Middle Aged Dummies - Artist - Round 3 - #1's have been posted! (10 Viewers)

[Scoresman]

The Tea Party song is interesting. Morrocan-roll? Really? Still, it's kind of cool now that I know where it's going. Looking forward to more of this odd Canadian stuff.

That's probably the most "Moroccan Roll" of all the songs. I think I mentioned, but this is actually a top ten song of theirs to me (and commercially), wanted to start the countdown with a couple songs that really highlight the band's style.

They also do a few blues songs, and others are pretty much straight up alternative/grungy.

 

[MAC_32]

STP #31 - Plush (Acoustic)
Album - Unreleased (on the greatest hits album Thank You from 2003)

OK, this one is cheating. And yes, the studio version is also further up in my rankings.

This was a live recording from the MTV studios for the Headbangers Ball show. I don’t know about anywhere else, but here in the L.A. area, there was a time this was played on the radio as much or even more than the original.

It’s such a great recording, it would probably rank much higher on my list, but I figured it was a good place to start off my list with since I’m also including the studio version. I would have had a hard time picking just one version of this song.

Unpopular opinion- I think this version is much MUCH better than the original. So much so that I removed the studio version from my library because whenever it came on I then sought out the acoustic.

 

[Scoresman]

The Tea Party #31 - Sister Awake​

I may not have much of a writeup for most Tea Party songs. The band is very much one that I randomly discovered in college and really liked despite there not being a whole lot of info out there about them or their songs to this day. These guys are pretty much known by most Canadians, but never hit it big in the states.

This is actually my number 3 ranked song of theirs, but is regarded by their fan base as the band's "business card" to use to introduce others to the band. It's one of their songs that incorporates their middle eastern influence the most. Personally, I love the transitions from 1:20-2:00.

The song is a standard three-piece rock composition acoustically based on 12-string guitar, sitar, sarod, harmonium and goblet drums.

 

[Scoresman]

Acoustic Plush is my favorite Plush.

 

[-OZ-]

GB @jwb starting the Doors list with my favorite of their collection.

Jerry Jeff Walker and tea party, both new to me might have to go on my playlists, strong start for sure.

Acoustic plush is the best plush.

 

[Scoresman]

I find it awesome that the same countdown has The Doors and a band (Tea Party) whose lead singer could win a Jim Morrison look-alike AND sound-alike contest.

 

[Yambag]

Ones that I was unfamiliar with or have not listened to much that caught my interest:
Tea Party
Mitski
Curtis Mayfield
Bryan Ferry
Strand of Oaks
Buffybarnes

Big DMB, Cure and Doors fan - great first song choices!

 

[Scoresman]

Very sad to see Halloween as a first 5 out for DMB. That might be a top 5 song of theirs to me. I love the passion, aggression and chaotic nature of it all. Just a wonderful song to blast at full volume on a wonderful album.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

#31. "Can't Let Go" - EWF

This is basically a rewrite of a bigger hit that will show up later. Earth, Wind, & Fire's lyrics could make Norman Vincent Peale's writings seem like Cormac McCarthy's. This record is typical of their approach. Honestly, lyrics are the last thing I go to EWF for - most of them are cliches (partly because they made them cliches) and non sequiturs. But that's not a negative these days, in my eyes.

What attracts me are the vocal arrangements and the way the band interacts - blink-and-you'll-miss-them horn lines, swirling keyboards by the great Larry Dunn, and the percussion. All of that's here. They'll do it better in records to come, but not more honestly.

 

[kupcho1]

The Moody Blues

Charlie Steiner

Overture Overture - Complete Live At Red Rocks Version/1992 The Moody Blues, Colorado Symphony · A Night At Red Rocks With The Colorado Symphony Orchestra · Song · 1993 open.spotify.com

This would have been a great playlist opener, you know, being an Overture and all.

I'm only a little way through the playlist, But...

In Order with Fave #1 at TOP and Least Fave at BOTTOM. Don't Binky It!!

