My Album, Funeral Business, Is For Sale!

Posted in Willie Simpson's Original Music on February 22nd, 2014 by Willie

final funeral business cover

After nearly five years of writing, singing, recording and mixing, my first full-length album is complete and available for sale on practically every major internet music store. I actually finished “Funeral Business” three weeks ago but had to wait until iTunes, Google Play, Amazon and all the other music stores made sure I wasn’t uploading copies of “Thriller” by Michael Jackson instead of my own original music.

While “Funeral Business” isn’t “Thriller,” it certainly is a thrilling joy ride of electrifying rock and roll and heart-felt folk-rock stylings. I hate to be one to wave my own banner but I love every song on this record. In many way that was the main inspiration, to create a rock and roll record that I wanted to hear. Well, now that I’m sold on the wonderfulness of “Funeral Business,” I think it’s only appropriate that I share it with the world.

Now I know that buying music isn’t exactly in vogue these days and I completely understand. Often times I need to be convinced by an artist before forking over my money and devotion. Luckily, you can preview some of the best songs on my official YouTube channel by clicking here or by exploring the original music page on this website.

Before I re-list all the sale links, I’d just like to thank everyone who helped me make this record, starting with my great friend Andrew Lee. I’d also like to thank Matt Sturm, Ian Wehrle, Ken Kocses, Sonia Rapaport, Feliziano B. Flores and Lilja Nielsen. Thanks to all you wonderful and beautiful people who not only contributed to the music but also to the overall enrichment of my life.

Ok, to get your paws on “Funeral Business,” please follow the links presented below. All the best,

Willie

iTunes

Google Play

Amazon

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Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, Say Say Say, The Girl is Mine

Posted in Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Youtube Favs on July 19th, 2011 by Willie

The year was 1981.  Michael Jackson was staying over Paul and Linda McCartney’s house.  The pair of ultra stars were recording songs with Quincy Jones and George Martin for their respective albums.  For Thriller, MJ and Macca were laying down “The Girl is Mine,” a horrendous piece of saccharine pop.  For McCartney’s equally successful album ; ) Pipes of Peace, the pair laid down “Say Say Say,” a more superior pop song, but equally stupid in its generic lyrics and execution.  For Jackson, the pairing with a Beatle was both an artistic and commercial turning point for his career.  For Paul McCartney, it was the most costly business mistake he ever made.  When Michael was in the studio for “Say Say Say,” it was the first time he didn’t have Quincy supporting him, and he found he could hold his own with the very musical McCartney.  It was an experience that massively boosted his musical maturation and confidence.  Paul was a gracious host this whole time, even giving the young pop star an inside glimpse into how he was making billions, by purchasing music publishing catalogs.  MJ took the advice to heart.  In 1985, the long disputed “Northern Songs” catalog, which contained the entire Lennon/McCartney catalog was up for sale, and Michael Jackson outbid Paul for the controlling interest, dropping 40 million underneath Paul’s nose.  In years since the incident, Jackson has been painted as the villain that stole Paul’s songs.  The real story is more complicated.  Paul was actually offered the songs privately, but he wanted to share it with Yoko Ono out of fairness, but she wanted to hold out for a better deal.  If anything, Yoko is the biggest culprit in the Beatles not owning their own songs.  Anyway, the friendship between Michael and Paul fell apart not because Jackson bought “Hey Jude” and “I am the Walrus,”  but because Michael wouldn’t raise the royalty rate John and Paul agreed to all the way back in 1961.  Paul has felt that the Beatles had been cheated and underpaid for decades, and the fact that Michael wouldn’t give him a boost was unforgivable.  So, even though Michael and Jackson would never perform or record together again, at least they left a legacy of a massive abortion of  commercial pop for us musical archeologists to examine for the next 1000 years.  Thanks boys.

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Michael Jackson, Leave Me Alone

Posted in Michael Jackson, Youtube Favs on June 12th, 2011 by Willie

Soul week comes to a close with part 87 of my ever expanding youtube countdown.  Today, I have my favorite Michael Jackson cut of all time, “Leave Me Alone,” from Bad. Released in 1987, “Leave Me Alone” was actually left off the American version of Bad, but was later added as a bonus track.  This, I’ll never understand.  It was clearly the best song from the session, representing a clear, concise, and true message from the King of Pop.  It’s basically his banner, more than “Billie Jean,” or “Beat It,” and he should have played it at every live show.  Actually, I don’t think he ever performed it live, which is a shame, because its the hardest rocking piece of funk MJ ever came up with.  The thing that grabs me most are first few seconds.  That 80s snyth keyboard intro is nothing less than hardcore 80s psychedelia.  In fact, this whole song is the closest Jackson ever got to psychedelia.  It’s a swirling, paranoid, personal, foray into his inner demons set to pop music, and it rules.  Anyway, enjoy the music video, which is also one of Jackson’s best.

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Michael Jackson, Pepsi Commericals

Posted in Michael Jackson, The Jackson 5, Youtube Favs on June 2nd, 2011 by Willie

We’re the Pepsi Generation in part 79 of my youtube countdown.  I’ve got Michael, Marlon, Jackie, Randy, Tito, and Jermaine all pitching soft drinks in the height of the 80s soda craze.  These 3 awesome videos to take you back in time to a more magical place where if you were drinking a Pepsi and dancing in the Bronx, you might just run into Michael Jackson and his brothers doing the same.  Wearing the same clothes as them only increased your chances by the way.  The other video features the gang getting ready for one of their Victory tour shows, evidenced by the guy wearing a 350 dollar official Victory Tour jacket.  Lastly, I have a clip of Michael’s hair catching fire filming, the event that supposedly led him to consider more and more radical plastic surgery.  Pretty freaky stuff.  It’s kind of incredible that even though his head is blazing, he keeps dancing until the entire crew tackles him trying to save his life.  Crazy!


 

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