A stroll down memory lane through my music collection
Author: ifmyalbumscouldtalk
I am just a long-time music fan who used to be a high school science teacher and a varsity coach of several high school athletic teams. Before that, I worked as a medical technologist at three hospitals in their labs, mainly as a microbiologist. I am retired/disabled (Failed Back Surgery Syndrome), and this is my attempt to remain a human. Additionally, I am a serious vinyl aficionado, with a CD addiction and a love of reading about rock history. Finally, I am a fan of Prince, Cheap Trick, Tom Petty, R.E.M., Hall & Oates, Springsteen, Paul Weller & his bands and Power Pop music.
I remember in the spring of 1988, while I was still working in the Hematology department of the clinical laboratory at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, listening to the radio as five of the techs in this large department were scanning white blood cells under the microscope when a little 80s dance/pop tune filled the air. Now, at the time, these tunes were a dime a dozen at the time, what with Madonna, Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston leading the first wave as Paula Abdul, Tiffany, Debbie Gibson and Cathy Dennis began to make some noise. Yet, there was another female voice making waves at the time. And, this lady’s name was Taylor Dayne with a great dance number called “With Every Beat of My Heart.”
I remember just being taken by her vocal prowess. This woman was no thin-voiced pop diva-wannabe like Abdul. No, this woman had gospel-esque pipes that showed off an Aretha Franklin influence, all the while being wily enough as an artist to create some dominant dancefloor songs, not unlike Madonna or her true bloodline Donna Summer. So, imagine my surprise when I got home later that day to flip on MTV and discover that this Taylor Dayne was a tiny powerhouse blonde Jewish girl from New York City. I was so thrown when I watched her miming her song in its video with hair that had to be as big as she was with that cringeworthy crimped hair so popular at the time.
Immediately, I decided that I was going to keep on her career. So, was I surprised that her debut and sophomore albums are now considered classic dance/pop albums of their time? Hell no. I know that Whitney Houston is renown for his crystal clear and powerful pipes, and that Mariah Carey possesses multi-octaves that allows her to send out sounds that only my dogs can hear. But, no one, and I mean NO ONE had the powerhouse vocals that my girl Taylor Dayne had and still has today. Much like Donna Summer, she can dominate the dancefloor. But, unlike Summer, Taylor Dayne can hold her own with Aretha, Whitney and Aretha when singing a ballad. As a matter of fact, if I had a killer ballad as a songwriter, I would want her to sing. Nope, not Celine Dion or Mariah or anyone else, because Taylor Dayne will drain ALL of the emotion from your lyrics and make the song transcendent.
Of course, I can apply this next paragraph to a boatload of artists, but why didn’t Taylor continue to have big radio hits in the 90s and beyond? Shoot, the industry was rolling out all kinds of diva-wannabes during the subsequent decades and none of them compare to her vocally. Maybe, songwriters forgot about her when her twins were born. But that’s such a sexist view. It’s obvious with the singles she has released in the past half decade that she took care of her voice because it is still a force of nature.
I am just a straight male around the same age as Taylor who thinks we have forgotten one of God’s greatest vocalists and that’s just a shame. I believe Taylor Dayne has Rock & Roll Hall of Fame sales and critical credentials, but she has fallen out of the public eye. Still, she continues to perform and record, but her salad days have passed on by, which is our loss. Recently, I began to follow her on social media, and she looks fantastic, like always. And, that voice is still just mesmerizing as in the 80s and early 90s.
So, let’s raise a glad to the dancefloor and power ballad diva of the 80s Taylor Dayne. May we NEVER forget your timeless music, especially those heart-wrenching ballads. Here’s my Top 30 songs of my celebrity crush (Can I still have those at 58 and married for 36 years? HAHAHA!!! WTH!) Taylor Dayne.
“Love Will Lead You Back” (Can’t Fight Fate, 1989)
“Can’t Get Enough of Your Love” (Soul Dancing, 1993)
“Tell It to My Heart” (Tell It to My Heart, 1987)
“I’ll Always Love You” (Tell It to My Heart, 1987)
“I’ll Wait” (Soul Dancing, 1993)
“Send Me a Lover” (Soul Dancing, 1993)
“Don’t Rush Me” (Tell It to My Heart, 1987)
“I’ll Be Your Shelter” (Can’t Fight Fate, 1989)
“With Every Beat of My Heart” (Can’t Fight Fate, 1989)
“Prove Your Love” (Tell It to My Heart, 1987)
“Please” (single, 2020)
“Original Sin” (The Shadow OST, 1994)
“You Can’t Fight Fate” (Can’t Fight Fate, 1989)
“Floor on Fire” (single, 2011)
“Whatever You Want” (Naked Without You, 1998)
“Heart of Stone” (Can’t Fight Fate, 1989)
“Dreaming” (single, 2014)
“In the Darkness” (Tell It to My Heart, 1987)
“Naked Without You” (Naked Without You, 1998)
“Live Without (ft. Avedon)” (single, 2019)
“Crash” (Satisfied, 2008)
“Beautiful” (Satisfied, 2008)
“Say a Prayer” (Soul Dancing, 1993)
“Unstoppable” (Naked Without You, 1998)
“I’m Not Featuring You” (single, 2007)
“Carry Your Heart” (Tell It to My Heart, 1987)
“Do You Want It Right Now” (Tell It to My Heart, 1987)
“Upon the Journey’s End” (Tell It to My Heart, 1987)
I am not sure what it is about Halloween, but I love this holiday. Maybe, it has to do with the fun I had as a kid going out in the neighborhood for trick or treat. Or, is it all the fun we had as teenagers performing mischievous acts through the neighborhood with acts that kids not longer do in Central Indiana: “soaping” car and house windows (writing or drawing messages on windows with a bar of soap), toilet papering neighbors’ trees or “corning” houses and moving cars with shucked corn from ears of corn liberated from nearby cornfields. I really do not know when these juvenile delinquent acts fell out of favor with teens, but they were a fun part of Halloween in the Seventies. Then, in High School and College (especially college!), Halloween parties were the stuff of legendary stories. Although I have MANY Halloween-related stories, most of them will be saved for oral discussions in order to protect the not-so-innocent. Yet, I am willing to tell on myself.
Still, let’s save those boring stories for a later date and time. Instead, let’s turn back the clock to the four Halloweens that I celebrated in college. My freshman year was decent, with costume parties being held all over campus. But, it was the last three that are forever burned into my cerebral cortex as some of the most fun parties ever. In 1982, my fraternity held a Rush party around the Halloween date, and the party had a MASH theme, named after that extremely popular TV show that was slowly moving into its last year or so. While many exciting things happened, perhaps the most significant was the fight that broke out when a couple of non-Ball State jerks attempted to crash our invite-only party. One of the guys got so pissed at us that he punched a couple of guys who were both attempting to diffuse the situation. Needless to say, the campus police were called and the party was shutdown with a bad taste in many of the guys still remaining in the house. It was as if a dark cloud moved into the fraternity and hovered over those guys. Both became shells of the guys they were before this incident. Of course, I missed everything because I was busy making sure a couple of extremely intoxicated newly activated brothers decided to tie one on this night including my “little brother” and fellow microbiology major Hubs. All was fine until one of the guys decided about halfway back to the dorms that he needed to relieve himself of some pent-up liquid waste products. Unfortunately, this moment took place on the front lawn of the largest church building hear the Ball State campus. Fortunately for these knuckleheads was the fact that they were all able to perform their act behind a very large bush while I had the privilege of being the look-out for these guys with full urinary bladders.
Once they completed their acts, I got them each back to their rooms so they could each sleep off that party. When I returned to my dorm room, I was greeted by a room full of people, all of whom were dressed up for the holiday, sitting around drinking and talking. It goes without saying that I grabbed a brew from the refrigerator and jumped into the conversation. This laidback moment broke up in the wee hours of that Saturday morning, while many of the ladies crashed in our room mainly so they did not get in trouble for being in the male dormitory after midnight. A couple simply had no business walking through campus in their condition since they could be potential wounded prey for some sicko molester lurking in the shadows of our campus.
Marilyn Manson;s music is perfect for Halloween.
In 1983, I dressed in my now infamous Boy George outfit. Of course, the theater friends of my then-girlfriend helped me create one of my finest Halloween outfits ever. I was such a doppelgänger for the lead singer of Culture Club that my frat brothers tried to get me to enter a campus-wide “King” contest for one of the bigger sorority events held annually at the time. Unfortunately, I disappointed everyone when I entered the contest as myself. Maybe I would have won the contest as Boy George; however, we will never know since I was voted the first runner-up (or second place, also know as first loser) as myself.
Honestly, nearly anything by Alice Cooper is probably a Halloween classic.
My last Halloween as a college student was a complete Monster Mash at my now-wife’s house with whom she shared with five other young ladies. That night was the biggest and craziest party I have ever attended, as the girls hosted over 200 costumed college students in their rented house. It was so big that the cops stopped by two times to send people home, yet twice the party reconvened. After the third stop, the campus cops stopped the party and sent everyone “home.” It was one wild party with many inhibitions thrown to the wind.
