Middle Aged Dummies - Artist - Round 5 - #14's have been posted. Link in OP. (19 Viewers)

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

#24 - Otis Redding and Carla Thomas - Knock on Wood​

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Knock on Wood

Otis Redding, Carla Thomas · King & Queen · Song · 1967

open.spotify.com

Comments sometimes from Wikipedia

JML Rank - #27
Krista4 Rank - #28-31
Uruk-Hai Rank - #17
Album - King and Queen
Recorded - January 1967
Is this a Cover? - Yes - Original by Eddie Floyd in July 1966
Songwriter - Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper
Notable Covers -
The American Breed also covered it on their 1967 self-titled debut album.[63]
James Cotton also recorded the song on his 1967 album
Buddy Guy recorded the song on his live 1968 album This Is Buddy Guy![65]
The Mauds recorded the song on their 1968 album Hold On.[63][66]
Razzy Bailey's version (1984) peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot Country Songschart
Eric Clapton covered the song for his 1985 album Behind the Sun.[69]
Michael Bolton covered it for his 1992 album Timeless: The Classics.[70]
A singer Mary Griffin recorded her disco/dance version for the 1998 film 54;
Actress Emma Stone performed the song in the 2010 film Easy A.

Comments - The song was based on another song co-written by Cropper, the Wilson Pickett version of "In the Midnight Hour" (1965), having the same chord progression "only played in reverse". According to Floyd, "Knock On Wood" was initially written for Otis Redding. However, Staxlabel manager Jim Stewart turned down the idea of Redding recording the song.
Eddie Floyd got this song to #28 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Otis Redding and Carla Thomas took it to #30 on the same chart a year later
David Bowie released it in 1974 and it went to #10 in the UK

The most famous version is the electrifying Disco cover version by Amii Stewart in 1979 who took it to #1 on the Billboard hot 100. It went to #2 in Australia, #6 in the UK and top 10 throughout Europe.

Next Up - We go to the debut album Pain in My Heart for the first time for the next song by Otis Redding.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Three known-to-me favorites from #27:

Isn't It Time (The Babys) -- Sounded great on the car radio back in the day, and still does.
Whine & Grine/Stand Down Margaret (The English Beat) -- The apex of the political form of second-wave ska. I took this for the politics channel in GP4.
Can't Find My Way Home (Blind Faith/Eric Clapton) -- Also a big fan of the electric version that appeared on Steve Winwood's box set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVzLyhWRAy8

Three new-to-me favorites from #27:

Looking for a Sign (Beck) -- This came out after my son was born and I stopped paying attention to new music. Every bit as good as the best stuff on Sea Change.
Someone New (The Jordan) -- Great vocal and melody.
Dogs of War (Motley Crue/John 5) -- This is much cooler than hair metal. Hopefully the legal issues with Mick Mars will be resolved soon so we can hear more of this material.

 

[Chaos34]

Marilyn Manson, an androgynous morph of Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson, was born Brian Warner. Charles Monroe wasn’t very interesting. His music leans into the abject, grotesque and macabre. Transgressive. That describes some modern art outside the world of music. It’s all meant to be unsettling while delivering this or that message, usually something rebelling against societal norms. High brow artsy fartsy types call it intellectual and important. It resonated with alienated white kids similarly to unsettling rap with alienated black kids. With Manson it’s about the visuals as much as the music. Horror makeup, self mutilation, acts of depravity, taboos violated. It’s a whole thing. When I committed to this bit, I mentioned it being out of character for me, but some fun stuff. I’m glad I did my due diligence, and also glad it’s done. I’m just a sheltered white privileged boomer searching for my lost shaker of salt. Sheesh.

John 5 won a music competition at the fairgrounds when he was 12. The band that finished 2nd was impressed enough with the lad’s playing to ask his parents if their kid could sit in with them. With the parents chaperoning, John became a regular at local bars and clubs. Being a babyfaced pre-teen caused some issues with the drunks in some rough sounding places. A band member had a solution. To belie his age, John started wearing monster makeup, high heeled disco boots, and shoulder padded trench coats. Playing in disguise was transforming. His confidence grew. It was fun. He wasn’t little John the 12 year old music nerd. He was a monster wielding an axe. KISS was his favorite band after all.

So years later when he was doing studio work in LA and got a load of Manson, playing with him became his dream job. There was an opening in 95. He applied but the job went to Zim Zum. Zum departed in 98 creating another opening. This time John had Rob Halford and David Lee Roth on his resumé and got the job.

Co-written by Manson and 5, mOBSCENE was the lead single off of 2003’s LP, The Golden Age of Grotesque. John had a 4 album run with Manson and is featured on a live album. Casual fans, like me, are familiar with the earlier stuff off Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals. Die hard fans consider the John 5 years to be peak Manson. That isn’t because of John’s playing. If anything Manson held him back (as did Zombie). It’s more that Manson’s messaging, material, art, and shtick had matured. In this case, Manson tosses in a twist. After attacking the obscene nature of mob mentality he turns the accusation on his own listeners. They are part of the mob they protest.

Marilyn Manson - mOBSCENE

 

[Uruk-Hai]

#24 - Otis Redding and Carla Thomas - Knock on Wood​

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Knock on Wood

Otis Redding, Carla Thomas · King & Queen · Song · 1967

open.spotify.com

Comments sometimes from Wikipedia

JML Rank - #27
Krista4 Rank - #28-31
Uruk-Hai Rank - #17
Album - King and Queen
Recorded - January 1967
Is this a Cover? - Yes - Original by Eddie Floyd in July 1966
Songwriter - Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper
Notable Covers -
The American Breed also covered it on their 1967 self-titled debut album.[63]
James Cotton also recorded the song on his 1967 album
Buddy Guy recorded the song on his live 1968 album This Is Buddy Guy![65]
The Mauds recorded the song on their 1968 album Hold On.[63][66]
Razzy Bailey's version (1984) peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot Country Songschart
Eric Clapton covered the song for his 1985 album Behind the Sun.[69]
Michael Bolton covered it for his 1992 album Timeless: The Classics.[70]
A singer Mary Griffin recorded her disco/dance version for the 1998 film 54;
Actress Emma Stone performed the song in the 2010 film Easy A.

