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Middle Aged Dummies - Artist - Round 5 - #11's have been posted. Link in OP. (21 Viewers)

Marilyn Manson became a satanic priest in the early 90s. It was an honorary priesthood given him by Anton Lavey, founder of the Church of Satan. It was also counter culture shtick that created new fans through their fascination with a satanic priest doing industrial anti-Christian metal. It backfired after the Columbine shootings. Three Colorado Christian politicians got word the shooters were into industrial metal. Satanic Manson was the biggest act in the genre. Obviously, Columbine was his fault. The media ran with that. Manson was their scapegoat. The Christian community piled on. The hottest act in the genre had his career wrecked. So he added tearing apart and burning bibles to his act. It would later be discovered the shooters had "nothing but disdain" for Manson and were big fans of Rammstein.

The Nobodies is about Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold; the two shooters. The song's title is from a quote by John Lennon's murderer, Mark David Chapman, who said he felt like a nobody. Manson is connecting the shooters to the broader pattern of violence by "nobodies" motivated to gain recognition. This song is an analysis of the violence he was blamed for and points the finger back at society ignoring the symptoms of that violence. Heavy.

We are nobodies
Wanna be somebodies
When we're dead
They'll know just who we are


In an interview about all this, he's asked what he would say to the students of Columbine. He said he wouldn't say anything to them. He would listen to them, because nobody is. I like that answer. John 5 nurses a church organ sound out of his tele.

The Nobodies
 
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Michael Head #13 - Shack - "Meant To Be" (2003)

Heading forward to 2003 for another selection from Shack's fourth album Here's Tom with the Weather. Regular listeners of the playlists are now in the 99th percentile of Americans when it comes to familiarity with Head's music. And as experts, you should be now able to recognize familiar elements of his songwriting style.

"Meant To Be" has a bunch of Head's hallmarks: there's a verse that paints minimalist portraits of characters (Jamer, Heidi, Honey) from Head's imaginary Liverpool, a soaring chorus that sounds a little like Radiohead's "High and Dry" and a heavily orchestrated middle section that elevates the song into a big, grand outtake from Forever Changes. Shack returns to earth following that and repeats the pattern for a second run through.

The trumpets make an appearance raising the count to six out of nineteen. I expected more than that but maybe there will be a surge in the second half of the countdown.
 
I heard a Billy Joel song in the produce section of Trader Joe's today. I think it hasn't appeared in the countdown yet.
Was Anthony working in the grocery store, saving his pennies for some day?
you oughta know by now
I’m now hungry for some cheese and mac-ac-ac-ac-ac-ac.

From the school of tonic and gin
Yeah, that has always bothered me.
 
I heard a Billy Joel song in the produce section of Trader Joe's today. I think it hasn't appeared in the countdown yet.
Was Anthony working in the grocery store, saving his pennies for some day?
you oughta know by now
I’m now hungry for some cheese and mac-ac-ac-ac-ac-ac.

From the school of tonic and gin
Yeah, that has always bothered me.
Especially what he was doing to it……..
 
13.

At the Bottom of Everything- Bright Eyes
from I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (2005)


The opening track from my favorite Bright Eyes album, At the Bottom of Everything is lyrically one of Oberst's finest and is certainly one of Bright Eyes signature songs. I had it in the top 10 in my initial rankings, but it did slide down some. it is one of the happiest sounding tunes about death and its inevitability.
Those of you who are fans of The Walking Dead might remember this song from the episode where Carl dies.
 
I heard a Billy Joel song in the produce section of Trader Joe's today. I think it hasn't appeared in the countdown yet.
Was Anthony working in the grocery store, saving his pennies for some day?
you oughta know by now
I’m now hungry for some cheese and mac-ac-ac-ac-ac-ac.

From the school of tonic and gin
Yeah, that has always bothered me.
Especially what he was doing to it……..
Y'all are killing me :lol:

I have simey's top 12, along with her writeups. There's one omission that I both love and hate that it wasn't included - it was the only song left I was gonna comment on when it came up.

Anyway, her procedure is today so all the positive vibes simey's way.
 
