Reddit Does Not Care For Wilson Phillips: Inside The Cutthroat World Of A Social News Website

It's unequivocally clear in today's social media driven age, especially among the Millennial generation, that people can pick and choose the stories they want to see. No longer is it necessary to sift through a newspaper to find an article of interest or watch an hour long newscast just to find out what the big teaser was at the beginning of the show. Everything's only a click away, and this now includes the way people can judge what will be the top stories on the Internet.

So marks the intrigue behind social news websites, where an online community of members can upload their own content, whether original or shared, and rank it's position within the site. Good posts tend to get some positive feedback, great posts typically invite a lot of overall feedback, and bad posts are either ignored or given negative votes to bury it's lack of originality. Many times, the big "stories" of the day are either funny, outrageous, random, thought-provoking, or a combination thereof.

Several such websites exist, such as Digg, Slashdot, and Newsvine, but my focus today is on Reddit. For you noobs, Reddit (pronounced read-it) is known for it's slogan of being "the front page of the internet." Registered users are called redditors (with the average age surprisingly between 35-44), and different categories are known as subreddits. As a redditor myself, I primarily use Reddit to invite more traffic for my blog, though I have recently become more active by uploading other links of interest and commenting on others' posts.

Well, once upon a time, I uploaded a link through todayilearned, a subreddit where users can share interesting tidbits of information they recently found out. Long story, I was on the Wikipedia page for actor William Baldwin when I found out he married one of the singers from Wilson Phillips in the mid-1990s. That, believe it or not, was the first time I thought of Wilson Phillips as someone other than a male country singer. When I clicked on the corresponding page, lo and behold, I discovered Wilson Phillips was actually an American, all-female singing trio. And after listening to a snippet of their Billboard #1 hit single "Hold On", I decided to share my latest bit of newfound knowledge to the Reddit community.

And how did they respond? One person commented, "Ok. And what?," while another said, "Who did you think it was all this time?" Apparently, they must've had to endure Wilson Phillips on the radio to near-death in the early 1990s and are trying to keep them in the repressed memories category of their conscience. (Don't even think about looking, I've since deleted the link in all of it's notoriety.)

But the Wilson Phillips flop is but one of many daily examples of posts that flounder shortly after uploading. It's almost impossible to say what will make the front page of Reddit on any given day. The only hope of making it to the top is several hundred to a few thousand people liking what the original poster liked.

And that's another problem. I know when I upload something most of the time, it's either going to be read once at best or ignored altogether at worst because I don't think like most redditors out there. Ergo, the odds are stacked even more against me in my quest to deliver front page material. This is not to say it's an impossible task, but I think the Chicago Cubs have a better chance of winning the World Series over the next one hundred years than I ever will making the front page on Reddit in that same time. Microscopic odds, indeed.

Now, don't get me wrong. I also happen to think Reddit is the number one resource to stay current on news-worthy information today and for the future. And without it, I wouldn't have had a fraction of the page views to my blog already. So for what Reddit is worth, it's a double edged sword that can cut either way in the hopes of influencing a global audience with the next Internet sensation.

Just make sure to keep Wilson Phillips out of the conversation.

TL;DR - Uploading top-rated content on social news websites takes more luck than skill.


Original album cover courtesy of AllMusic.com
Reddit logo courtesy of Techi.com

What Is David Glasper Doing In Southeast Asia?

Somewhere in southeast Asia, there is a man who can be found strumming his guitar in the afternoons, playing acoustic tunes only for a cameraman and the occasional small crowd who happen to be present at that time. But he's unlike your average street performer.

He's a middle-aged musician who once was a teen heartthrob in his native England. Along with two schoolmates, he formed a band and recorded three U.S. top-10 hits, two of which peaked inside the top-5. At one point in time, fellow Englishman George Michael rated his voice as one of the best he's ever heard.

So who is this fallen angel of a singer? His name is David Glasper, and his voice has gone unnoticed for far too long.

Glasper first achieved fame in the late 1980s as the frontman for Breathe, a British pop band. Their debut album, All That Jazz, was released in 1988, and three singles - "Don't Tell Me Lies" (#10 in U.S.), "Hands to Heaven" (#2), and "How Can I Fall?" (#3) - thrust the young man from Wales into the spotlight practically overnight. With his smooth vocals and heartfelt emotion, Glasper was poised to have a long, prosperous career. But after the release of his band's sophomore album, Peace of Mind, in 1990, contemporary tastes soon shifted from sophisticated pop to hard-rocking grunge and rap. While two singles - "Say a Prayer" (#21) and "Does She Love That Man?" (#34) - had moderate success in the U.S., it was evident Glasper's pop appeal was drawing its final breath by the early 1990s.

