SamboraBlog

'Idol' Score: Randy Jackson's Hit

One of the many surprises on Randy Jackson’s "Music Club" album will shock fans of the group Bon Jovi: Richie Sambora can sing.

Hello! This is a Jackson who works, gets it and knows his music. He is not related to Michael Jackson.

There are a lot of surprises on "Randy Jackson’s Music Club, Vol. 1," which will be released next month. You already know about Paula Abdul and her lead-off single, "Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow."

But Jackson, the kindly judge from "American Idol," knows voices. On "Music Club," he’s gathered up all the best ones he’s heard. The result is a 12-track album that sounds like the best radio station that doesn’t exist. Clear Channel, are you listening?

Jackson does use a couple of "AI" refugees, but maybe not the ones you’d expect. Katharine McPhee and Elliott Yamin duet on "Real Love," a catchy, smooth pop hit with a gospel feel that is so disarmingly infectious it shouldn’t have any trouble finding a place on radio. Maybe.

Of course, listening to these songs, a person from the old world of pop (that’s me) thinks: All hits! They’ll shoot to the top of the charts!

But will they? Radio is such a murky place of payola and narrow thinking that very little of value is heard there now. Indeed, in the 2000s, radio killed the radio stars.

Maybe the "American Idol" power and Jackson’s penchant for hearing hits will change all that. Certainly, the pleasures of "Music Club" are many, because Jackson has mixed and matched rock, R&B, blues and country stars seamlessly.

My personal favorites: the funky, bluesy "Wang Dang Doodle" featuring Sam "Soul Man" Moore, Angie Stone and Keb Mo; the gorgeous "Home" blends Anthony Hamilton with John Rich (of Big & Rich); "Something to Believe in" has a trio of hit male vocalists — Jon McLaughlin, Van Hunt and Jason Mraz; and, of course, the Sambora track also features Travis Tritt and Lucy Woodward.

Part of the fun of "Music Club" is just playing it without looking at the label. Mariah Carey is one of four stars — including R&B vet Rance Allen, gospel great Bebe Winans and the magnificent Kim Burrell with Hezekiah Walker’s Love Fellowship Tabernacle Church Choir on "I Understand"; and it’s Joss Stone who drives a hip-hopped version of Dionne Warwick’s classic "Walk on By."

"Randy Jackson’s Music Club" is going to turn the music business around next month. Just wait and see!