Here are the songs in the #13s that were “lucky” enough to get some love from me:

Selected Favorites:

Vacation - The Gogos (/Belinda Carlisle)
Heaven Can Wait - Meat Loaf
Still At Home - Luna
Body in a Box - City and Colour
Changemyways - Headstones (/Hugh Dillon)
Strange Boat - The Waterboys
What A Fool Believes - Doobie Brothers
Meant to Be - Shack (/Michael Head)
The Nobodies - Marilyn Manson (/John 5)

Small spotlight:

We’re into the big(ger) hits for a lot of groups, so this is getting harder to choose. This time I’m going with Neil Diamond’s “Play Me”. Soft, catchy, and a bit innovative (unless pop rock in waltz temp is more common than I’m thinking).
 
Speaking of favorites. . .

WHAT A FOOL BELIEEEEEEEEEEEEVES!!!!!!!
I'd put the harmonies on this in the upper echelon of pop/rock history.

Always thought that bass player Tiran Porter was the unsung glue of the band's sound.
Their shift to a more R&B sound when McDonald arrived wouldn't have worked without Porter. It's telling that when Porter quit the band after One Step Closer to deal with his drug problem, his replacement for their final tours was Willie Weeks, one of the best R&B bassists of the time.
 
12's PLAYLIST

[td]Belinda Carlise[/td][td]Zegras11[/td][td]Leave a Light On
[/td]
[td]Michael Head[/td][td]Eephus[/td][td]Michael Head & The Strands -- Something Like You
[/td]
[td]People Under the Stairs[/td][td]KarmaPolice[/td][td]Cool Story Bro
[/td]
[td]John Waite[/td][td]Charlie Steiner[/td][td]Change
[/td]
[td]Golden Smog[/td][td]Dr. Octopus[/td][td]Starman
[/td]
[td]The GAP Band/Charlie Wilson[/td][td]Don Quixote[/td][td]Are You Living - The GAP Band
[/td]
[td]The English Beat Family Tree[/td][td]Yo Mama[/td][td]Good Thing
[/td]
[td]Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw[/td][td]-OZ_[/td][td]You don’t love me
[/td]
[td]Neil Diamond[/td][td]Mrs. Rannous[/td][td]Walk On Water
[/td]
[td]Steve Marriott[/td][td]zamboni[/td][td]"Rolling Stone" - Humble Pie
[/td]
[td]Conor Oberst[/td][td]Tuffnutt[/td][td]Barbary Coast (Later)
[/td]
[td]Smashing Pumpkins[/td][td]Yambag[/td][td]Today
[/td]
[td]Otis Redding[/td][td]John Maddens Lunchbox[/td][td]Respect (Live at Monterey)
[/td]
[td]Meat Loaf[/td][td]snellman[/td][td]Hot Patootie
[/td]
 
[td]Hugh Dillon[/td][td]Mister CIA[/td][td]Dark Side Of The Doomed
[/td]
[td]Luna[/td][td]landrys hat[/td][td]Bobby Peru

[/td]
[td]Metallica[/td][td]Mt. Man[/td][td]Whiplash
[/td]
[td]The Doobie Brothers[/td][td]New Binky The Doormat[/td][td]
South City Midnight Lady
[/td]
[td]Billy Joel[/td][td]simey[/td][td]Goodnight Saigon - Live in Moscow & Leningrad, 1987
[/td]
[td]Arthur Lee and Love[/td][td]Pip's Invitation[/td][td]Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale
[/td]
[td]Beck[/td][td]KarmaPolice[/td][td]Debra
[/td]
[td]John 5[/td][td]Chaos34[/td][td]Black Grass Plague - John 5 and The Creatures
[/td]
[td]City and Colour[/td][td]MrsKarmaPolice[/td][td]Northern Wind
[/td]
[td]The Waterboys[/td][td]Ilov80s[/td][td]How Long Will I Love You
[/td]
[td]Eric Clapton[/td][td]Tau837[/td][td]Knockin' On Heaven's Door
[/td]
[td]Ferry Corsten[/td][td]titusbramble[/td][td]Moby - Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad (Ferry Corsten Remix Edit)
[/td]
[td]Cornershop[/td][td]The Dreaded Marco[/td][td]The Turned On Truth (The Truth Is Turned On)
[/td]
 
