music Archives - Page 12 of 258 - Ramblin' with Roger

Valentine’s Day songs

At Last

Oh, wait. It’s Valentine’s Day. Around Christmas time, my wife had intimated that she wanted a certain type of chocolate, so I went out and bought some. But I’d forgotten that a couple of weeks earlier, my daughter and I had purchased the same brand, albeit with a different flavor combo.

So, I guess I’ll give her this chocolate for Valentine’s Day. I should also buy a card, though, shouldn’t I?

Here are 17 Valentine’s Day songs—seventeen because that’s what came to mind, not including the Steve Earle song. I went through several other lists and picked these because some of them were too sappy. This isn’t to say these aren’t sappy also. I don’t think I’ve done this before. If I were to do it five years from now, it’s unlikely that the final two would change.

Just The Way You Are – Billy Joel – I like the sax and the notion of “don’t go changin’.”

Come Away With Me -Norah Jones

Make You Feel My Love – Adele. I own four different versions of this song, by Garth Brooks from the Hope Floars soundtrack, Billy Joel, Adele, and the songwriter Bob Dylan.

Someone To Watch Over Me – Linda Ronstadt. I sang this to a person I was seeing, and she thought it was too clingy. Whatever.

My Funny Valentine -Ella Fitzgerald. I mean, it’s Ella.

Cupid – Sam Cooke – Sam has such a great voice

I Want To Know What Love Is – Foreigner. I’m a sucker for the choir in this song.

Not really…

Let’s Stay Together – Al Green. Cousin Al!

Maybe I’m Amazed – Paul McCartney. Possibly the most romantic song in the Beatles/post-Beatles oeuvre.

Stand By Me—Ben E. King. This list includes many songs that were oldies when I was a teenager.

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Such tension.

Sea of Love – The Honeydrippers. Robert Plant and friends.

Let’s Make More Love – Nat King Cole. There’s no songwriter designation.

At Last – Etta James. This was the first dance at our wedding, so I suppose it should be the finale

God Only Knows -the Beach Boys. I’ve loved this song from the first time I heard it.

Still, the #1 favorite has to be:

I Only Have Eyes For You – The Flamingos can make me a bit teary when actively listening.

What is on your list? If you have it on your blog or something similar, you can share the link to the location. (This means you, J. Eric Smith.)

Meanwhile, here’s A course of studies in the heart by Jessica Kantrowitz.

The JES Top 200 Albums Of All Time

Satisfaction Money Mother Letting go

The JES Top 200 Albums Of All Time list is an ever-evolving collection of recordings compiled by J. Eric Smith. Smith, who was a fellow Albany Times Union blogger in the day, lives in Arizona via Iowa.

I’ve been following him on his current blog. He’s assembled a roster I don’t know how I would begin creating.

Bowie, David: Low. Not only do I have this album, I have a Philip Glass album covering three of these songs. Speed of Life

Bowie, David: “Heroes”. I have this album, too, in the middle of his Berlin Trilogy. Heroes

Bush, Kate: Hounds of Love. Running Up That Hill

Clash: Combat Rock. Rock the Casbah

Clash: London Calling. While this is on several Best Of albums, I know people who genuinely hate this collection. Lost In A Supermarket

Collins, Phil: Face Value. I Missed Again

Devo: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo. Satisfaction

Eagles: Desperado. I have a very specific recollection of the song Tequila Sunrise from my college days.

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer: Brain Salad Surgery. Still… You Turn Me On

Fleetwood Mac: Rumours. The Chain

Gabriel, Peter: Peter Gabriel (III/Melt). I also have this album on vinyl in German. It’s a longtime island record. And Through The Wire

Genesis: Duke. Turn It On Again

Grateful Dead: American Beauty. Ripple

Grateful Dead: Workingman’s Dead. Uncle John’s Band

Hall, Daryl: Sacred Songs. Something In 4/4 Time

Jethro Tull: Songs From the Wood. The Whistler

Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick. edit

King Crimson: In The Court of the Crimson King. 21st Century Schizoid Man

Led Zeppelin: IV (Zoso). Black Dog

M-Z

Mitchell, Joni: For the Roses. You Turn Me On I’m A Radio

Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon. Money

Pink Floyd: The Wall. Mother

Replacements: Let It Be. Answering Machine

Rolling Stones: Exile on Main St. is not my favorite Stones album. Happy

Simon & Garfunkel: Sounds of Silence. Blessed

Steely Dan: Aja. Peg

Steely Dan: The Royal Scam. It’s one of the few albums I own on cassette! The Royal Scam.

