Tag: music

Spring songs

Classics Explained

I was trying to decide what to play for some spring songs. Fortunately, I pulled Joel Whitburn’s Album Cuts, 1955-2001 off my shelf. The annoying thing is that, as a strict list, it does not differentiate between songs with the same title but are different, and covers of the same song.

Spring – Little Milton (1969)

Spring  – John Denver (1972)

Spring – Meryl Streep · George Winston (1985) from The Velveteen Rabbit, a story I love

Spring – · Ned’s Atomic Dustbin (1992)

These were all different songs, despite the same title.

Spring Again – Lou Rawls (1977)

Spring Fever – Biz Markie (1989)

Now, I come to a song with oodles of covers.  “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most” (1955) is a popular song with lyrics by Fran Landesman, set to music by Tommy Wolf. The title is a jazz rendition of the opening line of T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, “April is the cruelest month.” The song describes how somebody feels sad and depressed despite all the good things associated with spring

Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most –  The Pete Jolly Trio (1963)

Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most – Ella Fitzgerald (1960)

Then…

Spring Collection – The Vapors (1980)

Spring Comes To Spiddal  – The Waterboys (1990)

Spring Is Here – Peter Nero. When I tried to search for Nero’s Spring Concerto from 1961, this is what came up.  

Spring Creek – George Winston (1991) from the album Summer

Spring Fever -· Elvis Presley (1965)

Spring Fever  – Orleans (1976)

I was unfamiliar with all of the songs.

Highbrow

There are two pieces of music I play every vernal equinox. The first is The Rite of Spring (1913) by Igor Stravinsky. I always loved the story of the ballet, explained entertainingly by Classics Explained.

There are several recordings. I decided on Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky (1960) with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.

The other annual ritual is playing The Four Seasons (1725) by Antonio  Vivaldi. I prefer summer and winter; the solstices are in minor keys, whereas the equinoxes are in major keys.  

March rambling: your AI slop

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

by Catbird c 2026

No one wants to read your AI slop

The $5.6 billion opening salvo: inside the staggering cost of his war on Iran
The Black Anti-Fascist Tradition Recognized That Fascism Didn’t Begin in Europe
Blowtorching the frog
USAID: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
These Women Exposed Prison Sexual Abuse. Now ICE Wants to Deport Them.

Florida Has Deemed All Existing Intro to Sociology Textbooks Illegal

Should charity CEOs get a percentage of revenue raised?  (NO!)

How selfish are we? An age-old debate about human nature is being energised with new findings on the tightrope of cooperation and competition

Is Freedom Enough? Notes from a Community Conversation

John Green: Risk Is a Privilege
Daryl Hannah: How Can ‘Love Story’ Get Away With This?
WHCL (Hamilton College) is 85 years old

Pete Townshend and Jodie Foster Take The Colbert Questionert

Now I Know: The Man Who Shipped Himself Home and The Underground World Time Forgot and How Mickey Mouse Saved Time and The “Lion” Whose Bark Was Bigger Than Its Bite
Kelly on biscuit
Pants on Fire
From here: For the last year, [FOTUS] has told us that he’s made life safe for democracy, and more affordable and better all around. During his record-long SOTU address on Feb. 24, he told us that our economy was strong, gas prices were $1.85 a gallon, and the stock market was above 50,000 for the first time. “When I came back, our country was dead. Now it’s the hottest country on the planet,” he said in what has become the standard stump speech pickup line.
Three weeks later, the average price of gas is $3.60 a gallon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down another 739 points Thursday at 46,677, a loss of more than 9% since the State of the Union. On Friday, it was down another 119 points, finishing at 46,558.
MUSIC
My Funny Valentine – Leslie Green (02 20 26)
Neil Sedaka, Singing Craftsman of Memorable Pop Songs, Dies at 86
Country Joe McDonald, Whose Antiwar Song Became an Anthem, Dies at 84
The Clarity of Cold Air by Jonathan Bailey Holland
Cartoon Collection – Medley sinfónico
I Don’t Wanna Know – Human Radio
Buddy Guy: Tiny Desk Concert February 27, 2026
George, Tell It Like It Is -Peter Sprague featuring Sinne Eeg
Umoja (and others) by Valerie Coleman
Objects In Mirror – Josh Ottum
Here We Go Again – MonaLisa Twins
We Can Work It Out -· Stevie Wonder

Hysteria (A Comedy Song) -Riki Lindhome

Kyrie – Mr. Mister

Desi Arnaz short (1946)

How Will I Know – Whitney Houston.

You Did It Your Way – Jimmy Fallon Serenades Stephen Colbert On The Late Show

If Stayin’ Alive Had Been Written in the 16th Century – Tabea Bös and Jonas Wolf

The Fate of Melania – A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

MORE MUSIC
K-Chuck Radio: Were the Carpenters just a great cover band?

