Playlist for 11/10

Orville Peck - Mule 

Teenage Fanclub - Do Not Dare to Dream 

Richard Thompson - Hippies, Thugs and Heroes 

Zach Bryan - Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs

Carly Simon - Comes in Waves

Tom Jones - Fever Zone

Maria Muldaur - One Hour Mama: The Blues of Victoria Spivey

Jessi Colter - Jessi

Leona Williams - San Quentin's First Lady

Womack Sisters - s/t

Womack & Womack - Radio M.U.S.I.C. Man

Son Seals - Midnight Son

Fifth Dimension - Stoned Soul Picnic

Johnny Mathis - Love is Blue

Prince - Timeless

Buddy Miller -s/t 

Ray Wylie Hubbard - Reel 2 Reel 4 Real

War and Treaty - Country Baptism

Brandon Flowers - Thrasher

Beck - Ride Lonesome 

10 Greatest TV Shows Since 1/1/2000

  This was a readers poll from the NY Times Poll on the 100 Greatest TV shows since 1/1/2000.  That is shows that started after 1/1/2000.  Readers were asked to pick a Top 10.  I could've used 10 more picks here.  Tough cuts were Parks & Recreation, 30 Rock, Key & Peele and shows by Anthony Bourdain.  Still, this is a solid Top 10.  I stuck with shows, not miniseries. So, unfortunately I had to no Band of Brothers or Shogun. And for those wondering where The Sopranos is, it started in January 1999.  

For an A-Z listing of my favorite TV shows click here: Tom's Favorite TV Shows

 

Greatest Halloween Songs (2026 Edition)

 Greatest Halloween Songs (2026 Edition)

Abracadabra - Lady Gaga

Bad Moon Rising - CCR

Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus

Black Magic Woman - Santana

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Black Widow - Alice Cooper

Blob - Five Blobs

Bloody Mary - Lady Gaga

Bo Meets The Monster - Bo Diddley

Boris the Spider - Who

Careful With the Axe Eugene - Pink Floyd

Creep - Three Suns

Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo

Devil Woman - Cliff Richard

Dinner With Drac - John Zacherle "Cool Ghoul"

Disturbia - Rihanna

Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult

Downbound Train - Chuck Berry

Dragula - Rob Zombie

Dream Within A Dream/Raven - Alan Parsons Project

Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) - Backstreet Boys

Everyday Is Halloween - Ministry

Fire On High - ELO

Ghost Riders in the Sky - Johnny Cash

Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.

Goo Goo Muck - Cramps

Halloween - Misfits

Halloween - Siouxsie & the Banshees

Haunted House - Jumpin' Gene Simmons

Heads Will Roll - Yeah Yeah Yeahs Phantom of the Opera - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman

Heartbreak Hotel - Jacksons

Hell's Bells - AC/DC

Highway to Hell - AC/DC

I Walked With A Zombie - Roky Erickson

I Was A Teenage Werewolf - Cramps

In The Hall of the Mountain King - Edvard Grieg

Jack the Ripper - Screaming Lord Sutch

Knoxville Girl - Louvin Brothers

Lucifer - Alan Parsons Project

Marie Laveau - Bobby Bare

Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett

My Girlfriend Is A Witch - October Country

Nature Trail To Hell - Weird Al Yankovic

Night of the Vampire - Roky Erickson

Nightmare On My Street - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden

Out Of Limits - Marketts

Pet Sematary - Ramones

Psycho Killer - Talking Heads

Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley

Put A Spell On You - Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Race With The Devil - Gene Vincent

Scary Monsters - David Bowie

Season of the Witch - Donovan

Shadow Knows - Coasters

Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson

Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell

Spooktacular Finale - Spike Jones

Spooky - Classics IV

Spooky - George Barnes

Spooky, Scary Skeletons - Andrew Gold

Super Freak - Rick James

Supernature - Cerrone

Superstition - Stevie Wonder

Surfin' Dead - Cramps

The Hall Of The Mountain King - ELO

The Witch - Sonics

Theme From "Addams Family" - Vic Mizzy

Theme From "Halloween" - John Carpenter

Theme From "Munsters: - Jack Marshall

Theme From "Psycho" - Bernard Herrmann

Theme From The X-Files - Mark Snow

Theme from "Twilight Zone" - Jerry Goldsmith

This Is Halloween - Citizens of Halloween

This Is Halloween - Danny Elfman

Thriller - Michael Jackson

'Til the Following Night - Screaming Lord Sutch

Time Warp - Rocky Horror Cast

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor -   Bach

Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield

Twilight Zone - Golden Earring

Unquiet Grave - Gryphon

Welcome To My Nightmare - Alice Cooper

Werewolf - Barry Dransfield

Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon

What's He Building In There? - Tom Waits

Whistlin' Past The Graveyard - Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Witch Queen of New Orleans - Redbone

Witchy Woman - Eagles

You're Dead - Norma Tanega

Zombie - Cranberries

Zombie Zoo - Tom Petty

Poll: October 1978 Songs

  I was 14 years old in the Fall of October 1978.  This is the first list I've voted on that doesn't have easy choices for a #1 pick.  

