The First Echo

Thanks to the incomparable Xaque Gruber, who sent me this Facebook message over the weekend, it looks like my name could be immortalized on the small screen. That is, if a certain pilot gets picked up by a certain network... Stay tuned. @TheFirstEcho

Take some art direction from  Black Mirror 's "San Junipero," inject it with some very Prince-esque funk, and you get the gorgeous music video for Janelle Monáe's "Make Me Feel," a single that is already being hailed as a "bisexual anthem." ( The fact that Janelle's alleged boo, Tessa Thompson, also appears in the video only adds fuel to the rumor fire .) And, regarding certain recent Prince homages, a coworker recently quipped, "Justin Timberlake should take note." @TheFirstEcho

1998 was a good year. How good? The proof is here in these pop culture relics... 1.  Can't Hardly Wait - See future Client List and Ghost Whisperer star Jennifer Love Hewitt play the prettiest girl in school while surrounded by a dozen actors before they hit it big on procedural dramas and milquetoast cable TV movies! Seriously, there are so many familiar faces in this movie...and right now, it is hitting me hard in the gut to think that I was graduating from high school at the same time as these characters. Sheesh . 2. Brandy and Monica's "The Boy Is Mine" - An unrivaled R&B-pop duet that should never be remade. But if both singers want to reunite for a sequel, then by all means: Have. At. It. 3.  Armageddon - It's the mind-numbing Bruce Willis blockbuster that gave us Aerosmith's then-ubiquitous "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" and one scene that will never make us look at animal crackers the same way again. 4. Madonna&

ICYMI: I was a "special guest" on A Special Presentation , a podcast about "the ghosts of television and pop culture past." I had the nerdgasmic opportunity to share some of my TV expertise, particularly on the seminal 80s primetime soap  Knots Landing . Hosts Jonathan Bradley Welch and David Crabb welcomed me with open arms (and a box of doughnuts) over at the Nerdmelt Showroom on Sunset Boulevard. Listen to my episode (#27) wherever you get podcasts (like HERE ) and enjoy listening to me ramble on about kidnapped babies, corrupt politicians, and other cul-de-sac convolutions. @TheFirstEcho

There must be something in the water over in Australia because the Nation Down Under has been delivering some impressive pop lately. This is the second month in a row in which I've showcased a song from a group of Ozzies. Sheppard's "Coming Home" is a feel-good bop that any smart music supervisor will want to include in a TV commercial for Coke or some millennial-targeted lifestyle ad campaign. (Or maybe that's just the copywriter in me.) Either way, it's a track that should be added to everyone's playlists as we trudge through another wintry month that needs some sparkle.

Okay, here we go... I'll start with some positive: I love "Montana." (Listen HERE .) It's the perfect retro-smooth track that Bruno Mars never released in 2013. It's the musical equivalent of a post-coital cruise in a black Cadillac Fleetwood Coupe at midnight somewhere in 1984. ("Breeze Off The Pond" is a close second.) Upon listening to the entire album, I've come the conclusion that this thing screams "PLEASE GIMME AN ALBUM OF THE YEAR GRAMMY IN 2019!" The 30-second bridge in "Supplies" is what the entire song should have been . The older I get, the more I realize my pop idols are gradually slipping into self-important Adult-Contemporaryhood. "Young Man" -- as adorable and well-intentioned as it is -- is a ripoff of Christina Aguilera's intro, "My Heart," on 2010's Bionic.  Just sayin'. (Both tracks include cameos of each pop star's toddler offspring.) I could've done witho

Finally getting around to sharing a fun, little teaser I wrote for TNT's Claws  last year. Produced by the awesome team at Stun Creative ( shameless workplace shoutout ), this was, ahem, shot last spring down in New Orleans with Niecy Nash and the rest of the fierce female cast. Check it out: @TheFirstEcho