music Archives - Page 82 of 268 - Ramblin' with Roger

1981 #1s: I Know Every Song

2 H&O, 2 Blondie

Often, there have been #1 songs, even in my lifetime, that I have never even heard of. Then there’s 1981 when I was in my late twenties, and I’ve heard every single track that reached the top of the Billboard pop charts.

All of them went gold. Four of them, as noted below, went platinum. I own at least half of them in a physical form; some you’ll even guess.

Physical – Olivia Newton-John, ten weeks at #1, platinum. #28 RB. As startling as transformation as the one Sandy went through in the movie Grease.

Bette Davis Eyes – Kim Carnes, nine non-consecutive weeks at #1. As I may have noted, Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon wrote this in 1974, and Jackie recorded it.

Endless Love – Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, nine weeks at #1, platinum. #1 RB for seven weeks. The title song from a Brooke Shields movie I had never heard of.

Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) – Christopher Cross, three weeks at #1. He was HUGE for a very short time.

Kiss On My List – Daryl Hall and John Oates, three weeks at #1. I can’t resist singing the harmony vocals of this song.

Two weeks at #1

Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield. I never even watched General Hospital, yet I knew he was on it.

I Love A Rainy Night – Eddie Rabbit. #1 on the country charts for a week.

9 to 5 – Dolly Parton. Also #1 on the country charts for a week. I enjoyed the movie with Parton, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dabney Coleman.

Private Eyes – Daryl Hall and John Oates. Love the handclaps.

Rapture – Blondie. Also #33 RB.

Celebration – Kool and the Gang, platinum. Also #1 for six weeks RB. The #1 song in my short-lived disco dancing phase.

Morning Train (Nine to Five) – Sheena Easton. Another 9 to 5 song!

A single week at the top

The Tide Is High – Blondie.

Keep On Loving You – REO Speedwagon, platinum. Friends of mine referred to them as REO Spudwagon.

Medley: Intro “Venus”/Sugar, Sugar/No Reply/I’ll Be Back/Drive My Car/Do You Want to Know a Secret/We Can Work It Out/I Should Have Known Better/Nowhere Man/You’re Going to Lose That Girl – Stars on 45. “This single with its 41-word title continues to hold the record for a #1 single with the longest name on the Billboard charts, due to the legalities requiring each song title be listed.”

the One That You Love – Air Supply.

Aug. rambling: BS asymmetry principle

RIP, Don Everly, Nanci Griffith, Charlie Watts

asymetry principle — Also known as Brandolini’s Law, this is the simple observation that it’s far easier to produce and spread BS, misinformation, and nonsense than it is to refute it. https://sketchplanations.com/the-bs-asymmetry-principle. The original images and associated explanatory text on this website are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil?

Amid calls to #TaxTheChurches – what and how much do US religious organizations not pay the taxman?

A Harvard professor predicted COVID disinformation on the web. Here’s what may be coming next

FDA grants full approval to Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer, BioNTech

Jordan Klepper debates anti-vaxxers and Recounts His Wild Experiences at Trump Rallies

This Physicist Discovered an Escape From Hawking’s Black Hole Paradox and Hubble captures an ‘Einstein Ring’

Malware Camouflaged As Code

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – Ransomware and Opioids III:
The Sacklers

Kids Who Die by Langston Hughes (1902–1967)

For the First Time on Record, Rainfall Observed at Peak of Greenland Ice Sheet

How We Fix the Climate

The Southwest’s most important river is drying up

Census growth data for every city, county, district, and state

Crime and other topics

That afternoon in 1978.

The Dresden Job jewel heist

White Ohio woman gets probation for $250K theft, while Black woman jailed for stealing $40K

A history of the Segway

My Physicalmental Illness – John Green

Why People Who Brush Still Get Cavities

Gene Roddenberry would have been 100 years old

Not me: Colleagues remember Professor Emeritus Roger Green

Strange towers and diverted disasters (Route 20A)

Marvel and DC face backlash over pay: ‘They sent a thank you note and $5,000 – the movie made $1bn

How Extortion Scams and Review Bombing Trolls Turned Goodreads Into Many Authors’ Worst Nightmare

Stealing Books Before Release

America’s Best Convenience Stores, Ranked (Stewart’s is 3rd)

How to reheat and re-crisp French fries

Eight. Missouri and Tennessee Share the Most Borders With Other States

FULL 9TH INNING from Field of Dreams’ CRAZY final inning between White Sox and Yankees

Final Jeopardy! Season Finale 08/13/2021 | Matt Amodio Wins His 18th Game The JEOPARDY season returns on Sept 13

The Solution to Jeopardy’s Hosting Crisis

18 UNEARTHED TV INTROS TO SHORT-LIVED 70s SITCOMS

How to beat the “milk crate challenge” -The first time I’d heard about this. Since then, saw some kids doing this in ALB’s Washington Park.

