Playlist for 7/27

Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night - Various (Ace)

Lemon Twigs - Everything Harmony

Rancid - Tomorrow Never Comes

Jake Shears - s/t

Foo Fighters - But Here We Are

Noel Gallagher - Council Skies

Linda Gail Lewis - Tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis

The Hero In The Next Room: Remembering My Dad 15 Years Later

  It was like a punch in the stomach.  For a few seconds I was breathless, followed by major anxiety.  Then a certain calmness took over. I was at work, around noon, out delivering mail as a letter carrier for the USPS.   It was a pleasant, sunny day. Even though I knew my Dad was near death, hearing my Mom say "your Dad died" over the phone was a shock that I had never experienced before or after.  On Tuesday, February 5th, 2008, my Dad, Thomas R. Lane, died of esophagus cancer at the age of 74.  It doesn't feel like 15 years have passed. The sadness I felt still comes to me whenever I think of my Dad’s last days alive. 

  A few days after he died, I began to write his obituary to be published in our local paper.  In starting to write, I began to realize that most of his life was a big mystery to me.  And how could that be?  He was Dad for 44 years.  How could I not know about some of the things that made him my hero?  I knew the State where he was born (Pennsylvania), but not the City (Ashland, which I visited once as a child).  I knew his mother's name (Tillie, who I met at a young age), but forgot his Dad (Charles, who I never met). He also had two brothers that preceded him in death: Harry (never met) and John (met as a child). And a    sister, Betty, who was alive at the time and that I met many times.     

  My Dad served in the U.S. Army (Special Forces) from 1951-77, and was sent to the Korean War as soon as he enlisted.  To his fellow military friends he was known as "Rocky", which came out of his middle name "Roy", but also matched his tougher than the rest persona.  He also served in the Vietnam War in the mid-60's.  I knew this as a young kid. What I didn't know was for how long he was there.  Turns out it was for three tours of duty from 65-69.  He was awarded four Bronze Star medals for his service.  I knew none of that.  But my Mom filled me in on stuff I was unaware of. My Dad rarely talked about his time fighting in these wars.  It wasn't until later in his life that he opened up. And a certain melancholy would consume him while talking about friends that he lost. It was hard for my Dad to finish a story about his years served in Korea and Vietnam.  Often he would only say that he saw things happen while in combat that no one should ever witness. 

   He would often talk about a moment that occurred when he was about to go back for another tour in Vietnam.  One day in the late 60's, our family gathered at a restaurant either in or around Ft. Bragg as my Dad waited for a car to come pick him up.  I remember hugging him goodbye and running back in the restaurant looking out the window. As the car slowly pulled away he glanced out the window as I was waving goodbye to him. He smiled and waved back.  I was probably four or five years old then, but I can still feel the sadness of that moment today.  Once again, as my Mom told me,  my Dad would be gone for another 6 months. 

  The same height as me, 6'2", my Dad always seemed taller.  He was bigger than life.  I think all children feel that way about their parents. He could come across as an intimidating figure at times.  Most of this rough exterior came from his youth.  But he had a great sense of humor. The city of Ashland was a very small coal mining town. Lots of poor folks like his parents lived there during the Great Depression years.  My Dad grew up there, from his birth in 1933 until he joined the Army in 1951. That way of life shaped his values, his principles and how he viewed people. He respected straight forward, honest people. This is what he taught me and it is still something I believe in today.   Yet, I never asked him about his hard, early life when I got older.  Between not knowing the full story of his Army years, his family and his childhood years, there's a feeling, even now, of embarrassment that maybe I didn't know my Dad as well as I should have. 

  The day before he died, his health took a turn for the worse.  I remember going to his room and realizing that this might be the last time I see him alive.  Before leaving I told him I loved him.  Over the years I've thought about that moment many times.   If there's one thing the Lane family didn't do enough was say "I love you" to each other.  I honestly don't remember saying it to my Dad when he was alive.   