Sweet

John Maddens ****ing Lunchbox

If Fox On The Run is your 31st best Sweet song, we're in for a treat.

I'll probably get to the bulk of the playlist tomorrow. But so far, so good.

 

[Tau837]

STP #31 - Plush (Acoustic)
Album - Unreleased (on the greatest hits album Thank You from 2003)

OK, this one is cheating. And yes, the studio version is also further up in my rankings.

This was a live recording from the MTV studios for the Headbangers Ball show. I don’t know about anywhere else, but here in the L.A. area, there was a time this was played on the radio as much or even more than the original.

It’s such a great recording, it would probably rank much higher on my list, but I figured it was a good place to start off my list with since I’m also including the studio version. I would have had a hard time picking just one version of this song.

Unpopular opinion- I think this version is much MUCH better than the original. So much so that I removed the studio version from my library because whenever it came on I then sought out the acoustic.

I didn't remove the other version from my library, but I agree that the acoustic version is better.

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

The Moody Blues

Charlie Steiner

Overture Overture - Complete Live At Red Rocks Version/1992 The Moody Blues, Colorado Symphony · A Night At Red Rocks With The Colorado Symphony Orchestra · Song · 1993 open.spotify.com

This would have been a great playlist opener, you know, being an Overture and all.

I'm only a little way through the playlist, But...

In Order with Fave #1 at TOP and Least Fave at BOTTOM. Don't Binky It!!

Sweet

John Maddens ****ing Lunchbox

If Fox On The Run is your 31st best Sweet song, we're in for a treat.

I'll probably get to the bulk of the playlist tomorrow. But so far, so good.

Unfortunately spotify has the wrong version.
Click the youtube link below and tell me it is as good as the single version that was released later.
I was trying to be a smart arse leading off with a well known song, but with a twist.

Sweet​

#31 - Fox on the Run (Original UK edition - NOT the single edition released in 1975 and on the US Version of Desolation Boulevard)​

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

m.youtube.com

Producer - Chinn/Chapman
Writer - The Sweet
Chart Positions - Album Track Only
Album - UK edition Desolation Boulevard
Year - 1974
Lead Vocal - Brian Connolly
Steve Priest Vocal - “Foxy on the Run”
Notes - This is the original, non single, studio version.

The original version was included as an album track and Chinn/Chapman half arsed the production because they didnt write the track. It wasn’t until
“Just before Christmas [1974],” Scott recalls, “everybody just happened to be at my house when the managing director of RCA, Geoff Hannington, called to say: ‘We’re not getting the right answers from Mike and Nicky, but we really believe that Fox On The Run could be a hit’. And a week later we were in Ian Gillan’s studio, where nobody knew us; keeping things cloak and dagger was vital.”

The rest of this story will be covered when we get to the re-recorded version much later

Next up - One of their biggest hits. Way too early right? Nope. The song is pants and barely makes my list.
I think I already wrote that for Chvrches.

 

[kupcho1]

Next up - One of their biggest hits. Way too early right? Nope. The song is pants and barely makes my list.

Ah, got it.
The original version is forgettable.

 

[MAC_32]

I stop short of using the word 'escapism' to describe all 31 songs that's going to rollout, but it'll be a popular theme. As real life stresses accumulated post-covid instinctively I sought out new sounds that took me away from responsibilities. Not sure there is one that better encapsulates music that resonated with me at that time and his identity in the late aughts than Kenny Chesney - Beer in Mexico. A simple, fun trop rock cut and an appropriate intro to the next two months. The use of horns is what first grabbed my attention, but middle aged me needed this:

Too old to be wild and free still
Too young to be over the hill
Should I try to grow up?
But who knows where to start
So I'll just sit right here and have another beer in Mexico
Do my best to waste another day

 

[Eephus]

The intro of that Tea Party song sounded like Screaming Trees, even the voice resembled Lanegan's a bit. I kept waiting for the guitars to kick in but enjoyed the song.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

The Moody Blues

Charlie Steiner

Overture Overture - Complete Live At Red Rocks Version/1992 The Moody Blues, Colorado Symphony · A Night At Red Rocks With The Colorado Symphony Orchestra · Song · 1993 open.spotify.com

This would have been a great playlist opener, you know, being an Overture and all.