Smashing Pumpkins #12

Song
: Today
Album: Siamese Dream

Summary: So this was the very first song I ever heard by the Pumpkins. I remember very clearly, sitting in my car in a parking lot, waiting for my girlfriend who went into a store. The DJ announced the song and I was instantly hooked. I immediately went to buy Siamese Dream and the rest is history. The song, though seemingly upbeat, contains dark lyrics; Corgan wrote the song about a day in which he was having suicidal thoughts. The contrast between the grim subject matter of the song and the soft instrumental part during the verses, coupled with use of irony in the lyrics, left many listeners unaware of the song's tale of depression and desperation. This was the 2nd single from Siamese Dream and a Blender article described it as having "achieved a remarkable status as one of the defining songs of its generation, perfectly mirroring the fractured alienation of American youth in the 1990s"
 
The English Beat Family Tree #12

Good Thing


Artist - Fine Young Cannibals
Album - The Raw & the Cooked (1989)

Brought to you by Applebees - in every commercial break for the NBA playoffs, the NHL playoffs, Roland-Garros, the US Open, the Champions League, MLB, Impractical Jokers, Love Island Uruguay, etc, etc, etc . . .

Obviously this would be ranked WAY lower if I did things today. It’s deep lyrics notwithstanding:


Good God, girl
(Doo, doo, doobie doo, good thing)
Good God, girl
Good God, girl
(Good thing, doo, doo, doobie doo, good thing)
Good God
(Doo, doo, doobie doo, good thing)
Good God
 

#12 - Otis Redding - Respect (Live at Monterey)​



Comments sometimes from Wikipedia

JML Rank - #25
Krista4 Rank - #9 to 14
Uruk-Hai Rank - #5
Album - Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul
Recorded - 1965
Is this a Cover? - No
Songwriter - Otis Redding
Notable Covers - Only need to list one for this song - Aretha Franklin

Comments
-
I rated the Otis version significantly lower than the others. IMHO if a song is better known performed by someone else, its not your song. Otis does a great version, but everyone knows the iconic Aretha version.

The version here is a great live version from monterey where Otis said

“At the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of the cover's release, he was quoted playfully describing "Respect" as the song "that a girl took away from me, a friend of mine, this girl she just took this song

Or alternatively
As "Otis" said at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival (Jokingly) "A girl stole my song" She certainly did, but every time she sang it, I am geting songwriting royalties. His estate still does which is a very happy ending.

From openculture.com
R‑E-S-P-E-C‑T…” You know the rest.
When R&B legend Otis Redding, who wrote and first recorded “Respect,” heard Aretha Franklin’s version of the song, he reportedly said, “well, I guess it’s that girl’s song now.”

Aretha didn’t just cover Redding’s song, she “flipped the script,” notes The Washington Post video above, turning his call for entitlement into a demand for empowerment and creating a feminist and civil rights anthem. She changed the lyrics to suit her, spelled it out in the chorus, and added the “sock it to me” refrain with her sisters Carolyn and Erma—both successful soul singers in their own right—backing her up.

Franklin’s 1967 recording was “a declaration of independence that was unapologetic, uncompromising and unflinching… a demand for something that could no longer be denied…. The country had never heard anything like it.”
After Aretha reshaped it, the song “took on a universality the original never had,” says Franklin’s biographer David Ritz. “It is a credit to her genius she was able to do so much with it. She should have been listed as a co-producer of the song.”
Indeed, she might have been credited as a co-writer of her version, but in a tragic irony, her biggest hit, in which she proclaimed financial independence and personal power, netted her exactly zero in royalties.

From wiki
Franklin's interpretation became a feminist anthem for the second-wave feminismmovement in the 1970s. It has often been considered one of the best R&B songs of its era,[3] earning Franklin two Grammy Awards in 1968 for "Best Rhythm & Blues Recording" and "Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female", and being inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2002, the Library of Congress honored Franklin's version by adding it to the National Recording Registry. It was placed number five on the 2004 version of Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time," number one on the 2021 version of the list, and number four on its list of "The 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time.

Next Up - Another song i was considerably lower on than the other two.
 
12.