  In the last few years of his life my Dad used to call me 2-3 times a week, often around 6:30 at night just to talk.  Sports, life and maybe a little politics.  I miss those calls. I learned so much about his life through those phone calls, then I ever did living with him. Beneath the tough exterior, he had a huge heart. Throughout his entire life he was always there at all of my ball games, school outings, graduations. And not just with me or my sister.  He did the same thing with his grandchildren.  Often volunteering his time when needed. 

  My Mom and Dad are buried about an hour and a half drive away in a Military Veterans Cemetery.  I visit them twice a year in the Spring and Fall.  It's a tough visit for me.  As the years pass, I've become more sentimental over the loss of my parents. Part of the process of getting older, I guess. .  

  When I became a teenager I got my own TV in my room.  A life changing experience!  My Dad had started a new job working for the Water Company as a building/office inspector. The years rolled on until I moved out in early 1987. I look back on those pre-1987 years with a different perspective now.  In the evenings and on weekends when we were both home, my Dad would often be sitting with my Mom or by himself watching TV in the living room, reading a book or a magazine.  While I stayed in my room also watching TV, reading a magazine or listening to music. I should have spent more time talking with him about his life or sports or whatever was on his mind. Sitting alone in my room, little did I know back then that my only true hero was not a musician or athlete, but was just down the hallway.  A hero in the next room.  

  It's been 15 years since my Dad died. And in March my Mom will have been gone for 9 years. In 2018 my sister died at age 59.  At 58, I find myself reflecting on the past more often. And I often wonder if that's normal or even healthy.  But those memories are too vivid to let go.  There are days that I find it hard to reconcile that I'm the last one alive from our family.  It affects me more each year. Lots of people have lost a parent or sibling.  But all of them in a short time?  

   I often dream about my parents. In those dreams we are always together.  It's there that I tell them thanks for everything they did for me and my own family. And how much I love them. Words I should have said more often when they were alive. But I'm saying it now, because I do love them.  And always will.

Extra Reading: Here's a piece I wrote last year about my Dad's very small record collection.  And how it shaped my own eclectic taste in music..

RIP Sinead O'Connor

  The first time I saw Sinead O'Connor was her performance of "Mandinka" on the 1989 Grammys.  It was just her onstage singing to a backing track.  But it was edgy, different regardless of the lack of theatrics.  These were the Grammys, who at the time were not known for alternative credentials.  "Mandinka" is great, but it was O'Connor herself that stood out with her (mostly) bald head cutting a striking figure.  And a powerful voice to match.

  A year later would come her breakthrough.  She started the decade with both a #1 single, the Prince cover "Nothing Compares 2 U" and album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got.  But things start to turn sour.  A National Anthem controversy in the Summer of '90 starts things off.  But it's 1992 where things get derailed.  An SNL performance in early October 1992 would become her most infamous performance, as she tore up the Pope's photo after singing Bob Marley's "War".  Two weeks later she's booed off the stage at a Bob Dylan 30th anniversary concert while singing "War".  After that her career as a best-selling artist was over. Whether you agreed with what she did or not is besides the point.  The misogyny leveled at her was disgusting.  In the end she was right about the things she was protesting.  But in 1992 no one wanted to hear the truth from a woman labeled "difficult" and "angry". 

  The last decades of her life were scarred with mental health issues. And she never could shake off the "always angry" stigma that followed her since SNL. But she didn't stop recording after 1992.  I count 8 albums of mild to good and sometimes very, very good albums.  In 2022 an excellent, much needed documentary, Nothing Compares, gives her career the redemption it had been missing.

  The documentary was the closest Sinead O'Connor came to receiving any kind of career accolade.  She deserves to be celebrated for her brave, defiant stances on the topics she cared about.  But also as a superb recording artist who didn't bow down to anyone's expectations of what they wanted from her music.  She was an original, a pioneer. 

Article About My Dad in The War Horse

   I want to thank The War Horse for publishing my article I wrote about my Dad, who passed away 15 years ago. This was a very special piece for me to write.  I always felt my Dad's life deserved a better write-up than the obituary that was in the newspaper. I'm grateful to get the chance to finally honor him the right way.  