I'm only a little way through the playlist, But...

In Order with Fave #1 at TOP and Least Fave at BOTTOM. Don't Binky It!!

Sweet

John Maddens ****ing Lunchbox

If Fox On The Run is your 31st best Sweet song, we're in for a treat.

I'll probably get to the bulk of the playlist tomorrow. But so far, so good.

Unfortunately spotify has the wrong version.
Click the youtube link below and tell me it is as good as the single version that was released later.
I was trying to be a smart arse leading off with a well known song, but with a twist.

Sweet​

#31 - Fox on the Run (Original UK edition - NOT the single edition released in 1975 and on the US Version of Desolation Boulevard)​

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

m.youtube.com

Producer - Chinn/Chapman
Writer - The Sweet
Chart Positions - Album Track Only
Album - UK edition Desolation Boulevard
Year - 1974
Lead Vocal - Brian Connolly
Steve Priest Vocal - “Foxy on the Run”
Notes - This is the original, non single, studio version.

The original version was included as an album track and Chinn/Chapman half arsed the production because they didnt write the track. It wasn’t until
“Just before Christmas [1974],” Scott recalls, “everybody just happened to be at my house when the managing director of RCA, Geoff Hannington, called to say: ‘We’re not getting the right answers from Mike and Nicky, but we really believe that Fox On The Run could be a hit’. And a week later we were in Ian Gillan’s studio, where nobody knew us; keeping things cloak and dagger was vital.”

The rest of this story will be covered when we get to the re-recorded version much later

Next up - One of their biggest hits. Way too early right? Nope. The song is pants and barely makes my list.
I think I already wrote that for Chvrches.

I like this version. I like the "hit" better, but this one's fun.

 

[Don Quixote]

The Moody Blues

Charlie Steiner

Overture Overture - Complete Live At Red Rocks Version/1992 The Moody Blues, Colorado Symphony · A Night At Red Rocks With The Colorado Symphony Orchestra · Song · 1993 open.spotify.com

This would have been a great playlist opener, you know, being an Overture and all.

I'm only a little way through the playlist, But...

In Order with Fave #1 at TOP and Least Fave at BOTTOM. Don't Binky It!!

Sweet

John Maddens ****ing Lunchbox

If Fox On The Run is your 31st best Sweet song, we're in for a treat.

I'll probably get to the bulk of the playlist tomorrow. But so far, so good.

Unfortunately spotify has the wrong version.
Click the youtube link below and tell me it is as good as the single version that was released later.
I was trying to be a smart arse leading off with a well known song, but with a twist.

Sweet​

#31 - Fox on the Run (Original UK edition - NOT the single edition released in 1975 and on the US Version of Desolation Boulevard)​

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

m.youtube.com

Producer - Chinn/Chapman
Writer - The Sweet
Chart Positions - Album Track Only
Album - UK edition Desolation Boulevard
Year - 1974
Lead Vocal - Brian Connolly
Steve Priest Vocal - “Foxy on the Run”
Notes - This is the original, non single, studio version.

The original version was included as an album track and Chinn/Chapman half arsed the production because they didnt write the track. It wasn’t until
“Just before Christmas [1974],” Scott recalls, “everybody just happened to be at my house when the managing director of RCA, Geoff Hannington, called to say: ‘We’re not getting the right answers from Mike and Nicky, but we really believe that Fox On The Run could be a hit’. And a week later we were in Ian Gillan’s studio, where nobody knew us; keeping things cloak and dagger was vital.”

The rest of this story will be covered when we get to the re-recorded version much later

Next up - One of their biggest hits. Way too early right? Nope. The song is pants and barely makes my list.
I think I already wrote that for Chvrches.