Song:
Starman
Album: Blood on the Slacks.
Songwriter: David Bowie
Smog Lineup:

Kraig Johnson – guitar
Gary Louris – lead vocals guitar, synthesizer
Dan Murphy – background vocals, guitar
Marc Perlman – background vocals, bass
Linda Pitmon – drums


A pretty straight forward cover of the Bowie classic with some excellent Gary Louris vocals.
 
#12: PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS - COOL STORY BRO


One of my favorite songs in High School was Ice-T's Midnight. I fell hard for the opening songs from 12 Step Program. If you remember the intro, that was the album I started with and I hit the Back to the Future references on the opening songs. Then we get a song yet to come, and 4th is this track that gave me Midnight vibes, and I was sold on this deep dive.

We’re just some homies
They call it home boys
Saw another cruiser creeping
Pullin' at the Pep boys
Parking lot
My hands start sweating
I'm forgetting that I'm innocent
Thoughts start racing about jetting


Next : a song from their last album that pushes the subwoofer the most from the playlist?
 
#12: BECK - DEBRA


Beck at his peak Prince. I linked a great live version of the song for the video above, and I recommend Beck fans check that out. It's always been a favorite from Midnight Vultures.

I want to get with you
And your sister
I think her name's Debra
 
I mixed up my rankings when I entered the list. I am bad at ranking. I dunno what's better than what. It's a matter of mood. So I knew this was coming but surprised to see it. That's kind of fun.

The Black Grass Plague is off 2005's Songs for Sanity, John 5's 2nd instrumental album. The first was Vertigo in 2004. I was in a weird place with music at the time. My divorce left me disinterested in music with lyrics. I was listening to jazz and classical more than anything else, but also exploring rock and flamenco instrumentals. Songs for Sanity was aptly named for my mental state.

When Dr. O read up a bit on my choice he said this was going to be interesting. I confessed I mostly knew him from DLR and his instrumental work in the 00s. That's from a listening perspective. I knew about Manson but didn't get into the music. I loved the Loser LP. I was disappointed he went with Zombie. Through comments and articles I knew he was cobbling together an impressive list of studio work. But this instrumental stuff was what I listened to over and over again.

Here he shows off his technical mastery with some playful bluegrass metal blending. After four straight from the Zombie/Manson darkside, I needed to lighten up a bit. He switches to an electric ukulele at one point, then tweaks the tele knobs and it sounds like a banjo. This genre-bending was kinda of mind-blowing at the time. It became the most talked about song on the album with the Reddit guitar nerds. That's about as close to a hit as he could get back then. Below I link to my favorite series from John: Live from Home. He's just kicking back on his sofa with the same amp I have here doing ridiculous guitar things.

John 5 | Black Grass Plague | Live from Home

For me that's the best way to really appreciate virtuoso guitar playing. Watching them do it is better than just listening. Watching John do it caused me to put a telecaster in my fireplace. I didn't burn it. I considered it a conversation piece. "Why is there a guitar in your fireplace?" Because John 5.
 
Last edited:
Simey's #12:

12. Goodnight Saigon

Billy wrote this for his 1982 album The Nylon Curtain. Several of his friends from Hicksville (and some of his crew) served in the Vietnam War. They asked him if he would write a song about Vietnam. He said he was reluctant at first, because he didn't feel he had the credibility to do it since he wasn't there. They told him they would tell him what happened to them there, and he could take that knowledge and make it into a song. He agreed to do it, and said he picked their brains with lots of questions, and he said the camaraderie of only have each other for support was something they all still shared. It isn't a political song. It is a song about the brotherhood and sisterhood and experiences that the soldiers shared in a tragic war. I chose the live version of the song from the album A Matter of Trust: A bridge to Russia. Sometimes this song can make me cry, especially when it hits the chorus. It's my favorite song on The Nylon Curtain.

Remember Charlie, Remember Baker
They let their childhood on every acre
 

#12 - Otis Redding - Respect (Live at Monterey)​



Comments sometimes from Wikipedia

JML Rank - #25
Krista4 Rank - #9 to 14
Uruk-Hai Rank - #5
Album - Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul
Recorded - 1965
Is this a Cover? - No
Songwriter - Otis Redding
Notable Covers - Only need to list one for this song - Aretha Franklin

Comments
-
I rated the Otis version significantly lower than the others. IMHO if a song is better known performed by someone else, its not your song. Otis does a great version, but everyone knows the iconic Aretha version.