 From their website: "The War Horse is an award-winning nonprofit newsroom and the most trusted source for bulletproof reporting on the human impact of military service". 

Link to article: 

A Hero In The Next Room

Songs Missing From Spotify (Updated April 2024)

Updated April 2024

 Since I posted this in March 2017, I've slowly been able to delete some titles.  But the rest of the songs listed below are still missing on digital streaming sites. Some of these have popped up on Spotify, but then disappeared. Okay, you can find them on YouTube, but in my world of Playlists, Spotify is king.

If they ever show up, they'll appear on my Tracks Of My Life playlist. That playlist contains songs, some popular, others more obscure, that have meant something to me at one point or another in my life.  These titles below are pretty obscure, but did chart at one point. And my playlist has to contain the original recordings.  No remakes.

This list will continue to be updated as I find more missing songs, or these end up on Spotify.

Missing from Spotify:

Alexander O'Neal - s/t Debut Album (#92 Pop, #21 R&B, 1985)

Bell & James - Livin' It Up (#15 Pop, #7 R&B, 1979)

Bottle Rockets - 1000 Dollar Car (1992)

Cheech & Chong - Bloat On (#41 Pop, 1977)

Conway Twitty - Image Of Me (#5 Country, 1968)

Funkadelic - Knee Deep (#1 R&B, #77 Pop, 1979)

Gene Cotton - You Got Me Running (#33 Pop, 1976)

Giant Steps  - Another Lover (#8 Pop, 1988)

Ironhorse - Sweet Lui-Louise (#36 Pop, 1979)

John Stewart - Gold (#5, 1979)
John Valenti - Anything You Want  (#37 Pop, #10 R&B, 1976)

Michelle Shocked - Anchorage (#66 Pop, 1988)

Moby Grape - Omaha (#88, 1967)

Neil Sedaka - That's When The Music Takes Me (#27, 1975)

Pake McEntire - Savin' My Love For You  (#3 Country, 1986)

Peter Wolf - Lights Out (#12 Pop, 1984)

Plimsouls - Million Miles Away (#82, 1983)

P.M. Dawn - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss (#1 Pop, #16 R&B, 1991)

Ray Stevens - I Need Your Help Barry Manilow (#49 Pop, 1979)

Regina - Baby Love (#10, 1986)

S.O.S. Band - Just Be Good To Me (#55 Pop, #2 R&B, 1983)

Van Stephenson - Modern Day Delilah (#22 Pop, 1984)

RIP Tony Bennett

  The Great American Songbook will never fade away.  There will always be Jazz & Pop singer/instrumentalists who will be performing them somewhere. But Tony Bennett was the last household name that was the Songbook's biggest cheerleader.  For eight decades he never strayed from a simple premise to promote the songs he championed since his beginnings in the early 50's. 

  

  The word used to describe Bennett's vocals most often is "warmth".  He had a way of bringing you into his interpretations by the warmth of his voice.  The great songbook singers, Billie, Ella, Sinatra, Armstrong, all had a way of bringing you into a song with their passion.  And Bennett was a master at bringing you into his performances.

  A World War II veteran he also used his celebrity to support Marin Luther King Jr., and the Civil Rights era.  

  Tony Bennett was a name I always knew, but it wasn't until his great comeback in the 1990's that I began to explore his catalog. Over the course of some 70 albums he was highly consistent.   You can't go wrong with his 50's to early 60's albums.  There was a down period beginning in the late 60's throughout most of the 70's and early 80's.  Bennett's son became his manager in 1986 and things began to turn around.  His albums became more consistent resulting in a miraculous comeback in the 90's. Suddenly Bennett was a household name again.  Revered as one of the great vocalists ever. After Frank Sinatra passed in 1998, Bennett became one of the last popular voices of the Songbook era.  At the time of his death he was a beloved legend who epitomized all that was special about the Songbook generation.  

