Kenny Logins on how to enjoy moments

Behind the scenes before a recent concert in Cincinnati, Kenny Logins set up almost everything.

Reporter Lee Cowen asked the two-time Grammy winner, “Do you enjoy touring after all these years?”

“Well, yes and no,” Logins replied. “It’s like making love, right? If you get a good answer, you’re better off. ”

Logins himself was 74 years old. His voice sounds as youthful as his songs, which have a habit of making us also feel quite young. Chances are, you know the words of most, if not all, of them; they are part of pop culture, so more often than not Kenny Logins ’concert turns into one big song.

Logins said: “I learned early on that songs that were very personal to me and that’s all I could write where it would really touch my heart or hit that place of vulnerability would be more accessible to the audience ».

“Because if it mattered to you, it would be important to the listener?” Cowen asked.

“That’s right. Vulnerability is what I earn for a living.”

Loggins became famous as the second half of Loggins and Messina. Musically, he and Jim Messina were created for each other.

To listen to Loggins and Messina’s “Danny’s Song”, click on the player below:

But when Logins recounts in detail in his new memoir, Still Alright, he knew that in the end he needed to stretch his wings.

Cowen asked: “Most people, especially in successful duos, very few of them remain as successful [solo]».

– I’m really lucky that no one told me! Login laughed.

His solo career went on: album after album, video after video. He is now considered one of the captains of “Yacht Rock”, this ridiculous label for easy listening to music in the 70’s and 80’s. Whatever they are now called, these hits gave him the opportunity to move from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara, where he has been ever since.

However, you have to pay for all this beauty. In 2018, the hills above his house gave way, sending a deadly wall of mud through his neighborhood to Montesito.

“I did a reconstruction, and then the next day after my birthday there was a storm and a landslide,” he said. “Everything below me was destroyed. And the house above me was destroyed. “

However, he never thought about leaving; this section is his own Bedford Falls. “I have Jimmy Stewart’s life here because I’m going to the store and people I don’t know know me. So it’s, ‘Hey, Kenny.’ How are you today? “It’s like,” How are things at the gas station, Bob? “

This is far from the celebrity of Login’s life. This month alone, he shared the red carpet with none other than Tom Cruise. Login’s throaty voice in the anthem of the soundtrack “Top Gun” became so synonymous with this 1986 film that when Cruz decided to shoot a sequel to “Top Gun: Maverick” (for Paramount, CBS’s parent company), he said he had to find a place for it.

“He said,‘ It wouldn’t be Top Gun without the Danger Zone, and he meant it, ”Logins said.

Just like “Footloose” wouldn’t be “Footloose” without some lines of loggins …

Cowen said, “You talked about how the song really knows what it’s about before you even know what it’s about.”

“It happens all the time. The best example of this is a song I wrote with Mike MacDonald called ‘This Is It,'” he said. “My dad went to the hospital and I was amazed that he thought he was ready to die on the operating table. And I thought, “You don’t have to do this. You know, maybe you can make a decision. ” office no do it. “

“This Is It” was not a love song, he realized; it was a song of life.

He captures these moments of life better than most, perhaps best in his Winnie the Pooh clothes. He wrote “Pooh’s Corner” when he was just 17, but after spending some time as a dad, he rewrote the ending: “This circle goes where you see your son sleeping with the bear you slept with when you was a child. “

After all that was said and done I watched my son
I sleep there with my bear next door
So I hugged him, kissed him
And how I was going
I swear it’s an old bear
Whispered, “Boy, welcome home”

Kenny Logins is now at a time when he can celebrate all his successes and at the same time make a promise about the future: “Being more present so I can enjoy every moment I have because we don’t know how much we still have. So, you know, try this one. “

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The plot is directed by Reid Orvedal. Editor: Stephen Tyler.