I like this version. I like the "hit" better, but this one's fun.

I liked the original too; have not heard it before. Raw sound with the guitars pretty interesting to hear versus the synth. (Hit is better, but, while I understand this is album versus demo, has the feel of a demo knowing what comes later, and I always enjoy listening to see the development from one to the other.)

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Already knew and liked the STP, Mayfield, Chesney, Doors, EWF and Dio songs. (And the famous version of the Sweet song that is not actually the pick for this round.) Thoughts about some of the others:

The Tea Party and Slambovian songs did a great job of mixing Eastern elements with Western ones. I didn't catch any Screaming Trees-isms in the Tea Party song, will have to relisten.
I think someone mentioned how well the transition between the Oingo Boingo and Belle and Sebastian songs works. I agree. Both songs are infectious.
The Mitski tune sounds like a less boring iteration of Lana Del Rey.
The Stray Cats' Eddie Cochran cover is fevered and feverish.
Loved the momentum and arrangement of the Ferry song.
Break Away has the best kind of harmony work the Beach Boys did, even in a time of turmoil for them.
Desert Plains is a killer rocker from Priest that really should have been a radio staple. Same with the April Wine song.
My first thought of the synthpop Bela Lugosi's Dead was "this is ridiculous," but it got better as it went along.
I found Destroyer kind of weird when I saw them live, but that's probably because I was expecting them to sound something closer to The New Pornographers. But this song is as well-arranged and memorable as anything from Dan Bejar's more famous "other" band.
Shellac -- that bass! that bass! that bass!
As for the "original" Fox on the Run, it's nowhere near the wonder that is the hit version, but it's still a fist-pumping rocker of the highest order.

 

[zamboni]

31. Bitter Wine
Album: Fanny (1970)
Writer: Nickey Barclay
Lead vocals: Nickey Barclay

One of six songs on Fanny's debut that Nickey Barclay wrote or co-wrote, Bitter Wine is a song she has disavowed.

Being relatively new to the band, I became very impressed with Nickey on some of those old Beat Club performances. The sisters have gotten most of the attention but Nickey herself was a high quality singer and keyboard player. A shame she didn’t appear in the Fanny documentary from a few years ago, only in archive footage.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

31. Bitter Wine
Album: Fanny (1970)
Writer: Nickey Barclay
Lead vocals: Nickey Barclay

One of six songs on Fanny's debut that Nickey Barclay wrote or co-wrote, Bitter Wine is a song she has disavowed.

Being relatively new to the band, I became very impressed with Nickey on some of those old Beat Club performances. The sisters have gotten most of the attention but Nickey herself was a high quality singer and keyboard player. A shame she didn’t appear in the Fanny documentary from a few years ago, only in archive footage.

Yeah -- all four of them were quite talented, in fact. She was the only one of the four who had experience beyond playing in bars before the band was signed, and that made her stand out.

She now lives in Australia and left the music industry long ago, with bitter feelings toward almost everyone she encountered in it. "Reclusive" is an overused word but it definitely applies to her. Her "The Way It Was" page on the fannyrocks.com website, which consists of an interview she did in 2003 and some follow-up comments she sent to the site, represent her only public comments about Fanny since the late '70s or early '80s.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

The intro of that Tea Party song sounded like Screaming Trees, even the voice resembled Lanegan's a bit. I kept waiting for the guitars to kick in but enjoyed the song.

OK, I see it more on second listen. The vocal at the beginning is pretty similar to Lanegan, but it gets less so as the song goes on (and more similar to Jim Morrison). My brain defaults to Sweet Oblivion or the SST albums if someone says "sounds like Screaming Trees," but this song might have fit on the final ST album Dust, which has sitars on some tracks.

 

[zamboni]

31. Bitter Wine
Album: Fanny (1970)
Writer: Nickey Barclay
Lead vocals: Nickey Barclay

One of six songs on Fanny's debut that Nickey Barclay wrote or co-wrote, Bitter Wine is a song she has disavowed.

