Author: ifmyalbumscouldtalk

Today is one of those crappy pain days for me, so please bear with me as I try to fight through this crap for a couple of hours as I try to do this thing. My latest pain battle is the toll I now feel in the days and hours leading up to a storm, depending on the severity of the upcoming weather event. I don’t know about you all around the world, but here in the backwoods of Middle America, people around my age and older have all heard stories of our grandmothers having a foot bunion, or corn, that would ache during the time leading up to a storm. Those old wives’ tales used to crack me up as a scientist, that is until recently. For some reason, my nerve-damaged legs have become something of barometers for upcoming storms. All weekend long, I have been suffering muscle spasms up and down my legs while we learned of an impending set of back-to-back snow storms heading our way. The worse the storm, the more painful my spasms become. I should be taking a muscle relaxer, but I really wanted to try to write this blog. That’s right! I’m something of a martyr.

Honestly, that’s probably why I suffer from chronic pain since I was attempting to prove to the world how I could play through injuries when I was a stupid teenage athlete. I thought pain tolerance was my superpower. Looks like God, or Fate, or Karma, or whatever you want to call it, is having the last laugh as now I cannot tolerate. Sometimes, my language gets worse, sometimes my musical choices get more aggressive and brutal sounding as my pain increases. However, when it’s at its worse, I get quiet and tend to curl up in a ball and just withdraw from humanity. Right now, I’m putting up a fight, mainly because I’m a competitor. And, that competitor may shorten my life, but that’s how I’m wired.

So, since my legs have become something of a meteorological wonder in predicting incoming storms, like the one that dumped about 4 inches of snow on us last night as well as the incoming one that is just beginning with put down another couple inches, I have been doing a little nostalgia today. On this day, with only eight shopping days left before Christmas, I have decided to venture back to my new wave days of the late Seventies and early Eighties for a little Blondie.

I first read about Blondie back during my Creem magazine days of 1976, when there seemed to be all kinds of coverage of the bands who were playing at the great CBGB’s night club in New York City. In those articles, I recall reading about artists such as the Ramones, Talking Heads, Television, Dead Boys, Devo, Richard Hell & the Voidoids, among others. At the time, in those circles, Blondie was the pop group, but Lester Bangs loved them. And, if Lester Bangs or Lisa Robinson gave his/her stamp of approval on an artist, then I would have to check that artist out. That meant that I quietly purchased Blondie’s self-titled debut album back in 1977, since it took that long for me to find the record at a store, any store, here in Indiana.

Did I become an immediate fan? Honestly, no. Oh sure, I found it interesting, but my tastes were not ready for the band. So what happened to the album? I sold it in a garage sale. That’s right! I sold the damn thing, along with The Runaways’ debut album. So stupid! Especially since I ended up purchasing the damn album again a few years later.

Fast forward to the Spring of 1979 when the band’s “Heart of Glass” hit the airwaves to become one of the first hits that divided the early Gen X generation kids from their older Boomer friends and family. This was especially true in the American heartland. You wouldn’t believe how many derogatory names I was called because I listened to that album all the time. Most of the names are not used by today’s youth. Yet, like in every generation, there will always be a pocket of rebels, misfits and nonconformists who will find each other and this music simultaneously. And a few of us were actually working on the high school radio station and writing for the school newspaper, so we would inform our peers of new artists like Blondie. And, eventually “Heart of Glass” jump-started a five-year run of hit songs and albums for Blondie, eventually making them one of the world’s most popular bands.

Now, what I have always loved about the band, in addition to Debbie Harry’s hotness, was their updated take on early Sixties pop music. The basic melodies of those terrific Brill building and Phil Spector hits from that time period remained, simply sped up and containing the detached irony-ridden lyrics that became a hallmark of the music of my youth. And, as the band became better musicians, they stretched beyond that poppish punk music into the worlds of disco, reggae, calypso and, perhaps most importantly, rap. Blondie’s leaders were singer/focal point Harry and guitarist Chris Stein, who wrote a significant number of the hits that band had, were two of the biggest proponents of the burgeoning hip hop scene in NYC, as was The Clash’s Mick Jones. Suddenly, new wave, punk, rap, R&B and rock were all cross-pollinating resulting in some of the most exciting music ever recorded. It truly was an exciting era in which to grow up, especially as MTV began sending these sounds into our living rooms.