It was back then when I began to tinker with my “party tape” mixes in which not only heated up the dancing but also included many seasonal songs. And, that is why I am obsessed with creating holiday party mixtapes for friends. That is why I have a list of 200 song titles that can be used for any Halloween party. Some of them are better for dance parties, while others are great for those parties attended by older people since the songs are more mellow yet eerie.
Let’s take a look at my 200 favorite songs for Halloween. And, now, by favorite Halloween songs, in alphabetical order.
AC/DC – “Highway to Hell”
AC/DC – “Night Prowler”
Adam Lambert – “Ghost Town”
Alice Cooper – “Feed My Frankenstein”
Alice Cooper – “I Love the Dead
Alice Cooper – “Welcome to My Nightmare”
Andrew Gold – “Spooky Scary Skeletons”
Annie Lennox – “Love Song for a Vampire”
Atlanta Rhythm Section – “Spooky”
Bauhaus – “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”
Beck – “Scarecrow”
Beyoncé – “Haunted”
Billie Eilish – “bury a friend”
Billy Idol – “Eyes Without a Face”
Billy Joel – “The Stranger”
Black Sabbath – “Black Sabbath”
Bloc Party – “Hunting for Witches”
Blondie – “Rapture”
Blondie – “Rip Her to Shreds”
Bloodrock – “D.O.A.”
Blue Öyster Cult – “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”
Bobby “Boris” Pickett & the Crypt Kickers Five – “Monster Mash”
Bow Wow Wow – “I Want Candy”
Britney Spears – “Toxic”
Bruce Springsteen – “Spirit in the Night”
Carly Rae Jepson – “Warm Blood”
Cerrone – “Supernature”
Charlie Daniels Band – “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”
Cheap Trick – “Ghost Town”
Childish Gambino – “Boogieman”
Chvrches – “Graves”
Classics IV – “Spooky”
Cliff Richard – “Devil Woman”
Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Bad Moon Rising”
Daryl Hall & John Oates – “Maneater”
Dave Edmunds – “The Creature from the Black Lagoon”
David Bowie – “Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)”
David Seville – “Witch Doctor”
Dead Kennedys – “Halloween”
Diamond Head – “Am I Evil?”
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince – “A Nightmare on My Street”
Donovan – “The Season of the Witch”
Duran Duran – “Hungry like the Wolf”
Dusty Springfield – “Spooky”
Eagles – “Witchy Woman”
Echo & the Bunnymen – “People Are Strange”
Echo & the Bunnymen – “The Killing Moon”
Edgar Winter Group – “Frankenstein”
Eels – “My Beloved Monster”
Electric Light Orchestra – “Evil Woman”
Electric Light Orchestra – “Strange Magic”
Elvis Presley – “Devil in Disguise”
Eminem ft. Rihanna – “The Monster”
Evanescence – “Bring Me to Life”
Fifth Harmony – “I’m in Love with a Monster”
Five Finger Death Punch – “Jekyll and Hyde”
Fleetwood Mac – “Rhiannon”
Focus – “Hocus Pocus”
Franz Ferdinand – “Evil Eye”
Fred Schneider & the Shake Society – “Monster”
Gary Wright – “Dream Weaver”
Ghost – “Ritual”
Gnarls Barkley – “The Boogie Monster”
Goblin – “Suspiria”
Gorillaz – “Dracula”
Grateful Dead – “Friend of the Devil”
Halsey – “Devil in Me”
Halsey – “Ghost”
Halsey – “Nightmare”
Harry Styles – “Two Ghosts”
Hayley Williams – “Creeps”
Helen Reddy – “Angie Baby”
Iggy Azalea ft. Rita Ora – “Black Widow”
Imagine Dragons – “Demons”
INXS – “The Devil Inside”
Iron Maiden – “The Number of the Beast”
Japan – “Ghosts”
John Carpenter – “Halloween Theme”
John Mellencamp – “Rain on the Scarecrow”
Johnny Cash – “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky”
Johnny Cash – “Ain’t No Grave”
Joy Division – “Dead Souls”
Jumpin’ Gene Simmons – “Haunted House”
Kanye West ft. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver – “Monster”
Katy Perry ft. Juicy J – “Dark Horse”
KC & the Sunshine Band – “I’m Your Boogie Man”
Kesha – “Cannibal”
Kim Petras – “There Will Be Blood”
Kim Petras ft. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark – “Turn Off the Light”
King Harvest – “Dancing in the Moonlight”
Kiss – “Hotter Than Hell”
Kristen Hersch – “Your Ghost”
Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein – “Stranger Things Theme”
Lady Gaga – “Monster”
Lana Del Rey – “Gods & Monsters”
Lou Reed – “Halloween Parade”
Lydia Lunch – “Spooky”
Madonna – “Illuminati”
Marianne Faithful – “Witches’ Song”
Marilyn Manson – “The Beautiful People”
Marilyn Manson – “This Is Halloween”
Meat Loaf – “Bat Out of Hell”
Metallica – “Enter Sandman”
Michael Sembello – “Maniac”
Mike Oldfield – “Tubular Bells”
Ministry – “Every Day Is Halloween”
Misfits – “Halloween”
Missy Elliot – “Get Ur Freak On”
Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels – “Devil with a Blue Dress”
Morrissey – “Satan Rejected My Soul”
Mötley Crüe – “Shout at the Devil”
Mudhoney – “Halloween”
My Chemical Romance – “Cemetery Drive”
New York Dolls – “Frankenstein”
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – “Red Right Hand”
Nick Jonas – “Voodoo”
Nine Inch Nails – “Dead Souls”
No Doubt – “Spiderwebs”
Oingo Boingo – “Dead Man’s Party”
OutKast ft. Kelis – “Dracula’s Wedding”
Ozzy Osbourne – “Bark at the Moon”
P!nk – “Funhouse”
Pat Benatar – “Shadows in the Dark”
Peter Gabriel – “Intruder”
Phoebe Bridgers – “Halloween”
Pilot – “Magic”
Pink Floyd – “Careful with That Axe, Eugene”
PJ Harvey – “The Devil”
Queens of the Stone Age – “Burn the Witch”
Radiohead – “Burn the Witch”
Ramones – “Pet Sematary”
Ray Parker, Jr. – “Ghostbusters”
Red Rider – “Lunatic Fringe”
Redbone – “Witch Queen of New Orleans”
Rick James – “Super Freak”
Rihanna – “Disturbia”
Rob Zombie – “Dragula”
Rob Zombie – “Living Dead Girl”
Rockwell – “Somebody’s Watching Me”
Roky Erickson & the Aliens – “Creature with the Atom Brain”
Rush – “Ghost Rider”
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – “I Put a Spell on You”
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – “Little Demon”
Selena Gomez – “Wolves”
Shakira – “She Wolf”
Sheb Wooley – “The Purple People Eater”
Siouxsie & the Banshees – “Halloween”
Sonic Youth – “Halloween”
Squirrel Nut Zippers – “Hell”
Steppenwolf – “Magic Carpet Ride”
Stevie Wonder – “Superstition”
Styx – “Crystal Ball”
Sufjan Stevens – “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”
Suicide – “Frankie Teardrop”
Talking Heads – “Psycho Killer”
Taylor Swift – “Haunted”
Tegan and Sara – “Walking with a Ghost”
The 1975 – “Antichrist”
The Alan Parsons Project – “The Raven”
The B-52’s – “Devil in My Car”
The Beatles – “Helter Skelter”
The Beatles – “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”
The Black Keys – “Howlin’ for You”
The Citizens of Halloween – “This Is Halloween”
The Clovers – “Love Potion No. 9”
The Cramps – “I Was a Teenage Werewolf”
The Cranberries – “Zombie”
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown – “Fire”
The Cult – “Fire Woman”
The Cure – “Lullaby”
The Doors – “People Are Strange”
The Dream Syndicate – “Halloween”
The Flaming Lips – “Halloween on Barbary Coast”
The Guess Who – “Clap for the Wolfman”
The Hooters – “All You Zombies”
The Jam – “Ghosts”
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – “Voodoo Chile”
The Kinks – “Wicked Annabelle”
The Lovin’ Spoonful – “Do You Believe in Magic?”
The Police – “Every Breath You Take”
The Psychedelic Furs – “The Ghost in You”
The Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast – “Time Warp”
The Rolling Stones – “Sympathy for the Devil”
The Sonics – “The Witch”
The Specials – “Ghost Town”
The Steve Miller Band – “Abracadabra”
The Waterboys – “The Whole of the Moon”
The Who – “Boris the Spider”
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Heads Will Roll”
Tim Curry – “Sweet Transvestite”
Tracy Morgan & Donald Glover – “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah”
Beneficence, the symbol of Ball State and commonly called “Benny,” is surrounded by what legend says are the urns of the five Ball brothers. Also, the same legend states that if you kiss a girl by Benny at midnight and the wings flap, the girl is a virgin.
