Voice recording #230, Jan. 1.
On this day, I drove to the Cowboys' practice at Valley Ranch and back home.
Elvis Presley, "In the Ghetto", '68 maybe. 2,000.
Steppenwolf, "Born to Be Wild", '68 or '69. 900.
Bee Gees, "Massachusetts", '67. 1,250.
Mary Wells, "My Guy", '64. I've done this one before. I'd say about 2,100.
Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, "The Game of Love", 1965. Wayne was named in the band at that time. 1,900.
Grass Roots, "Things I Should Have Said", '67. Probably the worst Grass Roots I've heard. 4,800.
Tony Joe White, "Polk Salad Annie", not sure of the year. His greatest hit: "Gators got her granny. Chomp! Chomp!" "Her mama was a-workin' on a chain gang," "Her father was a lazy no-'count." There is a lot of unusual, original stuff in this one. Tony Joe's deep voice, the music, the idea of polk salad, whatever that is. 1,800.
Aretha Franklin, "Natural Woman", I think 1967. This is an anthem for a lot of women. Some good soul music from Aretha. It's very good. 1,850.
The Mamas and the Papas, "Creeque Alley", '67. This is a classic example as one of the anthology type with the etymology of music or provenance of how different rock groups form. Number one on that list is "American Pie", but this is also high on that list. (Roger) McGuinn and (Barry) McGuire kept on getting higher, Mama Cass (Elliot) kept getting fat, (John) Sebastian and Zal (Yanovsky) were getting very tuneful. Good music and good music history. 950.
Beatles, "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", I believe 1968. It was on the Sgt. Pepper album. Good song. 3,200.
The Hondells, "Little Honda", '64 or '65. This brings back memories of my freshman year in college. My friend Tom Barga had a Honda 50, barely big enough to be classified as a motorbike. We would ride on it probably 3 or 4 miles from the campus to the Delaware Country Club to play golf, with him in the driver's seat, his golf bag behind him, my bag in front of me and me on the back. It was probably a 50- or 55-mph highway, and I'm not sure the bike would go that fast even unladen (a nod to "Monty Python and The Holy Grail"). We rode way over in the right lane, but I imagine there was consternation from the drivers trying to get around us. The song is a semi-classic because of the subject matter. 3,850.
Johnny Rivers, "Baby I Need Your Lovin'" from '67. He could have been a '60s icon, but he didn't really fit into any niche from that decade. He just went on making a lot of hits. Rivers seemed to use a lot of musicians -- backup singers, almost a chorus at times; guitars, drums, maybe some strings. It was solid music. He didn't stretch himself, but he had well written songs performed professionally. 3,500.
The Hollies, "Stop Stop Stop", I think '66. This was a bit progressive for The Hollies. I think there's some sitar, and it's fast-paced. They seemed to be trying to make some kind of transition with their music, but I'm not sure how successful it was. This song was probably not as popular as "Bus Stop". 3,300.
Rolling Stones, "As Tears Go By", '67. This is the sweetest, prettiest Stones song. It was a slow-paced ballad, with some acoustic guitar and a lot of strings that were doing a lot of things. 750.
Three Dog Night, "Eli's Coming", '67 or '66. This is one of Three Dog Night's better songs. I might have had it before, I'm thinking on the high side of 2,000. I'll say 1,900.
Jimmy Ruffin, "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted", again '66 or '67. Jimmy, who died in November, was David Ruffin's older brother. It's a nice song, well done. I was debating which side of 2,500 to put it on when it became repetitive. 2,600.
Jay and the Americans, "Walking in the Rain", 1969. This was a remake of The Ronettes' version from '64. 4,400.
The Yardbirds, "Shapes of Things", '67 or '68. 3,600.
Stone Poneys, "Different Drum", 1967. I also heard this earlier today or yesterday, and I'm thinking it was on the high side of 2,000. This version was one of many remakes of Mike Nesmith's song. This time I heard some harpsichord. That could move it up even more. 1,900.
Simon and Garfunkel, "Scarborough Fair", '66 or '67. One of the many great things about "The Graduate" was the Simon and Garfunkel music that made up much if not all of the soundtrack. This song is an overlaid tapestry of music and lyrics. The music is characterized by the guitar and harpsichord, which adds to the authenticity of this version of a song from medieval times. Simon and Garfunkel are great in setting moods, and this song fit in well with the movie -- which had a lot of ups and downs, funny and sad. This is a classic. 500, possibly higher.
Bobby Fuller Four, "I Fought the Law", maybe '64. I had this one, and think the score would have been 3,300-3,400.
James and Bobby Purify, "I'm Your Puppet", mid-to-late '60s? This one goes beyond other songs in the genre at the time. For one thing, there appears to be a triangle carrying the melody at times. The tempo changes, there are also the horns that are common in soul music. 3,800.
Classics IV, "Spooky", '67. I think I did this one the other night, and it was 3,500-3,700.
The Monkees, "I'm a Believer", year? I reviewed this the other day, and I think my score was between 1,500 and 2,000. I'm feeling better about it now. 1,400.
Deep Purple, "Hush", 1968. 3,600.
Herman's Hermits, "Henry the VIIIth", '66, maybe '68. This is kind of a novelty song, simplistic. I enjoyed hearing Peter Noone talk on Sirius XM Channel 6 about it and about the British invasion. 3,800 because of the novelty and because Herman's Hermits pulled it off well. They were joyful.
Martha and the Vandellas, "Jimmy Mac", '65 to '67? Not their best. 4,200.
Derek, "Cinnamon", '68? It was OK, but hasn't really held up over time. 4,350.
Steppenwolf, "Magic Carpet Ride", '68, maybe '67. I reviewed this before, and I think I gave it between 1,100 and 1,300, more likely on the high end.
The Happenings, "See You in September", 1966. This is a remake of a well known song. The Happenings, The Tokens and some others were like Four Seasons tribute groups while the Four Seasons were still actively spitting out hits. This has a good, bouncy beat; the falsetto; some deep-voiced guys, and it doesn't stick to the song's established script, which probably was an improvement. 3,400.
Next: voice recording #240, Jan. 2.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Tying Maggie Smith with John Swofford
Voice recording #223, Dec. 30
Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Lodi" from '69, I believe. 4,250.
Tommy James and the Shondells, "Crimson and Clover", I'm pretty sure '67. That's because I believe I remember it from my spring break trip to Panama City, Fla., that year. 2,200.
Oliver, "Jean", 1969. This was the theme song for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", for which I'm pretty sure Maggie Smith won an Oscar in the title role. Pamela Franklin had a good role in the movie too. Jean Brodie was what once would have been called an old-maid teacher. She was very idealistic, if impractical and kind of the equivalent of a stage Mom or Little League Dad who wanted her students to live out her dreams. Miss Brodie was proud of a student who, knowing little of what she was getting into, went to help out in the Spanish Civil War. Oliver's brother, John Swofford, was the athletic director at North Carolina at that time. The song is a nice ballad. 4,400.
Len Barry, "1-2-3" from '65, I believe. 4,050.
The Beatles, "Drive My Car", 1965. I never really listened to the lyrics on this one until. It's about a dreamer who appears to have neither a girlfriend nor a car, but if he ever gets a girlfriend, she could drive his car -- if he had a car. 3,700.
The Lemon Pipers, "Green Tambourine" from '67. This was their greatest hit. True to its name, the song features the tambourine more prominently than possible any other song. There's a lot of percussion in it -- drums, triangle and one of those things with grooves in the side that you run a stick across to make a scraping sound. (I just looked it up, it's a guiro.) There's echo in it, there are sweeping slurs of notes. It's a good tune, too. 1,800
Barry McGuire, "Eve of Destruction", 1965. Also his greatest hit. The lyrics were germane to that particular time, but the sentiments would apply to just about any time. There are crises in the world, and somehow we've been overcoming them since before 1965. Crises keep coming around, but I guess the song's lesson is that it's not as bad as it seems. I might have done this before, and would have given it about 3,100, as high as 3,000.
Four Seasons, "Rag Doll" from '64. It's typical Four Seasons. The subject matter is different. It takes on the fact that the people we love aren't always ones our parents think are good enough for us, that opposites attract. Sometimes we can transcend differences or economic backgrounds. We just love who we love. 2,900.
Nancy Sinatra, "Sugartown", 1966. Not her best. It's almost a stuttering song: "Shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh-shuh, Sugartown," and it's 4,450.
The Association, "Along Comes Mary", I think '66. It's one of The Association's better ones. Their music hasn't held up really well over time. It's not even representative of the mid-'60s. 3,600.
The Isley Brothers, "It's Your Thing", '66, I think, possibly later in the '60s. When they sing, "I can't tell you who to sock it to," it's like a reference to "Laugh In". This is good soul music. 4,100.
Little Anthony and the Imperials, "Goin' Out of My Head", I think '67. Little Anthony had a pretty good voice and a fairly good number of hits, and this is one of the Imperials' better ones. 3,400.
Billy Joe Royal, "Down in the Boondocks", 1962 or '63. 2,800.
Stone Poneys, "Different Drum", 1966 or '67. Linda Ronstadt makes this song with her great voice. 2,100.
Canned Heat, "On the Road Again", 1968. I'm pretty sure Canned Heat sang this at Woodstock in '69. It's also played on Sirius Channel 6 a lot, to the point where I'm almost tired of it. 3,300.
Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, "Lady Willpower", '69, I'm pretty sure. I almost wrote, "Kirby Puckett." This group was a little behind its time. They were singing ballads in more of a hard-rock, psychedelic age. This one is 3,950.
Every Mother's Son, "Come on Down to My Boat", '66 or '67. It's a catchy tune with a good beat. They also play this a lot on Channel 6, but I'm not tired of it yet. 2,200.
The Bachelors, "Diane", 1964. It's a powerfully sung song, with a nice ending. 4,200.
Chad and Jeremy, "Yesterday's Gone", I'm guessing '66. I saw part of their concert at Ohio Wesleyan, but it wasn't very good. This song is OK, but nothing special. 4,400.
Tommy James and the Shondells, "Crystal Blue Persuasion", '69. It seemed as if they were trying to bridge some gaps in music and time. The horns are a bit of a throwback. I think the bongos are supposed to show that the Shondells were hip, but bongos seem more '50s beatnik than hippie. 4,100.
Jackie De Shannon, "What the World Needs Now", '68 or '69. It's a good song, but nothing special. 4,050.
The Outsiders, "Time Won't Let Me", I think '66. 2,750.
Keith, "98.6", about '67. 4,500.
Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Bad Moon Rising", '68 or '69. 3,200.
The Fireballs, "Bottle of Wine", '68. I'm not sure whether this is the same group that was Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs. I checked, and it is the same group. It started without Gilmer, and recorded at the same studio in Clovis, N.M., as Buddy Holly. They were "Jimmy and" for "Sugar Shack", but later went back to being just The Fireballs even though Gilmer was still with them. 4,550.
James Brown, "I've Got You (I Feel Nice)", '65. Quintessential James Brown. If you haven't seen the biopic, "Get On Up", it's very good. Portraying Brown is Chadwick Bozeman, who also played Jackie Robinson in "42" and did a good job in both. This song has a lot of horns, and the hardest-working man in show business. 2,300.
Gary Lewis and the Playboys, "Count Me In", 1966. 3,400.
The Lemon Pipers, "Green Tambourine", '67. I did this one earlier on the same day. I think 1,900 is about right. Up above I said 1,800, so 1,850.
Start next time with voice recording #230, Jan. 1.
Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Lodi" from '69, I believe. 4,250.
Tommy James and the Shondells, "Crimson and Clover", I'm pretty sure '67. That's because I believe I remember it from my spring break trip to Panama City, Fla., that year. 2,200.
Oliver, "Jean", 1969. This was the theme song for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", for which I'm pretty sure Maggie Smith won an Oscar in the title role. Pamela Franklin had a good role in the movie too. Jean Brodie was what once would have been called an old-maid teacher. She was very idealistic, if impractical and kind of the equivalent of a stage Mom or Little League Dad who wanted her students to live out her dreams. Miss Brodie was proud of a student who, knowing little of what she was getting into, went to help out in the Spanish Civil War. Oliver's brother, John Swofford, was the athletic director at North Carolina at that time. The song is a nice ballad. 4,400.
Len Barry, "1-2-3" from '65, I believe. 4,050.
The Beatles, "Drive My Car", 1965. I never really listened to the lyrics on this one until. It's about a dreamer who appears to have neither a girlfriend nor a car, but if he ever gets a girlfriend, she could drive his car -- if he had a car. 3,700.
The Lemon Pipers, "Green Tambourine" from '67. This was their greatest hit. True to its name, the song features the tambourine more prominently than possible any other song. There's a lot of percussion in it -- drums, triangle and one of those things with grooves in the side that you run a stick across to make a scraping sound. (I just looked it up, it's a guiro.) There's echo in it, there are sweeping slurs of notes. It's a good tune, too. 1,800
Barry McGuire, "Eve of Destruction", 1965. Also his greatest hit. The lyrics were germane to that particular time, but the sentiments would apply to just about any time. There are crises in the world, and somehow we've been overcoming them since before 1965. Crises keep coming around, but I guess the song's lesson is that it's not as bad as it seems. I might have done this before, and would have given it about 3,100, as high as 3,000.
Four Seasons, "Rag Doll" from '64. It's typical Four Seasons. The subject matter is different. It takes on the fact that the people we love aren't always ones our parents think are good enough for us, that opposites attract. Sometimes we can transcend differences or economic backgrounds. We just love who we love. 2,900.
Nancy Sinatra, "Sugartown", 1966. Not her best. It's almost a stuttering song: "Shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh, shuh-shuh, Sugartown," and it's 4,450.
The Association, "Along Comes Mary", I think '66. It's one of The Association's better ones. Their music hasn't held up really well over time. It's not even representative of the mid-'60s. 3,600.
The Isley Brothers, "It's Your Thing", '66, I think, possibly later in the '60s. When they sing, "I can't tell you who to sock it to," it's like a reference to "Laugh In". This is good soul music. 4,100.
Little Anthony and the Imperials, "Goin' Out of My Head", I think '67. Little Anthony had a pretty good voice and a fairly good number of hits, and this is one of the Imperials' better ones. 3,400.
Billy Joe Royal, "Down in the Boondocks", 1962 or '63. 2,800.
Stone Poneys, "Different Drum", 1966 or '67. Linda Ronstadt makes this song with her great voice. 2,100.
Canned Heat, "On the Road Again", 1968. I'm pretty sure Canned Heat sang this at Woodstock in '69. It's also played on Sirius Channel 6 a lot, to the point where I'm almost tired of it. 3,300.
Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, "Lady Willpower", '69, I'm pretty sure. I almost wrote, "Kirby Puckett." This group was a little behind its time. They were singing ballads in more of a hard-rock, psychedelic age. This one is 3,950.
Every Mother's Son, "Come on Down to My Boat", '66 or '67. It's a catchy tune with a good beat. They also play this a lot on Channel 6, but I'm not tired of it yet. 2,200.
The Bachelors, "Diane", 1964. It's a powerfully sung song, with a nice ending. 4,200.
Chad and Jeremy, "Yesterday's Gone", I'm guessing '66. I saw part of their concert at Ohio Wesleyan, but it wasn't very good. This song is OK, but nothing special. 4,400.
Tommy James and the Shondells, "Crystal Blue Persuasion", '69. It seemed as if they were trying to bridge some gaps in music and time. The horns are a bit of a throwback. I think the bongos are supposed to show that the Shondells were hip, but bongos seem more '50s beatnik than hippie. 4,100.
Jackie De Shannon, "What the World Needs Now", '68 or '69. It's a good song, but nothing special. 4,050.
The Outsiders, "Time Won't Let Me", I think '66. 2,750.
Keith, "98.6", about '67. 4,500.
Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Bad Moon Rising", '68 or '69. 3,200.
The Fireballs, "Bottle of Wine", '68. I'm not sure whether this is the same group that was Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs. I checked, and it is the same group. It started without Gilmer, and recorded at the same studio in Clovis, N.M., as Buddy Holly. They were "Jimmy and" for "Sugar Shack", but later went back to being just The Fireballs even though Gilmer was still with them. 4,550.
James Brown, "I've Got You (I Feel Nice)", '65. Quintessential James Brown. If you haven't seen the biopic, "Get On Up", it's very good. Portraying Brown is Chadwick Bozeman, who also played Jackie Robinson in "42" and did a good job in both. This song has a lot of horns, and the hardest-working man in show business. 2,300.
Gary Lewis and the Playboys, "Count Me In", 1966. 3,400.
The Lemon Pipers, "Green Tambourine", '67. I did this one earlier on the same day. I think 1,900 is about right. Up above I said 1,800, so 1,850.
Start next time with voice recording #230, Jan. 1.
A time of great musical variety
Voice recording #217, Dec. 29, plus recordings from Dec. 30. This was after I'd returned from 5 days in Pittsburgh.
Righteous Brothers, "Little Latin Lupe Lu", 1963. Hard to believe this is the Righteous Brothers in this rockin' performance. There's someone, probably one of the brothers, in a deep-voiced section. This is out of character. 4,700.
Steam, "Na Na Hey Hey", 1969. This has become famous at sporting events when the home team's PA system and fans will taunt the visiting team when it's about to lose. The Chicago White Sox are recognized as the first to do that. The song has lived on beyond that single use. I did hear it misused at a high school basketball game a few days ago, when the visiting fans were singing "na na na na." Dudes, you're the ones who are leaving. If I gave this song a rating, I couldn't hear it on the recording.
Elvis Presley, "If I Could Dream", 1968. Not his best. 4,200.
Mary Wells, "My Guy" from '64. I saw her in concert when I was in college. She was past her prime, which really was with this song. 2,300.
Gary Lewis and the Playboys, "This Diamond Ring", '64 or '65. Gary was Jerry Lewis' son. This song seems to be calling for a list of which children of stars became successful singer. There were Dino, Desi and Billy, sons of Dean Martin, Desi Arnaz Sr. and somebody else; Julian Lennon, Nancy Sinatra, Hank Williams Jr., if you want to go hungry. 3,950.
Scott McKenzie, "San Francisco", 1967. Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. This song is pretty folky. I first made it to San Francisco in 1973 when I was across the bay for the World Series. 3,800.
Left Banke, "Walk Away Renee", 1976. This is not the best version of the song, but it's still 2,900.
Blues Magoos, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet". Quintessential '60s rock, by a quintessentially named '60s rock group. And it turns out that two of the Magoos are hosting this segment of "My Favorite 45s" on Sirius XM Channel 6. I've done this one before, and I think it's 3,300. I said 3,600 on Dec. 22, so I'll settle on 3,450.
Ides of March, "Vehicle", it doesn't give the year, but I'm thinking 1969 or even '70. This song is similar to something Chicago or Earth, Wind & Fire would do. It was pretty good at the time, but I don't think it has held up over time. 4,050.
Blues Magoos, "Pipe Dreams", no year given. I don't think many people would put it on their list of favorite 45s. 4,800 might be a stretch.
Shirley Ellis, "The Name Game", 1965. I'm a little surprised it was that late and was able to become a hit at that time, but it was pretty big. You still can hear people playing the name game occasionally: "Billy, Billy, bo Illy, banana fana fo Filly." On the strength of that lasting recognition, 2,800.
Beach Boys, "California Girls", 1965. This about as Beach Boys as it gets. It was one of their biggest hits, and it spawned other songs, such as "Back in the U.S.S. R". There's a little more daring instrumentation. And you've got Tupac with a different "California Girls" song. 800.
Simon and Garfunkel, "Hazy Shade of Winter", no year given. Simon and Garfunkel produced songs with way-above-average lyrics, and also instrumentation and harmonies that went well with the lyrics. This one is straightforward, with guitar and drums, and has a great drop-off at the end: "There's a patch of snow on theground." Period. 900.
The Beatles, "Devil in a Heart", a little known early song, '63 or '64 maybe, or even earlier in the UK or Germany. It's not especially good. Ringo or whoever was the drums just about wore out the cymbals. 4,650.
The Happenings, "I Got Rhythm" from '67. This is a really good take on an older song, maybe even a George and Ira Gershwin song. They do a lot with the music on this. There's falsetto, changing tempos, different things overlaid on the music. The instrumentation is sparse, certainly in the background; it's mostly the singing and the change of pace. I checked, and the Gershwins did write this, in 1930. Their chord progression of "rhythm changes" became a staple of jazz. 2,300.
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", '67, I believe. This was the original version of a song frequent remade. In one of their many collaborations, they did a good job on it. 3,450.
The Monkees, "Daydream Believer", I think '66 or '67. This is one of their best. 3,200.
Lesley Gore, "Look of Love", '65. This is not "The Look of Love" of Sergio Mendes, and it's not very good. 4,650.
Sly and the Family Stone, "Dance to the Music", 1968. This is good soul music that really brings out the orchestra going along with it. 3,400.
Steppenwolf, "Magic Carpet Ride", also from '68. This is a much different genre, looking ahead to a more metallic future rather than back at '60s dance music. I really like Steppenwolf, and this is one of their best. The group also got me, and probable plenty of others, reading Hermann Hesse, which is a good experience. The Hesse books I read were very helpful in finding alternate ways of thinking about things. We're not all good, we're not all bad. This song is not all good, but it's pretty doggone good and not very bad. 600.
Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, "Over You" is a third type of music from '68: the soft-rock ballad. 3,900.
Lou Christie, "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" from '69. This one combines a little bit of Four Seasons and Cowsills. It's a transitional period for Lou Christie, but he held up pretty well. He was not a one-trick pony; he had a number of hits. 3,550.
Classics IV, "Traces", 1969. The Classics IV were like balladeers from an earlier time. Their songs have a nostalgic feel, with muted horns, which are very un-late '60s. 4,300.