Steppenwolf: Gold: Their Great Hits. Born To Be Wild

Talking Heads: Fear of Music. I Zimbra

Utopia: Swing to the Right. Swing To The Right

Utopia: Utopia (1982). Hammer In My Heart

Various Artists: The Harder They Come (Original Soundtrack Recording). Rivers Of Babylon – The Melodians

Who: Who’s Next. Won’t Get Fooled Again. I had a boss who was obsessed with this song.

Who: Tommy. Sally Simpson

Wings: Band on the Run. Jet

Wings: Venus and Mars. Letting Go

Yes: The Yes Album. Yours Is No Disgrace

37 out of 200. There are a few artists for which I have albums, but not the specific ones listed: the Bee Gees, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Joy Division, Elvis Presley, Todd Rundgren, Peter Tosh, XTC, and Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.

1915 #1 hits

anti-war song adopted by the pacifist movement

Before getting into the 1915 #1 hits, I should note how the charts were compiled per Joel Whitburn’s A Century of Pop Music. Talking Machine World published monthly lists of the best-selling records as provided by the major record companies from 1914 to 1921. Billboard offered a weekly list of the most popular songs in vaudeville from 1913 to 1918. ASCAP published a selected list of the most popular songs in its history.

Other information about top sheet music was from record company publications, led by Victor, Columbia, and Edison, plus other lists by Roger Kinkle, Jim Walsh, and Murrells.

It’s A Long, Long Way To Tipperary – John McCormick (Victor), eight weeks at #1. It was also a #1 hit for the American Quartet for seven weeks in 1914.

They Didn’t Believe Me – Harry McDonald and Alice Green (Victor), seven weeks at #1. A Herbert Reynolds/Jerome Kern song from the musical The Girl From Utah.

Hello, Frisco! (I Called You Up To Say “Hello!”) – Alice Green and Edward Hamilton, orchestra conducted by Walter B. Rogers (Victor), six weeks at #1, from the Ziegfeld production “The Follies of 1915.” The singers were also known as Olive Kline and Reinald Werrenrath

A Little Bit of Heaven (Shure, They Call It Ireland) -George McFarlane (Victor), five weeks at #1. I could not find it on YouTube, only via the Discography of American Historical Recordings.

The FBI!

Carry Me Back To Old Virginny (Plantation Melody)- Alma Gluck (Victor), five weeks at #1, gold record. Written by James Bland. The singer was “born Reba Feinsohn in Romania and moved at an early age to the U.S. The opera and concert soprano was married (2nd husband) to violinist-composer-conductor Efrem Zimbalist and was the mother of actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr.”

I Didn’t Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier – Peerless Quartet (Columbia), four weeks at #1. “Popular anti-war song adopted by the pacifist movement prior to the U.S. entry into WWI. Henry Burr (lead), Albert Campbell, Arthur Collins, and John H. Meyer were probably the Peerless personnel at the time of this recording.”

My Bird of Paradise – Peerless Quartet (Victor), four weeks at #1

I Didn’t Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier – Morton Harvey (Victor), three weeks at #1

Close To My Heart – Henry Burr and Albert Campbell (Columbia), two weeks at #1 [not a great recording]

My Little Dream Girl – James F. Harrison and James Reed (Victor), two weeks at #1. Their real names were Reed Miller & Frederick J. Wheeler

Chinatown, My Chinatown – American Quartet (Victor), two weeks at #1. Unsurprisingly, it’s a dollop of racialized ick.

