Year: 2020

When I was a runner as a healthy young man, I was taught to run against the traffic when doing my roadwork. It was a matter of safety. The only problem is that I seem to have been literally doing that all my life when it comes to my life’s philosophy. And, I totally understand that my appearance from afar is that my philosophy is totally hypocritical. To many, I seem to be aloof, but it is probably due to me being on the autism spectrum somewhere. No, I have never been diagnosed, but I do have trouble with my emotive nature that keeps me at an arms-length from others. Yet, most of my personal political and spiritual philosophy has been always geared toward others in a very sincere altruistic manner. And, although I am extremely competitive, I am also a pacifist and mostly a conscientious objector. And, how did this happen in the middle of a family full of military conservatives. I’m not sure, but my heart is much bigger than my personality seems to be.

From a very young age, I felt an attraction to the music of so-called protesters like Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Nina Simone and the Staple Singers. Their music and lyrics appealed to me much like Matthew 25:31-46 convicted me during my confirmation classes. People such as Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, Muhammad Ali, Jesse Owens, among many others, became important public role models for my life. Then came the music of John Lennon, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and the rest to influence me. Growing up, I watched and followed sports avidly and saw people of all colors working together for success. But, perhaps most importantly, my maternal grandmother seemed to have all kinds of people from all backgrounds and nationalities coming to her home when I was little. So, it was no big deal for me to play with kids from different classes and races. Grandma simply told me that everyone were people, so treat them all with respect.

To me, music and sports may have been the most important areas which have done the most to alleviate racial tensions, though we still have far to go. In my small world, I feel like I had the most influence on those marginalized kids, be it there race, creed, sexual orientation, class or whatever. Yes, I know there were differences between us, but I had an empathetic heart and tried to use it. Did it work every time? No. However, I did try to bridge that gap with the kids. But, much as Johnny Cash used to say, I saw my own flaws in myself first and tried to be cognizant of them when dealing with others.

So, I’m very passionate about protest music, whether it’s a social observation, an anti-war statement or an environmental plea. Yes, I am a cynical person, yet I still hope for better. But when I watch a social injustice occurring, I need to speak out. Right now I feel as though we are moving backward in time here in the States. Remember, I am a huge sinner in all areas of my life, but that does not mean our society is without blame. What’s going on?!?!

So, today, I am presenting my favorite 100 protest songs since the late-Seventies. And, just for fun, I tried to stay away from the obvious choices, though I will always list Elvis Costello’s version of “(What’s So Funny Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding,” since it was the first song of my generation to move me to tears. It remains my “Imagine.”