On the Sunday before Labor Day 1981, I arrived on the Ball State campus knowing that I was not going to be running anymore, as I discovered on my first practice a few weeks earlier that 15-mile runs were not my cup of tea. So, for the first time in my life, I was no longer training for a sport, specifically running track or cross country for the first time in about seven years. Instead, I told my parents I was dedicating my life to my then-pre-med studies. They had to know that I was joking. No, I was about to embrace every aspect of the college experience that I could. Sure, there are a few regrets from those years mostly based upon what I did not do as opposed to what I did.
In retrospect, I could have gone to a smaller college than Ball State, but I was tired of everyone knowing who I was during the previous 12 years of schooling. Plus, like I said, I was done with sports at the time. And, on the other hand, I could have chosen to go to some bigger, more prestigious school for my education. But, the big school experience was not for me either. And, believe it or not, I had Marquette University and West Point sniffing around my athletic events a bit, but I was not mature enough to move to Milwaukee at the time while I was never the potential military man that my brother was. It’s just a shame that he did not inherit my analytical mind for math and sciences because he would have been a perfect fit there. Needless to say, I was breaking many family members hearts when I decided to attend the university that was good enough for my parents and my uncle, Ball State.
Campus in the Eighties. Reality is this is only part of the campus, but the building in the forefront was my dorm, specifically the upper back part of the “X.”
But when Mom was working on her Masters Degree in Art Education, my brother and I would travel to Muncie to run around campus while she was in class. Needless to say, I became very comfortable there. Throughout those early years, I would go to Ball State for various events like the nerd’s dream of the Regional Science Fair (I am not kidding! I placed in the Top 3 every year between fourth and seventh grades.). I went up there for the occasional basketball and football games or to do research for some high school classes in Ball State’s fantastic library. So, it was in my blood to go to what David Letterman, arguably our most famous alum, once said, “the Harvard of Muncie.”
Campus today. Actually, this is only half of the campus.
Sure, Ball State, within the state of Indiana, tends as an afterthought as a university. Notre Dame, Indiana and Purdue are the three with the big reputations. Butler, Wabash, DePauw and Hanover are the small universities with prestige. Ball State, along with Indiana State, tend to have developed a reputation over the years as the universities geared for kids coming from poor families in order to become the first people to earn college degrees, much like my parents and uncle.
But, when it came to science at the time, Ball State was vastly underrated. Through my Science Fair appearances, I had met a couple of professors whom I had the privilege of studying under. I was quite impressed with their mixture of research and classroom teaching abilities. Plus, my dentist, who along with his first wife was a college friend of my parents, convinced me to go to Ball State because they are teaching the same stuff as IU but at a cheaper price. So, I became a second generation Ball State grad. Plus, I met my wife there. And, we are the parents of a son, our younger one, who became a BSU alum, as well as his wife (Our older son and his wife are Butler grads, but we don’t hold it against them. He got an excellent financial aid package that Ball State could not beat.).
So, from the Fall of 1981 through the Spring of 1985, I studied at Ball State and graduated on time. During that time I met and befriended many amazing people who remain my friends to this day. College is a weird time in your life. You are not a child, but you are not really an adult. And, in those places, you really don’t have to grow up too quickly. You can get away with the party scene while still maintaining good grades. At least, I could balance it all. Ball State was big enough to afford me some anonymity while keeping me away from people from my high school, but small enough for me to have some interesting experiences.
Last weekend was Homecoming at Ball State. Unfortunately, we missed it. A few years ago, we celebrated with some of my fraternity brothers, which was crazy. Many of us had not seen each other since we were last on campus as undergrads. As I get older, I appreciate what I got from Ball State. Crazy thing is I could have experienced more there if I had stuck with sports, and that is sometimes a regret.
Since my college years seem to represent the final years of my musical wheelhouse which probably begins in earnest during my fifth grade year in 1974. So, from 1974 through 1985, rock music was an important part of my life. The love for the music was intense during these years. And, while I truly enjoy music to this day, none of it compares to the emotional response elicited by songs from my era, much like anyone else who survives their developmental years with the help of music.
So, today, I am paying homage to my college years to 100 of the most important songs.
1981:
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts – “I Love Rock & Roll”
Men at Work – “Who Can It Be Now?”
Queen & Dave Bowie – “Under Pressure”
Rick James – “Super Freak (Part 1)”
Soft Cell – “Tainted Love”
Squeeze – “Tempted”
The Go-Go’s – “Our Lips Are Sealed”
The Go-Go’s – “We Got the Beat”
The Human League – “Don’t You Want Me”
The J. Geils Band – “Centerfold”
The Police – “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”
The Rolling Stones – “Start Me Up”
Tom Tom Club – “Genius of Love”
1982:
ABC – “The Look of Love”
Adam Ant – “Goody Two Shoes”
Afrika Bambaataa & the Soul Sonic Force – “Planet Rock”
Billy Idol – “White Wedding”
Bow Wow Wow – “I Want Candy”
Culture Club – “Time (Clock of My Heart)”
Daryl Hall & John Oates – “Maneater”
Dazz Band – “Let It Whip”
Dexys Midnight Runners – “Come on Eileen”
Duran Duran – “Hungry like the Wolf”
George Clinton – “Atomic Dog”
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – “The Message”
Huey Lewis & the News – “Do You Believe in Love”
Joe Jackson – “Steppin’ Out’
John Cougar – “Jack and Diane”
Kajagoogoo – “Too Shy”
Marshall Crenshaw – “Someday Someway”
Marvin Gaye – “Sexual Healing”
Michael Jackson – “Beat It”
Michael Jackson – “Billie Jean”
Modern English – “I Melt with You”
New Order – “Temptation”
Peter Gabriel – “Shock the Monkey”
Pretenders – “Back on the Chain Gang”
Prince – “1999” / “Little Red Corvette” / “Delirious”
Prince – “D.M.S.R.” / “Let’s Pretend We’re Married”
Roxy Music – “More Than This”
The Clash – “Rock the Casbah”
The Gap Band – “You Dropped a Bomb on Me”
The Jam – “Town Called Malice”
The Psychedelic Furs – “Love My Way”
The Time – “The Walk”
Wall of Voodoo – “Mexican Radio”
1983:
Cheap Trick – “I Can’t Take It”
Cyndi Lauper – “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”
David Bowie – “Let’s Dance”
Def Leppard – “Photograph”
Elton John – “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues”
Elvis Costello & the Attractions – “Everyday I Write the Book”
Eurythmics – “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”
Frankie Goes to Hollywood – “Relax”
John Cougar Mellencamp – “Authority Song”
Lionel Richie – “All Night Long (All Night)”
Madonna – “Borderline”
Men Without Hats – “The Safety Dance”
New Order – “Blue Monday”
Quiet Riot – “Cum On Feel the Noize”
R.E.M. – “Radio Free Europe”
Talking Heads – “Burning Down the House”
The Police – “Every Breath You Take”
The Style Council – “Long Hot Summer”
U2 – “Sunday Bloody Sunday”
Van Halen – “Jump”
1984:
Band Aid – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
Bruce Springsteen – “Dancing in the Dark”
Chaka Khan – “I Feel for You”
Daryl Hall & John Oates – “Out of Touch”
Echo & the Bunnymen – “The Killing Moon”
Frankie Goes to Hollywood – “Two Tribes”
Glenn Frey – “Sexy Girl”
John Waite – “Missing You”
Madonna – “Like a Virgin”
Nik Kershaw – “Wouldn’t It Be Good”
Phil Collins – “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)”
Prince – “When Doves Cry”
Prince & the Revolution – “Let’s Go Crazy”
Queen – “Radio Ga-Ga”
R.E.M. – “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)”
Ratt – “Round and Round”
Sheila E. – “The Glamorous Life”
Steve Perry – “Oh Sherrie”
Tears for Fears – “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”
The Smiths – “How Soon Is Now?”
The Style Council – “My Ever Changing Mood”
The Time – “The Bird”
Tina Turner – “What’s Love Got to Do with It”
Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
U2 – “Pride (In the Name of Love)”
Van Halen – “Hot for Teacher”
Wham! – “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”
1985:
Bruce Springsteen – “Trapped”
Madonna – “Into the Groove”
Phil Collins – “One More Night”
Prince & the Revolution – “Raspberry Beret”
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – “Don’t Come Around Here No More”
The 15-year-old version of me is in this pic. Believe it or not, this team was ranked in the lower realms of the state rankings. Despite their looks, these guys were gamers. I’m in the middle row, at the end, next to my coach.
