Tag: music

Sunday Stealing is Artificial

“Americans now experience war more as an economic abstraction than a human catastrophe.”

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Since it’s the Memorial Day weekend, we’re going to keep this simple. On us all! The first question came courtesy of AI, so Sunday Stealing is Artificial.

Before that, though, a link to a piece by titled Memorial Day and Remote War: Has Our Nation Lost Its Capacity to Mourn?

Memorial Day Questions

1) What freedom are you most grateful for?

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” And by extension, the 14th Amendment restricts states from making or enforcing laws that abridge the privileges and immunities of U.S. citizens.

I take my freedom of religion and YOUR right NOT to be forced into religious ideology to be fundamental. This is why I rail against Christian nationalism. This is why I exercise my freedom of speech, my right to protest, and my need to bug my elected officials.

2) What book are you currently reading?

African-Americans in the Wyoming Valley, 1778-1990, by Emerson I. Moss. The Wyoming Valley, BTW, is an area in northcentral Pennsylvania that includes Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. I have a personal connection to the book, which I will discuss when I present a book review on Tuesday, July 7, at 2 pm at the Washington Avenue branch of the Albany Public Library.  Inevitably, I will subsequently post some version of the book review on this blog.

Music

3) What have you been listening to?

Seals and Crofts. Dash Crofts of the duo died in March 2026; Jim Seals had died in 2022. Dash had the less pretty voice, as heard in Dust On My Saddle and Yellow Dirt. I saw the duo in NYC on November 12, 1971.

Beyond that, I’ve been listening to June birthday folk such as Prince (Let’s Go Crazy), Harry Nilsson (Coconut), Kim and Kelley Deal of the Breeders (Cannonball), and Paul McCartney (My Brave Face).  

4) What shows or movies have you been watching?

Law & Order: Criminal Intent, which “follows the NYPD’s elite Major Case Squad as they investigate high-profile crimes using advanced behavioral psychology, while also revealing how each crime was planned and carried out from the perpetrators’ point of view.” It ran from 2001 to 2011. Of the 195 episodes, about 70% featured Kathryn Erbe as Detective Alexandra ‘Alex’ Eames and Vincent D’Onofrio as Detective Robert ‘Bobby’ Goren. Quirky doesn’t begin to describe Goren. In the final season, Julia Ormond played Goren’s shrink. Other episodes featured performers such as Jeff Goldblum and Julianne Nicholson. 

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#1 rhythm and blues hits for 1946

“jump music”

(Virtually the same intro as last week!)

These are the #1 rhythm and blues hits of 1946. Unlike the pop charts, which had 20 songs covering 96 weeks, there is only a handful here. That’s the function of the fact that in 1946, there was only one chart showing the most popular R&B songs.

When it was established in 1942, the chart was called the Harlem Hit Parade. In February 1945, it changed to Most Played Juke Box Race Records. It wasn’t until 1948 that Billboard tracked best-selling records, and not until 1955 that they followed the disc jockey’s most-played records. So, in the late 50s, you may see a lot more records, unless jukebox, sales, and radio play agree.

That is, until 13 October 1958, when they consolidated all the charts into what became Hot R&B Sides.

Choo Choo Ch’Boogie – Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five (Decca), 18 weeks at #1. “Far and away the most popular rhythm ‘n blues recording artist of the decade.” 

Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop – Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra (Decca), 16 weeks at #1, co-written by Hampton. I always loved how the last chorus is off the beat. Half a dozen of his albums are in my collection. 

Buzz Me -Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, 9 weeks at #1. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influencer in 1987. His page notes, “The supreme ruler of Forties R&B. Louis Jordan topped the R&B charts for a total of one hundred thirteen weeks, an unheard of accomplishment.”  I have one Jordan compilation CD.

Justifiable homicide?

Stone Cold Dead In The Market (He Had It Coming) -Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan and His Tympani Five, 5 weeks at #1

The Gypsy – Ink Spots (Decca), 3 weeks at #1. The only song on the list that crossed over to the pop charts that year

Ain’t That Just Like A Woman (They’ll Do It Every Time)-Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, 2 weeks at #1. I love the guitar intro, which sounds REALLY familiar.