Being relatively new to the band, I became very impressed with Nickey on some of those old Beat Club performances. The sisters have gotten most of the attention but Nickey herself was a high quality singer and keyboard player. A shame she didn’t appear in the Fanny documentary from a few years ago, only in archive footage.

Yeah -- all four of them were quite talented, in fact. She was the only one of the four who had experience beyond playing in bars before the band was signed, and that made her stand out.

She now lives in Australia and left the music industry long ago, with bitter feelings toward almost everyone she encountered in it. "Reclusive" is an overused word but it definitely applies to her. Her "The Way It Was" page on the fannyrocks.com website, which consists of an interview she did in 2003 and some follow-up comments she sent to the site, represent her only public comments about Fanny since the late '70s or early '80s.

IIRC she also had a newborn when Fanny got going and, for understandable reasons, helped precipitate her departure.

 

[-OZ-]

A simple, fun trop rock cut and an appropriate intro to the next two months.

I went the opposite way.

Hate Me
The opening features an authentic voicemail from Furstenfeld's mother, who expresses concern about his well-being and medication. The music video, directed by Kevin Kerslake, begins with Furstenfeld sitting on his bed, holding an answering machine, and playing the tape of his mother's message.

Blue October’s highest chart-topping single, “Hate Me” (released in January 2006 off the band’s fourth studio album, Foiled) was written when a 26-year-old Justin was in the grips of addiction. He recalls going on tour, cheating on his girlfriend, his life spiraling: “I started using more and more and more drugs…just really disappearing from everyone and putting all of my vulnerability and all of my depression and all of my addiction and bad decisions into my music.”

After his girlfriend kicked him out, he was living with his manager, Paul Nugent. “I was self-medicating…and not being able to sleep. I’m laying in bed and I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, I have to block out thoughts of her so I don’t lose my head. They crawled in like a cockroach leaving babies in my bed.’ I remember sitting up in Paul’s bed and I got this paper and I wrote it down, and it was a letter to [my girlfriend] Maime. Then it just came out…”

Perhaps the deeper success of “Hate Me” is its constant inspiration for those struggling with addiction. Justin believes the song strikes a chord with addicts because “it’s about what they feel at night when they’re sleeping, when they have no other option, but to get clean or die…

“The kids…the kids that’ll come up to me and be like, ‘Dude, three days sober. I can’t stop listening to that song.’ I was like, ‘Well, then, don’t stop. It’s all good. Just keep going.’”

He circles back to the topic of spirituality and, for him, its essential role in recovery. “The difference of what recovery and what spirituality can do for a person will make them believe in themselves again and it will allow them to give themselves a break and forgive themselves just long enough to get out of that closet of shame and closet of guilt to look at themselves in the mirror and go, ‘Oh, I see you. I forgive you. Now we have a chance to not use again.’”

It was all about the drugs back then. It wasn’t just partying. It was a guy with a problem who literally put himself and his girlfriend in danger all the time, no matter where they went.

The problem is me and this young lady doesn’t deserve to be around it. The best thing that she could possibly do is not try to help me and not try to save me. Because the best thing she could ever do was to literally hate me tomorrow, hate me for all the things I didn’t do for you.

Do you know what I’m saying? It was the first time in a song that I could really express something really raw and something really unbelievably honest to another person. We had already broken up and it was crazy. I just remembered when that song came out, it blew up and it went platinum. She would call my mom and say, “I heard that song.” My mom would be like, “You know that’s about you, right?”

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

They are all greyed out for me.

That's what I kept seeing, and why I just through in one that did work randomly. Sorry, JML - wasn't trying to spoill anything for later, I didn't realize there was that much difference with the versions you were trying to draft.

I expect it has to do with music rights being separated from those in the UK/rest of world. The Beatles and Queen have similar issues.

