Author: ifmyalbumscouldtalk

Fear not people for I am still alive. I have been facing a writer’s block lately. I’ve attempted to force my way through it like I would do when my body would not respond during training for sports, but my brain is refusing to respond.

I have tried all kinds of things that my writer friends have suggested such as journaling (boring!), getting back to my screenplay (I suck!) or just scribbling down ideas (I don’t have any! That’s the issue!). So, I started going through my old playlists on my outdated iPod. Boy! That’s how desperate I’ve become. Anyway, I stumbled upon a playlist entitled “The Genesis Family.” It seems that I had grouped together music by Genesis (from all incarnations), solo Phil Collins, solo Peter Gabriel, solo Steve Hackett, solo Tony Banks and Mike + The Mechanics. It’s an interesting mix of songs and styles, shedding some light on the evolution of this eclectic group of musicians.

You see, Genesis began as a slightly second-rate English Prog band whose eccentric performance artist of a lead singer began to flex his creative muscles to make the band something a vehicle for his vision. Just as the band was gaining a rabid audience across the globe, the lead singer, Peter Gabriel, left the band for a solo career. Immediately, the quintet attempted to carry on as a quartet for one album with drummer Phil Collins becoming the lead singer. But, after that album, guitarist Steve Hackett left for a solo career as well.

What was left was a trio of talented musicians, guitarist Mike Rutherford, keyboard whiz Tony Banks and Collins, who were free to streamline the prog tendencies of the original band and blend it with a pop/rock/soul sound that allowed the band to eventually capture the ears of a whole new generation in the Eighties. By the mid-Eighties, Genesis, along with the solo career of Phil Collins, had become a stadium-filling hit-making machine. This whole transformation was remarkable, though as the band, as well as Collins, reached greater heights, I honestly became less interested in the band. Additionally, Hackett’s solo career lacked any kind of pizzazz that had interested me during his Genesis tenure.

Yet, the artist I was most interested in from the Genesis family was the solo Peter Gabriel. I was totally enamored with his minimalist prog rock vision that he was spearheading in the late-Seventies with the likes of David Bowie, Brian Eno and Robert Fripp. To me, these guys were taking on a punk ethos to their perfectionist tendencies to create some very compelling music. Solo Gabriel’s music was electric and vital even as he ascended to the top with 1986’s So album.

But, the most striking thing about this playlist is that you really can appreciate how you can hear all the different paths the members had taken over the years in the band’s rudimentary sound at the beginning. And, now, nearly 50 years later, I can more fully appreciate this band and all the different paths these men had blazed.

So, today, I am going to sum up this family’s hits with my own list of my 50 favorite songs by this very talented group of musicians. Honestly, this list should convince any music lover of Genesis’ deserving place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as Peter Gabriel. And, I can now see me backing Phil Collins as a solo artist, though I am still partial to his first two solo albums.

50. “Don’t Lose My Number” – Phil Collins (No Jacket Required, 1985). Everyone like this song better when it was a Steely Dan song. (I only put this song in my Top 50 so I could use this line.)

49. “Do You Know, Do You Care” – Phil Collins (Hello, I Must Be Going, 1982)

48. “Red Rain” – Peter Gabriel (So, 1986)

47. “Take Me Home” – Phil Collins (No Jacket Required, 1985)

46. “Steam” – Peter Gabriel (Us, 1993)

45. “Paperlate” – Genesis (Three Sides Live, 1982)

44. “I Have the Touch” – Peter Gabriel (Security, 1982)

43. “No Self Control” – Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel (III: Melting), 1980)

42. “All I Need Is a Miracle” – Mike + The Mechanics (Mike + The Mechanics, 1985)

41. “I Don’t Care Anymore” – Phil Collins (Hello, I Must Be Going, 1982)

40. “Something Happened on the Way to Heaven” – Phil Collins (…But Seriously, 1989)

39. “Another Day in Paradise” – Phil Collins (…But Seriously, 1989)

38. “A Groovy Kind of Love” – Phil Collins (Buster OST, 1988)

37. “Sussidio” – Phil Collins (No Jacket Required, 1985)

36. “You Can’t Hurry Love” – Phil Collins (Hello, I Must Be Going, 1982)

35. “Separate Lives” – Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin (White Knights OST, 1985)

34. “Easy Lover” – Phillip Bailey with Phil Collins (Chinese Wall, 1984)

33. “We Can’t Dance” – Genesis (We Can’t Dance, 1991)

32. “Invisible Touch” – Genesis (Invisible Touch, 1986)

31. “Taking It All Too Hard” – Genesis (Genesis, 1983)

30. “Illegal Alien” – Genesis (Genesis, 1983). A sad attempt at parody.

29. “Abacab” – Genesis (Abacab, 1981)

28. “The Living Years” – Mike + The Mechanics (The Living Years, 1988)

27. “One More Night” – Phil Collins (No Jacket Required, 1985)

26. “Man on the Corner” – Genesis (Abacab, 1981)

25. “Don’t Give Up” – Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush (So, 1986)

24. “No Reply at All” – Genesis (Abacab, 1981)

23. “No Son of Mine” – Genesis (We Can’t Dance, 1991)

22. “In Too Deep” – Genesis (Invisible Touch, 1986)

21. “Land of Confusion” – Genesis (Invisible Touch, 1986)

20. “Throwing It All Away” – Genesis (Invisible Touch, 1986)

19. “Silent Running” – Mike + The Mechanics (Mike + The Mechanics, 1985)

18. “I Missed Again” – Phil Collins (Face Value, 1981)

17. “Mama” – Genesis (Genesis, 1983)

16. “Misunderstanding” – Genesis (Duke, 1980)

15. “That’s All” – Genesis (Genesis, 1983). This is as country of a sound that Genesis could muster. Still, it fondly reminds me of a pretty great time in my life.

14. “Turn It On Again” – Genesis (Duke, 1980). A great concert opener.

13. “Big Time” – Peter Gabriel (So, 1986). This song just might be an example of Gabriel at his loosest.

12. “Follow You, Follow Me” – Genesis (…And Then There Were Three, 1978). Unfairly, the first release by the newly minted trio version of Genesis never caught on with the public, though you hear it more now than back in the day.

11. “Family Snapshot” – Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel (III: Melting), 1980). What we have here is the sound of Gabriel finding how to fully express his alienation in both audio and verbal manners.

10. “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight” – Genesis (Invisible Touch, 1986). Sure, this one was used in a Michelob commercial, but it’s still a killer song. And, yes, it just might be the Son of “Mama,” which was the Son of “In the Air Tonight.” Is that really so bad?

9. “In Your Eyes” – Peter Gabriel (So, 1986). An iconic song used in an iconic scene from one of Cameron Crowe’s most underrated movies.

8. “Against All Odds” – Phil Collins (Against All Odds OST, 1984). I remember thinking that Collins truly had his heart ripped out when he wrote this monster hit. This is a case in which the song was bigger than the movie.

7. “Solsbury Hill” – Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel (I: Rain), 1977). It took Americans about 20 years or so before they caught onto this brilliant number, but better late than never. I guess!

