BARRY COURTER: Lisa, I know that when you look at me, you immediately think, "I bet Barry was a b-boy back in the day, poppin' and lockin', break-dancing and listening to a lot of fresh beats."
LISA DENTON: Wow. Just wow. I can honestly say that I may have to rethink how I think about you. I've known you 20 years now, and I don't believe those thoughts have ever crossed my mind. Obviously, I've done you a disservice.
Lisa Denton and Barry Courter
BARRY: I'm like an onion ...
LISA: You do make my eyes water.
BARRY: Actually, it would be really weird if you thought anything like that. It was weird, and kind of icky, just writing it, but a million years ago I did listen to a lot of new rap, which stunningly is now called old-school rap.
LISA: Sorry it made you feel icky. Because it made me laugh 'til I teared up.
BARRY: The onion thing, right? Anyway, I was working at Record Bar in Eastgate when "Rapper's Delight" by Sugarhill Gang and "The Breaks" by Kurtis Blow came out almost 30 years ago. So it was a big thrill for me to talk to Blow the other day, and he was really cool. He will be in town Friday for "The Hip Hop Nutcracker" at Memorial Auditorium.
LISA: This has been getting great reviews, and it'll be interesting to see how they reinterpret the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and "Waltz of the Flowers" with break-dancing instead of ballet. I suppose they have to redo the costumes too. I'm not sure it's possible to break-dance in tutus and pointe shoes. Although now that I'm learning about your mad skills, I guess anything is possible.
BARRY: Blow is the emcee for the show and says it is really great and the updated dances work very well.
LISA: If you want another twist on Christmas classics, there's the Mannheim Steamroller concert at the Tivoli Theatre the same night. Too bad the two shows are competing.
Some have said that the success producer/composer Chip Davis had with his first classical rock Christmas album in 1984 made Christmas records a "must do" for all artists. I wouldn't say that all artists ought to be releasing holiday music, but most Christmas songs I can listen to again and again.
The way they do the show is there's a live ensemble playing the music and then multimedia images are projected on a screen behind.
BARRY: I love Christmas music. In fact, I like almost all of it. And we will be doing the PB & Holiday Jam Music Wednesdays show again this year. It's going to be another great lineup of local artists singing holiday songs. Some will be originals and some will be familiar standards with new interpretations. Look for it on Facebook and at timesfreepress.com/music around the second week of December. If you read this column online, you can find links to watch the 2016 show and the 2017 show.
Get event details every Thursday in ChattanoogaNow or online anytime at www.ChattanoogaNow.com.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354. Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.