I love it when my birthday falls on Friday or Monday for that nifty three-day weekend,
Here’s a picture someone took of me at my mother’s funeral in February 2011.
This is the day in the year I get REALLY lazy – way lazier even than Ask Roger Anything, which will happen again soon enough – when I write almost nothing for my birthday.
I love it when my birthday falls on Friday or Monday for that nifty three-day weekend since I’ve taken it off from work for at least two decades. Although it doesn’t matter if it falls on Saturday or Sunday, because I’ll STILL take off Friday or Monday. Maybe I’ll see a movie matinee and/or go out for an Indian food buffet.
How will I remember how old I am this year? Easy. ROGER Maris hit 61 Home runs for the New York Yankees in 1961, eclipsing Babe Ruth’s record. Of course, Maris’ record was demolished in the Steroid Era by Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Sammy Sosa. But I still remember Roger’s achievement.
Maybe the choreography, with the STOP hand gestures, was corny, but I loved it.
Also used for Round 15 of ABC Wednesday, S is for Supremes.
Flo, Mary, Diana
They were the Primettes, a sister group of the pre-Temptations Primes. Shortly after they became the Supremes in 1961, Barbara Martin left the quartet, and they became a trio: Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Diana Ross. The nickname around Motown, unfortunately, was the “No-Hit Supremes” in 1962 and 1963 with A Breath Taking Guy their biggest hit (#75 in 1963). Their fate seemed to be backup singers. (LISTEN to Can I Get A Witness by Marvin Gaye from 1963.)
Suddenly, starting in mid-1964, a string of #1 hits, including five in a row, and eventually an even dozen.
I loved the Supremes, and I bought even their oddball albums that Berry Gordy had them do to show their range, such as A Bit of Liverpool; The Supremes Sing Country, Western, and Pop; We Remember Sam Cooke; and The Supremes Sing Rodgers and Hart. Among other things, it allowed Mary and Flo to take an occasional lead vocal.
Around the time the powerhouse songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown c. 1967, the Supremes became Diana Ross and the Supremes, with Cindy Birdsong replacing Florence, who would die less than a decade later of cardiac arrest. The hits slowed, though they did some interesting work with the Temps, and Diana became a solo act by 1970.
22. Baby Love, from WDOLG. Loved “been missin’ ya, miss kissin’ ya.” Another #1 in 1964.
21. Am I Asking Too Much (from The Never-Before-Released Masters, 1987). This is one of those compilation CDs I got that has a bunch of songs from 1961 to 1969, including a bunch of Disney songs from an abortive album. This song was written by R. Dean Taylor and the late Deke Richards; the latter co-wrote Love Child and the early Jackson 5 hits, so this probably was recorded c. 1968.
20. Nathan Jones (from Touch, 1971) – this post-Ross song I didn’t really get into until it appeared on the soundtrack for the 1988 film Rain Man. Went to #16 in ’71.
19. I’ll Try Something New (from Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations, 1968). This song only went to #25 in 1969 (I’m Gonna Make You Love Me was the big hit), but I love how the voices trade-off here.
18. It Makes No Difference Now (from The Supremes Sing Country, Western and Pop, 1965). I like how the lead vocals are traded.
17. My World Is Empty Without You (from I Hear A Symphony, 1966). This song is so flexible, it was re-recorded as a tribute to Berry Gordy. The hit was #5 in ’66.
16. Going Down For The Third Time (from The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland, 1967). My favorite album, almost certainly, and this album cut has that wonderful “Praise be!” from Mary and Flo.
15. Up the Ladder to the Roof (from Right On, 1970). At some level, I REALLY wanted the post-Ross Supremes to succeed, and this first single, #10 in 1970, seemed like a good start.
14. Try It Baby (from DR&SJT). This cover of a Marvin Gaye song starts with the wonderful bass voice of Melvin Franklin, reason enough to like it.
13. Some Day We’ll Be Together (from Cream of the Crop, 1969). The group was already readying for the next transition. The song is Diana with anonymous backup singers, though Diana, Mary and Cyndi do eventually sing it live on the Farewell album months later.