6. “Shock the Monkey” – Peter Gabriel (Security, 1982). I’m showing my age, but the video was such a step forward for the medium at the time. Gabriel was the perfect MTV star. On a personal note, back in college, I was watching this video at a party when I got motion sickness and threw up. At least, that’s what I tell myself.

5. “I Don’t Remember” – Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel (III: Melting), 1980). Gabriel’s third solo album remains my favorite album from this family to this day. And, this one has been a driving force behind my opinion.

4. “Biko” – Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel (III: Melting), 1980). It seems that I learned more about geopolitical issues from rock music and musicians back then than I did from most of my teachers and professors. If it weren’t for “Biko,” I doubt many people would have ever learned about the man.

3. “In the Air Tonight” – Phil Collins (Face Value, 1981). Peter Gabriel had Phil Collins play drums on his third album, which was known for its unique drum sound that included a lack of cymbals. When Collins released this song, Gabriel rightfully cried foul. But, you gotta admit that what Collins did with the sound was a HUGE step forward. Plus, it made for one iconic scene with Mike Tyson in The Hangover.

2. “Games Without Frontiers” – Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel (III: Melting), 1980). This is a beautiful allegory to the political climate at the time. Shoot, it still works today. Timeless, absolutely timeless!

1. “Sledgehammer” – Peter Gabriel (So, 1986). The moment when the world finally caught up with Peter Gabriel, “Sledgehammer” is aptly named. The song has a slinky funk sound that is completely rooted in English art rock. This is a nearly perfect song. And, it still remains the landmark video of all videos.

I am coming to you in the midst of a three-week home renovation that my wife and I are totally over. As repairs and changes are being made in our home, I have been banished with our two very nervous dogs to live in my music room that is crammed with crap from other rooms, so that is why I have not made a blog entry in a very long time. And, this entry could very well be the last in a couple of weeks as well.

Now, in preparation for this whole endeavor, I decided to “cut the fat” from my CD collection that had gotten completely out of hand lately. You know you have a problem when you remove over 400 CDs from your collection and still have twice that many left. The only thing that has come from this is that I am now only going to purchase vinyl just like in the old days.

Perhaps the biggest reason for this decision is that I simply feel more invested in the music when I listen to vinyl. First, the experience requires me to physically change sides more often than a CD. Next, the sound is warmer coming through my “Close-and-Play” speakers from vinyl than it is from the CD. And, finally, and perhaps most importantly, I can actually read the liner notes with my old eyes. It seems that I need a magnifying glass to read the lyrics on a CD. Hell, I’m even going to streaming instead of downloading (Yeah, I know! I am a holdout on that. I just prefer to hold control over my music since radio playlists and algorithms seem to totally ruin my listening experience these days. I long for the days of the DJ being a music expert AND entertainer. Am I old or what?).

So, what is about music that I love so much? I mean, I have a baseball and basketball card collection that is pretty cool but just takes up so much space that I really no longer appreciate it. Plus, all you can do is look at them, although when you are a kid you do figure out ways to play games with them. I actually had developed a basketball league in which I drafted players to teams, much like fantasy sports leagues these days, but use dice from board games and Dungeon and Dragons to determine points scored by players. I did that for my pre-music days, which meant I was doing this from ages 10 to 14. Now, I am holding onto those cards for my boys to show their kids. Of course, I have to store them here.

But, the boys and I all agree that collecting music is so much more interactional. You can listen to it in addition to treating the covers as you would a baseball card. Then, there’s the whole emotional response elicited by the music, depending on when that piece entered your life. And, the younger you were, the more intense the response is. For some reason that scientists are just beginning to understand music and your emotions become entwined in a dance that is life-long.

Over the years I have noticed how certain songs actually transport me back to a specific time in my past. How when I hear KC & the Sunshine Band’s “Please Don’t Go,” I remember slow dancing with a girl at a Christmas dance in high school. Or, hearing “Saturday Night” by the Bay City Rollers, I remember my buddy Mike Bond and me doing a silly “radio” show in my bedroom on New Year’s Eve 1975. Or, the memory of watching my cheerleader neighbor Lori Dunwiddie doing a cheer routine to “Free Ride” by the Edgar Winter Group. Or how Adam Ant’s “Goody Two Shoes” reminds me of the dorm party that got so out of hand when 50 people were crammed in our dorm room and when that song came on my party tape, two Ball State football players spilled out into the hall doing Adam Ant video “dancing” down the hall that we all got busted. Or how I am reminded every time I hear “Pour Some Sugar on Me” that my older son would turn to me every time MTV would play that video and say, “Dad, they’re playing our song!” when he was just three years old.

And, I know this happens to all of us, because I am constantly reading social media posts from people from my past putting songs on along with their memories those songs invoked. But, it’s not simply the memories.

As a former athlete, I used music to get ready for a game or a meet. Now, the control freaks that I had as coaches never understood how our age group could possibly need that in a pre-game ritual. So, I had to be sneaky about it. Initially, I thought listening to hard rock was the best way to get ready for a basketball game or a track/cross country meet. But, as I found out, that was like caffeine, just a short-term jolt. For basketball, I found that funk and early rap music really fit the flow of the game, which was completely out of step when you’re from a farming community in the late-Seventies. Additionally, disco and later dance and new wave music was best for running, since those are rhythmic races. But, if I had to run in the four-by-four hundred meter relay, I needed punk rock or metal, something full of aggression.

I remember the night that I listened to “Rapper’s Delight” before a basketball game against a rival city school. All of a sudden I felt in sync with the game like never before. I seemed to be walking on air that night as I lit up a friend of mine from that school for 20 points. The best part of the night was he kept trying to get in my head by calling me “Caspar.” You see, he was an African-American and I am a translucent, blonde-haired white guy who was frustrating this guy so much that he turned to name-calling. After the game, we hugged and he asked me what got into me. I just told him “Rapper’s Delight.” And, he just cracked up and asked me what I was doing listening to HIS music. I told him I was tired of Willie Nelson. Every time I see him to this day, he asks me what rap music I listening to today, laughs and shakes his head. You see, I went to that city to play against his teammates more than I played with my own teammates because they were better players. The downside was I really didn’t build a good rapport with my teammates and coaches, which hurt me. I see that in retrospect.

Of course, I have millions of stories which are entwined with songs, as we all do. I just wish people would take their music-listening experiences back to a communal level. Hell, even dances are beginning to be a solo event instead of a shared one. I believe that is diminishing the whole emotional aspect to music. While the whole Walkman craze of the Eighties was exciting, I distinctly pining for the communal experience of blasting music out of your dorm window while playing football in the bowl outside. Now, you stream your music for yourself and it’s a solitary experience. Perhaps, I am a romantic, but I want my music to breathe in the air. Sure, my listening habits may bother my neighbors, but it could lead to a conversation.

And, those conversations could lead to a mutual understanding. And, conversations could drown out those echo chambers that we tend to exist in. I know, romantic.

EEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOWWWWW! Did you hear the news that’s totally made me forget about the whole Rock Hall situation? Daryl Hall & John Oates are going out on tour this summer!

