Celebrity Background Vocals

One of my favorite things in the world is when another famous singer/artist sings background vocals on someone else’s song. I don’t mean a duet or a step out. Just plain background vocals. It doesn’t really happen to much in music. Can you guys think of any songs?

Some examples I could think of:

• “Back in the High Life Again” by Steve Winwood, featuring James Taylor
• “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon featuring Mick Jagger
• “6th Avenue Heartache” by The Wallflowers featuring Adam Duritz
• Everything made in the 1970’s featuring Michael McDonald

E-mail

Ok. Let’s talk about e-mail. How I use it, how I want to use it, gripes, etc. PLEASE comment. I want to make this a dialog, rather than just me blabbering. A warning: If you’re not a nerd, this will be really boring.

So, a bit of a history with me and e-mail:
I have a distinct memory of the first time I signed up for my own e-mail address, separate from my parents. I was in 7th grade, and my friends were into making Geocities websites. When I was signing up, they asked you for an e-mail address. Not wanting to get tons of “Your Brand New X-Files Website!” spam to my dad’s Prodigy account, I decided it was time to branch out on my own. Back then, the free e-mail options were VERY limited, and Hotmail was the only realistic choice. I signed up and the rest is spam history.

I (somehow) used Hotmail’s web interface until I got to college. I was all I needed at the time. I didn’t really use e-mail all that much in high school, and only had about 10 contacts or so, and usually I just typed in their e-mail addresses by hand. I didn’t really care about keeping my inbox clean, so I’m pretty sure I had about 30 pages or so of old e-mails just sitting there, and I would have to manually go through to try and find old e-mails.

Flash forward to fall of 2003. It was the beginning of my college experience, and I got my first Mac and fell in love. I immediately fell in love with their care for design and usability. I wanted in. Back then, Hotmail didn’t work with mail.app, unless you hacked it with a plugin, so I did. It was shake at best. Constant connection errors, and no sense of sync at all. If I read an e-mail through mail.app, it would still be unread on hotmail.com. It sucked, but the interface of mail.app made it worth the frustration.

Some time in college I got an invite to the then highly secret and alpha version of Gmail. Good lord. It was amazing. Instant archival, and it had POP access, so it instantly worked with mail.app. Still no two way syncing though. If I read it online at work, it would still show up as new at home. Eventually IMAP came along and fixed the sync issue, and I have been happy ever since.

Where I was until a few days ago:
I have been happily using gmail with mail.app and mobile me syncing for several years now, and have loved it. I have a good 1,400 contacts now, all carefully organized using Mac/Mobile Me, and it’s integration with mail.app. I would go crazy if that didn’t work.

Last June I made the jump to iPhone and was happy to see that IMAP was supported…well kind of. No matter how you set it up, something always is imperfect. When you delete an e-mail on the iPhone, the majority of the time it gets sent to trash (even when you change these settings). As someone who is used to all of their e-mail being archived, having e-mails unexpectedly lost forever is infuriating. That, and the fact that the “read” status sometimes gets corrupted were reasons enough for me to look for other options.

What I’m trying:
A few months ago my favorite productivity guru Merlin Mann did a screen cast of his desktop. I was really surprised to see that he had switched from mail.app to solely using gmail’s online interface, with Google notifier. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about this way and decided to finally go for it.

So for now I’m using only Google’s interface, even on my iPhone. On my mac I installed Google Notifier which checks for read status, and allows you to set gmail as your default mail application, which is really cool.

What I’m Loving:

• Knowing that it’s all there, and it’s all accurate. Since I’m going straight to the source there’s not chance of information being lost, accidentally deleted, or the read status being wrong.

• Gmail’s filters/colors are awesome. I’ve set up colors for different aspects of my life so that when an e-mail comes in, it’s automatically color coded so I can see exactly what I’m getting into. This even translates to the iPhone’s web access. You can do the same thing with mail.app, but you’d have to set it up on every computer you ever sit down at. Not cool.
• The ability to use gmail as the default mail application. This means when I click on an e-mail address, or a contact in Address Book, it will open up a new message in gmail.

What I’m Not:

• Biggest issue is that there is currently no push notifier for gmail on the iPhone. Hopefully that will change in september.

• Google Notifier is slow. There is no way to set how often it checks, so often I realize I have an e-mail before it does. Also it often says I have a new mail upwards of 5 minutes after I’ve read it.
• I miss it being an app. Using a web interface is slower, uglier and doesn’t take advantage of everything built into OSX, including integration with Address Book and iCal.
• One set view. Gmail only displays e-mail as one giant list, rather than in separate list/message panels, like every other e-mail application does. I think I can get used to it being missing/it might be better gone.
• Gmail’s contact management interface is a joke. It’s horribly bad. It looks like I’m going to be using MobileMe and Address Book for a while.
• No contact integration with iPhone. If I click on an address or contact on my iPhone it’s going to open the mail application.

