Another week with a jam-packed list. The new music continues to roll in. I still have a couple tracks leftover from my podcast review. We just passed a significant music anniversary. There was a massive death in the music world this week. And an amazing YouTube find will cap things off. Strap yourselves in and enjoy.

“Girls Make Me Wanna Die” – The Aces
This band shares a lot of DNA with MUNA, both in making fun, poppy jams and being up-front with being Queer. I like to think there are a lot of homophobes out there who hear songs like this, fall in love with them, and only then realize what they are about. Who am I kidding? Those people are genetically sealed off from music this good. You might say they were born that way…

“The New Year’s Resolution” – Spielbergs
All these kids do is wake up, get out of bed, and make absolute bangers. A perfect song for the beginning of the school year.

“Future” – Rich Aucoin
I’ve been sitting on this awhile. I realized, as I’ve listened to it over the past two months, that back in my podcasting days, I listened to more instrumental tracks like this. I don’t know if there are fewer of them bouncing around these days, or I just need words now more than I used to. Anyway, it’s a good enough song to break through whatever barriers I have to instrumentals.

“Give Me Mercy” – The Cult
God bless The Cult for still hanging around. They had some tough years for awhile but seem to have emerged in decent shape. This track doesn’t match up with their greatest work, but I appreciate how they are not trying to sound exactly like they did in their late ’80s peak.

“My City of Ruins” – Bruce Springsteen
We just passed the 20th anniversary of the release of Springsteen’s The Rising. It was very interesting to read the pieces honoring it, and being reminded about how the album kicked off third (or fourth) phase of his career. A phase that has been as productive as any in his six decades of making music. Of course, much of the album was a response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. This was a song that he had written before the attacks about Asbury Park, NJ. In the wake of the attacks it became symbolic of our need to rebuild. With everything going on the world right now – politics, wars, climate issues – it feels as significant and important as ever.

“A Little More Love”
“Magic”
“Twist of Fate”
Olivia Newton-John died earlier this week after battling breast cancer for decades. As a child of the ’70s, I’m pretty sure she was up there with Farrah Fawcett and Carrie Fisher as one of my first celebrity crushes. Sadly this means they are all gone, now.

I listened to a lot of Olivia’s music Wednesday. I forgot how many great songs she had, both between her big hits and some stellar covers early in her career (Check out her versions of “Jolene,” “Ring of Fire,” and “Angel of the Morning.” They are all great.)

I was also reminded of specific moments in my life when her music was a big part of what people around me were listening to. Both of my grandmothers kept the radios in their kitchens on as constant background music, tuned to the same station that played the typical 1970s blend of pop, country, and whatever else was on the charts but fell short of being true rock. I know both of them loved ONJ, and I have vivid memories of them turning the radio up a little when her early, country-tinged hits came on. Honestly, even though they weren’t into “cool” music, I think I owe some of my love of music to my grandmothers.

Second was the summer of 1978, when I spent some time out at my grandparents’ homes. We stopped to stay with relatives in Kansas City on the way to and from central Kansas (this was when we lived in Southeast Missouri). I have two cousins who are nine and ten years older than me, and who were obsessed with Grease at the time. In however many days we spent at their house, I swear they were always playing the Grease soundtrack. Which was already inescapable on the radio that summer.

Anyway, ONJ seemed like a very grounded, decent person who handled her illnesses with grace and courage and inspired others. As big of a star as she was around the world, her work as an advocate for those fighting cancer may have had a bigger impact than all those hits.

These are three of my favorite songs of hers. “A Little More Love” is pretty great, a more adult, sexier sound several years before “Physical” totally changed people’s perception of her. “Magic” was the soundtrack to my summer of 1980, when we moved to KC while the Royals were winning the pennant. I used to imagine a highlight video of the team being set to that song. “Twist of Fate” has some cheesier, mid-80s production, but turns into a fiery banger before it is done.

The Ramones Live In Kansas City, July 29, 1978
Someone on Twitter hipped me to this amazing piece of film this week. While I was listening to the Grease soundtrack in Raytown, the Ramones were tearing up KCK. Watch to the very end for some truly inspired antics.