Comments - The song was based on another song co-written by Cropper, the Wilson Pickett version of "In the Midnight Hour" (1965), having the same chord progression "only played in reverse". According to Floyd, "Knock On Wood" was initially written for Otis Redding. However, Staxlabel manager Jim Stewart turned down the idea of Redding recording the song.
Eddie Floyd got this song to #28 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Otis Redding and Carla Thomas took it to #30 on the same chart a year later
David Bowie released it in 1974 and it went to #10 in the UK

The most famous version is the electrifying Disco cover version by Amii Stewart in 1979 who took it to #1 on the Billboard hot 100. It went to #2 in Australia, #6 in the UK and top 10 throughout Europe.

Next Up - We go to the debut album Pain in My Heart for the first time for the next song by Otis Redding.

It's kind of shocking that Floyd's original only got to #28 on the pop charts. It's such a famous record and every rock/soul/country bar band for 60 years has played it a million times. I think FM Oldies radio (at least here in the U.S.) has made it more familiar now due to playing it to death (same with Van's "Brown Eyed Girl", which also wasn't a monster hit).

Redding's version had Otis doing Otis things to it. It's right up his alley and he turns in an excellent performance.

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

24. Cornershop - 6 A.M. Jullandar Shere - Woman's Gotta Have It (1995)

The first time I heard this song was while listening to their albums for this countdown. And I loved it. It's the first song sung solely in Punjabi so far on this Cornershop playlist.

This is the last song from this album but if you like any of these 4 songs, I recommend listening to the entire album. I had to leave off 3 other great songs...regretting one in particular.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

24. Anytime
Album: False Start (1970)

While the two Love albums that came out of the 1968-69 warehouse sessions, Four Sail and Out Here, were influenced by Arthur Lee's friend Jimi Hendrix to some extent, the follow-up False Start is the most Hendrixian of their works, likely because the band did some recording with Hendrix in London that produced one track, and then most of the rest of it was recorded in LA shortly thereafter with that experience fresh in mind.

"Anytime," which opens side 2, is one of the most intense tracks the band ever recorded. It opens with some relaxed chords, and then all hell breaks loose. After the guitars of Lee, Gary Rowles and Nooney Ricketts all wail, the first verse establishes a call-and-response pattern between Lee's voice and Rowles' lead guitar, and leads into a thrilling, tension-filled buildup that resolves into a short but memorable chorus filled with harmonies. Lee ups the anguish in his voice for the second verse. After a lyrical guitar solo by Rowles, we get the buildup and chorus again, and then begins the stunning coda where all three guitars go off and Lee screams "do what's right!" over the harmonies of the others.

Lee's lyrics again showcase his distrust and misanthropy, likely informed by his experience in the music industry.

I walked on down the street
I heard somebody callin'
And just who do I meet
But someone just like me
He said it's time I think
We did what's right inside us
And let that cheatin' man
Go walkin' on his way

Because he's gonna reap just what he sows
We're here to let everybody know
If you don't do your best
You're gonna find yourself in an awful mess

There are no documented live performances of "Anytime," which is a shame.

A #23, another song with an "all hell breaks loose" segment, and which shares a title with a song from the #27 playlist.

 

[Chaos34]

Dogs of War (Motley Crue/John 5) -- This is much cooler than hair metal. Hopefully the legal issues with Mick Mars will be resolved soon so we can hear more of this material.

Here's my understanding of the situation. Mick only retired from touring. While touring as his replacement, John wrote music for Nikki's new lyrics. John was fine handing it off to Mick in the studio. Unable to find a clear explanation, I can only report Motley made John a full member without changing Mick's status and went to the studio with John. Mick sued but it was more complicated than just John doing studio work. That almost seems tangential to the legal beef. So it's complicated. After a ruling, both sides declared victory. The settlement is in private arbitration. No harsh words have been spoken afaict. It seems amicable, just ironing out fine print, but all parties protecting rights and remunerations.

eta: I'll add a curiosity to the story that might conflict with my claim it's all amicable. Mick has countered claims he was reduced to playing unplugged with a recording by claiming Nikki does the same thing. I guess Motley shows have been kinda fake late in their career. From the sound of current live shows, Vince should be lip syncing too. John may not be long for this gig. He's moved on before.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I did not have "Arthur Lee interacting with D!ck Clark on American Bandstand" on my bingo card. I'll post the clip when the relevant song is revealed.

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

Some favorites from the 24's:

Scotch on Ice
Two Swords
Won't Wait Again
Lover Come Back
The Whole of the Moon

 

[Dr. Octopus]

#24 - Otis Redding and Carla Thomas - Knock on Wood​

- YouTube

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Knock on Wood

Otis Redding, Carla Thomas · King & Queen · Song · 1967

open.spotify.com

Comments sometimes from Wikipedia

JML Rank - #27
Krista4 Rank - #28-31
Uruk-Hai Rank - #17
Album - King and Queen
Recorded - January 1967
Is this a Cover? - Yes - Original by Eddie Floyd in July 1966
Songwriter - Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper
Notable Covers -
The American Breed also covered it on their 1967 self-titled debut album.[63]
James Cotton also recorded the song on his 1967 album
Buddy Guy recorded the song on his live 1968 album This Is Buddy Guy![65]
The Mauds recorded the song on their 1968 album Hold On.[63][66]
Razzy Bailey's version (1984) peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot Country Songschart
Eric Clapton covered the song for his 1985 album Behind the Sun.[69]
Michael Bolton covered it for his 1992 album Timeless: The Classics.[70]
A singer Mary Griffin recorded her disco/dance version for the 1998 film 54;
Actress Emma Stone performed the song in the 2010 film Easy A.