Blackbird – Beyoncé

Coverville 1571: Cover Stories for TLC and The J. Geils Band and 1572: The David Gilmour/Pink Floyd Cover Story
Strike Up The Band (Gershwin) – Thilo Wolf Big Band
Hot Stuff and MacArthur Park Suite– Donna Summer
Texas Flood –  Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
The theme song from the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon show – Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine
Hurricane Country – Peter Sprague
Matt Forbes: L-O-V-E and It’s Almost Like Being In Love (Lerner & Loewe tune from the show, Brigadoon) and You’re Nobody’Til Somebody Loves You
Maybe I’m Amazed – Paul McCartney
Got To Get You Into My Life – Earth, Wind & Fire,
Flip Flop and Fly – Joe Turner and His Blues Kings
Ray Bolger dancing — alone and with a couple of past presidents — in April in Paris
Hello My Baby – Joe Howard on the Ed Sullivan Show, 1954
Genre Delve #13: AOR/Classic Rock

The #1 hits of 1926

Red, Red Robin

Gene Austin

I know you have been aching to hear the #1 hits of 1926. You may recognize at least three of the dozen from a century ago.

From Joel Whitburn presents a Century of Pop Music: “For popular music, the most historic event of the 1920s was the switch from acoustic to electrical records, which followed a year of experiments by engineers at Bell Laboratories in 1924-25. Instead of the acoustic process of singers and musicians performing directly into a recording horn, they were now able to record with a condenser microphone in a spacious studio.

“With the use of vacuum tube amplifiers and an electromagnetically powered cutting stylus, the frequency range of recorded music expanded by two and a half octaves. The Associated Glee Clubs of America’s pairing of a ‘Adeste Fidelis’ and ‘John Peel’ became the first electrically recorded hit in July 1925. and within months every major label record label had gone electric.”

Valencia (A Song of Spain) -Paul Whiteman and his orchestra with Franklyn Baur on vocals (Victor), 11 weeks at #1. Music written in 1924 by Spanish composer/pianist José Padilla

Baby Face (Carita de Nino) -Jan Garber and his orchestra with Benny Davis on vocals (Victor), 6 weeks at #1

Who – George Olsen (Victor), 6 weeks at #1, gold record. From the musical comedy Sunny, written by Harbach-Hammerstein II-Kern.

Sleepy Time Gal – Ben Bernie with his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra and Arthur Fields on vocals (Brunswick), 4 weeks at #1

The Birth of the Blues – Paul Whiteman and his orchestra with Jack Fulton, Charles Gaylord, and Austin Young on vocals (Victor), 4 weeks at #1

Crooner

Bye Bye Blackbird – Gene Austin (Victor), 3 weeks at #1. “Austin was a soft-voiced ‘crooner’  whose career horizons were expanded by the greater sensitivity of electrical recording.”

Always – George Olsen with Fran Frey, Bob Rice, and Edward Joyce (Victor), 3 weeks at #1. written by Irving Berlin.

Breezin’ Along With The Breeze – Johnny Marvin, “The Ukulele Ace” (Columbia), 2 weeks at #1. Written by Gillespie-Simons-Whiting

Always – Vincent Lopez and his Casa Lopez Orchestra (Okeh), 2 weeks at #1 (instrumental)

I’m Sitting On Top Of The World – Al Jolson with Carl Fenton’s Orchestra (Brunswick), 2 weeks at #1

“Gimme” A Little Kiss (Will “Ya”? Huh ?)- “Whispering” Jack Smith (Victor), 2 weeks at #1

When The Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along – Al Jolson with Carl Fenton’s Orchestra (Brunswick), 2 weeks at #1

Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blues (Has Anybody Seen My Girl) – Gene Austin (Victor), one week at #1

The Rest of ’66

Songs when I was 13

About 15 years ago, I went to a friend’s house and made a mixed CD of songs I dubbed The Rest of ’66. It was a homage to two LPs I own, The Best of ’66, put out by Columbia Records way back then.

Unfortunately, the CD tracking has deteriorated, so I decided to replicate it here. But there are 24 tracks, and I’m too old and lazy to do that. So I’m not linking to the songs that hit #1 on any Billboard chart, since I will link to them in July.

But before that, WHY 1966? Back in my FantaCo days in the 1980s, we would occasionally listen to WTRY radio. They would play oldies from 1955 to 1972, roughly. I realized they seemed to play about 30% of the songs I loved from that year, when I turned 13.

Don’t Mess With Bill – the Marvelettes. #3 for four weeks RB, #7 pop. I LOVE the bassline.

What’s Become Of The Brokenhearted – Jimmy Ruffin, #6 RB, #7 pop. I wrote about the Ruffin brothers, Jimmy, and the Temptations’ David.

Function at the Junction – Shorty Long, #43 RB, #97 pop

I’m skipping You Can’t Hurry Love – the Supremes

I See The Light – the Five Americans, #26 pop. I’d like to suggest I intentionally picked the group’s track fifth, but that would be a lie.

Little Girl – Syndicate of Sound, #8 pop

I’m skipping Wild Thing – the Troggs

Psychotic Reaction – The Count Five, #5 pop

Pushing Too Hard – the Seeds, #36 pop

STAX

You Don’t Know Like I Know – Sam and Dave, #7 RB, #90 pop

Time – Pozo-Seco Singers, #3 AC, #47 pop

I’m skipping Satisfaction – The Rolling Stones

Daydream– The Lovin’ Spoonful, #2 pop for two weeks. I got the LP from the Capitol Record Club; I still have it.