Pop Radio Gold

"Right Down The Line", Gerry Rafferty : 1
"Reminiscing", Little River Band : 2
"Hopelessly Devoted To You", Olivia Newton-John : 3
"Boogie Oogie Oogie", A Taste Of Honey : 4
"Hot Blooded", Foreigner : 5
"Grease", Frankie Valli : 6
"Whenever I Call You "Friend"", Kenny Loggins (with Stevie Nicks) : 7
"I Just Wanna Stop", Gino Vannelli : 8
"She's Always A Woman", Billy Joel : 9
"Beast Of Burden", Rolling Stones : 10
"You Needed Me", Anne Murray : 11
"Hollywood NIghts", Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band : 12
"How Much I Feel", Ambrosia : 13
"Three Times A Lady", Commodores : 14
"Hot Child In The City", Nick Gilder : 15
"Don't Look Back", Boston : 16
"You And I", Rick James : 17
"MacArthur Park", Donna Summer : 18
"An Everlasting Love", Andy Gibb : 19
"Summer Nights", John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John : 20
"Double Vision", Foreigner : 21
"Get Off", Foxy : 22
"Who Are You", Who : 23
"Love Is In The Air", John Paul Young : 24
"In The Bush", Musique : 25
"Got To Have Loving", Don Ray : 26
"I Love The Night Life (Disco 'Round)", Alicia Bridges : 27
"You Never Done It Like That", Captain & Tennille : 28
"Talking In Your Sleep", Crystal Gayle : 29
"Kiss You All Over", Exile : 30
"Ready To Take A Chance Again", Barry Manilow : 31
"Back In The U.S.A.", Linda Ronstadt : 32
"Come Together", Aerosmith : 33
"Oh Darling", Robin Gibb : 34

RIP John Anderson

  John Anderson was one of the handful of Country artists who brought New Traditionalism onto the mainstream Country charts in the early 80's.  George Strait and Ricky Skaggs are often mentioned with him as those that broke through. These acts went against the dominant Country Pop sound that was defined as the Urban Cowboy era.  By the mid-80's other neo-trad artists like Randy Travis, Keith Whitley, Reba McEntire, Dwight Yoakam were following their lead.

  Of the three names I mentioned earlier (Skaggs, Strait), Anderson was the most aligned with the Honky-tonk Golden Age of the 50's and 60's.  His voice, style and the type of songs he sang were more suited for fans of Lefty Frizzell, George Jones, Merle Haggard and others from that era.  

  His breakthrough came in 1980 and his first album, but it was his second album, John Anderson 2, that was the classic that set him up for the rest of the decade.  All his Warner Brothers albums through the mid-80's are great.  His first greatest hits album from 1984 belongs on any music fans shelf.

  The closest he came to a crossover Pop hit was 1983's "Swingin", a song he co-wrote which stopped at #43.  It turned out to be his signature song and a gold record.  But a pure Country voice like Anderson's wasn't made for the Pop charts. "Swingin" introduced me to Anderson and a lot of others in a big way in 1983. 

  After he left WB in the late 80's the quality dipped a bit, but in 1992 he signed with RCA and made a superb comeback with Seminole Wind.  His second run on the charts would last until the late 90's.  The albums became sporadic in the 2000's,  but they were still full of quality material.  His last album came out in 2020 and it turned out to be a very good send off.  

  Anderson was finally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2024.  A new generation of singers like Blake Shelton, Luke Combs and Tim McGraw cited him as an influence.  In 2022 he even got the tribute album treatment. Despite the late career accolades, I always felt Anderson was underrated compared to other Country artists from his peak era.  Still, he was a superb singer and songwriter (he's in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame) whose records continue to shine on Classic Country radio.

Playlist for 10/20

Before the Gold Rush- An American Country Rock Anthology 66-73 (Cherry Red Box Set)

Leon Bridges - Happiness Anytime

Johnny Paycheck - 11 Months and 29 Days

Loretta Lynn - When the Tingle Becomes A Chill

Elizabeth Cook - Great Television

Susannah Hoffs - The List 

Joy Oladokun - Hope Is A Heavy Thing

Gracie Abrams - Daughter from Hell

Margaret Glaspy - I Am Both

Tift Merritt - Sugar

Phoebe Bridgers - Lost Weekend 

Miley Cyrus - Bass Persuades 

Syd - Beard

Ranking: Songs from Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy

   Although Warren Zevon's self-titled 1976 debut album might be the better album to many, I've always favored his 1978 breakthrough.  His best-selling album with his only hit single.  Zevon came out of the Los Angeles singer-songwriter movement of the late 70's.  But he always was a little left of that movement.  His subject matter, his delivery showed he was a standout in that era.  This album like his first one was produced by Jackson Browne. And co-produced by Waddy Wachtel.

1.  Werewolves of London

2.  Excitable Boy

3.  Lawyers, Guns and Money

4.  Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner

5.  Johnny Strikes Up the Band

6.  Accidentally Like A Martyr

7.  Veracruz

8.  Tenderness on the Block

9.  Night Time in the Switching Yard