  Where to start with Bennett's catalog is a tough proposition.  Outside of his many compilations here are some studio albums that chart his remarkable career. 

Beat Of My Heart

Count Basie Sings/Tony Bennett Sings

Hometown, My Town

I Left My Heart In San Francisco

Snowfall

The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album

Art of Excellence

Steppin' Out

MTV Unplugged

Cheek to Cheek (with Lady Gaga)

  

Playlist for 7/19

Whitney Rose - Rosie

Jason Isbell - Weathervanes

Matchbox Twenty - Where The Light Goes

Doris Day/Harry James - Young Man With A Horn 

Bettye Lavette - Lavette

Meshell Ndegeocello - Omnichord Real Book

Yusuf/Cat Stevens - King Of A Land

Layng Martine Jr. - Music Man

TLC Forever (2023 Documentary)

Music Years Of My Life: 1979

Rolling Stone magazine celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and they deserve all the accolades coming to them.  I say this as a 38 year subscriber who hasn't always loved every subject, review or layout of the magazine.  My subscription to Rolling Stone began in the Summer of 1979, after picking up an issue with Richard Pryor on the cover.  Of course I was aware of the magazine.  Skimmed through it at libraries and book stores.  Probably bought an issue of two.  But these are my teenage years and the only spending money I made was helping my Mom out at a hotel where she worked.

The Billboard subscription I got in 1978 was a Christmas gift, and I was able to maintain that for a few years before my own money paid for it.  The impact Rolling Stone had on my record buying can't be denied.  A good review usually pushed me over.  But I was still buying albums from popular icons of the 70's that critics hated (Barry Manilow) or panned (Barbra Streisand).  Also most albums that were just popular I'd buy.  A lot of this way of purchasing came from growing up with AM Top 40 radio as my main source of listening.  In fact, until Rolling Stone came along, my main source of music criticism came from Billboard album and single reviews.  And those weren't very negative.

Now along comes Rolling Stone and they are reviewing albums from artists that I've never heard of.  Because these acts barely charted on the Billboard album or singles charts, let alone got reviewed (and if they did it went over my teenage head).  Until I got the first Rolling Stone Album Guide and Robert Christgau's Rock Albums of the 70's in the early 80's,  the magazine's review section was a revelation.

And it had writers.  Greil Marcus, Dave Marsh, Paul Nelson, Timothy White, Stephen Holden, Ben Fong-Torres, Cameron Crowe, Mikal Gilmore, etc.  But not many women in that first decade.

Now in its 50th+ year, grabbing the cover is still a big deal, and it still makes headlines with its non-music writing.  Rolling Stone has always covered more than music.  Politics, Movies, TV Shows.  Maybe it doesn't have the relevance it once did, but it's still one of the longest-running music magazines in the U.S. 

Poll: July 1966 Songs

 July 1966. I'm two years old. The first songs I remember hearing are slowly being implanted into my very young ears.  The British Invasion is still ruling the chars. 

 For this latest poll, 42 songs were picked to vote on.  My own rankings are at the end of each title. Listen to this countdown at popgoldradio.com.