Comments - The song was based on another song co-written by Cropper, the Wilson Pickett version of "In the Midnight Hour" (1965), having the same chord progression "only played in reverse". According to Floyd, "Knock On Wood" was initially written for Otis Redding. However, Staxlabel manager Jim Stewart turned down the idea of Redding recording the song.
Eddie Floyd got this song to #28 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Otis Redding and Carla Thomas took it to #30 on the same chart a year later
David Bowie released it in 1974 and it went to #10 in the UK

The most famous version is the electrifying Disco cover version by Amii Stewart in 1979 who took it to #1 on the Billboard hot 100. It went to #2 in Australia, #6 in the UK and top 10 throughout Europe.

Next Up - We go to the debut album Pain in My Heart for the first time for the next song by Otis Redding.

There’s a lot of versions of this song - but this is two of the best knocking it out of the park.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

The Whole of the Moon is one of my favorite songs. I know the list of chronological so not complaining about its ranking.
It was nice to hear.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

loved this one. I probably know 4 MM songs. I will say John 5’s riffs were the best part.

Marilyn Manson, an androgynous morph of Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson, was born Brian Warner. Charles Monroe wasn’t very interesting. His music leans into the abject, grotesque and macabre. Transgressive. That describes some modern art outside the world of music. It’s all meant to be unsettling while delivering this or that message, usually something rebelling against societal norms. High brow artsy fartsy types call it intellectual and important. It resonated with alienated white kids similarly to unsettling rap with alienated black kids. With Manson it’s about the visuals as much as the music. Horror makeup, self mutilation, acts of depravity, taboos violated. It’s a whole thing. When I committed to this bit, I mentioned it being out of character for me, but some fun stuff. I’m glad I did my due diligence, and also glad it’s done. I’m just a sheltered white privileged boomer searching for my lost shaker of salt. Sheesh.

John 5 won a music competition at the fairgrounds when he was 12. The band that finished 2nd was impressed enough with the lad’s playing to ask his parents if their kid could sit in with them. With the parents chaperoning, John became a regular at local bars and clubs. Being a babyfaced pre-teen caused some issues with the drunks in some rough sounding places. A band member had a solution. To belie his age, John started wearing monster makeup, high heeled disco boots, and shoulder padded trench coats. Playing in disguise was transforming. His confidence grew. It was fun. He wasn’t little John the 12 year old music nerd. He was a monster wielding an axe. KISS was his favorite band after all.

So years later when he was doing studio work in LA and got a load of Manson, playing with him became his dream job. There was an opening in 95. He applied but the job went to Zim Zum. Zum departed in 98 creating another opening. This time John had Rob Halford and David Lee Roth on his resumé and got the job.

Co-written by Manson and 5, mOBSCENE was the lead single off of 2003’s LP, The Golden Age of Grotesque. John had a 4 album run with Manson and is featured on a live album. Casual fans, like me, are familiar with the earlier stuff off Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals. Die hard fans consider the John 5 years to be peak Manson. That isn’t because of John’s playing. If anything Manson held him back (as did Zombie). It’s more that Manson’s messaging, material, art, and shtick had matured. In this case, Manson tosses in a twist. After attacking the obscene nature of mob mentality he turns the accusation on his own listeners. They are part of the mob they protest.

Marilyn Manson - mOBSCENE

 

[Pip's Invitation]

My son hates football and loves auto racing. Today is the Grand Prix of Monaco, the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. This day is his Super Bowl.

Which means I've been able to do some catching up on playlists.

Three known-to-me favorites from #26:

Lost Cause (Beck) -- See what I said before re the Sea Changes songs.
Without You (Doobie Brothers) -- An absolute powerhouse of a song that was a concert favorite for years. Should have been released as a single and been all over FM radio but wasn't. One of the reasons why The Captain and Me is an exceptional album.
The Everlasting Gaze (Smashing Pumpkins) -- The a cappella Billy part is a little awkward but otherwise this is them returning to their mid-90s form.

Three new-to-me favorites from #26:

Flame (Fine Young Cannibals) -- Very soulful and well-constructed.
It Just Won't Quit (Meat Loaf) -- I only know the two big hits from Bat Out of Hell II, but this track has many of the same qualities as the best tunes from the original.
Comin' Home (City and Colour) -- Another great vocal and crisp arrangement.

 

[-OZ-]

25s were awesome. It might be too early but So far this has been my favorite countdown overall.

New to me, added to likes (there’sa really good chance if your song isn’t listed, I recognized it)
24 hours
Foolish people
Greater Omaha
Judy
Moon palace
Paradise
Don’t bang the drum
Wog

Favorite from 25 - I thought for sure it was going to be a toss up between no leaf clover and you got to me. But Wog by corner shop just hits right.

 

[Yambag]

Smashing Pumpkins #24

Song: Age of Innocence
Album: Machina/The Machines of God

Summary: As I mentioned in a previous writeup, the Machina album as a whole has really grown on me, to the point where I feel it can be in the same conversation as the big three. This is the closing song on the album and last song before the breakup. Ironic as the fan interpretation of the lyrics revolves around a new, uncertain beginning, wherein much of what you think you know is being left behind, and you’re kind of taking a plunge into the dark.