The version here is a great live version from monterey where Otis said

“At the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of the cover's release, he was quoted playfully describing "Respect" as the song "that a girl took away from me, a friend of mine, this girl she just took this song

Or alternatively
As "Otis" said at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival (Jokingly) "A girl stole my song" She certainly did, but every time she sang it, I am geting songwriting royalties. His estate still does which is a very happy ending.

From openculture.com
R‑E-S-P-E-C‑T…” You know the rest.
When R&B legend Otis Redding, who wrote and first recorded “Respect,” heard Aretha Franklin’s version of the song, he reportedly said, “well, I guess it’s that girl’s song now.”

Aretha didn’t just cover Redding’s song, she “flipped the script,” notes The Washington Post video above, turning his call for entitlement into a demand for empowerment and creating a feminist and civil rights anthem. She changed the lyrics to suit her, spelled it out in the chorus, and added the “sock it to me” refrain with her sisters Carolyn and Erma—both successful soul singers in their own right—backing her up.

Franklin’s 1967 recording was “a declaration of independence that was unapologetic, uncompromising and unflinching… a demand for something that could no longer be denied…. The country had never heard anything like it.”
After Aretha reshaped it, the song “took on a universality the original never had,” says Franklin’s biographer David Ritz. “It is a credit to her genius she was able to do so much with it. She should have been listed as a co-producer of the song.”
Indeed, she might have been credited as a co-writer of her version, but in a tragic irony, her biggest hit, in which she proclaimed financial independence and personal power, netted her exactly zero in royalties.

From wiki
Franklin's interpretation became a feminist anthem for the second-wave feminismmovement in the 1970s. It has often been considered one of the best R&B songs of its era,[3] earning Franklin two Grammy Awards in 1968 for "Best Rhythm & Blues Recording" and "Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female", and being inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2002, the Library of Congress honored Franklin's version by adding it to the National Recording Registry. It was placed number five on the 2004 version of Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time," number one on the 2021 version of the list, and number four on its list of "The 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time.

Next Up - Another song i was considerably lower on than the other two.
Side note - I’ve been on an Aretha kick, going through her catalog in between MAD playlists and other listening lately. If/when do another of these 31s, I was thinking about her. But, since it is 38 studio albums, maybe I’ll stick a claim in unless someone else already has her in the works.
 

#12 - Otis Redding - Respect (Live at Monterey)​



Comments sometimes from Wikipedia

JML Rank - #25
Krista4 Rank - #9 to 14
Uruk-Hai Rank - #5
Album - Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul
Recorded - 1965
Is this a Cover? - No
Songwriter - Otis Redding
Notable Covers - Only need to list one for this song - Aretha Franklin

Comments
-
I rated the Otis version significantly lower than the others. IMHO if a song is better known performed by someone else, its not your song. Otis does a great version, but everyone knows the iconic Aretha version.

The version here is a great live version from monterey where Otis said

“At the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of the cover's release, he was quoted playfully describing "Respect" as the song "that a girl took away from me, a friend of mine, this girl she just took this song

Or alternatively
As "Otis" said at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival (Jokingly) "A girl stole my song" She certainly did, but every time she sang it, I am geting songwriting royalties. His estate still does which is a very happy ending.

From openculture.com
R‑E-S-P-E-C‑T…” You know the rest.
When R&B legend Otis Redding, who wrote and first recorded “Respect,” heard Aretha Franklin’s version of the song, he reportedly said, “well, I guess it’s that girl’s song now.”

Aretha didn’t just cover Redding’s song, she “flipped the script,” notes The Washington Post video above, turning his call for entitlement into a demand for empowerment and creating a feminist and civil rights anthem. She changed the lyrics to suit her, spelled it out in the chorus, and added the “sock it to me” refrain with her sisters Carolyn and Erma—both successful soul singers in their own right—backing her up.