As my wife and I were traveling down to her hometown in southeastern Indiana to see her ailing father, she kept asking me what I wanted for my birthday. And since I am a man of very limited interests, she started throwing out the usual stuff that I enjoy: a Pacers, Butler or Ball State basketball game. I countered with a high school game in order to take the grandkids to get them hooked since there’s nothing like a high school game in Indiana for kids. Then, she asked if I wanted to go to a record store, and I’m like of course! Then, she started bringing up concerts for the summer, joking that we could get some country music package for the nearby music shed. Of course, I about threw up. Sorry fans, but I hate the current state of country music. As I have quoted before, Tom Petty once said that country music today is like bad Eighties music with a fiddle.

So, then she asked me about seeing The Doobie Brothers, and I told her I am lukewarm on them, especially if the ticket prices are astronomical. Actually, I said that I definitely wanted to see The Boss, no matter the cost. And, I would go see Hall & Oates again, knowing that at our ages, no one would get pregnant (see one of my previous posts about how dangerous Hall & Oates music and concerts can be with us). I told her I have signed up for alerts for both artists. She gave a courtesy laugh, shook her head, then we changed the subject.

Then, yesterday, it happened. My phone started blowing up with alerts from every conceivable source saying that our favorite duo were announcing a tour with Indy on the docket. Immediately, I text her the news. She was pumped up because she text back immediately, even though she probably was working with a student at the time. Priorities are priorities.

So, I have been trying to figure out this whole Hall & Oates fascination and how it all started. Well, it is a very easy story. For the last six years of my hometown schooling years, I used to go down to the neighbors’ house almost every day to hang out with their daughters, both of whom were around my age. Lori was my age, and the two of us looked so similar that people often thought we were brother and sister. And, Kim was a couple of years older than Lori and me. Anyway, Kim LOVED Hall & Oates from the moment “Sara Smile” was a huge hit. She was the first person I knew that actually saw them in concert back in the Seventies.

Initially, I did buy that silver eponymous titled album with “Sara Smile” and took it down to the girls’ house to listen to it often. Although both girls loved the album, Kim became obsessed. I can vividly remember Kim making me dance with her every time she bought a new Hall & Oates album. I was dancing, in private, to “Rich Girl” and “I Don’t Wanna Lose You” back in the mid-Seventies. Eventually, Kim graduated from high school and moved to Ball State. But, Lori and I continued to listen to Hall & Oates, burning them deep into my psyche.

When I got to Ball State in the fall of 1981, I couldn’t believe how many people loved the duo, unironically I might add. Here I was, a guy who was mainly into punk, new wave and hip hop, but I loved Daryl Hall & John Oates. That November, I took my brother down to Indiana University to see the Electric Light Orchestra, since he was a huge fan, while I went to see Hall & Oates open. And, that night, I became a HUGE Hall & Oates fan. They were not simply a slick studio concoction, but the total live package. That night, they announced that “Private Eyes” had just hit number one, so when they played it the audience went nuts. The duo’s band was hot, with über guitarist G.E. Smith, creative collaborator and bassist the late Tom “T-Bone” Wolk (my all-time favorite bassist), future Bryan Adams drummer Mickey Curry and longtime multi-instrumentalist and saxophonist supreme Charlie “Mr. Casual” De Chant. These guys were the real deal, and I’ll be damned if I won’t spend the rest of my life giving them their due.

Guys, Daryl Hall and John Oates are not some Yacht Rock relic, nor are they an Eighties mustache caricature. Go listen to any of their albums and you will hear rock experimentations; hip hop influences; folk and acoustic tinges; and soul, funk and disco flourishes in addition to their trademark rock ‘n’ soul pop sound. Then, you hear their voices come together, with John’s lower folk register versus Daryl’s superman soul quality. It’s as though the two differences made the whole amalgamation greater than the individual parts, as great as those individuals are solo.

In retrospect, I loved Daryl Hall and John Oates’ music in the Seventies, but they took it to a completely different level in the Eighties. It seemed like the duo were energized by the dawn of a new decade. Surprisingly, their 1980 album Voices had a slow rise to the top. But, when “Kiss on My List” exploded to #1 in the spring of 1981, followed by the pure pop pleasure of “You Make My Dreams” that summer, Hall & Oates were on the cusp of becoming one of the dominant forces of rock music in the early-Eighties. Few artists have experienced a run like these guys had from 1980 through 1985, when their fifth album during that time finally ran out of steam. They had racked up five number one songs, along with a huge list of Top Twenty hits in addition to the albums Voices, Private Eyes, H2O, Rock ‘n’ Soul: Part 1 and Big Bam Boom.

I know I probably have done this in the past, but I thought I would present a longer, fresher list of my 50 favorite songs by the greatest duo of the rock era, Daryl Hall and John Oates. Kim Gill and Lori Eppert, this is for you two, with my brotherly love!

50. “Philly Forget Me Not (with Train)” (Non-album single, 2018)

49. “Ooh Child” (Our Kind of Soul, 2004)

48. “Forever You” (Do It for Love, 2002)

47. “Promises Ain’t Enough” (Marigold Sky, 1997)

46. “Downtown Life” (Ooh Yeah!, 1988)

45. “Don’t Hold Back Your Love” (Change of Season, 1990)

44. “It’s Uncanny” (No Goodbyes, 1977)

43. “A Night at the Apollo Live! The Way You Do the Things You Do/My Girl (with David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks)” (Live at the Apollo, 1985)

42. “Missed Opportunity” (Ooh Yeah!, 1988)

41. “Romeo Is Bleeding” (Marigold Sky, 1997)

40. “I Can Dream About You” (Our Kind of Soul, 2004)

39. “Man on a Mission” (Do It for Love, 2002)

38. “When the Morning Comes Around” (Abandoned Luncheonette, 1973)

37. “Your Imagination” (Private Eyes, 1981)

36. “How Does It Feel to Be Back” (Voices, 1980)

35. “Las Vegas Turnaround” (Abandoned Luncheonette, 1973)

34. “Do What You Want, Be Who You Are” (Bigger Than Both of Us, 1976)

33. “Possession Obsession” (Big Bam Boom, 1984)

32. “Everything Your Heart Desires” (Ooh Yeah!, 1988)

31. “The Woman Comes and Goes” (X-Static, 1979)

30. “Jingle Bell Rock” (Non-album single, 1983)

29. “Head Above Water” (Private Eyes, 1981)

28. “Why Do Lovers (Break Each Other’s Hearts?)” (Beauty on the Back Street, 1977)

27. “Don’t Go Out (unreleased song, 1981)” (Do What You Want, Be Who You Are, 2009)

26. “Do It for Love” (Do It for Love, 2004)

25. “Method of Modern Love” (Big Bam Boom, 1984)

24. “Italian Girls” (H2O, 1982)

23. “Back Together Again” (Bigger Than Both of Us, 1976)

22. “Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid” (Big Bam Boom, 1984)

21. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” (Voices, 1980)

20. “One on One” (H2O, 1982)

19. “Family Man” (H2O, 1982)

18. “It’s a Laugh” (Along the Red Ledge, 1978)

17. “Did It in a Minute” (Private Eyes, 1981)

16. “I Don’t Wanna Lose You” (Along the Red Ledge, 1976)

15. “So Close” (Change of Season, 1990)

14. “Adult Education” (Rock ‘n’ Soul: Part 1, 1983)

13. “Private Eyes” (Private Eyes, 1981)

12. “Dreamtime” – Daryl Hall (Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine, 1986)

11. “Say It Isn’t So” (Rock ‘n’ Soul: Part 1, 1983)

10. “Rich Girl” (Bigger Than Both of Us, 1976). The duo’s first number one song, The Killers’ Brandon Flowers claims he learned everything there is to know about writing a hit song from this one. Who knows, he may be right. Then again, when was the last time Flowers or his band had a hit song? He may need to listen to more of their songs. Still, this is a nearly forgotten classic.