If you want love, you must be love
But if you bleed love, you will die loved

 

[-OZ-]

fwiw, favorite song in 24 probably wont be close as OTGDY is my second favorite Billy Joel song. And I don’t recognize any of the others at first glance.

 

[KarmaPolice]

#24: PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS - THE JOYRIDE

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Yet another from O.S.T., and the last of the free for all phase before we do the 2 from each album in order thing. Not much to say about this one - mostly a groove and feel that I really dig. I like the start of the song where they mix their names:

It’s K One and Double Thes, your necks, please protect

I will have to think about this more, but one thing that stood out when I listened to it today that I hadn't really digested before is that this one seems a little different in that they go back and forth a little more than the songs we have heard before this. A lot of the songs I can think of each of them rap on the song, but they go for longer stretches, often minutes at a time. Here they volley lyrics after every 6 lines or so. I find this part funny:

‘Cause me and Dub’ll bring “pane” like a window
I’m blowing like a kid on a Nintendo game


NEXT: PUTS goes old school?

 

[simey]

Only The Good Die Young

Billy wrote this song for his 1977 album The Stranger. It was inspired by Virginia Callahan who was a high school crush. He had fun writing it, but didn't think it was any big deal. Columbia decided to release it as a single, and it didn't do that well at first, but all of a sudden a radio station at Seton Hall College banned it. The president of Seton Hall did not like the lyrics, and the radio station was affiliated with the Catholic Archdiocese in Newark. Then it was banned by the archdiocese in St. Louis, then Boston, and archdiocese everywhere were pressuring radio stations not to play it. They all said it was anti-Catholic. The record shot up the charts. Billy said it would have just fizzled out had they not banned it, but kids found out it was being banned and some authority didn't want them to hear it, and that made them go out and buy it in droves, and it became a hit. He said the song wasn't written to be anti-Catholic, and it was just a light hearted song that was pro-lust. Virginia never did go out with him. He also said he wrote letters to arch-bishops and the president of Seton Hall asking them to please ban his next record. "Nothing sells a record like a ban or a boycott."

They say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better, but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun

 

[KarmaPolice]

#24: BECK - CHEMTRAILS

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An odd little prog-ish song that stands out for me on Modern Guilt. Love the bass on this one.

Somebody's sea
Swallowed by evil
Already gone
You and me
Watching the sea
Full of people

NEXT: a song that sounds like all of Beck's eras mixed in a blender

 

[Mt. Man]

MA-D Round 5: Metallica
#24: Last Caress/Green Hell
Album: Garage, Inc. (1998) [but see below]

(Youtube version) Last Caress / Green Hell
(Live Version) Metallica - Last Carees/Green Hell - Live @ Roseland Ballroom 1998

And don't you run away
From me?
I bet you thought
You really could

—
Well, I picked “Garage, Inc.” as the representation for these songs. But the version here is just a copy from the EP appropriated titled “The $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-revisited” that was released in 1987. That E.P is still something of a collector’s item, given that it was out of print between 1989 and 2018. Though even with it available, most are going to opt for the Garage Inc. collection of songs.

Anyway, Garage Inc. means it’s cover time. Here we have a duo from The Misfits, with “Last Caress” off the 1980 E.P. “Beware”, and “Green Hell" from 1983’s “Earth A.D/Wolfs Blood”. Why these two? Mostly because Metallica thought that they sounded good together, even with the time jump in between. Speaking of time, neither song is particularly long, with both Misfits versions clocking in a bit under 2 minutes. Metallica revs up that speed a bit more, bringing the two to a swift 3:30 total. That’s 39 seconds shorter than the next song on this countdown, and probably around 3 below the average.

It’s relatively easy to find live versions of “Last Caress”, as it was a staple of Metallica’s live shows until 2018. “Green Hell”, however, has only been performed a handful of times, and almost (?) exclusively along with Last Caress.

—

Next on the countdown, possibly a nightmare selection for some, but I couldn’t dream of leaving this one off.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

but all of a sudden a radio station at Seton Hall College banned it. The president of Seton Hall did not like the lyrics, and the radio station was affiliated with the Catholic Archdiocese in Newark

It’s ironic because by the time I got there WSOU (Seton Hall radio statIon) was an all heavy metal format.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Round 24 - Brooklyn Roads - Neil Diamond

This song is very high on the autobiographical list. From what it says, I suspect ND had ADD or some other learning issue that was not diagnosable back then. The description of his home matches up with that of Isaac Asimov and what was depicted in the show Brooklyn Bridge. It is very wistful, and tugs at my heartstrings.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Three known-to-me favorites from #25:

The Happy Song (Dum-Dum) (Otis Redding) -- Makes me happy when I listen to it.
Stiletto (Billy Joel) -- As I said, I recognized as a child how great this intro was.
Bodies (Smashing Pumpkins) -- Some of their contemporaries thought them too polished, but this track showed they could grit and grind as well as anyone in the '90s.

Three new-to-me favorites from #25:

Corvette (Golden Smog) -- Indeed a great power popper regardless of whether the title is a non sequitur.
Judy (The Headstones) -- Strong guitar and vocal here.
Humpin' (The Gap Band) -- Sounds very much like P-Funk, which is always a plus in my book.

 

[Yo Mama]

I just realized two songs from my list (different bands) are currently on Applebees commercials. Hopefully you’re not sick of those songs by the time they come up on the countdown.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

I just realized two songs from my list (different bands) are currently on Applebees commercials. Hopefully you’re not sick of those songs by the time they come up on the countdown.