Last Week Tonight’s Masterpiece Gallery Tour

Uncopyrightable is the longest word we have that doesn’t contain any repeated letters.

Now I Know: A Back-Alley Way To Create a Successful Board Game and You Actually Win Friends With Dirty Salad? and Maybe Adults Shouldn’t Play Kickball and Why Spaceships Need a Foot Bath and When The Robber Hits the Road and How Horses Created Firehouse Poles

MUSIC

Bad Wolves: Rebecca Jade featuring Jason Mraz, Miki Vale and Veronica May, which won a San Diego Music Award

Mighty Quinn – Manfred Mann

RIP, Charlie Watts: Paint It, Black – Rolling Stones; Honky Tonk Women – Rolling Stones; Slow Turning – John Hiatt (namecheck)

The Hymn of Jesus by Gustav Holst

RIP, Nancy Griffith: From A Distance; Drive-In Movies and Dashboard Lights; Heaven

Coverville 1369: Cover Stories for The The and Tears For Fears and 1370: Tributes to The Everly Brothers and Nanci Griffith

Human -The Killers

Er Huang by Qigang Chen.

Novorossiysk Chimes (Flame of Eternal Glory) by Dimitri Shostakovich

Amy Biancolli writes about The Tale of the Bow

The comeback hits, part the second

DeShannon love songs

Some more comeback hits. This is when an artist, who’d had some success on the pop charts, regains that commercial stature. As before, I’m basing these on Billboard’s singles pop charts, because it’s fun!

If I Were A Carpenter – Bobby Darin. After a pair of Top 10 songs in 1963, including 18 Yellow Roses, he returned with this #8 hit in 1967.

Smoke On the Water – Deep Purple. Their 1st Top 30 song was Hush, #4 in 1968. This song, in 1973, also hit #4.

Put A Little Love In Your Heart – Jackie DeShannon. She had only two Top 30 songs, What The World Needs Now is Love, #7 in 1965, and this, #4 in 1969.

Abraham, Martin, and John – Dion. After a couple of #6 hits in 1963, including Drip Drop, he reached #4 in the pivotal year of 1968.

Not Ready To Make Nice – Dixie Chicks. Landslide reached #7 in early 2003. But that was before the Iraq war. This return reached #4 in 2007, long before they were redubbed The Chicks.

What A Fool Believes – The Doobie Brothers. Black Water was their first #1 in 1975. This one, in 1979, was their second, the first Top 20 since Takin’ It To the Streets, #13 in 1976.

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door – Bob Dylan. This song from Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, #12 in 1973, was his first Top 20 since Lay Lady Lay, #7 in 1969.

F

The Closer I Get To You – Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. At #2, her biggest hit since her #1 Feel Like Makin’ Love in 1974. His only other Top 20 hit is their 1972 duet, Where Is the Love, which reached #5.

The Old Man Down The Road – John Fogerty. He wasn’t recording much for nearly a decade, in part because he sounded too much like that lead singer of Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Fogerty. This hit #10 in 1985.

I Want To Know What Love Is – Foreigner. They had a couple of Top 5 hits in 1981, including Urgent, with that Junior walker sax solo. But they only had one #1, in 1985, thanks to the New Jersey Mass Choir and Jennifer Holliday.

December 1963 – the Four Seasons. the group had five #1 hits. Rag Doll (194) was the fourth. This, in 1976 was the fifth. Other than Who Loves You (#3 in 1975), it was also their first Top 10 since C’mon Marianne, #9 in 1967.

In 1998, my office was having its holiday party in September (long story). We played a board game. One of the questions was to name songs featuring years, but you needed at least eight words of the lyrics. My response: “Oh what a night, late December back in ’63.”

Ain’t No Woman – Four Tops. Their first Top 5 (#4 in 1973) since Bernadette (#4 in 1967).

Spanish Harlem – Aretha Franklin. QoS had tons of “comebacks”, such as Freeway of Love (#3 in 1985). But I picked this earlier resurgence, #2 in 1971, her first Top 5 since Since You’ve Been Gone, #5 in 1968.

G/H

Sexual Healing – Marvin Gaye. this return to form involved a change of record labels, from Tamla/Motown to Columbia. The song hit #3 in 1983, his highest position since the #1 Got To Give It Up in 1977.

Kiss On My List – Daryl Hall and John Oates. #1 in 1981, their first chart-topper since Rich Girl in 1977.

Got My Mind Set On You – George Harrison. #1 in 1988. the first #1 since Give Me Love in 1973 and first Top Ten since All Those Years Ago, #2 in 1981.

The End Of The Innocence – Don Henley. #8 in 1989, his first Top 10 since All She Wants To Do Is Dance, #9 in 1985. (Live version here.)

Long Cool Woman – the Hollies. #2 in 1972, their first Top 5 since Bus Stop in 1966.