And, Blondie was the band that opened the floodgates that first hit us in the U.S.A. in 1979, and then again, after MTV signed on the air from 1981 to 1983. Over the years, Blondie gave us many great singles and album cuts which have endured to this day. Additionally, since they reformed in 1999, Blondie have been blessing us with some strong albums containing some very strong songs.

All of this leads me to present my 25 Favorite Blondie songs. Sure, we can quibble as to the order of these songs, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a better representation of an artist’s career as these hits indicate Blondie’s per-eminence in rock’s pantheon.

25. “War Child” (The Hunter, 1982)

24. “Good Boys” (The Curse of Blondie, 2004)

23. “Sugar on the Side” (Ghosts of Download, 2014)

22. “Long Time” (Pollinator, 2017)

21. “Rapture Riders” (Greatest Hits: Sound + Sight, 2005)

20. “The Hardest Part” (Eat to the Beat, 1979)

19. “(I Am Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear” (Plastic Letters, 1978)

18. “Denis” (Plastic Letters, 1978)

17. “Picture This” (Parallel Lines, 1978)

16. “In the Flesh” (Blondie, 1976)

15. “Fun” (Pollinator, 2017)

14. “Sunday Girl” (Parallel Lines, 1978)

13. “Rip Her to Shreds” (Blondie, 1976)

12. “Island of Lost Souls” (The Hunter, 1982)

11. “X Offender” (Blondie, 1976)

10. “The Tide Is High” (Autoamerican, 1980). 1980 was a unique year as reggae music was finding its niche here in the States. Marley was getting airplay here in the Midwest, ever so briefly but it DID happen. Then, Stevie Wonder hit #1 with his Marley tribute “Master Blaster” and Blondie hit #1 again with this reggae tune. Oh, how my heart was full!

9. “Maria” (No Exit, 1999). I used to catch hell from my boys concerning my love of this song, but it was such a breath of fresh air at the time. Sure, the urgency of youth had been tempered, but it was simply a great comeback single that flew over the heads of the Millennials.

8. “Union City Blue” (Eat to the Beat, 1979). In many ways, Eat to the Beat was Blondie’s Mod album, as if they let loose of their early Who and current Jam influences all at once, all the while remaining a Blondie album. This song truly projects all that I am describing.

7. “Call Me” (American Gigolo OST, 1980). This may or may not be an actual Debbie Harry solo single. Regardless, this collaboration between Donna Summer producer Giorgio Moroder and the creative side of the band is a perfect mix of Eurodisco punk and NYC cool. No wonder it seemed like it stayed at #1 all summer long in 1980.

6. “Hanging on the Telephone” (Parallel Lines, 1978). Actually, this is a cover of a song originally recorded by LA power pop pioneers The Nerves. But, Blondie brought the attitude and the urgency to the song that was lacking in the original. I love to place this song right next to Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” and Richard Hell’s “Blank Generation” as the best songs from the CBGB’s punk scene.

5. “Atomic” (Eat to the Beat, 1979). This song, my friends, is the forerunner to “Call Me.” It is that song’s punkier, tougher brother.

4. “Dreaming” (Eat to the Beat, 1979). The star of this tune is not Harry but drummer Clem Burke. He channels Keith Moon to great effect here, driving this song from another really good Blondie rock tune into rock immortality.

3. “One Way or Another” (Parallel Lines, 1978). Arguably, this song is Blondie’s signature rock song. At the very least, it is their most enduring rock-oriented song.

2. “Heart of Glass” (Parallel Lines, 1978). What started out as a disco parody song became what perhaps may be one of the top five greatest examples of a perfect disco song ever. Who knew what was truly inside this band.

1. “Rapture” (Autoamerican, 1980). This song is not only a landmark song, signaling the ascent of hip hop culture, but it is just a terrific hit. It has everything, from the name-dropping of Fab Five Freddy to the NYC disco scene to a punk/metal guitar to Debbie Harry’s cool vocals AND rap. This IS the beginning of Gen X.

I don’t know what it is, but I’ve been in a writing funk recently. I feel like I’ve been just going through the motions with this blog. Honestly, lately I have not been finding the solace in music as I had always done in the past. I’m not sure what to make of this. Of course, I always get a little concerned when this happens because it might mean that I’m at the beginning of a downward spiral in my mental health. Additionally, I do get in an emotional funk during two times of the year: at the beginning of November, which coincides with the beginning of high school basketball season in Indiana and again in the middle of February, which signals the beginning of high school track and field season. Although I enjoy writing at times, nothing has come close to filling my soul the way those two coaching endeavors filled me.

