Keith Urban's Ode to the Johns in His Life

Gotta say I just heard the new single by Keith Urban, and it is an instant classic! The upbeat, playful tune is titled "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16". Not in the least bit preachy, in spite of the Biblical reference in the name. 

Keith's been away since 2013, and with his stint on American Idol coming to an end, it's time for him to focus solely on the music once again. 

For me, his 2009 album, Defying Gravity, was one incredible disc! Chock full of great songs- everything from "Kiss A Girl" to "Hit the Ground Runnin'" captured the fun of country music. I even found a bit of the Eagles and their California meets Arizona stylings in the underrated "Only You Can Love Me This Way".

Radio.com has this great but short interview with Keith about his new album and particularly his new single:

“It’s a great feeling to be back in the studio shaping a new album,” Urban said in a press release about the song. “‘John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16’ was sent to me a few months ago by one of the songwriters and I loved it immediately—loved it so much that right before I walked out on stage at the Ryman (Auditorium) for CRS a few months back, I thought I’d play the song solo acoustic to see what the audience thought.

“Flash forward and there’s no doubt that their response that day helped make it the first single from what will be my next album.”

“John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16″ was written by Shane McAnally, Ross Copperman and Josh Osborne and co-produced by Dann Huff and Urban. Urban said that the song “resonated deeply” with him the movement he heard it.

“It’s the poetic use of the three Johns and what each represents to me,” he said.

Barry Manilow's Epic Fail

This has crossed the line. I tend to like some of Barry Manilow's 90's stuff, Swing Street comes to mind, but his recent Dream Duets is actually a nightmare.

The artists involved- everyone from Whitney Houston to John Denver to Marilyn Monroe are mere pawns in a corporate decision. The family members or companies that "manage" these departed artists need to give it up. The artists themselves may have varied in their decisions to participate or not. I hope for most, the answer was "No!" This project reeks of bad taste.

At least most all of Barbra Streisand's duets partners are still alive! And for as much as we fans of the Carpenters would like to hear more, be thankful that brother Richard Carpenter would never stoop to this type of exploitation of sister Karen Carpenter.

Sexy Snow White

Here's a little bit of Disney sex news for you. According to this article in the U.K.'s daily Mirror, this version of Snow White was deemed too hot for general audiences by none other than Walt Disney.  Of course, the other version of her debuted with the 1937 opening of the film that made her even more famous. If you want the cel, it is up for auction.

Never heard of this one before. But as for that old rumor that Tinkerbell was based on Marilyn Monroe... I get that. Wanna be songstresses and actresses have been copying her look for decades.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)