The Future:
Hopefully iPhone OS 3.1 will fix the biggest of my gripes. Ideally I want google to make a good desktop app. This would make me sooooo happy. That way it would work with Address Book and have all of the OSX goodies that I’m used to.

What about you?
How do you deal with e-mail? Anything that would make my issues easier? Anything way cooler that I’m missing? Let me know.

Re-rededication

I’m really going to make an effort to start blogging again. Lately I haven’t been missing writing per se, but have been missing having something written…if that makes sense.

I’m a thinker. I’m always thinking about something, whether it’s a new idea, a product improvement, a work methodology…you name it. I’d like a place to flesh these thoughts out.

I also have random thoughts throughout the day that I’d like to write about. It might be mundane, boring stuff just to warn you. I get a lot of this out on twitter, but sometimes 140 characters simply isn’t enough.

I really just want to get back in the swing of writing. I feel far more creative when I’m writing daily. Throughout the first few years of college, I would write upwards of 5 times a day. Now I’m lucky if I do it once in a few months.

How does writing effect you guys?

If you’re reading this on facebook/somewhere else, this is originating from frankcharlton.wordpress.com. Feel free to follow it here via RSS, too.

This will be a home for my mind. No specific goals, topics, or anything. You’ll probably find reviews, ideas, personal projects, and personal ramblings. Regardless of topic, I hope you’ll enjoy.

Work Wanted.

Hi. My name is Frank Charlton, and I was born to make records. Scratch that. I was born to make great records. The majority of this world goes through life not knowing what they want to do, moving from job to job, until the day they die. Unfortunately I was born with the burden of knowing exactly what I’m supposed to do with my life, and no roadmap of how to get there. I know I’m nowhere near alone on this, I just feel like venting today.

It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I’ve been in a massive depression for almost 4 months now. I’m penniless, and wallowing in self pity.

I need a job. Badly. I’ve needed one for a while. Every day, the majority of the day, I’m looking for one. Originally I was looking for something related to music. I gave up on that. Book stores? Not hiring. My friend Will has been looking for a server job at a restaurant for 3 months. Welcome to LA. Today I walked all around my neighborhood scouting for “HELP WANTED” signs without any luck. The goal of this walk was to go to two grocery stores in my area to apply to be a bagger. Yes, bagging groceries. I graduated from one of the best high schools in my city, graduated (early) from one of the most prestigious 4 year music college with honors. And I’m hoping to be the guy who asks if you want paper or plastic.

Both of these grocery stores (How’s and Ralphs) have an employment computer that were both down. I’m pretty big on signs from the universe. Apparently I wasn’t meant to be a bagger at a grocery store. At least for today.

What makes you happy? For me there is no comparable joy at all to being in the studio working on great music. I haven’t had that joy in a long time. I can’t even begin to describe the joy that comes from hearing something play back over speakers, knowing that you helped make it. I seriously get giddy. Like “Holy shit, I just got all of the Power Rangers toys” giddy. Needless to say, my Megazord is far from complete.

I don’t want to be rich. I want to be doing well, paying my bills, and have some money to spend on a good beer every now and then. Luckily I have the best girlfriend a guy could ask for. She believes in me, and has taken on the majority of bills and grocery money while I chase after my dreams. So why am I writing all this? I want to work on good music, to at least have something to show for myself. Instead of her coming home to me in boxers on the couch, laptop in hand, I want to be in my lovely home studio working on something that I believe in.

In addition to searching for jobs, I’m always fishing for new artists. I spend endless time reading local newspapers, scanning myspace…anything that has new music. It’s amazing how much bad music is out there. It’s also amazing how much bad production is out there. I always try to look at my competition to try and see what they are doing. LA has some of the worst produced music I have ever heard. The worst midi drums you can imagine, horrible chorus guitars, awful autotune, you name it. And these are the guys that are paying their bills with music.

What kind of producer am I? If I could be working in the 60s, I could. I like to get 4 people in a room and record them live. Get the songs right in a single take if possible. This way of making records has almost completely disappeared. I like hearing true raw emotions come through on a record. Instead now we are stuck with records made by doing 1,200 overdubs that are perfectly edited and tuned. In 20 years, no one is going to give a crap about these records.

For me good music pretty much comes down to two things: good songwriting, and an interesting voice. If either of these are missing, I’m just not that into it. You can have the worst sounding record in the world and if there are great songs and a great voice, you won’t care. It’s pretty impossible for me to take on a project without these two things.