But, at this moment, I do not feel I am having a delayed reaction to basketball because I have been watching more basketball than I have since my early retirement from teaching. No, something else is bugging me, therefore, I will use this platform to fight my way through this funk. I must admit that getting the Prince and R.E.M. remasters recently have gotten me back in my music room to play music lately. Hell, I even put up the black rock & roll Christmas tree in the room complete with my string of dancing Grateful Dead bear lights and various music-oriented ornaments.

So, I went back into my archive of blog entries to see which artists I have not written up. You know what I discovered? I’ve repeated myself several times! God! It’s just like me telling my friends and students the same damn stories time after time, and I don’t have dementia like Mom did…yet! You know, Mom would have appreciated that line! She had a dark and warped sense of humor. So, my question to you the reader is why haven’t you called me out on these repeats?!?! Am I just the weirdo old guy who’s allowed to drop food down the front of his clothes (Note to self: you gotta figure out how to get food stains down your back simply to confuse your future caretakers.)? C’mon! Help a (very white, almost translucent) brother out!

Over the years, I’m certain I have praised the band Heart, but for reasons unknown I have never written about them. Now, everyone knows their story such as getting their big break in 1976 with their Zeppelin-esque debut album, Dreamboat Annie. At the time, the beautiful Wilson sisters were the victims of a sexist scheme to portray them as some sort of male fantasy lesbian sister sicko crap at the time. Slowly, they overturned that stupid image to become a vision of female strength in the music biz, but it took time.

In all honesty, I did not become a big Heart fan until I saw them live in 1982. By that time, the band was nearing the end of the first phase of their career, the one upon which their enduring fame is built. At the time, I truly loved their most recent album, the much-maligned Private Audition. A friend of mine had turned me onto the album, and I thought the band was showing some real growth by showing off their R&B influences. However, the majority of the listeners were off-put by this detour in their sound. Anyway, I went to their concert mostly to see their opening act, fellow Hoosier rock sensation John Cougar (Mellencamp). He was riding high with his American Fool album and those timeless hits “Hurts So Good” and “Jack and Diane.” And, of course, that concert being his triumphant homecoming concert, the crowd was hyped. And, John and his band were terrific.

So, I wasn’t expecting much when Heart took the stage. Yet, that band rose to the occasion and just became bigger than life. I literally was blown away. This band was so much more than the hits on the radio, as great as they were. To this day, I have yet to hear a vocalist as great as Ann Wilson was in concert. Granted, I never saw Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin or Mariah Carey live, but I have seen Pat Benatar. And, as great as Pat is, she is no Ann Wilson. Hell, she was better than Robert Plant, Roger Daltry and Robin Zander for that matter. Ann just may be the most underrated singer of all-time! She could literally raise the roof of the arena in which I saw her. That woman is blessed.

But, Ann is not the sole attraction. Sister Nancy Wilson is a showstopping performer in her own right. Her guitar playing is subtle and tasteful during the acoustic songs and thick and meaty during the arena rocking songs. I truly believe Heart is overlooked by people for two reasons. Foremost, I think there is a definite sexist thing with Boomers. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard WOMEN say they don’t like to listen to female rock singers. WTF!?!?!? Second, and I can be guilty of this, people hold their use of outside writers against them during their second phase that lasted from 1985 to 1990. Sure, they had HUGE hits, some of them I love, but, and I’ve read the ladies saying the same thing, they were barely distinguishable from other hits of the era by hair metal bands, Michael Bolton and others who had hit songs written by Dianne Warren.

To me, what makes Heart so compelling is how they handled their next two career phases. During the third phase, they became something of elder stateswomen to the whole Nineties Seattle grunge scene. Those musicians love and respected the Wilson sisters for putting the Pacific Northwest on the musical map. It was during that time that the sisters got back to the clubs thus setting themselves up for the current phase of their career as caretakers of their legacy. You see, they have released some excellent new music during the 2010s. Their last two albums are stuffed full of the kind of music that got them inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

I love Heart! They are my favorite arena rock band. There is such much more to them than their peers like Journey or Styx. Go back to your collection and dig out those old classic Heart albums and listen to them again. And, millennials, go buy their albums from the Seventies and Eighties to hear their talent. Heart is one band for the ages that does not get enough love as far as I’m concerned.

So, with all that said, let me honor one of my favorites from my youth Heart with my 30 favorite songs they have released over the years.