Dixie Cups, "Chapel of Love", maybe '64. This song fits its time. Even though the British invasion had arrived, it was still a pretty innocent time -- for me especially. The Dixie Cups could sing plausible lyrics such as "I'll never be lonely anymore" when they went to the chapel to get married. Those of us who married a few years later were more likely to realize that you could be lonely in marriage and that marriage wasn't permanent. There are good harmonies in this, evocative of the times. 1,600.
Rolling Stones, "Let's Spend the Night Together", 1967. 1,250.
Voice recording #219 next.
Righteous Brothers, "Little Latin Lupe Lu", 1963. Hard to believe this is the Righteous Brothers in this rockin' performance. There's someone, probably one of the brothers, in a deep-voiced section. This is out of character. 4,700.
Steam, "Na Na Hey Hey", 1969. This has become famous at sporting events when the home team's PA system and fans will taunt the visiting team when it's about to lose. The Chicago White Sox are recognized as the first to do that. The song has lived on beyond that single use. I did hear it misused at a high school basketball game a few days ago, when the visiting fans were singing "na na na na." Dudes, you're the ones who are leaving. If I gave this song a rating, I couldn't hear it on the recording.
Elvis Presley, "If I Could Dream", 1968. Not his best. 4,200.
Mary Wells, "My Guy" from '64. I saw her in concert when I was in college. She was past her prime, which really was with this song. 2,300.
Gary Lewis and the Playboys, "This Diamond Ring", '64 or '65. Gary was Jerry Lewis' son. This song seems to be calling for a list of which children of stars became successful singer. There were Dino, Desi and Billy, sons of Dean Martin, Desi Arnaz Sr. and somebody else; Julian Lennon, Nancy Sinatra, Hank Williams Jr., if you want to go hungry. 3,950.
Scott McKenzie, "San Francisco", 1967. Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. This song is pretty folky. I first made it to San Francisco in 1973 when I was across the bay for the World Series. 3,800.
Left Banke, "Walk Away Renee", 1976. This is not the best version of the song, but it's still 2,900.
Blues Magoos, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet". Quintessential '60s rock, by a quintessentially named '60s rock group. And it turns out that two of the Magoos are hosting this segment of "My Favorite 45s" on Sirius XM Channel 6. I've done this one before, and I think it's 3,300. I said 3,600 on Dec. 22, so I'll settle on 3,450.
Ides of March, "Vehicle", it doesn't give the year, but I'm thinking 1969 or even '70. This song is similar to something Chicago or Earth, Wind & Fire would do. It was pretty good at the time, but I don't think it has held up over time. 4,050.
Blues Magoos, "Pipe Dreams", no year given. I don't think many people would put it on their list of favorite 45s. 4,800 might be a stretch.
Shirley Ellis, "The Name Game", 1965. I'm a little surprised it was that late and was able to become a hit at that time, but it was pretty big. You still can hear people playing the name game occasionally: "Billy, Billy, bo Illy, banana fana fo Filly." On the strength of that lasting recognition, 2,800.
Beach Boys, "California Girls", 1965. This about as Beach Boys as it gets. It was one of their biggest hits, and it spawned other songs, such as "Back in the U.S.S. R". There's a little more daring instrumentation. And you've got Tupac with a different "California Girls" song. 800.
Simon and Garfunkel, "Hazy Shade of Winter", no year given. Simon and Garfunkel produced songs with way-above-average lyrics, and also instrumentation and harmonies that went well with the lyrics. This one is straightforward, with guitar and drums, and has a great drop-off at the end: "There's a patch of snow on theground." Period. 900.
The Beatles, "Devil in a Heart", a little known early song, '63 or '64 maybe, or even earlier in the UK or Germany. It's not especially good. Ringo or whoever was the drums just about wore out the cymbals. 4,650.
The Happenings, "I Got Rhythm" from '67. This is a really good take on an older song, maybe even a George and Ira Gershwin song. They do a lot with the music on this. There's falsetto, changing tempos, different things overlaid on the music. The instrumentation is sparse, certainly in the background; it's mostly the singing and the change of pace. I checked, and the Gershwins did write this, in 1930. Their chord progression of "rhythm changes" became a staple of jazz. 2,300.
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", '67, I believe. This was the original version of a song frequent remade. In one of their many collaborations, they did a good job on it. 3,450.
The Monkees, "Daydream Believer", I think '66 or '67. This is one of their best. 3,200.
Lesley Gore, "Look of Love", '65. This is not "The Look of Love" of Sergio Mendes, and it's not very good. 4,650.
Sly and the Family Stone, "Dance to the Music", 1968. This is good soul music that really brings out the orchestra going along with it. 3,400.
Steppenwolf, "Magic Carpet Ride", also from '68. This is a much different genre, looking ahead to a more metallic future rather than back at '60s dance music. I really like Steppenwolf, and this is one of their best. The group also got me, and probable plenty of others, reading Hermann Hesse, which is a good experience. The Hesse books I read were very helpful in finding alternate ways of thinking about things. We're not all good, we're not all bad. This song is not all good, but it's pretty doggone good and not very bad. 600.
Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, "Over You" is a third type of music from '68: the soft-rock ballad. 3,900.
Lou Christie, "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" from '69. This one combines a little bit of Four Seasons and Cowsills. It's a transitional period for Lou Christie, but he held up pretty well. He was not a one-trick pony; he had a number of hits. 3,550.
Classics IV, "Traces", 1969. The Classics IV were like balladeers from an earlier time. Their songs have a nostalgic feel, with muted horns, which are very un-late '60s. 4,300.
Dixie Cups, "Chapel of Love", maybe '64. This song fits its time. Even though the British invasion had arrived, it was still a pretty innocent time -- for me especially. The Dixie Cups could sing plausible lyrics such as "I'll never be lonely anymore" when they went to the chapel to get married. Those of us who married a few years later were more likely to realize that you could be lonely in marriage and that marriage wasn't permanent. There are good harmonies in this, evocative of the times. 1,600.
Rolling Stones, "Let's Spend the Night Together", 1967. 1,250.
Voice recording #219 next.
Monday, January 26, 2015
Remembering Jim Morrison, and now Joe Cocker
Voice recording #208, Dec. 23.
The Animals, "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", '64 maybe. It's a good Animals song. Right after I heard this, I heard from Freddy Coleman on ESPN radio that Joe Cocker had died. Clearly a sad loss. Coleman mentioned how important Cocker was to British R&B music. 900.
?, "Young Love, and the year didn't show up on the display. I'm not sure who did this, but it sounded like a woman. Lesley Gore covered it in 1966, and Mary Hopkin in '69. The most famous version was Pat Boone's during the '50s, and even that was a cover. There's not much difference between that version and this one. The instrumentation was even thin. 4,400.
Peter and Gordon, "A World Without Love" from 1964. I remember this one because on my birthday there was a party for me with mostly basketball players and their girlfriends. One of my teammates, I think it was Paul Cogsdill, gave me the Peter and Gordon album, which might have been called "A World Without Love". I'm pretty sure it was their first album; they hadn't had many hits at the time. The album is pretty much Peter, Gordon, a guitar and drums. Very simple. It was a subset of the British invasion. 3,400.
Marvin Gaye, "Thinking About My Baby", 1969. Not one of his best. I'm thinking about two of my babies, M-Tex and Samantha, who are now in Paris and will be spending Christmas in Venice while I'm in Pittsburgh. 4,550.
The Doors, "I'm Going to Love You" from '68. One of the times I went to the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame, there was a display about Jim Morrison. It detailed his upbringing and some of the problems that led to his early demise -- a theme of this day. The thing that stuck in my mind the most was seeing his Cub Scout uniform. His dad, Rear Admiral George Morrison was in charge of the U.S. carrier fleet in the Gulf of Tonkin. The display made it seem as if there was a Great Santini component to the parenting by Jim's dad, that he was hard on his children. So Jim seemed conflicted between his desire to be free and not repressed, and the kind of precision that went into his Cub Scout uniform. That conflict apparently wasn't played out before his death. I remember when I was in Cub Scouts, my mom was a pretty good seamstress; she did homemaker things very well. But on my sleeves -- and I didn't get a whole lot of arrows to add to my badges -- rather than having the badges separated precisely by a quarter of an inch or whatever the measurement was, and Morrison's sleeve was a picture of precision, one of mine would be tilted a little bit this way and another a little bit that way. It was not a neat row. I was in Boy Scouts just about long enough to get enough merit badges to get a sash to display them -- that was about it. You'd see some kids at summer camp with merit badges from their shoulder to their waist, but I got caught up in high school sports and other activities. So my sash had a few rows of badges up near my shoulder and the rest was blank. I do recommend the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame. 2,900.
The Mindbenders, "A Groovy Kind of Love", I'd say early '60s or maybe as late as '66. They were no longer Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders. He had left the band in 1965. With him, the Mindbenders had better songs than this slow-paced, innocuous rock song. 4,650.
Sam and Dave, "I Thank You" from '68. Again, not their best. Some things in the song were mindful of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", but this song isn't as good as that either. 4,100.
Nancy Sinatra, "These Boots Are Made for Walking", maybe '64. This song changed a lot of people's perceptions. 1. Who knew Frank Sinatra had a hot daughter? 2. It made me look at women in boots in a different way. Some boots are good, and I'm sure Nancy helped other women think they'd look good in boots as well. This next part I direct at M-Tex, to say you don't really need a dozen pairs of boots. This was by far her biggest hit -- even bigger than the songs she did with her dad, who I understand was also a pretty good singer. 2,700.
The Drifters, "White Christmas". Picture The Drifters singing "Under the Boardwalk" or "Up on the Roof". Picture "White Christmas". And then picture something 180 degrees away from each of them, if that's possible. I guess you'd call this closer to "Green May Day". I might have given another song 4,999. But if I did, this song would probably lose the playoff for that position.
This is actually the Lou Christie Christmas Show, so perhaps we'll have "Two Faces Have I on New Year's Eve", and one of those would be shit-faced. I hope the others are better. I like Christmas songs, especially during the few days before and after the holiday (not in November or on Halloween), but really!
Beach Boys, "Little Saint Nick". My faith is restored. This one has staying power. It's very Beach Boys, playful and a counterpoint between the Beach Boy's almost falsetto and the bassish "Christmas comes this time each year." As they repeat that phrase, the pitch gets higher. 3,950.
The De Castro Sisters and Nick Martin, "Snowbound for Christmas", 1955. I think Nick Martin had the orchestra, because he certainly wasn't singing. This one sounds like a production number, so it might have come from some holiday movie. It had a big orchestra with lots of strings. I checked and the song doesn't seem to have been included in a movie. It is, however, the title song on an album of forgotten holiday tunes from the '50s and '60s that you can buy for 10.98 pounds from propermusic.com. 4,750.
Lou Christie, "Coldest Night of the Year". A woman was singing most of it, so possibly it was Louise Christie. 4,800.
Cyndi Lauper, "Feels Like Christmas". It sounds like Cyndi, but out of tune. The drumbeat sounds like the Continental Army marching from Lexington to Concord. It didn't feel much like Christmas to me. As much as I like Cyndi Lauper, 4,850.
Paul Anka, "It's Christmas Everywhere". It's not Christmas yet. It's barely Christmas Eve in Europe, and only what Diana would call Christmas Eve Eve here in the U.S. and Anka's Canada. This song is more like Christmas on tranquilizers. It doesn't follow any of the typical formulas. It's not religious. It isn't warm and fuzzy. It isn't a novelty recording. It's just a song. 4,900.
Lou Christie, "Christmas in NY" on the display, but the words are "Christmas in New York", so I'm guessing that's the actual title. It has some Lou Christie touches with the falsetto and chimes, but it's nothing special for a holiday song. 4,850, possibly a bit more.
Brian Wilson, "What I Really Want for Christmas". This was a bit heavy. Apparently what he really wanted was peace, which is cool. But he would have been better in following the formula of "Little Saint Nick", so listeners could say, "Hey! A Beach Boys song!" I just heard more of the song on the recording, and thought the people who write songs like this probably failed at writing some of the weak new hymns you could hear in "modern" churches. 4,900.
Carnie and Wendy Wilson, "Hey Santa" from 1993. I would bet that more Christmas songs are about Santa than anyone else, even Jesus. But I guess that makes sense. It is Santa's birthday on December 25th, right? I didn't remember Wendy, but I checked and found that she was the other Wilson sister in Wilson Phillips with Carnie and Chynna Phillips. The sisters were Brian Wilson's daughters -- the Beach Boy, not the former Giants and Dodgers pitcher. I had low expectations for this song, so it's not as disappointing as Brian Wilson's. 4,850.
Next, following my Christmas trip to Pittsburgh, is voice recording #217 from Dec. 29.
The Animals, "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", '64 maybe. It's a good Animals song. Right after I heard this, I heard from Freddy Coleman on ESPN radio that Joe Cocker had died. Clearly a sad loss. Coleman mentioned how important Cocker was to British R&B music. 900.
?, "Young Love, and the year didn't show up on the display. I'm not sure who did this, but it sounded like a woman. Lesley Gore covered it in 1966, and Mary Hopkin in '69. The most famous version was Pat Boone's during the '50s, and even that was a cover. There's not much difference between that version and this one. The instrumentation was even thin. 4,400.
Peter and Gordon, "A World Without Love" from 1964. I remember this one because on my birthday there was a party for me with mostly basketball players and their girlfriends. One of my teammates, I think it was Paul Cogsdill, gave me the Peter and Gordon album, which might have been called "A World Without Love". I'm pretty sure it was their first album; they hadn't had many hits at the time. The album is pretty much Peter, Gordon, a guitar and drums. Very simple. It was a subset of the British invasion. 3,400.
Marvin Gaye, "Thinking About My Baby", 1969. Not one of his best. I'm thinking about two of my babies, M-Tex and Samantha, who are now in Paris and will be spending Christmas in Venice while I'm in Pittsburgh. 4,550.
The Doors, "I'm Going to Love You" from '68. One of the times I went to the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame, there was a display about Jim Morrison. It detailed his upbringing and some of the problems that led to his early demise -- a theme of this day. The thing that stuck in my mind the most was seeing his Cub Scout uniform. His dad, Rear Admiral George Morrison was in charge of the U.S. carrier fleet in the Gulf of Tonkin. The display made it seem as if there was a Great Santini component to the parenting by Jim's dad, that he was hard on his children. So Jim seemed conflicted between his desire to be free and not repressed, and the kind of precision that went into his Cub Scout uniform. That conflict apparently wasn't played out before his death. I remember when I was in Cub Scouts, my mom was a pretty good seamstress; she did homemaker things very well. But on my sleeves -- and I didn't get a whole lot of arrows to add to my badges -- rather than having the badges separated precisely by a quarter of an inch or whatever the measurement was, and Morrison's sleeve was a picture of precision, one of mine would be tilted a little bit this way and another a little bit that way. It was not a neat row. I was in Boy Scouts just about long enough to get enough merit badges to get a sash to display them -- that was about it. You'd see some kids at summer camp with merit badges from their shoulder to their waist, but I got caught up in high school sports and other activities. So my sash had a few rows of badges up near my shoulder and the rest was blank. I do recommend the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame. 2,900.
The Mindbenders, "A Groovy Kind of Love", I'd say early '60s or maybe as late as '66. They were no longer Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders. He had left the band in 1965. With him, the Mindbenders had better songs than this slow-paced, innocuous rock song. 4,650.
Sam and Dave, "I Thank You" from '68. Again, not their best. Some things in the song were mindful of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", but this song isn't as good as that either. 4,100.
Nancy Sinatra, "These Boots Are Made for Walking", maybe '64. This song changed a lot of people's perceptions. 1. Who knew Frank Sinatra had a hot daughter? 2. It made me look at women in boots in a different way. Some boots are good, and I'm sure Nancy helped other women think they'd look good in boots as well. This next part I direct at M-Tex, to say you don't really need a dozen pairs of boots. This was by far her biggest hit -- even bigger than the songs she did with her dad, who I understand was also a pretty good singer. 2,700.
The Drifters, "White Christmas". Picture The Drifters singing "Under the Boardwalk" or "Up on the Roof". Picture "White Christmas". And then picture something 180 degrees away from each of them, if that's possible. I guess you'd call this closer to "Green May Day". I might have given another song 4,999. But if I did, this song would probably lose the playoff for that position.
This is actually the Lou Christie Christmas Show, so perhaps we'll have "Two Faces Have I on New Year's Eve", and one of those would be shit-faced. I hope the others are better. I like Christmas songs, especially during the few days before and after the holiday (not in November or on Halloween), but really!
Beach Boys, "Little Saint Nick". My faith is restored. This one has staying power. It's very Beach Boys, playful and a counterpoint between the Beach Boy's almost falsetto and the bassish "Christmas comes this time each year." As they repeat that phrase, the pitch gets higher. 3,950.
The De Castro Sisters and Nick Martin, "Snowbound for Christmas", 1955. I think Nick Martin had the orchestra, because he certainly wasn't singing. This one sounds like a production number, so it might have come from some holiday movie. It had a big orchestra with lots of strings. I checked and the song doesn't seem to have been included in a movie. It is, however, the title song on an album of forgotten holiday tunes from the '50s and '60s that you can buy for 10.98 pounds from propermusic.com. 4,750.
Lou Christie, "Coldest Night of the Year". A woman was singing most of it, so possibly it was Louise Christie. 4,800.
Cyndi Lauper, "Feels Like Christmas". It sounds like Cyndi, but out of tune. The drumbeat sounds like the Continental Army marching from Lexington to Concord. It didn't feel much like Christmas to me. As much as I like Cyndi Lauper, 4,850.
Paul Anka, "It's Christmas Everywhere". It's not Christmas yet. It's barely Christmas Eve in Europe, and only what Diana would call Christmas Eve Eve here in the U.S. and Anka's Canada. This song is more like Christmas on tranquilizers. It doesn't follow any of the typical formulas. It's not religious. It isn't warm and fuzzy. It isn't a novelty recording. It's just a song. 4,900.
Lou Christie, "Christmas in NY" on the display, but the words are "Christmas in New York", so I'm guessing that's the actual title. It has some Lou Christie touches with the falsetto and chimes, but it's nothing special for a holiday song. 4,850, possibly a bit more.
Brian Wilson, "What I Really Want for Christmas". This was a bit heavy. Apparently what he really wanted was peace, which is cool. But he would have been better in following the formula of "Little Saint Nick", so listeners could say, "Hey! A Beach Boys song!" I just heard more of the song on the recording, and thought the people who write songs like this probably failed at writing some of the weak new hymns you could hear in "modern" churches. 4,900.
Carnie and Wendy Wilson, "Hey Santa" from 1993. I would bet that more Christmas songs are about Santa than anyone else, even Jesus. But I guess that makes sense. It is Santa's birthday on December 25th, right? I didn't remember Wendy, but I checked and found that she was the other Wilson sister in Wilson Phillips with Carnie and Chynna Phillips. The sisters were Brian Wilson's daughters -- the Beach Boy, not the former Giants and Dodgers pitcher. I had low expectations for this song, so it's not as disappointing as Brian Wilson's. 4,850.
Next, following my Christmas trip to Pittsburgh, is voice recording #217 from Dec. 29.
'60s trends and a surprise hit
Voice recording #203, Dec. 22
Blues Magoos, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet", 1967. 3,600.
Supremes, "The Happening", '67. There were happenings, which were kind of a precursor to raves, during the late '60s, when the times were a-changing. "Laugh-In" was huge on TV then, in prime time rather than the later late night of SNL, and it was the show that launched Goldie Hawn, who begat Kate Hudson. 3,800.
The Lovin' Spoonful, "Summer in the City", '66. I remember listening to this when I drove to the Jersey shore (Ocean Beach) to visit my college friend Tom Poole one weekend, so it has some good memories. 1,900.
Bobby Fuller Four, "I Fought the Law," I think '66. This could go in a competition for legal-conflict songs with "I Shot the Sheriff" and others. Civilians' fighting the law is a hot-button topic as 2014 turns into 2015. 2,300.
Hugo Montenegro and His Orchestra, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", 1968. This was a seminal film, especially for a college-age male. It was THE spaghetti Western, one of Clint Eastwood's greatest roles as The Man with No Name or Blondeh, along with Eli Wallach's Tuco and Lee Van Cleef's Angel Eyes. The sound track wasn't necessary ground-breaking, but it was memorable with its horns. Ennio Morricone did the music for the movie. I'm not sure why Montenegro had the pop-music version. It's an instrumental, but with some voices. Part of what they say sounds like "Waco," but I've seen in written out as "ehko." 3,100.
The Youngbloods, "Get Together", 1969, during the age of Aquarius. The song is not timeless in its presentation of peace and harmony, but it is representative of its period. 3,700.
Billy Joe Royal, "I Knew You When", '65. It's not his greatest, but it's fine. 4,100.
Jackie DeShannon, "Put a Little Love in Your Heart", 1969. At the time when this came out, there still weren't a whole lot of female soloists performing. You had Jackie, Marianne Faithful and a few others. Diana Ross had broken away and gone solo, and a few others did the same during the years to come -- Linda Ronstadt, Tina Turner, Marilyn McCoo, Cher split from Sonny -- with varying degrees of success. This was part of a movement that was probably overdue, and strangely was more prevalent in country music. 3,600.
Eric Burdon and The Animals, "Don't Bring Me Down", '66. Not The Animals' best, but it did tell us that Eric Burdon might have been becoming bigger than the band. Naming the front man along with the group was part of another mid-to-late '60s trend, but not as powerful as the female-vocalist movement. 3,950.
Four Tops, "Standing in the Shadows of Love", I think '67. Again not their greatest, but pretty good. 3,500.
The Mamas and the Papas, "California Dreaming", '66. I can remember hearing this on the radio in my freshman dorm room. 2,400.