Franklin’s 1967 recording was “a declaration of independence that was unapologetic, uncompromising and unflinching… a demand for something that could no longer be denied…. The country had never heard anything like it.”
After Aretha reshaped it, the song “took on a universality the original never had,” says Franklin’s biographer David Ritz. “It is a credit to her genius she was able to do so much with it. She should have been listed as a co-producer of the song.”
Indeed, she might have been credited as a co-writer of her version, but in a tragic irony, her biggest hit, in which she proclaimed financial independence and personal power, netted her exactly zero in royalties.

From wiki
Franklin's interpretation became a feminist anthem for the second-wave feminismmovement in the 1970s. It has often been considered one of the best R&B songs of its era,[3] earning Franklin two Grammy Awards in 1968 for "Best Rhythm & Blues Recording" and "Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female", and being inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2002, the Library of Congress honored Franklin's version by adding it to the National Recording Registry. It was placed number five on the 2004 version of Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time," number one on the 2021 version of the list, and number four on its list of "The 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time.

Next Up - Another song i was considerably lower on than the other two.
Aretha Franklin's cover of this is one of the most titanic records in pop music history. As noted above, she changed some of the lyrics and she also added a bridge (which gave the song an extra kick). I think some of the social import of the performance has been retconned over the decades, but no matter. Her recording of this set her on an altitude-defying flight of greatness.

That takes nothing away from the original. Redding and his band tore it up here. Then they went and recorded another great song.

I'll put it this way: If I had to take one version of "Respect" with me to a desert island, I'd take Aretha's. If I had to take a 10 or 12 song batch of Redding songs to a similar island, his original would be in that group.
 
#12 Are You Living (Spotify) - The GAP Band

Back to The Gap Band III album. This is another song where you can see the influence of Earth, Wind, and Fire on their music — it feels a bit Sing or Song or September-esque with the horns and groove. We are getting to the portion of the playlist where it is mostly going to fun songs from here on out. Nothing complicated or much that needs to be explained — just enjoy the jovial spirit and dance. Next one is going to be another one that has some EWF flavors to it.
 
The #14s were another very strong playlist, up there with #18 and #20 for me.

Three known-to-me favorites from #14:

The Captain and Me (The Doobie Brothers) -- More evidence that The Captain and Me is one of the best albums of its genre. It's exquistely constructed and delightfully listenable. It should have been an FM radio favorite -- heck, it should have been played regularly with the song before it, which fades into it in a cool way -- but wasn't.
We Will Not Be Lovers (The Waterboys) -- My friends' band covered this. Great riff, great lyrics.
Hard to Handle (Otis Redding) -- All of the elements of the Crowes' breakthrough hit were already there. They just made it louder.

And it was really hard to leave "I Get Weak," "Friend," "It's All Coming Back to Me Now," "The End Is the Beginning Is The End," "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" and "Heart Is a Drum" out.

Fun fact: Todd Rundgren sang backing vocals not only on Meat Loaf's version of "It's All Coming Back to Me Now," but also on Celine Dion's version.

Three new-to-me favorites from #14:

Live With Me (Humble Pie/Steve Marriott) -- As I said, this follows the Down by the River template, created just 1 year before. The arrangement is almost as spine-tingling as Neil's masterpiece (#3 on my countdown). The foreboding organ parts are played by Peter Frampton.
Who Fingered Rock 'N Roll (Cornershop) -- The Rolling Stones with a sitar. Me likey.
DQMOT (People Under the Stairs) -- I like hip-hop best when it's "musical" and this track is in spades.

And it was really hard to leave off "Hazy," "Johnny Come Home," "American Witch" and "The Love Still Held Me Near."
 
Simey's #12:

12. Goodnight Saigon

Billy wrote this for his 1982 album The Nylon Curtain. Several of his friends from Hicksville (and some of his crew) served in the Vietnam War. They asked him if he would write a song about Vietnam. He said he was reluctant at first, because he didn't feel he had the credibility to do it since he wasn't there. They told him they would tell him what happened to them there, and he could take that knowledge and make it into a song. He agreed to do it, and said he picked their brains with lots of questions, and he said the camaraderie of only have each other for support was something they all still shared. It isn't a political song. It is a song about the brotherhood and sisterhood and experiences that the soldiers shared in a tragic war. I chose the live version of the song from the album A Matter of Trust: A bridge to Russia. Sometimes this song can make me cry, especially when it hits the chorus. It's my favorite song on The Nylon Curtain.

