Playlist for 4/28

Cecile McLorin Salvant - Ghost Song

Gift To Pops -  Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong All Stars 

Michael Feinstein - Gershwin Country

Mike Campbell - External Combustion

Slum of Legs - s/t

Bryan Adams - So Happy It Hurts

Dolly Parton - Great Pretender

Playlist for 4/19

Shovels & Rope - Manticore

Lady Wray - Piece of Me

Dolly Parton - Run Rose Run

Willie & Bobbie Nelson - How Great Thou Art

Durand Jones & The Indications - Private Space

Jackie McLean - New and Old Gospel 

Robert Glasper - Black Radio III

West Side Story (2021 Movie)

Tick Tick...Boom (2021 Movie)

Music List A Month (April): Top Classic Rock Tracks

 How do you narrow 800 tracks to 100?  Impossible as I found out when I first participated in this 2014 poll.  In this poll, you had to take 800 selected Classic Rock tracks and pick a Top 100.  So, what I decided to do was pick 1 song per artist.  So, only 1 Zep, Stones, etc.  It's kind of foolish, but it made squeezing as many songs as possible a lot easier.

  For the first 20 years of my life, Top 40 hits radio was all I listened to.  Even though I knew the names from other genres, thanks to subscribing to Billboard and Rolling Stone in the late 70's. By the time the 80's came around I started to branch out into R&B, Country, Classic Rock and AOR. 

So, below are a ranked Top 100 of songs that define the Classic Rock Radio format:

1. Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven
2. Derek & The Dominos - Layla
3. Beatles - Come Together
4. Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash
5. Boston - More Than A Feeling
6. Doors - Light My Fire
7. Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze
8. Aerosmith - Dream On
9. Eagles - Take It Easy
10. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama
11. CCR - Bad Moon Rising
12. Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
13. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
14. Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water
15. AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long
16. Cream - Sunshine Of Your Love
17. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Refugee
18. Elton John - Rocket Man
19. Journey - Lights
20. Pink Floyd - Money
21. Peter Frampton - Show Me The Way (live)
22. Steve Miller - Fly Like An Eagle
23. Rush - Tom Sawyer
24. Van Halen - Runnin' With The Devil
25. Doobie Brothers - Long Train Runnin'
26. Foreigner - Feels Like The First Time
27. Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
28. Bob Seger - Night Moves
29. Cars - Just What I Needed
30. Heart - Crazy On You
31. Allman Brothers - Ramblin' Man
32. Free - All Right Now
33. John Mellencamp - Hurts So Good
34. Santana - Oye Como Va
35. Who -  I Can See For Miles
36. Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight
37. ZZ Top - La Grange
38. ELO - Evil Woman
39. Bachman-Turner Overdrive - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
40. Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear The Reaper
41. .38 Special - Hold On Loosely
42. Kinks - Lola
43. Jethro Tull - Aqualung
44. Styx - Come Sail Away
45. Steely Dan - Reeling In The Years
46. Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son
47. Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
48. Guess Who - American Woman
49. Joe Walsh - Rocky Mountain Way
50. Jefferson Airplane - Somebody To Love
51. Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth
52. Neil Young - Heart of Gold
53. Eric Clapton - I Shot The Sheriff
54. Bryan Adams - Summer of '69
55. Thin Lizzy - Boys Are Back In Town
56. Yes - Roundabout
57. REO Speedwagon - Keep On Lovin' You
58. Foghat - Slow Ride
59. Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead or Alive
60. T. Rex - Bang A Gong
61. Janis Joplin - Me and Bobby McGee
62. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Pride and Joy
63. Rick Derringer - Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo
64. Police - Roxanne
65. Grand Funk Railroad - We're An American Band
66. Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild
67. Moody Blues - Nights In White Satin
68. David Bowie - Rebel Rebel
69. Jackson Browne - Running On Empty
70. CSN - Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
71. Pat Benatar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot
72. Cheap Trick - I Want You To Want Me  (live)
73. Billy Squier - Everybody Wants You
74. Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone
75. Paul McCartney & Wings - Band on the Run
76. Def Leppard - Photograph
77. Bad Company - Can't Get Enough
78. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
79. Grateful Dead - Truckin'
80. Rod Stewart - Maggie May
81. Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side
82. Kiss - Rock and Roll All Nite (live '75)
83. Marshall Tucker Band - Can't You See
84. Knack - My Sharona
85. Robert Palmer - Bad Case of Loving You
86. Alice Cooper - Eighteen
87. Supertramp - Logical Song
88. U2 - Pride (In The Name Of Love)
89. Don Henley - Boys of Summer
90. Faces - Stay With Me
91. Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London
92. Emerson, Lake & Palmer - From the Beginning
93. Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man
94. Toto - Hold The Line
95. Genesis - Abacab
96. Don McLean - American Pie
97. Pretenders - Brass In Pocket
98. Eddie Money - Two Tickets to Paradise
99. Van Morrison - Domino
100. Joe Cocker - Feelin' Alright

