Classic Songs of My Youth Revisited #23
George Jones – He Stopped Loving Her Today Every time I see a photo of Johnny Cash, I think of my father. For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out why. If I look at the right photo at the proper angle I can see a physical resemblance, but that isn’t it. No, I think … Continue reading Classic Songs of My Youth Revisited #23
Pazz and Jop 1974 #3
Randy Newman – Good Old Boys There is nothing at stake here, so I can be brutally honest: this album is sort of boring. There’s a difficulty at the heart of all of Randy Newman’s work: he writes (mostly) great songs that he then, unfortunately, chooses to perform himself, often with little more than his … Continue reading Pazz and Jop 1974 #3
Classic Songs of My Youth Revisited #22
Dan Hartman – I Can Dream About You There are a LOT of jobs in the music business. The glamour spots, of course, involve being a successful solo performer or front person in a band. But every song ever recorded didn’t get that way without the involvement of writers, other musicians and singers, engineers, producers … Continue reading Classic Songs of My Youth Revisited #22
Favourite “New” Music – August 2022
Yep, still here. I just paid for another year of this domain name, so I’m not going away just yet. Like all hobbies, writing a blog sometimes has to take a back seat to other things in life that need to be prioritised, or just going through periods where you need to step away to … Continue reading Favourite “New” Music – August 2022
Classic Songs of My Youth Revisited #21A/B
John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John – Summer Nights/You’re the One that I Want If you were a young boy – or girl, for that matter – who arrived on June 16, 1978 without having reached puberty, there’s a good chance your progress got a significant boost sometime that summer at the 1:41:38 mark of “Grease”. … Continue reading Classic Songs of My Youth Revisited #21A/B
Pazz and Jop 1974 #2
Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic The word that always comes to mind when I listen to Steely Dan is “lush”. The music is complex and perfectly played, the lyrics clever and insightful. Listening, you can’t help but feel a bit more elevated than with the usual pop, with all its messy emotion and histrionics. It … Continue reading Pazz and Jop 1974 #2
Favourite “New” Music – July 2022
On a recent evening, I selected “Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful?” by The Waitresses for my drive-home aural accompaniment. I had owned it on vinyl in the ’80s, but never went beyond playing a few favoured tracks. It seemed like a fun way to navigate rush hour traffic, with Patty Donahue’s droll delivery guiding me home. (Also, … Continue reading Favourite “New” Music – July 2022
Pazz and Jop 1974 #1
Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark It’s not a good time to be saying anything less than glowing about Joni Mitchell, with her recent triumphant return to the stage. A lot of people love her music. I am not one of those people. The ones who love her are right to do so. And the … Continue reading Pazz and Jop 1974 #1
Classic Songs of My Youth Revisited #20A/B
David Lee Roth – California Girls and Just A Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody The first time I really noticed Van Halen was in 1983. What got my attention was that the band was paid $1.5 million dollars to perform at the Us Festival, and the press about this made it clear that getting one-quarter of … Continue reading Classic Songs of My Youth Revisited #20A/B
Classic Songs of My Youth Revisited #19
Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods – Billy, Don’t Be A Hero I haven’t completed my empirical study on this issue – I’m still waiting on my Canada Council for the Arts funding to come through – but my preliminary findings would indicate that the 1970s were the Golden Age of musical cheese. A quick look … Continue reading Classic Songs of My Youth Revisited #19
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