Poll: October 1967 Songs

  October 1967, post-Summer of Love.  I'm a little over 3 years old, so music to me are the Monkees, the Beatles, etc. Still, I found some gems among these 42 songs.  Most near the top of the charts.

  For this latest poll 42 songs were picked to vote on. Here are my rankings.  Listen to this countdown at popradiogold.com

"Ode To Billie Joe", Bobbie Gentry : 1
"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher", Jackie Wilson : 2
"Brown-Eyed Girl", Van Morrison : 3
"Soul Man", Sam & Dave : 4
"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", Aretha Franklin : 5
"The Letter", Box Tops : 6
"How Can I Be Sure", Young Rascals : 7
"To Sir With Love", Lulu : 8
"Expressway To Your Heart", Soul Survivors : 9
"Gimme Little Sign", Brenton Wood : 10
"Funky Broadway", Wilson Pickett : 11
"Never My Love", Association : 12
"People Are Strange", Doors : 13
"Holiday", Bee Gees : 14
"San Franciscan Nights", Eric Burdon & the Animals : 15
"Incense And Peppermints", Strawberry Alarm Clock : 16
"Reflections (Of The Way Life Used To Be)", Diana Ross & the Supremes : 17
"Pata Pata", Miriam Makeba : 18
"(Heaven Must Have Sent) Your Precious Love", Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell : 19
"The Rain, The Park And Other Things (I Love The Flower Girl)", Cowsills : 20
"Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie", Jay & the Techniques : 21
"Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)", Hombres : 22
"Get On Up", Esquires : 23
"Keep The Ball Rollin'", Jay & the Techniques : 24
"I'm Wondering", Stevie Wonder : 25
"It Must Be Him", Vikki Carr : 26
"Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song)", Buckinghams : 27
"You Keep Running Away", Four Tops : 28
"(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need", Temptations : 29
"Gettin' Together", Tommy James & the Shondells : 30
"I Had A Dream", Paul Revere & the Raiders : 31
"There Is A Mountain", Donovan : 32
"Come Back When You Grow Up", Bobby Vee & the Strangers : 33
"I Dig Rock And Roll Music", Peter, Paul & Mary : 34
"Dandelion", Rolling Stones : 35
"I Make A Fool Of Myself", Frankie Valli : 36
"Please Love Me Forever", Bobby Vinton : 37
"Lightning's Girl", Nancy Sinatra : 38
"Love Is Strange", Peaches & Herb : 39
"Beg, Borrow And Steal", Ohio Express : 40
"Watch The Flowers Grow", 4 Seasons : 41
"Little Ole Man (Uptight-Everything's Alright)", Bill Cosby : 42

Playlist for 11/10

Pour A Little Sugar On It: Chewy Chewy Sounds of American Bubblegum 66-72 - Various

Leon Bridges - Leon

Kasey Chambers - Backbone

New Jill Swing - Various (Ace)

Linda Lindas - No Obligation

Election 2024

  You're damn right I was giddy after Joe Biden won the 2020 election.  I really felt we had a chance to finally stomp Trumpism out of our lives.  But then months passed and a year passed.  And nothing was happening.  The wheels of justice were moving too slow.  It was obvious that things were not going to happen fast enough that Trump would get another chance at the White House.  When things finally happened like the classified docs or the Georgia tampering it seemed too late.  Even the felonious counts in New York couldn't put a stake in Trump.  There never was going to be any prison time.  I remember in early 2021 giddy left wing posters saying Trump would be in prison by the time of the 2024 election season.  I never bought any of that crap.  Trump's delay tactics prevented all that. 

  In 2016 I thought Hillary Clinton was going to win.  And it wouldn't be close.  In 2024 I was more skeptical.  I felt Kamala Harris had a chance thanks to the Blue Wall only. But she would ultimately struggle with voters because she's a woman.  And a woman of color.  Racism and misogyny will always be rampant.  Especially with women Presidential nominees.  So, unlike 2016, I'm not upset she lost.  I had a feeling it could happen and it played out like I thought.  Sure, you could say the economy played a role, but I will always believe that being a woman doomed her. With independents and believe it or not, with Democrats.  No matter what party you are with the thought of a woman running the Country can be too much for the feeble minded.  

  Like the 2016-2022 first Trump reign, life will go on.  But I worry about those that will be most affected by another term.  Some voted for him anyway, knowing what could happen.  I will feel no sorrow for them.  But others did the right thing and voted to keep him out (and what happened to the voters who didn't show up? Screw them too).  We'll see what happens. I live in a deep Blue state but I don't want to say that a lot of things already happening in red states won't reach my state.  Still it's a time to worry.  And that is what I will be doing for the next four years.                                   

For J (Plus the Article on Copper Online)

Here’s the link to the Copper article: For J

For J

 Who is J? My wife Judicia. On May 9, 2023, I added the first songs to a 20 track Spotify mixtape that only my wife was supposed to see. At first.  I made the mix private.  But how would she see it if I passed away before her?  She doesn't have a Spotify account.  That's where my son comes in.  I would tell him in advance about the mix and he would share it when I'm gone.

•   Wait?  When I'm gone?  I wasn't planning on going nowhere.  This is true.  But I've always had this premonition that I woulddie before my wife.  I'm 60 years olf.  She's 62.  My son is 32.  We're all relatively young.  But something always nagged at me about death.  And I wanted to leave her behind something that would be different than any other keepsake. A mixtape seemed the way to go.  She knows I'm a music fanatic.  My idea was the tape would be a look back at our time together.  Especially our early days.  Going out, getting married, having a child.  Those were the cornerstones of our young relationship.  