Joe Cocker, "I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends", I'm guessing '68. This is a Beatles tune that he took and added some things -- slowed it down a bit, changed some tempos, put in a chorus and used his own inimitable singing style. By that time, there were some videos of performers so we could see what they looked like and how they comported themselves on stage. That's how we saw Cocker's unique style. I'm not sure that he improved on the original song, but he certainly didn't hurt it. I think of this as a variation on a theme, and the changes that he made were good, not destructive. 1,700.
My original intention for this project was to blog every day with my observations from the songs. It hasn't come close to working that way. I was about a month behind (as I still am) in recording and posting daily observations, so it might end up taking me years to complete a database and write this book, instead of completing the research by Nov. 1, and putting it in some kind of order and finishing the database and the writing within a few months after that. I'm hoping to keep posting a lot more.
The Monkees, "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You", '66 or '67. I just heard the end of it after recording my explanation above, but I know the song pretty well. I might have written about it already. Again, it's not The Monkees' best. 4,300.
Rufus Thomas, "I'll Be Your Santa Baby". This is not a song you're going to expect to hear every year at this time, like "Jingle Bell Rock", which is more universal. I didn't give it a rating, but wouldn't expect it to be among a Top 5,000.
The Delfonics, "La La (Means I Love You)", not sure of the year. The group reminds me of the Quentin Tarantino film, "Jackie Brown". It was full of incongruities, but none greater than Robert Forster's hard-bitten bail bondsman character, who tried to bond with Pam Grier's money-laundering stewardess/flight attendant character, Jackie Brown, through her love of The Delfonics. Their music was on the record player in her apartment the first time he went there. The song is a ballad, incongruous with a period of more raucous music. 3,800.
Jeannie C. Riley, "Harper Valley PTA", 1968. It was her greatest pop hit by far, though she had success in the country and gospel music genres. And Jeannie C. Riley is not related to John C. Reilly. One reason why I like '60s music as a whole better than any other decades' is that I was in my prime radio-listening days and I had more time to listen. A bigger reason was that there was just so much variety, and new genres popping up with various periods of longevity. At a time when there were songs protesting the war, Motown, psychedelic music, there's this country song going almost to the top of the 1968 year-long chart. I'm not a big fan of this particular song, but I applaud the additional voice in the mix. 4,500.
Rolling Stones, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", '65. This may be only my second- or third-favorite Stones song, but it's still 100 or less.
The Young Rascals, "Good Lovin'", '66. This was before they were just The Rascals, I guess because they were older. The song was very popular at the time and had a lot of things going on. 2,700.
Next up is voice recording #208.
Blues Magoos, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet", 1967. 3,600.
Supremes, "The Happening", '67. There were happenings, which were kind of a precursor to raves, during the late '60s, when the times were a-changing. "Laugh-In" was huge on TV then, in prime time rather than the later late night of SNL, and it was the show that launched Goldie Hawn, who begat Kate Hudson. 3,800.
The Lovin' Spoonful, "Summer in the City", '66. I remember listening to this when I drove to the Jersey shore (Ocean Beach) to visit my college friend Tom Poole one weekend, so it has some good memories. 1,900.
Bobby Fuller Four, "I Fought the Law," I think '66. This could go in a competition for legal-conflict songs with "I Shot the Sheriff" and others. Civilians' fighting the law is a hot-button topic as 2014 turns into 2015. 2,300.
Hugo Montenegro and His Orchestra, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", 1968. This was a seminal film, especially for a college-age male. It was THE spaghetti Western, one of Clint Eastwood's greatest roles as The Man with No Name or Blondeh, along with Eli Wallach's Tuco and Lee Van Cleef's Angel Eyes. The sound track wasn't necessary ground-breaking, but it was memorable with its horns. Ennio Morricone did the music for the movie. I'm not sure why Montenegro had the pop-music version. It's an instrumental, but with some voices. Part of what they say sounds like "Waco," but I've seen in written out as "ehko." 3,100.
The Youngbloods, "Get Together", 1969, during the age of Aquarius. The song is not timeless in its presentation of peace and harmony, but it is representative of its period. 3,700.
Billy Joe Royal, "I Knew You When", '65. It's not his greatest, but it's fine. 4,100.
Jackie DeShannon, "Put a Little Love in Your Heart", 1969. At the time when this came out, there still weren't a whole lot of female soloists performing. You had Jackie, Marianne Faithful and a few others. Diana Ross had broken away and gone solo, and a few others did the same during the years to come -- Linda Ronstadt, Tina Turner, Marilyn McCoo, Cher split from Sonny -- with varying degrees of success. This was part of a movement that was probably overdue, and strangely was more prevalent in country music. 3,600.
Eric Burdon and The Animals, "Don't Bring Me Down", '66. Not The Animals' best, but it did tell us that Eric Burdon might have been becoming bigger than the band. Naming the front man along with the group was part of another mid-to-late '60s trend, but not as powerful as the female-vocalist movement. 3,950.
Four Tops, "Standing in the Shadows of Love", I think '67. Again not their greatest, but pretty good. 3,500.
The Mamas and the Papas, "California Dreaming", '66. I can remember hearing this on the radio in my freshman dorm room. 2,400.
Joe Cocker, "I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends", I'm guessing '68. This is a Beatles tune that he took and added some things -- slowed it down a bit, changed some tempos, put in a chorus and used his own inimitable singing style. By that time, there were some videos of performers so we could see what they looked like and how they comported themselves on stage. That's how we saw Cocker's unique style. I'm not sure that he improved on the original song, but he certainly didn't hurt it. I think of this as a variation on a theme, and the changes that he made were good, not destructive. 1,700.
My original intention for this project was to blog every day with my observations from the songs. It hasn't come close to working that way. I was about a month behind (as I still am) in recording and posting daily observations, so it might end up taking me years to complete a database and write this book, instead of completing the research by Nov. 1, and putting it in some kind of order and finishing the database and the writing within a few months after that. I'm hoping to keep posting a lot more.
The Monkees, "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You", '66 or '67. I just heard the end of it after recording my explanation above, but I know the song pretty well. I might have written about it already. Again, it's not The Monkees' best. 4,300.
Rufus Thomas, "I'll Be Your Santa Baby". This is not a song you're going to expect to hear every year at this time, like "Jingle Bell Rock", which is more universal. I didn't give it a rating, but wouldn't expect it to be among a Top 5,000.
The Delfonics, "La La (Means I Love You)", not sure of the year. The group reminds me of the Quentin Tarantino film, "Jackie Brown". It was full of incongruities, but none greater than Robert Forster's hard-bitten bail bondsman character, who tried to bond with Pam Grier's money-laundering stewardess/flight attendant character, Jackie Brown, through her love of The Delfonics. Their music was on the record player in her apartment the first time he went there. The song is a ballad, incongruous with a period of more raucous music. 3,800.
Jeannie C. Riley, "Harper Valley PTA", 1968. It was her greatest pop hit by far, though she had success in the country and gospel music genres. And Jeannie C. Riley is not related to John C. Reilly. One reason why I like '60s music as a whole better than any other decades' is that I was in my prime radio-listening days and I had more time to listen. A bigger reason was that there was just so much variety, and new genres popping up with various periods of longevity. At a time when there were songs protesting the war, Motown, psychedelic music, there's this country song going almost to the top of the 1968 year-long chart. I'm not a big fan of this particular song, but I applaud the additional voice in the mix. 4,500.
Rolling Stones, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", '65. This may be only my second- or third-favorite Stones song, but it's still 100 or less.
The Young Rascals, "Good Lovin'", '66. This was before they were just The Rascals, I guess because they were older. The song was very popular at the time and had a lot of things going on. 2,700.
Next up is voice recording #208.
Losing Otis Redding and Senator Kennedy -- plus a lot of names dropped
Voice recording #200, Dec. 19.
Sirius XM Channel 6, the '60s.
Fifth Dimension, "Aquarius", 1969. It doesn't get much more how we perceive the '60s than this one. It truly was literally the dawning of the Age of Aquarius for a number of people at that time, in the year of Woodstock and my college graduation. That dawning added another dimension to the song. I saw the Fifth Dimension in concert at Ohio Wesleyan and being incredibly impressed with Marilyn McCoo, who carried the group with her joyful, enthusiastic singing and performing. 1,900.
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, "Watch the Flowers Grow", 1967. I don't remember this song, and there's probably a good reason. This was slightly more exciting than watching grass grow. I really liked the Four Seasons and Frankie generally, but 4,750.
The Beatles, "Hard Day's Night (Hollywood Bowl)", mid-'60s. Must have been a live performance at Hollywood Bowl. 3,100.
Otis Redding, "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay", '67 or '68. This became very popular because Otis died after recording it. I remember hearing this at a party at the late Bill Zantiny's apartment in Columbus. He was a senior when I was a freshman, and I think he was working on a master's degree at The Ohio State University. It was as if I was at a big-boy party. Invited a girl named Sally, but I was nervous because I was afraid she was out of my league and I'm sure I didn't show her a good time. This was a good song, but I'm not sure it would have become as popular had Otis survived. 1,950.
Procol Harum, "Whiter Shade of Pale", year? I think I left the recorder running during the song, and thought I was recording my impressions when I actually had turned it off. If I didn't hear it and rate it another time, this would be above 1,000. Really liked the song and the organ.
The McCoys, "Hang on Sloopy", 1965. The McCoys were from Dayton, Ohio, so they weren't too far away to come and perform on our campus, but they might not have. I don't specifically remember seeing them. They and the Music Explosion from Mansfield were high on the charts in Ohio. 3,800.
Four Tops, "Reach Out (I'll Be There)", I think '64. Pretty good driving rhythm. 2,300.
Paul Revere and the Raiders, "Hungry", '66. The group was later known as just the Raiders. Their heyday was in the mid-to-late '60s. They haven't really held up well outside their era. This was an OK song but not their best. 4,300.
Roy Orbison, "Oh Pretty Woman" from '64. This was revived by the popularity of the movie "Pretty Woman" three decades later. Orbison was an underrated talent. His singing was excellent. One drawback on this song was that the instrumentation is mundane. He wasn't really appreciated too much because he wasn't a dynamic performer, even in the days when very few were dynamic. I'm talking about the days when even the British invasion groups sang wearing matching jackets. Ron Bliss, the publisher when I was the managing editor for Buffalo Bills Weekly, had a theory that Orbison wore dark glasses on stage because he was ugly. He wasn't photogenic, but he could sing. I'm wavering on this one, which quite likely is his best, but 1,400.
Lesley Gore, "California Nights", not sure of the year. I was surprised when I entered the '60s into the database at how many hits Lesley had during the decade. There weren't a lot of memorable ones. She's known best for the ongoing saga of "It's My Party" and "Judy's Turn to Cry". This was one of her later songs, kind of rocky. Music had turned away from her typical style. 3,700.
The Okaysions, "Girl Watcher" from '68, I believe. It was a song that might not be made today because it objectified women, and they sometimes object. It has a catchy tune. 3,900.
The Gentrys, "Keep on Dancing", '65. Because it was '65, it had organ music in it. Also pretty good drumming. Their greatest, maybe only, hit. Just checked; they did have other, far less successful hit songs. 3,600.
Johnny Rivers, "Summer Rain" from '67. My Lesley Gore comment also applies somewhat to Rivers. He had a distinct style that was his, and it lasted longer than Gore's did. He didn't change much, but by '67 the instrumentation included drums and strings that were fuller than in his earlier songs. He adds a shout out to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". So he wasn't fighting the change, but he wasn't joining it either. This song grew on me as I really started listening to it today. 3,200.
Small Faces, "Ichycoo Park", I think '67. I mentioned this song as one about parks that pretty much sucked. Not as much as "MacArthur Park". "Ichycoo" has a little bit of what you might call music to it. 4,700.
Beach Boys, "Dance, Dance, Dance" from 1964. This is straight-up Beach Boys, before the "Good Vibrations" days. It was pretty much surfer-party dude music. 3,050.
The Monkees, "Valerie", 1968. When I listened to it, I realized it was one of the rockiest love songs. The Monkees were a made-for-TV group. When they started, I don't believe any of them played instruments; they were just singers. There is good guitar work on this song, and a good, driving beat. Good work here. 2,200.
We Five, "You Were on My Mind", '65. I think this qualifies as folk rock, and it's good. It keeps moving, has a word story. This was the year I graduated from high school, and I was becoming aware of things. I'd been to Europe the previous summer, and that probably helped. This song has some sophistication. 1,500.
Stevie Wonder, "A Place in the Sun", '62 is in my mind as the year, but he might still have been Little Stevie Wonder then. I don't this believe this is the original version. It's OK. 4,200.
Neil Sedaka, "Deck the Halls", no year listed. I'm thinking they played this just because it's a holiday song. There are a lot of holiday songs that pop stars have recorded. This one does not stand out even in the holiday milieu. 4,750.
Herman's Hermits, "I'm Into Something Good", '64. My high school friend Steve Hubbell always used the expression "That's into something" when that thing was good, and the Hermits used the expression the same way. Peter Noone, aka Herman, does a really good weekend show on Sirius XM's '60s on 6. He talks of knowing many of the bands and people in them while they all were coming up in England, and different places where he'd encounter them at gigs. He has a lot of knowledge about the scene over there. Herman's Hermits had some successes, and this was one of them. 2,100.
The Who, "Pictures of Lily", not sure of the year. I vaguely remember this one; it was not one of The Who's greatest. 4,300.
Neil Diamond, "Cherry Cherry", 1966. 3,700.
Mason Williams, "Classical Gas", 1968. It was an instrumental. This one did what good instrumental pieces do -- used different tempos and volumes of sound, instrumentation. The classical guitar really carried the melody. There are drums, horns and I believe some strings, so it's pretty musical. 3,550.
Jay and the Americans, "Wisdom of a Fool", it didn't say what year. I don't remember this one at all. I think it's a cappella. I give them some points for trying something different. 4,550.
Donovan, "Mellow Yellow", '66. Donovan Leitch was kind of a next wave of the British invasion. He was a little bit out there. In this song, he does some of what you might call whisper singing: "quite rightly." 2,200.
The Trade Winds, "New York's a Lonely Town", '65. There were some sleigh bells in this song, which I believe was another holiday tune. New York apparently is a lonely town when you're the only surfer boy around. 4,600.
Temptations, "My Girl", '66. Classic Motown. There's an orchestra, which was a typical Motown feature. 1,200.
Millie Small, "My Boy Lollipop", I'd say no later than '63. You can't go too far wrong with a song that rhymes "my boy Lollipop" with "makes my heart go giddy-up." 3,900.
Crispian St. Peter, "Pied Piper", I don't remember seeing a year, '66, maybe '68. There aren't too many songs here that feature what I think was a piccolo. It's a pretty good song, and it's a guy named Crispian. Come on! 1,900.
The Beatles, "Good Day Sunshine", I think '65. A DJ or guest host commented between songs that Beatles producer George Martin played piano on the song. It's a good-time song on the order of the Beatles' later "Here Comes the Sun". 2,800.
Wilson Pickett, "Land of 1,000 Dances", 1966. In this one, you can hear the saxophone and horns. While the song is playing, I can almost see young people in a club dancing the twist or the pony, mashed potatoes, as Wilson sings about those. 2,200.
Three Dog Night, "Eli's Coming", don't know the year. This was very rocky for Three Dog Night, their rock ingest. It moves pretty well. 2,900.
B.J. Thomas, "Hooked on a Feeling", 1968. I don't know if this was the original version, but it was the first one I heard, and definitely an early one. So this was before David Hasselhoff or "ooga chucka." I like it. 2,250.
Rolling Stones, "Lady Jane", '66. I'm not sure whether this was supposed to be about Henry VIII's wife Lady Jane Seymour, or alluding to them with a contemporary named Jane or Lady Anne. A good case for the Henry VIII scenario is that it either had a harpsichord or some way of making a guitar sound like a harpsichord out of the Reformation/Renaissance period. It's a nice tune. Just checked. It had Jack Nitzche on harpsichord and Brian Jones on dulcimer. 2,700.
Arthur Conley, "Sweet Soul Music", 1967. This is an anthology type of songs that catches us up on some particular genre of music and pays homage to some of the artists of the day. I heard it a lot in college, because down the hall Chris Ensign and Steve Croll had it on their record player -- which we had then -- and it was set up so that instead of just turning itself off at the end of the song, the needle would return to the beginning of the song. It would play constantly for hours. But it was also good music itself. 2,200.
Gene Pitney, "It Hurts to Be in Love", 1964. This must have come out in the summer, while I was in Italy, because I didn't remember hearing it until some time after I returned. It seemed to be very popular with the girls in my class. 3,200.
Shangri-Las, "Leader of the Pack", 1964. This is a stone classic. It really seems like nostalgia, reaching back to the music of a year or more earlier before the British invaded. It has the revving of a motorcycle in the song, great lyrics such as "I met him at the candy store (referring to the big biker, the leader of the pack). He turned around and smiled at me. You get the picture? Yes, we see. That's when I -- not me, but the singers, the Shangri-Las -- fell for the leader of the pack. Vroom vroom" -- sound effects, not singing. 200.
The Chambers Brothers, "Time Has Come Today", I think '67. It's a great one. Any movie, anything that has to do with time, inevitably you'll hear the Chambers Brothers and their loud ticking clock effects. 500.
The Archies, "Sugar Sugar", 1969. Pure bubblegum music. 4,300.
Dave Clark Five, "I Like It Like That", '64 or possibly '65. In the early days of the British invasion, the Beatles were clearly the kings. But I think up high, in a grouping that would have included the Stones, was Dave Clark Five. They really had some good music going. They just didn't evolve the way the Beatles did, so they just kind of got stuck and went away. This song has a nice hard edge. 2,200.
Herman's Hermits, "Wonderful World", '66. I think Sam Cooke had the original version. I heard a little-known fact on 60s on 6, that the session guitarist on the Hermits' version was Jimmy Page, later with Led Zeppelin. It's a pretty good song. I think the original was the best, but I give this one 2,400.
The Ventures, "Sleigh Ride", and I guess they're not giving the years for these holiday songs because they're timeless, right? This one you know: "It's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you." Well, you know the song but I doubt that many people even know, much less have heard, the Ventures' instrumental version in several decades. The guitar playing and picking are mindful of Duane Eddy. 4,700.
The Association, "Cherish", 1967? The Association had a number of soft songs, and this could have been the softest. It's a song of unrequited love. The dude just doesn't have the words to describe the way he feels to the woman of his dreams -- even though he does sing, "Cherish is the word." 3,700.
Jackie Wilson, "Higher and Higher", 1967. This is another guy for whom I didn't recall how much influence he had on the music world. He had a number of hits, but not many huge hits. This song has been well done by others, such as Rita Coolidge. This version is good and squarely in the soul genre. 1,900.
The Troggs, "Wild Thing", 1966. It was a pretty good year, even for this song, kind of a novelty act. Later came out a version of "Wild Thing" by Senator Kennedy: "Wild Thing, you uh make uh my haht sing." It included a line, "Teddy on the ocarina." That version went down in flames after Sen. Robert Kennedy was assassinated, just as satirist Vaughn Meader's career all but ended with the death of President Jack Kennedy. I don't know if I have heard the senator's version since '68. He shouldn't have been killed, but that shouldn't mean that we never hear anything that could be construed as mocking or poking fun at him. Also in '66, I was 18 years, home from college, working during the day where my dad worked at Seneca Foods. It was a great but disappointing season for the Pittsburgh Pirates, my favorite team. They didn't win, but were high on character and characters, such as radio broadcaster Bob Prince and catcher Jim Pagliaroni to go with Roberto Clemente and the double-play combination of Gene Alley and Bill Mazeroski. That was my favorite Pirates team, even above their World Series champions in my lifetime. The only players I didn't like were first baseman Donn Clendenon and pitcher Pete Mikkelsen, who seemed predisposed to not coming through and seeming to spell disasters in clutch situations. Prince came up with the concept of the Green Weenie, a green plastic thing that was supposed to be a hot dog but looked more like a pickle. You were supposed to wave it to help the Pirates get through tough stretches in games, kind of a precursor to the Angels' Rally Monkey. I was excited when somebody actually got me a Green Weenie. 1,200 for this classic song.
Paul Revere and the Raiders (again), "Good Things", 1966. It had a good driving beat, some harmonizing in the voices. 3,000.
Sirius XM Channel 6, the '60s.
Fifth Dimension, "Aquarius", 1969. It doesn't get much more how we perceive the '60s than this one. It truly was literally the dawning of the Age of Aquarius for a number of people at that time, in the year of Woodstock and my college graduation. That dawning added another dimension to the song. I saw the Fifth Dimension in concert at Ohio Wesleyan and being incredibly impressed with Marilyn McCoo, who carried the group with her joyful, enthusiastic singing and performing. 1,900.
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, "Watch the Flowers Grow", 1967. I don't remember this song, and there's probably a good reason. This was slightly more exciting than watching grass grow. I really liked the Four Seasons and Frankie generally, but 4,750.
The Beatles, "Hard Day's Night (Hollywood Bowl)", mid-'60s. Must have been a live performance at Hollywood Bowl. 3,100.
Otis Redding, "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay", '67 or '68. This became very popular because Otis died after recording it. I remember hearing this at a party at the late Bill Zantiny's apartment in Columbus. He was a senior when I was a freshman, and I think he was working on a master's degree at The Ohio State University. It was as if I was at a big-boy party. Invited a girl named Sally, but I was nervous because I was afraid she was out of my league and I'm sure I didn't show her a good time. This was a good song, but I'm not sure it would have become as popular had Otis survived. 1,950.
Procol Harum, "Whiter Shade of Pale", year? I think I left the recorder running during the song, and thought I was recording my impressions when I actually had turned it off. If I didn't hear it and rate it another time, this would be above 1,000. Really liked the song and the organ.
The McCoys, "Hang on Sloopy", 1965. The McCoys were from Dayton, Ohio, so they weren't too far away to come and perform on our campus, but they might not have. I don't specifically remember seeing them. They and the Music Explosion from Mansfield were high on the charts in Ohio. 3,800.
