by Michael Tatum The Grrls Are All Right In the original introduction to my fiftieth column — a milestone, yippee — I was going to remark that this was a marvelous year for women in music, one of those silly generalizations men expect women to pat them on the back for making (which…

by Michael Tatum Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine There are so many goofballs, eccentrics, mavericks, and all-around non-conformists in this month’s column you’d think I’d planned it. But no, that’s just how the first few months of 2019 played out — and if the music continues to be this good, I say bring…

by Michael Tatum It began, as all romances do, with the boy making a joke about the inedibility of Lay’s cappuccino flavored potato chips. That was me, immediately connecting to M. because we appreciated each other’s sense of humor and verbal flair. A year older than me, she joked our…

by Michael Tatum The Beatles were incredibly lucky. They rejected Mitch Murray’s lame “How Do You Do It?” for their projected second single, instead pushing for their own original material, Lennon’s “Please Please Me.” After some tweaks from producer George Martin, it became their first number one single in Britain…

by Michael Tatum Those who have been following this column around from site to site since August of 2010 are probably wondering where I’ve been the last two years. To summarize: I asked for a divorce, sank into a depression, fell into a period of writer’s block, discovered Latuda, and…