(I'll stop you, since you've heard this one before. Trust me.) I don't see myself as old. I see myself as "older." For as much as I want to believe that I'm still in my early 20s, playing the role of college radio rebel, there are indications that I am not. To wit: -My hair … Continue reading Junior (and senior) samples: Lyn Collins, “Think (About It)” (1972)
1970s
Cut loose like a deuce: Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, “Blinded By the Light” (1977)
Forty years ago this week - February 19, 1977, to be exact - Manfred Mann's Earth Band dug up an old Bruce Springsteen song and took it to the top of the pop charts. From a pop chart standpoint, that's rarified air for the Boss. Consider that Springsteen has never had a #1 hit. "Dancing … Continue reading Cut loose like a deuce: Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, “Blinded By the Light” (1977)
As I board my plane: The Ides of March, “L.A. Goodbye” (1971)
23 years ago this week I came back from my first trip to New Zealand to find myself unemployed, and at the same time caught up in a battle to obtain a visa as an immigrant worker that was rejected. Some context is required. At the end of 1993 two things happened. One was that … Continue reading As I board my plane: The Ides of March, “L.A. Goodbye” (1971)
Remembering our leaders: Tom Clay, “What the World Needs Now/Abraham, Martin, and John” (1970)
(Above: CKLW's Tom Clay, in younger days.) Federal holidays to honor great Americans are celebrated in strange ways. Just a few minutes ago I saw a Tweet from a sandwich shop urging me to "dream big," since it is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the way to dream big is to think about … Continue reading Remembering our leaders: Tom Clay, “What the World Needs Now/Abraham, Martin, and John” (1970)
12+ Blogs of Christmas: Just Like The Ones We Used To Know
(Above: The author, exactly 45 Christmases ago.) Nostalgia is Christmas, and vice-versa. What happens when the family gets together for the holidays? As Andy Williams put it, "the tales of the glories of Christmases long ago." So much of the Christmas celebration is tradition. Normally I am opposed to "we've always done it that way," … Continue reading 12+ Blogs of Christmas: Just Like The Ones We Used To Know
12+ Blogs of Christmas, Airing of Grievances Edition: Bob Rivers, “The Twelve Pains of Christmas” (1988)
(Above: "I gotta lot of problems with you people..." Say the word "festivus," and most people with a handle on popular culture of the 1990s will know exactly what you mean. The holiday, first introduced to the lexicon by Seinfeld (a show that added such phrases as "double-dipping" and "not that there's anything wrong with … Continue reading 12+ Blogs of Christmas, Airing of Grievances Edition: Bob Rivers, “The Twelve Pains of Christmas” (1988)
12+ Blogs of Christmas: We Need a Little… Edge
(Above: The Edge of Christmas, Oglio Records. Another one from my collection.) I don't want to give the wrong impression: I don't dislike Christmas music. In the last piece I talked about how some of the music of the season isn't helping those who are having emotional issues. (Fun fact: in each of the last … Continue reading 12+ Blogs of Christmas: We Need a Little… Edge
12+ Blogs of Christmas: We’ll Muddle Through Somehow
(Above: Bummed Out Christmas (Rhino), one of the pieces of my collection.) "What came first - the misery, or the music?" This question, asked by Rob Gordon in High Fidelity (one of my all-time favorite films), is appropriate today. The Christmas season is not all snowflakes and candy canes for everyone. Depression escalates for some, … Continue reading 12+ Blogs of Christmas: We’ll Muddle Through Somehow
12+ Blogs of Christmas: It Must Be Saint Nick
(Above: A man who has sold a lot of product.) December 6th is the Feast of Saint Nicholas. The story "A Visit from St. Nicholas" has been a longtime Christmas classic. From these events, we got Santa Claus, who has had an important role in the marketing of the Christmas season. Santa has also figured … Continue reading 12+ Blogs of Christmas: It Must Be Saint Nick
You can’t have one without the other: The Kings, “This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ To Glide” (1980)
(Above: The Kings debut LP. I'll take a hundred or two for it.) I actually got to thinking about this topic in the car this morning on the way to campus. One of the Sirius XM classic rock channels (and I have all of them on the same bank in the memory) played Elton John's … Continue reading You can’t have one without the other: The Kings, “This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ To Glide” (1980)
45 Ruminations Per Megabyte 