30. “You’re the Voice” (single, 1991)

29. “Fanatic” (Fanatic, 2012)

28. “Stranded” (Brigade, 1990)

27. “Tell It like It Is” (Greatest Hits/Live, 1980)

26. “Back to Avalon” (Desire Walks On, 1993)

25. “Who Will You Run To” (Bad Animals, 1987)

24. “City’s Burning” (Private Audition, 1982)

23. “WTF” (Red Velvet Car, 2010)

22. “Black on Black II” (Desire Walks On, 1993)

21. “Beautiful Broken (with James Hetfield)” (Beautiful Broken, 2016)

20. “Stairway to Heaven (live at the Kennedy Center Honors)” (single, 2013)

19. “Heartless” (Magazine, 1978)

18. “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You” (Brigade, 1990)

17. “Love Alive” (Little Queen, 1977)

16. “Mistral Wind” (Dog & Butterfly, 1978)

15. “What About Love” (Heart, 1985)

14. “Nothin’ at All” (Heart, 1985)

13. “Never” (Heart, 1985)

12. “Straight On” (Dog & Butterfly, 1978)

11. “Barracuda” (Little Queen, 1977)

10. “Little Queen” (Little Queen, 1977). I don’t care whether Ann is singing a ballad or belting a rocker, the woman has the most powerful yet sexiest voice in all of rock. She shakes men to the core probably like what women felt like when Robert Plant sang. Oh, and this is Heart at their funkiest.

9. “Dog & Butterfly” (Dog & Butterfly, 1978). This is Nancy at her acoustic best. Her guitar playing truly shines on the songs when she plays acoustic guitar, which is NOT a knock on her outstanding electric guitar playing. There’s just something fierce yet sexy about her acoustic play.

8. “Alone” (Bad Animals, 1987). This song is immortal, and that’s all I need to say.

7. “Dreamboat Annie” (Dreamboat Annie, 1976). I love the softer side of Heart. And, this song shows that they were WAY more than a Zeppelin knock-off.

6. “Magic Man” (Dreamboat Annie, 1976). This song taught me in no uncertain terms that women do feel lust, no matter what my mom tried to tell me.

5. “Even It Up” (Bébé le Strange, 1980). Brings back so many memories of running track in high school.

4. “This Man Is Mine” (Private Audition, 1982). If I were truthful, I probably would have put this ode to Motown at #1 since it is my go-to Heart song.

3. “These Dreams” (Heart, 1985). What can I say about Heart’s first #1 song? Except, did you know that it was Nancy singing? WTF?!?!

2. “How Can I Refuse?” (Passionworks, 1983). This song was all over Milwaukee radio during the summer of 1983. We used to play it to death on the jukebox at the nearby dive bar, along with Ramones, The Clash and Culture Club. Yeah, that’s right! I said Culture Club!

1. “Crazy on You” (Dreamboat Annie, 1976). There’s nothing better than women singing about lust.

Time for the big cliche: I can’t believe we are in December 2019! So much has happened this year, from my mom’s passing, to my younger son and his wife both turning 30 and my granddaughter celebrating her first birthday, to the birth of my first grandson, to living the third impeachment hearings in my lifetime, to the loss of a long-time coach/friend/mentor, to the craziest list of Rock Hall nominees, to a weird year of music, to the remastered releases of Prince’s 1999 and R.E.M.’s Monster. In the words of Ben Fong-Torres in Almost Famous, “Crazy!”

Overall, I’m still not sure what to make of the new music release this year. If I were to cheat a little bit, I’d say the best album of “new” music was the stuff from The Vault found on discs three and four on that aforementioned 1999 super deluxe box set. Very little seemed as fresh, forward-looking and just plain moving as those two discs that have not left my turntable/CD player since the mail carrier delivered it ten days or so ago. But, that declaration would probably be unfair to all the artists who released new material this year. Then, again, why should I really care? Hell, Kanye released some “gospel” crap that only emphasized to me that he might have lost touch of his muse over the past five years. It happens to everyone. However, he is NOT the genius he thinks he is. Sorry, he’s no Prince, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Miles Davis, Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, or Run-DMC. But, that’s another blog.

