As promised, two different playlists and two videos for the last Friday before Christmas. We begin with the 11 songs that just missed making my Favorite Songs of 2024. That list isn’t completely done - I just moved a couple songs around before I started typing this - but the songs are locked in. Here are the remnants, presented in no particular order. open.spotify.com/playlist/… “If It’s Gone” - Good Looks This band put out a great album and a terrific two-song EP.
Chart Week: December 13, 1980 Song: “(Just Like) Starting Over” - John Lennon Chart Position: #4, 7th week on the chart. Peaked at #1 for five weeks across December and January. This entry is less about a specific song than an extraordinary moment in American Top 40 history. And an opportunity for me to revisit a lost piece of writing from my past. One December night in the mid–2000s, I sat down and quickly typed out what I think is one of the best things I’ve ever written.
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m dialing back the blogging a bit to close the year. I’ve been working on my Favorite Songs list. I’m hoping to squeeze out one more RFTS post before the year is over. And general end-of-the-year busyness is keeping me from sitting down at the keyboard too much. That said, I had an encounter today I thought was interesting and worthy of a quick post. I have all kinds of stories from the gym.
A slightly quieter weekend. No sitting on the couch for 183 hours watching football. I actually got out of the house both days. Multiple times! Let’s review. College Girls I’ll share the biggest, best news up top: C got her acceptance letter from IU on Thursday. That’s the only school she’s really interested in, so I think she’s locked into being a Hoosier.[1] She’s pretty excited. Coincidentally she wore an IU shirt to school Thursday.
Doing things a little different the next couple weeks. Today I’m going to share some new, indie rock, Christmas-y tracks I’ve discovered this year. Next week will be a double playlist of both the songs that just missed my Favorite Songs of the Year list, and a review of the #1 songs of each year I’ve made those lists. Plus, bonus videos each week! You all have been very good this year and deserve a little something extra!
A Spy Like Me - Kim Sherwood The second installment in Sherwood’s planned 007 trilogy, it continues to tread ground that is very unlike anything ever written for the Bond franchise. James Bond himself remains absent (mostly), as the rest of the Double-Os attempt to unravel a network that finances terror attacks before it can strike again. They’re also searching for clues for Bond’s status and whereabouts. And seem to be getting killed off at a fairly concerning rate.
Well, a lot to get caught up on. Not thrilled about all of it… College Football I spent the better part of 11 hours on the couch watching the big conference title games Saturday. Literally. I know I got up to eat dinner. Obviously a few restroom runs. Maybe I ran out to get the mail? Those were momentary breaks, though, and I spent the better part of noon-to–11 PM with my ass firmly planted in the same spot.
I’m behind my normal schedule, but my annual December shift in music has begun. More holiday music and reviewing my favorite songs of the year than listening to new tunes. Which means this is a last-minute collection, rushed a bit as I have to get a kid to an early appointment before school. open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Ceiling Fan” - Swapmeet While not taking over the mainstream, I think 2024 will partially be remembered as the year this third (fourth?
Chart Week: December 6, 1976 Song: “More Than A Feeling” - Boston Chart Position: #9, 12th week on the chart. Peaked at #5 the week of December 25. A perfect song. I could end this post there and it would be enough. Why waste your and my time cranking out a thousand or so words breaking down the how and why when that simple phrase sums it all up? Because that’s not the point of this series, obviously.
A few thoughts about how the Jayhawks fared Thanksgiving week. Hoops A good week. A very good week. With one exception. First, taking care of Duke in Las Vegas was a nice way to wrap up the first part of the season. KJ Adams basically shut down super phenom Cooper Flag for three-quarters of the night. I loved how the KU coaches made sure to stress it would be a group effort rather than KJ vs Cooper so KJ didn’t get in his own head about the matchup before the game.
