What happened to “Memory Bliss”??

Romey

While listening to music, I stumbled on the strangest rabbit hole when a pivotal song of my youth came on Spotify, P.M. Dawn’s Set Adrift On Memory Bliss

However this is not the beloved version from my youth (which, thankfully is still on YouTube for now):

The re-recorded version, which is the only version available on Spotify and the other streaming services features a different vocalist, and a significantly inferior production value – yet this is the only version available on their Spotify artist page.

I scoured the Internet to see if I could find any press release or story that described what happened, but couldn’t find anything. I feel a little bit like Marty McFly after returning to Biff’s 1985, the only one realizing everything has changed.

I did finally stumble on a discussion thread where other like-minded people were asking the same question, but really only found this conspiracy-theory explanation:

This is in no way an “official” answer, but I think one need not look too far.

P.M. Dawn’s Prince Be (the mastermind and principal songwriter, arranger, vocalist, and performer of their entire “legitimate” catalogue) was, for years before his passing, incapacitated and unable to perform and record due to a stroke and complications from diabetes.

Doc G, the Attrell brothers’ first cousin, effectively took over the name back in 2009 and set out releasing phenomenally shitty music (including both originals and dreadful remakes of PMD classics) under the P.M. Dawn brand. Along those lines, he re-recorded “Set Adrift” in 2013 and began hawking his insulting, weak-ass version of the song to every crappy, MS Paint-designed ’90s compilation in the known universe.

I don’t know what may have specifically changed in the rights arrangement for the P.M. Dawn catalogue under Universal Music Group (current rights administrators for Gee Street/Island Records), but it does indeed appear that Doc G has found a way to have all traces of that song pulled from the digital universe. (“Set Adrift” has to be the biggest cash cow in the P.M. Dawn universe, though, so I’m kinda shocked he found a way to do so.) Presumably any remaining “accidental” appearances of the original have to do with licensing terms negotiated at the time of release.

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That’s the best explanation that I could find, and it does seem to fit the facts in this whole thing, but it’s extremely unfortunate that this knock-off version is the only one available on the streams, and troubling that the original can be so easily wiped out. I get that books go in and out of print all the time, but we’re talking digital media, where storage is virtually free, having their content removed from the zeitgeist.

If anyone has the actual explanation, I’d love to hear it. Otherwise I’m choosing to believe this theory and set adrift on my own musical memory bliss.

New Drum Cover – Bruno Mars’ Locked Out of Heaven

Romey

I finally found some time to get back to recording drum covers again, this time pulling out a song that’s been around for a while, but that I couldn’t pass up: Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven”.

>> Locked Out of Heaven Drum Cover on YouTube

This song isn’t so much a re-interpretation as it is just a rendition of a really awesome drum grove. My favorite part is during the chorus when I get into a “big toms groove”, then going straight back into a fast hi-hat pattern.

I’d love to hear what you think! I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did recording it!

brown wooden table and chairs

(Not Quite) Back To School

Romey

Here we are at the end of the summer. Along with other parents, I’ve been holding my breath as to whether we’re doing in-person schooling in the fall in the midst of COVID-19. After reflecting on last school year, it’s become more apparent that the distance learning didn’t work at all in our house – not for lack of effort by the school, our great teachers, or by the parents – we all gave it our best, but it just didn’t work for our first grader.

Now we’re T-minus 10 days from an already-delayed start of the school year. While our district has maintained that they will be doing in-person learning for elementary students, they’ve already walked secondary schools back to a hybrid model (rotating cohorts of 2 days per week). This week we’ve seen neighboring districts announce the suspension of in-person learning until October, with the announcements leaving a lot of ambiguity about the date.

During that time I’ve seen a lot of people take to social media (especially Facebook) to publicly express their concerns and fears about whether to return to schools, on both sides. While I’ve been thinking a lot about this subject, discussing it with my wife (who has been in logistical discussions all summer about how to safely open and operate a high school during COVID), I’ve purposefully avoided discussing this on social media. Facebook more and more just seems more toxic.

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New Amy and the Peace Pipes Single – Clear Reflections

Romey

Wow did July get away from me. More on that later, but for now I wanted to share that my band, Amy and the Peace Pipes, has a new single out! Check out Clear Reflections!

This is a new song that we wrote last fall, a love song for for Amy’s husband. The drum pattern is inspirted by Dave Matthews Band’s “Can’t Stop”.

It’s available on all of the streams, and it would be a big help for you to like the song, follow Amy and the Peace Pipes, as well as add the song to your favorite playlist.

Thanks so much!

COVID-19 at 3 Months: Zig Zagging Those Invisible Lines

Romey

This week will mark the third month of severe life disruption due to COVID-19. We’ve been one month into the “Safer At Home” transition, where things are trying to re-open and run at some limited capacity, but there’s still an emphasis on avoiding large gatherings – all along with the backdrop of 10+ days of major protests due to George Floyd’s murder.

Right now there is a sense of security that lies with being outdoors. The current belief is that virus spread is significantly lower when you’re outside, especially in this warmer weather. Watching these protests where thousands are gathered sets off alarms in my “socially distant conditioned” brain. Many are wearing masks, but it seems like all social distancing consideration has gone out the window. I know it’s for a righteous cause, but I can’t help but be concerned about whether we’re going to see super-spreader events that will manifest in the coming weeks.

One gets the sense that people are taking this less seriously as the weeks go by. It seems that every outing shows fewer people wearing masks. The mask-wearing seems to have devolved into a cultural issue, with people forgoing mask-wearing to make a political statement against being told what to do. There is a mixture of people cautiously taking the recommended precautions, while others are flaunting their disregard for them to make a statement. The frustration is definitely understandable as guidelines continue to evolve, as well as seeing a double-standard applied to the condemnation for people opening their businesses early, all the while thousands are chanting and screaming in the streets.

At home, it’s become difficult to explain the disparity of behavior to our kids, why we try to uphold certain standards when they see that others aren’t being as rigid. We struggle as we try to convey that the girls will need to continue to make adjustments and maintain awareness to do things they previously did before, but you do get a sense that they are also missing the normalcy. Clara, who always hates going shopping, told us that she misses going to the store.

There is quite a bit I miss about the pre-COVID life, but as things open up I’m still very reluctant to resume those activities. Despite missing people-watching in a coffee shop while I work, there’s no part of me that feels comfortable doing that (even if the opportunity arose). The same goes for my indoor spin cycle class, but in large part that I’ve become accustomed to biking outdoors on the trails. We do miss taking the girls on activities to the museum, library, and swimming pool, but the opening of those places seems to kindle apprehension about those activities.

My biggest hope is that Clara will be able to go back to school when fall comes, I’m cautiously optimistic, but we’ll see what occurs from the protests and whether we’ll see any epidemiological consequences.

Fingers are crossed, prayers are said.