Music collection of my father-in-law

bluegrass, big band, Ernest Tubb

As I’ve noted, my father-in-law, Richard Powell, died on April 22, 2020. we had the funeral a mere 13 months later.

Then we had the task of getting my mother-in-law packed to move to a smaller place. This involved my wife making 70-mile trips, each way, approximately every other weekend to get my MIL prepared. One weekend in June my daughter and I joined them.

I was specifically tasked to go through my FIL’s music collection. He had hundreds of CDs. A lot of them were classical. Most of them I packed up to be sold or given away. But a few – OK, about 100 – I took. Oh, not all for me. My wife’s friend is getting some music from Scotland.

One of his granddaughters is getting some tunes from the Great American Songbook, songs composed by Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, et al. One collection contains albums given by Richard’s late son John (d. 2002) to the late Alice Truman, a family friend. So maybe some of my FIL’s collection was inherited.

In any case, I kept quite a few of his CDs, and a lot of them were country artists. Ernest Tubb, Willie Nelson, and more Johnny Cash than I probably need, including one compilation that had never been opened. A few bluegrass compilations. My first albums of Gene Autry and Jimmy Durante.

Lots of classical music. A three-CD set of marches, and not all Sousa. Other themed albums: the music of the flute or trumpet or oboe, et al. Favorite overtures.

I had to limit the number of big band artists I took because there were a lot. Some were musicians I had: Basie, Ellington, Goodman. But quite a few I did not: Fletcher Henderson, Erskine Hawkins, Jimmie Lundsford, Chick Webb.

Two things

There are a couple of things that I found interesting. Many of the items in the collection were used, and/or deeply discounted items. That would be in keeping with his frugal nature, and, knowing my FIL, was understandable.

What I find strange, though, is that I don’t particularly associate him with listening to a lot of music at all. He may have played it in his garage, working on his old cars, but it’s not something I remember hearing a lot in the house, especially in his last residence. Maybe he was enjoying them while driving.

You can tell a lot about a person by the music they own.

How to make George hipper, musically

Blue by Joni Mitchell

George, who I do not know, wrote:

I was taking a shower this morning and “Old Roger draft-dodger” came into my head from outer space. That led me to your column on S and G and to your favorites. I am now 92 and should not have really paid much attention to the music of their era, but as a widower, I was dating younger women and listened to their music to seem hipper than I really was.

I started to really listen to lyrics, not Cole Porter’s masterful words, but to a new generation’s words. S and G knocked me out as did some Beatle lyrics (Eleanor Rigby). My God these kids are thinking! I collected a bunch of CDs.

A decade or so later I started to listen to the Eagles “she’s goin to the cheatin side of town”. That set me to wondering if my old hands are as cold as ice. Oh well, what the hell. Music (to me) nowadays doesn’t sound smart enough. That is why I am writing. What do you suggest? I still want to be hipper. My wife was born in 1952 so you can see where she’s at.

So many choices!

I find recommending music to be difficult unless I know people’s tastes quite well. I was recently listening to Living Colour’s Time’s Up album from 1990, which I don’t know would be your style sonically. But I think it’s strong lyrically.

I’m fond of an alt-country artist named Jason Isbell. In fact, there are a lot of country-related artists I like, such as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lyle Lovett, and Lucinda Williams.

Steely Dan may be to your liking. John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival may be underrated. Tom Waits is a grand songwriter, but his voice, to be kind, is an acquired taste. Leonard Cohen, who is often covered, is a fine scribe.

In fact, there’s a bit in Stages, more a chat than a song, that I think is hysterical. It’s a conversation he was having with some guys in his band:

And they were talking about the
Various stages that a man goes through
In relation to his allure to the opposite sex
It was not a scientific evaluation
Just something that arose over a cup of coffee.

It went something like this:

You start off irresistible
And, then you become resistible
And then you become transparent
Not exactly invisible but as if you are seen
through old plastic.
Then you actually do become invisible
And then, and this is the most amazing transformation,
You become repulsive.

But that’s not, that’s not the end of the story.
After repulsive then you become cute
And that’s where I am.

And more

If you haven’t discovered him, try John Prine, a songwriter who surely belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kris Kristofferson is a great writer, often covered by people from Janis Joplin to Johnny Cash.

So many: Randy Newman, Elvis Costello, Van Morrison, Neil Young, David Bowie, John Hiatt. Find Joni Mitchell’s Blue album, which I JUST finished playing again; her other stuff, too. Since you’ve already glommed onto Lennon and McCartney, I should note that solo McCartney can be hit or miss, but you might like his 2007 album, Memory Almost Full.

And of course, there’s a ton of songs written by Smokey Robinson and Bob Dylan, among others. Rolling Stone created a list of the 100 greatest songwriters that you should peruse.

Hey, people out there, what would you recommend for George to make him hipper? Artists. Specific albums, if you’d like.