While I’m raging against the machine (though I AM happy they are reuniting, since we NEED them now!), is it just me or is the industry over-hyping some artists right now? Don’t get me wrong, I think Taylor Swift has had a nice career, but I really don’t get her. Also, Ariana Grande? I like her better when she was Mariah Carey, the real one. I kinda like Billie Eilish, but I still believe she needs a couple albums to develop her sound better; hopefully, she will get that opportunity. Maybe the problem is that, as my older son has told me on a couple of occasions, that today’s music isn’t for me anymore. I guess I just didn’t die before I got old.

So, I thought I would keep with my tradition of releasing my year-end Top 50 albums for 2019. I started doing this in my private journals back in 1975 when I was twelve, and I am not really ready to call it quits. However, I will concede that this is getting more and more difficult to fill my list. Up through the Nineties, I could fill a Top 50 easily. Now, I simply trust my boys more for the bottom part. What’s an aging Gen X-er, or am I a Boomer (God! I hope not!), to do? Enough of this! Let’s see the damn list!

50. Weezer – Weezer (The Teal Album). Mainly for nostalgia.

49. Anderson. Paak – Ventura. He might be a more boring version of Maxwell.

48. Kanye West – Jesus Is King. See my previous comments.

47. Bon Iver – i, i. I keep trying, but I fall asleep during everyone of his albums.

46. Tinashe – Songs for You. I think she is still searching for her sound.

45. Yola – Walk Through Fire. I like this album, even though the songwriting has yet to catch up to her ambitions. Keep an eye on Yola.

44. Tanya Tucker – While I’m Livin’. The original Miranda has made a strong comeback, though she keeps doing her best LL Cool J by saying it’s not a comeback.

43. that dog. – Old LP. The power poppers from the Nineties made a nice little comeback album that few have heard but should.

42. Miranda Lambert – Wildcard. Our friends’ oldest daughter roomed with a young lady who competed on the first season of Nashville Star when Miranda Lambert was a contestant. My older son, once again, said Miranda was the only contestant who would have a career out of that bunch. I really need to start listening to him sometime.

41. Kim Gordon – No Home Record. Again, this was a nostalgia pick because I’ve always loved her songs on Sonic Youth’s albums.

40. White Reaper – You Deserve Love. When in doubt, I put on a power pop band.

39. Chance the Rapper – The Big Day. Sure, Chance is a little on the pop side of hip hop, but I like him. Plus, he not bad when he’s on SNL. Back to you!

38. Thom Yorke – ANIMA. Do I really like this or do I just WANT to like it?

37. FKA twigs – Magdalene. This artist is somewhere in the sweet zone between Kate Bush, Bjork and Nineties Madonna. She continues to pique my interest.

36. Wilco – Ode to Joy. I will always love what these guys do, even if they might be starting to rest on their laurels a bit.

35. Santana – Africa Speaks. This is a good album, but it’s not Supernatural, let alone Abraxas. Not even Zebop!

34. Taylor Swift – Lover. Is Taylor beginning to slip a bit in her songwriting? Time will tell.

33. Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow. Van Etten is a nice little singer-songwriter, but she needs a little lesson in Carole King and Joni Mitchell in order to raise her game.

32. Tyler, The Creator – Igor. This is the best hip hop album of 2019, but he is no Kendrick Lamar.

31. Big Thief – U.F.O.F. This is the first of two albums the band released this year. Neither are great, but there is much to like about the future for this band.

30. Big Thief – Two Hands. These two albums fall somewhere between GNR’s Use Your Illusion I and II, Weezer’s Black and Teal Albums and those stupid Springsteen’s albums from the Nineties.

29. Priests – The Seduction of Kansas. Just when you thought no one was doing pop punk anymore, this album found its way into my stream.

28. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next. This one is her best, but it’s not the best album of the year. Sorry to the folks at Rolling Stone.

27. Ex Hex – It’s Real. Sometimes, you just gotta have some great alternative music…

26. Tool – Fear Inoculum. It’s always great to have a true comeback by a great band.

25. The Black Keys – Let’s Rock. The Keys’ last four albums have been outstanding and exciting. This one is just a little lackluster. Still, it’s solid.

24. Carly Rae Jepson – Dedicated. THIS is the female pop singer to listen to!

23. Solange – When I Get Home. Beyonce’s little sis is becoming a damn good artist.

22. Beck – Hyperspace. I really wanted to like this album more than I do, but it’s still better than many released this year.

21. Raphael Saadiq – Jimmy Lee. Will someone please explain to me why this guy doesn’t sell more records? Saadiq is the true heir to Prince right now.

20. Fitz & the Tantrums – All the Feels. I keep waiting for this band to break big. They are the Hall & Oates of the 21st century.

