desert post weekly december 11, 2003 (page 25)

Rebirth of 'cool' can be heard
on Joshua Tree singer's CD

"This is a time of grieving, angel
This is a time of mourning, stranger
For the righteous and the holy fool
This is a time of leaving, brother
A time of no warning each other
This must be the death of cool"

-- Death of Cool, Ted Quinn

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by Steve Brown

Dec. 8, 1980, the day John Lennon was killed, seemed to be the death of cool. With his blood pooling on the cold New York sidewalk, Lennon's death was a mortal wound viciously inflicted upon the soul of modern music.

What was 'cool' about this music marched on stoically into the corporate meat grinder of commercial pop. From manufactured stars and Clear Channel's fascist control to shallow, vulgar songs meant only to sell quickly and be forgotten, cool was nowhere to be found.

But somehow, a whisper of Lennon's soul has blown on the dusty desert wind into the town of Joshua Tree, where it has taken quiet, cool root deep in the soul of singer/songwriter Ted Quinn.

In Help Wanted, Quinn explores issues of the world and the heart with depth and tenderness. "La Porte" chronicles his childhood roots, combining them with dreams and a question: "I wonder where I would be today, if my folks had decided to stay in La Porte, Indiana?"

Then Quinn recalls the "Death of Cool," concluding that gently sung anthem with a glimmer of hope, "Maybe from this time of crisis, like a lotus the future rises, from the ashes of the death of cool."

In "29 Palms," written for a Marine widow, Quinn's passion for peace emerges. Not one to preach, Quinn questions instead. Throughout the song, the sound of helicopters conjure up images of women and children alone, "She was just a child herself, with a child beneath her belt, now she's stuck without the only friend she had." The song ends asking, "where are all those helicopters now? How much do they cost? Are they worth more than they lost? How does anyone ever win a war anyhow?"

Help Wanted is full of gems.

From Hamilton Camp's "Pride of Man," to "Billions & Billions" and "If U Do," Quinn merges psychedelic, folk and pop music with personal and political lyrics. He has progressed far beyond the singer/songwriter trap of incessantly writing only about himself. In Quinn's world, there's room for everybody.

This CD is an excellent example of Quinn's far-reaching talent, extending out with love, subtlety and hope through all that obstructs - to find what really matters. Help Wanted connects and provokes, is deep and strong, yet vulnerable. It proves that cool. like the lotus, has risen from the ashes.