JOHN OSZAJCA
From There To Here (Interscope)
Reviewed by Bill Holmes

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John Oszajca is probably getting as much press in the gossip pages for being engaged to Lisa Marie Presley as he is for releasing From There To Here, which is too bad. This engaging mix of glam, pop, scratches, funk and folk is lifted another level by clever lyrics and a wry sense of humor. Anyone with the balls to have a song named "Where's Bob Dylan When You Need Him" on his debut record is okay in my book. Great song, too.

There's a second version of the "Dylan song" at the end of the record. Credited as a "remix featuring Wyclef Jean," I immediately had two reasons to be apprehensive. Instead, it's a credible spin on the first track that retains the humor without burying it in needless loops and beats. Not that Oszajca doesn't scratch a few turntables or steal a few classic riffs--he does. He's a wide-range Beck, tossing in vintage Keef "Sympathy For The Devil" licks into "I Hate You (My Friend)," Garbage in "This Is How She Goes," and even a little Tommy James in "Funny Shade Of Blue." Lyrically, the dart hits the target as well. In the record's best cut, "Back in 1999," the Glam Boy meets Beat Box anthem, sports "Nostradamus - promised me a promise - but it fell through." The chorus of "Bisexual Chick" reads, "She's my bisexual chick - she likes more than just... aaahhh...." And in the Elvis song "Valley Of The Dolls," Oszajca asks, "How can you say - I'm sleeping my life away - when I'm staying up 'til dawn?" Take that, Lisa Marie.

But whether he's singing the countryish "Long Drive Home" or the ironic talking blues of "I Might Look White" (Oszajca was born in Hawaii), From There To Here is the debut of an inventive and creative artist. And that makes John Oszajca a hell of a lot more than "Mr. Lisa Marie Presley."

© 2000 - Bill Holmes