Entering the Blogging Universe - my rhyme and reason

" Music , what I live for.......
Music Carries Feeling...............
mixed with passion , oh so healing.

Do as lovers do
and it will take you through
to the other side
where expression you just can't hide ......

Nothing comes close to the feeling"

Music - Omar 1992 ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv8X4tNvvDc)

So here I am - finally putting pen to paper - well digits to keyboard to screen - to share my thoughts and views on mainly all things music and perhaps as a sign of this being a good thing for me Marvin Gaye has just come on the radio!

For awhile now I have been thinking about this whole blogging thing - and wondered whether I should start writing down all the thoughts, opinions, ideas, reactions,emotions I feel when I think about music, listen to music, discuss music, have rambling daydreams of "Naima Fest" which one day will surely happen and especially my views about the gigs ( and yes there have been many!) I go to.

I then had some doubts; wondered who would want to read about these thoughts, who would care? Does it matter what I think? Will it take away from the enjoyment of a gig if in the back of my mind I am already trying to form the witty one liners and acerbic or europhic review to be typed at 2am?? But then I thought ( and pardon the language but this is supposed to be an unconscious stream of my thoughts) "fuck it" - I want to do this and after taking inspiration from a few friends who have awesome blogs that I genuinely enjoy reading ( I will name check these guys soon) I decided to take the plunge.

Before I begin in earnest - a few things I would like to state now - the thoughts and views on the music I will discuss are MY VIEWS and mine only - and I will be honest and frank, and that means I may not be objective - there will always be a natural bias in my opinions, especially about something I am so passionate about, and I also hope that those of you reading, do no take any personal offence in what I say, as I can assure you I am not here to offend for the sake of adding some drama to this blog.

Ok so the boring stuff over lets get to the good stuff - THE MUSIC. My inital aim for writing this blog was to review gigs I have attended, but weirdly for me I only have one gig in the diary at the moment (Keith Sweat, 25th September) and that's it - in case you're not familiar with Keith Sweat, my brief biog of him ( from my head) or hereby known as Useless Facts Only Naima Would Know (UFONWK) include:

• late 40 something RnB artist from the USA

• Renowned for his "nasal twang" when singing - distinctive to say the least
  
  
• His first hit was arguably the first ever New Jack Swing Hit " I Want Her" produced by a then 19 year old Teddy Riley
  
  
• Other hits include: Nobody;Twisted;Make it Last Forever;Just a Touch;How Do You Like It (with Lisa"left eye"Lopes of TLC (RIP))
  
  
• Part of "super group" LSG with Gerald Levert (RIP) and Johnny Gill
  
  
• Discovered Kut Klose - who produced one killer slow jam album and then..............

For those interested - here's a video singing my favourite track of his- and surprisingly he has looked pretty much the same since 1987 ( good genes or good plastic surgeon!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbTeyBLmvWc&feature=quicklist

( I bet you're doing the running man in your head listening to this)

Anyways back to the gig thing - I wasn't even planning to go until my lovely friend M offered me a chance to get a ticket and with the gig void in my life I had to say YES. Let's see if he's still got it and can take me back to those heady mid 90s days when RnB meant something even the commercial side of it.

But I digress...................and maybe with reason, in my diary when writing in the Keith Sweat date ( and yes I have a physical diary, not in my blackberry calendar) I skimmed past the Monday 17th August and a wave of sadness washes over me........why you ask? Two initials repeated in a line drawn with such enthusiasm I can see where I pressed the pen into the paper, two initials in capitals all over the 17th August - and am sure you can guess what they were:

MJ MJ MJ MJ MJ MJ MJ

Yes the day where I would have completed the "holy trinity" of my childhood, where I would have been able to say " I was there". I wanted to be able to boast that I would've seen the 3 big influences in shaping my music sensibilities.

• Michael Jackson who was in my music subconscious since the age of 6, when I bought my first record "Thriller". I remember trying to recreate the Thriller video at playtime and wearing out the VHS where I'd taped the Thriller video and then 5 years later wearing out the taped copy of Bad which I begged my mum to record for me as it was on past my bed time!
  

• Madonna who sang about being like a virgin when I was 7 and me singing along not understanding what she meant but with every sigh wishing I was allowed to wear a crucifix and as many black plastic bracelets as could fit on my arms

• and then Prince - who when aged 13 implored me to "gett off" with such passion I was hooked and who forever will mean so much to me as he is the reason I met the "soulmate" I so often heard him and many others sing about..............but that's another story for another day

But the Music God's conspired to not let that happen and for whatever reason they saw fit they took him away.....................and it's the review I wanted to start this blog off with but it was not meant to be, but music is the core to who I am and I hope my ramblings on here, amuse, perhaps enlighten and maybe introduce you to something new, be it a song or a whole new genre. As music is omnipresent in my life I have a feeling many of these posts may not have anything directly to do with music but may be inspired by music anyway. Please feel free to comment, question and even challenge my views but just to let you know I'm usually right :op

Peace Naima