1. “(What’s So Funny Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” – Elvis Costello & the Attractions (1979)
2. “19” – Paul Hardcastle (1985)
3. “1999” – Prince (1982)
4. “21 Guns” – Green Day (2009)
5. “4 Minute Warning” – Radiohead (2007)
6. “99 Luftballons” – Nena (1983)
7. “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” – Don Henley (1984)
8. “American Idiot” – Green Day (2004)
9. “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” – Pink Floyd (1979)
10. “Ask” – The Smiths (1986)
11. “Bastards of Young” – The Replacements (1985)
12. “Beds Are Burning” – Midnight Oil (1988)
13. “Between the Wars” – Billy Bragg (1985)
14. “Biko” – Peter Gabriel (1980)
15. “Black Steel in the House of Chaos” – Public Enemy (1989)
16. “Blackened” – Metallica (1988)
17. “Blue Sky Mining” – Midnight Oil (1990)
18. “BOB” – Outkast (2000)
19. “Born in the U.S.A.” – Bruce Springsteen (1984)
20. “Bullet the Blue Sky” – U2 (1987)
21. “BYOB” – System of a Down (2005)
22. “Civil War” – Guns N’ Roses (1991)
23. “Dear Mr. President” – P!nk (2007)
24. “Der Kommissar” – After the Fire (1983)
25. “Don’t Change” – INXS (1982)
26. “Dropping Bombs on the White House” – The Style Council (1984)
27. “Enola Gay” – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (1980)
28. “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” – Tear for Fears (1985)
29. “Exhuming McCarthy” – R.E.M. (1987)
30. “Fall on Me” – R.E.M. (1986)
31. “Fight the Power” – Public Enemy (1989)
32. “For America” – Jackson Browne (1986)
33. “Free Nelson Mandela” – The Special AKA (1984)
34. “Fuck Tha Police” – N.W.A (1988)
35. “Games Without Frontiers” – Peter Gabriel (1980)
36. “Ghost Town” – The Specials (1981)
37. “Glad to Be Gay” – Tom Robinson Band (1978)
38. “Going Underground” – The Jam (1980)
39. “Goodnight Saigon” – Billy Joel (1982)
40. “Hammer to Fall” – Queen (1984)
41. “Holiday in Cambodia” – Dead Kennedys (1980)
42. “Holy Wars…The Punishment Due” – Megadeth (1990)
43. “Home Front” – Drive-By Truckers (2008)
44. “I Melt with You” – Modern English (1982)
45. “Idioteque” – Radiohead (2000)
46. “If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next” – Manic Street Preachers (1998)
47. “Invisible Sun” – The Police (1981)
48. “Iron Sky” – Paolo Nutini (2014)
49. “It’s a Mistake” – Men at Work (1983)
50. “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” – R.E.M. (1987)
51. “Ivan Meets G.I. Joe” – The Clash (1980)
52. “Joe McCarthy’s Ghost” – Minutemen (1984)
53. “Killing in the Name” – Rage Against the Machine (1992)
54. “Land of Confusion” – Genesis (1986)
55. “Land of the Free” – The Killers (2017)
56. “Let’s Impeach the President” – Neil Young (2006)
57. “Monkey Gone to Heaven” – Pixies (1989)
58. “My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg)” – Ramones (1986)
59. “My Ever Changing Mood” – The Style Council (1984)
60. “New Year’s Day” – U2 (1983)
61. “Nina Cried Power” – Holzier & Mavis Staples (2018)
62. “No One Would Riot for Less” – Bright Eyes (2007)
63. “Oh Bondage, Up Yours” – X-Ray Spex (1978)
64. “Oliver’s Army” – Elvis Costello & the Attractions (1979)
65. “One” – Metallica (1988)
66. “Orange Crush” – R.E.M. (1988)
67. “Panic” – The Smiths (1986)
68. “Paper Planes” – M.I.A. (2008)
69. “Psycho” – Muse (2015)
70. “Red Skies” – The Fixx (1982)
71. “Right Here, Right Now” – Jesus Jones (1990)
72. “Rock the Casbah” – The Clash (1982)
73. “Ronnie, Talk to Russia” – Prince (1981)
74. “Russians” – Sting (1985)
75. “Seconds” – U2 (1983)
76. “Shipbuilding” – Elvis Costello & the Attractions (1983)
77. “Showdown at Big Sky” – Robbie Robertson (1987)
78. “Something to Believe In” – Poison (1990)
79. “Song for the Dead” – Randy Newman (1983)
80. “Straight to Hell” – The Clash (1982)
81. “Sun City” – Artists United Against Apartheid (1985)
82. “Sunday Bloody Sunday” – U2 (1983)
83. “The Call Up” – The Clash (1980)
84. “The Eton Rifles” – The Jam (1979)
85. “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades” – Timbuk3 (1986)
86. “The Message” – Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five (1982)
87. “The Walls Came Down” – The Call (1983)
88. “The Way It Is” – Bruce Hornsby & the Range (1986)
89. “Travelin’ Soldier” – Dixie Chicks (2002)
90. “Two Tribes” – Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1984)
91. “Under Pressure” – Queen & David Bowie (1981)
92. “Viet Nam” – Minutemen (1984)
93. “Waiting on the World to Change” – John Mayer (2006)
94. “Walls Come Tumbling Down” – The Style Council (1985)
95. “When the President Talks to God” – Bright Eyes (2005)
96. “Where Is the Love?” – The Black Eyed Peas featuring Justin Timberlake (2003)
97. “Wind of Change” – Scorpions (1990)
98. “World Leader Pretend” – R.E.M. (1988)
99. “Yellow Ledbetter” – Pearl Jam (1992)
100. “Zombie” – The Cranberries (1993)