When I walked out of the doors of Pendleton Heights High School on my graduation day back on a rainy night in late May 1981, I swore I would never come back. Sure, I did return for three events while in college. Plus, I never could turn down a free basketball game, so my dad, the principal at an elementary in the same school system, would get me to visit during my college days, my internship and my five short years living away. Then, just a scant decade after making my statement, I found myself permanently moving back to the community in which I grew up. Ironically, it is my brother who never minded living here who left and only comes back for short visits.
Why bring all of this up? To be blunt, my fortieth class reunion is tomorrow night. With that comes a bunch of memories from the first eighteen years of my life. It’s crazy that this group of close to 300 people had left such a mark on me. Unfortunately, 22 of them are gone now, all of them friends to many of us trudged through 12 years, more or less, of schooling together.
Say what you will about your college and post-college friends, few have them saw your through those innocent elementary years, the zit-faced awkward years of middle school and early high school, only to see you grow up, leave and return. During those developmental years, they saw you at your best and your worst. Many of those people suffer through those seemingly endless classes about Romeo and Juliet with you or watched in horror as some idiots decided to have a rubber stopper battle in the chemistry lab by firing the stoppers off the compressed air nozzles across the room at each other.
Did we always get along? No. I specifically got in more arguments and fights over my smartass mouth than I’d care to remember. Then, there was a hierarchy to school, that could be stifling and very confining, like being a butterfly cooped up in the smallest damn chrysalis imaginable, only to truly begin to discover yourself and talents away from the community in which you were raised.
Yet, when you see these people, no matter how long its been, for the most part, things pick up where they left off, without many of the petty jealousies of our youth. And, maybe that’s what makes reunions so very difficult for many people. Personally, reunions have been something of a stealth therapy session. At my ten year, I partied like the person I was in college that my high school classmates thought that I wasn’t. And, when I came to my twentieth reunion, I was riding high as a coach and teacher, so I really didn’t feel the need for affirmation from my high school crowd. Additionally, I did go to the 25th and 30th reunions, but I left in pain.
But, tomorrow is different since I am a physically broken man, not the invincible guy of 20 years ago. My medications for my pain and my subsequent inactivity have wrecked havoc on my body and mind. So, instead, I am turning to music to get me through the night.
As the reunion approached, I began to dig through my collection listening to those great old records of yesterday, beginning with the songs from the summer of 1977, when I started playing basketball and running cross country over the summer as a high school athlete, through the songs that lead up to my graduation date. All 50 of these songs elicit specific memories to me, which is the beautiful thing about music.
Are these the 50 best songs of that era? Probably not. Did I include any older songs like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird,” which was something of an unofficial song of the class? No. The songs had to have been released during our high school days.
Well, now, it’s time for my 50 favorite songs from my high school daze.
Bee Gees – “Stayin’ Alive” (1977)
Fleetwood Mac – “Dreams” (1977)
Kiss – “Love Gun” (1977)
Parliament – “Flash Light” (1977)
A Taste of Honey – “Boogie Oogie Oogie” (1978)
Bruce Springsteen – “Prove It All Night” (1978)
Commodores – “Easy” (1978)
Devo – “Satisfaction” (1978)
Donna Summer – “Last Dance” (1978)
Earth, Wind & Fire – “September” (1978)
Evelyn “Champagne” King – “Shame” (1978)
Heatwave – “The Grooveline” (1978)
Joe Walsh – “Life’s Been Good” (1978)
Meat Loaf – “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” (1978)
Ramones – “I Wanna Be Sedated” (1978)
Styx – “Renegade” (1978)
The Cars – “Bye Bye Love” (1978)
The Rolling Stones – “Miss You” (1978)
Todd Rundgren – “Can We Still Be Friends?” (1978)
Boomtown Rats – “I Don’t Like Mondays” (1979)
Cheap Trick – “I Want You to Want Me (live)” (1979)
Electric Light Orchestra – “Don’t Bring Me Down” (1979)
Elvis Costello & the Attractions – “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” (1979)
Journey – “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin'” (1979)
Neil Young – “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” (1979)
Pink Floyd – “Comfortably Numb” (1979)
Prince – “I Wanna Be Your Lover” (1979)
Queen – “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” (1979)
Sniff ‘n’ the Tears – “Driver’s Seat” (1979)
Talking Heads – “Life During Wartime” (1979)
The Clash – “Train in Vain (Stand by Me)” (1979)
The Knack – “My Sharona” (1979)
The Sugarhill Gang – “Rapper’s Delight” (1979)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – “Even the Losers” (1979)
AC/DC – “You Shook Me All Night Long” (1980)
Billy Joel – “Sometimes a Fantasy” (1980)
Blondie – “Rapture” (1980)
Dan Fogelberg – “Same Old Lang Syne” (1980)
Daryl Hall & John Oates – “Kiss on My List” (1980)
As I said in my last blog entry, this summer has been kicking my ass. If anxiety concerning the pandemic weren’t enough, my body has decided to do a double whammy on me. Normally, there are really four side effects to my chronic pain: a rising in my blood pressure, a sudden retention of fluids resulting in joint swelling (think Verruca Salt in Willy Wonka), a sudden decrease of my potassium level and a depletion of testosterone in my body. The first two are normally just irritating inconveniences, and when my testosterone bottoms out, I feel like one of Batman’s nemeses Mr. Freeze, who must remain in sub-zero to stay alive. That is the symptoms which is the most cumbersome, since I will be hot all of the time and sweat profusely, especially when exposed to temperatures over 80 degrees and high humidity. Yet, it is the potassium that can quickly become life-threatening since our hearts need the ion in order to maintain a proper rhythm.
Yet, much to my chagrin, this summer I have gotten to experience a combination of side effects making it very slow going when attempting to wade through everything. Needless to say, when my potassium and testosterone levels are being treated, the effects will not be felt for another four to six weeks. Since all of this affects my energy level, I have not felt much like writing, let alone doing a little Google research on my topics. Which leads me to today’s topic.
Within the past week or so, Rolling Stone magazine, once one of the leading magazines in the world concerning rock music and youth culture, decided to blow up their previous Baby Boomer-centric Top 500 Songs of All-Time lists in much the same manner that their editors did to the magazine’s vaunted Top 500 Albums of All-Time list last year.
I remember when the last of the two lists were released in the magazine at the dawning of the new millennium, which seemed to be as good of a time as any to undertake such an endeavor. Since my boys were either still in high school/middle school or college/high school (in other words they were still wards of the household), we would discuss the two lists often. And there was one complaint in which we all agreed: Boomers had too much power in deciding which acts appeared on these lists. It was as if both Generation X and the Millennials had only been given passing nods to those generations’ likes and dislikes. Thusly, the Album List of the day had artists like Quicksilver Messenger Service, who meant absolutely nothing to the two younger masses. Additionally, hip hop was WAY underrepresented on either list, which made the younger crowds roll their eyes.
Therefore, as rock and roll moved into its seventh decade, it was time to create both lists that better represented the newer developments in music over the past two decades since the last lists. Unfortunately, again, I noticed that Generation X was slightly snubbed on the list of voters for both lists. On the other hand, not only were the Millennials represented, but I noticed a smattering of Gen Z members on the official list of voters. If one were to compare any and all Rolling Stone All-Time lists prior to the most recent versions to the current ones, the new lists seem as if the old ones had be completely torn apart. And, let’s face it, that SHOULD happen. Let me be honest for a moment: I have NEVER felt that The Beatles’ seminal Sgt. Pepper album was the greatest album of all time. I feel as though that album belongs to the Boomers, whereas Abbey Road, Revolver and Rubber Soul all speak more clearly to members of the younger generations than Pepper. Hell, ALL younger generations would rather listen to The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd or Marvin Gaye’s timeless protest album What’s Going On, rather than the hippie hodge podge of Sgt. Pepper. So, those kinds of changes are represented in the current lists, as are groundbreaking hip hop songs like “Rapper’s Delight” and “The Message,” as well as the albums by Wu-Tang Clan and Outkast.
All of this leads to the true purpose of this blog entry. According to the rules for the Top 500 Songs of All-Time list, the editors of Rolling Stone sent out ballots to musicians, DJs, producers, engineers, industry executives, rock journalists, etc., for the people list their 50 favorite songs without any ranking. Then, the votes would be counted, tabulated and ranked from 1, which song got the most votes through 500, representing the song with the fewest votes.
Much like many of my colleagues and fellow Rock Music bloggers and podcasters who did not get an official ballot, I have decided to list, in alphabetical order according to artist name, my list of my 50 favorite songs. Let me state right now that limiting oneself is a chore and nearly an exercise in futility. Initially, I came up with a list of around 110 songs. Then, I began to whittle down the list. Overall, the elimination process was easy until I got down to 66 songs. That’s when it started to stress me out a bit. Honestly, it took me more time to get rid of 16 songs from my list that it did to eliminate the first 44.