For well over a decade, up until the mid 2000s, Glasper remained out of the public eye. Aside from a single songwriting credit for Clay Crosse's debut CCM album My Place Is With You in 1993, it's unknown what Glasper was up to during this time, both professionally and personally. But by 2006, he resurfaced with a MySpace account, back when MySpace was still cool. He even released a few demos of original recordings for fans to hear, as if to say he hadn't fallen off the face of the Earth just yet.

But soon he did.

Somehow, someway, Glasper went from England to Thailand, had (or brought) a family there, and removed himself from all forms of global communication. Again, when exactly he did this is unknown. But what is known, albeit vaguely, is that he began having serious personal problems in the late 2000s. Among other troubling tidbits gathered throughout the World Wide Web is that Glasper's wife passed away, and this put him into a tailspin. He fled to neighboring Laos for three years, where he struggled to cope with said problems.

Then, on May 16, 2011, the first video of Glasper in twenty years surfaced on YouTube. The five minute clip featured him singing a rough demo of a song called "Soul Confidant" outdoors and shirtless. Not exactly the most flattering way to make a comeback after such a long hiatus, but it marked one of the few signs of his existence to a global audience since his singing days with Breathe. Later videos show him sporting a dragon tattoo over his right arm and ostensibly performing more demos before a small crowd.

So what exactly is he doing in southeast Asia? Depending on how you look at it, he's either at the end of his rope or grasping onto a stronger one. Like many other musicians whose success came primarily in the 1980s, his impact on pop culture has long since passed. But unlike many of those same musicians, Glasper has gone halfway around the world living in virtual obscurity, all the while dealing with his personal issues. Most would say from this that his troubles have gotten the best of him in spite of his success, even though he's still alive and only 46 years old (as of this post). But word on the web is that his experiences over these past several years have reinvigorated the songwriter within him to record a studio album's worth of new material. A forthcoming album, according to these posts, is expected sometime in 2012.

For longtime fans of Breathe and 1980s adult contemporary pop, this is a breath of fresh air from a voice whose presence has been sorely missed from the airwaves. It's not so much that David Glasper was an overlooked talent in a time dominated by fellow Brits, but in that he disappeared as quickly as when he first hit the charts with Breathe. To see him resurface, after a two decade hiatus and considering the circumstances he went through in recent years, is to see a man sharpened by adversity. It's a long-awaited redemption story finally coming full circle. All that's missing is the music to match the man's God-given talent.


Photo courtesy of Melissa Ott

2011 Soundtrack

As I've mentioned on here once before, I enjoy listening to music. I enjoy it so much, that back in January 2007, I started keeping records of my favorite songs, albums, and artists for each month. Looking back on these charts of mine years later act as a time capsule which really takes me back to a certain time in my life. I find it very interesting to look back on what a younger version of me thought was "it" and wonder what exactly I was thinking listening to a certain song, album, or artist on a loop.

Anyway, what I've decided as this year winds down is to give y'all an inside peak into my personal vault of favorite songs. What follows are thirteen songs, one for each month plus a bonus track representing my favorite song for 2011, which document a shifting change in my musical interests. Maybe none of these mean anything to you, but when I listen to them, it practically takes me back to that time in my life and what I was feeling. That's the power of great music. And let these tunes be pleasant to your ears, as well.


January: "Baby, Baby" by Amy Grant


February: "Right Now" by Van Halen


March: "Moi... Lolita" by Alizée


April: "Don't Tell Me Lies" by Breathe


May: "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)" by Jason Mraz


June: "Jam" by Michael Jackson


July: "The Living Years" by Mike + The Mechanics


August: "Jesus, He Knows Me" by Genesis


September: "My Sacrifice" by Creed


October: "I'm Not In Love" by 10cc


November: "Paradise" by Coldplay


December: "Laughter In The Rain" by Neil Sedaka


Song of the Year: "L'Alizé" by Alizée

Still Music To My Ears

On October 28, 2006, I bought my first album: Faith by George Michael. Five years and 172 albums later (as of this posting), music has given my life a definitive soundtrack for all time.

It has only been recently that my taste in music has been stimulated. In my younger years, I wasn't much of a fan of music. Sure, there were some catchy tunes I heard on the radio, but no one song convinced me to buy the artist's/band's albums and build a steady library. And to be honest, I was okay with that until two chance events happened in 2006.

Ode to Michael Jackson

Dear Michael Jackson,

As a Thriller, you may have been Off The Wall, but you were never Bad or Dangerous. You told us to look at the Man In The Mirror if we want to Heal The World. You told us it's important to Beat It, Jam, Scream, Cry, Smile, and Keep The Faith. And whether you're Black Or White, The Way You Make Me Feel has turned you into Another Part Of Me. You Rock My World. And you were Gone Too Soon.