 

[zamboni]

The Doors

jwb

Roadhouse Blues Roadhouse Blues The Doors · An American Prayer · Song · 1978 open.spotify.com Roadhouse Blues The Doors · Morrison Hotel · Song · 1970 open.spotify.com

This was really the only song I "placed", as I wanted a biggie for the opener (it's a top 5 Doors song for me). Plus, it's great to open with "Ladies and Gentlemen, from Los Angeles California, The Doors!!"

I linked to both the studio version from the Morrison Hotel album, and the live version that appears on An American Prayer (more on that album later when another song appears). The live version is really good, unlike a lot of live Doors, which are hit and miss. Almost all bands are affected by the recording limitations of the time, but the Doors can also sound pretty thin due to the lack of a bass player live. But this one is really good.

"I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer" is about as iconic a line as you get. Supposedly Alice Cooper inspired it by something he said to Jim earlier in the day. And John Sebastian plays the harmonica in the studio version.

What a killer tune to kick off the list for these guys - arguably a top 10 driving song.

All these years I never knew that was John Sebastian on the harmonica. Welcome back indeed.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

I like the doo-*** tinge here myself.

Did you edit that, or was it the language filter?

 

[zamboni]

I like the doo-*** tinge here myself.

Did you edit that, or was it the language filter?

100% filter

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Andrew Bird

Mister CIA

Opposite Day

For some reason, this reminds me of The Presidents of the USA. I'm looking forward to more of this.

 

[simey]

For decades, you paraded as a crazy *****

I didn't have to read beyond this line to guess who this was about.

Is it Courtney Love? I wasn't sure just from that line, but other things OH wrote makes me think it is her.

 

[krista4]

For decades, you paraded as a crazy *****

I didn't have to read beyond this line to guess who this was about.

Is it Courtney Love? I wasn't sure just from that line, but other things OH wrote makes me think it is her.

Yes!

 

[simey]

Andrew Bird

Mister CIA

Opposite Day

For some reason, this reminds me of The Presidents of the USA. I'm looking forward to more of this.

I liked the live post CIA put up. I've seen Andrew Bird twice live, once with Belle and Sebastian and then again with Tift Merritt. I only know two albums by him, though, so a lot will be new to me. I didn't realize until seeing him live how multi-talented he is. I also didn't realize (until CIA mentioned it) that he had a stint in the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

 

[Ilov80s]

FYI my list is backwards. Doesn’t matter since it’s just in my personal preference but The order I make the playlist goes one way and then the Google sheet wants to me to go the other way. Just not going to do it.

 

[zamboni]

FYI my list is backwards. Doesn’t matter since it’s just in my personal preference but The order I make the playlist goes one way and then the Google sheet wants to me to go the other way. Just not going to do it.

Your comment made me immediately think of this scene.

 

[Mt. Man]

Ah, that fresh experience of a new MA-D countdown. As is my custom, the #31s are played in playlist order. Then mostly shuffling until we reach the #1s. Still finding my groove (so to speak), so we’ll see whether this is the number of songs I routinely highlight (in some effort to live up to the idea of being “selected” rather than half the songs or so) or not.

Familiar Songs:
Hate Me - Blue October
Nothing Bad Ever Happens to Me - Oingo Boingo
Under My Thumb - Susanna Hoffs (Not familiar with this version, but it still counts!)
Roadhouse Blues - The Doors

New Discoveries:
Bitter Wine - Fanny
The Trans-Slambovian Bipolar Express - The Slambovian Circus of Dreams
Limbo - Bryan Ferry
Let You Down - Dave Matthews Band
Southern Anthem - Iron & Wine
Opposite Day - Andrew Bird

 

[Pip's Invitation]

31. Bitter Wine
Album: Fanny (1970)
Writer: Nickey Barclay
Lead vocals: Nickey Barclay

One of six songs on Fanny's debut that Nickey Barclay wrote or co-wrote, Bitter Wine is a song she has disavowed.