I’m skipping When a Man Loves a Woman – Percy Sledge

Nothing’s Too Good For My Baby – Stevie Wonder, #4 RB, #20 pop

Red Rubber Ball – the Cyrkle, #2 pop; song written by Paul Simon

River Deep, Mountain High – Ike and Tina Turner, #88 pop.  This was a particularly disastrous commercial record produced by Phil Spector

You Better Run – the Rascals, #20 pop. This came out before the release of their second album, Collections, but doesn’t appear on an LP until their third album, Groovin’.

Background

I Saw Her Again – the Mamas and the Papas, #5 pop.  I always had a great affection for this song. On the greatest-hits album, Farewell to the First Golden Era, the separation of this song was very weird. The Denny Doherty lead vocal was very muted, so you got to hear a lot of the background vocals, and I always hear that song that way in my mind. Also, the song’s intrigue predates the Fleetwood Mac drama surrounding Rumours.

Yellow Submarine – The Beatles. The single was #2 pop. This is a version from the Real Love EP (at 6:59), which answered a burning question. On the YS/Eleanor Rigby single, the last verse lyric is: “As we live a life of ease.” On the single, the line is echoed: “a life of ease.” But on my Revolver LP, the echoing didn’t start until the next line: “Every one of us (every one of us).” I learned that the mono version had the earlier echo and the stereo had the later one.

B-A-B-Y – Carla Thomas, #3 RB, #14 pop.

I’m skipping Knock On Wood – Eddie Floyd

Standing In The Shadows of Love – The Four Tops. #3 RB for two weeks, #6 pop

If I Were A Carpenter – Bobby Darin, #8 pop

New Edition Way tour: Boston

Boyz II Men, Toni Braxton

When my wife and I went to Chautauqua in 2023, we saw a lot of performances. The one my daughter was sad not to see was Boyz II Men.

So when she saw that New Edition was going on tour in 2026 with Boyz II Men and Toni Braxton, she wanted to go to the show, either in Boston on February 15 or in New York City on March 14th. We opted for the earlier performance.

The logistics: I would take a Peter Pan bus from Albany to Springfield. Apparently, I  hadn’t taken the bus in a very long time. The Greyhound station was all but empty; I had to go to  the Trailways “station,” which consisted of a couple of trailers not too far away. But it was only five bucks.

The route involved passing by the frozen Hudson River to I-90, then taking an exit that would eventually get us to Route 20, one of the great routes in America, which runs by the New Lebanon Speedway and the Hancock Shaker Village before we got to Pittsfield. Then to the Lee Premium Outlets, where no one got off or on, then back to I-90, eventually to Springfield. 

The Daughter picked me up, and she drove to Woburn, where we stayed at a hotel. In due course, she drove us to the MBTA Orange line, and we traveled to North Station and walked five minutes to the TD Garden (formerly the Boston Garden).

Stand around and wait 

It was 6:30 for a 7 pm show, yet no one was allowed in. Eventually, we all got in. My daughter and I didn’t get to our seats until 7:15, but a DJ was playing music to distract us. The seats in the balcony were very narrow, with insufficient legroom. I got to check out the banners on the ceiling from the great days of the Celtics and other teams.

Finally, the show starts at 7:50 with the three acts performing a new song We Going Out Tonight. Then each artist in turn, including various iterations of New Edition. The group was particularly thrilled to be performing in the city because, in August 2025, the city honored their native sons by renaming Dearborn Street in Roxbury “New Edition Way.” 

I must admit that I wasn’t very versed in New Edition, which formed as teenagers in 1978. When I heard their early hits, which they sang late in the show, and I recognized them, I had written them off as Jackson Five wannabes.  Certainly, I couldn’t keep track of their various combinations, such as Bell Biv DeVoe and their solo careers, with one exception.

Roni

I own Bobby Brown’s Don’t Be Cruel album; he sang the three hits at various times.  New Edition, the Boston Globe noted, “had the sort of camaraderie that comes from years spent together and apart, with Brown’s bandmates backing up on his solo smashes like ‘Don’t Be Cruel,’ and everyone providing vocal and choreographic assists on other cuts.” This was the real magic of the evening. 

Toni Braxton put out two albums, and I liked a couple of her songs, notably Un-Break My Heart and Breathe Again, but a lot of the other ones seem pretty generic to my ears, and maybe that’s just me. I enjoyed Boyz II Men’s pieces best, but I knew them best, and New Edition shared the stage with their proteges quite a bit. 

All told, it was a satisfactory experience. The Boston Globe’s review concluded this way: “The show ended with a rafter-shaking take on ‘Poison,’ the acid-tongued debut single from Bell Biv DeVoe that’s become a new jack swing cornerstone since its release in 1990. The tune was punctuated by green and white confetti — a celebration of New Edition’s place in Boston, and the way they changed American pop music for the better.”

After the three-hour show, we got back to our hotel around midnight, having had a nice experience with the daughter.

Ramblin' with Roger
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