Over the last few years, I commissioned a couple of brilliant musicians to revise, rearrange and reimagine songs that I’d written decades ago. As a result, I’m releasing 15 songs on an album entitled “Unfinished Business” under the pen name “Pinski Thomas”. I’ve provided links below to Spotify, iTunes and Bandcamp where you can listen to them, add them to your playlist or even download them for purchase! đ
I hope you’ll take an hour out of your busy schedules and give them a listen. It’s been a labor of love for me and a lot of the credit goes to the musicians Mark and Matt for making this happen.
Here is the latest song the boys and I recorded. When I mean “latest”, I mean we took a song written in the 80s and resuscitated it. One more to go before I’m finished with the album. I hope you enjoy it.
The magic of modern medicine has touched all of our lives in many ways, but can you imagine where youâd be, or not be, if youâd been born during the last pandemic? I wouldâve survived the pandemic, Iâm sure. My immune system has resisted COVID several times so Iâm one of the lucky ones with good genes. But, at 39, I wouldâve probably died from a heart attack, if not, been severely disabled. Then, at 49, I wouldâve died from cancer.
All this makes me pause and reflect. There would be no writing career, no music career, no watching my triplet daughters grow up into beautiful women. Then I think about all the people back then who died before their time and werenât able to contribute that life changing achievement to the rest of the world because of some illness. Itâs humbling.
And to all the people 100 years from now who read this message and are living way beyond their naturally selected time here on earth because of modern medicine, just realize how blessed you are to have been born after 2021, but most of all, please make me proud.
The COVID pandemic has created havoc in most of our lives. Personally, I’ve found it very difficult to concentrate on my writing. There was something about the unpredictable daily chaos that absorbed all of my creative energy. Yet, while the world was “moving on”, as Stephen King would say, I did find solace in music.
In another lifetime, I used to write music and play in bands. I’m the first to admit that I wasn’t a very good singer or musician, but boy did I ever have fun. During the pandemic lockdown, I dug out and brushed off the dust on some of those old songs I’d written decades ago and realized that they weren’t half bad. The problem was my singing. So I teamed up with a couple of fantastic musicians who reimagined them and turned my creations into musical gems.
This is one of the latest entitled “In These Eyes“. Please click on the link and enjoy. If you want to hear more, you’re welcome to visit my Bandcamp website where I’m found under the name “Pinski Thomas“.
The other night, I watched the movie âThe Rockerâ starring Rainn Wilson for the very first time. I donât know how this film escaped my radar screen all of these years, but somehow it did. I must say that it almost equaled, and dare I say these words without worrying about being struck down by lightning, the level of the best rock nâ roll movie of all time, âSpinal TapââŚbut not quite.
âThe Rockerâ accomplished something that sets it apart from any other movie in that it defined what it means to be a hell raising rock nâ roll drummer. From Keith Moon to John Bonham to Animal from The Muppets, drummers have been the driving force behind any trashed out hotel room or 911 call over the past few decades. And if your band doesnât have one who is fearless and half crazy, then youâre probably playing in the lounge at the Holiday Inn instead of on stage at Coachella.
Even though Iâm not a big country music fan, one of Hank Williams IIIâs albums came across my desk one day and I just had to put it on. I mean, how could I not, being a self-proclaimed hell raising aficionado, and considering the title was, Straight To Hell. As I meandered through the thirteen songs, I soon realized that this was a man after my own heart: a rebel without a cause.
One of my favorite movies is âHigh Fidelityâ. I love all of the characters, but most of all, I love their Top Five lists. They have one for every occasion, whether itâs breakup songs, songs about death, or songs to play on a Monday morning. Considering this is a blog about raising hell, itâs only fitting that I present my own Top Ten list in alphabetical order. Instead, this time I decided to go all Baskin-Robbins on you and list thirty-one. Continue reading →
t, I watched the movie âThe Rockerâ starring Rainn Wilson for the very first time. I donât know how this film escaped my radar screen all of these years, but somehow it did. I must say that it almost equaled, and dare I say these words without worrying about being struck down by lightning, the level of the best rock nâ roll movie of all time, âSpinal TapââŚbut not quite.
Thomas Lopinski - Author 