Being relatively new to the band, I became very impressed with Nickey on some of those old Beat Club performances. The sisters have gotten most of the attention but Nickey herself was a high quality singer and keyboard player. A shame she didn’t appear in the Fanny documentary from a few years ago, only in archive footage.

Yeah -- all four of them were quite talented, in fact. She was the only one of the four who had experience beyond playing in bars before the band was signed, and that made her stand out.

She now lives in Australia and left the music industry long ago, with bitter feelings toward almost everyone she encountered in it. "Reclusive" is an overused word but it definitely applies to her. Her "The Way It Was" page on the fannyrocks.com website, which consists of an interview she did in 2003 and some follow-up comments she sent to the site, represent her only public comments about Fanny since the late '70s or early '80s.

IIRC she also had a newborn when Fanny got going and, for understandable reasons, helped precipitate her departure.

I don’t believe that was the case. Brie Brandt left the pre-Fanny band The Svelts because she got pregnant. That was mentioned in the documentary.

Barclay stayed for all five of Fanny’s ‘70s albums. At the end of 1974 she was fired by the band’s manager for doing “unauthorized” session work.

I’m not aware that Barclay ever had children. If she did, it wasn’t mentioned in the documentary or in any article I’ve read.

 

[simey]

Sweet​

#31 - Fox on the Run (Original UK edition - NOT the single edition released in 1975 and on the US Version of Desolation Boulevard)​

I like the single/Desolation Blvd version the best, but I like this one. "Fox on the Run" will always be one of my favorite 45s from the 70s.

 

[kupcho1]

I also didn't realize (until CIA mentioned it) that he had a stint in the Squirrel Nut Zippers

Mind =

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I also didn't realize (until CIA mentioned it) that he had a stint in the Squirrel Nut Zippers

Mind =

Yeah, me too. I had no idea and would never have guessed it.

 

[simey]

#31. "Can't Let Go" - EWF

This is basically a rewrite of a bigger hit that will show up later. Earth, Wind, & Fire's lyrics could make Norman Vincent Peale's writings seem like Cormac McCarthy's. This record is typical of their approach. Honestly, lyrics are the last thing I go to EWF for - most of them are cliches (partly because they made them cliches) and non sequiturs. But that's not a negative these days, in my eyes.

What attracts me are the vocal arrangements and the way the band interacts - blink-and-you'll-miss-them horn lines, swirling keyboards by the great Larry Dunn, and the percussion. All of that's here. They'll do it better in records to come, but not more honestly.

I don't remember this song, but I like it. I'm going to see them and Chicago on Aug.12th. I know both bands have lost some original members, but I expect a nostalgic good time and lots of horns. My bathroom break will be during a Chicago 80s sap song. Ya know they are gonna play at least one.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

#31. "Can't Let Go" - EWF

This is basically a rewrite of a bigger hit that will show up later. Earth, Wind, & Fire's lyrics could make Norman Vincent Peale's writings seem like Cormac McCarthy's. This record is typical of their approach. Honestly, lyrics are the last thing I go to EWF for - most of them are cliches (partly because they made them cliches) and non sequiturs. But that's not a negative these days, in my eyes.

What attracts me are the vocal arrangements and the way the band interacts - blink-and-you'll-miss-them horn lines, swirling keyboards by the great Larry Dunn, and the percussion. All of that's here. They'll do it better in records to come, but not more honestly.

I don't remember this song, but I like it. I'm going to see them and Chicago on Aug.12th. I know both bands have lost some original members, but I expect a nostalgic good time and lots of horns. My bathroom break will be during a Chicago 80s sap song. Ya know they are gonna play at least one.

Good news (but bad if you need a lot of bathroom breaks): The setlists of the current tour indicate they are only playing three 80s sap songs. All are in the second half of the show and two are back-to-back. So there's your sweet spot if you can make it that long!

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

FYI my list is backwards. Doesn’t matter since it’s just in my personal preference but The order I make the playlist goes one way and then the Google sheet wants to me to go the other way. Just not going to do it.