Four Tops, "Reach Out (I'll Be There)", I think '64. Pretty good driving rhythm. 2,300.
Paul Revere and the Raiders, "Hungry", '66. The group was later known as just the Raiders. Their heyday was in the mid-to-late '60s. They haven't really held up well outside their era. This was an OK song but not their best. 4,300.
Roy Orbison, "Oh Pretty Woman" from '64. This was revived by the popularity of the movie "Pretty Woman" three decades later. Orbison was an underrated talent. His singing was excellent. One drawback on this song was that the instrumentation is mundane. He wasn't really appreciated too much because he wasn't a dynamic performer, even in the days when very few were dynamic. I'm talking about the days when even the British invasion groups sang wearing matching jackets. Ron Bliss, the publisher when I was the managing editor for Buffalo Bills Weekly, had a theory that Orbison wore dark glasses on stage because he was ugly. He wasn't photogenic, but he could sing. I'm wavering on this one, which quite likely is his best, but 1,400.
Lesley Gore, "California Nights", not sure of the year. I was surprised when I entered the '60s into the database at how many hits Lesley had during the decade. There weren't a lot of memorable ones. She's known best for the ongoing saga of "It's My Party" and "Judy's Turn to Cry". This was one of her later songs, kind of rocky. Music had turned away from her typical style. 3,700.
The Okaysions, "Girl Watcher" from '68, I believe. It was a song that might not be made today because it objectified women, and they sometimes object. It has a catchy tune. 3,900.
The Gentrys, "Keep on Dancing", '65. Because it was '65, it had organ music in it. Also pretty good drumming. Their greatest, maybe only, hit. Just checked; they did have other, far less successful hit songs. 3,600.
Johnny Rivers, "Summer Rain" from '67. My Lesley Gore comment also applies somewhat to Rivers. He had a distinct style that was his, and it lasted longer than Gore's did. He didn't change much, but by '67 the instrumentation included drums and strings that were fuller than in his earlier songs. He adds a shout out to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". So he wasn't fighting the change, but he wasn't joining it either. This song grew on me as I really started listening to it today. 3,200.
Small Faces, "Ichycoo Park", I think '67. I mentioned this song as one about parks that pretty much sucked. Not as much as "MacArthur Park". "Ichycoo" has a little bit of what you might call music to it. 4,700.
Beach Boys, "Dance, Dance, Dance" from 1964. This is straight-up Beach Boys, before the "Good Vibrations" days. It was pretty much surfer-party dude music. 3,050.
The Monkees, "Valerie", 1968. When I listened to it, I realized it was one of the rockiest love songs. The Monkees were a made-for-TV group. When they started, I don't believe any of them played instruments; they were just singers. There is good guitar work on this song, and a good, driving beat. Good work here. 2,200.
We Five, "You Were on My Mind", '65. I think this qualifies as folk rock, and it's good. It keeps moving, has a word story. This was the year I graduated from high school, and I was becoming aware of things. I'd been to Europe the previous summer, and that probably helped. This song has some sophistication. 1,500.
Stevie Wonder, "A Place in the Sun", '62 is in my mind as the year, but he might still have been Little Stevie Wonder then. I don't this believe this is the original version. It's OK. 4,200.
Neil Sedaka, "Deck the Halls", no year listed. I'm thinking they played this just because it's a holiday song. There are a lot of holiday songs that pop stars have recorded. This one does not stand out even in the holiday milieu. 4,750.
Herman's Hermits, "I'm Into Something Good", '64. My high school friend Steve Hubbell always used the expression "That's into something" when that thing was good, and the Hermits used the expression the same way. Peter Noone, aka Herman, does a really good weekend show on Sirius XM's '60s on 6. He talks of knowing many of the bands and people in them while they all were coming up in England, and different places where he'd encounter them at gigs. He has a lot of knowledge about the scene over there. Herman's Hermits had some successes, and this was one of them. 2,100.
The Who, "Pictures of Lily", not sure of the year. I vaguely remember this one; it was not one of The Who's greatest. 4,300.
Neil Diamond, "Cherry Cherry", 1966. 3,700.
Mason Williams, "Classical Gas", 1968. It was an instrumental. This one did what good instrumental pieces do -- used different tempos and volumes of sound, instrumentation. The classical guitar really carried the melody. There are drums, horns and I believe some strings, so it's pretty musical. 3,550.
Jay and the Americans, "Wisdom of a Fool", it didn't say what year. I don't remember this one at all. I think it's a cappella. I give them some points for trying something different. 4,550.
Donovan, "Mellow Yellow", '66. Donovan Leitch was kind of a next wave of the British invasion. He was a little bit out there. In this song, he does some of what you might call whisper singing: "quite rightly." 2,200.
The Trade Winds, "New York's a Lonely Town", '65. There were some sleigh bells in this song, which I believe was another holiday tune. New York apparently is a lonely town when you're the only surfer boy around. 4,600.
Temptations, "My Girl", '66. Classic Motown. There's an orchestra, which was a typical Motown feature. 1,200.
Millie Small, "My Boy Lollipop", I'd say no later than '63. You can't go too far wrong with a song that rhymes "my boy Lollipop" with "makes my heart go giddy-up." 3,900.
Crispian St. Peter, "Pied Piper", I don't remember seeing a year, '66, maybe '68. There aren't too many songs here that feature what I think was a piccolo. It's a pretty good song, and it's a guy named Crispian. Come on! 1,900.
The Beatles, "Good Day Sunshine", I think '65. A DJ or guest host commented between songs that Beatles producer George Martin played piano on the song. It's a good-time song on the order of the Beatles' later "Here Comes the Sun". 2,800.
Wilson Pickett, "Land of 1,000 Dances", 1966. In this one, you can hear the saxophone and horns. While the song is playing, I can almost see young people in a club dancing the twist or the pony, mashed potatoes, as Wilson sings about those. 2,200.
Three Dog Night, "Eli's Coming", don't know the year. This was very rocky for Three Dog Night, their rock ingest. It moves pretty well. 2,900.
B.J. Thomas, "Hooked on a Feeling", 1968. I don't know if this was the original version, but it was the first one I heard, and definitely an early one. So this was before David Hasselhoff or "ooga chucka." I like it. 2,250.
Rolling Stones, "Lady Jane", '66. I'm not sure whether this was supposed to be about Henry VIII's wife Lady Jane Seymour, or alluding to them with a contemporary named Jane or Lady Anne. A good case for the Henry VIII scenario is that it either had a harpsichord or some way of making a guitar sound like a harpsichord out of the Reformation/Renaissance period. It's a nice tune. Just checked. It had Jack Nitzche on harpsichord and Brian Jones on dulcimer. 2,700.
Arthur Conley, "Sweet Soul Music", 1967. This is an anthology type of songs that catches us up on some particular genre of music and pays homage to some of the artists of the day. I heard it a lot in college, because down the hall Chris Ensign and Steve Croll had it on their record player -- which we had then -- and it was set up so that instead of just turning itself off at the end of the song, the needle would return to the beginning of the song. It would play constantly for hours. But it was also good music itself. 2,200.
Gene Pitney, "It Hurts to Be in Love", 1964. This must have come out in the summer, while I was in Italy, because I didn't remember hearing it until some time after I returned. It seemed to be very popular with the girls in my class. 3,200.
Shangri-Las, "Leader of the Pack", 1964. This is a stone classic. It really seems like nostalgia, reaching back to the music of a year or more earlier before the British invaded. It has the revving of a motorcycle in the song, great lyrics such as "I met him at the candy store (referring to the big biker, the leader of the pack). He turned around and smiled at me. You get the picture? Yes, we see. That's when I -- not me, but the singers, the Shangri-Las -- fell for the leader of the pack. Vroom vroom" -- sound effects, not singing. 200.
The Chambers Brothers, "Time Has Come Today", I think '67. It's a great one. Any movie, anything that has to do with time, inevitably you'll hear the Chambers Brothers and their loud ticking clock effects. 500.
The Archies, "Sugar Sugar", 1969. Pure bubblegum music. 4,300.
Dave Clark Five, "I Like It Like That", '64 or possibly '65. In the early days of the British invasion, the Beatles were clearly the kings. But I think up high, in a grouping that would have included the Stones, was Dave Clark Five. They really had some good music going. They just didn't evolve the way the Beatles did, so they just kind of got stuck and went away. This song has a nice hard edge. 2,200.
Herman's Hermits, "Wonderful World", '66. I think Sam Cooke had the original version. I heard a little-known fact on 60s on 6, that the session guitarist on the Hermits' version was Jimmy Page, later with Led Zeppelin. It's a pretty good song. I think the original was the best, but I give this one 2,400.
The Ventures, "Sleigh Ride", and I guess they're not giving the years for these holiday songs because they're timeless, right? This one you know: "It's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you." Well, you know the song but I doubt that many people even know, much less have heard, the Ventures' instrumental version in several decades. The guitar playing and picking are mindful of Duane Eddy. 4,700.
The Association, "Cherish", 1967? The Association had a number of soft songs, and this could have been the softest. It's a song of unrequited love. The dude just doesn't have the words to describe the way he feels to the woman of his dreams -- even though he does sing, "Cherish is the word." 3,700.
Jackie Wilson, "Higher and Higher", 1967. This is another guy for whom I didn't recall how much influence he had on the music world. He had a number of hits, but not many huge hits. This song has been well done by others, such as Rita Coolidge. This version is good and squarely in the soul genre. 1,900.
The Troggs, "Wild Thing", 1966. It was a pretty good year, even for this song, kind of a novelty act. Later came out a version of "Wild Thing" by Senator Kennedy: "Wild Thing, you uh make uh my haht sing." It included a line, "Teddy on the ocarina." That version went down in flames after Sen. Robert Kennedy was assassinated, just as satirist Vaughn Meader's career all but ended with the death of President Jack Kennedy. I don't know if I have heard the senator's version since '68. He shouldn't have been killed, but that shouldn't mean that we never hear anything that could be construed as mocking or poking fun at him. Also in '66, I was 18 years, home from college, working during the day where my dad worked at Seneca Foods. It was a great but disappointing season for the Pittsburgh Pirates, my favorite team. They didn't win, but were high on character and characters, such as radio broadcaster Bob Prince and catcher Jim Pagliaroni to go with Roberto Clemente and the double-play combination of Gene Alley and Bill Mazeroski. That was my favorite Pirates team, even above their World Series champions in my lifetime. The only players I didn't like were first baseman Donn Clendenon and pitcher Pete Mikkelsen, who seemed predisposed to not coming through and seeming to spell disasters in clutch situations. Prince came up with the concept of the Green Weenie, a green plastic thing that was supposed to be a hot dog but looked more like a pickle. You were supposed to wave it to help the Pirates get through tough stretches in games, kind of a precursor to the Angels' Rally Monkey. I was excited when somebody actually got me a Green Weenie. 1,200 for this classic song.
Paul Revere and the Raiders (again), "Good Things", 1966. It had a good driving beat, some harmonizing in the voices. 3,000.
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Some history, musical and personal
Voice recording #198, Dec. 18.
England Dan and John Ford Coley, "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight", '76. I met John Ford Coley about 10 years ago when he did a concert after a Rochester Red Wings baseball game. We talked some in the press box before his performance. Pretty cool dude. Perhaps England Dan went back to England. 3,400.
Al Green, "Here I Am", '73. Al had a pretty good run during the early '70s, but this wasn't really a big part of that run. 4,600.
Three Dog Night, "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)", 1970. 2,800.
Andy Gibb, "Shadow Dancing", some time in the mid-'70s. 4,100.
Robert John, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", '72. This is one of the later entries among the folk songs. There haven't been a whole lot since the '50s and '60s, when they were prevalent. This is a remake of a song by the Tokens in 1961. One of differences in this version's bridge sections is a tuba or some other low-register horn playing the melody. This song predates the Tokens. It's an African folk song sometimes called "Wimoweh", first recorded in 1939. It's a good song. During the late '50s, my next-door neighbor's son, Warren Elliott, did this song in clubs around Chicago after he dropped out of Northwestern, and performed it at our local Glenora Music and Arts Festival. That even was the brain child of Colonel Larry Bolvig, about whom I could write a whole book. I don't remember that the Robert John version was popular, but I'll give it 3,300.
Commodores, "Brick House" from '77. It's about as rocky as the Commodores got. I really like the lyrics with their clever plays on words. I'm pretty sure I've done this one before. I'd say it was somewhere in the 2,000 range. 1,900, and I wouldn't be averse to 1,800.
Sugar Loaf, "Don't Call Us We'll Call You", '74. I do not remember this, and I don't think I would have called them anyway. This song kept less of my interest as it went along. 4,550, and that's probably too high.
Rod Stewart, "Maggie May", '71. This really reminds me of when I returned from the Army to go to law school at Case Western Reserve. It seemed that I often heard it in the morning as I was getting ready to go to school. I'd usually get up and walk Anne and the dog down to the Shaker rapid train at Shaker Square to go to her teaching job in Cleveland. Then I'd go home, have breakfast and listen to the radio while I got ready. Then I'd walk a block or two west to catch a bus to school. We couldn't afford and didn't really need a car except occasionally to go grocery shopping, because the public transportation was so good. The song is about a bittersweet May-December romance. Typically, the December person seems to be shut out first, but in this case, it was Rod's May character being shot down by the beautiful December, Maggie May. There's a banjo at the end that's good. 1,200, possibly even higher.
Paul McCartney and Wings, "Live and Let Die", '73, I think. This is a very good James Bond theme song -- performed well, of course. 2,100.
Jigsaw, "Sky High", '75. I'm pretty sure this is a different song from the "Sky High"s performed by the Ben Folds Five and Wiz Khalifa. This one wasn't exactly cutting edge, but it's an OK tune. 4,200.
Electric Light Orchestra, "Telephone Line", '77. This group is not to be confuse with the Enoch Light Orchestra from the '40s. I think I've done this one before. I like it, ELO had some good music in the mid-to-late '70s. 3,400.
John Denver, "Rocky Mountain High", '73. I'm pretty sure I've done this one before, and put it in the mid 3,000s. I'm speculating in my mind what might have happened in John Denver's career if he had not crashed his plane. I'm thinking he would have been a latter-day Andy Williams -- no longer relevant in the later music scene, but hosting holiday specials as his niche. Let's say 3,600.
Manfred Mann's Earth Band, "Blinded by the Light", '76 or '78. The lyrics are confused and confusing. The rhythm and music are good. I may have done this one before. 3,300.
Santa Esmeralda, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", '78. This song had a good remake, but this is not it. This version invokes the Lord, but even that doesn't raise it above 4,600.
Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Alone Again (Naturally), '72. I've done this one. I've never seen Gilbert O'Sullivan, but I've always pictured him as a leprechaun. Wikipedia has a 1974 photo of him with that decade's signature big hair. In 1991, he won a precedent-setting case in which he sued Biz Markie for sampling "Alone Again" without his permission. I'm thinking 3,100.
Supertramp, "Give a Little Bit", not sure of the year, maybe '77. I think I've done this one. A thought: Supertramp is a lot closer to being a supergroup than Peter Frampton was to being a superduperstar or even a superstar. Just didn't some checking, and it doesn't appear that either Supertramp or Frampton are in he Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Supertramp was good, but perhaps their greatness flared out too soon to be worthy of the Hall of Fame. A note in juxtaposition: When Gilbert O'Sullivan was in college, he played drums with Supertramp's Rick Davies in a band called Rick's Blues. 2,800.
Exile, "Kiss You All Over", '78. This is in the genre of power ballad, kind of fairly heavy rock but still a ballad/love song. Kiss had some similar songs. I might have done this one before, but now I'm comparing it to "Alone Again" and "Give a Little Bit". 2,950.
Stevie Wonder, "Signed Sealed Delivered", 1970. Stevie is rightfully respected. He has been around the music business for a long time. He has been an influence on a lot of music. For someone who has been around and has such a good name, he didn't really have a whole lot of really memorable songs. This one is probably about in the middle of what he has done. 3,400.
Begin next with voice recording #200, Dec. 19.
England Dan and John Ford Coley, "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight", '76. I met John Ford Coley about 10 years ago when he did a concert after a Rochester Red Wings baseball game. We talked some in the press box before his performance. Pretty cool dude. Perhaps England Dan went back to England. 3,400.
Al Green, "Here I Am", '73. Al had a pretty good run during the early '70s, but this wasn't really a big part of that run. 4,600.
Three Dog Night, "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)", 1970. 2,800.
Andy Gibb, "Shadow Dancing", some time in the mid-'70s. 4,100.
Robert John, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", '72. This is one of the later entries among the folk songs. There haven't been a whole lot since the '50s and '60s, when they were prevalent. This is a remake of a song by the Tokens in 1961. One of differences in this version's bridge sections is a tuba or some other low-register horn playing the melody. This song predates the Tokens. It's an African folk song sometimes called "Wimoweh", first recorded in 1939. It's a good song. During the late '50s, my next-door neighbor's son, Warren Elliott, did this song in clubs around Chicago after he dropped out of Northwestern, and performed it at our local Glenora Music and Arts Festival. That even was the brain child of Colonel Larry Bolvig, about whom I could write a whole book. I don't remember that the Robert John version was popular, but I'll give it 3,300.
Commodores, "Brick House" from '77. It's about as rocky as the Commodores got. I really like the lyrics with their clever plays on words. I'm pretty sure I've done this one before. I'd say it was somewhere in the 2,000 range. 1,900, and I wouldn't be averse to 1,800.
Sugar Loaf, "Don't Call Us We'll Call You", '74. I do not remember this, and I don't think I would have called them anyway. This song kept less of my interest as it went along. 4,550, and that's probably too high.
Rod Stewart, "Maggie May", '71. This really reminds me of when I returned from the Army to go to law school at Case Western Reserve. It seemed that I often heard it in the morning as I was getting ready to go to school. I'd usually get up and walk Anne and the dog down to the Shaker rapid train at Shaker Square to go to her teaching job in Cleveland. Then I'd go home, have breakfast and listen to the radio while I got ready. Then I'd walk a block or two west to catch a bus to school. We couldn't afford and didn't really need a car except occasionally to go grocery shopping, because the public transportation was so good. The song is about a bittersweet May-December romance. Typically, the December person seems to be shut out first, but in this case, it was Rod's May character being shot down by the beautiful December, Maggie May. There's a banjo at the end that's good. 1,200, possibly even higher.
Paul McCartney and Wings, "Live and Let Die", '73, I think. This is a very good James Bond theme song -- performed well, of course. 2,100.
Jigsaw, "Sky High", '75. I'm pretty sure this is a different song from the "Sky High"s performed by the Ben Folds Five and Wiz Khalifa. This one wasn't exactly cutting edge, but it's an OK tune. 4,200.
Electric Light Orchestra, "Telephone Line", '77. This group is not to be confuse with the Enoch Light Orchestra from the '40s. I think I've done this one before. I like it, ELO had some good music in the mid-to-late '70s. 3,400.
John Denver, "Rocky Mountain High", '73. I'm pretty sure I've done this one before, and put it in the mid 3,000s. I'm speculating in my mind what might have happened in John Denver's career if he had not crashed his plane. I'm thinking he would have been a latter-day Andy Williams -- no longer relevant in the later music scene, but hosting holiday specials as his niche. Let's say 3,600.
Manfred Mann's Earth Band, "Blinded by the Light", '76 or '78. The lyrics are confused and confusing. The rhythm and music are good. I may have done this one before. 3,300.
Santa Esmeralda, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", '78. This song had a good remake, but this is not it. This version invokes the Lord, but even that doesn't raise it above 4,600.
Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Alone Again (Naturally), '72. I've done this one. I've never seen Gilbert O'Sullivan, but I've always pictured him as a leprechaun. Wikipedia has a 1974 photo of him with that decade's signature big hair. In 1991, he won a precedent-setting case in which he sued Biz Markie for sampling "Alone Again" without his permission. I'm thinking 3,100.
Supertramp, "Give a Little Bit", not sure of the year, maybe '77. I think I've done this one. A thought: Supertramp is a lot closer to being a supergroup than Peter Frampton was to being a superduperstar or even a superstar. Just didn't some checking, and it doesn't appear that either Supertramp or Frampton are in he Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Supertramp was good, but perhaps their greatness flared out too soon to be worthy of the Hall of Fame. A note in juxtaposition: When Gilbert O'Sullivan was in college, he played drums with Supertramp's Rick Davies in a band called Rick's Blues. 2,800.
Exile, "Kiss You All Over", '78. This is in the genre of power ballad, kind of fairly heavy rock but still a ballad/love song. Kiss had some similar songs. I might have done this one before, but now I'm comparing it to "Alone Again" and "Give a Little Bit". 2,950.
Stevie Wonder, "Signed Sealed Delivered", 1970. Stevie is rightfully respected. He has been around the music business for a long time. He has been an influence on a lot of music. For someone who has been around and has such a good name, he didn't really have a whole lot of really memorable songs. This one is probably about in the middle of what he has done. 3,400.
Begin next with voice recording #200, Dec. 19.
Setting the record straight on Fleetwood Mac
Voice recording #196, Dec. 17
Bee Gees, "Nights on Broadway", '75. 1,200.
James Taylor, "How Sweet It Is", maybe '71? 2,400.
Paul McCartney and Wings, "Band on the Run", maybe '74? 1,900.
Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Alone Again (Naturally)", 1972. I'd forgotten that there's a really nice acoustic guitar bridge in this song. 3,100.
Jackson 5, "Sugar Daddy", not sure of the year. In hindsight, it's a bit tenuous to have this type of song with Michael Jackson involved. 4,550.
Fleetwood Mac, "Dreams", '77. I was telling M-Tex a couple of days ago that Fleetwood Mac is coming to the American Airlines soon with the original lineup of musicians. I wrote something a while back about this group's female singer and mistakenly called her Stevie Nicks. I meant Christine McVie. 2,750.