"Paint It, Black", Rolling Stones : 1
"Ain't Too Proud To Beg", Temptations : 2
"Summer In The City", Lovin' Spoonful : 3
"Cool Jerk", Capitols : 4
"Wild Thing", Troggs : 5
"You Don't Have To Say You Love Me", Dusty Springfield : 6
"I Am A Rock", Simon & Garfunkel : 7
"Hungry", Paul Revere & the Raiders : 8
"Barefootin'", Robert Parker : 9
"Paperback Writer", Beatles : 10
"Dirty Water", Standells : 11
"Don't Bring Me Down", Animals : 12
"Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)", Swingin' Medallions : 13
"I Saw Her Again", Mamas & the Papas : 14
"You Better Run", Young Rascals : 15
"Strangers In The Night", Frank Sinatra : 16
"Hanky Panky", Tommy James & the Shondells : 17
"Little Girl", Syndicate Of Sound : 18
"Sweet Talkin' Guy", Chiffons : 19
"Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'Bout Me)", 4 Seasons : 20
"Along Comes Mary", Association : 21
"Over Under Sideways Down", Yardbirds : 22
"Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?", Lovin' Spoonful : 23
"Red Rubber Ball", Cyrkle : 24
"Oh How Happy", Shades Of Blue : 25
"I Want You", Bob Dylan : 26
"Love Letters", Elvis Presley : 27
"Sunny", Bobby Hebb : 28
"See You In September", Happenings : 29
"Sweet Pea", Tommy Roe : 30
"Mother's Little Helper", Rolling Stones : 31
"Please Tell Me Why", Dave Clark Five : 32
"The Pied Piper", Crispian St. Peters : 33
"Lil' Red Riding Hood", Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs : 34
"He", Righteous Brothers : 35
"(I Washed My Hands In) Muddy Water", Johnny Rivers : 36
"Somewhere, My Love", Ray Conniff & the Singers : 37
"The Work Song", Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass : 38
"This Door Swings Both Ways", Herman's Hermits : 39
"They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!", Napoleon XIV : 40
"The Impossible Dream (The Quest)", Jack Jones : 41
"Younger Girl", Critters : 42

Playlist for 7/10

Eilen Jewell - Get Behind The Wheel

Lewis Capaldi - Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent

Kesha - Gag Order

John Mellencamp - Orpheus Descending 

Marty Stuart - Altitude

Spoon - Memory Dust 

Dave Matthews Band - Walk Around the Moon

Milk Carton Kids - I Only See The Moon

Little Richard: King & Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll (2023 Documentary)

100 Most Loved Living Musicians (Updated 2023)

 

  The recent deaths of Tony Bennett and Tina Turner were a sad reminder that no one, not even our favorite artists, live forever. But their deaths also made me wonder. Who are our most beloved, living artists?  Which ones are loved as close to 100% by music fans?  I'm sure someone out there didn't like Tina Turner, which is criminal, but true. So, a name with a perfect 100% score?  Not possible. Still, I feel confident that all the names near the top of this list are ones everyone agrees should be highly ranked.  As you get closer to the bottom of this list, more arguments can be made as to who belongs and who doesn't.  But my #1?  Sorry, not budging on that one. 

1.  Paul McCartney - It's very simple. He's a Beatle. But he also had a massive solo career. Who didn't love the Beatles?  Well, maybe someone out there didn't. But not anyone in my world. 

2.  Dolly Parton - Thanks to her philanthropy she has become known as Saint Dolly.  Not just confined to the Country genre, she long ago became an icon known throughout the world. 

3.  Bob Dylan - The greatest songwriter who ever lived? Many would say yes.  But even if he's not #1, Dylan advanced what was possible as a singer/songwriter. 

4.  Stevie Wonder - Seems to me that Wonder had already reached the "beloved figure" moment right after Songs in The Key Of Life was released in 1976

5.  Joni Mitchell - Her battle back from a brain aneurysm in 2015 won her even more fans. And her back catalog of classic recordings has continued to find newer listeners.  

6.  Willie Nelson - Like Dolly, Willie is a Country music legend who is instantly recognized outside of his genre. A 2023 Rock Hall of Fame Inductee at age 90, he continues to tour and record. 

7.  Elton John - In July of this year, Elton finished a lovingly reviewed "Farewell Tour", which brought the nostalgia factor to new levels of admiration. 

8.  Mick Jagger/Keith Richards/Ronnie Wood/Bill Wyman -  Jagger & Richards are so linked that it proved impossible to separate. Ronnie Wood has been with the band since 1976. While Bill Wyman left the Stones in 1993, he is still part of their history.

9.  Ringo Starr - Again, like McCartney, he's a Beatle.  More than Paul, George, and John, he was the Beatle who carried his lovable persona into a solo career that is still viable. 

10. Bruce Springsteen - The "Voice of the Working Class" also known as "The Boss"?  It would be impossible to rank him outside the Top 10 with those credentials. 