That's a really effective disguise, Binky!

 

[Pip's Invitation]

FYI my list is backwards. Doesn’t matter since it’s just in my personal preference but The order I make the playlist goes one way and then the Google sheet wants to me to go the other way. Just not going to do it.

That's a really effective disguise, Binky!

I think we need to change the name of this phenomenon to 80s-ing.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

FYI my list is backwards. Doesn’t matter since it’s just in my personal preference but The order I make the playlist goes one way and then the Google sheet wants to me to go the other way. Just not going to do it.

That's a really effective disguise, Binky!

I think we need to change the name of this phenomenon to 80s-ing.

Not as sexy sounding.

 

[krista4]

Hey, that's Tom Jones! I bet @Mrs. Rannous chose this!

If you remember which song, I can tell you. But I expect you are correct.

I'll Never Fall in Love Again

I don't think I picked that. Maybe Simey?

I do have another of his covers for the next draft of that type all ready to go.

It wasn't me. I took "Release Me" by Tom's rival Engelbert in that countdown.

Mystery solved! I looked at the original lists, and it was Mrs. @Eephus who took this one, as her #4 song!

 

[Eephus]

Mystery solved! I looked at the original lists, and it was Mrs. @Eephus who took this one, as her #4 song!

I really enjoyed her list. It had some deeper cuts that I wished I thought of but man, it was an ordeal to get it out of her.

 

[Yo Mama]

FYI my list is backwards. Doesn’t matter since it’s just in my personal preference but The order I make the playlist goes one way and then the Google sheet wants to me to go the other way. Just not going to do it.

That's a really effective disguise, Binky!

I think we need to change the name of this phenomenon to 80s-ing.

Not as sexy sounding.

More like Ilov08s, amiright?

 

[Uruk-Hai]

#31. "Can't Let Go" - EWF

This is basically a rewrite of a bigger hit that will show up later. Earth, Wind, & Fire's lyrics could make Norman Vincent Peale's writings seem like Cormac McCarthy's. This record is typical of their approach. Honestly, lyrics are the last thing I go to EWF for - most of them are cliches (partly because they made them cliches) and non sequiturs. But that's not a negative these days, in my eyes.

What attracts me are the vocal arrangements and the way the band interacts - blink-and-you'll-miss-them horn lines, swirling keyboards by the great Larry Dunn, and the percussion. All of that's here. They'll do it better in records to come, but not more honestly.

I don't remember this song, but I like it. I'm going to see them and Chicago on Aug.12th. I know both bands have lost some original members, but I expect a nostalgic good time and lots of horns. My bathroom break will be during a Chicago 80s sap song. Ya know they are gonna play at least one.

Good news (but bad if you need a lot of bathroom breaks): The setlists of the current tour indicate they are only playing three 80s sap songs. All are in the second half of the show and two are back-to-back. So there's your sweet spot if you can make it that long!

How long have EWF & Chicago been touring together? Seems like it's been at least 15 years. I bet the show is a blast. Those folks are pros and fantastic musicians. I've never seen them in concert together on these legacy tours, but have seen video clips. What I saw was both bands supporting each other - say, Chicago's horns playing on an EWF song. Is that how the show works, or are they mostly separate performances?

I never saw Chicago live in its prime, but I did see EWF in '79 or '80. To this day, the best stage show I've ever seen.

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

I actually managed to finish an entire playlist.
Good fun.
Will post my thoughts later.

 

[kupcho1]

Strand of Oaks

Eephus

End in Flames End in Flames Strand of Oaks · Leave Ruin · Song · 2009 open.spotify.com

Absolutely gorgeous. I'm only slightly familiar with SoO so I'm looking forward to the next 30

 

[KarmaPolice]

Lol, the international FFAers making the playlists difficult this time around. Both the Sweet and April Wine tunes were greyed out in the links.

For April Wine there is a 2002 remaster that works here. Sweet had a version from Detroit Rock City that worked as well as a couple others.