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, "Cover of Rolling Stone", '72, I believe. 3,300.
Orleans, "Still the One", '76. There are country elements in this song, and in the Dr. Hook "cover of the Rolling Stone" lyric. 2,950.
Foxy, "Get Off", '78. 4,750, and that might be high.
Eagles, "Take It Easy", '72. I think I've done this before. My guess would be 1,700-1,800, maybe a little higher.
Al Stewart, "Year of the Cat", '76. 4,350.
Badfinger, "Day After Day", '73, maybe? I like Badfinger, and I like this song. I may have done this before. 1,500.
Honeycone, "Want Ads", '71. This is bubblegum music; sounds a lot like the Jackson 5, in fact. 4,600, generously.
King Harvest, "Dancing in the Moonlight", I think it's '73. I might have done this before. 3,300.
Blues Image, "Ride Captain Ride", '70. 3,500.
Bee Gees, "Nights on Broadway", '75. 1,200.
James Taylor, "How Sweet It Is", maybe '71? 2,400.
Paul McCartney and Wings, "Band on the Run", maybe '74? 1,900.
Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Alone Again (Naturally)", 1972. I'd forgotten that there's a really nice acoustic guitar bridge in this song. 3,100.
Jackson 5, "Sugar Daddy", not sure of the year. In hindsight, it's a bit tenuous to have this type of song with Michael Jackson involved. 4,550.
Fleetwood Mac, "Dreams", '77. I was telling M-Tex a couple of days ago that Fleetwood Mac is coming to the American Airlines soon with the original lineup of musicians. I wrote something a while back about this group's female singer and mistakenly called her Stevie Nicks. I meant Christine McVie. 2,750.
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, "Cover of Rolling Stone", '72, I believe. 3,300.
Orleans, "Still the One", '76. There are country elements in this song, and in the Dr. Hook "cover of the Rolling Stone" lyric. 2,950.
Foxy, "Get Off", '78. 4,750, and that might be high.
Eagles, "Take It Easy", '72. I think I've done this before. My guess would be 1,700-1,800, maybe a little higher.
Al Stewart, "Year of the Cat", '76. 4,350.
Badfinger, "Day After Day", '73, maybe? I like Badfinger, and I like this song. I may have done this before. 1,500.
Honeycone, "Want Ads", '71. This is bubblegum music; sounds a lot like the Jackson 5, in fact. 4,600, generously.
King Harvest, "Dancing in the Moonlight", I think it's '73. I might have done this before. 3,300.
Blues Image, "Ride Captain Ride", '70. 3,500.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
A day when the music was critically ill
Voice recording #190, Dec. 15.
Nicolette Larson, "Lotta Love", some year in the '70s. 3,400.
Styx, "Come Sail Away", '77. The song starts as a sappy ballad, and all of a sudden turns to rock, much to the chagrin of Sam Weir in "Freaks and Geeks" when he had his first chance to dance with hottie Cindy Sanders. Also, his sister, Lindsay, danced with her date, a mentally handicapped kid. 2,400.
Daddy Dew Drop, "Chick-A-Boom", '71. 4,750.
Hues Corporation, "Rock the Boat", '74. This must be on the top of the rotation at Sirius Channel 7. This is the first time I've heard it. I think I've given it about 2,300.
Edgar Winter Group, "Frankenstein", who was known as Fronckenschtein in his younger days, '73. It's instrumental and 4,600.
Stampeders, "Sweet City Woman", I think about '73. 3,700.
Eagles, "Already Gone", '74. I'm not sure whether I've done this one. If I have it was probably in the 2,100 or 2,220 range. I'll say 2,100. I like the lyric about, "So often times it happens that we live our life in chains, and we never even know we have the key." That tells a lot about how we live our lives and hold ourselves back.
Rickie Lee Jones, "Chuck E.'s in Love", '79. I'm pretty sure it's the greatest scat love song ever. Rickie Lee didn't have much of a career, but it certainly got a good start with this one. 2,600.
10 cc, "I'm Not in Love", didn't record the year. I'm not sure whether I've done this not-in-love song. It's a denial song, maybe. I'll say 3,500, which is where I think it would have been another time.
Gloria Gayner, "I Will Survive" from '79. Her driving rhythm and almost shouting the song go along with her positive message that she will survive. 2,400.
Gun Hill Road, "Back When My Hair Was Short", from '73. I do not remember this song from back when my hair was long, or back before I was bald. 4,700.
Bee Gees, "How Deep Is Your Love", '74 maybe. 1,800.
Herb Alpert, "Rise", '79. 4,650.
Elton John, "Saturday Night's All Right", '73. Pretty rocky for Elton. 2,300.
Starbuck, "Moonlight Feels Right", '76. 4,500.
ABBA, "Knowing Me, Knowing You", '76. Ah-ha. ABBA must win the crowd for the best English singing by non-English speakers, beating out Los Lobos. 3,800.
Rare Earth, I think the title is "I Just Want to Celebrate", not sure of the year. I kind of tuned it out. 4,300.
Billy Joel, "Only the Good Die Young", '78. 3,600.
Rick Nelson, "Garden Party", '72? I'm not sure whether this was his last hit. Just checked. It was his last Top 40 hit, but he kept performing until his plane crashed Dec. 31, 1985. Also, Eric Nelson changed his professional name from Ricky to Rick on his 21st birthday in 1961. It's a good song. It has a little country in it, and references to other pop-culture music. There was some good advice. "You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself." 3,100.
David Bowie, "Changes", I'd say mid-70s. It's another stuttering song, "Ch-ch-ch-changes." I'd say the lower third of the list, but I'll give it 3,300.
Earth, Wind & Fire, "Fantasy", '78. 4,600.
Carpenters, "Rainy Days and Mondays", '71. Karen sings that rainy days and Mondays always bring her down. I think they were from the northern part of the U.S., where it rains frequently. I don't like rainy days, except for an occasional Sunday when it rains all day and I can stay in bed to keep warm. M-Tex, a lifelong Texan, isn't used to seeing rain several times a week, so she likes any rainy day. 3,950. I checked. They were born in Connecticut, and moved to California when Richard was 16 and Karen was 13. She and I share a birthday, but I was born 2 years earlier.
Boston, "Foreplay Long Time", '77, I believe. 2,100.
Al Green, "Let's Stay Together, "71. 2,400.
Gary Glitter, "Rock and Roll Part 2", '72. I remember this song from hearing it so often at ballparks. Hey! 3,900.
Elton John, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", '73. Not sure whether I've done this one because there was a lot of Elton John music in the '70s! 2,400.
Jefferson Starship, "Runaway", '78. 4,550.
Jackson 5, "The Love You Save", 1970. 4,500.
Electric Light Orchestra, "Livin' Thing", 1976. I might have done this one before. 3,100.
Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes, "Get Dancing", '74. 4,900 at best.
Earth, Wind & Fire, "That's the Way of the World", I think '75. 4,450.
John Denver, "Rocky Mountain High", 1973. 3,800.
Paul McCartney and Wings, "Helen Wheels", '73. 4,100.
Chicago, "Saturday in the Park", '72. I have a theory, to some extent a generalization, that songs with "park" in the title are generally bad: "MacArthur Park", "Ichycoo Park". This song isn't one of the terrible ones; it's OK. 4,050.
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, "Main Street", 1977. This is a song people might have heard in the '70s at a strip club near closing time when the dancers were all tired and couldn't dance very fast. It's Bob Seger, so it's 2,300.
Starting again with voice recording #196, Dec. 17.
Nicolette Larson, "Lotta Love", some year in the '70s. 3,400.
Styx, "Come Sail Away", '77. The song starts as a sappy ballad, and all of a sudden turns to rock, much to the chagrin of Sam Weir in "Freaks and Geeks" when he had his first chance to dance with hottie Cindy Sanders. Also, his sister, Lindsay, danced with her date, a mentally handicapped kid. 2,400.
Daddy Dew Drop, "Chick-A-Boom", '71. 4,750.
Hues Corporation, "Rock the Boat", '74. This must be on the top of the rotation at Sirius Channel 7. This is the first time I've heard it. I think I've given it about 2,300.
Edgar Winter Group, "Frankenstein", who was known as Fronckenschtein in his younger days, '73. It's instrumental and 4,600.
Stampeders, "Sweet City Woman", I think about '73. 3,700.
Eagles, "Already Gone", '74. I'm not sure whether I've done this one. If I have it was probably in the 2,100 or 2,220 range. I'll say 2,100. I like the lyric about, "So often times it happens that we live our life in chains, and we never even know we have the key." That tells a lot about how we live our lives and hold ourselves back.
Rickie Lee Jones, "Chuck E.'s in Love", '79. I'm pretty sure it's the greatest scat love song ever. Rickie Lee didn't have much of a career, but it certainly got a good start with this one. 2,600.
10 cc, "I'm Not in Love", didn't record the year. I'm not sure whether I've done this not-in-love song. It's a denial song, maybe. I'll say 3,500, which is where I think it would have been another time.
Gloria Gayner, "I Will Survive" from '79. Her driving rhythm and almost shouting the song go along with her positive message that she will survive. 2,400.
Gun Hill Road, "Back When My Hair Was Short", from '73. I do not remember this song from back when my hair was long, or back before I was bald. 4,700.
Bee Gees, "How Deep Is Your Love", '74 maybe. 1,800.
Herb Alpert, "Rise", '79. 4,650.
Elton John, "Saturday Night's All Right", '73. Pretty rocky for Elton. 2,300.
Starbuck, "Moonlight Feels Right", '76. 4,500.
ABBA, "Knowing Me, Knowing You", '76. Ah-ha. ABBA must win the crowd for the best English singing by non-English speakers, beating out Los Lobos. 3,800.
Rare Earth, I think the title is "I Just Want to Celebrate", not sure of the year. I kind of tuned it out. 4,300.
Billy Joel, "Only the Good Die Young", '78. 3,600.
Rick Nelson, "Garden Party", '72? I'm not sure whether this was his last hit. Just checked. It was his last Top 40 hit, but he kept performing until his plane crashed Dec. 31, 1985. Also, Eric Nelson changed his professional name from Ricky to Rick on his 21st birthday in 1961. It's a good song. It has a little country in it, and references to other pop-culture music. There was some good advice. "You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself." 3,100.
David Bowie, "Changes", I'd say mid-70s. It's another stuttering song, "Ch-ch-ch-changes." I'd say the lower third of the list, but I'll give it 3,300.
Earth, Wind & Fire, "Fantasy", '78. 4,600.
Carpenters, "Rainy Days and Mondays", '71. Karen sings that rainy days and Mondays always bring her down. I think they were from the northern part of the U.S., where it rains frequently. I don't like rainy days, except for an occasional Sunday when it rains all day and I can stay in bed to keep warm. M-Tex, a lifelong Texan, isn't used to seeing rain several times a week, so she likes any rainy day. 3,950. I checked. They were born in Connecticut, and moved to California when Richard was 16 and Karen was 13. She and I share a birthday, but I was born 2 years earlier.
Boston, "Foreplay Long Time", '77, I believe. 2,100.
Al Green, "Let's Stay Together, "71. 2,400.
Gary Glitter, "Rock and Roll Part 2", '72. I remember this song from hearing it so often at ballparks. Hey! 3,900.
Elton John, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", '73. Not sure whether I've done this one because there was a lot of Elton John music in the '70s! 2,400.
Jefferson Starship, "Runaway", '78. 4,550.
Jackson 5, "The Love You Save", 1970. 4,500.
Electric Light Orchestra, "Livin' Thing", 1976. I might have done this one before. 3,100.
Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes, "Get Dancing", '74. 4,900 at best.
Earth, Wind & Fire, "That's the Way of the World", I think '75. 4,450.
John Denver, "Rocky Mountain High", 1973. 3,800.
Paul McCartney and Wings, "Helen Wheels", '73. 4,100.
Chicago, "Saturday in the Park", '72. I have a theory, to some extent a generalization, that songs with "park" in the title are generally bad: "MacArthur Park", "Ichycoo Park". This song isn't one of the terrible ones; it's OK. 4,050.
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, "Main Street", 1977. This is a song people might have heard in the '70s at a strip club near closing time when the dancers were all tired and couldn't dance very fast. It's Bob Seger, so it's 2,300.
Starting again with voice recording #196, Dec. 17.
Some baseball historical landmarks
From voice recording #186, Dec. 13.
My seventh day on the '70s?
Robert Palmer, "Bad Case of Loving You", 1979. 3,600.
Dobie Gray, "Drift Away", I don't know the year. 4,400.
Johnny Rivers, "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu", '72. Johnny had a number of pretty good, memorable songs during the early '70s. This one is old-time rock with a piano. 3,500.
Barry Manilow, "Copacabana", '78. It tells a story about Lola, a showgirl. But I have to admit while I was listening to it, I was thinking of the big dust-up a bunch of Yankees had at the Copacabana in 1956 or '57, maybe '58. A number of Yankees got into an altercation with some other patrons, and as a result Billy Martin was exiled to Kansas City. I read about it when we were visiting my cousins in Springville. I'll have to do some research. And here's the result: It was May 16, 1957, Martin's 29th birthday. Ralph Terry also was traded to KC, but was brought back after he had some success with the Athletics -- in time to give up the 1960 World Series-winning home run to Bill Mazeroski. It seems that a group of bowlers were heckling, somewhat racially inappropriately, Sammy Davis Jr., a friend to several Yankees. One of the bowlers might or might not have been punched by Hank Bauer, and came away with a broken jaw. Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra also were at the birthday celebration, but they and Bauer were too good to trade. 4,100.
The Carpenters, "Hurting Each Other", '72. A typical Carpenters song, better than some. 4,350.
Grass Roots, "Sooner or Later", '71. I don't think Grass Roots made it over the hump from the late '60s to the early '70s very well. They were past their peak by the time of this song. 4,200.
Sanford Townsend Band, "Smoke from a Distant Fire", '77. Not sure the lyrics hit home on this one. It's a breakup, somebody-done-somebody-wrong song, so maybe the girl's eyes were weepy. But "from the smoke of a distant fire"? 4,800.
Jim Stafford, "Spiders and Snakes", '73. This is another strange sort of mating song. Apparently, the girl he's trying to woo is a sophisticated country girl -- it's a country song -- you can't win her heart by giving her spiders and snakes, putting them down her dress or whatever. 4,650.
Bee Gees, "Love You Inside Out", from '79. It is unmistakably Bee Gees. Some of the song is half notes or even whole notes, but I don't think the drum beat changed one bit. 4,450.
Eagles, "Desperado", 1973. A nice song, but it lacks energy. 2,750.
Elton John, "Bitch Is Back", '74. 4,700 or lower.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, "Mr. Bojangles", 1970. I liked the version by Jerry Jeff Walker better, but I like this one too. It's a good song about a man and his dog. I never saw Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, but I did one time see Stepin Fetchit. It was 1969. I traveled to Louisville to cover the Rochester Red Wings. I don't know if Stepin Fetchit worked at the hotel where we stayed or was a guest there, but when I registered, the desk clerk pointed him out to me. He spent some time in Louisville helping Muhammad Ali, who called Fetchit his "secret strategist." 1,500.
Boston, "Don't Look Back", '78. Boston was a fairly hard rock group for the late '70s. Pretty good, not their best. 3,000.
Jacksons, "Shake Your Body", '79. This grouping was somewhere between The Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson. The song is just OK. 4,550.
Peter Frampton, "I Can't Stand It No More", not sure of the year. By the time I finished this song, I couldn't stand it. Frampton never became a superduperstar, as Time magazine prematurely and inaccurately billed him on a cover. That must have been a slow news week -- get it, Newsweek? 4,850.
KC and the Sunshine Band, "Keep It Comin' Love", I believe '77. KC had his heyday during the '70s. He was enthusiastic, but his act wore thin pretty quickly. 4,600.
Badfinger, "Day After Day", 1972. I'm not sure whether I've done this one before, if I did I probably gave it in the 2,200-2,400 range. So I'll say 2,300.
The Staple Singers, "Respect Yourself", 1971. Their music is kind of gospel rock. Not bad. 4,050.
Eagles, "One of These Nights", 1975. I'm not sure whether I've already reviewed this. I'll say 2,600.
Bill Withers, "Use Me", '72. 4,200.
Olivia Newton-John, "A Little More Love", '78. 3,900.
The Bellamy Brothers, "Let Your Love Flow", I think '76. I've done this one before, and I think I gave it about 3,600.
Coven, "One Tin Soldier", didn't see the year. I think it was the theme to "Billy Jack". It's a catchy tune and it had a good message, which was used somewhat self-righteously in the movie. 3,800.
Leo Sayer, "You Made Me Feel Like Dancing", '76. The first time I saw Leo Sayer on TV, in 1974, he was dressed in a clown costume -- with bright red, rosy cheeks. I remember that year because I was in Baltimore at the time to cover the Orioles' playoff series against Oakland. 4,000.
Doobie Brothers, "Take Me in Your Arms", '75. 4,300.
My seventh day on the '70s?
Robert Palmer, "Bad Case of Loving You", 1979. 3,600.
Dobie Gray, "Drift Away", I don't know the year. 4,400.
Johnny Rivers, "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu", '72. Johnny had a number of pretty good, memorable songs during the early '70s. This one is old-time rock with a piano. 3,500.
Barry Manilow, "Copacabana", '78. It tells a story about Lola, a showgirl. But I have to admit while I was listening to it, I was thinking of the big dust-up a bunch of Yankees had at the Copacabana in 1956 or '57, maybe '58. A number of Yankees got into an altercation with some other patrons, and as a result Billy Martin was exiled to Kansas City. I read about it when we were visiting my cousins in Springville. I'll have to do some research. And here's the result: It was May 16, 1957, Martin's 29th birthday. Ralph Terry also was traded to KC, but was brought back after he had some success with the Athletics -- in time to give up the 1960 World Series-winning home run to Bill Mazeroski. It seems that a group of bowlers were heckling, somewhat racially inappropriately, Sammy Davis Jr., a friend to several Yankees. One of the bowlers might or might not have been punched by Hank Bauer, and came away with a broken jaw. Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra also were at the birthday celebration, but they and Bauer were too good to trade. 4,100.
The Carpenters, "Hurting Each Other", '72. A typical Carpenters song, better than some. 4,350.
Grass Roots, "Sooner or Later", '71. I don't think Grass Roots made it over the hump from the late '60s to the early '70s very well. They were past their peak by the time of this song. 4,200.
Sanford Townsend Band, "Smoke from a Distant Fire", '77. Not sure the lyrics hit home on this one. It's a breakup, somebody-done-somebody-wrong song, so maybe the girl's eyes were weepy. But "from the smoke of a distant fire"? 4,800.
Jim Stafford, "Spiders and Snakes", '73. This is another strange sort of mating song. Apparently, the girl he's trying to woo is a sophisticated country girl -- it's a country song -- you can't win her heart by giving her spiders and snakes, putting them down her dress or whatever. 4,650.
Bee Gees, "Love You Inside Out", from '79. It is unmistakably Bee Gees. Some of the song is half notes or even whole notes, but I don't think the drum beat changed one bit. 4,450.
Eagles, "Desperado", 1973. A nice song, but it lacks energy. 2,750.
Elton John, "Bitch Is Back", '74. 4,700 or lower.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, "Mr. Bojangles", 1970. I liked the version by Jerry Jeff Walker better, but I like this one too. It's a good song about a man and his dog. I never saw Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, but I did one time see Stepin Fetchit. It was 1969. I traveled to Louisville to cover the Rochester Red Wings. I don't know if Stepin Fetchit worked at the hotel where we stayed or was a guest there, but when I registered, the desk clerk pointed him out to me. He spent some time in Louisville helping Muhammad Ali, who called Fetchit his "secret strategist." 1,500.
Boston, "Don't Look Back", '78. Boston was a fairly hard rock group for the late '70s. Pretty good, not their best. 3,000.
Jacksons, "Shake Your Body", '79. This grouping was somewhere between The Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson. The song is just OK. 4,550.
Peter Frampton, "I Can't Stand It No More", not sure of the year. By the time I finished this song, I couldn't stand it. Frampton never became a superduperstar, as Time magazine prematurely and inaccurately billed him on a cover. That must have been a slow news week -- get it, Newsweek? 4,850.
KC and the Sunshine Band, "Keep It Comin' Love", I believe '77. KC had his heyday during the '70s. He was enthusiastic, but his act wore thin pretty quickly. 4,600.
Badfinger, "Day After Day", 1972. I'm not sure whether I've done this one before, if I did I probably gave it in the 2,200-2,400 range. So I'll say 2,300.
The Staple Singers, "Respect Yourself", 1971. Their music is kind of gospel rock. Not bad. 4,050.
Eagles, "One of These Nights", 1975. I'm not sure whether I've already reviewed this. I'll say 2,600.
Bill Withers, "Use Me", '72. 4,200.
Olivia Newton-John, "A Little More Love", '78. 3,900.
The Bellamy Brothers, "Let Your Love Flow", I think '76. I've done this one before, and I think I gave it about 3,600.
Coven, "One Tin Soldier", didn't see the year. I think it was the theme to "Billy Jack". It's a catchy tune and it had a good message, which was used somewhat self-righteously in the movie. 3,800.
Leo Sayer, "You Made Me Feel Like Dancing", '76. The first time I saw Leo Sayer on TV, in 1974, he was dressed in a clown costume -- with bright red, rosy cheeks. I remember that year because I was in Baltimore at the time to cover the Orioles' playoff series against Oakland. 4,000.
Doobie Brothers, "Take Me in Your Arms", '75. 4,300.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Some historical perspective
Voice recording #183, Dec. 12.
Jackson 5, ABC, 1970. This is about as classic Jackson 5 as you can get. 2,700.
Foreigner, "Hot-Blooded", I think it was '76 or '78. I'm a big Foreigner fan. I got kind of an indoctrination in them when I lived in Rochester. Lead singer Lou Gramm is a Rochester guy. When I worked on boxing promotions there, Lou would come to the weigh-ins and often sing the national anthem at the events. He's been there pretty much all his life. 1,400.
