete dies in an accident, for which Stan is inadvertently responsible. Zeena has to teach Stan the code in order to continue the act. Meanwhile, the venal Stan’s already thinking about his next conquest, and is romancing Molly, a younger member of the carnival troupe, who's infatuated with him, behind Zeena’s back. Stan is a bit of a cad, and pretty full of himself.

When Stan’s liaison with Molly is discovered, the carnival crew forces him to marry her, and Stan and Molly leave the show behind. Stan re-invents himself as a mentalist, and with Molly as his assistant, their show becomes popular on the nightclub circuit. One night, a woman in the audience challenges Stan’s supposed “power.” Stan’s able to outwit her, but can't get her off his mind. She turns out to be a psychiatrist named Lilith Ritter, who’s as fascinated by Stan as he is by her. Stan and Lilith enter into a scheme using the recordings of sessions with her clients to enhance his con, and display his remarkable powers of perception, in order to wrangle money from their marks. Just how low will Stan go to attain fame and fortune? What’s Lilith’s game, and is she trying to further her own ends?

Every time Stan makes a choice, he picks the self-interested path that will profit him, even at the expense and downfall of others. The carnival troupe is depicted as a family, and the fact that Stan, as a rootless drifter who'd been given a home there, discards them so casually, is another factor in his undoing. He also underestimates Lilith, who’s much sharper than Stan gives her credit for, and ignores Molly’s warnings about going too far with his schemes. Will the dark prediction Zeena saw in her tarot cards back at the carnival regarding his ultimate fate come true? Stan is haunted by his part in Eric’s accidental death, and when things really unravel for him, he'll find himself brought lower than he’s ever been before. Is Stan's fate his own doing, or was it his destiny all along?

Nightmare Alley is based upon a novel by William Lindsay Gresham, which became a best-seller upon its release in 1946. The book is, if anything, even darker than the film, and it was a big success with readers. Gresham was fascinated by seamy side of carnival life, and based the novel on conversations he had with a former carny. Tyrone Power read the book and wanted to star in the film version. Power was looking to do something a bit different from the romantic leads and swashbuckling roles he normally essayed, and thanks to his star power, as well as the recent success of his dramatic turn in The Razor’s Edge, he convinced Daryl Zanuck to produce the film version of Nightmare Alley. The studio brought in writer Jules Furthman to adapt the novel, and assigned Power’s Razor’s Edge director, Edmund Goulding, to helm the film.

Power gives a terrific performance as Stan, imbuing the character with just the right mix of con man charisma, suave ladies man charm, and the complex emotions of a multi-layered noir anti-hero. He’s perfectly matched by Joan Blondell as Zeena, Coleen Gray as Molly, and Helen Walker as the enigmatic Lilith, all of whom are excellent. Mike Mazurki as Bruno and Ian Keith as Eric are also wonderful in their supporting roles. Goulding’s direction is solid, and there’s some brilliant cinematography by Lee Garmes, who uses the film’s black and white palette to its full advantage. His masterful lighting and shot composition are showcased throughout the film.

Nightmare Alley was not a success upon its original release, and Daryl Zanuck quickly pulled the film from theaters. Perhaps the subject matter was a bit too dark and disturbing for the time, even with its studio-imposed "happy" ending, but the movie remained one of Power’s personal favorites, and has gone on to become a classic of film noir. There’s a remake of the film (which is reportedly a closer adaptation of the novel) coming later this year, directed and co-written by Guillermo Del Toro, and featuring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett and Ron Perlman. In the meantime, check out Nightmare Alley on the recently released Criterion Collection Blu-ray or DVD, which has some excellent special features, including a commentary by noir historians James Ursini and Alain Silver, and interviews with co-star Coleen Gray, writer Imogen Sara Smith and Todd Robbins, a real-life carnival performer. Nightmare Alley is a terrific movie, and it’s one of my absolute favorite noir films. If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to check it out. If you have seen it before, maybe it’s time to re-discover it! Here’s a link to the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7Nly0xSm1E, which is textless and narration-less.