After I got the list down to 50, I waited 48 hours for new songs to pop up to be evaluated by my ears. Once I got through those 6 extra songs not originally on my list, I was able to finalize my unofficial fantasy ballot for Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Songs of All-Time. Before I get started, let me first acknowledge the brilliant Tom Lane for the idea to undertake this exercise in futility, and, second, this list is limited to a single song by an artist, thus eliminating several songs by the same group of artists. Finally, this is just my opinion and feel free to bitch all you want in the comments section. Here we go!
Beastie Boys – “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)” (Licensed to Ill, 1986)
Big Star – “Thirteen” (#1 Record, 1972)
Bob Dylan – “Like a Rolling Stone” (Highway 61 Revisited, 1965)
Bruce Springsteen – “Rosalita” (The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, 1973)
Cheap Trick – “Surrender” (Heaven Tonight, 1978)
Daryl Hall & John Oates – “Everytime You Go Away” (Voices, 1980)
David Bowie – “Suffragette City” (The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, 1972)
Donna Summer – “I Feel Love” (I Remember Yesterday, 1977)
Duran Duran – “Hungry like the Wolf” (Rio, 1982)
Echo & the Bunnymen – “The Killing Moon” (Ocean Rain, 1984)
Elton John – “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues” (Too Low for Zero, 1983)
Elvis Costello & the Attractions – “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” (Armed Forces, 1979)
Fleetwood Mac – “Dreams” (Rumours, 1977)
George Michael – “Freedom ‘90” (Listen Without Prejudice, 1990)
Hüsker Dü – “Makes No Sense at All” (Flip Your Wig, 1985)
John Lennon – “Imagine” (Imagine, 1971)
Kiss – “Rock and Roll All Nite (live)” (Alive! 1975)
Marvin Gaye – “What’s Goin’ On” (What’s Goin’ On, 1971)
Metallica – “Enter Sandman” (Metallica, 1991)
Michael Jackson – “Billie Jean” (Thriller, 1982)
New Order – “Bizarre Love Triangle” (Brotherhood, 1986)
Parliament – “Flash Light” (Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome, 1977)
Pink Floyd – “Comfortably Numb” (The Wall, 1979)
Prince – “When Doves Cry” (Purple Rain, 1984)
Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody” (A Night at the Opera, 1975)
R.E.M. – “It’s the End of the Whole as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” (Document, 1987)
Ramones – “I Wanna Be Sedated” (Road to Ruin, 1978)
Rick James – “Super Freak” (Street Songs, 1981)
Roxy Music – “More Than This” (Avalon, 1982)
Sex Pistols – “Anarchy in the U.K.” (Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, 1978)
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles – “Tears of a Clown” (Make It Happen, 1967)
Benefit concerts and songs were not invented in the Eighties, that credit goes to George Harrison in the early Seventies when he recorded “Bangla Desh” and organized a concert, and subsequent album, for the war- and natural disaster-ravaged country of Bangladesh. The whole thing was a bungling mess as far as a relief for that nation, yet it was something of a success artistically speaking as that album picked up the Grammy for Album of the Year. Still, the whole thing did plant a seed of responsibility within the rock community, especially in England.
Sporadically, other concerts were held to raise money for various charities, which reached an apex in 1979 with the No Nukes concert and album and the Concert for the People of Kampuchea and it’s album in 1980. No Nukes was held at Madison Square Garden in NYC with the likes of the Doobie Brothers, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt leading the way, with the help of a couple of young up-and-comers by the names of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty. Both the concert and album achieve its goal of slowing the proliferation of nuclear power here in the States. As far as the Kampuchea concert was concerned, the concert and album were great, but I really do not know well all of it did for the people of Kampuchea.
Band Aid
After those two ran their course, the benefits kind of died down until the Winter of 1983 when the BBC ran a story concerning the Biblical famine taking place in Ethiopia and some surrounding countries. For one of the first times in human history, the images of a devastating national disaster on another continent were being transmitted around the world via new technology based upon satellites in orbit in space. Those images were so powerful that they moved two musicians to compose a song for the upcoming 1984 Christmas holiday to be performed by an all-star band in order to raise money for famine relief. Those musicians were Boomtown Rats lead singer Bob Geldof and Ultravox leader Midge Ure, and together the pair wrote the granddaddy of all charity singles “Do They Know Its Christmas?”
That single went onto to become the biggest-selling single in UK history, but it has since been surpassed by Elton John’s loving tribute to Princess Diana “Candle in the Wind 1997.” Now that Sir Bob Geldof (or St. Bob, as some deridingly call him) had a Feed Africa campaign rolling, he got Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, arguably the two biggest pop stars in the world at the time, to create an American version charity single. Since Jackson was still riding high with Thriller, he turned to his producer to help direct this endeavor. All the big names that were invited showed up except for Prince. Yet, Prince did take a public relations hit, but, of course, he probably really did not care.
The musicians and singers met in January after the American Music Awards concluded to record “We Are the World,” the American’s entry into the charity single sweepstakes. The single sold well but did not set any sales records in the States. However, it was all over radio across the major formats and plastered seemingly every 15 minutes on MTV.
Hear N’ Aid
Shortly after USA for Africa’s “We Are the World” ran its course, it was time for the Canadian song “Tears Are Not Enough” by Northern Lights. And, then, the inevitable arrived. Some heavy metal vocalists got together as Hear N’ Aid to record the criminally overlooked “Stars.” The Northern Lights song sold well in Canada but did not make much noise outside of the Great White North. I blame it on David Foster and his massive ego as a songwriter. He gave that esteemed group a piece of his usual schlock, then removed the soul of the song and singers until what was left was just another Peter Cetera-sounding single of the time. That’s unfortunate because he had a veritable Who’s Who of Canadian rock at his fingertips with Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Helen Reddy, Gordon Lightfoot and Geddy Lee of Rush, to name a few. At least Quincy Jones knew to back out of the way and let his iconic singers do what they do best. Hell, Foster told Neil Young to redo his vocals because Young was a flat. At least Young had the balls to remind Foster that’s how he sings. So, to me, that’s what made the whole metal single so much more endearing because these great yellers did what they did best and the producer got out of their way.
Now that the music world was fired up about feeding the world, Geldof went to work to organize the biggest benefit concert ever. His idea was to have simultaneous concerts connect by satellite transmission to the other stadium. Plus, this thing would be broadcast throughout the world on ABC, MTV, BBC, etc., etc., etc. Upwards of a billion people would be able to watch this event that was broadcast from London and Philadelphia on 13 July 1985. Of course, there were glitches and the concerts were supposedly boycotted by Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder due to the lack of diversity in the performers. What we got was essentially a last gasp of classic rock (white) radio acts attempting to raise money for this devastating famine.
Can you believe that Live Aid took place without performances by Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson and Prince, the Big Three of that time period. Additionally, where were Van Halen, Stevie Nicks, Pat Benatar, Diana Ross, Rush, Kurtis Blow, Kool and the Gang (the only band to participate on “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and “We Are the World”), and all of the big alternative bands at the time like R.E.M., The Smiths, The Replacements and The Cure. Okay, so the lineup was not perfect. Reminder, neither was Woodstock’s lineup. But, those who did perform was great, outside of that stupid Led Zeppelin reunion (boy, did they EVER stink!).
On the plus side, there was this brand new singer who was just beginning to make some noise, and that was Madonna, who showed that she was the real deal. Another act who made a major statement in order to propel themselves to superstardom was U2, who just up their time so Bono could have a HUGE TV moment by going into the crowd to slow dance with a young lady.
As great as those moments were, as well as Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ set, the Black Sabbath reunion and the last gasp of greatness from Eric Clapton, no one grabbed the moment like Queen did. Although the band was in the midst of being written off by American critics for various stupid reasons as covered in their biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, the foursome proved they were not ready to pass the mantle as the Greatest Band in the World on to anyone else yet. Their set was perfectly chosen and executed to showcase all of their strengths as individuals and as a unit. That Queen set was the moment of the whole concert on either continent.
After Live Aid, the benefit concert and single began to pick up steam as artists started cranking them out en mass much to the chagrin of fans everywhere. It got to the point where these benefit concerts and singles began to bring out the cynic in critics, comedians, essayists and alternative bands. The backlash was slow but steady in the decline as the oversaturation of these “events” started to overlap and cancel each other out.
Northern Lights
Today, we still have these singles being released, but the charity concerts are becoming more rare as the costs to put one on are now astronomical. Whereas the charity single remains a viable option. But, original ideas are lacking. Thus far, we have had three more Band Aid re-recordings of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band II (1989), Band Aid 20 (2004) and Band Aid (2014). Fortunately, “We Are the World” was not re-recorded until it’s 25th anniversary when aid was needed for the survivors of the earthquake in Haiti. Unfortunately, that recording was met by a completely different work ethic from a new generation of singers, who, according to producer Quincy Jones, kept losing their voices during the marathon recording process. So, do NOT look for “We Are the World” to ever be recorded again.
All of this leads me to list my favorite charity singles of all-time. Have fun with this and never forget that there once was an altruistic view toward humanity one time in our society’s not-so-distant past.