I get approached to work (usually with no pay) on crappy music a lot. Not only is an artist’s name on a record for the rest of time; mine is too. And if I am not completely in love with a project, it ends up showing up on the record. At this point in my life I need to be building up a resume of great records that I can show people.

All I want to do is work on great music. If you know of any opportunities, please let me know.

I apologize to those reading this. It’s pretty disorganized. Basically just a stream of consciousness. I just needed to get it off my chest.

Don Lafontaine and me

The man who invented the style of deep, dramatic voiceovers for movies and television has died.

Don was by far one of my biggest inspirations for voiceovers, and one of the people I’ve been called on the most to imitate. Although he was probably the biggest working voiceover actor, he was still incredibly down to earth and humble. I’d like to share one of the many e-mails that Don sent to me.

“Frank:

Sure. MP3 me a copy of your work, and I’ll give it a listen. [Don gives me his personal e-mail address] . And, for pity sake, give your career some time! I was at it for twenty years before I became recognized for my work. It’s a slow and steady process and that’s good. It allows you to make most of your mistakes in front of a limited audience.

Look forward to hearing your work. Make sure your put MP3 Demo in the subject line.

Don LaFontaine”

After listening to my demo, he immediately got back to me and gave me honest critiques that to this day have stuck with me.

When I moved to LA I tried to hook up with Don in person, which would have been a dream come true. We exchanged cell numbers, and tried to meet up for coffee. Unfortunately, Don had to “play taxi driver” for his daughters and couldn’t make it out. Dreaming of coffee with the king was well worth the anticipation though.

Don you will be seriously missed, but will live on forever through your work, and through the hundreds of voiceover actors who imitate you every single day.

For more Don goodness, check out some of these videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QPMvj_xejg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQRtuxdfQHw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImwO0M6uIFI

Rogue American Amber

No real time to write a proper review, but this beer is phenomenal. It was an impulse buy at whole foods tonight (along with that buffalo burger and some Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale). It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a beer this much. It really blossoms.

WordPress for iPhone released

WordPress finally showed up in the app store today, and I have to say, it’s pretty sweet. This is my first test post from my phone, and it couldn’t be easier.

Attaching photos is a bit confusing, so hopefully they’re working out a better way to do it.

Beer Review: Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar

I have to say, I’ve been tempted to buy this beer many times. Rogue (as you should know) is great beer, and this beer is no exception.

Right from the shelf I was intrigued. The bottle has a gorgeous label, and has all the beer nerd info right on the side: the malts, the hops, and all the other ingredients used, as well as the IBU (International Bittness Units), and gravities.. I didn’t realize this till now, but I think all of the Rogues do.

The pour was far thinner than expected. I assumed this was going to be a thicker beer, and I was far off. The color is a dark chocolate, almost identical to Coca Cola. By the bottom of the class it appeared very similar to a good whiskey. The head was small to begin with and went away almost immediately.

Aroma-wise, you could immediately tell what you were getting from the beer.: charred, and not too hoppy.

The first taste was pretty jarring. The charred (read burned) taste is pretty overwhelming. Not to hoppy, good malt and the hazelnut really came through. From “nectar” I was expecting something a little sweeter, but that was nowhere to be found. I have to admit that I haven’t had too many brown ales, so my palate isn’t that developed. After a few sips you get used to the taste, and really begin to appreciate it. I drank this along side eating an oatmeal cookie, and they worked perfectly together.

Like many beers I have reviewed, this isn’t the kind you drink a six pack of, but if you’re having a nice flavorful bread or chocolate-based desert, you can’t go wrong with this one.

Tim Russert Dead at 58

Wow. This came way out of the blue. I have come to love NBC’s Nightly News video podcast, and Tim was always the go to guy for politics. I can say that he delivered the news without any slant or bias at all, which I really came to appreciate.

Southwest’s New Gate Changes

Though they started making changes back in October to their whole system, I’m most excited about some of the latest ideas from Southwest. Last year they changed over to a more organized boarding system, which I LOVE, mainly because I’m always in the first 20 to board. With this change, they upgraded many gate features, including adding business traveler desks, which include chairs, electrical outlets and USB Ports.

While these are a nice idea, no back support and a flimsy cushion just aren’t doing it for me. It it nice to have the outlets though. I’m in 3 or 4 airports a week on average, and it’s nearly impossible to find outlets at many airports. Some have converted to non-standard outlets JUST so that travelers can’t use them.

Recently Southwest has answered my whines with new super comfy leather chairs WITH outlets. And they’re killer.

Oakland Airport has a ton of these, and by the way is probably one of the nicest terminals on the west coast. Currently though I’m waiting at Burbank airport, which hasn’t seen any of these changed yet besides the boarding procedure. Some day.

Photo credits go to the Official Southwest Blog.