Friday New Releases – May 20, 2022

Things are heating up here in Charlotte and so are the new releases. This week there is one that is highly anticipated from a lot of people and it is up first and I am interested in it as well as his prior two were great. I have a couple others I want to hear this week and all are marked in Blue. Let me know what you want to hear and if I missed anything, let us know so everyone can learn about it. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

  • 61ur3nQ+-mL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Harry Styles – Harry’s House – (Columbia Records): I have to admit, I really like his prior two releases. I didn’t have a choice of listening to them as my girls think he’s dreamy. But little did I know I would enjoy them almost as much. Can’t wait to hear what he has in store for us with this release.
  • 81wHtI5jxtL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Gavin DeGraw – Face the River – (RCA Records / Sony): Gavin DeGraw has such a great voice and can write a killer pop song. They tell great stories and are catchy as hell. He can write a melody and a great chorus. Here is hoping for more of the same.
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‘Stories to Tell: A Memoir” by Richard Marx – Book Review

I have read a lot of books about bands and rock stars and I am a little tired of the sex, drugs and Rock & Roll aspect of the whole thing. It is the same old, same old. I like to read the fun stories that are interesting, smart and I enjoy the stories behind the songs or even the artists writing style and what motivates them. If you are the same way, then this book is what you need to read. Richard Marx brings us a book about his life and believe it or not, he had a great childhood, loving parents, he doesn’t do drugs and never had the wild sex-filled tours and you know what, that is okay because what he gives us are intelligent stories, tons of humor and a lot of behind the scenes looks at the numerous stars he has worked with and songs he has written.

Before I get to that, let us look at the book itself. The copy I purchased was a bundle. It came with an autographed copy of the book as you can see below. I also paired it with a greatest hits CD which is 1 CD full of his hits and another full of demos, rare tracks and a collection of songs he wrote for other people, but this time with him singing and not the artist he wrote it for…really cool. Oh yeah, and the CD came with a signed booklet as well. Really cool stuff…okay, back to the review.

Richard took the down time with Covid to bring us a detailed telling of his life in music…not his personal life. We do get some of it, but mostly it is about the music. Richard is real private about his family but does give us glimpses, however, this is about the rock star. And let me tell you he has worked with some mega stars and is friends with some as well. We learn how he got started in the business by being a background singer for numerous people but got his break with Lionel Richie. He also works with Kenny Rogers and writes a song for him that gave him his first #1 song in country music. But that is the only tip of the iceberg.

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