20. David Bowie & Mick Jagger – “Dancing in the Streets” (1985). This crappy cover was debuted during Live Aid as a video shown between acts. The original idea was for the two musical icons to perform the duet via satellite with Bowie in London and Jagger in Philly. Unfortunately, satellite delays kept this from happening. Hence the video.
19. Voices of America – “Hands Across America” (1986). I think this might have been for the homeless. This is a crappy song by session people (or was it Up with People?) for a great charity. Unfortunately, to get every American to go out and hold hands as if we were the Whos in Whoville on Christmas morning was a nice idea without a real grasp of the logistics. I rank it higher than Bowie/Jagger only because those guys should have known better.
18. Artists for Haiti – “We Are the World 25 for Haiti” (2010). I have heard that Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones had been bugged for years to do a re-recording of this song for charity. The three resisted because they did not want to taint their memories of that magical night in 1985. Then the earthquake happened in Haiti and turned that poor country into a worse mess than before. So, Richie and Jones tried to find the magic again. Unfortunately, the new generation of singers were not as thoroughly trained as the original crew and the whole thing turned into a mess, wasting a perfectly good moment.
17. Band Aid II – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (1989). Too soon and too few talented people ready to tackle the song.
16. Peace Choir – “Give Peace a Chance” (1991). Ever still the anti-war activist, Yoko Ono broke out her husband’s big peace hit, got together some famous friends to record a new version of this rock standard as a protest against the first Iraq War. It was a nice idea, but did we really another lesser version of the classic?
15. The Killers ft. Tony Halliday – “Great Big Sled” (2006). The Killers get two thumbs up from me for recording several original Christmas songs to raise money for AIDS awareness and research. The songs are decent, with this one being the second best of the bunch.
14. Northern Lights – “Tears Are Not Enough” (1985). Just see my comments above.
13. Band Aid 30 – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (2014). I think we can put this song on hiatus until the 50th anniversary. This one could NOT help me forget that the TV show Glee had made a mess of it leading up to this version. Sorry, but everyone seems to putting this song on their Christmas album these days. Just stop it!
12. West Coast Rap All-Stars – “We’re All in the Same Gang” (1990). Back in the early Nineties, gangs were raging drug warfare in inner cities, especially in California. The West Coast Rap All-Stars came together to broker a cease-fire deal between the fractions. Unfortunately, it took many more years to achieve.
11. The Stop the Violence Movement – “Self-Justice” (1989). The East Coast got a jump on the anti-violence movement with this great tune created by a Who’s Who of NYC rappers.
10. One Direction – “One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)” (2013). Comic Relief has been do their thing to combat homelessness in the UK and the USA since the mid-Eighties. At least in England they get a fun song as a fundraiser, and this mash-up of two punk hits by the world’s biggest boy band at the time is just pure genius.
9. Michelle Obama ft. Kelly Clarkson, Chloe x Halle, Missy Elliott, Jadagrace, Lea Michele, Janelle Monáe, Kelly Rowland & Zendaya (2016). “This Is for My Girls” (2016). How could any woman turn down the former First Lady’s request for a Girl Power anthem?
8. Dionne & Friends – “That’s What Friends Are For” (1986). This Burt Bacharach & Carole Bayer Sager song was recorded by Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Elton John for AIDS awareness and research. Oh, Dionne’s the only one NOT in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!
7. Elton John – “Candle in the Wind 1997” (1997). Elton rewrote some of the lyrics of his classic 1973 hit song and moved the world with the rendition he performed at Princess Diana’s funeral. Later, he recorded the version and released it to raise money for Princess Diana’s favorite charities. And, he vowed to never play the song again in that version. Now, that’s how you do it!
6. Band Aid 20 – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (2004). It was cool in 2004 to redo this song in 2004. One, the original had been played to death so we needed a new version to breathe fresh air into it. Second, my boys were excited that they were finally getting their charity single. And last, it had a hot guitar solo from that dude from The Darkness who looked like Peter Frampton on a bad acid trip. This version has fun written all over it.
5. USA for Africa – “We Are the World” (1985). Yes, the song’s a little schlocky. But, there was nothing more fun than sitting in a bar when the video came on and naming all the singers with solos. Great memories surrounding that song.
4. Hear N’ Aid – “Stars” (1985). This is just a fun charity single. I like hearing these metal screamers singing this more of a Barry Manilow song and less than a power ballad. Plus, it has a heavy metal choir! What more could you ask for?
3. Artists United Against Apartheid – “Sun City” (1985). This song represents the best of a charity/protest song. Little Steven, fresh from the E Street Band, brought together everyone under the sun, from Miles Davis to Joey Ramone to Afrika Bambaataa to Lou Reed to Daryl Hall, and so much more, to record this song blasting South African white rule. This thing sizzles with 1985-era technology and production values.
2. George Michael and Elton John – “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” (1991). Yet another AIDS charity song, this is the ultimate version of the song. Originally, this duo covered the song at Live Aid, but only Michael sang. And I still get shivers when George says, “Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Elton John!” These two push each other and the song to greater heights. What a version of this classic song.
1. Band Aid – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (1984). Do you really think I was going to choose against the granddaddy of all charity songs? Hell, no! Especially when the song has George Michael, Paul Weller, Paul Young, Boy George, Simon LeBon, Sting and Bono all sharing the opening verse? This is my 21-year-old new wave self’s swansong. It’s just perfect since Phil Collins is handling the drums.
Here we go folks! My Top 10 acts of the rock and roll era that have been the most unjustly overlooked of all the acts eligible for induction in 2022. Some may be a surprises, while others may not. Regardless, let’s get this thing rolling.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Harry Goodwin / Rex Features ( 512337s ) Joy Division – Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris, Peter Hook VariousNew Order: Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Gillian Gilbert.
10. Joy Division (“Love Will Tear Us Apart,” 1980)/New Order (“Bizarre Love Triangle,” 1986). I snuck this one in on you. Then again, maybe not. Whatever! I pulled the old Parliament/Funkadelic-slash-The Small Faces/The Faces move by inducting two bands who having overlapping band members. Joy Division, that Manchester, England band that brought the lexicon of “mope rock” to the rock and roll dictionary. But, after lead singer and lyricist Ian Curtis killed himself, the remaining members of guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris were left without a front man. It was at this point that the band embraced the synth pop scene, added keyboardist Gillian Gilbert while Sumner took on vocals. The version named themselves New Order, taking them somber sound of Joy Division into the Eighties by giving their sound a more icy yet danceable feel. Both bands deserve induction and what better, and more efficient, way to honor the dual forms?
9. The Jam (“Going Underground,” 1980). My beloved Paul Weller’s first band was The Jam, a punk band who embraced the whole 60s mod scene that spawned such punk-forerunners as The Who and The Small Faces. The cool thing about Mods is that they NEVER forgot to embrace R&B music in their power poppish rock. Initially, The Jam were arguably the third most popular punk band in the UK behind Sex Pistols and The Clash. But since Weller had a mastery of melody, The Jam quickly outgrew the other two bands to become the biggest rock band in the UK. Unfortunately, just as The Jam were rising to mega-heights of the rock elite, Weller broke up the band to follow his muse in The Style Council. The Style Council lasted throughout the Eighties, finding success in Europe and the British empire. By the Nineties, Weller began a highly successful solo career that has lasted to this day. Honestly, I would be thrilled if all three versions of Paul’s career were recognized by the Hall and its voters, but I’d still settle for The Jam.
8. Dionne Warwick (“This Girl’s in Love with You,” 1968). As the cousin of Whitney Houston, you would think that Warwick would be yet another diva. But, alas, she is not. As a matter of fact, Miss Warwick was a master of the understated manner in which she sang. She could make you feel like you were listening to her perform on a summer evening on your front porch. That’s how intimate her singing vocals are. She was nominated for this past class (2021), but the nominees were so loaded, Dionne got lost in a numbers game. Here’s to hoping she receives her just reward.
7. John Coltrane (“A Love Supreme, Part 1: Acknowledgement,” 1965). So, the Hall has inducted Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong from the jazz area due to their influences on rock music. So, why hasn’t Coltrane, arguably the second most influential jazz artist behind Davis, been inducted yet? Let’s get this oversight corrected.
6. Dick Dale (“Misirlou,” 1962). Quite honestly, there are two major influences in how a guitar is played that still have not been inducted so far. Dick Dale happens to be the first. Dale is mainly known for his creation of what is known as the surf guitar sound. Without Dale, rock might not have ever had The Beach Boys, The Who and so many others.
5. Dolly Parton (“Jolene,” 1974). Arguably the icon of all musical icons, Dolly Parton is so revered as an artist, philanthropist and human being that she is able to transcend her status as a country legend to become a major influence on so many rock artists throughout history. Remember, Dolly is the songwriter of one of the rock era’s biggest selling hits, Whitney Houston’s immortal “I Will Always Love You.” The great thing is no matter how plastic Dolly’s persona seems to be, her personality is pure heart of gold country girl. Plus, Dolly kick started the whole COVID-19 vaccine research by donating a million dollars to the cause. Yet another notch in this universally beloved musical hero.