At least you don't have "Holiday Road" on your list. I never want to see a Twizzler again. Reminds me of "Like A Rock". Even Bob Seger didn't want to hear that again.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Where/how do people see commercials enough to be sick of them in 2025?

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Where/how do people see commercials enough to be sick of them in 2025?

I guess they are hate-watching, like all of the folks who complain about the sports talk shows on ESPN and FS1. My remotes has a mute button. I'll unmute for the Dr Rick ads, though - I think those are hilarious.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Only The Good Die Young

Billy wrote this song for his 1977 album The Stranger. It was inspired by Virginia Callahan who was a high school crush. He had fun writing it, but didn't think it was any big deal. Columbia decided to release it as a single, and it didn't do that well at first, but all of a sudden a radio station at Seton Hall College banned it. The president of Seton Hall did not like the lyrics, and the radio station was affiliated with the Catholic Archdiocese in Newark. Then it was banned by the archdiocese in St. Louis, then Boston, and archdiocese everywhere were pressuring radio stations not to play it. They all said it was anti-Catholic. The record shot up the charts. Billy said it would have just fizzled out had they not banned it, but kids found out it was being banned and some authority didn't want them to hear it, and that made them go out and buy it in droves, and it became a hit. He said the song wasn't written to be anti-Catholic, and it was just a light hearted song that was pro-lust. Virginia never did go out with him. He also said he wrote letters to arch-bishops and the president of Seton Hall asking them to please ban his next record. "Nothing sells a record like a ban or a boycott."

They say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better, but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun

Artist Who Should Have Recorded This: Queen

This would have fit in well on the News Of The World LP and I'd have loved to hear Mercury tackle it because it would take on a whole new meaning.

I agree with Joel about banning the record. In those days, that was the surest way to get it famous.

 

[Don Quixote]

#24 Beep a Freak (Spotify) - The GAP Band

Call me on my beeper
On my beeper

This song is pretty unmistakingly 80s, with the combination of the synth and funk. As well as the lyrics — how do you keep track of a girl who may be seeing people behind you? Stick a beeper on her.

This is the latest-in-time song from The GAP Band on my list. This one is from GAP Band VI released in 1984. I considered a couple from GAP Band VII, but they ultimately did not make the list. It was around this time that their relationship with Lonnie Simmons and Total Experience started to deteriorate, and the quality took a hit too. Despite all of their success, Lonnie Simmons refused to share any money with the Wilson brothers. He kept telling them he was just breaking even, which was a huge lie, but they were naive and believed him until someone at Total Experience let slip that they were making him millions. They went to court, but eventually settled for just getting out of their contract, and they never got the money that they should have gotten. Some of the later records are just Lonnie Simmons trying to extract the last bit of money out of them from recordings laying around.

But that’s all a negative note, and this is just a funky track. Next up, more funk.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Where/how do people see commercials enough to be sick of them in 2025?

I guess they are hate-watching, like all of the folks who complain about the sports talk shows on ESPN and FS1. My remotes has a mute button. I'll unmute for the Dr Rick ads, though - I think those are hilarious.

More i am saying I don't encounter ads at all, let alone one repeatedly to get annoyed by it. Mostly sports, i assume?

 

[KarmaPolice]

Only The Good Die Young

Billy wrote this song for his 1977 album The Stranger. It was inspired by Virginia Callahan who was a high school crush. He had fun writing it, but didn't think it was any big deal. Columbia decided to release it as a single, and it didn't do that well at first, but all of a sudden a radio station at Seton Hall College banned it. The president of Seton Hall did not like the lyrics, and the radio station was affiliated with the Catholic Archdiocese in Newark. Then it was banned by the archdiocese in St. Louis, then Boston, and archdiocese everywhere were pressuring radio stations not to play it. They all said it was anti-Catholic. The record shot up the charts. Billy said it would have just fizzled out had they not banned it, but kids found out it was being banned and some authority didn't want them to hear it, and that made them go out and buy it in droves, and it became a hit. He said the song wasn't written to be anti-Catholic, and it was just a light hearted song that was pro-lust. Virginia never did go out with him. He also said he wrote letters to arch-bishops and the president of Seton Hall asking them to please ban his next record. "Nothing sells a record like a ban or a boycott."

They say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better, but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun

Artist Who Should Have Recorded This: Queen

This would have fit in well on the News Of The World LP and I'd have loved to hear Mercury tackle it because it would take on a whole new meaning.

I agree with Joel about banning the record. In those days, that was the surest way to get it famous.

Artist who did record this: Iron Maiden

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Where/how do people see commercials enough to be sick of them in 2025?

I guess they are hate-watching, like all of the folks who complain about the sports talk shows on ESPN and FS1. My remotes has a mute button. I'll unmute for the Dr Rick ads, though - I think those are hilarious.

More i am saying I don't encounter ads at all, let alone one repeatedly to get annoyed by it. Mostly sports, i assume?

For this crowd, I would guess so. The only other live TV I watch is local news and CBS Sunday Morning. I just keep my TV on mute and listen to music unless something pops on the screen I want to hear about.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Where/how do people see commercials enough to be sick of them in 2025?

I guess they are hate-watching, like all of the folks who complain about the sports talk shows on ESPN and FS1. My remotes has a mute button. I'll unmute for the Dr Rick ads, though - I think those are hilarious.

More i am saying I don't encounter ads at all, let alone one repeatedly to get annoyed by it. Mostly sports, i assume?

For this crowd, I would guess so. The only other live TV I watch is local news and CBS Sunday Morning. I just keep my TV on mute and listen to music unless something pops on the screen I want to hear about.