Home, Sweet Home – Alice Nielsen (Columbia), two weeks at #1. There are a lot of versions of this song, but I can’t find this recording. Here’s a version from 1913 by Elsie Baker.

January rambling: lethologica

civic ignorance

Why Your Brain Blanks on Familiar Words. This phenomenon is often referred to metaphorically as something being on the “tip of your tongue,” but the technical term is “lethologica.”

Global Economy could face a 50% loss in GDP between 2070 and 2090 from Climate shocks, say actuaries

1.21.25 Sermon by The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde at the Washington National Cathedral

How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days: He used the Constitution to shatter the Constitution.

There’s No Place for Politics at the Bedside — When bias or prejudice intersect with power, terrible harm can ensue.

Jules Feiffer, Famed Cartoonist and ‘Carnal Knowledge’ Screenwriter, Dies at 95. In the day, I bought the Village Voice in no part for his cartoons.

Cecile Richards, Former Planned Parenthood President, Dies at 67

David Lynch, Visionary Director of ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Blue Velvet,’ Dies at 78

Joan Plowright, Venerable Legend of the British Stage, Dies at 95

Cancer deaths are down, but cancer in women and young people is up

Everything is on fire

Filmmakers Offer Old Location Photos to Help Fire Victims — And Prove Insurance Claims

Popeye, Singin’ in the Rain, Sound and the Fury: Welcome to the Public Domain

First-timers Ichiro, CC, and elite closer Wagner were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Yeah, for Billy Wagner

Photo: An Evergreen Snowflake

20 Defunct U.S. Airlines You Might Remember Flying; I flew on five of them

Baldoni v. Nicepool: How the ‘Deadpool’ Character Entered the Legal Fray

The Little Mermaid home video cover scandal

Ross Ulbricht, Pardoned Silk Road Founder, to Speak Out in Surprise Documentary

Now I Know: China’s City of Ice and Fan Mail for the Spam King? and And Here Comes the Pizza, and Homer Simpson is Not a Murderer

FOTUS: hardly a complete list

Vision for a “Golden Age of America”: Oligarchy Plus Ultranationalism

He Is Exploiting ‘Civic Ignorance’

How He Will War With Hollywood While Swiping All Its Tricks

Immediately reminding America of his pettiness and fragile ego

End of Birthright Citizenship? (ft. Liz Dye)

Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement (Again): What This Moment Means for Climate Action

Schools, Churches, and Hospitals Aren’t Off-Limits to Immigration Police

Federal health agencies — HHS, CDC, FDA, NIH — are instructed to pause all external communications, including weekly scientific reports, health advisories, data updates, and other information.

The HHS website scrubbed for the word “abortion,” and ReproductiveRights.gov — a site the Biden administration launched after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — is now a broken link.

Admin halting of EPA limits on PFAS in drinking water

The Groundwork for Transgender Military Ban

A WHO Exit Is a Huge Mistake

Rescinding Biden’s executive order on drug prices, halting efforts to lower costs

An Executive Order Sets Out What Could Be a Road Map for Retribution. The order is titled “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government,” but it asserts that the Biden administration might have acted illegally and directs agencies to seek evidence.

We’ve become that S***hole Country

The Floridazation of America

TV Ratings: Trump’s Second Inauguration Down From 2017 (and 2021) in Early Numbers

INFLATION

From Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News from Behan Communications, which I read regularly –

AGE OF GRIEVANCE: Those are the words Richard Edelman, chief executive of the eponymous global communications firm, used to describe the conclusions of a worldwide survey of 33,000 people that found an unprecedented lack of faith in governments, business leaders, and the media, Bloomberg reports. Three-quarters of respondents across 28 countries said they worried their pay would not keep up with inflation, and 60 percent worried about job losses…

PRICE SHOCKS: The combined threat of mass deportations with new tariffs could make many fresh fruit and vegetables luxury goods that are priced out of the reach of many U.S. consumers. That’s the conclusion of Harvard researchers who examined the potential impacts if those threats are carried out, based on an analysis of how fresh produce is grown and harvested and who is doing the work…

Regardless of how this issue plays out, get ready to pay a lot more for your daily coffee — double-digit inflation looms for coffee drinkers in early 2025, Bloomberg reports. “Given the lag between wholesale and retail prices, the cost of your cup of morning heart-starter could increase by at least 20% to 25% in the next few months,” writes Javier Bias, whose specialty is energy and commodities.