4. Link Wray (“Rumble,” 1958). Here is the other guitar hero to be left out of the Hall. Simply put, Wray developed the power chord that has become so ubiquitous in rock I really don’t think this brand of music could have survived this long with it. Think about it, everyone from The Kinks and The Who through AC/DC and The White Stripes have used it to varying success. It would be kind of cool to have Wray and Dale inducted simultaneously.
3. The Carter Family (“Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” 1935). While at the Hall back in June, I noticed all kinds of nods to the First Family of Country Music in displays and the Hall’s films about the history of rock music that you might believe this family band would be in the Hall, most likely as an early influence. Yet, the family that counted June Carter Cash, Johnny Cash’s soul mate, as a member of this talented coterie of gene-sharing musicians. Essentially, the Carter Family is often cited with popularizing hillbilly music into what we call country music. So, much like Coltrane, Dale, Parton and Wray, how can we have a shrine to music without these major influences?
2. Ozzy Osbourne (“Crazy Train,” 1981). Like I have stated several times, heavy metal continues to get a raw deal from the Hall. But, no one, and I mean NO ONE, personifies and saved metal than Ozzy Osbourne. He and his drunken/addicted antics of the early- to mid-Eighties are stuff of decadence legend. And it was a combination of those antics along with the terrific music he and the late-guitarist Randy Rhodes created, especially that Ozzy debut album, Blizzard of Ozz. That album continues to resonate with youngsters across the world.
1. Eminem (“Stan,” 2000). When Em burst on the scene in the late-Nineties, the world had a white rapper with a Marylin Manson-like psychosis that was totally fresh, very off-putting to parents, scary to the rest of the world and outright dangerous. Or, was it all an act? Regardless, there was music before Eminem and there was music after Eminem. All Em did was take Public Enemy’s and N.W.A’s penchant for controversy by telling the truth about what truly goes down in the white ‘burbs. And, that was shocking that the suburban underbelly was as scary as any Freddie Kreuger movie. And, please don’t compare Eminem to Elvis. The comparison ends with both being white men performing music first created by black men. Eminem was ACTUALLY dangerous to society.
And there you have it, my Top 150 rock artists who have been snubbed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Hopefully, we will begin to see these artists get their long overdue recognition. Peace and love.
Today is the second drop of Record Store Day, and I did not go. Sure, there were a couple of releases that interested me, such as Shaun Cassidy’s 1980 Todd Rundgren-produced foray into power pop and new wave Wasp, a Foo Fighters release under the name of the Dee Gees in which the band covers some disco songs and couple of French-released-on-color-vinyl of Hall & Oates’ Voices and Donna Summer’s Bad Girls.
I decided instead to stay home and play with my grandson who had spent the night with us. I like my decision. As I have stated previously, Record Store Day is just not the same as it was a decade ago when my boys and I would get up early in the hopes of copping a numbered copy colored vinyl reissue of a unreleased Tom Petty EP, or something similar. Now, it’s too commercialized with many of the previously unreleased items getting a full-blown release a couple of weeks later. Record Store Day releases meant these records were special. Now, they are just an early taste of what’s to come.
Shaun Cassidy – Wasp
As I said a while ago, the record companies are attempting to line their pockets and not gear these releases to all of us collectors. Sure, I did go last month because I wanted to get that first-time-on-vinyl copy of an extra disc that Prince included in his 1998 odds and sods boxset called Crystal Ball. That particular album, The Truth, was just released on the first RSD of the year with no intention of further release. Now, that’s the kind of release I am interested in.
Dee Gees, aka Foo Fighters
Likewise, I picked up two different live Police albums. Those two double albums had been released in the 90s as a two CD set. And since I prefer vinyl over CD, those two albums became my second and third reasons to get up a month ago and stand in the hot sun for an hour before being ushered into the small independently owned record store I prefer to frequent.
But, today, I just wasn’t feeling it. The releases just were not that exciting to make me want to stand in the rain awaiting my turn in the store. Instead, I spent a much more enjoyable Saturday morning hanging out with my old grandson.
The upside to that decision is that I am able to write this blog today after taking our grandson home to his parents and 6-week-old baby brother. So, let’s find out whom I have ranked in the bottom half of my Top 20 snubs.
20. Iron Maiden (“Fear of the Dark,” 1992). If Motörhead’s absence from the RRHOF makes no sense, then what about Iron Maiden? Maiden, Motörhead, Sabbath, Metallica and Judas Priest make up the metal Mt. Rushmore, so Maiden SHOULD be inducted.
19. Judas Priest (“You Got Another Thing Coming,” 1982). And if you put Motörhead and Iron Maiden in the Hall, then Priest HAS got to be inducted with them, or even before. If these guys were inducted then we’d finally live in a world in which Eddie Trunk is not bitching about a lack of metal in the Hall. And, wouldn’t it be worth it?
18. Pixies (“Debaser,” 1989). As one of my favorite late-80s bands, Pixies might seem like a longshot choice. However, once again, this is a Velvet Underground thing. This band’s sound was like ground zero for many of the alternative bands of the 90s, most importantly Nirvana. The whole “loud-quiet-loud” (and its converse) of verse-chorus-verse was a Pixies construct. Nirvana only perfected it.
17. Hüsker Dü (“Makes No Sense at All,” 1985). Looming even larger than Pixies over 90s alternative music was this band. Their abrasive yet melodic pop punk sound directly paved the path for Green Day, The Offspring and so many others. As one of my favorites still not in the Hall, I have pledged to make these guys one of my “Big 3” to write about over the coming years in a very small effort to get them inducted.
16. MC5 (“Looking at You,” 1970). Very few were ready for this band when they burst onto the scene in 1969 Detroit. They arrived shortly after The Stooges, adding to that band’s aggressive stripped-down rock music a set of political firebrand lyrics. These guys not only foreshadowed the whole UK punk scene, but their political ferocity has only been matched by Rage Against the Machine. Sure, they didn’t sell squat, but look at who they begat.
15. The Smiths (“How Soon Is Now,” 1984). By 1984, the sound of college radio was the guitar-based jangle of R.E.M., along with their British counterparts The Smiths. While R.E.M.’s guitar sound was more American and owed much to the sound of The Byrds, The Smiths were less jangle and more swirling, as if the New York Dolls and The Kinks collided while on acid. Oh, what a beautiful sound it was that The Smiths continue to span less talented clones.
14. Johnny Burnette & the Rock & Roll Trio (“Train Kept a Rollin’,” 1956). This group was a huge influence on the whole rock movement of the 60s, and it was far more reaching of an influence for a rockabilly band. Just in case you don’t recognize the song title that I included, go look up and stream the versions of that song by The Yardbirds and, even more definitively, Aerosmith. These guys have been overlooked for far too long now.
13. Willie Nelson (“Always on My Mind,” 1982). Yes, I know that Willie is essentially a country act, but his whole country outlaw image he began in the 70s is just so rock & roll that he appeals to many of us rock aficionados. I bet he’s something on an influence of 75% of today’s rockers. He’s become something of a latter day Johnny Cash in musicians’ eyes.
12. Big Star (“Thirteen,” 1972). First, this low ranking may come as a huge surprise to my fellow Hall Watchers since I am constantly pimping these guys on Twitter. And, while the band is number one in my heart, my head is doing the rankings now. Big Star got some big reviews with their debut album #1 Record. But distribution problems killed that album, as well as their two subsequent releases. Then, in the mid-80s, college rock radio artists like R.E.M. and the Replacements began pimping Big Star in interviews. So, 80s alt rockers like myself got turned onto Big Star, turning the 70s power poppers into THE cult band of the 80s and 90s. For my money, they are every bit as important as The Velvet Underground. By the way, Big Star is the second of my “Big 3” for the RRHOF (the third artist will be introduced next time).
11. Wu-Tang Clan (“C.R.E.A.M.,” 1993). This was more of a corporation than a group or even a coterie. Nine emcees with one visionary man at the center holding the whole thing together. When you have that many egos coming together, then the leader better be strong, and Wu-Tang had it all. I have been shocked each year when the nominee list is released with no Wu on it. Now that LL Cool J is finally being inducted, maybe the Wus will finally get their due.
And, now we are left with the artists whom I feel are most deserving of a RRHOF induction. Until next time, peace and love everybody.
I gotta admit that I was a pretty lucky young man growing up where I did. Sure, I hated to be a principal and teacher’s son, because many of my classmates would comment that the only reason I was on an athletic team was because of my parents, or my academic standing was solely the result of my parents intervening on my behalf. Few really knew how much work I put into my athletic endeavors. Neither of my parents ran 500 miles total each summer all four years of high school. Likewise, neither of them did all the ballhandling and shooting drills in the driveway. Certainly, my dad, the former head high school basketball showed me the drills, but he didn’t force me to do them every day. All of that came from within.
