Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 22
Chart Week: November 6, 1976 Song: “The Rubberband Man” – The Spinners Chart Position: #15, 9th week on the chart. Peaked at #2 for three weeks in December. As promised, our first journey into the 1970s. This is the perfect jam to make that deeper run into the chart history. As I’ve said many times in the past, my parents…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/user/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y/playlist/5dM8578dUBeKgjwLjC8nJ1?si=jTtGzBEBS8GCMmqffXxpKw “Blankets” – Craig Finn. This is the first time I’ve really enjoyed one of Finn’s solo songs. It may make me reconsider his entire solo catalog. But I’ll likely just got back and listen to classic Hold Steady tracks. “Heart Attack Kid” – Ben Kweller. Kweller disappeared for awhile. This is a pretty solid return. “Devil May Care” –…
Friday Playlist
It’s been a rough few musical days, another time when we have been reminded that painful music is sometimes a product of truly painful lives. On Wednesday The New York Times ran a story in which several women accused Ryan Adams of abusive behavior. Phoebe Bridgers and Adams’ ex-wife Mandy Moore both went on record about their relationships with Adams…
Some Notes
A couple smaller things smashed into one post today. First, there’s just too much information out there. I know this is, like, a devastatingly deep and original opinion, but that’s why I have a blog, people. Wait, I’m not talking about the general flood of information we swim through each day. I’m talking about the maddening process of trying to…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 21
Chart Week: February 12, 1983 Song: “Down Under” – Men at Work Chart Position: #1, 15th week on the chart. Spent four non-consecutive weeks at #1 in January and February. If you’ve paid very close attention to my music posts over the years, you may recall that I kicked around a project in which I would find the best single…
Friday Playlist
Our era of good music continues. https://open.spotify.com/user/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y/playlist/0FebwLRclSTqONuy1UaoVU?si=28z2nTVeRl-1Oaj-NF8MSw “Cosmic Cave” – Ex Hex. This is a hell of a fun rave-up that really should make everyone who hears it jump around like a maniac. “Harmony Hall” – Vampire Weekend. Everything has a backlash, especially in music. If you’re too smart, too clever, or too-anything, there will be a backlash. VW’s last…
Friday Playlist
This was our winteriest week of the season. Two days with sub-zero temperatures and windchills 20-30 degrees colder than that. Today is supposed to be the beginning of a major warm-up, but we woke to 4” of snow and a two-hour school delay. (Update: School was cancelled for the day about five minutes after I posted this.) So I thought…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 20
I’m on nephew duty the next couple days so I’ll go ahead and post this late on a Sunday to kick off the week. Chart Week: January 28, 1984 Song: “Let the Music Play” – Shannon Chart Position: #18, 12th week on the chart. Peaked at #8 the week of February 25. Reached #1 on the US Dance Club Songs…
Friday Playlist
The music continues to flow. It’s been a really good stretch of both single and full length releases. So I’m going to pump the list up a little this week to make sure I’m sharing the new stuff in a timely matter. Hopefully the extra tunes will warm your day a little. https://open.spotify.com/user/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y/playlist/1GMkqjGNaq40pXDQO6Nn41?si=Ogt9zpZaT4CF5XhfxkNxoQ “Jeremy” – Muncie Girls. Two curveballs on…
Friday Playlist
The music finally hit this week. There has been a steady flow of new tracks all week. There are at least five new albums out today that I am interested in (Sharon Van Etten, Deerhunter, Maggie Rogers, The Twilight Sad, and Steve Gunn) along with a couple others I’d like to get to. We’ll start to see that flood of…