19. Maggie Rogers – Heard It in a Past Life. Mark my words, this girl’s gonna be a star! Of course, I’ve been wrong before…

18. Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? I’m just glad that young people are listening to something fresh.

17. Charli XCX – Charli. Here’s another great artist who should be huge.

16. The Highwomen – The Highwomen. A nice country album that sounds more like a West Coast album from the Seventies.

15. Vampire Weekend – Father of the Bride. I love this band, but this is their weakest album to date. Still, it’s stronger than most this year.

14. Coldplay – Everyday Life. I have to give these guys some love. They are following U2’s career’s trajectory perfectly.

13. Michael Kiwanuka – Kiwanuka. This guy is the real deal! He keeps getting closer to delivering a blockbuster. He is something a Bill Withers for the new millennium.

12. King Princess – Cheap Queen. I really love this album! She has something of a Teena Marie vibe to her.

11. Angel Olsen – All Mirrors. Olsen is beginning to blossom in her songwriting.

10. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Ghosteen. To me, the best comparison of Nick Cave would be Leonard Cohen, only if Cohen had come up during the punk era like Cave. Cave has a dark beauty to his music that has been unmatched since the middle of the Eighties. I highly recommend this one.

9. Sturgill Simpson – Sound and Fury. If you are an old geezer like me, you remember when artists took chances with their music. For the uninitiated, Simpson is a terrific outlaw country/southern rock artist. But, on this album he does a southern-fried version of LCD Soundsystem that is both challenging AND totally awesome!

8. Bruce Springsteen – Western Stars. I absolutely love the laidback nature of this album. This was a great album to listen to outside, as the evening changed to night during the summer.

7. Sleater-Kinney – The Center Won’t Hold. The second best power trio of the Nineties has been on a creative roll since reforming a couple years ago. This is a terrific album.

6. Charly Bliss – Young Enough. If you need a Cheap Trick fix, Charly Bliss will fill the need. I loved their last album, but this one’s even better!

5. Brittany Howard – Jaime. Remember when Alabama Shakes burst onto the scene at the beginning of the twenty-teens? Wow! How could have ever forgotten what a great singer Howard is?

4. Jenny Lewis – On the Line. If you ever miss Tom Petty’s music, just listen to Lewis and that will fill the void. And, this my friends, is her best album hands down. A very underrated artist who would sound perfectly on classic rock radio.

3. Bob Mould – Sunshine Rock. Bob Mould’s music has been a part of my life since 1984, be it with Hüsker Dü, Sugar or solo. But, what he has been doing since the turn of this decade is a revelation! And, so is this album!

2. Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell! After her disastrous debut on SNL several years back, I had written her off. I thought she was simply an artist that was pushed through the star-making machine and would be exposed as a fraud. But to her credit, she kept coming back. And, now, in 2019, Del Rey has created her masterpiece. See what a little humble pie can do for you if you keep grinding it out?!?!

1. Lizzo – Cuz I Love You. I was blown away when I saw her perform “Juice” on The Tonight Show. But, then I just thought it might be the case of a great single being lost on an album of okay material. But, boy howdy, was I ever wrong! Finally, an album was released that took me back to the days of disco, Prince and Earth, Wind & Fire! Yowsah! This is the best album of the year, and, quite possibly, the whole decade. I sure hope this woman is NOT a flash in the pan!

Finally! It arrived in the mail today! I ordered it back at the end of the summer, but it is here. Now, everything in the world is right again. That’s right, folks, my remastered version of Prince’s second masterpiece, 1999, arrived today from his Estate. Oh, the vinyl packaging is beautiful, a four-LP set with a metallic cover. And, since I am such a Prince completist, I also got the super deluxe 5-CD/1-DVD box set with a metallic SILVER cover. You all do NOT realize how important this album was in my life.

Once again, let’s board Mr. Peabody’s Wayback Machine and set the date for November 22, 1982. That day was the twentieth anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, but that’s not why I wanted to go there. No, I chose that day because I was a stupid nineteen-year-old college sophomore, who had given up college athletics for an actual college life of intramural basketball, competitive cycling and the party life. Anyway, a couple of my high school buddies and I were back in town on Quarter Break around Thanksgiving and were going to a nearby mall to meet up with some college girls from Ball State to hang out for the day.