Playlist for 4/11

Sarah Shook - Nightroamer

Hurray For The Riff Raff - Life On Earth

Leon Bridges/Khruangbin - Texas Moon

Tears for Fears - Tipping Point

Swamp Dogg - I Need A Job

Stevie Wonder - Up-Tight

Buffalo Nichols - s/t

All-Time Best Music Video Poll

It's been a long time since I voted in one of these online music board polls.  For this one I had to choose 5-50 of my favorite videos, from a chosen list of 961 videos. This turned out to be harder than I thought because there were many of my favorite videos missing from that list.  Admittingly, I missed the deadline to submit my own choices. Still, I managed to come up with a solid, unranked 50. 

1. A-Ha - Take On Me

2. ABC - Look Of Love

3. Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right

4. Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever

5. Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive

6. Beyonce - Single Ladies

7. Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues

8. Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time

9. Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy

10. Bruce Springsteen - I'm On Fire

11. Chris Isaak - Wicked Game

12. Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time

13. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Summertime

14. Donald Fagen - New Frontier

15. Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf

16. Elton John - I'm Still Standing

17. Fatboy Slim - Weapon Of Choice

18. Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax

19. George Michael - Freedom! '90

20. Go-Go's - Our Lips Are Sealed

21. Herbie Hancock - Rockit

22. Human League- Don't You Want Me

23. Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do

24. Janet Jackson - When I Think Of You

25. Joe Jackson - Steppin' Out

26. LL Cool J - Goin' Back To Cali

27. Madonna - Vogue

28. Michael Jackson - Thriller

29. Missy Elliott - Work It

30. New Radicals - You Get What You Give

31. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

32. OK Go - Here It Goes Again

33. Outkast - Hey Ya

34. Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls

35. Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer

36. Prince & the Revolution - When Doves Cry

37. Psy - Gangnam Style

38. R.E.M. - Man On The Moon

39. Randy Newman - I Love L.A. 

40. Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love

41. Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like A Woman!

42. Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U

43. Spice Girls - Wannabe

44. Tom Petty - Free Fallin'

45. Talk Talk - It's My Life

46. Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime

47. Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science

48. Toni Basil - Mickey

49. Weezer - Buddy Holly

50. Weird Al Yankovic - Fat

RIP Eric Boehlert

   There are not many Twitter accounts I rush to read first thing in the morning.  One of the few was Eric Boehlert's.  Boehlert has been taking the MSM to task for years for their tendency to play both sides of the political spectrum.  And especially not calling out GOP lies.  Boehlert's twitter feed was a must read during the Trump Presidency.  And especially during the political season of 2016.  I had been a follower for many years before that as well.  When I noticed that the MSM was painting every move by Obama and Democrats as a "Dems in disarray" scenario, I got frustrated with their coverage.  And Boehlert's greatest strength was pointing this out on a daily basis.  

  I first became aware of Boehlert through his writings for Billboard magazine in the 90's.  And remember his name from Rolling Stone too. My the early 00's he had moved away from music writing to becoming a liberal pundit and blogger.  It was in that environment where he found a loyal following.  A trusty liberal voice who spoke truths about GOP lies and how the press often looked away.  

  His death at age 56 is tragic in many ways.  He leaves behind a wife and two grown children. For those who want the media held accountable for their many failings in the last decade or so, it's also a monumental loss.  Boehlert was the voice for many of those, including me.  His weekly newsletter posts, Press Run, were an essential read.  His voice will be sorely missed.  But his writings taught us so much about media failings that we can't help but feel he achieved what he wanted many times over. 

