music

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This is one of my very first songs, written after learning  a couple of chords. It was a melancholy period in my life when the prospect of finding true love seemed very distant. The song was inspired as I was reading the novel “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” by author Tom Robbins. Update: Many pages
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Song Demo: "Dogmatised Opinions"

Here’s a tune about a wager with the Devil over the nature of God and the meaning of existence. All the singer has to do to get everything he wants and not sell his soul to the Devil is to correctly answer a simple question: Is it Krishna, Marx, Mohammed, Buddha, Jesus Christ or Zeus?
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Song Demo: "Demographic Breakdown"

I wrote this song after reading an article on how the advertising industry breaks down the population by age groups, 18 to 34, 35 to 49, 50 to 64, 65 and up. I was in the 18 to 34 cohort and fast approaching the 35 milestone. That was 35 years ago, and having just turned
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Song Demo: "The Only Time"

Here’s a heartbreaking tune about that perennial country music theme: divorce, and who gets the kids. A forlorn dad doesn’t understand why they are breaking up and dreams of getting back together with a wife who is lying to the judge while trying to dump him. This song is obviously for a male singer.  
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Song Demo: "Go! Susanna"

    As a songwriter I hear “Go! Susanna” as one of the most fun songs a band could ever do. The song is taken from my novel, The Energy Caper, or Nixon in the Sky With Diamonds, where it is 1971, in Paris. A 24 year-old American student, working as a go-go dancer under
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Song Demo: "Day by Day"

Most of my songs take months or years to write, but this one came together at super speed. One day I was driving home when the DJ announced that it was the fifth anniversary of John Lennon’s assassination and then played an hour’s worth of Lennon songs as a tribute. I was struck by how
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Playing Guitar & Trumpie Ennui

I haven’t had much to say in the last few weeks. A birthday, hosting guests and a general sense of ennui with all things Trump have  contributed to my inherent laziness. I was grateful for the failure of TrumpCare, and I did check out the legalities of  Trump trademarking “Keep America Great” and how it
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My Day Job

I’m the founder of what is now Castalia Communications, and running it has been my day job for over 35 years. Our main products have been educational posters for music, though we’ve done books, calendars, and most recently, my novels. Below are images of many of our products. To be taken to the site for
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Can Trump Get Into Heaven?

It’s interesting that so many religious evangelicals are backing Trump, such as the son of Jerry Falwell, Jerry Jr., and the son of Billy Graham, Franklin (both of whom, like Trump, inherited lucrative empires from their fathers). What with his multiple wives, each one younger and hotter than the last, and his hedonistic gambling casinos
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