9. “Wait for Me” (X-Static, 1979). Damn it! I will never understand why this song did not become a bigger hit. Oh wait! That’s right! Schlock meister David Foster produced the damn thing, nearly sucking the life out of it. Regardless, I love it!

8. “Kiss on My List” (Voices, 1981). I love it when the general public misses sarcasm. I remember the girls in my high school wishing their beaus would think this way about them. Even the girl I was dating at the time thought that way. Little did she know that I actually was.

7. “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)” (Private Eyes, 1981). This song has been sampled by so many hip hop artists that you would not believe the legs it continues to have. Hall & Oates were never as big on Urban Radio, as it was called then, than with this song. It’s no wonder why ?uestlove pushed for Hall & Oates for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

6. “Out of Touch” (Big Bam Boom, 1984). The duo’s last number one held Wham! back for a couple of weeks before the English duo briefly took Hall & Oates’ mantle.

5. “Maneater” (H2O, 1982). I remember when this song was released, the Boomer critics were bitching about the Motown bassline. Who cares!?!?!? They synthesized a sexy pop/rock/soul hit song using it.

4. “Sara Smile” (Daryl Hall and John Oates, 1975). “Sara Smile” broke Hall & Oates as a hit-making machine with their unique blend of soul cool and pop slickness with touches of rock and folk thrown in for good measure.

3. “You Make My Dreams” (Voices, 1980). THE perfect pop rock songs of the Eighties, “You Make My Dreams” has taken on a life of its own. The song is both of its time AND timeless.

2. “She’s Gone” (Abandoned Luncheonette, 1973). While it took three years before the song became a hit, it is now perhaps one of their five most recognizable hit songs in their cannon.

1. “Everytime You Go Away (live in Tokyo 1996, unreleased)” (Do What You Want, Be Who You Are, 2009). I now prefer this version of their stellar studio version because this song epitomizes the live Hall & Oates experience. As Daryl says while announcing the song, “Taking ya ta church.” And the listener gets to hear the song in all its gospel and blues glory, highlighting Daryl’s scorching vocals. That man is peerless. This version showcases everything that is great about this duo: impeccable songwriting, masterful musicianship and otherworldly vocals.

What has my life become?!?! Eight years ago, I retired from teaching, very begrudgingly, due to some stupid complications to a failed back surgery. Up to that point, I had transitioned from a high school athlete to a college student who still dabbled in sports to a medical technologist to a teacher and coach, and I was truly digging my life. I was a very fortunate person as I was following a calling into teaching and coaching when I could have been making some serious cash if I had stuck with the science world. But I felt I had to teach, and coach. And, I got to play a role, albeit a very minor role, in the lives of some terrific young people who are now great parents and people. As one of my colleagues once told me that my disappointment with this new path was that I never got to control when I bailed on the professions. There is nothing more frustrating than waking up from a dream in which you have developed a new basketball out of bounds play or a training method for a pole vaulter only to realize that you can no longer do those things. And, boy, did I ever have teaching down to a scientific art form. I was on the cusp of getting this gig mastered, only to have the rug pulled out from under me. And, I must admit, I did spend many years pissed off by the whole thing.

Then, one day, a dear friend of mine, Larry Wilson, and his former wife, Heather Gemmen, suggested that I should begin writing. Larry wrote a blog that I liked to contribute to in the comments. Since both were writers, they thought I might have some untapped talent and encouraged me to develop it. Now, I had been on the high school newspaper staff where I was constantly being told to stop editorializing in my sports articles. And, I really don’t remember how many times I was told to stop my snide sarcastic comments in those very same articles. Yet, for some reason, I was named the Sports Editor my sophomore and junior years, giving me a monthly column for all of those silly comments. And, I also got to write my first album reviews under the very original “Dr. Rock N Roll” moniker (See?!?! Juvenile!). Writing was always something of a joke to me, a subversive method to see just how far I could push the boundaries. My theme papers were mostly written to get under the skin of some of my English teachers or to humor my classmates. But, if you properly used a semi-colon and sentence and paragraph transitions, cut down on the run-on sentences and had creative moments of insight and use of metaphors, you could easily get great grades. If I had only known that you could really make a living doing this if I had properly honed my skills, I might have been writing for The National Lampoon.

Anyway, Larry suggested that I write about music or sports. Now, being a former coach and something of a former athlete, sports would have seemed to be a more natural place for me. But, watching sports at the time was an emotionally painful activity for me, so I went with my hobby, which had always been an emotional refuge for me. So, now, here I am writing about music as though I really know what I am talking about.

In addition to science and math, I have had a long love of history, so I began tackling rock history with great vigor in college. Originally, I did it to earn a place on a college bowl team that I ended up not trying out for. Subsequently, I have spent nearly 40 years devouring all kinds of books on rock music all the while never learning to play any instrument (Fear of failure? Probably!). Now, I have nearly a thousand vinyl albums and another thousand or so CDs, with a whole bunch of 7-, 10- and 12-inch singles and EPs. Needless to say, I have an issue, but it does give me a perspective that I now share. So, here we are.

Today, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame finally announced their inductees for the Class of 2020. In the past, they used to announce the class before Christmas, but for some reason decided to extended their inanity for another month. The whole process is wrought with problems, which is a whole other issue, but we do finally have the nominee list of 16 artists pared down to six inductees. Why six? I have NO idea. All I know is that there is a HUGE backlog of artists awaiting their moment, and no one has a plan with how to deal with it.

Anyway, the six artists being inducted are Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G. and T. Rex. At first glance, I am both satisfied and underwhelmed. First, I am satisfied that each artist deserves to be inducted. But, I am underwhelmed by the lack of female inductees and the lack of truly landmark artists. Sure, we got some musical and racial diversity, but the whole class seems a little vanilla to me. We are not getting arguably the most influential band of the past 40 years, Kraftwerk, inducted. We are not getting one of the first dominant female rock voices in all history, Pat Benatar, inducted. We are not getting one of the pioneers of punk rock, The MC5, inducted. We are not getting one of the first heirs to Aretha Franklin’s throne, Chaka Khan, inducted. We are not getting a true rock renaissance man in Todd Rundgren inducted. Hell, we are not getting two of metal’s most important cornerstones, Judas Priest and Motorhead, inducted. And, finally, the fans’ top vote-getter, Dave Matthews Band, wrongly or rightly, is not being inducted for the first time in history.