I have mlb for my Mariners games and watch soccer now, so i still avoid commercials during sports, thankfully. I can't watch NFL in a large part because of all the ads and the pacing.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I have mlb for my Mariners games

Check this cluster ____ out. I live in Virginia 120 miles from Baltimore. If you draw a line between my house and Camden Yards, there's this sleepy little town called Washington D.C. roughly right in the middle of that line. They have an MLB team. MLB TV tells me I'm in the Baltimore market and cannot buy the Orioles package. And all of the other TV options tell me I'm out-of-market so I can't purchase the RSN Baltimore plays on. I'm trying to give all of them money, yet the TV rules are so screwed up they can't even pocket the dough I'm willing to fork over. If the Os are on a national game (which won't happen much this year) broadcast on ESPN for Fox, I'll get the game.

 

[Don Quixote]

#24 - Otis Redding and Carla Thomas - Knock on Wood​

- 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

Knock on Wood

Otis Redding, Carla Thomas · King & Queen · Song · 1967

open.spotify.com

Comments sometimes from Wikipedia

JML Rank - #27
Krista4 Rank - #28-31
Uruk-Hai Rank - #17
Album - King and Queen
Recorded - January 1967
Is this a Cover? - Yes - Original by Eddie Floyd in July 1966
Songwriter - Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper
Notable Covers -
The American Breed also covered it on their 1967 self-titled debut album.[63]
James Cotton also recorded the song on his 1967 album
Buddy Guy recorded the song on his live 1968 album This Is Buddy Guy![65]
The Mauds recorded the song on their 1968 album Hold On.[63][66]
Razzy Bailey's version (1984) peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot Country Songschart
Eric Clapton covered the song for his 1985 album Behind the Sun.[69]
Michael Bolton covered it for his 1992 album Timeless: The Classics.[70]
A singer Mary Griffin recorded her disco/dance version for the 1998 film 54;
Actress Emma Stone performed the song in the 2010 film Easy A.

Comments - The song was based on another song co-written by Cropper, the Wilson Pickett version of "In the Midnight Hour" (1965), having the same chord progression "only played in reverse". According to Floyd, "Knock On Wood" was initially written for Otis Redding. However, Staxlabel manager Jim Stewart turned down the idea of Redding recording the song.
Eddie Floyd got this song to #28 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Otis Redding and Carla Thomas took it to #30 on the same chart a year later
David Bowie released it in 1974 and it went to #10 in the UK

The most famous version is the electrifying Disco cover version by Amii Stewart in 1979 who took it to #1 on the Billboard hot 100. It went to #2 in Australia, #6 in the UK and top 10 throughout Europe.

Next Up - We go to the debut album Pain in My Heart for the first time for the next song by Otis Redding.

It's kind of shocking that Floyd's original only got to #28 on the pop charts. It's such a famous record and every rock/soul/country bar band for 60 years has played it a million times. I think FM Oldies radio (at least here in the U.S.) has made it more familiar now due to playing it to death (same with Van's "Brown Eyed Girl", which also wasn't a monster hit).

Redding's version had Otis doing Otis things to it. It's right up his alley and he turns in an excellent performance.

Love the original too — also has Booker T and the MG’s doing their thing as the Stax house band. Surprised that’s only as high as it made it.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I have mlb for my Mariners games

Check this cluster ____ out. I live in Virginia 120 miles from Baltimore. If you draw a line between my house and Camden Yards, there's this sleepy little town called Washington D.C. roughly right in the middle of that line. They have an MLB team. MLB TV tells me I'm in the Baltimore market and cannot buy the Orioles package. And all of the other TV options tell me I'm out-of-market so I can't purchase the RSN Baltimore plays on. I'm trying to give all of them money, yet the TV rules are so screwed up they can't even pocket the dough I'm willing to fork over. If the Os are on a national game (which won't happen much this year) broadcast on ESPN for Fox, I'll get the game.

They saved you money this year because the Orioles aren’t worth watching.

 

[simey]

The only other live TV I watch is local news and CBS Sunday Morning.

I love CBS Sunday Morning, and I missed it yesterday. Early yesterday morning I was gonna finish the last episode of a series, and then watch CBS Sunday Morning. I noticed when watching that last episode that my vision seemed weird. I closed each eye to see the view from the other, and my center view from my right eye was blurry and shadowed. I was like wtf. I tested it out looking at all kinds of things, and I couldn't read from that eye, because the center view is blurred out and sorta in motion. The day before I felt like the subtitles on the TV seemed weird, but I thought it was the TV. I called the emergency line for my ophthalmologist, and a woman answered and said she would contact the Dr on call and have him call me. He called, and I told him what was going on, and that my dad, uncle, and grandfather all got detached retinas around my age. He told me that my eye needed to be looked at, and I would have to go the ER and he would be paged. So, I go to the ER. I was there for four hours yesterday. A rookie Dr looked at me first. Wake Forest is a teaching hospital, so there are lots of Drs in training around. The ER Dr then saw me, and did some tests on my eye including an ultrasound. She said the ultrasound was abnormal with a thickness behind the eye. She wanted to do a CT scan of my brain to check for any hemorrhage or stroke behind the eye. The eye Dr finally saw me, and he dilated my eyes and did some testing while waiting for the eye room to be available. When the eye room was finally open and after some testing, he said it isn't a detached retina, and he thinks he knows what it is, but more pictures are needed to verify it, and it has to be done with the equipment in the ophthalmology dept, which isn't open until Tuesday. He said someone will call on Tuesday to get me in. It won't be him I see, but it is at his practice and at the place my ophthalmologist is at. I asked the eye Dr if he felt a CT scan of my brain was necessary, and he said he wouldn't recommend it. I told the nurse what he said about the CT scan when she was prepping for an EKG (which I thought was unnecessary), and she said the ER Dr would be talking with him, and she would get back to me. CT scan was cancelled, and ER doc told me she felt comfortable with what the eye Dr told her, but if my vision gets worse I need one. Anyway, if whatever is wrong with my eye is what he thinks, it can be fixed, so I hope it is what he suspects it to be. In the meantime, my right eye is blurred in the center of my vision. You know how when people don't want their face to be seen on TV, so it is blurred out? That's what I see.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

The only other live TV I watch is local news and CBS Sunday Morning.