11 Quincy Jones - Another legend who recently turned 90 (in May). Q has left his mark on modern music since the early 50s.

12. Smokey Robinson - Outside of Stevie Wonder, the most beloved of the living Motown legends.

13. Brian Wilson - Of course, the word "genius" is often applied to Brian Wilson.  But in this case, it's true.  

14. Diana Ross - More Motown and why not?  She left Motown and became an even bigger star as an Academy Award Actress nominee and huge solo hits and tours.

15. Paul Simon - There's instant nostalgia when hearing Simon & Garfunkel hits on oldies radio. Then he went and arguably topped that era with a rewarding solo career.

16. Barbra Streisand - She amassed a huge, passionate fan base almost from the start of her career in the early '60s.  

17. Cher - Longevity plays a huge part in making a list like this.  Like Ross and Streisand, Cher has been a part of our lives since the 1960s. She had as much solo success as her years with Sonny. 

18. Carole King - A two time Rock Hall Inductee, Tapestry is one of the definitive singer-songwriter albums of all time. Plus there’s the many classic songs in the 1960’s she wrote with Gerry Goffin. 

19. Beyonce - The highest ranked modern era performer and there's no way to ignore her.  Only 41 years old and already an idol to millions. 

20. Taylor Swift - After Beyonce what other modern era recording artist could make the Top 20? Of course, it's Taylor Swift.  Hard to believe her first record came out 17 years ago.  As seen by her massive 2023 tour, her fans are in it for the long haul. 

The rest are 21-60

21. Gladys Knight

22. Tom Jones

23. Linda Ronstadt

24. Neil Diamond

25. Barry Gibb

26. Carlos Santana

27. Janet Jackson

28. Dave Grohl

29. Neil Young

30. George Strait

31. Lionel Richie

32. Patti LaBelle

33. Madonna

34. Mavis Staples

35. Stevie Nicks 

36. Billy Joel

37. Jay-Z

38. James Taylor 

39. Reba McEntire

40. Al Green

41. Pete Townshend & Roger Daltrey 

42. Bonnie Raitt

43. Rod Stewart 

44. Robert Plant & Jimmy Page

45. Sting

46. Dionne Warwick 

47. Herbie Hancock

48. Van Morrison

49. Rihanna

50. Adele

51. Celine Dion

52. Gloria Estefan

53. Carly Simon

54. Buddy Guy

55. Emmylou Harris

56. Lady Gaga

57. Bono/The Edge

58. Snoop Dogg

59. Garth Brooks

60. Eric Clapton

61. Alice Cooper

62. Phil Collins

63. Shakira

64. Frankie Valli

65. Elvis Costello

66. Chaka Khan

67. Ronald & Ernie Isley

68. Sly Stone

69. Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis

70. Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson

71. Steven Van Zandt

72. Ozzy Osbourne

73. Debbie Harry

74. Kris Kristofferson

75. George Clinton

77. Annie Lennox

78. Shania Twain

79. Ann & Nancy Wilson

80. Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds 

81. Sonny Rollins

82. Ray Davies

83. David Byrne

84. Steven Tyler

85  Peter Frampton

86. LL Cool J

87. Chrissie Hynde

88. Sade

89. Iggy Pop

90. Herb Alpert 

91. Pat Benatar

92. Brenda Lee

93. Kelly Clarkson 

94. Johnny Mathis

95. Miranda Lambert

96. Jennifer Lopez

97. Jack White

98. Dion DiMucci

99. Roberta Flack 

100. Randy Travis

Thanks to everybody for the suggestions. 

Playlist for 7/2

Devon Gilfillian - Love You Anyway

Connie Converse - How Sad, How Lovely

Janelle Monae - Age Of Pleasure

Paul Simon - Seven Psalms

Brandy Clark - s/t 

Durand Jones - Wait Til I Get Over

Love To Love You, Donna Summer (2023 Documentary)

John Waite - The Hard Way (2022 Documentary)