Since I was one to NEVER waste a moment when the opportunity knocked, I convinced everyone to go to the local record store for a visit. You see, back then even the most casual music listener loved to wander through a record store since they often carried much more than music. Oh, sure, I was there for the albums, not so much for the cassettes or 8-track tapes, nor was I there for the T-shirts and other rock-related merch. And, I wasn’t really interested in the drug paraphernalia that was sold there either. Nope, I was ready to do some bin diving. However, I never really got started. Because, there it was, on the wall, just begging me to purchase it and leave.

You see, there on the wall, in the prime position of “The Album of the Week” was Prince’s 1999, a double album for the low, low price of $9.99! Remember, single albums back then were normal around $8.99, and double albums were rung up for $12.99. So, I would have been LOSING money if I hadn’t picked up that album right there and there. The question was do I buy the album and cut my week’s beer money by two-thirds, or to I go for an album that could potentially be a gift that keeps on giving. Of course, I bought the album. This very day became notorious for being the ONLY time in my life when I was ready to leave a record store before everyone else. Nope, no one was dragging me out today! I was in and out in ten minutes! I think my friends were all giving a collective sigh of relief.

As you might guess, it was several hours before I got back to Mom’s house. I called it Mom’s house because it never felt like home again after I went to college. Much to Mom’s chagrin, I had lugged my Technics component stereo home for the week, because, to paraphrase LL Cool J, I can’t live without my stereo. Remember, I was NOT a Prince-newbie by any stretch of the imagination, as I had all of his LPs to that point. But, for me, 1999 represented a whole new level of musical brilliance. This was a milestone record, much like London Calling by The Clash had been in the Spring of 1980. Screw Thriller! 1999 was THE party record of 1982 AND 1983 for me.

From the moment the needle hit the groove on the first record, and I heard the infamous words, “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you! I only want you to have some fun,” I knew this was a totally new trip. There might not be a better side of three songs than Side A of 1999 with the title song, “Little Red Corvette” and “Delirious.” “1999” represented exactly what every member of the early Gen X crew was thinking about what seemed to be an impending nuclear apocalypse: if it’s going to happen, we might as well party! That was segued into “Little Red Corvette,” perhaps the dirtiest covert song ever to become a Top 10 hit (“You had a pocket full of Trojans, horses, and some of them used.” Are you kidding me?!?!). And, that broke into “Delirious,” a neo-rockabilly/synth pop/dance amalgam. When that side ended I had to pick my jaw up off the ground. I knew when I got back to campus, that this album side would stuff people onto the dance floor.

But, I was NOT ready for Side B, arguably Prince’s finest moment. Remember, there are only two songs on this side, yet they are perfect! Neither was a hit, in the sense that radio would play them. But, you couldn’t edit either, sensor them for that matter, without ruining the urgency of their message. Seriously, if Side A was the pop/rock side, then Side B was the funk/dance side. The songs, which flow seamlessly into each other, were “Let’s Pretend We’re Married” and “D.M.S.R.”. Basically, if a DJ had Record 1 of 1999 and Thriller, you didn’t need much else to have a great night of dancing. So, when that first record ended, I thought that if Record 2 is just average, this is still a great album.

Record 2? Hell, Prince gave us six more classic R&B/dance songs. There is absolutely NO drop-off in the brilliance of his touch on 1999. Side C, much like Side A, is a three-song suite of minimalist funk and R&B brilliance that only Michael Jackson, James Brown, George Clinton, Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix could only partially dream of. “Automatic” bleeds into “Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)” slows down to the worldly political comment of “Free.” If I was unsure that I might be listening to my generation’s Sgt. Pepper, Side D convinced me that it might just be more than that.

That’s because Side D is nothing but dirty, lowdown, sexy funk. “Lady Cab Driver” is the dirty funk and dirty lyrics to boot. And, “All the Critics Love U in New York” introduced us all not only to Prince’s invention of text messaging spelling but of the slow-burn funk of a new wavish “Stairway to Heaven” epic that sounds as if Berlin met The Time and birthed this dance song. Finally, Prince shows that he is the Gen X loverboy on the final song, “International Lover.”

If nothing else, 1999 was the blueprint for Prince’s career, whether we knew it at the time or not. First, you can hear the groundwork that he laid for the careers of The Time and Vanity 6 on this album. Additionally, if you were really listening to this album at the time, then the so-called surprise sounds of Around the World in a Day, Parade and Sign ‘O’ the Times were not really that shocking. The skeletons were all there, just the increasing lushness of his subsequent sounds were awaiting to be added.

