Quadrophenia: “Ain’t it funny how we all seem to look the same?”
Emerging from the shadows of The Dolphin pub in Plymouth’s Barbican, we began walking toward the stunningly perfect natural harbor, the open sea a...
Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington, et al (Part Two)
You'll notice I reversed their names in the title for the second installment. This 2007 film by Robert Levi helps provide context to the...
John Lennon: Life (and death) is what happens to you while you’re busy making...
(An essay originally published at NA Confidential in 2005, and often repeated. It has been lightly edited.)
On the morning of December 9, 1980, I...
My year in music, at least so far
I remain wedded to the CD format, but these days I stream music first, then purchase the physical discs of those new releases that...
Roger’s year in music, 2022
It never hurts to repeat fundamental truths.
Music does something to me, and I’ve never been able to explain exactly why. It just happens. Sometimes...
Roger’s year in music, 2021
Music does something to me, and I’ve never been able to explain exactly why. It just happens. Sometimes when I walk into a supermarket,...
Absent Ian Gillan, it’s less of a Jesus Christ Superstar to me
Recounts the last days of Jesus Christ from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, his betrayer. As Jesus’ following increases, Judas begins to worry that...
Forty 1970s-era albums for December, 2025
Complete as of December 27, 2025
Nostalgia regularly afflicts me, and as a result, I endeavor to keep it at arm’s length.
But 2025 has been...







