  But the plan almost took a disastrous turn on. July 30, 2024. I suffered a stroke and was incapacitated for 3 days.  Luckily, I awoke from the stroke and am doing fine now.  But for a few days things were not looking positive.  My son came all the way from Australia to spend a week with me as I recovered.   When he went back I remembered the mixtape I had made for my wife.   Luckily he played it for her and all turned out well.  

  Still, I'm reminded how fragile life is.  Had I not come out of the stroke as strong as before, what would have become of the music gift I made for my wife?  

"I will love you forever".  And I always will.  

Spotify playlist link: For J

RIP Quincy Jones

   All great Music Producers have their own sound.  Instantly recognizable no matter who they are producing.  Quincy Jones had that touch.  But it took awhile to achieve it.  Before his breakthrough solo album, Body Heat in 1974, Jones was an arranger, composer, producer. of mostly Jazz & Jazz Vocalists. It wasn't all serious work.  He produced Lesley Gore's classic from 1963, "It's My Party", a #1 record.  With Body Heat that changed.  He was squarely courting the mainstream R&B charts.  And it worked. The album was a success.  Jones began producing other R&B accts.  Brothers Johnson, Rufus w/Chaka Khan, Donna Summer and George Benson.  Of course there was Off The Wall, the album that defined the Quincy Jones sound for all those acts and more that I mentioned.  So, while "Rock With You" is the definitive Q sound, I would put my weight around George Benson's 1980 hit "Give Me The Night" as his best single. 

  Regardless, the success of Off The Wall and Thriller let Quincy do whatever he wanted in the 80's.  Solo albums, "We Are The World", movie soundtracks.  But it all comes back to those early 70's productions.  It's where he developed his sound.  No one could duplicate it.  All Music Producers have their own sound indeed.  

Playlist for 11/1

Nick Lowe - Indoor Safari

Louis Armstrong - Louis in London

JD McPherson - Nite Owls

Billy Strings - Highway Prayers
Mickey Guyton - House on Fire

Lady Gaga - Harlequin

Libby Titus - s/t

Greatest Halloween Songs (2024 Edition)

 Greatest Halloween Songs (2024 Edition)

1.  Thriller - Michael Jackson
2.  Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett
3.  I Put A Spell On You - Screamin' Jay Hawkins
4.  Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.
5.  (Don't Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult          
6.  Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon
7.  Haunted House - Jumpin' Gene Simmons
8.  Time Warp - Rocky Horror Cast
9.  Theme From "Halloween" - John Carpenter
10.  Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield
11.   Nightmare On My Street - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
12.  Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell
13.  Season of the Witch - Donovan
14.  Spooky, Scary Skeletons - Andrew Gold
15.  Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley
16.  Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus
17.  Dinner With Drac - John Zacherle "Cool Ghoul"

18.  Theme from "Twilight Zone" - Jerry Goldsmith
19   Theme From "Psycho" - Bernard Herrmann
20.  Hell's Bells - AC/DC
21.  I Was A Teenage Werewolf - Cramps
22.  What's He Building In There? - Tom Waits
23.  Lucifer - Alan Parsons Project
24.  Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo 
25.  Theme From "Psycho" - Bernard Herrmann
26.  Toccata and Fugue in D Minor -   Bach
27.  Theme From "Addams Family" - Vic Mizzy
28.  In The Hall of the Mountain King - Edvard Grieg
29.  I Walked With A Zombie - Roky Erickson
30.  Theme From "Munsters: - Jack Marshall
31.  Nature Trail To Hell - Weird Al Yankovic
32.  Dream Within A Dream/Raven - Alan Parsons Project
33.  Witch Queen of New Orleans - Redbone
34.  (Ghost) Riders In The Sky - Johnny Cash
35.  Spooky - Classics IV
36.  Welcome To My Nightmare - Alice Cooper
37.  Dinner With Drac - John Zacherle "Cool Ghoul"
38.  Fire On High - ELO
39.  Surfin' Dead - Cramps
40.  Halloween - Misfits
41.  In The Hall Of The Mountain King - ELO
42.  Lucifer - Alan Parsons Project
43.  Jack the Ripper - Screaming Lord Sutch
44.  Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
45.  Goo Goo Muck - Ronnie Cook
46.  Knoxville Girl - Louvin Brothers
47.  Witchy Woman - Eagles
48.  Devil Woman - Cliff Richard
49. Halloween - Siouxsie & the Banshees
50. Night of the Vampire - Roky Erickson
51. Unquiet Grave - Gryphon
52. Dragula - Rob Zombie
53. Heartbreak Hotel - Jacksons
54. Spooktacular Finale - Spike Jones
55. Whistlin' Past The Graveyard - Screamin' Jay Hawkins
55. Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
56. Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
57. Spooky - George Barnes
58. Pet Sematary - Ramones
59. Theme From The X-Files - Mark Snow
60. 'Til The Following Night - Screaming Lord Sutch
61. Shadow Knows - Coasters
62. Blob - Five Blobs
62. Creep - Three Suns

63. Supernature - Cerrone

64. Werewolf - Barry Dransfield

65. Downbound Train - Chuck Berry

66. Bo Meets The Monster - Bo Diddley

67. Twilight Zone - Golden Earring

68. Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson

69. Everyday Is Halloween - Ministry

70. Boris the Spider - Who

71.  Marie Laveau - Bobby Bare

72. Scary Monsters - David Bowie

73. Careful With the Axe Eugene - Pink Floyd

74. Race With The Devil - Gene Vincent

75. The Witch - Sonics

76. Zombie Zoo - Tom Petty

77. Black Widow - Alice Cooper

78. You're Dead - Norma Tanega