Climax, "Precious and Few", '72. Good strings and tinkling piano keys. 3,000.
Hues Corporation, "Rock the Boat", '74. I think it did this one before. "Rock on wit' your bad self." 2,300? I said 2,200 two days earlier, so let's make it 2,250.
Ace Frehley, "New York Groove", 1978. It's not terrible as an Ace solo effort. It's got a little driving rhythm. 4,100.
Tony Orlando and Dawn, "Tie a Yellow Ribbon", '73. It's a simple song, but it has some good instrumentation with strings and maybe some harmonica in there. It really is bigger for what it represented, which was tying a ribbon for the veterans who came back from Vietnam. A soapbox moment: The U.S. government has to recognize the long-term cost of war, and if it wants to keep sending people to fight it must make the commitment to caring for veterans who are wounded physically or mentally when they return. 3,100.
The Carpenters, "We've Only Just Begun", 1970. I think I've done this one before. I'll say 3,600. I looked back through a few other posts and didn't find this song. So, 3,600.
Melanie, "Brand New Key", '71. It's pretty good. It's folky. It's not entirely clear whether the roller skates and the key symbolize something else. Melanie has declined to explain whether there is sexual innuendo. 2,200.
Chicago, "Alive Again", '78. I think I did this a couple of days ago. 2,850. Just checked, and I gave it 4,000 the other time, and I noted that by the end of the song Chicago went back into its comfort zone. So, as a compromise, 3,500.
BT Express, "Express" from '75. It really sounds as if it was from a blaxploitation film. An explanation: blaxploitation was a genre that some felt it exploited African Americans with the kind of stereotypes that made them laugh at the absurdity and made Caucasians nod their heads. "Shaft" was the prime example. I can picture white and black 20-somethings with Afros wearing bellbottoms and dancing to this music. There's a horn thing just thrown in there. 4,650.
Elton John, "Honky Cat", '72. The key lyric in this one is "Change is going to do you good." That was a theme of the early '70s. I'll have to hear it again and give it a number.
Bobby Bloom, "Montego Bay", I think '72. It's an OK song. It throws in a little bit of "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" at the end. 4,200.
Seals and Crofts, "Summer Breeze", '72. I had an 8-track tape of Seals and Crofts' album including this song. When I lived up north, any idea about summer was welcomed. 2,400.
Kansas, "People of the South Wind", '79. Kansas had some good stuff in the latter '70s. This could have been a jump-the-shark song for the group. 4,550.
Bellamy Brothers, "Let Your Love Flow", '73? It's a little bit country. 3,800.
Electric Light Orchestra, "Telephone Line", '77. 3,550.
MFSB, "TSOP", 1974. It's very repetitive, mostly instrumental, but even the vocal part is repetitive. TSOP might stand for The Sound of Philadelphia, and MFSB -- I'd probably know better what it stood for if it was MFSOB. I'll have to find out. 4,700. Research completed: I was correct about TSOP, and the song became the theme for TV show "Soul Train". The clean reading of the acronym is Mother Father Sister Brother, but the original thought, as I expected, was Mother-Fuckin' Sons of Bitches. The group later was known as The Salsoul Orchestra.
Little River Band, "Reminiscing", '77 or '78. It has an old-time feel with the horn solo, a bit of drums, a little keyboard and the reminiscing. One of the things they reminisced about was "the band that Glenn Miller had." 3,300.
Eagles, "Take It Easy", '72. "Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona." It's "such a fine" song for 3,400.
Rufus, "Tell Me Something Good", I'm thinking '73. Chaka Khan was on the lead vocals, which were well done. It also has the guitar at times singing, "Tell me, tell me, tell me." A pretty good R&B song. 2,150.
Gordon Lightfoot, "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", 1976. This probably matches the music with the mood of the lyrics as well as any other song. It's haunting, chilling music. The first time it really made an impact on me I was in State College to cover a Penn State football game. It was a Friday or Saturday night, later in the season. It was a cool, windy night, like the setting for the Edmund Fitzgerald, so it put a little chill down my spine. The song was well done, most likely Lightfoot's best. 900.
Steve Miller Band, "Rockin' Me", might have been '79. 3,800.
David Geddes, "Run Joey Run" from '75. It's a tragic tale of young love gone bad, but the song isn't done very well. There's a dad with a gun who's going to shoot the guy. Mayhem ensues. 4,800.
Andrea True Connection, "More More More", '75 or probably '76. Andrea True was in some porno films before and after she had a brief singing career. She died in 2011. 4,200.
Rita Coolidge, "Higher and Higher", '77. I think I had this a few nights ago and gave it 1,800-2,000. Actually, it was 2,400, so we'll settle at 2,100.
Jackson 5, ABC, 1970. This is about as classic Jackson 5 as you can get. 2,700.
Foreigner, "Hot-Blooded", I think it was '76 or '78. I'm a big Foreigner fan. I got kind of an indoctrination in them when I lived in Rochester. Lead singer Lou Gramm is a Rochester guy. When I worked on boxing promotions there, Lou would come to the weigh-ins and often sing the national anthem at the events. He's been there pretty much all his life. 1,400.
Climax, "Precious and Few", '72. Good strings and tinkling piano keys. 3,000.
Hues Corporation, "Rock the Boat", '74. I think it did this one before. "Rock on wit' your bad self." 2,300? I said 2,200 two days earlier, so let's make it 2,250.
Ace Frehley, "New York Groove", 1978. It's not terrible as an Ace solo effort. It's got a little driving rhythm. 4,100.
Tony Orlando and Dawn, "Tie a Yellow Ribbon", '73. It's a simple song, but it has some good instrumentation with strings and maybe some harmonica in there. It really is bigger for what it represented, which was tying a ribbon for the veterans who came back from Vietnam. A soapbox moment: The U.S. government has to recognize the long-term cost of war, and if it wants to keep sending people to fight it must make the commitment to caring for veterans who are wounded physically or mentally when they return. 3,100.
The Carpenters, "We've Only Just Begun", 1970. I think I've done this one before. I'll say 3,600. I looked back through a few other posts and didn't find this song. So, 3,600.
Melanie, "Brand New Key", '71. It's pretty good. It's folky. It's not entirely clear whether the roller skates and the key symbolize something else. Melanie has declined to explain whether there is sexual innuendo. 2,200.
Chicago, "Alive Again", '78. I think I did this a couple of days ago. 2,850. Just checked, and I gave it 4,000 the other time, and I noted that by the end of the song Chicago went back into its comfort zone. So, as a compromise, 3,500.
BT Express, "Express" from '75. It really sounds as if it was from a blaxploitation film. An explanation: blaxploitation was a genre that some felt it exploited African Americans with the kind of stereotypes that made them laugh at the absurdity and made Caucasians nod their heads. "Shaft" was the prime example. I can picture white and black 20-somethings with Afros wearing bellbottoms and dancing to this music. There's a horn thing just thrown in there. 4,650.
Elton John, "Honky Cat", '72. The key lyric in this one is "Change is going to do you good." That was a theme of the early '70s. I'll have to hear it again and give it a number.
Bobby Bloom, "Montego Bay", I think '72. It's an OK song. It throws in a little bit of "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" at the end. 4,200.
Seals and Crofts, "Summer Breeze", '72. I had an 8-track tape of Seals and Crofts' album including this song. When I lived up north, any idea about summer was welcomed. 2,400.
Kansas, "People of the South Wind", '79. Kansas had some good stuff in the latter '70s. This could have been a jump-the-shark song for the group. 4,550.
Bellamy Brothers, "Let Your Love Flow", '73? It's a little bit country. 3,800.
Electric Light Orchestra, "Telephone Line", '77. 3,550.
MFSB, "TSOP", 1974. It's very repetitive, mostly instrumental, but even the vocal part is repetitive. TSOP might stand for The Sound of Philadelphia, and MFSB -- I'd probably know better what it stood for if it was MFSOB. I'll have to find out. 4,700. Research completed: I was correct about TSOP, and the song became the theme for TV show "Soul Train". The clean reading of the acronym is Mother Father Sister Brother, but the original thought, as I expected, was Mother-Fuckin' Sons of Bitches. The group later was known as The Salsoul Orchestra.
Little River Band, "Reminiscing", '77 or '78. It has an old-time feel with the horn solo, a bit of drums, a little keyboard and the reminiscing. One of the things they reminisced about was "the band that Glenn Miller had." 3,300.
Eagles, "Take It Easy", '72. "Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona." It's "such a fine" song for 3,400.
Rufus, "Tell Me Something Good", I'm thinking '73. Chaka Khan was on the lead vocals, which were well done. It also has the guitar at times singing, "Tell me, tell me, tell me." A pretty good R&B song. 2,150.
Gordon Lightfoot, "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", 1976. This probably matches the music with the mood of the lyrics as well as any other song. It's haunting, chilling music. The first time it really made an impact on me I was in State College to cover a Penn State football game. It was a Friday or Saturday night, later in the season. It was a cool, windy night, like the setting for the Edmund Fitzgerald, so it put a little chill down my spine. The song was well done, most likely Lightfoot's best. 900.
Steve Miller Band, "Rockin' Me", might have been '79. 3,800.
David Geddes, "Run Joey Run" from '75. It's a tragic tale of young love gone bad, but the song isn't done very well. There's a dad with a gun who's going to shoot the guy. Mayhem ensues. 4,800.
Andrea True Connection, "More More More", '75 or probably '76. Andrea True was in some porno films before and after she had a brief singing career. She died in 2011. 4,200.
Rita Coolidge, "Higher and Higher", '77. I think I had this a few nights ago and gave it 1,800-2,000. Actually, it was 2,400, so we'll settle at 2,100.
Wastin' away
Voice recording #172, Dec. 10. From my other recordings, I see that this was a busy day. I went from the Cowboys' practice to a Mavericks game.
The lack of labels comes from a glitch in the program that sometimes won't allow me to enter new terms. For this post, the only artist/group that I apparently had entered before was Bruce Springsteen.
Yvonne Elliman, "If I Can't Have You", 1978. 4,350.
Jimmy Buffett, "Margaritaville", 1977. This one, when I was separated for the first time in 1981, I would hear being played by Vince and Book at the Elmwood Inn in Rochester. They had plenty of audience participation, such as with the revised lyrics of "Wastin' away again in Margaritaville, Yes, I am, yes, I am, yes, I am. Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt. Where is that little mother?" The song conjures up images of being on a beach somewhere, and not having any cares, which appealed to me at the time. The steel drums on this reminded me of a few years later, possibly 1985, when I was working at Nazareth College. A steel drum band from Antigua came up for a Latin music festival in Rochester, and stayed at the college. They performed on campus one evening. One of the band people, named Paul Simon, didn't go to a group activity one day, so he was hanging around a dorm lounge. Sister Magdalen LaRow, one of the best people I've ever known, got to talking with him and arranged for him to get a scholarship to the college. He became the president of the Student Business Association and graduated, and probably is doing well now back in Antigua. A lot of things remind me of a lot of other things. 400 for you Parrotheads.
Robert Palmer, "Every Kind of People", 1978. It's a strange Robert Palmer song. More mellow than you'd expect, with horns, and not one of his best. 4,500.
The Carpenters, "(They Long to Be) Close to You", 1970. It seems like a lounge-act number, with the piano, horns, high hat and mellow singing. 3,700.
Bruce Springsteen, "Prove It All Night" (I think), 1978. It wouldn't take all night to prove that this wasn't one of Bruce's best. 4,650 is what I think I said.
Walter Egan, "Magnet and Steel", not sure of the year. 4,200.
Hues Corporation, "Rock the Boat", 1974. 2,200.
Shaun Cassidy, "That's Rock 'n Roll", 1977 or 78. It sounds like Shaun trying to be someone who can rock. 4,850.
Knack, "My Sharona", 1979. This one really rocks. Now that I think about it, this qualifies as a stuttering song, "M-m-m-my Sharona." 750.
The lack of labels comes from a glitch in the program that sometimes won't allow me to enter new terms. For this post, the only artist/group that I apparently had entered before was Bruce Springsteen.
Yvonne Elliman, "If I Can't Have You", 1978. 4,350.
Jimmy Buffett, "Margaritaville", 1977. This one, when I was separated for the first time in 1981, I would hear being played by Vince and Book at the Elmwood Inn in Rochester. They had plenty of audience participation, such as with the revised lyrics of "Wastin' away again in Margaritaville, Yes, I am, yes, I am, yes, I am. Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt. Where is that little mother?" The song conjures up images of being on a beach somewhere, and not having any cares, which appealed to me at the time. The steel drums on this reminded me of a few years later, possibly 1985, when I was working at Nazareth College. A steel drum band from Antigua came up for a Latin music festival in Rochester, and stayed at the college. They performed on campus one evening. One of the band people, named Paul Simon, didn't go to a group activity one day, so he was hanging around a dorm lounge. Sister Magdalen LaRow, one of the best people I've ever known, got to talking with him and arranged for him to get a scholarship to the college. He became the president of the Student Business Association and graduated, and probably is doing well now back in Antigua. A lot of things remind me of a lot of other things. 400 for you Parrotheads.
Robert Palmer, "Every Kind of People", 1978. It's a strange Robert Palmer song. More mellow than you'd expect, with horns, and not one of his best. 4,500.
The Carpenters, "(They Long to Be) Close to You", 1970. It seems like a lounge-act number, with the piano, horns, high hat and mellow singing. 3,700.
Bruce Springsteen, "Prove It All Night" (I think), 1978. It wouldn't take all night to prove that this wasn't one of Bruce's best. 4,650 is what I think I said.
Walter Egan, "Magnet and Steel", not sure of the year. 4,200.
Hues Corporation, "Rock the Boat", 1974. 2,200.
Shaun Cassidy, "That's Rock 'n Roll", 1977 or 78. It sounds like Shaun trying to be someone who can rock. 4,850.
Knack, "My Sharona", 1979. This one really rocks. Now that I think about it, this qualifies as a stuttering song, "M-m-m-my Sharona." 750.
Who's so vain?
Voice recording #164, from Dec. 9.
I believe this is my fourth or fifth day listening to the '70s on Sirius XM Channel 7.
Chicago, "Old Days", I didn't catch the year. I believe it was in the latter part of the decade. 2,700.
Marvin Gaye, I think it was called "Got to Give It Up Part 1" from '77. 4,600
Supertramp, "Logical Song", '79, 1,250.
Loggins and Messina, "Thinking of You", '73. It's kind of Ricky Nelson goes country, with lots of fiddles in it. 4,700.
Eagles, "The Long Run", '79. 1,900.
Dawn, "Knock Three Times", '73, I think. 3,300. It has the pretty good sound effects and the rhythm effects of knocking three times with three words: "knock ... three ... times," and banging on the pipes, "donk, donk."
Styx, "Staying Together" (possibly, I don't remember). It had some good guitar and organ, but it's a really boring song. At the end I couldn't even remember what it was called. I'm not sure of the year, maybe '79. 4,350, which sounds high from my original description.
Captain and Tennille, "Love Will Keep Us Together" from '75. There was a time when Captain and Tennille was huge on the music scene, but that was during a time that wasn't really a highlight of 20th-century music. Toni Tennille was hot in a big-smile, big-teeth kind of way. She also had kind of a bowl haircut, short with bangs. I don't think the Captain was really a captain of anything, but he wore a captain's hat and jacket while he sat and played at the keyboard while she sang. 3,700, with a little extra bonus for their homage to Neil Sedaka in the line at the end of the song, "Sedaka is back."
Leon Russell, "Tightrope", '72. I don't really remember this weird one. It has kind of a honky tonk piano, and some of his singing is scatting. He does mix up the tempo some, but it's not very good. 4,750.
The Emotions, "Best of My Love", maybe '70? 4,000.
Stories, "Brother Louie", '73. I'd forgotten what this song was until I heard the lyric, "Louie-Louie-Louie-Louie-Louie-Lou eye." It's pretty good. 3,100.
Earth , Wind & Fire, "Serpentine Fire", '77. I think the two 7s in the song title are trying to tell me something. 4,770.
Elvin Bishop, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love", '74 perhaps. I'll give him a few bonus points for the part when he sings what sounds like "I food around, food around, food around." 4,150.
John Paul Young, "Love Is in the Air", 1978, I think. It has maracas in it, and seems to have a bit of a Calypso vibe. 4,300.
Jackson Browne, "Doctor My Eyes", '72. It has a good '70s mix of guitar and drums, with what I believe are bongos in there. 2,900.
Carly Simon, "You're So Vain", '73. An all-time great. 200. Speculation remains to this day about who is so vain. The lyrics lend themselves to what could be a whole roman a clef novel. She sings in such a clear voice. Plus, she and James Taylor were like the '70s folky power couple. Another thing about her is that her dad was the Simon or one of the Simons of Simon & Schuster publishing, and he was a big fan or part owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers. So when Carly was a little girl, her dad would take her down in the dugout and there are stories about her sitting on Jackie Robinson's lap while he was talking to people. (Not in a creepy way.) She's had an interesting life, it would seem.
DeFranco Family, "Heartbeat It's a Love Beat", '73. Ani DiFranco is not a member of this bubblegum family, and was a toddler in 1973. However, they were practically neighbors. She grew up in Buffalo, and they were from across the Niagara River and west on Lake Erie in Port Colborne, Ontario. 4,850.
Bachman Turner Overdrive, "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet", '74, maybe? This is one of the best stuttering songs, "B-b-b-b-baby, you just ain't seen n-n-n-nothin' yet." It's good, hard-driving BTO. 1,400.
Andrew Gold, "Lonely Boy, '77. I'm a sucker for family-type tales, and this one's a little sad. 2,200.
Pilot, "Magic", '75. 3,000.
I'll pick this up with voice recording #168.
I believe this is my fourth or fifth day listening to the '70s on Sirius XM Channel 7.
Chicago, "Old Days", I didn't catch the year. I believe it was in the latter part of the decade. 2,700.
Marvin Gaye, I think it was called "Got to Give It Up Part 1" from '77. 4,600
Supertramp, "Logical Song", '79, 1,250.
Loggins and Messina, "Thinking of You", '73. It's kind of Ricky Nelson goes country, with lots of fiddles in it. 4,700.
Eagles, "The Long Run", '79. 1,900.
Dawn, "Knock Three Times", '73, I think. 3,300. It has the pretty good sound effects and the rhythm effects of knocking three times with three words: "knock ... three ... times," and banging on the pipes, "donk, donk."
Styx, "Staying Together" (possibly, I don't remember). It had some good guitar and organ, but it's a really boring song. At the end I couldn't even remember what it was called. I'm not sure of the year, maybe '79. 4,350, which sounds high from my original description.
Captain and Tennille, "Love Will Keep Us Together" from '75. There was a time when Captain and Tennille was huge on the music scene, but that was during a time that wasn't really a highlight of 20th-century music. Toni Tennille was hot in a big-smile, big-teeth kind of way. She also had kind of a bowl haircut, short with bangs. I don't think the Captain was really a captain of anything, but he wore a captain's hat and jacket while he sat and played at the keyboard while she sang. 3,700, with a little extra bonus for their homage to Neil Sedaka in the line at the end of the song, "Sedaka is back."
Leon Russell, "Tightrope", '72. I don't really remember this weird one. It has kind of a honky tonk piano, and some of his singing is scatting. He does mix up the tempo some, but it's not very good. 4,750.
The Emotions, "Best of My Love", maybe '70? 4,000.
Stories, "Brother Louie", '73. I'd forgotten what this song was until I heard the lyric, "Louie-Louie-Louie-Louie-Louie-Lou eye." It's pretty good. 3,100.
Earth , Wind & Fire, "Serpentine Fire", '77. I think the two 7s in the song title are trying to tell me something. 4,770.
Elvin Bishop, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love", '74 perhaps. I'll give him a few bonus points for the part when he sings what sounds like "I food around, food around, food around." 4,150.
John Paul Young, "Love Is in the Air", 1978, I think. It has maracas in it, and seems to have a bit of a Calypso vibe. 4,300.
Jackson Browne, "Doctor My Eyes", '72. It has a good '70s mix of guitar and drums, with what I believe are bongos in there. 2,900.
Carly Simon, "You're So Vain", '73. An all-time great. 200. Speculation remains to this day about who is so vain. The lyrics lend themselves to what could be a whole roman a clef novel. She sings in such a clear voice. Plus, she and James Taylor were like the '70s folky power couple. Another thing about her is that her dad was the Simon or one of the Simons of Simon & Schuster publishing, and he was a big fan or part owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers. So when Carly was a little girl, her dad would take her down in the dugout and there are stories about her sitting on Jackie Robinson's lap while he was talking to people. (Not in a creepy way.) She's had an interesting life, it would seem.
DeFranco Family, "Heartbeat It's a Love Beat", '73. Ani DiFranco is not a member of this bubblegum family, and was a toddler in 1973. However, they were practically neighbors. She grew up in Buffalo, and they were from across the Niagara River and west on Lake Erie in Port Colborne, Ontario. 4,850.
Bachman Turner Overdrive, "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet", '74, maybe? This is one of the best stuttering songs, "B-b-b-b-baby, you just ain't seen n-n-n-nothin' yet." It's good, hard-driving BTO. 1,400.
Andrew Gold, "Lonely Boy, '77. I'm a sucker for family-type tales, and this one's a little sad. 2,200.
Pilot, "Magic", '75. 3,000.
I'll pick this up with voice recording #168.
The relative merits of ABBA, Doobie Brothers and Styx
Beginning with voice recording #163 from Dec. 7. Apparently I listened to music only on the way back from the American Airlines Center. I could have been listening to Mavericks pre-game radio or a Howard Stern interview.
Alicia Bridges, "I Love the Nightlife", '73, maybe? 2,400.
