Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Ranking: Songs from Randy Travis - Storms of Life

  Released in 1986, Storms of Life was a major release that helped usher in the New Traditionalist movement of the 1980's.   Randy Travis came from the Merle Haggard/Lefty Frizzell world of Country music.  There was very little Pop crossover moments in his music.  He made other strong albums, but none with the impact that his had on Nashville in 1986.  Three number one Country singles came from this album.

1,  On The Other Hand
2.  Diggin' Up Bones
3.  Reasons I Cheat
4.  1982
5.  No Place Like Home
6.  Send My Body
7.  There'll Always Be A Honky Tonk Somewhere
8.  Storms of Life
9.  My Heart Cracked
10.  Messin' With My Mind 

Playlist for 7/16

Earth, Wind & Fire - To Be Celestial (2026 Documentary) 
War and Treaty - Story of Michael & Tanya 
Rolling Stones - Foreign Tongues
Paul McCartney - The Boys of Dungeon Lane
Taj Mahal - Time 
Willie Nile - s/t
Old No. 1 Revisited - Various 
Dr. Hook - Sloppy Seconds
Dr. Hook - Bankrupt
Earth, Wind & Fire (2026 Documentary) 
Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie (2024 Documentary) 

Friday, July 10, 2026

Tom's Top Albums of 1976

Abba - Arrival
AC/DC - Dirty Dees Done Dirt Cheap
AC/DC - High Voltage
Aerosmith - Rocks
Al Green - Full of Fire
Al Green - Have A Good Time
Al Stewart - Year of the Cat
Aretha Franklin - Sparkle
Arlo Guthrie - Amigo
Average White Band - Soul Searching
Bad Company - Run With the Pack
Barbra Streisand & Kris Kristofferson - A Star Is Born Soundtrack 
Barry White - Let the Music Play 
Bee Gees - Children of the World 
Billy Joel - Turnstiles
Billy Swan - s/t
Blondie - s/t
Blue Oyster Cult - Agents of Fortune
Bob Dylan - Desire
Bob Marley - Live
Bob Marley - Rastaman Vibration 
Bob Seger - Live Bullet
Bob Seger - Night Moves
Bootsy’s Rubber  Band - Stretchin’ Out In 
Boston - s/t
Boz Scaggs - Silk Degrees
Brothers Johnson - Look Out for #1
Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey
Car Wash - Soundtrack
Chicago - X 
Commodores - Hot on the Tracks
Daryl Hall & John Oates - Bigger Than the Both of Us 
David Bowie - Station to Station
Deniece Williams - This Is Niecy
Diana Ross - s/t
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band - s/t
Don Williams - Harmony
Donna Summer - A Love Trilogy
Doobie Brothers - Takin' It To The Streets
Dwight Twilley Band - Sincerely
Eagles - Hotel California
Earth, Wind & Fire - Spirit
Electric Light Orchestra - A New World Record
Elton John - Blue Moves
Elvis Presley - From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis Tennessee
Elvis Presley - Sun Sessions
Emmylou Harris - Luxury Liner
Emotions - Flowers 
Flamin’ Groovies - Shake Some Action 
Freddy Fender - Rock 'N' Country
Funkadelic - Hardcore Jollies
Gary Stewart - Steppin’ Out
Genesis - Trick of the Tail
George Harrison - Thirty Three and 1/3
George Jones - Alone Again
George Jones - The Battle
George Jones & Tammy Wynette - Golden Ring
Graham Parker - Heat Treatment 
Guy Clark - Texas Cookin’
Heatwave - Too Hot to Handle
Ian Hunter - All American Alien Boy   
Isley Brothers - Harvest for the World 
Jackie Wilson - Nobody But You 
Jackson Browne - The Pretender
Jacksons - s/t
Jaco Pastorius - s/t
James Taylor - In The Pocket
Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene 
Jeff Beck - Wired
Jefferson Starship - Spitfire
Joan Armatrading - s/t
Johnnie Taylor - Eargasm
Johnny Cash - One Piece At A Time  
Johnny "Guitar" Watson" - Ain't That A Bitch
Joni MItchell - Hejira
Kansas - Leftoverture
Kate & Anna McGarrrigle - s/t
KC & the Sunshine Band - Part 3 
Kiss - Destroyer
Kiss - Rock and Roll Over
Kool & The Gang - Open Sesame
Led Zeppelin - Presence
Linda Ronstadt - Hasten Down the Wind
Lou Rawls - All Things In Time 
Lou Reed - Coney Island Baby
L.T.D. - Love to the World 
Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More From The Road
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimme Back My Bullets 
Manhattans - s/t
Marvin Gaye - I Want You
Merle Haggard - Roots of My Raising
Merle Haggard - It'a All In The Movies
Michael Hurley/Unholy Modal Rounders - Have Moicy
Michael Franks - Art of Tea
Mighty Diamonds - Right Time
Miles Davis - Agharta
Modern Lovers - s/t
Natalie Cole - Natalie
Norman Connors - You Are My Starship
Ohio Players - Contradiction
O’Jays - Message in the Music
Olivia Newton-John - Come On Over
Parliament - Clones of Dr. Funkenstein
Pat Metheny - Bright Sized Life
Patti Smith - Radio Utopia
Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive
Peter Tosh - Legalize It
Queen - A Day at the Races
Rainbow - Rising
Ramones - s/t
Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior
Rod Stewart - A Night on the Town
Rolling Stones - Black and Blue
Rory Gallagher - Calling Card
Roy Ayers - Everybody Loves the Sunshine
Runaways - s/t
Rush - 2112
Ry Cooder - Chicken Skin Music
Spinners - Happiness is Being With the Spinners
Stanley Clarke - School Days
Steely Dan - The Royal Scam
Steve Miller - Fly Like An Eagle
Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key of Life
Stills/Young Band - Long May You Run 
Sylvers - Something Special
Tavares - Sky High
Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
Tom T. Hall - Faster Horses
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - s/t
Tom Waits - Small Change
Trammps - Disco Inferno
Warren Zevon - s/t
Waylon Jennings - Are You Ready For The Country
Wild Cherry - s/t
Wild Tchoupitoulas
Willie Nelson - Sound In Your Mind
Willie Nelson - Troublemaker
Waylon Jennings,/Willie Nelson/Jessi Colter//Tompall Glaser - Wanted! The Outlaws 
Weather Report - Black Market
Wings - At the Speed of Sound
ZZ Top - Tejas