I mean, WTF!?!?!? It’s no wonder the Hall gets blasted by the critics and Hall watchers on an annual basis. And, the whole nomination and voting process is completely done in secret. At least the Baseball Hall of Fame, which has its insipid reputation, has a voting process that is somewhat open; we at least get to see some ballots and percentages are released for every player receiving a vote. But, the Rock Hall, based upon the music of the people, is done behind closed doors? What?! Is this a Russian thing? Or a Trump White House thing?

It’s okay Keller! Come down, or you will have to double up on your blood pressure meds! Deep breath! Remember: stress leads to back spasms, and God knows you don’t want those again! Be in the moment. Exhale. Deep inhale! Slow exhale. Calm. Down.

Okay, the BP is down, but I’m still pissed. Anyway, let’s take a look at the inductees.

Depeche Mode. The synth poppers who morphed into goth rockers influenced everyone from Nine Inch Nails to heavy metal icons to even having Johnny Cash cover “Personal Jesus.” I have been a huge backer of DM and am very excited for their induction. Remember, their career would not have happened if Kraftwerk weren’t around to influence them! And, they would admit it too.

The Doobie Brothers. Many people my age grew up on the Doobies. They were a great boogie band at the beginning of their career who evolved into one of the first Yacht Rock masters after some lineup changes. I do remember arguing with a high school-aged neighbor that “Long Train Running” was a better song than Seals & Crofts’ “Diamond Girl.” I was a fourth grader, so how would I have ever understood at the time what a make-out song was? Throw in “Black Water” and “What a Fool Believes” and you’ve got a pretty good case for the band without ever bringing up their stellar compilation Best of the Doobies. I am wondering if the inducted members number will rival the number inducted with Parliament/Funkadelic?

Whitney Houston. The Voice of My Generation. Next!

Nine Inch Nails. Mastermind Trent Reznor took the angst of The Cure, the Goth stylings of Depeche Mode and Siouxsie Sioux with the industrial sounds of Ministry and KMFDM to create the sound of the Nineties. NIN set the stage for Marilyn Manson and so many others. Plus, you can now hear Reznor’s influence in his thrilling soundtrack work and in that sample of his in that stupid Lil Nas X song that’s everywhere.

The Notorious B.I.G. Oh, I can hear a couple of my former athletes now filling up my inbox that Biggie and Whitney are NOT rock and roll. And, no matter how many times I try to explain that “rock and roll” and “pop” are synonymous terms, I just tell them that it’s classic rock radio’s fault for their limited definition. Anyway, Biggie’s casts a huge shadow over hip hop, and rock. Too bad that Kurtis Blow,LL Cool J, Eric B & Rakim, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and Wu Tang Clan are all still on the outside.

T. Rex. I can hear it now, “What the heck is T. Rex getting into the Hall for?” C’mon now! They are a very important band in the whole Glam Rock movement of the early-Seventies, which begat that stupid Glam (or Hair) Metal movement of the Eighties. T. Rex was as important an artist in the UK as Bowie to a whole lot of musicians, from Def Leppard, the New Romantic bands to Oasis and the other Britpop artists. Sure, we Americans only know “Bang a Gong (Get It On),” but their story is so much larger.

Well, there you have it, the RRHOF Class of 2020, for better or for worse. This is what they gave us, and we’ll have to live with it for another year. And will I watch the HBO Special this spring? You bet! I’m that sucker that’s born every minute Mr. Barnum.

It’s happened again. We’ve lost yet another giant from the rock world. And, not just any giant, but arguably the greatest drummer of all-time, Rush’s Neil Peart. Peart has been long held alongside Buddy Rich and The Who’s Keith Moon as the three greatest drummers ever. And as great as those men were, Peart was actually a man with no peer, as he took what those other two men accomplished, mastered their techniques, amalgamated them, and took them light years beyond. As many have stated in their own tributes to the man, Neil Peart was the Maestro.

As all rock know, Peart was not the original drummer of Rush. No, that honor belonged to John Rutsey. But, when Rutsey abruptly bolted the band due to health reasons after the first album, guitarist Alex Lifeson and bassist Geddy Lee regrouped with Peart before the second album, and the rest was history. Finally, Rush had a drummer who could push the others sonically and lyrically, allowing the band to bridge the gap between hard rock, heavy metal, progressive rock and jazz.

Just like most people my age, I discovered Rush during the summer of 1976 when a friend of mine told me about their album 2112. Personally, I was blown away by the science fiction lyrics, as I was a science fiction nerd at the time. The playing was like a cross between Yes and Led Zeppelin, making it doubly cool to a teenage boy. Sure, I recognized the lyrically allusions to Ayn Rand’s writings, as I was reading her stuff too. Now, every teen is totally moved by the fact that they feel as though every adult is trying to stifle them, so Rand’s writing should appeal to them. And, when a band’s lyrical content is based upon her philosophy, then you gotta listen to them.

Now, as I got older and studied more and more literature, history and science, I noticed the major faults in Rand’s philosophy, as did lyricist Neil Peart. So, as the years passed, the band’s music and lyrics moved onward. Sure, Peart remained a libertarian as such, but the band’s musicianship continued to evolve. Now, I am no Rush fanatic, just a rock fan who admired the band’s evolution from prog metalists to prog pop/rockers to prog synth rockers back to prog metal gods. Their evolution has been one of the more fascinating travels in rock history, and all along they maintained their rabid fan base in addition to their integrity. And, for that, the band should be respected.

Now, in retrospect, I fully understand why Peart said at the end of the band’s last tour that he was retiring, although Lee tried to say otherwise. At the time, I thought Peart was simply ready to move on toward other life goals, when in reality he was beginning his last stand against brain cancer. Unfortunately for us, his drum set has been silenced.

Now, to really get a full appreciation of Peart’s abilities, go back and listen to any of the band’s hundred or so live albums, all of which have yet another example of his drum solos. But, to get a full overview of his important place within Rush, I present my 25 favorite Rush songs in honor of the Maestro. Oh, and Rush fanatics, please give me a break for not placing your favorite piece on my list.

25. “Roll the Bone” (Roll the Bone, 1991)

24. “Clockwork Angels” (Clockwork Angels, 2012)

23. “Distant Early Warning” (Grace Under Pressure, 1984)

22. “Anthem” (Fly by Night, 1975)

21. “Workin’ Them Angels” (Snakes & Angels, 2007)

20. “Nobody’s Hero” (Counterparts, 1994)

19. “Fly by Night” (Fly by Night, 1975)

18. “Finding My Way” (Rush, 1974)

17. “YYZ” (Moving Pictures, 1981)

16. “Subdivisions” (Signals, 1982)

15. “A Passage to Bangkok” (2112, 1976)

14. “Time Stand Still (with Aimee Mann)” (Hold Your Fire, 1987)

13. “Freewill” (Permanent Waves, 1980)

12. “Far Cry” (Snakes & Arrows, 2007)

11. “Jacob’s Ladder” (Permanent Waves, 1980)

10. “Working Man” (Rush, 1974). The song that started everything for the band. May have taken a couple of years, but the rest is history.

9. “The Trees” (Hemispheres, 1978). This lyrical allegory for the cession movement of Quebec from Canada back in the Seventies is the start of Rush applying their sound to pop structures.