Remember Charlie, Remember Baker
They let their childhood on every acre
My ex wife who was Vietnamese loved this song because of the deference he showed the Vietnamese - and she became obsessed with interpreting the lyrics. I would have to help her with things like Paris Island is where the Marines have training and things like that.
 

#12 - Otis Redding - Respect (Live at Monterey)​



Comments sometimes from Wikipedia

JML Rank - #25
Krista4 Rank - #9 to 14
Uruk-Hai Rank - #5
Album - Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul
Recorded - 1965
Is this a Cover? - No
Songwriter - Otis Redding
Notable Covers - Only need to list one for this song - Aretha Franklin

Comments
-
I rated the Otis version significantly lower than the others. IMHO if a song is better known performed by someone else, its not your song. Otis does a great version, but everyone knows the iconic Aretha version.

The version here is a great live version from monterey where Otis said

“At the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of the cover's release, he was quoted playfully describing "Respect" as the song "that a girl took away from me, a friend of mine, this girl she just took this song

Or alternatively
As "Otis" said at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival (Jokingly) "A girl stole my song" She certainly did, but every time she sang it, I am geting songwriting royalties. His estate still does which is a very happy ending.

From openculture.com
R‑E-S-P-E-C‑T…” You know the rest.
When R&B legend Otis Redding, who wrote and first recorded “Respect,” heard Aretha Franklin’s version of the song, he reportedly said, “well, I guess it’s that girl’s song now.”

Aretha didn’t just cover Redding’s song, she “flipped the script,” notes The Washington Post video above, turning his call for entitlement into a demand for empowerment and creating a feminist and civil rights anthem. She changed the lyrics to suit her, spelled it out in the chorus, and added the “sock it to me” refrain with her sisters Carolyn and Erma—both successful soul singers in their own right—backing her up.

Franklin’s 1967 recording was “a declaration of independence that was unapologetic, uncompromising and unflinching… a demand for something that could no longer be denied…. The country had never heard anything like it.”
After Aretha reshaped it, the song “took on a universality the original never had,” says Franklin’s biographer David Ritz. “It is a credit to her genius she was able to do so much with it. She should have been listed as a co-producer of the song.”
Indeed, she might have been credited as a co-writer of her version, but in a tragic irony, her biggest hit, in which she proclaimed financial independence and personal power, netted her exactly zero in royalties.

From wiki
Franklin's interpretation became a feminist anthem for the second-wave feminismmovement in the 1970s. It has often been considered one of the best R&B songs of its era,[3] earning Franklin two Grammy Awards in 1968 for "Best Rhythm & Blues Recording" and "Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female", and being inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2002, the Library of Congress honored Franklin's version by adding it to the National Recording Registry. It was placed number five on the 2004 version of Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time," number one on the 2021 version of the list, and number four on its list of "The 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time.

Next Up - Another song i was considerably lower on than the other two.
Side note - I’ve been on an Aretha kick, going through her catalog in between MAD playlists and other listening lately. If/when do another of these 31s, I was thinking about her. But, since it is 38 studio albums, maybe I’ll stick a claim in unless someone else already has her in the works.
And now you know why I claim so far in advance.
 
12.

Barbary Coast (Later)- Conor Oberst
from Ruminations (2016)


One of my favorites from Oberst solo catalog, Barbary Coast (later) is such an intimate song, with such raw emotion that you can hear in Oberst's voice. really like the harmonica in this one as well. The title comes from the historical red-light district in San Francisco, a notorious area known for its saloons, dance halls, gambling houses, and brothels, flourishing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
 
21's

new to me Liked:

Capture The Light- Go Go's
Trippin at the Disco- PUTS
The Wonder in you- Caro Emerald
Cubically Contained- Headstones- LOVED
Tracy I Love You- Really Loved!

Known Likes:

Cherub Rock Smashing Pumkins- One of my Favs
I've Dreams to Remember- Otis Redding- Absolute CLASSIC
Am I Evil- Metallica :headbang:
Girl- Beck- man I forgot how great this one is!
 

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