Mike Costley, A Singer's, Singer!

The first time I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Mike Costley was at Jack Jones' birthday party at The McCallum Theatre in January 2011.  Mike introduced Jack and then sang "I am a Singer" with Jack to open the show. It was immediately evident that Mike had an excellent voice, and I knew I had to see if Mike was performing in the area so I could hear him in a more intimate setting.

Following the Jones' birthday party, I asked several of the local musicians that I respect and admire what they knew about Mike Costley and without exception they all said he was a great singer. I wanted to find how "how great" so I went to see Mike perform at Torme's, a great new Jazz Club in Palm Springs.  Mike performs at Torme's every Wednesday and Thursday night starting at 7:30pm.

From the moment Mike started singing, there was no doubt that he is a skilled and exceptional singer. Over the course of the evening, Mike demonstrated that he could handle a wide range of musical styles. He sang Sinatra, Ella, Jackson, Torme, Prima, and even the Beatles.  But unlike most singers that I have heard, Mike did not try to imitate these great singers.  Mike sang in his own unique singing style. It was so refreshing to hear Mike's interpretation of these songs. Only a singer with  great musical skills, a great voice and an unusual voice range could even dream of doing what Mike is able to accomplish. Mike is not only one of the best singers in the California desert but is one the of the elite singers in the US today. If you find yourself in the Palm Springs area, and you can only see one performer, you need to hear Mike Costley, period, end of story!

One last comment, Torme's Restaurant, in addition to just great music, has great food.  In my experience, normally this type of club has great music but only average food.  Torme's is an exception!   The prices are reasonable, and there is no cover charge for the music.  There is no better deal in the desert!

iTunes Top 10 Best Selling Beatles' Songs

Just about everyone in the world knows that iTunes was the winner in the hot contest to get the rights to sell Beatles' songs. I just read an article in Entertainment Weekly (EW.com) that reported that iTunes sold over 2,000,000 Beatles' songs and 450,000 albums in its first week of sales. It has been several decades since these songs were released and I can only say it is truly amazing that, "The Beatles' Song Book" is still so popular.  I don't consider myself an expert in Beatle music but I am interested in any current list of their most popular songs.  So I have listed below the "Top Ten Best Beatles' Songs Sold On iTunes During Their First Week".  Personally, I am in agreement with all of the selections on the list except for one, "Dear Prudence".  I would like to get some comments from anyone who thinks they know why "Dear Prudence" would be on the Top Ten list because I don't have a clue.  Also, is there any Beatle fan out there that would have guessed that "Here Comes The Sun" would be the most popular selling Beatles' song this first week of sales?  All other comments about these Top Ten Selections are welcome.

1.  "Here Comes The Sun"

2.  "Come Together"

3.   "Let It Be"

4.   "In My Life"

5.   "Blackbird"

6.   "Something"

7.   "With A Little Help From My Friends"

8.   "Yesterday"

9.   "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"

10. "Dear Prudence"

I want to mention that I did read a few blogs that thought the iTunes Beatles sales numbers were not good.  They came to this conclusion because the top selling Beatles song for the week did not come close to the sales numbers for the best selling songs on the week. I think these writers missed the point very badly.  Consider the fact that most of the millions of current Beatles fans already have all of the old Beatles albums.  And even if they didn't, considering these albums/CDs have been available for years, I believe these sales numbers are remarkable. Who bought 2,000,000 songs and 450,000 albums?  I believe the answer is the younger generation that is the heart and soul of iTunes who are just discovering the Beatles. Just the other day, I was talking to an 11 year old who had just recently become a Beatles fan and was buying their songs for his iPod.  I am sure this is what is happening all over this country. It will be interesting to see if iTunes sales of Beatles songs continues over the next year. My guess would be that they will.