Phil Collins

I like watching 'Nightline', and I was pleased when they interviewed musician Phil Collins tonight. He was frontman for the band Genesis, a concert I saw at Iowa State University's football stadium a month after graduating from high school. I bought a tour shirt on the street there, but think it's long gone. It is also a nice memory of one class where I performed for people, doing my imitation of the 'I Can't Dance' video. I took notice of the songs on his 'playlist', one was from a Motown band, fronted by Martha Reeves. I liked touring the Motown museum when I was in Detroit in 2008. Another was a Beatles song I was unfamiliar with, 'It Won't Be Long'. I know Martha Reeves was mentioned in a John Mellencamp song, "ROCK IN THE USA". I liked finding songs on Youtube after going to the comedy club tonight, in fact one of them was mentioned onstage tonight, '99 problems' by Jay-Z. Another I heard on the way to the club, 'Forever' by Drake. I knew Eminem was in that one. And I had to find one with some recent radio play, 'Like a G6' by Far East Movement. It was a captivating beat to it, and I had to look up the G6 reference. There is also mention of the 808 drum, but thanks to Kesha I already looked that one up. Wikipedia said the G6 was an airplane, makes more sense than the car by Pontiac, which wasn't made for long. I like how I do understand many of the rap song references from pop culture. Still amazed at how well rappers string words together, it's clever on many levels. I started liking rap after listening to it more closely, and due to my interest in writing I understand how it's just poetry that you sing. With Drake's song I noticed the video had many clips of basketball player Lebron James. I know many rap references are to sports.
    Thanks to one colleague, I looked up some interviews with Lady Gaga on Youtube as well. We spoke of voices, I said I'm good at recognizing them, as it tends to be a person's signature much like handwriting. Those two things tend to be distinct, or unique, from one person to the next. I said  Martin Sheen's gravelly (or gruff) voice as one that is easily recognizable- I actually like referring to him as 'Marty Sheen'. He asked me about Gaga's voice, I said I hadn't heard it much yet in interviews, mainly while singing and when somebody sings an accent is not really heard at all. I found plenty of Gaga interviews, such as with Barbara Walters, Ellen Degeneres, Oprah Winfrey, and Larry King. The last of the 4 was where she seemed to be less sure of herself, saying 'and, um' a lot. This is likely due to the subject, having a family history of lupus. Otherwise, she truly did sound intelligent and articulate, as Barbara Walters described her. It is one thing I noticed in reading magazine interviews, and I like to read good writing.