Randy Newman, "Short People", '77. This is another song that would be harder to make now because of political correctness. I can understand a little bit. M-Tex is 5-2 and Samantha is barely 5 feet tall, but I don't think they'd be up in arms if they heard this song. This is kind of a novelty song, funny and popular at the time. 3,300.
Eddie Money, "Baby Hold On", 1978. 4,100.
Cliff Richard, "We Don't Talk Anymore", '79. Not his best. 4,550.
Chicago, "Alive Again", '78. This starts out pretty rocky, as in rock 'n' roll, for Chicago. More drums, less horns for much of the song though it later settles into Chicago's comfort zone. Not terrible, not great. 4,000.
Commodores, "Brick House", '77. This is a classic, even though there seems to be a word missing between brick and house. 2,100.
ABBA, "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do", '75, I think. They said "I do" more often than I have. It's not their best, but OK. 4,250. I just changed it to 4,150, because it has to be better than "What a Fool Believes".
The Doobie Brothers, "What a Fool Believes", don't know the year. There's a section that sounds as if they're singing, "A fa fa fa fa fa-hah." Now I'm looking up the lyrics, and I think is was "A wise man has the power." I originally said 3,850, but now I'm going to 4,250. I like the Doobies, but that section bothers me.
Styx, "Babe", also from '79. It's not the best Styx, any more than "What a Fool Believes" is the best Doobie Brothers. So on this one I'm now downgrading it from 3,900 to 4,300.
Alicia Bridges, "I Love the Nightlife", '73, maybe? 2,400.
Randy Newman, "Short People", '77. This is another song that would be harder to make now because of political correctness. I can understand a little bit. M-Tex is 5-2 and Samantha is barely 5 feet tall, but I don't think they'd be up in arms if they heard this song. This is kind of a novelty song, funny and popular at the time. 3,300.
Eddie Money, "Baby Hold On", 1978. 4,100.
Cliff Richard, "We Don't Talk Anymore", '79. Not his best. 4,550.
Chicago, "Alive Again", '78. This starts out pretty rocky, as in rock 'n' roll, for Chicago. More drums, less horns for much of the song though it later settles into Chicago's comfort zone. Not terrible, not great. 4,000.
Commodores, "Brick House", '77. This is a classic, even though there seems to be a word missing between brick and house. 2,100.
ABBA, "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do", '75, I think. They said "I do" more often than I have. It's not their best, but OK. 4,250. I just changed it to 4,150, because it has to be better than "What a Fool Believes".
The Doobie Brothers, "What a Fool Believes", don't know the year. There's a section that sounds as if they're singing, "A fa fa fa fa fa-hah." Now I'm looking up the lyrics, and I think is was "A wise man has the power." I originally said 3,850, but now I'm going to 4,250. I like the Doobies, but that section bothers me.
Styx, "Babe", also from '79. It's not the best Styx, any more than "What a Fool Believes" is the best Doobie Brothers. So on this one I'm now downgrading it from 3,900 to 4,300.
Including '70s stars who are deceased
From voice recording #156, Dec. 6.
Led Zeppelin, "Rock and Roll" from 1972. This definitely does rock. I would have thought it was called "Lonely, Lonely, Lonely Time". 1,800.
The Spinners, "Working My Way Back to You Babe", 1979, I believe. It's a remake that's better than the original, or at least an earlier version that I'm thinking of by the Four Seasons. The Spinners gave it a good beat, with a little screaming. I gave it 3,xxx. The recording cut out before I could hear the exact number.
The Carpenters, "Superstar". This is typical of their music. Karen Carpenter was a very good singer. How viable would they have remained if Karen hadn't died. She was one of the first, maybe the first, celebrity who died of anorexia. That's a difficult disease. I went out for a while with a woman who had bulimia, and I think that was out of sympathy to her daughter or daughters who were bulimic. 4,100.
Elton John, "Pinball Wizard", '77, maybe? This is as much as you will hear Elton John rock. It's the guitar guy who's really rocking, not so much Elton himself. This is really a remake of The Who's version. Elton might have liked because of the lyric that said "(the pinball wizard)'s got such a supple wrist." It's another example of lyrics that might not be accepted now because they could indicate someone's negative opinion of some group of people. And this one isn't likely to be as offensive as "a limp-wristed wimp from the other side of town." This isn't as good as The Who's version, but it did rock. 2,300.
Bee Gees, "More Than a Woman", 1978. It's classic Bee Gees disco/"Saturday Night Fever" type of song. 4,150.
Toto, "99", I think the year might have been '79. I don't remember this one very well or at all, because it wasn't very good. 4,750.
Mention The Four Seasons, and here they are with "Who Loves You" from 1975. I think the reason the song had any legs at all was that in the TV show "Kojak", where Telly Savalas played the bald detective -- and I can call him bald, because I look in the mirror and come from a long line of baldies, a line my son desperately would like to end. As Kojak, Savalas' tag line was "Who loves you, baby?" I'm not sure whether he paid royalties to The Four Seasons. This song is middlish, as in OK. 4,500.
The Five Stairsteps, "O-o-h Child", 1970. I have to check some spellings. The Sirius display read "Stairsteps", but the source I used on the database had their name as The Five Staresteps, which appears to be incorrect. I've also seen the song title as "O-o-h-h Child", which apparently is incorrect. My current research also showed that the group included at different times as many of five siblings from the Burke family. Clarence Burke, Jr. died in 2013. 4,200.
Bachman Turner Overdrive, "Let It Ride", I think 1974. I really like BTO. This is not their best, but it is 3,100.
Led Zeppelin, "Rock and Roll" from 1972. This definitely does rock. I would have thought it was called "Lonely, Lonely, Lonely Time". 1,800.
The Spinners, "Working My Way Back to You Babe", 1979, I believe. It's a remake that's better than the original, or at least an earlier version that I'm thinking of by the Four Seasons. The Spinners gave it a good beat, with a little screaming. I gave it 3,xxx. The recording cut out before I could hear the exact number.
The Carpenters, "Superstar". This is typical of their music. Karen Carpenter was a very good singer. How viable would they have remained if Karen hadn't died. She was one of the first, maybe the first, celebrity who died of anorexia. That's a difficult disease. I went out for a while with a woman who had bulimia, and I think that was out of sympathy to her daughter or daughters who were bulimic. 4,100.
Elton John, "Pinball Wizard", '77, maybe? This is as much as you will hear Elton John rock. It's the guitar guy who's really rocking, not so much Elton himself. This is really a remake of The Who's version. Elton might have liked because of the lyric that said "(the pinball wizard)'s got such a supple wrist." It's another example of lyrics that might not be accepted now because they could indicate someone's negative opinion of some group of people. And this one isn't likely to be as offensive as "a limp-wristed wimp from the other side of town." This isn't as good as The Who's version, but it did rock. 2,300.
Bee Gees, "More Than a Woman", 1978. It's classic Bee Gees disco/"Saturday Night Fever" type of song. 4,150.
Toto, "99", I think the year might have been '79. I don't remember this one very well or at all, because it wasn't very good. 4,750.
Mention The Four Seasons, and here they are with "Who Loves You" from 1975. I think the reason the song had any legs at all was that in the TV show "Kojak", where Telly Savalas played the bald detective -- and I can call him bald, because I look in the mirror and come from a long line of baldies, a line my son desperately would like to end. As Kojak, Savalas' tag line was "Who loves you, baby?" I'm not sure whether he paid royalties to The Four Seasons. This song is middlish, as in OK. 4,500.
The Five Stairsteps, "O-o-h Child", 1970. I have to check some spellings. The Sirius display read "Stairsteps", but the source I used on the database had their name as The Five Staresteps, which appears to be incorrect. I've also seen the song title as "O-o-h-h Child", which apparently is incorrect. My current research also showed that the group included at different times as many of five siblings from the Burke family. Clarence Burke, Jr. died in 2013. 4,200.
Bachman Turner Overdrive, "Let It Ride", I think 1974. I really like BTO. This is not their best, but it is 3,100.
Starfish, Starland and star power
From voice recording #138, Dec. 5.
Supertramp, "Goodbye Stranger", 1979. 1,800. I think of this as more in the '80s, and I believe it's on the '80s channel.
Eagles, "Hotel California", '77. 200. No, I guess I was on Channel 7 on Dec. 5.
Mouth and McNeil, "How Do You Do", '72. 4,200.
Gary Wright, "Love Is Alive", I think it was '76. 3,950.
Toto, "Hold the Line", '79. 4,400.
Belle and James?, "Livin' It Up (Friday Night)", 1979. 4,600, I think. The recording cut off. Might have been 4,650.
Eddie Money, "Baby Hold On", 1978. 4,450.
Ohio Players, "Love Roller Coaster", '75. 4,400.
Steve Miller Band, "Swingtown", '77. 2,350.
Terry Jacks, "Season in the Sun", '74. 3,850. The line, "The stars we could reach were just starfish on the beach," which reminded me of our trip to South Carolina. I believe the number of starfish washed up on the beach at Isle of Palms had died from a starfish wasting disease wiping out whole populations of the creatures.
Heart, "Barracuda", I think '77. Heart rocks pretty hard. 3,300.
Freda Payne, "Band of Gold", 1970. It needs just a little more variation in the beat, but it's a good song. Kind of a somebody done me something wrong song, and it's 2,050.
Fleetwood Mac, "Rhiannon", '76, I believe. I've said many times that a song wasn't somebody's best effort, but this is one of Fleetwood Mac's better songs. 1,700.
Earth, Wind & Fire, "After the Love Is Gone", 3,750.
Joni Mitchell, "Help Me", I think it's '74. A lot of thoughts went through my head on this one. First, how few folk singers there have been since '74. Not that this is a particularly folky song. I did see Joan Baez in concert in 1984 at the Nazareth Arts Center. She was cool. Someone took a photo. It was all flash photography, especially back then, so you couldn't take a picture in the dark with your cell phone. Joan walked over -- I was sitting in the second row, and whoever was taking the photo was in the first row somewhere in front of me -- and said, "OK. Take a picture now, and then put the camera away." She stood there while he took a picture, he put his phone away. Very well resolved, without having to have campus security come and throw the guy out. Also, there was a Latin-beat feel in part of "Help Me", something you might hear from Sergio Mendes or the Tijuana Brass. 3,900.
Four Seasons, "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)". That would have been about the time the Beatles arrived in America. That was a busy time in my life. I was a high school junior. I didn't actually see the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, and I couldn't see a recording with no VCRs in those days. A senior, Ben Beard, who was 18 or 19, came by and asked a group of us to go with us to Watkins Glen for some ice cream. So we did that, and we were delayed on the way back because the car in front of us had hit a deer and we stopped at a farmhouse to call the police to have them come and make sure the driver was OK. The deer went off the side of the road. I think the animal was wounded. That was what was going on for me in late December back in '63, but I think the Four Seasons were having a better time. This is 350, at least.
Sniff and the Tears, "Driver's Seat", '79. I'm a little leery of having "sniff" and "seat" be so close together, but I don't know if Sniff or his tears had any proclivities that way. 4,400.
Looking Glass, "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)", '72. The story is about a girl who lost the sailor she loved because he loved the sea more than he loved her. I guess she would have been a jinx going on a ship. Sad story. 4,100.
Bob Seger, "Hollywood Nights", '78. Bob Seger music is hard-driving rock, and I love it. 500.
Starland Vocal Band, "Afternoon Delight", '76. It was kind of a surprising song. It was popular for a while, but it was probably better than people realized. I like the ending where they have kind of a choral hallelujah -- ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah -- followed by do-do-do, do-do, do, boink. A lot of good musical stuff. 4,100.
Cheryl Lynn, "Got to Be Real", '78. Notes to Cheryl: 1. You don't scream out the lyrics as well as Steven Tyler does, and 2. Your songs aren't as good as his are. Cheryl gave it a good effort. 4,550.
Little River Band, "Lady", maybe '78, I'm not sure. This reminds me of "The Middle" episode when they went to see the Little River Band cover band. Seems like a limited opportunity for that kind of work. 4,100.
Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., "You Don't Have to Be a Star Baby" (to be in my show). I love Marilyn McCoo. She's a great entertainer. Not a great song, though. 4,500.
Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Up Around the Bend", which is pronounced more like biend in the lyrics, 1970. Creedence had quite a run during the '70s. 3,700.
Wings, "Listen to What the Man Says", 1975. 3,900.
10 cc, "The Things We Do for Love", 1977. 2,450.
Rare Earth, "I Just Want to Celebrate", 1971. Pretty good rock. 3,800.
Bee Gees, "Stayin' Alive", 1978. Maybe the greatest opening scene of any movie was in "Saturday Night Fever" when John Travolta was walking down the street swinging a can of paint to this song. It gets extra points for that, but no higher than 1,550.
Led Zeppelin, "Black Dog", 1972. I have no idea why it's called "Black Dog". I'm not sure what a lot of the lyrics are. But it is rockin', great guitar work and it's Led Zeppelin, for Christ's sake. 1,000.
Firefall, "You Are the Woman", I think it's '76. I think there's a little flute solo in there, but it's not great. 4,600, I think. Again the recording cut off.
Rita Coolidge, "Higher and Higher", '77. 2,400.
Ringo Starr, "Back Off Boogaloo", '72. 4,300.
This will pick up with voice message #156, from the evening of Dec. 6.
Supertramp, "Goodbye Stranger", 1979. 1,800. I think of this as more in the '80s, and I believe it's on the '80s channel.
Eagles, "Hotel California", '77. 200. No, I guess I was on Channel 7 on Dec. 5.
Mouth and McNeil, "How Do You Do", '72. 4,200.
Gary Wright, "Love Is Alive", I think it was '76. 3,950.
Toto, "Hold the Line", '79. 4,400.
Belle and James?, "Livin' It Up (Friday Night)", 1979. 4,600, I think. The recording cut off. Might have been 4,650.
Eddie Money, "Baby Hold On", 1978. 4,450.
Ohio Players, "Love Roller Coaster", '75. 4,400.
Steve Miller Band, "Swingtown", '77. 2,350.
Terry Jacks, "Season in the Sun", '74. 3,850. The line, "The stars we could reach were just starfish on the beach," which reminded me of our trip to South Carolina. I believe the number of starfish washed up on the beach at Isle of Palms had died from a starfish wasting disease wiping out whole populations of the creatures.
Heart, "Barracuda", I think '77. Heart rocks pretty hard. 3,300.
Freda Payne, "Band of Gold", 1970. It needs just a little more variation in the beat, but it's a good song. Kind of a somebody done me something wrong song, and it's 2,050.
Fleetwood Mac, "Rhiannon", '76, I believe. I've said many times that a song wasn't somebody's best effort, but this is one of Fleetwood Mac's better songs. 1,700.
Earth, Wind & Fire, "After the Love Is Gone", 3,750.
Joni Mitchell, "Help Me", I think it's '74. A lot of thoughts went through my head on this one. First, how few folk singers there have been since '74. Not that this is a particularly folky song. I did see Joan Baez in concert in 1984 at the Nazareth Arts Center. She was cool. Someone took a photo. It was all flash photography, especially back then, so you couldn't take a picture in the dark with your cell phone. Joan walked over -- I was sitting in the second row, and whoever was taking the photo was in the first row somewhere in front of me -- and said, "OK. Take a picture now, and then put the camera away." She stood there while he took a picture, he put his phone away. Very well resolved, without having to have campus security come and throw the guy out. Also, there was a Latin-beat feel in part of "Help Me", something you might hear from Sergio Mendes or the Tijuana Brass. 3,900.
Four Seasons, "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)". That would have been about the time the Beatles arrived in America. That was a busy time in my life. I was a high school junior. I didn't actually see the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, and I couldn't see a recording with no VCRs in those days. A senior, Ben Beard, who was 18 or 19, came by and asked a group of us to go with us to Watkins Glen for some ice cream. So we did that, and we were delayed on the way back because the car in front of us had hit a deer and we stopped at a farmhouse to call the police to have them come and make sure the driver was OK. The deer went off the side of the road. I think the animal was wounded. That was what was going on for me in late December back in '63, but I think the Four Seasons were having a better time. This is 350, at least.
Sniff and the Tears, "Driver's Seat", '79. I'm a little leery of having "sniff" and "seat" be so close together, but I don't know if Sniff or his tears had any proclivities that way. 4,400.
Looking Glass, "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)", '72. The story is about a girl who lost the sailor she loved because he loved the sea more than he loved her. I guess she would have been a jinx going on a ship. Sad story. 4,100.
Bob Seger, "Hollywood Nights", '78. Bob Seger music is hard-driving rock, and I love it. 500.
Starland Vocal Band, "Afternoon Delight", '76. It was kind of a surprising song. It was popular for a while, but it was probably better than people realized. I like the ending where they have kind of a choral hallelujah -- ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah -- followed by do-do-do, do-do, do, boink. A lot of good musical stuff. 4,100.
Cheryl Lynn, "Got to Be Real", '78. Notes to Cheryl: 1. You don't scream out the lyrics as well as Steven Tyler does, and 2. Your songs aren't as good as his are. Cheryl gave it a good effort. 4,550.
Little River Band, "Lady", maybe '78, I'm not sure. This reminds me of "The Middle" episode when they went to see the Little River Band cover band. Seems like a limited opportunity for that kind of work. 4,100.
Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., "You Don't Have to Be a Star Baby" (to be in my show). I love Marilyn McCoo. She's a great entertainer. Not a great song, though. 4,500.
Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Up Around the Bend", which is pronounced more like biend in the lyrics, 1970. Creedence had quite a run during the '70s. 3,700.
Wings, "Listen to What the Man Says", 1975. 3,900.
10 cc, "The Things We Do for Love", 1977. 2,450.
Rare Earth, "I Just Want to Celebrate", 1971. Pretty good rock. 3,800.
Bee Gees, "Stayin' Alive", 1978. Maybe the greatest opening scene of any movie was in "Saturday Night Fever" when John Travolta was walking down the street swinging a can of paint to this song. It gets extra points for that, but no higher than 1,550.
Led Zeppelin, "Black Dog", 1972. I have no idea why it's called "Black Dog". I'm not sure what a lot of the lyrics are. But it is rockin', great guitar work and it's Led Zeppelin, for Christ's sake. 1,000.
Firefall, "You Are the Woman", I think it's '76. I think there's a little flute solo in there, but it's not great. 4,600, I think. Again the recording cut off.
Rita Coolidge, "Higher and Higher", '77. 2,400.
Ringo Starr, "Back Off Boogaloo", '72. 4,300.
This will pick up with voice message #156, from the evening of Dec. 6.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Super Freaky; Boy Cyndi?
From voice recording #133, Dec. 1.
Joe and Mystikal, "Stutter (Remix), 2001. It's probably the worst of the songs that include stuttering. 4,800.
Howie Day, "Clive"?, from '04. It has acoustic guitar and a do-do-do-do sound that might have been on "Dawson's Creek", and it's 4,600.
No Doubt, "It's My Life" from '03. It's not one of No Doubt's best. 4,350.
Lifehouse, "Whatever It Takes", don't know the year. 4,750.
John Mayer, "No Such Thing", 2002. 4,700.
Dr. Dre/Eminem, "Forgot About Dre" from 2000. 4,825.
Daughtry, "Over You", 2008. 4,575. Why is this ranked higher than "Forgot About Dre"? The instrumentation and beat are nothing special, but Daughtry at least was singing.
50 Cent, "In Da Club" from '03. 4,700.
DJ Sammy and Ya Knew?, "To Heaven". It's a remake, and not nearly as good. It has a "Night at the Roxbury" beat. 4,500.
I started out on Sirius XM Channel 10, and realized I had done this before Thanksgiving. I'm switching over to the '80s on Channel 8. And I think I was listening to voice recording #136 on Dec. 4.
Rick James, "Super Freak", '81. A couple of things: I remember meeting the late Rick James -- who lived in East Aurora, N.Y., where I was working at the time for "Buffalo Bills Weekly" -- at a Bills game. He was with Leon Spinks. This song also was in "Little Miss Sunshine". 3,400.
Chicago, "Look Away", 1988. This is a softer Chicago without a whole lot of horns or a lot of anything. 4,750.
Men Without Hats, "Safety Dance", 1983. 2,300.
The Go-Gos, "Vacation" from '82. 2,600.
Tears for Fears, "Mothers Talk", can't remember the year -- '83? '86? Tears for Fears was one of the '80s bands that was just kind of there, and it was a lucky circumstance for them because they probably would not have been able to gain a foothold in any other era of music. This isn't one of their better ones. 4,800, generously.
Culture Club, "Time (Clock of the Heart), '83. Not Culture Club's best, but it's better than one of Tears for Fears' not-best, so 4,750. The main thing Culture Club gave us was Boy George, who had some staying power as a solo artist. He probably wanted to be Cyndi Lauper when he grew up. I saw Cyndi Lauper in concert in Philadelphia, and Boy George is no Cyndi Lauper.
Gap Band, "Dropped a Bomb on Me", 1982. The bomb might have been this song. Its highlight was the sound effect of the bombs flying through the air, or whining or screaming through the air, or whatever bombs do while they're in the air. This band brought to mind Morris Day and the Time, only not as good. It's probably not even as good as some of the other crap I've been listening to, so 4,825.
UB-40, "Red Red Wine" from '88. I went back and forth on either side of 3,500 with this one. What finally decided it for me was the reggae, almost spoken-word, section near the end when they went into a "3-6-9, the goose drank wine" rap. 3,400.
Police, "Every Breath You Take, '83. 1,350.
Madonna, "Borderline", I think '86. It's not terrible, it's probably middle or higher on her list of songs. 4,100.
Roxette, "The Look" from '89. I didn't really recall much about this group, but going back to create the database, it seems as if they had songs on the charts through much of the '80s. This is probably the best. I like the line about making a brown-eyed girl turn blue, and I'm not sure whether it might be an homage to Crystal Gayle for her "Don't it make my brown eyes blue?" more than a decade earlier. "The Look" has something going for it. 2,400.
