The Moon Garden Lounge

Now I feel a little like Adam when forced to pick favorites. How does on pick a favorite picture of one so drop-dead beautiful as Adam....and such a changeling....impossible. I narrowed it down to the following for a number of reasons.


First...most of us are familiar with the gif that 'goes' with this photo series and it is typical of Adam's self awareness, his sense of humor, his spontaneity and ability to not take himself too seriously even while posing with huge wings hanging off his back, a bird quite capable of pooping on his white jacket or pecking his eyes out at any moment, and enough make-up to cause permanent fissures in the face. All this and he looks spectacular!! I chose this 'less than perfect' frame over the one chosen by the photographer because all the nuances are there....

I chose this video because to me, it epitimizes the struggles Adam has faced and triumphed over for his whole performing life...I was present at the Music Box when he sang this last, and it was absolutely the most moving performance by Adam, for me. I chose this particular video version as it shows his metamorphosis from the Zodiac days thru the end of the GNT. My only misgiving is that it does not include the full preamble to the Music Box performance. The editing is superb.



Finally, the song I would send to the capsule would have to be Underneath. I choose this song because this one seems to show Adam's willingness to be vulnerable, to claim and own his weaknesses and turn them into strengths.

So, to conclude, my Picture choices showcases his beauty and his sense of humour. My Video showcases his magnificent voice, his fierceness and performance skills. My Song choice showcases, as sung...the incomparable emotive voice, and lyrically, his bravery and honesty.

OK, I'm ready. Get ready spacemen. I'm stealing mszue's formula for presenting this because it worked so well.



First, I chose this picture by Lee Cherry because it encapsulates Adam the performer. To me, Adam records because he must but he was put on earth for live performance. In performance, Adam is free. The music flows through him and into us and back to him in an infinite loop of emotional energy.

Next, I chose this video for its expression of the bravura excitement of Adam on stage, his burning vibrant intensity, plus another way of coming at the sense of humor that mszue talked about:



Finally, I choose for the song Whataya Want From Me from Acoustic Live! I wanted a song that showcased not just Adam's extraordinary voice, but his once-in-a-generation ability to truly inhabit a song, to crawl inside the melody and lyric, to truly feel its thought with his pacing, intonation, and phrasing. This song doesn't just come from his throat; it comes from his soul.

So my message to the people of the future: here is one of our men worth remembering. He sought to be without equal and we loved him for it. He was exciting, like a juggernaut. And he sought not merely to entertain but to leave his mark as an artist.

Holst, that is the one! I LOVE it. My favorite version of WWFM and one of my favorite Adam recordings evah.

OK, Junie, I guess I'll take a stab at it. Here goes.

First of all, I need to concur with Mszue about the montage of "A Change is Gonna Come". I too was at the Music Box that evening and it such a full-cicle moment for him to perform this song which he had sung exact 6 years ago to the day at the Music Box with Zodiac. He sings with such intensity in all three occasions in this video, and you just know this is who he is and where he is going. I'm so glad I was there that evening to share in the warmth and love projected towards him by his family, friends and fans, and Adam giving right back to us.


OK - now the picture.

I wanted a fairly close-up image of Adam that might highlight his face in the full joy of performing. I know there are 100's of excellent pictures out there of him performing, but for now I picked this one from the Costa Mesa gig in July 2012.

Then, the song. Here I went way back and chose "Come To Me, Bend To Me". This is "Adam 101" and when friends/family ask me about what is Adam's attraction for me, I always refer them to this. I ask them to Google it at their leisure and then let me know what they think, and the answer is overwhelmingly "Whoa, he really is good!" For myself, I never get tired of listening to it.

So there you have it -