12. Honey Bee (from Love Child, 1968). I’m a sucker for songs featuring the pollinators. Tom Petty has a similarly named song.
11. Love Child (LC). A #1 song from 1968, I appreciated the fact that Mary and Cindi got to sing “scorned by”, instead of merely echoing everything Diana sang.
10. I Want A Guy (Meet the Supremes, 1962). Their first single as The Supremes in 1961, it went nowhere, but I loved the organ especially.
9. You Keep Me Hangin’ On (from SSH-D-H). A #1 single in late 1966, weird stereo of the time threw the sound from one speaker to the other. It was such a compelling storyline, Vanilla Fudge covered it on its eponymous first album.
8. Reflections (from Reflections, 1968). Their first single after Cindi replaced Flo, the single came out in 1967, going to #2, months before the album was released. On some Motown album, Mary described it as a “weird, weird song,” referring to the intro. I fell in love with it again when it was used as the theme for the TV show China Beach.
7. Where Did Our Love Go (from Where Did Our Love Go, 1964). The first hit single (#1 for two weeks in 1964) from the first hit album (#2, probably blocked by some Beatles LP). There is a wonderful purity of sound that’s so attractive.
6. Keep An Eye (from LC). “There used to be three of us seen all over town…” Great song of warranted paranoia.
5. Remove This Doubt (from SSH-D-H). Elvis Costello covered this, but I prefer the original. Breaks my heart.
4. Stop! In the Name of Love (from More Hits by the Supremes, 1965). Maybe the choreography, with the STOP hand gestures, was corny, but I loved it. Also that ascending organ line before the vocals. #1 for two weeks in 1965.
3. I Hear A Symphony (from I Hear A Symphony, 1966). While I love the songs that depend on the bass line, and the Supremes have a bunch of those, I also love this change-of-pace tune, which hit #1 for two weeks in 1965.
2. Buttered Popcorn (from MTS). Another non-hit single from 1961, with Florence Ballard on the wonderful lead vocals.
1. Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart (from SAGG). A massively successful album (#1 for two weeks), though the single only went to #9 in 1966. But I’m a sucker for its bottom sound.
Even though my daughter seems to have outgrown Yertle the Turtle, I most assuredly have not.
As a huge fan of Dr. Seuss, I was rather interested in this blog post by Chuck Miller: Don’t cry because you thought he said it. Smile because he didn’t. It dispels the myth that Dr. Seuss had uttered some trite thing, for which he had been attributed, just like pictures of late Andy Rooney and Ronald Reagan are posted all over Facebook with pithy quotes that they did not say.
There are plenty of things he DID say that are worthwhile. So much so that, even though my daughter seems to have outgrown Yertle the Turtle, I most assuredly have not. While we let her cull her book collection, the Wife and I have reclaimed some of the books that she’s given a pass on. Maybe she’ll rediscover them; maybe not. Oh, and that copy of Bartholomew and the Oobleck was MINE in the first place!
Still remember my father walking by and hearing, “We forsake you, gonna rape you, let’s forget you better still,” and surmised that he was thinking, “What IS that boy listening to?”
Also used for Round 15 of ABC Wednesday, W is for The Who.
The Who’s lead singer hits the big seven-oh. The first album I had of the group was Tommy, which is why it dominates my personal chart. While I heard them on the radio, I didn’t own the earlier hits until the collection Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy (MBBB).
The Top 10 are pretty solidly on the list, but some of the second 10 could probably be replaced by others. No live versions with one, probably predictable, exception.
I just ODed on Stairway to Heaven, I’m afraid. Still leaving it off the list would be an injustice.
Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page
Noticed that, of the 18 folks inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame more than once, the list includes Crosby, Stills, Nash AND Young; three Beatles; and three guitarists for the Yardbirds: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page.
Since I never bought a Yardbirds album until after the group broke up, I wasn’t really familiar with Page until the group that evolved from the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, came out with its first album in 1969.
