Andrew Nicholson

I was sad to hear Michael Jackson died this week. Although I did not have tickets for any of the O2 shows (they seemed to have sold out in minutes as far as I could see) but I was hoping he would do well and give a new generation an insight as to the excitement of watching him perform live. Whether or not he could have pulled those shows off well I am not sure but I certainly was hoping he would make a come back. I had always been disappointed with the lack of new Michael Jackson music since History/Blood on the Dancefloor and although Invincible (2001) features some great tracks (Unbreakable / 2000 Watts / You Rock my World) it seemed to lack the creativity and productivity which I am sure he was capable of. I guess I was a bit of a fan of Michael in the 90s as I had bought all his cds and was always looking forward to seeing his new music videos.

I was lucky enough to have seen Michael Jackson perform live on Monday September 30th 1996 in the Amsterdam Arena. It was the second of a three night stand there. He came back for a further two nights in 1997. He toured all throughout Europe for around a year I believe without doing any shows in the USA. I am guessing that had to do with the bad press he was starting to get in the mid 90s. What I personally remember really well from the show I attended was the excitement of watching him perform, the amazing dancemoves, the custome changes, the great use of the huge screens, waving of the Dutch flag by MJ and especially the marvellous CGI style introduction (quite ahead of its time back then) played on the big screens which was customised for each city on the tour after which Micheal Jackson stood still on stage for minutes to the huge roar of the crowd. The concert introduction from that tour can be found in various YouTube clips online and I have posted one of the better quality ones here.

I found a couple of instrumental MJ tracks I did years back on a tape which belonged to my nan. I cannot fully remember the list of equipment I used to record these tracks but I think I did these using a Technics KN1000 keyboard along with the Yamaha MU100R sound canvas and a 4 track taperecorder. I used a lot of sequencing back then so the songs are more mechanical sounding than anything else I’ve done but I thought it would still be interesting to make some mp3s out of them and post them online to share. The date of the tape is 31st of October 1997 and thus the tracks must have been recorded before then. So from the vaults as a little homage to Michael Jackson here are “We are the world” and “Will you be there”.

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Yesterday I went to see Per Gessle perform live in London at The O2 Academy in Islington. A great show and Per played a lot of Roxette stuff. Very good atmosphere too with everyone jumping up and down and singing along to all the songs. It’s been the first time I have seen him live and it definitely lived up to my expectations. I have always considered Per Gessle to be a fantastic song writer who has a huge catalogue of hits. It’s worth checking out some of his stuff even if you have only listened to a handful of Roxette stuff and like it.

I definitely hope to see him or with Marie as Roxette live again soon.

I managed to take some decent vids which I have uploaded to YouTube;
(Be sure to hit the HQ button if you have a fast connection as the sound quality is pretty good then)

Dressed For Success:

I Wish I Could Fly

She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore:

Listen To Your Heart

The Church of your Heart / Dangerous:

It Must Have Been Love:

Sleeping In My Car:

I just read a sad report that singer/songwriter Gregg Fulkerson, the composer of the beautiful song “A Date With Destiny” passed away on Tuesday (April 14th). Gregg was only 44.

More information about Gregg and his music can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_Fulkerson
http://www.myspace.com/wwwmyspacecomgreggfulkerson

“A Date With Destiny” was in fact rumoured to be a contender song to be on “Bat out of Hell II:Back into Hell” (by Steinman/Meat Loaf), it has remained unrecorded by any big named artists up until now. A gorgeous song in my opinion which has a very “Thunder Road”/Bruce Springsteen feel to it.

I recorded my own version of the song in 2006.

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Rest in Peace Gregg….