🎧Episode 140: Bill Champlin AOR, Pat Metheny/Lyle Mays Atmosphere & A Sinatra/Bono Disaster

Episode 140 gets smooth, sophisticated, and then deeply questionable as Curtis and Jonathan move from polished West Coast AOR into expansive jazz atmosphere before the category songs start raising eyebrows.Curtis opens with Bill Champlin, bringing soulful vocals, studio-musician polish, and that sweet spot where soft rock, yacht rock, and blue-eyed soul all start sharing the same expensive microphone. Jonathan follows with Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays, adding lyrical jazz fusion, spacious textures, and the kind of instrumental beauty that makes you stare thoughtfully out a window even if you are just sitting in traffic.For the category songs, Curtis brings There Should Have Been An Intervention with Frank Sinatra and Bono, a pairing that feels like someone should have gently stepped between the legends and the recording booth. Jonathan then introduces I See What You Did There with Dave Barnes, spotlighting a song packed with pop music references and clever little lyrical winks.Champlin soul, Metheny/Mays elegance, Sinatra/Bono confusion, and Dave Barnes wordplay—Episode 140 is smooth, smart, and just weird enough to keep everyone honest.Curtis Gross is a self-employed video editor.Jonathan Workman is an adult learning consultant based in Wichita, KS.---Make sure you are subscribed to Why Is This So Hard For You. Type Why Is This So Hard For You in your podcast provider, hit that subscription button, and leave us a five-star review. This will make it easier for other podcast listeners to find the podcast.---The intro music is the first 30 seconds of the Ornette Coleman tune "Song X" fed into AI software that attempts to output the song to a solo piano transcription. The outro music is the first 30 seconds of Sonny Rollins' version of the tune "St. Thomas" fed into the same software.