I love CBS Sunday Morning, and I missed it yesterday. Early yesterday morning I was gonna finish the last episode of a series, and then watch CBS Sunday Morning. I noticed when watching that last episode that my vision seemed weird. I closed each eye to see the view from the other, and my center view from my right eye was blurry and shadowed. I was like wtf. I tested it out looking at all kinds of things, and I couldn't read from that eye, because the center view is blurred out and sorta in motion. The day before I felt like the subtitles on the TV seemed weird, but I thought it was the TV. I called the emergency line for my ophthalmologist, and a woman answered and said she would contact the Dr on call and have him call me. He called, and I told him what was going on, and that my dad, uncle, and grandfather all got detached retinas around my age. He told me that my eye needed to be looked at, and I would have to go the ER and he would be paged. So, I go to the ER. I was there for four hours yesterday. A rookie Dr looked at me first. Wake Forest is a teaching hospital, so there are lots of Drs in training around. The ER Dr then saw me, and did some tests on my eye including an ultrasound. She said the ultrasound was abnormal with a thickness behind the eye. She wanted to do a CT scan of my brain to check for any hemorrhage or stroke behind the eye. The eye Dr finally saw me, and he dilated my eyes and did some testing while waiting for the eye room to be available. When the eye room was finally open and after some testing, he said it isn't a detached retina, and he thinks he knows what it is, but more pictures are needed to verify it, and it has to be done with the equipment in the ophthalmology dept, which isn't open until Tuesday. He said someone will call on Tuesday to get me in. It won't be him I see, but it is at his practice and at the place my ophthalmologist is at. I asked the eye Dr if he felt a CT scan of my brain was necessary, and he said he wouldn't recommend it. I told the nurse what he said about the CT scan when she was prepping for an EKG (which I thought was unnecessary), and she said the ER Dr would be talking with him, and she would get back to me. CT scan was cancelled, and ER doc told me she felt comfortable with what the eye Dr told her, but if my vision gets worse I need one. Anyway, if whatever is wrong with my eye is what he thinks, it can be fixed, so I hope it is what he suspects it to be. In the meantime, my right eye is blurred in the center of my vision. You know how when people don't want their face to be seen on TV, so it is blurred out? That's what I see.

Damn, woman. You had to go all the way to Winston Salem? Do you have someone to drive you to where you need to go next week?

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I have mlb for my Mariners games

Check this cluster ____ out. I live in Virginia 120 miles from Baltimore. If you draw a line between my house and Camden Yards, there's this sleepy little town called Washington D.C. roughly right in the middle of that line. They have an MLB team. MLB TV tells me I'm in the Baltimore market and cannot buy the Orioles package. And all of the other TV options tell me I'm out-of-market so I can't purchase the RSN Baltimore plays on. I'm trying to give all of them money, yet the TV rules are so screwed up they can't even pocket the dough I'm willing to fork over. If the Os are on a national game (which won't happen much this year) broadcast on ESPN for Fox, I'll get the game.

They saved you money this year because the Orioles aren’t worth watching.

You're not kidding. I knew the starting pitching would be a wreck once most of them were injured before the season started, but all of vaunted bats have forgotten how to hit. Also, the fielding is atrocious.

 

[Charlie Steiner]

24. Love Don't Prove I'm Right (Head First, 1978)

Just like 7th grade, I'm falling behind; I'm still on the 25s and may not get through the 24s until after the 23s or even the 22s are up. Funny how some things never change.

Anyway, The Babys third album, Head First, saw the growing conflict of visions for the band come to a boiling point (Team Corby wanting to go prog rock and Team Waite wanting more modern rock). As this lead track to the album should demonstrate, OG Baby Mike Corby lost the battle and was fired from the band after the initial lineup of songs had been recorded. Following his dismissal, the remaining members went back into the studio to re-work the material, leading to a December 1978 release date.

Returning to my story, my affinity for video games did not begin when I got the Atari console for Christmas of '77, but rather 2 years earlier when a family from church had a party at their house, where I stumbled upon their Pong console. Mesmerized is an understatement to describe its effect on me. At first, it was just me and another kid playing it on the TV in the basement, but over time all the adults found their way downstairs and watched as well. Collectively we looked like a crowd scene from a Spielberg movie, where everyone is just staring off in the distance at something horrifying or overwhelming. We didn't visit that family much, so Pong was kind of a one-off thing, but the video game genie was definitely out of the bottle. The crazy thing about getting the Atari console was that I had no idea it even existed, nor did I realize how much it would consume my attention with simple games like Bowling, Basketball and Breakout.

In a way, it's a good thing that these games existed at this time, as I had just turned 12 and was about to age out of some of the other activities I enjoyed at the time via the College Park Boys and Girls Club. Age 12 was the last year for intramural sports, and I wasn't near good enough at my favorite, basketball, to make the team that played in the county league. It was also the last year of duckpin bowling, something my father and I bonded over; he and my mother used to bowl in a league until I came along, so he took me up to the lanes, kept score and gave me tips and pointers. Given my struggles with keeping up with the world around me, he also probably stayed to help keep me on task.