More Than a Pretty Face

As cliché as it sounds, being in the right place at the right time is all that's necessary to become the next big thing.

For French pop singer Alizée Jacotey, it granted her international fame as a teen sensation, but the road to relevancy with age has been a much harder note to hit.

Hello, I Must Be Going!: Phil Collins To Retire from Music Industry

I was listening to a Phil Collins track in the air tonight, when I first read the news at a quarter to eleven p.m. Eastern time that long-time drummer and vocalist Phil Collins of Genesis and solo fame will retire, citing health concerns.

But seriously, I really was listening to a Phil Collins song at the time. It was "Invisible Touch", from his time with Genesis.

Sorry, y'all. Back to the news.

If it is true that he's retiring from the stu-stu-studio ('coz he sang this tune once before), should this time be taken at face value?

From the sound of it, it kinda does. He lives up in Switzerland by himself, and he's expressed a sentiment that he's just better off wilting away in solitary. (Sounds like something former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel would do.) There's also been a report that Collins is retiring (for good) because he cannot keep up with the vitriol nor the style of contemporary music in this day and age.

You'd have to be real sincere to say these things and not take one more night sooner to make this decision.

Through it all, Collins has sold over 150 million records, and amassed eight studio albums and twenty one Top-40 singles in his solo career, seven of which topped the Billboard Hot 100.

Certainly, I hope his retirement serves him well. I've enjoyed his music for as long as I can remember, and if it weren't for several other artists making their way into my music library the past few years, I'd be a bigger fan of Phil Collins now. Nonetheless, the many times I have listened to him, he's been very candid about real life issues that double as catchy pop tunes and ballads. He's told me to never hurry love, watch out for easy lovers, and that every day in the U.S. is always another day in paradise. Try picking that up in today's music. Combined with all his charity work, it's hard to see him go if you're a fan, as well.

Whatever you do, Phil Collins, just don't dance into the light, but bicycle, if you must.

Valentine's Day Playlists Inspired by the 1980s

I'll say it once, and I'll say several times over on this blog. I love the music of the 1980s. I grew up on the music from the 1980s. And I wholeheartedly believe there has never been a more revolutionary decade in the way we see and hear music today. Part of that reason is the pure raw emotion you can hear from those vocalists, putting their heart and soul into their records – something that is profoundly missing from contemporary musicians of the 21st century. There is no other holiday celebrating a wide array of emotions like Valentine's Day, or Single's Awareness Day as some put it. Whether you're celebrating love, suffering from heartache, or holding out hope for that special someone, there's a vast number of songs to fit your mood. As a 1980s music connoisseur, I give you my personal 11-track playlists for the secure, for the scorned, and for the seekers to commemorate February 14. Enjoy.


For the Secure
*"The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson, Bad
*"Hypnotize Me" by Wang Chung, Mosaic
*"Girl You Know It's True" by Milli Vanilli, Girl You Know It's True
*"Crazy for You" by Madonna, Vision Quest (soundtrack)
*"Together Forever" by Rick Astley, Whenever You Need Somebody
*"Keep On Loving You" by REO Speedwagon, Hi Infidelity
*"Shake You Down" by Gregory Abbott, Shake You Down
*"Hands to Heaven" by Breathe, All That Jazz
*"Endless Love" by Lionel Riche & Diana Ross, Endless Love (soundtrack)
*"Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx, Repeat Offender
*"Faithfully" by Journey, Frontiers


For the Sullen
*"Love Stinks" by The J. Geils Band, Love Stinks
*"Shattered Dreams" by Johnny Hates Jazz, Turn Back the Clock
*"Everything She Wants" by Wham!, Make It Big
*"Wot's It to Ya" by Robbie Nevil, Robbie Nevil
*"Don't Wanna Fall in Love" by Jane Child, Jane Child
*"If You Leave" by OMD, Pretty In Pink (soundtrack)
*"You Keep Me Hangin' On" by Kim Wilde, Another Step
*"Tainted Love" by Soft Cell, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
*"What Have You Done For Me Lately" by Janet Jackson, Control
*"Heaven Help Me" by Deon Estus, Spell
*"Missing You" by John Waite, No Brakes


For the Seekers
*"Lost In Love" by Air Supply, Lost In Love
*"Addicted To Love" by Robert Palmer, Riptide
*"The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis & the News, Back to the Future (soundtrack)
*"Everlasting Love" by Howard Jones, Cross That Line
*"I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner, Agent Provocateur
*"One More Try" by George Michael, Faith
*"Looking For a New Love" by Jody Watley, Jody Watley
*"Someday" by Glass Tiger, The Thin Red Line
*"What About Love" by Heart, Heart
*"Love Changes (Everything)" by Climie Fisher, Everything
*"When I'm Back On My Feet Again" by Michael Bolton, Soul Provider