Toto, "Africa." I sometimes confuse this with "Tusk". I know I've reviewed this one before. I might be more generous today than I was then. 3,100.
Joe and Mystikal, "Stutter (Remix), 2001. It's probably the worst of the songs that include stuttering. 4,800.
Howie Day, "Clive"?, from '04. It has acoustic guitar and a do-do-do-do sound that might have been on "Dawson's Creek", and it's 4,600.
No Doubt, "It's My Life" from '03. It's not one of No Doubt's best. 4,350.
Lifehouse, "Whatever It Takes", don't know the year. 4,750.
John Mayer, "No Such Thing", 2002. 4,700.
Dr. Dre/Eminem, "Forgot About Dre" from 2000. 4,825.
Daughtry, "Over You", 2008. 4,575. Why is this ranked higher than "Forgot About Dre"? The instrumentation and beat are nothing special, but Daughtry at least was singing.
50 Cent, "In Da Club" from '03. 4,700.
DJ Sammy and Ya Knew?, "To Heaven". It's a remake, and not nearly as good. It has a "Night at the Roxbury" beat. 4,500.
I started out on Sirius XM Channel 10, and realized I had done this before Thanksgiving. I'm switching over to the '80s on Channel 8. And I think I was listening to voice recording #136 on Dec. 4.
Rick James, "Super Freak", '81. A couple of things: I remember meeting the late Rick James -- who lived in East Aurora, N.Y., where I was working at the time for "Buffalo Bills Weekly" -- at a Bills game. He was with Leon Spinks. This song also was in "Little Miss Sunshine". 3,400.
Chicago, "Look Away", 1988. This is a softer Chicago without a whole lot of horns or a lot of anything. 4,750.
Men Without Hats, "Safety Dance", 1983. 2,300.
The Go-Gos, "Vacation" from '82. 2,600.
Tears for Fears, "Mothers Talk", can't remember the year -- '83? '86? Tears for Fears was one of the '80s bands that was just kind of there, and it was a lucky circumstance for them because they probably would not have been able to gain a foothold in any other era of music. This isn't one of their better ones. 4,800, generously.
Culture Club, "Time (Clock of the Heart), '83. Not Culture Club's best, but it's better than one of Tears for Fears' not-best, so 4,750. The main thing Culture Club gave us was Boy George, who had some staying power as a solo artist. He probably wanted to be Cyndi Lauper when he grew up. I saw Cyndi Lauper in concert in Philadelphia, and Boy George is no Cyndi Lauper.
Gap Band, "Dropped a Bomb on Me", 1982. The bomb might have been this song. Its highlight was the sound effect of the bombs flying through the air, or whining or screaming through the air, or whatever bombs do while they're in the air. This band brought to mind Morris Day and the Time, only not as good. It's probably not even as good as some of the other crap I've been listening to, so 4,825.
UB-40, "Red Red Wine" from '88. I went back and forth on either side of 3,500 with this one. What finally decided it for me was the reggae, almost spoken-word, section near the end when they went into a "3-6-9, the goose drank wine" rap. 3,400.
Police, "Every Breath You Take, '83. 1,350.
Madonna, "Borderline", I think '86. It's not terrible, it's probably middle or higher on her list of songs. 4,100.
Roxette, "The Look" from '89. I didn't really recall much about this group, but going back to create the database, it seems as if they had songs on the charts through much of the '80s. This is probably the best. I like the line about making a brown-eyed girl turn blue, and I'm not sure whether it might be an homage to Crystal Gayle for her "Don't it make my brown eyes blue?" more than a decade earlier. "The Look" has something going for it. 2,400.
Toto, "Africa." I sometimes confuse this with "Tusk". I know I've reviewed this one before. I might be more generous today than I was then. 3,100.
Take a look at my girlfriend -- on BET
From voice recording #132, Nov. 25. The recordings from the 24th all were apparently from interviews at the Mavericks game, and this was probably recorded on my way home. We flew to Charleston for Thanksgiving on the morning of the 25th, and I didn't record any of my impressions about songs while we were there.
The Calling, "Wherever We Will Go", 2001. 3,900.
Destiny's Child, "Survivor", '01. 4,175. I didn't turn off my phone's recorder after this, so I got to hear most of it while I was listening to the recording. I'll move it up to 3,800.
Backstreet Boys, "Shape of My Heart", 2000. 4,700.
Pink, "Get the Party Started, '01. 3,300.
Kelis, "Milk Shake" from '03. It was about this time that a friend, Sara Brown, suggested that I should be watching BET and listening to the songs on "106 and Park" to learn a little bit about black culture. "Milk Shake" was one of the popular songs then. In deference to Sara, and because it was a pretty good song I'll give it 3,850. Just looking at the headline I wrote for this post. To be clear, Sara is female and a friend, but is/was not my girlfriend. More by her choice.
Incubus, "Drive", '01. 4,300.
Gym Class Heroes, "Cupid's Chokehold", '06. It borrows lyrics from a Supertramp or Cheap Trick song: "Take a look at my girlfriend, girlfriend, she's the only one I got. Not much of a girlfriend." That part's pretty good. I think Gym Class Heroes are a small step up from Scrubs. They did OK in this one: 4,550. Checked, and it was a Supertramp song.
Owl City, "Fireflies", '09. I know I've done this one before, and I'm guessing my score was somewhere in the range of 3,800-3,900.
The Calling, "Wherever We Will Go", 2001. 3,900.
Destiny's Child, "Survivor", '01. 4,175. I didn't turn off my phone's recorder after this, so I got to hear most of it while I was listening to the recording. I'll move it up to 3,800.
Backstreet Boys, "Shape of My Heart", 2000. 4,700.
Pink, "Get the Party Started, '01. 3,300.
Kelis, "Milk Shake" from '03. It was about this time that a friend, Sara Brown, suggested that I should be watching BET and listening to the songs on "106 and Park" to learn a little bit about black culture. "Milk Shake" was one of the popular songs then. In deference to Sara, and because it was a pretty good song I'll give it 3,850. Just looking at the headline I wrote for this post. To be clear, Sara is female and a friend, but is/was not my girlfriend. More by her choice.
Incubus, "Drive", '01. 4,300.
Gym Class Heroes, "Cupid's Chokehold", '06. It borrows lyrics from a Supertramp or Cheap Trick song: "Take a look at my girlfriend, girlfriend, she's the only one I got. Not much of a girlfriend." That part's pretty good. I think Gym Class Heroes are a small step up from Scrubs. They did OK in this one: 4,550. Checked, and it was a Supertramp song.
Owl City, "Fireflies", '09. I know I've done this one before, and I'm guessing my score was somewhere in the range of 3,800-3,900.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Pete and repeat
From Nov. 22, beginning with voice recording #121.
Michael Jackson, "Bad", '87. 4,200.
Steve Winwood, "Valerie", also from '87. 4,100. This is a Big '80s countdown for that week in '87. This must have been No. 23; "Bad" was 24.
Stevie Wonder, "Skeletons", '87. I might have reviewed this one already, or it might have been late at night as I was arriving home so I didn't hear the whole thing. If so, I didn't miss a whole lot. I do remember a line about "up the wazoo." 4,350 for No. 22 in the countdown.
Pretty Poison, "Catch Me I'm Falling", No. 21 in '87 this week. 4,550.
Madonna, "Causing a Commotion", '87. 4,500.
Whitney Houston, "So Emotional", '87. 4,600. I realized when I was listening to this that I've been giving close to the same numerical rank for all of these from that year. I think the reason is that there's so much sameness in them. It's as if every one was part of the "Weird Science" sound track. Maybe for a similar reason, a lot of the superstars, if you will, of this era have been overrated. Michael Jackson, Madonna, even Whitney. Maybe a reason why so many people a generation younger than I are so attached to Bruce Springsteen is that even if he also is overrated, he was considerably better than most of what was going on during his time, so he was the best thing to latch on to. He still pales in comparison with Elvis or the Beatles and the best of some other eras, in my opinion. I'm not sure he's at the same level as Elvis or the Beatles; in fact, Bruce definitely isn't.
Squeeze, "Hourglass Number 18". Oh, boy! 4,700.
Jody Watley, "Touch Me" maybe? Something about touching. I zoned out on this one several minutes early. 4,750. My January research did not find a Watley '87 song title including touch. This could have been "Don't You Want Me".
Whitesnake, "Is This Love", '87. Kind of a boring ballad. Not their best, by any means. 4,400.
Pet Shop Boys, "It's a Sin". I don't remember this one from when it apparently had some popularity; it was No. 14 on this weeks list. I had some hope for it when it started out because the instrumentation was different, but there was the same damn beat: DOO doo, DOO doo, DOO doo. Every time I would warm up to it, they'd come back with that drum track under it. I don't this is even as good as what I said was 4,500, so I'll say 4,550.
Debbie Gibson, "Shake Your Love", '87. There's that beat again. This one probably isn't as bad as the worst one I heard today, and it's Debbie Gibson too. Still, I'll give it 4,725.
Poison, "I Won't Forget You", '87. It's a little country, but at least there's a little bit of change in the rhythm. 4,400.
Sting, "We'll Be Together", '87, No. 11 in the survey. Not very good. 4,500. I just listened to it again because I apparently didn't stop the recording between songs. This was very repetitive. The last minute or more was "Together. We'll be together tonight," repeated and re-repeated.
On my way home after the Stars game, I heard the same survey repeated. Fitting for the theme of this day. Number 27 was Aerosmith, "Dude Looks Like a Lady", '87. I might have done this before and been closer to 2,500, but I think 2,700 is about right.
George Harrison, "I've Got My Mind Set on You" -- a 1987 remake from '62, by a guy named James Ray. 3,000.
Los Lobos, "Come On, Let's Go", '87, was No. 25. I was thinking it was Buddy Holly who did this originally, but Martha Quinn told me it was Ritchie Valens. There's kind of an eerie connection there. I didn't remember that Los Lobos did anything other than "Black Is Black". This one is a good early rock-n-roll song. Probably not as good as Ritchie's version from 1958, but 3,900.
Next up: voice recording #128 from Nov. 24.
Michael Jackson, "Bad", '87. 4,200.
Steve Winwood, "Valerie", also from '87. 4,100. This is a Big '80s countdown for that week in '87. This must have been No. 23; "Bad" was 24.
Stevie Wonder, "Skeletons", '87. I might have reviewed this one already, or it might have been late at night as I was arriving home so I didn't hear the whole thing. If so, I didn't miss a whole lot. I do remember a line about "up the wazoo." 4,350 for No. 22 in the countdown.
Pretty Poison, "Catch Me I'm Falling", No. 21 in '87 this week. 4,550.
Madonna, "Causing a Commotion", '87. 4,500.
Whitney Houston, "So Emotional", '87. 4,600. I realized when I was listening to this that I've been giving close to the same numerical rank for all of these from that year. I think the reason is that there's so much sameness in them. It's as if every one was part of the "Weird Science" sound track. Maybe for a similar reason, a lot of the superstars, if you will, of this era have been overrated. Michael Jackson, Madonna, even Whitney. Maybe a reason why so many people a generation younger than I are so attached to Bruce Springsteen is that even if he also is overrated, he was considerably better than most of what was going on during his time, so he was the best thing to latch on to. He still pales in comparison with Elvis or the Beatles and the best of some other eras, in my opinion. I'm not sure he's at the same level as Elvis or the Beatles; in fact, Bruce definitely isn't.
Squeeze, "Hourglass Number 18". Oh, boy! 4,700.
Jody Watley, "Touch Me" maybe? Something about touching. I zoned out on this one several minutes early. 4,750. My January research did not find a Watley '87 song title including touch. This could have been "Don't You Want Me".
Whitesnake, "Is This Love", '87. Kind of a boring ballad. Not their best, by any means. 4,400.
Pet Shop Boys, "It's a Sin". I don't remember this one from when it apparently had some popularity; it was No. 14 on this weeks list. I had some hope for it when it started out because the instrumentation was different, but there was the same damn beat: DOO doo, DOO doo, DOO doo. Every time I would warm up to it, they'd come back with that drum track under it. I don't this is even as good as what I said was 4,500, so I'll say 4,550.
Debbie Gibson, "Shake Your Love", '87. There's that beat again. This one probably isn't as bad as the worst one I heard today, and it's Debbie Gibson too. Still, I'll give it 4,725.
Poison, "I Won't Forget You", '87. It's a little country, but at least there's a little bit of change in the rhythm. 4,400.
Sting, "We'll Be Together", '87, No. 11 in the survey. Not very good. 4,500. I just listened to it again because I apparently didn't stop the recording between songs. This was very repetitive. The last minute or more was "Together. We'll be together tonight," repeated and re-repeated.
On my way home after the Stars game, I heard the same survey repeated. Fitting for the theme of this day. Number 27 was Aerosmith, "Dude Looks Like a Lady", '87. I might have done this before and been closer to 2,500, but I think 2,700 is about right.
George Harrison, "I've Got My Mind Set on You" -- a 1987 remake from '62, by a guy named James Ray. 3,000.
Los Lobos, "Come On, Let's Go", '87, was No. 25. I was thinking it was Buddy Holly who did this originally, but Martha Quinn told me it was Ritchie Valens. There's kind of an eerie connection there. I didn't remember that Los Lobos did anything other than "Black Is Black". This one is a good early rock-n-roll song. Probably not as good as Ritchie's version from 1958, but 3,900.
Next up: voice recording #128 from Nov. 24.
Multiple Mariah and Britney
Nov. 21, from voice recording #114.
Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody", 2009, 3,950.
Christina Aguilera, "Ain't No Other Man", '06, maybe '07. It seems that she's a little bit out of her comfort zone with this kind of R&B song, but she pulls it off pretty well. 4,100
Mario, I forget the title, from sometime in '04. Essentially, they laid a rhythm track underneath him, and he and a backup singer or singers sang some words. The person who was shortchanged on this was whoever wrote the lyrics because who would know if they were any good. They're not going to hear them. 4,700 seems generous.
Fallout Boy, "Sugar We're Going Down" from '05. 4,550.
Norah Jones, "Don't Know Why", '02. She certainly has a pleasant singing voice. It's mellow, the kind of thing you might have heard in a piano bar in the '60s -- it does have a piano in it -- or maybe heard on the radio in the '50s. It's kind of a love song, a little more up tempo. I would have liked to have heard more ambitious drumming. It's a comfortable song. 3,600.
Britney Spears, "Every Time", '04. I've got to hand it to Britney; she's had some staying power. This is an OK song, nothing special and not her best. 4,500.
Matchbox 20, "Unwell" 2003. 4,400.
Shaggy, "Angel" from 2001. Part of it is to the tune of "Angel of the Morning". Another part is kind of reggae rap. An interesting approach. 4,250.
Papa Roach, "Last Resort", 2000. I made a comment about a week ago on what I think was another Papa Roach song. 4,300.
Rihanna and Jay-Z, "Umbrella", but it's pronounced in the song as Umberella. 2007. This was one we heard a lot on one of our end-of-year trips to Pittsburgh to be with Diana and the family, possibly late in 2006. The whole family had a good time singing and making fun of the song. 3,100.
Linkin Park, "In the End", I don't remember the year. Some singing, some rapping. It's OK. 3,850, after first thinking 3,800.
Melissa Etheridge, "I Want to Come Over". I don't know the year because the title was too long to fit on the display in Samantha's car. 4,650.
The songs I listed above were probably from my trip home from the American Airlines Center, because the next recording was also on Nov. 21 but it has '90s songs from Sirius XM Channel 9.
Ini Kamoze, "Here Comes the Hot St ...", which was I got from the display, so I don't know what year it was. I would have guessed it was named "Turn Around" or "Burn Her Up" or whatever it was that was repeated ... repeatedly. Part of it sounds like Asian rap. It also has a section of "na na na na na," as if it was from "Land of 1,000 Dances." It was another confused song, but a little bit catchy despite the confusion. 4,450. I apparently was very confused. It's "Here Comes the Hotstepper" from 1994, and the repeated phrase is "murderer."
Britney Spears, "Sometimes" from '99. Again, she uses a little-girl voice, but then she was almost a little girl in 1999. Comparing it to Ini before it, I'd say 4,350.
Third Eye Blind, "Semi-Charmed Life". It's from the late '90s, 1995 or later. I think I heard this the other night and gave it a rating near 1,500, I'll say between 1,400 and 1,700.
Technotronic, "Get Up and ..." do something that starts with an N. I'm not a big techno fan, but I have heard this one. 4,650. I guess this was "Get Up! (Before the Night Is Over)".
Proclaimers, "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)". 2,400. It's definitely a catchy one. It has a bit of an Irish music vibe.
Mariah Carey, "Always Be My Baby", don't know the year. It's typical Mariah -- safe, nothing very interesting. 4,500.
Jesus Jones, "Right Here Right Now". 4,300.
Mariah Carey, "Fantasy", '95 maybe. 4,400. I think I've done it before and it's about 4,500.
Backstreet Boys, "Larger Than Life", '99. 4,350. I think the Backstreet Boys jumped the shark or had it jumped for them about the time Howard Stern began calling them the Backside Boys.
Blind Melon, "No Rain". I forget the year, late '90s. I think I've done this one before and it was about 4,000. 4,100 more likely than 3,900, but around 4,000.
Biz Markie, "Just a Friend", forgot the year again. I do remember it's the worst singing this side of a third-grade chorus. He could talk, so 4,900 at best.
Lenny Kravitz, "Are You Going to Go My ...". I'm thinking the last word is Way, but I don't know the year. 4,200. It is "Are You Going to Go My Way".
Prince, "Cream", '91. I'd like it better if it was a song called "Prince" by Cream or even "Two Princes". 4,350.
Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody", 2009, 3,950.
Christina Aguilera, "Ain't No Other Man", '06, maybe '07. It seems that she's a little bit out of her comfort zone with this kind of R&B song, but she pulls it off pretty well. 4,100
Mario, I forget the title, from sometime in '04. Essentially, they laid a rhythm track underneath him, and he and a backup singer or singers sang some words. The person who was shortchanged on this was whoever wrote the lyrics because who would know if they were any good. They're not going to hear them. 4,700 seems generous.
Fallout Boy, "Sugar We're Going Down" from '05. 4,550.
Norah Jones, "Don't Know Why", '02. She certainly has a pleasant singing voice. It's mellow, the kind of thing you might have heard in a piano bar in the '60s -- it does have a piano in it -- or maybe heard on the radio in the '50s. It's kind of a love song, a little more up tempo. I would have liked to have heard more ambitious drumming. It's a comfortable song. 3,600.
Britney Spears, "Every Time", '04. I've got to hand it to Britney; she's had some staying power. This is an OK song, nothing special and not her best. 4,500.
Matchbox 20, "Unwell" 2003. 4,400.
Shaggy, "Angel" from 2001. Part of it is to the tune of "Angel of the Morning". Another part is kind of reggae rap. An interesting approach. 4,250.
Papa Roach, "Last Resort", 2000. I made a comment about a week ago on what I think was another Papa Roach song. 4,300.
Rihanna and Jay-Z, "Umbrella", but it's pronounced in the song as Umberella. 2007. This was one we heard a lot on one of our end-of-year trips to Pittsburgh to be with Diana and the family, possibly late in 2006. The whole family had a good time singing and making fun of the song. 3,100.
Linkin Park, "In the End", I don't remember the year. Some singing, some rapping. It's OK. 3,850, after first thinking 3,800.
Melissa Etheridge, "I Want to Come Over". I don't know the year because the title was too long to fit on the display in Samantha's car. 4,650.
The songs I listed above were probably from my trip home from the American Airlines Center, because the next recording was also on Nov. 21 but it has '90s songs from Sirius XM Channel 9.
Ini Kamoze, "Here Comes the Hot St ...", which was I got from the display, so I don't know what year it was. I would have guessed it was named "Turn Around" or "Burn Her Up" or whatever it was that was repeated ... repeatedly. Part of it sounds like Asian rap. It also has a section of "na na na na na," as if it was from "Land of 1,000 Dances." It was another confused song, but a little bit catchy despite the confusion. 4,450. I apparently was very confused. It's "Here Comes the Hotstepper" from 1994, and the repeated phrase is "murderer."
Britney Spears, "Sometimes" from '99. Again, she uses a little-girl voice, but then she was almost a little girl in 1999. Comparing it to Ini before it, I'd say 4,350.
Third Eye Blind, "Semi-Charmed Life". It's from the late '90s, 1995 or later. I think I heard this the other night and gave it a rating near 1,500, I'll say between 1,400 and 1,700.
Technotronic, "Get Up and ..." do something that starts with an N. I'm not a big techno fan, but I have heard this one. 4,650. I guess this was "Get Up! (Before the Night Is Over)".
Proclaimers, "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)". 2,400. It's definitely a catchy one. It has a bit of an Irish music vibe.
Mariah Carey, "Always Be My Baby", don't know the year. It's typical Mariah -- safe, nothing very interesting. 4,500.
Jesus Jones, "Right Here Right Now". 4,300.
Mariah Carey, "Fantasy", '95 maybe. 4,400. I think I've done it before and it's about 4,500.
Backstreet Boys, "Larger Than Life", '99. 4,350. I think the Backstreet Boys jumped the shark or had it jumped for them about the time Howard Stern began calling them the Backside Boys.
Blind Melon, "No Rain". I forget the year, late '90s. I think I've done this one before and it was about 4,000. 4,100 more likely than 3,900, but around 4,000.
Biz Markie, "Just a Friend", forgot the year again. I do remember it's the worst singing this side of a third-grade chorus. He could talk, so 4,900 at best.
Lenny Kravitz, "Are You Going to Go My ...". I'm thinking the last word is Way, but I don't know the year. 4,200. It is "Are You Going to Go My Way".
Prince, "Cream", '91. I'd like it better if it was a song called "Prince" by Cream or even "Two Princes". 4,350.
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