MUSIC

Garth Hudson, Organist for The Band, Dies at 87. Chest Fever – The Band.

Angelo Badalamenti: Twin Peaks Theme

David Lynch and Karen O: Pinky’s Dream

Nina Simone: Sinnerman

Brian Eno – Prophecy Theme (From “Dune” Soundtrack)

Walk This Road – Doobie Brothers, ft. Mavis Staples

Mad World – Michael Andrews (feat. Gary Jules)

Peter Sprague Plays Spain (mas tempo)

Even If – Danny Farrant

Coverville 1518: The R.E.M. Cover Story V and 1519: The Elvis Presley Cover Story IV

Taking Chances – Marimo

Jim Croce

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band – The Flintstones Meet The President

Downtown in four languages and a remake – Petula Clark

Mention My Name In Sheboygan – Dick Van Dyke, Shirley Jones, Pat Boone

Tabuh-Tabuhaby by Colin McPhee

Crowded House – Don’t Dream It’s Over

Set Out Running – Neko Case

The Rhythm of Life is from the musical Sweet Charity. Performers are from the BBC series Strictly Come Dancing

Hazy Shade of Winter – MonaLisa Twins

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious backwards

The Battle Of Prague by Frantisek Kotzwara

Start Making Sense

Tribute to Talking Heads

In mid-December, one of my pastors emailed me: “I’m wondering—do you like the Talking Heads? I have two tickets to “Start Making Sense: A Tribute to Talking Heads “for Sunday, 12/29, at 7:30, which I would love to give to someone who would like them. Would that be you?”

It might be. I wrote about them here and several other times. I saw them perform on August 5, 1983, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) in upstate New York. It was one of the two or three greatest concerts I had ever seen.

But what about Start Making Sense? The program at the Cohoes Music Hall notes the group “celebrates the entire Talking Heads’ catalog with a seven-piece band meticulously executing the sounds and iconic live visual elements in every performance. Together, these skilled and dedicated musicians enjoy bringing the unique, infectious energy of a Talking Heads live show that you know and love to the stage.”

I said yes to the tickets, though I was/am wary of tribute bands. My wife agreed to go with me even though she had to get up early the following morning. It was good that she and I had gone to see the movie Stop Making Sense in 2023, about the 1983 Talking Heads tour, because she was not nearly as familiar with the TH oeuvre as I was.

Our seats were in the front row of the balcony, which was a great place to watch the show. While some people were sitting on the lower level, many stood and danced up front.

Deja vu?

The show began like the 1983 Talking Heads concert, in which the lead singer (Jon Braun) performed Psycho Killer with the boom box. Next, a couple of songs with the bass player/singer (Jenny Founds) and the drummer (Jesse Braun), then the guitarist/singer (Brian Davis). Soon, others (Colin Miller – Percussion & vocals; Alex Ayala – Keyboards & vocals; Kate Desisto-/ Vocals) joined on stage.

I wondered whether this would be a replication of the movie, but then they did a song from after that period. There was a Tom Tom Club song in the second half, and then the lead singer came out in a large suit.

On their website was this message: “To all you listeners… This is an appropriate title — Start Making Sense. This band makes plenty of sense to me and is a great representation of Talking Heads’ music. So listen up and go check them out!” —BERNIE WORRELL, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member and keyboardist for Talking Heads and Parliament / Funkadelic

Many audience members had seen them in the past decade and a half, including in Cohoes, yet I had been unaware of them. They were very good.

The group will tour Australia from January 23 to February 1. Then, they will embark on their Spring tour with the Ocean Avenue Stompers, “playing the music of Talking Heads, David Bryne, and more with a full Horn Section!!!” The first show will be at The Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ, on March 28.

Here’s a Reddit link, plus some videos on their Instagram feed, including a pair of COVID-era concerts.