• Friday Playlist

    August has arrived. There’s been a lull in good music lately, but there are some promising albums on the horizon. I still managed to cobble together five new songs and a classic video for your Friday enjoyment. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3w2bRx9urv7IzQvw59HJGk?si=Qu0Y9Q5nSx6vsizjs08a4A “Rocket Fuel” – DJ Shadow feat. De La Soul. This song is a bit of a throwback. Not necessarily to the second-wave…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 28

    Chart Week: July 24, 1976 Song: “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” – Elton John and Kiki Dee Chart Position: #8, 4th week on the chart. Peaked at #1 for four weeks in August. What a song. I could stop right there, throw up the video, and that would be enough. A quarter-century after its release it was a Saturday night…

  • Friday Playlist

    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0TXWOzuPmBbDhLE3pMohu3?si=GsgUL2iIRYedA3FsDeN-oA “I Need a Teacher” – Hiss Golden Messenger. I’m never sure how to pronounce this band’s name. Is it hiss like a cat? Or just his with an extra S? Good thing I’m not podcasting anymore and don’t have to worry about it. This is right in their sweet spot. “Forever Half Mast” – Lucy Dacus. Dacus put out…

  • Friday Vid

    “Long Hot Summer” – The Style Council ’Tis time for this annual vid. It has been a long, hot week. One of those weeks that makes you, for a moment, look forward to fall. Then you’re shaken and realize that you don’t really want summer to be over quite yet. Fortunately the forecast looks much more reasonable beginning Monday. BTW,…

  • Friday Playlist

    Some new songs from groups that still seem like representatives of new music, but have actually been putting out songs for a long time. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4LIDj5xxO9XE3BThOSKMEF?si=cx95n4VeTqKLdUsNQmqcqQ “Born and Razed” – The Raconteurs. Not a huge fan of the new album – it’s ok, should be better – but this is easily the stand-out track. “Can’t Stop You” – Pete Yorn. I…

  • July 4 Playlist

    I seem to recall making some July 4th centered playlists back in the day. I just searched through the blog archives and couldn’t find one, though. I think that’s probably because I scrubbed the site of a lot of old playlists and videos during one of my transitions to a new platform. Regardless, I think it’s been awhile. So here…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 27

    I figure most of my readers are taking it easy on this holiday week. So I will slow the pace here a bit, get caught up on some things, and otherwise take advantage of the lazy week. Chart Week: June 29, 1985 Song: “19” – Paul Hardcastle Chart Position: #27, 5th week on the chart. Peaked at #15 for two…

  • Friday Vid

    Just a video this week. “Stay With Me” – Hatchie. I still hate the move for new music to drop on Fridays instead of Tuesdays. It seems like I can never get through all the new albums I want to listen to on Friday, the weekend keeps me from spending much time with new albums, and then on Monday I’m…

  • Don’t Stop the Music

    Here is a pretty fascinating article that has gotten a lot of attention over the past week or so. Jody Rosen writes about the massive fire in 2008 that wiped out a storage facility that housed thousands and thousands of original sound recordings. News just broke overnight that a huge swath of big artists not mentioned in the article also…

  • Friday Playlist

    Happy Summer Solstice!  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/17XnnLY7UFh9zOkGPorNTX?si=2tewbLexQUSMMmJ-4BWkBA “Cuddly Toy” – Roachford. I know I’ve written about this song at least a couple times over the past 16 years. How I bought the cassette single right before I graduated from high school 30 – THIRTY!!! – years ago and listened to it non-stop that week. And how when I got to college someone “borrowed”…