8. “Red Barchetta” (Moving Pictures, 1980). Once again, this song about a car carries a much deep meaning about one’s self as well as society.

7. “Closer to the Heart” (A Farewell to Kings, 1977). This song should have been a big pop hit, even with all the prog rock flourishes it contains.

6. “New World Man” (Signals, 1982). The great thing about Rush is how while they were musically embracing new technologies, lyrically their were displaying skepticism in those same technologies.

5. “Tom Sawyer” (Moving Pictures, 1981). Mark Twain’s most famous title-character is the perfect lyrical starting point for Rush. In the fantastic band documentary, Beyond the Lighted Stage, Peart even admitted that this song was a nightly challenge for him to play perfectly. Imagine that! And, it sounds so easy.

4. “Limelight” (Moving Pictures, 1981). Once again, a seemingly brilliant pop song has a complex musical arrangement along with lyrics that bare Peart’s uneasy toleration of being a rock star. After nearly 40 years, this song is still so perfect.

3. “La Villa Strangiato” (Hemispheres, 1978). This song (or is it a suite?) was the culmination of Rush’s most prog rock tendencies taken to its ultimate conclusion in the studio. Once again, according to Beyond the Lighted Stage, the band recorded this song in three parts and spliced it together. Then, they had to learn to play it live, with all of those crazy changes in time signatures. This just might be the band’s ultimate calling card.

2. “2112: Overture/The Temple of Syrinx/Discovery” (2112, 1976). 44 years after the fact, how could one band made of three musicians ever create this? This song blew away all of my preconceptions of what rock could be and could do. Rush may have started this whole prog Zeppelin thing on “By-Torr and the Snowdog” and perfected it on “La Villa Strangiato,” but this became the band’s mission statement of sorts.

1. “The Spirit of Radio” (Permanent Waves, 1980). Now, if you cannot sit through a whole side of a Rush suite and want to hear the band’s sound distilled to the length of a radio pop song, then this is the song for you. You get everything that makes Rush great: crazy time changes, prog rock posturing, lyrics that only a middle class suburbanite kid could understand and a not one, but two hooks within one song. You get the whole Rush vision in a song too short for a radio DJ to take a restroom break. It doesn’t get any better than that!

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.

Back in the late-Eighties, we had four artists that totally scared the crap out of Baby Boomer parents across the nation. Half of them were from the “scary” world of rap music, Public Enemy and N.W.A, one was from the equally “frightening” world of speed metal, Metallica, and the last one were a bunch of seemingly street urchins who played a mix of classic hard rock merged with the ever dangerous punk and foreign punk music, Guns N’ Roses. Personally, I found all four artists so much fun, if only they all represented music that was, one, foreign to the music Boomers had claimed as their own, and, two, and perhaps most importantly, Boomers found loathsome and out of step with their parameters on music. As far I as was concerned, Gen X had their first true voices as forceful and poignant as anything the Boomers’ culture put forth.

Sure, Public Enemy and N.W.A did not get the financial boom their music deserved, yet their legacies were set in stone as they became something of a Sex Pistols for the hip hop nation. And, Metallica, at the time, was the finest metal band on Earth, although the faced the indignity of losing the Grammys’ first Best Heavy Metal award to the arguably the least metal band of all-time, a Boomers favorite Jethro Tull. That slight probably only made Metallica that much cooler to the kids. And, Guns N’ Roses were The Beatles of the bunch, selling boatloads of records much to the chagrin of my Boomer-aged brothers-in-law, whose kids were caught up in the mania surrounding the band. In all four cases, their lyrics and music spoke viscerally to a cynical generation who had been raised on commercialism, Reaganomics and alienation. And, in all four bands, the artists were “real,” meaning that they all appeared to walk onto the stage in clothes they wore on the street. It was a case of what you see is what you get, which carried on into the Nineties.

Today, I’d like to focus on GNR. First off, these guys were NOT hair metal bands. Sure, they did come from the Sunset glam scene that gave us such musical Goliaths as White Lion, Warrant, Winger, Poison, and the rest of the shitty hair metal bands that were the favor of month at the time. With GNR, they combined the hard rock of Aerosmith with the punk fervor of The Clash, which not only separated them from those aforementioned pretenders, but also made them sound as dangerous as a modern day Rolling Stones. Then, throw in to the mix the fact that these guys could give a crap if you liked them or not, AND the own intra-band chemistry was as volatile as the Sex Pistols’ were a decade earlier. All of this made for some excitement to the young rock lovers, not just for their legendary alcohol and drug abuse, womanizing and infighting, but their musical prowess. If you did not live through this era, these guys were a musical form of a Molotov cocktail.

And, the whole thing made for exciting times. Sure, I never had to wait for lead singer Axl Rose to get his ass on stage for two hours just because he was having another existential crisis. I would have rioted too! But, when these guys pulled their collective crap together, they could move mountains. Guns N’ Roses were what The Replacements were only blown up to a steroidal Rambo-type size that could have only happened during the Eighties.

For my money, GNR will always be the original quintet of Rose, lead guitarist Slash, bassist, resident punk and perhaps their best musician Duff McKagan, rhythm guitarist and best songwriter Izzy Stradlin and drummer with the best “feel” Steven Adler. All of this makes me ask the eternal question, “Just how bad was Adler’s drug and alcohol use to get kicked out of the band?” Now, this is no slight to all the band members who have come and gone since Axl’s coup, but the original five had the magic. Simply, go back and listen to Appetite for Destruction, their brilliant debut. Now, this is no slight to the Use Your Illusion albums. Those two double albums are brilliant in their rock excesses, but they just pale in comparison to the debut. After those LPs, it was all downhill. Oh sure, if almost any other band had done The Spaghetti Incident? or Chinese Democracy, we’d all be singing their praises. But, when they are part of the GNR discography, well, you know what I mean.

Today, I’d like to fulfill a promise to a former student that I would do a blog about Guns N’ Roses by listing my 25 favorite songs.

25. “Since I Don’t Have You” (The Spaghetti Incident?, 1994)

24. “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory” (The Spaghetti Incident?, 1994)

23. “Estranged” (Use Your Illusion II, 1991)

22. “The Garden” (Use Your Illusion II, 1991)

21. “Out ta Get Me” (Appetite for Destruction, 1987)

20. “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (Use Your Illusion II, 1991)

19. “Locomotive” (Use Your Illusion II, 1991)

18. “You Ain’t the First” (Use Your Illusion I, 1991)

17. “Don’t Cry” (Use Your Illusion II, 1991)

16. “Ain’t It Fun” (The Spaghetti Incident?, 1994)

15. “Shackler’s Revenge” (Chinese Democracy, 2008)

14. “Civil War” (Use Your Illusion I, 1991)

13. “Yesterdays” (Use Your Illusion II, 1991)

12. “You Could Be Mine” (Use Your Illusion II, 1991)

11. “Rocket Queen” (Appetite for Destruction, 1987)

10. “Patience” (G N’ R Lies, 1989). Acoustic GNR? Hell yes! This might have been the prom song for the year.

9. “Paradise City” (Appetite for Destruction, 1987). This song is a perfect set closer. It has the AC/DC opening, the Aerosmith after-whistle free-for-all and the punkish chorus. If this had been on Chinese Democracy, it was have been a piecemeal montage. With the original lineup, its rock heaven.