The other sport I played that year was baseball. I played tee-ball when I was 5 or 6 but missed every year after that, so by age 12 I still had the skills of a 5-year-old and paired with still waiting for puberty to kick in, I was one of if not the worst players in the entire league. Fortunately, I wound up on the most stacked team in the league with coaches who 'got it' in that they never lost their tempers and made sure everyone played every game. We went undefeated and in the championship game, I had the experience that gave me my best baseball story...

When I arrived at the field, our team's best player (best in the league as well) ran up to me and said that he forgot his cup at home and since I wasn't going into the game until the 4th inning, could he borrow mine, since we were pretty close in size. Helping our best player get in the game was going to be my greatest contribution to the team all season, and I hated wearing it anyway, so I obliged. He ran into the bathroom and came out a couple minutes later, went over to his mother and told her it didn't fit, it was too big.

 

[simey]

Damn, woman. You had to go all the way to Winston Salem? Do you have someone to drive you to where you need to go next week?

Yes, I had to drive to Winston. To get to the hospital there it is just about 30 minutes. I do have someone that can go with me if need be.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Damn, woman. You had to go all the way to Winston Salem? Do you have someone to drive you to where you need to go next week?

Yes, I had to drive to Winston. To get to the hospital there it is just about 30 minutes. I do have someone that can go with me if need be.

In other words, you're driving yourself

 

[Mister CIA]

The only other live TV I watch is local news and CBS Sunday Morning.

I love CBS Sunday Morning, and I missed it yesterday. Early yesterday morning I was gonna finish the last episode of a series, and then watch CBS Sunday Morning. I noticed when watching that last episode that my vision seemed weird. I closed each eye to see the view from the other, and my center view from my right eye was blurry and shadowed. I was like wtf. I tested it out looking at all kinds of things, and I couldn't read from that eye, because the center view is blurred out and sorta in motion. The day before I felt like the subtitles on the TV seemed weird, but I thought it was the TV. I called the emergency line for my ophthalmologist, and a woman answered and said she would contact the Dr on call and have him call me. He called, and I told him what was going on, and that my dad, uncle, and grandfather all got detached retinas around my age. He told me that my eye needed to be looked at, and I would have to go the ER and he would be paged. So, I go to the ER. I was there for four hours yesterday. A rookie Dr looked at me first. Wake Forest is a teaching hospital, so there are lots of Drs in training around. The ER Dr then saw me, and did some tests on my eye including an ultrasound. She said the ultrasound was abnormal with a thickness behind the eye. She wanted to do a CT scan of my brain to check for any hemorrhage or stroke behind the eye. The eye Dr finally saw me, and he dilated my eyes and did some testing while waiting for the eye room to be available. When the eye room was finally open and after some testing, he said it isn't a detached retina, and he thinks he knows what it is, but more pictures are needed to verify it, and it has to be done with the equipment in the ophthalmology dept, which isn't open until Tuesday. He said someone will call on Tuesday to get me in. It won't be him I see, but it is at his practice and at the place my ophthalmologist is at. I asked the eye Dr if he felt a CT scan of my brain was necessary, and he said he wouldn't recommend it. I told the nurse what he said about the CT scan when she was prepping for an EKG (which I thought was unnecessary), and she said the ER Dr would be talking with him, and she would get back to me. CT scan was cancelled, and ER doc told me she felt comfortable with what the eye Dr told her, but if my vision gets worse I need one. Anyway, if whatever is wrong with my eye is what he thinks, it can be fixed, so I hope it is what he suspects it to be. In the meantime, my right eye is blurred in the center of my vision. You know how when people don't want their face to be seen on TV, so it is blurred out? That's what I see.

Get well! Getting old can be the pits. Always something new, or it seems that way some days.

 

[simey]

Damn, woman. You had to go all the way to Winston Salem? Do you have someone to drive you to where you need to go next week?

Yes, I had to drive to Winston. To get to the hospital there it is just about 30 minutes. I do have someone that can go with me if need be.

In other words, you're driving yourself

Correct.

 

[Eephus]

Michael Head #24 - Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band - "Picasso" (2017)

Heading back into his second album with The Red Elastic Band. We'll get into his drug problems later but this is the first music he made while totally sober.

"Picasso" is a lovely song about a not-so-lovely subject. It's about a man following a woman home. It's unwanted attention and "there may be police involved" but he keeps on pursuing her. The first couple of verses are set in Liverpool with some local geographic references (Lodgey, St. Luke's, the Bluey) but by the end of the song, the scene has shifted to Paris and Rome perhaps in homage to the namesake of the song. It's not as direct as Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso never got called an *** hole" but it's the same general idea.

There's no trumpet this time which brings the score to 5-3 against but there is a cello and a saxophone.

 

[New Binky the Doormat]

Where/how do people see commercials enough to be sick of them in 2025?

I watch a lot of YT, YT TV, and several of the main internet pay channels - and oh yeah ...there's PLENTY of commercials

 

[Eephus]

MLB TV will run the same commercial six or seven times during a nine inning game.

 

[landrys hat]

MLB TV will run the same commercial six or seven times during a nine inning game.

Hi John, what'd you do this morning?

I woke up.

 

[Yambag]

24s

Known
Otis Redding: Knock on Wood
Metallica: Last Caress/Green Hell
Waterboys: The Whoe of the Moon

Caught My Attention
The Jordan: Temptation
Bright Eyes: Shell Game
Doobie Brothers: Cotton Mouth
Beck: Chemtrails
Manson/John5: mOBSCENE
City and Colour: Lover Come Back
Eric Clapton: Miss You

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Where/how do people see commercials enough to be sick of them in 2025?

Tubi