Happy New Year and welcome back to the working week! It’s been a busy couple of weeks back here in Indiana over the holidays, but I think we’ve survived. Of course, in the post-holidays slowdown, my body is in full revolt, making me feel as though I played a day of basketball after a strong 15-mile run followed by a session of college baseball players taking turns with practice swings into my back and legs. So, yeah, I guess I feel like shit, no other way to put it. It’s during these days that I simply would rather curl up in a ball and die or sleep. And, it’s also one of those days in which I just might kill the next person who suggests that I get up and do something. Fortunately, my wife has not suggested it. I think she does it just to test how far gone I am.

So, today, I have finally retreated to the music room to listen to some music. You’d think on days like today that I would only want to listen to soothing music. But, for some reason, maybe it’s the competitor in me, but I’d rather either rage through with Metallica or turn to disjointed music. Therefore, today is a Talking Heads day. It’s one of those days like when I ran, when you knew from the outset that this was not going to be an easy race but also a battle against my mind and body. And, those, my friends, were your worst enemies. But, those were also the races when success could be even sweeter, though I honestly preferred the easy days when the mind let go, and it was just my body cutting through the air molecules with ease. Unfortunately, those races were rare and usually came at the end of the season when your training was allowing you to give your peak performance.

You know, as a member of that lost couple of years in which some sociologists label you as either a young Baby Boomer (I have NO memories of the major Boomer touchstones!) or an old Gen X-er (I check off more boxes for this generation!), I grew up during a time during which concerts and music were inexpensive. And, I lived through the whole original soft rock thing, the rise and fall and rebranding of disco, the punk and post-punk movements, etc., just a great time to listen to music. Additionally, my generation arguably may have produced the greatest batch of basketball heroes, such as Jordan, Barkley, Mullins, you know, The Dream Team, as well as some damn good athletes in other sports, like Barry Larkin (I am Reds fan!), Wayne Gretzky, John Elway, et al.

But, one thing I noticed while digging through my record collection is that there were a bunch of live albums released during my middle and high school years. I mean, come on! People my age all remember one of their first album purchases being Kiss Alive! or Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive! It seemed as though everyone was releasing live albums in the mid-Seventies, which got me thinking over the past couple of days, “What are my favorite live albums.”

You know, the live album is a mixed bag. First, the performance could actually be cobbled from many recording and not one concert. Additionally, the crowd noise and performances could all be doctored to enhance the experience (the dirty secret of Kiss Alive!). Next, the performance could have just sucked, and the record company demanded a record right away, so they gave us this crappy record (listen to Bob Dylan’s At Budokan). Or, maybe the artist has released so many live albums that you cannot possibly choose one to focus on (Seriously Grateful Dead, Phish and Pearl Jam! One more live album from you guys and I will scream!!!). And then, there are some absolutely terrific artists who have NEVER released a live album (Prince!) or at least not during their prime (R.E.M., but I do have an excellent bootleg from their early days, and John Mellencamp). Finally, some genres are just not conducive to the live setting (like rap, except The Roots and Jay-Z have released some pretty good live material).

Still, when everything does come together, the live album can be transcendent. And, in today’s musical environment, maybe the live album has become a relic of the past when music was still communal experience. The concert has moved away from a place of stretching one’s musicianship to a Vegas-like entertainment experience with clothing and set changes, dancing, multimedia and precision music set not to move the concert goer to another level but to give you a sugar high. So, until Roger Waters finally releases an album version of his triumphant The Wall tour from nearly a decade ago, this is my story and I’m sticking to it.

Here are my 40 favorite live albums. Rip it to shreds, if you must!