Saturday, July 04, 2026

Songs About Cities, Streets and Towns (Mixtape)

  I was 12 years old in 1976, the 200th anniversary birthday of America.  I remember the hype seemed more intense than for the 250th.  Still, the weeks leading up to the 200th were spent with TV specials and local town events.  Much like the 250th.  

 In the early 2000's I made a CD mixtape of songs about towns and cities.  Remember mixtapes?  Before streaming I used to make cassettes and CD's for family and friends.   This was one of them.  It wasn't a July 4th themed mixtape,  but some 20 years later I realize that it was.  Towns, streets, cities make up the heart of America.  Another reason this could be a July 4th theme?  All the artists are Americans.

  So hear are 20 songs that I came up with some 20 years ago for this mixtape theme.

1.  Simon & Garfunkel - My Little Town
2.  Brooks & Dunn - Only In America
3.  Bob Seger - Mainstreet
4.  George Benson - On Broadway
5.  John Mellencamp - Small Town
6.  Miranda Lambert - Famous In A Small Town
7.  Billy Joel - Allentown
8.  Hal Ketchum - Small Town Saturday Night
9.  Bruce Springsteen - My Hometown
10.  Merle Haggard - Big City
11.  John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads
12.  Pretenders - My City Was Gone
13.  Montgomery Gentry - My Town
14. Iris DeMent - Our Town
15. Bobby Bare - Detroit City
16. Eagles - In The City
17. Michael Stanley Band - My Town
18. Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
19. Arlo Guthrie - City of New Orleans 
20. Stevie Wonder - Living for the City
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