8. “It’s So Easy” (Appetite for Destruction, 1987). I have a feeling this one is more important the my older progeny than me.

7. “Nightrain” (Appetite for Destruction, 1987). If you were to hold up one song to encompass everything about GNR, this may be THE song.

6. “Live and Let Die” (Use Your Illusion I, 1991). I was so pissed that the band covered this song until I heard it. Not the first time I’ve ever had to swallow my words. Nor was it the last time.

5. “Mr. Brownstone” (Appetite for Destruction, 1987). Wanna hear a funky bass on a hard rock song? Here you go!

4. “Better” (Chinese Democracy, 2008). Easily the best song on GNR’s (or was it an Axl solo outing?) last album. I just wish the original band, or at least the Use Your Illusion band, had recorded it.

3. “Welcome to the Jungle” (Appetite for Destruction, 1987). Yes, this one has be overplayed on the radio, streaming services and at athletic events, but it is still a great statement by a hungry band.

2. “November Rain” (Use Your Illusion I, 1991). If you were to choose ONE song to represent overblown rock at its Phil Spectorian best (meaning the production has everything in it except for spoons, then again, it just might), this is the song. Epic is too small a word for it, since that describes “Stairway to Heaven.” And, to say it has a little Elton in it also minimizes the nature of the song. This is the greatest overblown song ever.

1. “Sweet Child o’ Mine” (Appetite for Destruction, 1987). I only placed this one at #1 because it contains THE guitar riff of the Eighties, plain and simple.

Hi! I’m Scott Keller, self-appointed arbiter of musical tastes and self-confessed vinyl junkie, and I am about to pull back the curtain a bit on my musical history. Over the course of this self-help therapy I call a blog, I have dropped hints of my developing musical tastes over the course of my first 13 years of my life. First off, I am the older of two sons born to educator parents. My dad was a high school history teacher, athletic director, varsity basketball and baseball coach who eventually became an elementary principal at three schools, the last one for 25 years. The man remains one of my best friends, my mentor and my role model, even though our relationship was very strained after he and Mom got a divorce. He warped me for life because I thought all coaches were like going to be like him, but they weren’t. Now, the whole sports thing might make sense because of him, but the music did not. His idea of great music was Barbra Streisand, which is great, but he really didn’t like rock music at all. Mom, on the other hand, was the art teacher, and did she ever love her music. But, her collection, if you could call it that, consisted of show tunes and stuff I’d call lame. But, she never judged my music.

Growing up, the only radio stations I ever heard where two AM stations. The first was  WHBU in Anderson, Indiana, which played the softer side of rock music but had great high school basketball coverage. I actually remember being three and listening to Dad’s team playing some large school in Indianapolis on the radio as his school, which had about 100 students, kick the butts of those Indy kids. The other was the very conservative WIBC in Indianapolis, which was known for their stellar news reports, very non-rock music playlist and an out-and-out cynicism toward rock music. All of this makes it difficult to say, but my entry into the music of the Beatles was NOT direct. It came through those cover versions played on those stations, in particular the cover of “Ticket to Ride” by the Carpenters. That’s right, the Carpenters.

Now, when you are in elementary school in the early Seventies, radio hits were everything. Then, by the time you reach your teen years, your tastes change. So, after I discovered Elton John, Alice Cooper and Kiss, I started to think that the Carpenters were wimpy. And, I held onto that view until the Nineties when I was forced to reevaluate my opinion upon the release of that Carpenters cover album recorded by a bunch of alternative artists at the time. And, when I heard Sonic Youth’s powerful version of “Superstar,” I thought wait a second! There was something substantive with the Carpenters. So, I went back and re-listened to all those old LPs. Sure, on the surface, there seems to be a glossy pop sheen to the production of their music, but when you started to listen more deeply, you hear it. And, that “it” is Karen Carpenter’s voice. As I said, on the surface it’s an All-American voice, non-threatening and tamed, very soothing to the average listener. But, then you begin to hear the pain behind those lyrics she is singing, and suddenly her tragic life makes sense. It’s all right there before us, those demons that afflict so many of us, being shown to us, the listeners. “I Won’t Last a Day Without You,” “Rainy Days and Mondays,” “Goodbye to Love,” hell, even “Ticket to Ride,” foretold us that she was never going to be long for the world.

Then, you begin to hear something else. Christ! I can’t believe this, but Richard Carpenter was not simply riding on the coattails of his sister’s voice. The guy is a musical genius! His orchestration and arrangements were innovative and light years ahead of everyone else at the time. Oh sure, the music is soothing, but it the perfect juxtaposition to Karen’s painful vocals. It’s a total yin and yang, tug and pull type of thing. It actually becomes something as subversive and the Ramones doing “I Wanna Be Sedated” in a manic manner or Boy George singing love songs in his garb and make-up. Once I got all of that, I returned to my fandom.

Now, are they going to ever have a place in my heart like Prince, Tom Petty or R.E.M.? No. But, they do have a frequent place in my musical library. And, this re-evaluation all began with If I Were a Carpenter back when my boys were little and wanted to listen to alternative music.

So, there you have it. My whole love/hate relationship over the years with the Carpenters, and how they were my entry drug into the world of The Beatles. So, today, I present my 25 favorite Carpenters songs. FYI: I prefer the duo’s minor hits as opposed to their #1 hits, generally speaking. I am placing the chart peaks for each song on my list, if there was one.

25. “There’s a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)” (1976) #12

24. “Bless the Beasts and the Children” (1971) #67

23. “Please Mr. Postman” (1975) #1

22. “A Song for You” (1971) —

21. “Solitaire” (1975) #17

20. “I Need to Be in Love” (1976) #25

19. “This Masquerade” (1974) —

18. “Sing” (1973) #3

17. “Ticket to Ride” (1969) #54

16. “For All We Know” (1971) #3

15. “Top of the World” (1973) #1

14. “Merry Christmas Darling” (1970) —

13. “Touch Me When We’re Dancing” (1981) #16

12. “Make Believe It’s Your First Time” (1983) #101

11. “Only Yesterday” (1974) #4

10. “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” (1977) #32. What can be weirder than the Carpenters covering a sci-fi song by a Canadian pop/rock band who had been riding a wave of rumors that said they were a secret reunion of The Beatles? And, I almost did not get the joke!

9. “Rainy Days and Mondays” (1971) #2. Sure, this title became something of a punchline, but it is a cry for help that few only heard.

8. “It’s Going to Take Some Time” (1972) #12. Seriously, did anyone really hear how Karen was singing this song? To quote my dad, “For Chrissakes!”

7. “Yesterday Once More” (1973) #3. Why did the best Carpenters songs not hit the top spot? This song has become more poignant as I have gotten older.

6. “I Won’t Last a Day Without You” (1974) #11. Simply put, Karen at her most vulnerable.

5. “Hurting Each Other” (1972) #2. Only a person who has been in a crappy relationship understands this one. It’s a shame Karen did.

4. “Goodbye to Love” (1972) #7. We’ve all been there, especially as a teen and young adult. It’s as if Karen took on all of our pain while recording her vocals.