Don’t Worry About That Mule – Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, 1 week at #1. An NPR bio from 2008.

Sunday Stealing — Thunking again

Scheherazade and Other Stories by Renaissance

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Once upon a time, in a blogosphere far, far away, there was a popular meme called Thursday Thunks. Alas, the thunking stopped back in 2011.

Thursday Thunks again

1. Is there anyone whose home you enter without knocking? Does anyone (who doesn’t live with you) have permission to enter your home without knocking?

Not currently, but back when he lived in Albany in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a bunch of us would go to Walter’s house to play hearts (a card game). There would be a game going on four or five nights a week, with a rotating crew of players. Everybody knew where the key was, so there were people often coming in and out. I remember specifically May 4, 1988, when Walter wasn’t even there, having been delayed at work. The house was physically constructed so that his wife, in the main bedroom upstairs, didn’t even hear us.

2. Tell us about a school trip you took.

The parents of our friend Carol had a cottage on a lake in northern Pennsylvania, which our whole class was invited to go to several times when we were growing up. It was a lovely time. Carol’s older sister was there, often with a couple of friends, one of whom I had a mad, unrequited crush.

In reach

3. Name three things within arm’s reach right now (but they can’t relate to your phone, computer, or laptop).

A large red Dixie cup, which I use for drinking water. A compact disc player – currently playing Try A Little Tenderness from The Three Dog Night Story, 1965-1975; in the queue, Scheherazade and Other Stories by Renaissance (Song of Scheherazade) and Reload by Tom Jones (Burning Down The House with the Cardigans). And, of course, a slew of books on the shelf in front of me, mostly music books from Record Research, edited by the late Joel Whitburn, such as Across the Charts: The 1960s.

4. Weather permitting, do you dry your clothes outdoors on a clothesline?

The clothes dryer. But when we first bought the house in 2000, we quickly discovered that the existing dryer was totally inadequate. It would dry four items in about two hours. So until we could afford a new machine, we dried clothes, usually on a clothes rack in the spare bedroom, or occasionally outdoors.

5. If every flower in the world only bloomed in one color, what color would you like to see?

Purple. Our daughter’s name is associated with the color.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Greatest Living American Songwriters?

More than 250 music insiders and six New York Times critics

As a sucker for music lists, you might think I would glom onto the New York Times’ Greatest Living American Songwriters. Well, no. It is because I feel desperately unqualified compared with “More than 250 music insiders and six New York Times critics [who] weighed in on who defines the new American songbook.”

Sure, there were people I put on my Top 10 or so: Lucinda Williams (I have at least a half dozen of her albums), Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Dolly Parton, Brian and Eddie Holland, Carole King, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Smokey Robinson, and Willie Nelson. But most of them began in the 1960s, give or take.

This is the unranked list.

I have a greatest hits collection of Mariah Carey, whose music performances… well, I’m not her biggest fan. Interesting that she’s been nominated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame thrice, never came in the top 7 in fan vote, showing 8th in 2024, 9th in 2025, and 10th in 2026, AND was not inducted.

 

But I don’t feel I know the work of most of the others enough to say. I have two Taylor Swift albums (one given to me), and one album each by Fiona Apple, Babyface, Outkast, and Kendrick Lamar. 
Cornpone

This is factually correct, of course. Some of the folks who came to mind – Barry Mann (Cynthia Weil has passed),  Jeff Barry (sans the late Ellie Greenwich), even Carole King (without the late Gerry Goffin) -I mused on this point.

 

Also, he eviscerates Diane Warren as being a “dreck-peddling hired gun.” Ouch, though her material doesn’t generally send me.
Great choices

In any case, he had two people on his ACTIVE list, Jonathan Richman and especially Todd Rundgren, who are clearly worthy; I say especially Todd because I have more Nazz/Utopia/et al. And he rightly has Dolly Parton and Paul Simon, who also made the survey list. It is very likely that I own more Simon than any living American songwriter. The others I don’t know well enough, other than Eric’s love for Buggy Jive.

 

In his INACTIVE list, he rightly notes Neil Diamond, Walter Becker of Steely Dan, and Mark Mothersbaugh/Gerald V. Casale.

 

As for the fans, some folks couldn’t seem to understand the title. The songwriters had to be American and alive.