Here’s an interesting, and applicable, quote of Jimmy Page about what “he wanted Led Zeppelin to be, from the very beginning: “‘I had a lot of ideas from my days with The Yardbirds. The Yardbirds allowed me to improvise a lot in live performance and I started building a textbook of ideas that I eventually used in Zeppelin. In addition to those ideas, I wanted to add acoustic textures. Ultimately, I wanted Zeppelin to be a marriage of blues, hard rock, and acoustic music topped with heavy choruses – a combination that had never been done before. Lots of light and shade in the music.”
And so it was.
I’ve already discussed my affection for, and irritation with, Zeppelin, especially Page and vocalist Robert Plant, so I guessed I’d list my 20 favorite songs by the group, not the best ones necessarily. Except…
Strange that my affection for songs by Led Zeppelin usually depends on what I’ve listened to most recently. Except for the #20 song, the ranking here is fairly arbitrary.
Links are to all songs, which WERE working at the time of compilation. Citations are to the albums I, II, III, IV, Physical Graffiti (PG), and Houses of the Holy (HotH)
20. Stairway to Heaven (IV) – yeah, I know that it has that building energy, a great Page guitar intro, it’s technically impressive. But I just ODed on it, I’m afraid. Still leaving it off the list would be an injustice. You would think it was released as a single, but oddly, only as a promo.
19. Houses of the Holy (PG). Strangely left off the Houses of the Holy album, it shows up on the next album. I find the beat seems to change on me. Something about the groove is infectious.
18. Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You (I) – starts off as a sweet song, actually, that reportedly is a paean to Joan Baez, who had recorded a version. Then moves to the more plaintive, driving sections. Back and forth – think I like the schizoid nature of the performance.
17. Celebration Day (III) – bluesy in an off-balanced manner.
16. Trampled Under Foot (PG) – lives on the funky bottom. This was released as a single and actually got to #38 in 1975.
15. Immigrant Song (III) – a slab of unrelenting metal that starts a generally more quiet and reflective album. Notably, it has no guitar solo, which allowed it to be released as a single and get up to #16 in early 1971.
14. Gallows Pole (III) – I knew this song first as performed by Leadbelly. Love the guitar, and the musical interlude.
13. Rock and Roll (IV) – actually a loud blues number, and often used as the band’s concert opener. Only got to #47 as a single in 1972.
12. The Ocean (HotH)- a great outlet for the bass/drum combo of John Paul Jones and John Bonham.
11. Black Dog (IV) – “Hey hey, mama, said the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove.” Went to #15 in early 1972.
10. In My Time of Dying (PG) – rather like putting church through the heavy metal grinder. At 11 minutes, their longest song
9. Whole Lotta Love (II) – a great hook, great vocals. Nicked a Willie Dixon song, which wasn’t uncommon for them. Tom Skulan of FantaCo used to describe the pronunciation of his last name from the second line of this song, “I’m gonna send ya back to schoolin'”. Their biggest single, it went to #4 in the beginning of 1970.
7. The Battle of Evermore (IV) – a softer side of the group, with a mandolin (I think), which would have fit on the third album.
6. How Many More Times (I) – it’s a fascinating pastiche of rocking blues, which segues into some psychedelic thing. I remember my copy of the original LP listed the running time as 3:30, reportedly so that radio DJs would play it before realizing it was five minutes longer.
5. Kashmir (PG) – it has this exotic sound, peculiar meter, awash with strings and horns. I’ve seen this song on lists of the best LZ song, and it may well be.
3. Good Times, Bad Times (I) – the first song from the first album hooked me instantly. As a single in 1969, before the album was released, it got only to #80 on the charts.
2. Friends (III) – this is the second song on the album after Immigrant Song suggested that the group was going to have another album rather like the first two. Instead, they went into a more melodic direction which led to the album being their worst seller. But I always liked it a lot.
1. Four Sticks (IV) – the song drives about in hypnotic fashion, changing time signatures frequently, from 5/4 to 6/8 to who knows what. The lyrics are banal, but it’s the beat that hooked me.