3. “We’ve Only Just Begun” (1971) #2. This song was so ubiquitous when I was a kid that I thought it was mandatory for it to be played at every wedding my family attended. And, did you know that the song was originally used in a commercial out in California before the Carpenters recorded it and made it a milestone Seventies love song?

2. “(They Long to Be) Close to You” (1970) #1. More of a sentimental choice than anything else. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

1. “Superstar” (1972) #2. This song kickstarted the whole power ballad fad that last well in the Nineties without many even noticing. This song was perfect BEFORE Sonic Youth covered it and turned it inside out. It is truly one of the great overlooked songs of the rock era!

Sometime in the spring of 1983, I officially became something of a fan of Randy Newman. I honestly cannot remember why, but I just happened to pick up a copy of his latest album Trouble in Paradise. However, I do remember being the only person in my circle who liked the album, outside of the hit song “I Love L.A.” Personally, I found the album to be full of warped humor that either entertaining to others with like minds or was off-putting to those who took the lyrics at face value.

Sure, I had lived through the whole “Short People” controversy just five years earlier and found it amusing that so many people got so worked up about a song, albeit a song with acerbic lyrics that could lead to misinterpretation. It was during this time that I began to truly notice that maybe I was going to be an outlier in society. Now, that’s something which is not easy to handle as a teen. As a matter of fact, it is a factor that takes a very long time to come to grips with. So, it makes sense that this odd bent in my way of thinking allowed me to see patterns in the scientific and political worlds that academically put me ahead of my peers but also isolated me as well.

Which all simply brings me back to Randy Newman and his music. As a high schooler, I was off-put by his music, thinking he was simply writing show tunes for Broadway or movies. While, I, on the other hand, was a rocker through and through. But, while in college, I finally discovered the joke. Randy Newman was making wry commentary on the world around us while dressing it up in a soundtrack setting to make the lyrics palatable to his targets. Once I had that light bulb moment, I began to bow at the alter of Newman’s music.

Ironically, I noticed the exact same thing occurring in my older son’s musical tastes. In high school, he played in a band that only played pop-punk and material by Incubus and Linkin Park, stretching their chops so far as to add a Rage Against the Machine song to their set. But, when that band broke up, he started to branch out into Phish, Bob Dylan and The Band. Then, once he came back from college, Graham was espousing his love for Randy Newman. Remember, I went down a similar path, although I never learned to play an instrument as he had.

No, Randy Newman will never be a Top of Pops-type of artist. Sure, he will probably be more remembered for his soundtrack work, particularly Toy Story. But, for me, I will forever attached to his work from the Seventies and Eighties, although he has released two terrific studio albums in the past ten-to-twelve years.

Ironically, Graham and his wife went to see Newman perform at the newest venue in Central Indiana a few years back. This place, The Palladium, is a very opulent musical theater, that looks as if it were built centuries ago, not just years ago. Anyway, Graham says that early on in Newman’s performance, he looks around at the place, taking in its beauty. Then, he announced, “Wow! This place is a dump,” and went on with his next song. My son said it was a perfect moment, since the section of this Indianapolis suburb is notorious for its stereotypical haughtiness. He knew I would love to hear the piss being taken out of the place. We laughed and laughed, while my wife just looked at us annoyed. She is not a Randy Newman fan.

So, I thought I would attempt to list my 30 favorite Randy Newman songs. I have even included a “Christmas” song for the holidays.

30. “New Orleans Wins the War” (Land of Dreams, 1988)

29. “The World Isn’t Fair” (Bad Love, 1999)

28. “Little Criminals” (Little Criminals, 1977)

27. “Sigmund Freud’s First Impressions of Albert Einstein in America” (Little Criminals, 1977)

26. “Baltimore” (Little Criminals, 1977)

25. “Uncle Bob’s Midnight Blues” (12 Songs, 1970)

24. “It’s Money That I Love” (Born Again, 1979)

23. “The Story of a Rock & Roll Band” (Born Again, 1979)

22. “Wedding in Cherokee County” (Good Old Boys, 1974)

21. “My Life Is Good” (Trouble in Paradise, 1983)

20. “Korean Parents” (Harps and Angels, 2008)

19. “Dixie Flyer” (Land of Dreams, 1988)

18. “Christmas in Cape Town” (Trouble in Paradise, 1983)

17. “The Great Debate” (Dark Matter, 2017)

16. “Memo to My Son” (Sail Away, 1972)

15. “My Old Kentucky Home” (12 Songs, 1970)

14. “Let’s Burn Down the Cornfield” (12 Songs, 1970)

13. “Putin” (Dark Matter, 2017)

12. “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” (Toy Story OST, 1995)

11. “God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind)” (Sail Away, 1972)

10. “It’s Money That Matters” (Land of Dreams, 1988). This is the closest Newman ever got to doing a “Weird Al” type of parody, yet it is still light years away from a “Weird Al” song. Newman’s target was Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing” and the whole MTV phenomenon.

9. “You Can Leave Your Hat On” (Sail Away, 1972). Yes, Joe Cocker does a fairly sexy version of this slice of satire, but Cocker missed the whole point of this tale of lurid lust.

8. “Louisiana 1927” (Good Old Boys, 1974). A great song about a famous flood whose lyrics proved eerily prophetic during the Katrina fiasco.

7. “I Love L.A.” (Trouble in Paradise, 1983). I just thought it was hilarious that the Lakers played this song during timeouts to fire up their crowd when the whole song is making fun of the whole L.A. image. As a Pacers and former Celtics fan, nothing was more subversive.

6. “Short People” (Little Criminals, 1977). This tune should tell you just how crazy the Seventies hit charts were when you realize this was a #2 hit. And the fact that people were livid about the lyrics just made my life.

5. “A Few Words in Defense of Our Country” (Harps and Angels, 2008). You know, Newman wrote this for George W. Bush, but it seems even more applicable to Donald Trump. Now, that’s genius! And, it’s NOT even close to being jingoistic. HAHAHA!!!

4. “Political Science” (Sail Away, 1972). I am much less sophisticated than Newman, because I just simply say that people my age were just stoned during our high school government class. Yet, Newman does it with a poison pen that makes seem as if he is condoning the views of the ill-informed.

3. “Sail Away” (Sail Away, 1972). The beautiful nature of the Newman’s music on this song hides the fact that the lyrics are NOT describing a Neil Diamond view of coming to America, but that of the slave trade. This is subversiveness at its greatest.

2. “Burn On” (Sail Away, 1972). I have always laughed whenever I hear this song being played at the beginning of one of my all-time favorite films, Major League. What a great song about environmental issues.

1. “Rednecks” (Good Old Boys, 1974). You know, if Lynyrd Skynyrd were truly sophisticated Southern boys, this is the song they should have attached in “Sweet Home Alabama” instead of Neil Young’s “Southern Man.” But, they probably just thought Newman was praising them. Oh, the joke was on them!

After doing this blog entry, I think I would want Randy Newman to write a sardonic campaign anthem if I were to ever run for Congress or President. I want it to seem like I am all about my Hoosier background while eviscerating it. Now, that would be performance art!