 

I saw some interesting choices: Billy Joe Armstrong, REM, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, Chrissy Hynde, George Clinton, James Taylor, Madonna, Tom Waits, Jackson Browne, Stevie Nicks, Al Green, Dwight Yoakam, Jimmy Webb, David Byrne, and Billy Joel. I do own songs by all of them.

 

If I were to pick one, it’d probably be Randy Newman. Yeah, he’s doing more soundtracks than standard albums.  But I didn’t purchase his first album until COVID. So I continue to experience him.
Rick Beato: The NYT “Greatest Songwriters” List is an Absolute Disaster

April rambling; alternative world order

Sid Krofft

Defective hotel clock

Amnesty International’s annual report on human rights around the globe described a push for a “predatory alternative world order.”

His Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate

The Most Ludicrous, Morally Obscene, and Dangerous Man in the World

The deaf, dumb, and blind cult is still dazzled by the nastiest, most naked ‘emperor’ ever, and Jordan Klepper Gets MAGA’s Take on the Iran War & the War with the Pope | The Daily Show

‘Anytime you engage the Border Patrol in interior enforcement, the wheels are going to fall off.’

Google Broke Its Promise to Me. Now ICE Has My Data.

The insider trading suspicions looming over this regime

Flu vaccine no longer mandated for US troops, Hegseth says, citing “medical autonomy” and religious freedom.

When Ezekiel 25:17 Meets Psalms 3:16

The Pentagon doesn’t want you to hear about threats to the editorial independence of Stars and Stripes. They fired their ombudsperson.

He Wrote an Op-Ed. Then the police tracked him. A legal case in Kansas shows how surveillance technology can distort policing priorities. When authorities can monitor anyone cheaply, the temptation to target critics increases.

Jimmy Kimmel Provides an Alternative White House Correspondents’ Dinner Roast

AfA

Astronauts for America is a nonpartisan organization of former NASA astronauts who have sworn to defend the Constitution of the United States,  committed to science, evidence-based decision-making, public service, and the rule of law.

Measles Took My Daughter. This Is What I Want Everyone to Know.

The Death of a Superman. How clothing donation bins quietly kill homeless people across North America.

988 Launch Tied to Drop in Youth Suicides

The Short and Ridiculous Trial of a Protester Arrested in an Inflatable Penis Costume. An Alabama cop who confronted the No Kings protester claimed she posed a risk to public safety.

The product liability legal case of the century arrives this summer: Coyote vs. Acme, the movie

Gerry Conway, Former Marvel EIC, Dies at 73. The first Spider-Man comic I read was the Death of Gwen Stacy, which he wrote, among MANY other pieces for Marvel and DC. He also wrote for television, including Diagnosis: Murder and, my favorite of his, Law & Order: Criminal Intent. 

Sid Krofft: About and Memories,  and H.R. Pufnstuf, Witchiepoo, Joy the Bugaloo, and me

Marvel Confirms 2019 ‘Avengers: Endgame’ To Be Replaced Before ‘Doomsday’ Released- a good reason to give up on the MCU, IMO

William Shatner is selling Kellogg’s Raisin Bran

“Your settlement payment of $9 for the In re EpiPen Marketing, Sales Practices and Antitrust Litigation, Civil Case No. 2:17-md-02785-DDC-TJJ is now available.” I’m rich!

Crease and Desist and The Cat Phone Came Back and The Crime of Borrowing a Teenage Witch? and The Good Advice That The DMV Rejected

MUSIC

Antichrist Superstar from Colbert

Aeolian Beauty by RZA · Colorado Symphony · Christopher Dragon

Goodbye Henry – RAYE, feat. Al Green

Solsbury Hill -MonaLisa Twins

Gladys Knight’s title tune for 1989’s Bond movie Licence To Kill

Meaning Business – Wendy Eisenberg
Musician Dave Mason, who was a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Traffic, died at the age of 79
Coverville 1577: 50th Anniversary of Ramones and 1578: Dave Mason Tribute and Paul Carrack Cover Story
Favorite Songs By Favorite Artists (Series Four) #1: HOUSE Of ALL

Angel Of The Morning – Merrilee Rush

Kiss – Prince

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