But, the one thing that was unique about my high school was that we had a student-run radio station. My high school, Pendleton Heights High School, was the first in the state of Indiana to offer such a program to its students. When we were in middle school, that was the station to listen to on Friday and Saturday nights after the broadcast of a sporting event. Those late-night high school kids who were projecting their voices over the air seemed like the coolest kids ever. The station was so popular with the middle school crowd that song dedications filled up the nights until the station signed off at midnight. That was our social media when we could no longer tie up our parents’ phoneline. Nothing was cooler that hearing a song dedicated to you by a girl from school.
When I reached high school, I initially did not have much time to do radio class until it was offered during summer school between my sophomore and junior years. That meant that I had to prove myself during an eight-week course in order to land a coveted broadcasting spot. Sure enough, after doing some sub-work on the weekends, while taking off basketball season, I landed the second most popular shift: Saturday from 8 PM to midnight. With Friday nights being held down by the wacky team of Bradley Wayne (Campbell) and Russ Richie, my partner, Tony Waters, and I had to quickly develop on-air chemistry with the hopes of eventually rivaling Brad and Rusty. The program director, the now semi-famous Andy “Drew” Carey (he got that nickname from us back in the 70s before that other “comedian” ever got famous), who went on to become the producer of the famous radio morning team show on WFBQ (Q95) [and nationally syndicated] “The Bob and Tom Show,” anointed us as “Dr. Tarr and Professor Feather” from that Edgar Allen Poe story that the Alan Parsons Project set to music. Carey had some of the big station on-air personalities create promos for our show, which was highly unusual. In retrospect, we should have been nervous wrecks about the promotion effort being placed in the weeks leading up to our debut. But teenage boys are cocky and arrogant, so we were ready. That nine-week period of time was some of the most fun I ever had. We created all kinds of stupid bits that seemed funny to us, although they seem very juvenile now.
My favorite bit began small, but grew more outrageous as the weeks passed. Basically, back in the 70s, Pendleton only had three stoplights, but the cool part of the town is that we have a creek that runs just north of downtown and it has a small waterfall that is the centerpiece of our main attraction, Falls Park. The park has always been beautifully kept by the community and a source of pride. across the street that runs through the park, parallel to the creek with the falls is a pond with a lighthouse built in the middle of it. Of course, we have a cool playground area there as well. Those two water sources attracted ducks and geese, which only adds to the joy of the young children who come to the park.
In the 70s, the park had become somewhat notorious for our less imaginative couples as a parking area. All of which lead the adults to complain that teenagers were having too much fun after hours in the small park. Without question, that required the Pendleton Police force to constantly cruise through the park to “bust” the lusty teens and move them out of the park.
Sure enough, Tony and I discovered the sound effects records and came up with an idea to have helicopter traffic reports through town. The station’s call letters are WEEM, so our public service helicopter was named “The WEEM Whirlibird.” Now, going against station policy, we did not say the letters individually but read it as “weem.” And, we gave fake traffic reports over the three stoplights, reported on the happenings at our two fast food joints, Dairy Queen and Jimmie’s Dairy Bar. Of course, we also did a report on the happenings of those parking near the falls and the pond. We were always shining a spotlight on a convertible with its top down, complete with sound effects of the couple screaming and/or yelling at us. And, yes, it once devolved from there, which got us in trouble with the station manager, an uptight teacher Mr. Cherry (I kid you not!).
Like I said, we had a great time with the bits, and Tony gave me mostly free-reign with the tunes. There was another point of contention with Mr. Cherry, who had the listening habits of an old lady. The other thing we did that bugged Mr. Cherry was recording the callers who wanted to dedicate songs to their beloved. Without question, we pushed the envelope by embellishing these calls with new questions to enhance the sexual innuendo. That was the last straw for Mr. Cherry, who drove into school and shut us down early that night.
All of which leads me to say that I would love to run an on-line radio stream of some sort. I truly enjoyed doing radio work on the side during my undergrad work in college. I even volunteered for a year at Ball State’s NPR station during the days while working second shift in a lab. And, I was nearly hired as a weekend morning DJ at a Muncie radio station at the same time I was offered my dream lab position. Unfortunately, that was the last time I manned the board at a radio station. Oh, what could have been…
See? I was lucky to have grown up where I did, to have that opportunity to work at a student-run radio station. On second thought, maybe the term should be student-manned, because all of our great ideas for running the station were always vetoed by Mr. Cherry. Mr. Cherry led the station through great growth over the 30+ years he was in charge. Still, the station had fallen behind technologically speaking. When Mr. Cherry stepped down, many of us from the old days joined the station community committee to help the new station manager bring the program into the 21st century. Now, WEEM 91.7 FM is a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week station that actually built a nice little following and produced several excellent media people throughout the country. And although I am no longer on that committee, I am proud of the work the subsequent station managers have done. Of course, their success has been because they have all allowed the kids to grow as broadcasters and announcers and given them access to state-of-the-art technology in which to due their work. These kids are much more professional than most of us ever were back in the day. And, that’s because they are simply better than we were.
Yes, I do wonder what if I had gone into radio instead of science? Then again, who cares?
Let’s check out my next ten artists who have been snubbed thus far by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
30. Mary Wells (“My Guy,” 1964). I cannot believe that the first two artists who consistently had hits for a young Motown label still are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Mary Wells may be facing more punishment from label impresario Berry Gordy Jr. by being left out of the Hall. Get over it and put her in! And that goes for The Marvelettes too.
29. The Shangri-La’s (“Remember (Walking in the Sand),” 1965). I remember there was a something of a short-lived revival of this NYC-based girl group within the overlapping glam and punk scenes. Hell, even Kiss and Aerosmith covered the girls on their respective Love Gun and Night in the Ruts albums. Unfortunately, Twisted Sister may have dented the ladies’ reputations when the Sister covered the La’s “Leader of the Pack.” Still, Blondie owes this group a huge thank you for Debbie’s persona.
28. Boston (“More Than a Feeling,” 1976). Boston should be in the Hall if only for their self-titled debut. Yes, they take FOR-EVER to create a follow-up album to their latest. But, when they do, they deliver. For better or worse, if it wasn’t for Boston, would we really have gotten to hear Hall members like Journey or Bon Jovi or the likes of Styx, REO or Foreigner? Whether you like that or not, Boston deserves a place.
27. War (“Why Can’t We Be Friends?” 1975). This multi-racial band from LA was one of the tighter funk-based bands around. And much like Santana before them, they were able to integrate Latin sounds into their funk-rock mix that remained true to their East LA background. This band is long overdue its induction.
26. The Runaways (“Cherry Bomb,” 1976). I don’t care that these ladies were put together by that creepy Kim Fowley, The Runaways flat out rocked. And who cares whether they are labeled as glam, punk or metal, because truthfully they were all three and much more. Seriously, if it wasn’t for The Runaways, would we have ever heard my beloved Go-Go’s? It would have been much harder for all all-female bands if not for The Runaways.
25. The Monkees (“I’m Not Your Stepping Stone,” 1967). Let’s face it critics! The Monkees TV show hooked a bunch of us Gen Xers and Millennials on rock music. Who cares if they really were the “Pre-fab Four.” They had terrific songs!
24. Pat Benatar (“Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” 1980). With all due respect to the Wilson sisters of Heart, Pat Benatar was the hard rock goddess of my youth. She had Mariah Carey range but with a punk/metal toughness that was difficult to duplicate. Hell, it still hasn’t been done to this day. It just doesn’t seem right that she is not in.
23. Chic (“Good Times,” 1979). Giving Nile Rodgers that faux-induction for Musical Excellence was a complete sham! Give me a break! How can Nile be inducted without his visionary partner bassist Bernard Edwards. Plus, where would those two be without drummer Tony Thompson and vocalists Norma Jean Wright, Luci Martin and Alfa Anderson? Go back and listen to Chic’s 70s albums along with Sister Sledge’s album from 1979 and try to tell me Chic was strictly a disco band. This was a great band who had a couple of great disco hits. This is a total rip-off!!!
22. Diana Ross (“I’m Coming Out,” 1980). Speaking of Chic, they produced and performed on Ms. Ross’ best album, 1980’s Diana. Much like Tina Turner was locked in the Hall with Ike, Diana Ross is in the Hall with the Supremes. But, Diana Ross is one of rock’s first wave of divas, so her solo induction is long overdue.
21. Patsy Cline (“Crazy,” 1961). While we are arguing for Diana Ross, why not take a look at country diva Patsy Cline. Her influence and strong female attitude is written all over every subsequent female artist since her. How has Cline been overlooked for so long?
So, we are down to my Top 20 artists who have been snubbed by the Hall for far too long. I hope this series is making you think a bit about the Hall and it’s induction classes. Until next time, peace and love.
If My Records Could Talk 