One morning a couple of weeks ago Hubby came over to my desk and plopped down the newspaper down on it. "This is your assignment today," he said. I looked down and saw where he had the paper folded to a review of the new record by Jeffrey Dean Foster called Million Star Hotel.

What exactly he meant by my "assignment," I'm not sure. We're kinda broke right now so it isn't like I could run out and buy anything that day. But I figured I should at least post something on Deaconlight.com about this record being out. I set the review aside to read later.

As my desk began to pile up like the paper magnet it is, the article got lost in the pile. Not forgotten, but unread. Still on my list of things to check out.

The first time I heard Jeffrey Dean Foster was September 11, 1981 at Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina. The guy I was going out with at the time was in a band called The Apostles (which also included Steve Poole of American Underslung and Rid of Dailys). The Apostles had been invited to open that night for Gangrene, who in turn were opening for a band called The Right Profile.

I had not heard of The Right Profile before so I did not know what to expect. The Apostles were classic punk pop and Gangrene were sorta Devo-esque. Since The Clash had a song called "The Right Profile" from London Calling I had figured this band would be a punk band.

The Right Profile did sound modern but there was a lot of roots rock to their music. The singer/guitarist was this blonde dude wearing a bandana - red, I think - around his neck. More cowboy than punk. They also had a guy playing piano, which you didn't see much at punk shows. At times I felt like I was at a Springsteen concert.

The guy playing keyboards was Steve Dubner, who I saw on 20/20 a couple of months ago promoting his Freakonmics book, which I hear is great. I dropped him an e-mail and asked him about sending me some Right Profile mp3s. He said he might.

The guitarist, of course, was Jeffrey Dean Foster. Jeff Foster as I knew him then. I got to know The Right Profile because they would send me stuff to play on Deaconlight and later on WKZL and Z-93. Nice guys. They also had a lot of fans. (Check out paragraph eight of this letter from a Deaconlight.com fan gushing about The Right Profile's "Let's Pretend," which Jeffrey wrote. I got lots of requests for that song over the years.)

Today I went in the attic to look for my Friday the 11th T-shirt. I didn't find it but I did find a virgin copy - my third copy - of The Right Profile's first 45. Looks like new!

When I retired from radio in 1986, I lost touch with a lot of the local scene. Occasionally I would see Jeff's name pop up in a music column, but I never saw him perform with any of his post-Right Profile projects. I think the last time I had seen Jeffrey was a few years ago when David Byrne had his art show at SECCA.

So here I see where Jeffrey has a new record out and I'm really thinking I should check it out. It seems I miss so many things here at Deaconlight.com because of lack of time. I could not even find the time to read the review.

Sometimes things just need to line up right to give me a little push.

Friday night, Hubby, our daughters, and I were invited to a party at Mitch Easter's studio, The Fidelitorium. (That place is really cool! UnReal !! The girls and I went over there last summer and Mitch let them have the run of the place, pulling out guitars, basses, keyboards, etc. I have got to get some pictures of that studio here.)

When we walked inside the first person I recognized was Jeffrey Dean Foster. We talked about the fact he had a new record out and I asked if I could get a copy. I told him, however, I only post stuff on Deaconlight.com that I like. Now, I knew I would like anything Jeffrey does so I wouldn't have said that if I had thought there would be any chance I wouldn't like his record. That probably came across as rather snobby but it wasn't intended to be.

I will write more about the party - which was a blast - somewhere else.

Later in the evening Jeffrey walked up and handed me a copy of the CD.

Well, first thing we did when we got home was put on the CD. It knocked me out on the first listen. I glanced at the liner notes and noticed where Mitch had a hand in creating this awesome record.

As you might know, I don't pretend to be any kind of rock critic so I don't even attempt to write reviews. I guess it's like when Supreme Court Justice Potter ruled about pornography way back when. He said something like he couldn't really define pornography but he knew it when he saw it. I don't always know how to explain why I like certain records but I know a good record when I hear it. Million Star Hotel is a great record.

I have been and always shall be a crusader for great music. Million Star Hotel is full of really pretty songs. Many are the kind I like to listen to on a rainy day. I'm totally hooked. Already I have several songs stuck in my head. This record deserves to be heard and played for the masses. Not in the Top 40 sense, but this is a record I know I will still be throwing in my CD player for years to come. (Hubby is playing it now and it sounds UnReal !!. Can't wait to get off this computer and go sit in front of the fire and listen to this record. Although at the moment Jeffrey's singing "Don't listen to me." Sorry dude but I am going to ignore that directive!)

As for that review, I can't find the newspaper. But I did find a copy online at GoTriad. I'll leave it to the critics to give you the "professional and authoritative" evaluation of Million Star Hotel. I'm sure there will be many more good reviews to come.

-- 24 December 2005 (DD)