40. The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The “Royal Albert Hall” Concert – Bob Dylan (1998)

39. Live at the Harlem Square Supper Club, 1963 – Sam Cooke (1985)

38. Made in Japan – Deep Purple (1972)

37. No Sleep ’til Hammersmith – Motörhead (1981)

36. Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out: The Rolling Stones in Concert – The Rolling Stones (1970)

35. Live! – Bob Marley & the Wailers (1975)

34. The Shit Has Hit the Fans – The Replacements (1985)

33. Live! At the Apollo – James Brown (1963)

32. Parliament Live/P-Funk Earth Tour – Parliament (1977)

31. The Jacksons Live – The Jacksons (1981)

30. DEV-O Live – Devo (1981)

29. Stand in the Fire – Warren Zevon (1980)

28. Back to the Bars – Todd Rundgren (1978)

27. Live! Blow Your Face Out – The J. Geils Band (1976)

26. Live at Wembley ’86 – Queen (1986)

25. Live at Leeds – The Who (1970)

24. Frampton Comes Alive! – Peter Frampton (1976)

23. Live and Dangerous – Thin Lizzy (1977)

22. Kick Out the Jams – MC5 (1969)

21. At Folsom Prison – Johnny Cash (1968)

20. How the West Was Won – Led Zeppelin (2003)

19. Live Bullet – Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band (1976)

18. Metallic K.O. – The Stooges (1976)

17. One More from the Road – Lynyrd Skynyrd (1976)

16. A Live One – Phish (1997)

15. Waiting for Columbus – Little Feat (1978)

14. If You Want Blood You Got It – AC/DC (1978)

13. It’s Too Late to Stop Now – Van Morrison (1974)

12. Running on Empty – Jackson Browne (1977)

11. The Last Waltz – The Band (1978)

10. Songs in the Attic – Billy Joel (1981). This is NOT a normal live album. Instead, Joel digs through his catalogue to find his true gems that breathe so much better in the live setting. This is one of my dark horse favorites.

9. Live Anthology – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (2009). On the heels of their box-set documentary triumphant, Petty and the other Heartbreakers painstakingly choose their favorite versions of their hits and some tasty covers that cover career up to that point. In retrospect, this was a perfect gift from Tom to his fans.

8. Stop Making Sense – Talking Heads (1984). Personally, I view this album as more of a movie soundtrack that just so happens to be a great concert. Nonetheless, this a terrific document of a band that broke up much too soon.

7. MTV Unplugged in New York – Nirvana (1994). The perfect swansong to the voice of Generation X, this is the best “unplugged” performance of the era.

6. It’s Alive – Ramones (1979). Simply put, the greatest live punk album – ever!

5. Live/1975-85 – Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band (1986). This is the only way The Boss and his Jersey shore hoodlums could have done a live album, as a huge box set. It is almost perfect, as I will always complain that it left off my personal favorite “Rosalita.” And, including “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” would have been cool too.

4. Under a Blood Red Sky – U2 (1983). Okay, War put the band in our conscience. Then, the video of their performance at the US Festival compelled us. But, for me, this EP told me this band was special.

3. Alive! – Kiss (1975). The granddaddy of live albums, this album made Kiss rock heroes for Generation X. And, this was the sound of a band with their backs to the wall because if this album had not hit, Gene Simmons may have had to go back to teaching which saved a generation of kids from being scared by their teacher.

2. At Budokan – Cheap Trick (1979). This album put the Rockford, Illinois band on the map. The band owned their material in those days and had one of the more exciting shows as this album documents. Originally, this album was only for their Japanese fans, but import sales were so massive that Epic had to release it. And, the rest, they say, is history.

1. The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads – Talking Heads (1982). Someone please tell me why no one remembers this album? This is not just a live album but a live historical documentation of the evolution of a great band, from their minimalist bubblegum/funk CBGB’s days to their expanded lineup world music funk/rock explorations of their next-to-last tour. This is simply one exciting live album to hear this development.