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) 

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

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

Poll: June 1965 Songs

June 1965, Beatlemania!  Although only one song by them is listed here.  This is the biggest of these polls I've voted in: 50 songs.  June 1965.  I'm a year old.  Don't think my musical memories have completely started yet.  But I do know my six year old sister liked the Beatles. 

popradiogold.com

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", Rolling Stones : 1
"Ticket To Ride", Beatles : 2
"It's Not Unusual", Tom Jones : 3
"Sitting In The Park", Billy Stewart : 4
"I Can't Help Myself", Four Tops : 5
"Help Me, Rhonda", Beach Boys : 6
"For Your Love", Yardbirds : 7
"What The World Needs Now Is Love", Jackie DeShannon : 8
"I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)", Otis Redding : 9
"Mr.Tambourine Man", Byrds : 10
"Land Of 1000 Dances", Cannibal & the Headhunters : 11
"Yes, I'm Ready", Barbara Mason : 12
"Back In My Arms Again", Supremes : 13
"Wooly Bully", Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs : 14
"Crying In The Chapel", Elvis Presley : 15
"She's About A Mover", Sir Douglas Quintet : 16
"Seventh Son", Johnny Rivers : 17
"Just Once In My Life", Righteous Brothers : 18
"(I Cry) Just A Little ('Cause I Love You So)", Beau Brummels : 19
"What's New Pussycat?", Tom Jones : 20
"I Do", Marvelows : 21
"Nothing Can Stop Me", Gene Chandler : 22
"Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter", Herman's Hermits : 23
"I'll Never Find Another You", Seekers : 24
"Count Me In", Gary Lewis & the Playboys : 25
"Engine Engine #9", Roger Miller : 26
"Concrete And Clay", Unit Four Plus Two : 27
"Cast Your Fate To The Wind", Sounds Orchestral : 28
"L-O-N-E-L-Y", Bobby Vinton : 29
"Nobody Knows What's Goin' On (In My Mind But Me)", Chiffons : 30
"I'm A Happy Man", Jive Five : 31
"Cara - Mia", Jay & the Americans : 32
"Concrete And Clay", Eddie Rambeau : 33
"A Walk In The Black Forest", Horst Jankowski : 34
"Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte", Patti Page : 35
"Baby The Rain Must Fall", Glen Yarbrough : 36
"Last Chance To Turn Around (Last Exit To Brooklyn)", Gene Pitney : 37
"Before And After", Chad & Jeremy : 38
"Darling Take Me Back", Lenny Welch : 39
"I'm Henry VIII, I Am", Herman's Hermits : 40
"Theme From "A Summer Place"", Lettermen : 41
"Marie", Bachelors : 42
"Laurie (Strange Things Happen)", Dickey Lee : 43
"You Were Made For Me", Freddie & the Dreamers : 44
"You Turn Me On (Turn On Song)", Ian Whitcomb & Bluesville : 45
"True Love Ways", Peter & Gordon : 46
"Wonderful World", Herman's Hermits : 47
"Queen Of The House", Jody Miller : 48
"Silhouettes", Herman's Hermits : 49
"Do The Freddie", Freddie & the Dreamers : 50

Playlist for 6/25

Dale Watson - Unwanted 

Social Distortion - Born to Kill

Margaret Glaspy - Golden Heart Protector 

Keith Urban - Flow State 

Charley Crockett - Clovis 

Olivia Rodrigo - You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl In Love

Neil Diamond - Wild at Heart 

Ricky Nelson - Sings For You 

RIP Clive Davis

  I often thought of Clive Davis as the "Last Record Man".  But there were others that could claim that title like Berry Gordy. He certainly represented an era of music moguls that no longer exists.  While head of Columbia or Arista he wasn't against signing artists that didn't have top of the chart potential, he's mostly remembered for his "golden ears".  Clive knew a hit when he heard it.  But there's no doubting his legend.  The names he had at his labels reads like a who's who of Hall of Famers.  Joplin, Santana, Whitney, Manilow, Aretha, Springsteen, etc. 

  Clive also signed acts that weren’t big sellers but were critically acclaimed: Gil Scott-Heron, Laura Nero and Patti Smith.  All three are in the Rock Hall. He revived the sagging chart fortunes of the Kinks, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and Santana. Not everything sold and many releases stiffed. But that’s how it is with every record executive. 

  I first knew about him when I was a teenager just getting to know the music business. Those were the 70’s, when he first started running  Arista Records.  What stood out until his last years was his devotion to the music industry and how many people loved working for him.  

Great Father’s Day Songs

  Great Father's Day Songs:

Alan Jackson - Drive (For Daddy Gene)
Beyonce & Chicks - Daddy Lessons
Brad Paisley - He Didn't Have To Be

Bread - Everything I Own 

Bruce Springsteen - Independence Day

Bruce Springsteen - My Father's House
Cat Stevens - Father and Son

Conway Twitty - That's My Job

Dallas Burrow - My Father's Son

Dan Fogelberg - Leader Of The Band
Dolly Parton - Daddy's Working Boots
Drive-By Truckers - Outfit
Elton John - Last Song
Elvis Presley - Don't Cry Daddy
Eric Clapton - My Father's Eyes
Everclear - Father of Mine

George Strait - Best Day

George Strait - So Much Like My Dad

Harry Chapin - Cat's In The Cradle

Holly Dunn - Daddy's Hands

Jack Ingram - Measure Of A Man

James Blunt - Monsters

James Brown - Papa Don't Take No Mess

Jerry Jeff Walker - My Old Man

Jimmie Rodgers - Daddy and Home
John Lennon - Beautiful Boy
John Prine - Paradise
Johnny Cash - Boy Named Sue
Keith Urban - Song For Dad
Loudon Wainwright III - Father and A Song

Luke Combs - My Old Man Was Right 
Luther Vandross - Dance With My Father
Madonna - Oh Father
Madonna - Papa Don't Preach
Marc Cohn - Silver Thunderbird
Mike & The Mechanics - Living Years
Nas - Daughters

Paul McCartney - Put It There

Paul Overstreet - Seein' My Father In Me

Paul Simon - Father and Daughter

Queen - Father To Son
Reba McEntire - Greatest Man I Never Knew

Rod Stewart - Touchline
Simon & Garfunkel - Silver Haired Daddy of Mine

Slaid Cleaves - Welding Burns

Steve Goodman - My Old Man
Temptations - Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
Tori Amos - Winter

Waylon Jennings - Between Fathers and Sons
Will Smith - Just The Two Of Us
Winstons -Color Him Father

Zac Brown Band - My Old Man