Inductee Predictions: 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

  This year we have 17 nominees.  7 newly eligible.  The Hall usually inducts 6, but in 2019 inducted 7 (with only 15 nominees that year).  For this year I'm predicting 6 inductees.  Also, as I do every year, one wild card pick.  I'm also predicting that at least one of these names, MC5, New York Dolls, Fela or even Dolly will end up in a special category. 

Inductees

Carly Simon - This one's for the Baby Boomers. Now she just needs that voting bloc to turn up for her.  1st nomination.

***Dolly Parton - Welcome to the great unknown. If any of my picks deserve a bunch of asterisks, it's this one.  Had she not made that announcement, she would be a shoo-in. If enough early voters put her name down she will get in. The Hall could always put her in as a Musical Excellence. Who knows? 

Duran Duran - In recent years, many have been wondering when their time will come.  Like the Go-Go's last year, this nomination will bring waves of 80's MTV nostalgia for many voters. 1st nomination.

Eminem - This year's sure-shot.  1st nomination.

Lionel Richie - His solo career turned out to be bigger than his days with the Commodores (who definitely should be inducted). I think voters will reward both his solo & Commodores work.  1st nomination. 

Pat Benatar - Somewhat shockingly (to me, at least)  passed over on her first nomination in 2020. And then not nominated last year. But this time I think voters will come around.  2nd nomination.

Wild Card  

Eurythmics - More names than usual could be wild cards this year.  And the Dolly situation remains fluid. Rage, Beck, Priest, Dionne, Tribe.  But I went with Eurythmics because some voters might have forgotten that they were nominated once before in 2018.  A UK band that had big U.S. hits. And like Duran Duran conjure up MTV-era memories. 2nd nomination.

The Rest

A Tribe Called Quest - One of the most critically acclaimed Rap groups of the 90's.  Knowing voters track record with rap acts, I'm not sure that will be enough on their 1st nomination.  

Beck - Here come the 90's, and Beck, despite still releasing albums past that decade, is most identified with that decade. Beck was never a fringe act.  He sold records and even won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2014. But it doesn’t feel like this will be his year. 1st nomination. 

Devo - Cult favorites with one big hit, who may still be seen as too much of a cult favorite to ever get inducted.  3rd nomination. 

Dionne Warwick - With Dolly bowing out, maybe Dionne picks up some of her voters and knocks out one of my 6 picks.  If not just put her in as an Early Influence/Musical Excellence.  2nd nomination.  

Fela Kuti - Even after getting a surprise nomination last year, many voters still might not know much about him, which won’t help his chances. One could make the case for an Early Influence pick. 2nd nomination.

Judas Priest - Nominated in '18/'20/'22.  Notice a pattern?  Metal still not getting enough love from voters remains an ongoing problem. 3rd nomination. 

Kate Bush - No doubt a NomCom fave. A big success in the U.K., plus a critical fave. But that's never a guarantee for a Rock Hall induction. 3rd nomination. 

MC5 - Something has to give this year.  Here we have another act where the NomCom wants them in but a majority of voters don't.  Six nominations should be enough to convince the Hall to put them in as an Early Influence. 

New York Dolls  - 3rd nomination.  Like I wrote with the MC5 they might get put in as an EI.  Not 100% positive it will happen this year, but should very soon. 

Rage Against the Machine - 4th nomination. Like Dave Grohl, Tom Morello is a well-respected member of the Rock community.  But RATM were never a commercial band like the Foo Fighters. Still, LA band in a year where the ceremony is in LA?  

Also: ICYMI: Here's a link to my 2022 Rock Hall Personal Picks

Playlist for 4/4

Priscilla Block - Welcome To The Block Party

Cate Le Bon - Pompeii

Amos Lee - Dreamland

Brent Cobb - And Now, Let's Turn The Page

Jamestown Revival - Young Man

2022 ACM Awards

2022 Grammy Awards

2022 Academy Awards

Procol Harum - Essentials (Apple Music Playlist)

Cecil Taylor - Complete Live Return Concert at Town Hall NYC