Movies, Shows, etc The Americans, season 6 Why re-watch something I’ve seen before when I have so many unwatched shows on my list that I need to get to? Because this is my favorite TV drama ever made, it never had a subpar season, and its final 10 episodes were as good as any concluding season ever filmed. Each season got progressively bleaker and more stressful. In season six, you could almost feel the weight crashing down on each charater, like a strong arm in the middle of your back forcing you to the ground.
A long, extra-stuffed Thanksgiving weekend is in the books. Let’s run through the highlights. Thanksgiving For the first time in ages that we’ve been home for the holiday,[1] we did not host the local gathering on Turkey Day. One of S’s sisters and her husband opened up their house to the family. It was nice to not have to clean before and after, run around wildly the morning of, and hope that we hadn’t forgotten anything as we started serving the food.
No playlist this week, as the days have passed too quickly and I’ve been too busy to cobble together a few songs. Doesn’t mean I will skip sharing a video from the Billboard Hot 100 chart of December 1, 1984. youtu.be/LHcP4MWAB… “(Pride) In The Name Of Love” - U2 Last week was Madonna, which launched us towards 1985 and her ascension to pop music royalty. This week we get the first U2 song to crack the Top 40 in the US.
Happy Thanksgiving to all! Hope your travels and gatherings are safe and enjoyable. The Right Stuff - Tom Wolfe Somewhere I ran across an author/poster I follow who mentioned that they had recently read this book. In their blurb, they said something about not loving Wolfe’s writing style but still enjoying the book. I’ve never read any of Wolfe’s work before. At least for this piece, I loved his writing and the book.
The last weekend update before we dive neck-deep into the holiday season. KU Football How ‘bout them Jayhawks?!?!?! Taking the Colorado Buffaloes out to the woodshed on the sturdy legs of Devin Neal. There could not have been a more appropriate day for #4 to go off than the 33rd anniversary of Tony Sands’ record-breaking performance. It was even sweeter after Buffaloes “senior quality control analyst” Warren Sapp trashed pretty much everything about KU in a video he posted last week.
open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Drive” - R.E.M. This playlist took a long time to come together, so I had to call in a couple ringers to bookend the new music. To open, this week’s The Alternative Number Ones over at Stereogum (subscription required). A little shocked Tom only gave it a 9. “People Watching” - Sam Fender Everyone’s favorite Americana-loving Brit is back! For Fender’s upcoming album, The War on Drugs' Adam Granduciel offered some production help, including on this track.
Chart Week: November 9, 1985 Song: “You Belong To The City” - Glenn Frey Chart Position: #4, 9th week on the chart. Peaked at #2 for two weeks. The fall of 1985 was one of those proverbial Big Times in my life. I was a freshman in high school, which brought all kinds of new excitement and perils each day. The Royals got hot late in the season, came back from two 3–1 post-season deficits, and won the World Series for the first time ever.
As noted a couple weeks ago in my Friday Playlist, the legendary Quincy Jones died recently. He had many epic interviews over the years. I had these two saved and re-read them over the past few days. What a storyteller! Quincy Jones Has a Story About That In Conversation: Quincy Jones I had no real interest in reading Alex Van Halen’s new memoir, Brothers. He was always just the huge presence behind the drum kit in Van Halen, not nearly as interesting as either his brother or David Lee Roth in the band’s glory days.
Two games to catch up on from last week. Tuesday the Irish played their Jesuit sisters from down the block. L was excited because the Braves were missing two of their best varsity players, meaning girls from their kinda crappy JV team had moved up, so she was hoping for two wins. She got them. CHS dominated the JV game and won by 20 in a game that wasn’t close after the first few minutes.
A Great Weekend To Be A Jayhawk Saturday, specifically. First, just before noon Eastern, Bryson Tiller, the #20 recruit in the current senior class, signed to play at KU next year. This was unexpected. KU had chased him hard, but earlier in the week his Overtime Elite teammate Samis Calderon had signed with KU. They are not exactly the same player, but have some overlapping skills and attributes. Most recruiting nerds thought this was an either/or situation.