Music

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 109 – “Say Hey (I Love You)”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 109: A song you like from someone you consider a one hit wonder.

“Say Hey (I Love You)”
Michael Franti & Spearhead (featuring Cherine Anderson)

Say Hey (I Love You)To be clear, I am not the only one who considers Michael Franti & Spearhead to be a one-hit wonder. When I went looking for lists of one-hit wonders on Wikipedia, there they were on the list. Along with many, many, many, many (can I stop now?) others.

The sad thing is that I like a whole bunch of the people on those lists. And not necessarily just for the song in question (although in plenty of cases it is just for the song in question). Since the Hot 100 chart and I tend to disagree on a lot of things, I don’t discriminate based on chart placement. In some cases (like a-ha to name just one), I have numerous albums from someone who the singles charts have only recognized once. Read More

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 108 – “Hollywood”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 108: Your favorite song by a band/artist whose name begins with “C”.

“Hollywood” – Collective Soul

HollywoodThere are actually many songs by Collective Soul that were contenders for this post. But I kept coming back to “Hollywood.”

I’ve mentioned this song before. And, I’ll say again what I said then: I liked this song the first time I heard it.

And it’s not just because it sounds like “Magic” by the Cars.

Granted, the chord structure of the intro and verses might have some resemblance to “Magic.” Okay, they might be the same chords. Okay they’re the same chords!

You’d have to be asleep at the switch to be unaware of my affinity of The Cars. (More on that in a few days.) But that chord progression is actually only a small part of why I like the song. Truth be told, it’s “Hollywood”‘s chorus that really does it for me. Read More

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 107 – “The Last Farewell”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 107: A song that reminds you of one of your parents.

“The Last Farewell” – Roger Whittaker

The Last FarewellI’ve written a number of times about my parents’ taste in music. And there were many instances where, because of their influence, I like artists and songs that I should hate, given my normal genre preferences.

There are just as many that I don’t like. Strangely enough, these seem to fall more on the side of my father’s preferences than my mother’s. No question that there are plenty of artist my mother liked that induce retching on my part. But in terms of percentages, my dad wins the retch-fest.

His tastes were certainly more eclectic than my mom’s. While she stayed pretty much in the country-to-pop range, my dad’s tastes included much of the country that my mom liked (and less of the pop), but also extended to such artists as Kenny G and Zamfir (and that God-damned pan flute of his). Read More

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 106 – “Technologic”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 106: A song you have to change right away if it comes on the radio.

“Technologic” – Daft Punk

TechnologicI know that Daft Punk have been around for a very long time, but they weren’t on my radar until recently.

I also know that they were the darlings of the 2014 Grammys, receiving statues for Best Dance/Electronica Album, Album of the Year and Best Engineered Album, (Non-Classical) for their album Random Access Memories, while “Get Lucky” received the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and the Record of the Year. (Thanks, Wikipedia!). Before that, I had no idea who (or what) they were, whether they were a duo (they are) or a band, that they dressed like robots, or really anything about them at all. Hell, I was so out of touch I’m not even sure I’d heard “Get Lucky” before the Grammys. (But I’m pretty sure I had.) Read More

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 105 – “Come Dancing”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 105: A song beginning with “C”.

“Come Dancing” – The Kinks

Come DancingIn the summer of 1983 The Kinks were having a resurgence. And it was due to a song called “Come Dancing.” They had been mostly irrelevant for most of the previous decade, reaching the US Top 40 only once since 1970’s “Lola.”

The year 1983 was also my real introduction to music videos. Sure, MTV had been around for a couple of years, but I was not one of the cool kids who had access to it. No, we wouldn’t get it at my house for at least another year or so. And a year when you’re 12 is an eternity. My coolness factor has never recovered.

Actually, my real initiation to videos was via an HBO show called “Video Jukebox.” It was a 30-minute show where they played videos (as you’d expect) and they changed the lineup every month. So, when you watched “Video Jukebox” you saw the exact same 7 or 8 videos every time for 30 days. MTV it wasn’t, but it was all I had. Read More