Now, as far as the Super Deluxe version is concerned, it’s made for the Prince fanatics like me. In addition to the remaster, you get a disc of all the radio edits of the hits, 12-inch remixes and all the great B-sides, two discs of songs from the famous Vault that are only for weirdos such as me, and a live recording of a concert from Detroit that has been bootlegged for years. To top things off, there’s a DVD of the December 29, 1982, concert in Houston, Texas, which is a great addition to the old Prince collection.

Now, remember that I am a fan of Tom Petty, Cheap Trick, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Daryl Hall & John Oates and Queen, but all pale in my heart to Prince. The cynic in me wants to lash out at the Prince Estate for all of these seemingly cash-ins of vinyl releases of albums from the CD- and digital-eras and these remastered packages, but the true Prince-ophile in me truly appreciates it.

Hi! My name is Scott, and I am a Prince addict…

Mr. Peabody! Could you please tell your pet boy Sherman to set the Wayback Machine to October 30, 1976?

You see, ladies and gentlemen, that very day, I was spending the night at Mike Bond’s house, along with about 10 to 15 other seventh grade boys, to celebrate Mike’s fourteenth birthday. That night, the usual teenage shenanigans took place like football, basketball, exploring the trails that went from behind his parents’ home down to the park in our hometown, running around the nearby cemetery because it was old, spooky AND the night before Halloween, and any other dumb stuff a teenage boy does with a bunch of guys. Of course, our collective IQ dropped precipitously, but that always happens with any group of boys between the ages of 8 and 25.

Now, with all due respect to Mike, perhaps my oldest friend (He’s not old, only four months older than me. We met at the first game that our old high school had and have been friends ever since. Our school opened in 1969, so that’s a fricking LONG time. Crap! It’s 50 years now!), that night was significant for a whole other reason. While his deviously dry father was attempting to pay one of us twenty dollars to sleep the night in that old cemetery, I stumbled through their family and noticed Mike’s high school age older sister watching TV. I asked her what was on, and she said it was some new comedy show called NBC’s Saturday Night. First off, Saturday Night Live was the name of some lame sketch comedy show on ABC the previous year that was hosted by Howard Cosell, not a name associated with comedy though Bill Murray was originally in that cast. Now, I was still cutting my comedic teeth at the time which translates into I thought Jimmy Walker on Good Times was gold.

Needless to say, I sat down to watch this mind-blowing show. I really did not know what to think when I saw it. But, I watch it anyway. Then, about halfway through this show, the host (it was the legendary Buck Henry) announced the musical guest The Band. Now, at the time I was just discovering KISS, so I had no idea who The Band was. However, I was just blown away by their performance of “Life Is a Carnival,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” (I only knew Joan Baez’ version, even if I had NO context concerning her or the song) and, then what soon became my favorite “Stage Fright.” I sat there mesmerized by this group of men who played so differently than what was popular at the time. Nope, this was WAY different than “Chevy Van” or “Run Joey Run.” And, this comedy thing was so much funnier than the stuff I thought was funny on Welcome Back Kotter. That night changed my life in, oh, so many ways.

From that night forward, the show that eventually became Saturday Night Live, became my go-to show. I stuck with it during those lean years in college, though Eddie Murphy, arguably the most important cast member of all time, kept the franchise afloat while Fridays and SCTV were the sketch shows to watch. Yet, the thing that kept me coming back, week after week after week, was not the comedic genius, because that only worked on occasion. No, I was always keeping an eye on who the musical guests were, especially in the first twenty years, when those guests could be daring and off-the-wall.

Since this is mainly a live show, most of the musical guests perform live, though in the early days, ABBA did do their performance as if they were on The Carol Burnett Show and lip-synced their hit “S.O.S.” during a sketch. During that initial five-year run, the musical guests ranged from Gil Scott-Heron, jazz great Sun Ra, punk pioneer Patti Smith, Frank Zappa, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, reggae god Jimmy Cliff, Talking Heads, The B-52’s and so many others. And during the Eighties, we got to watch L.A. punk pioneers Fear, Cowboy Junkies, Living Colour and so many others. Heck, rap artists were even booked as early as 1981 (The Funky 4+1)! Nowadays, we mostly get the artists who are making a noise on the pop chart, but back in the day, kids, we got our musical minds blown.

What I want to present to you is a list of my 50 favorite musical performances over the first 44 seasons of Saturday Night Live. I have decided to list these chronologically because how do you separate Elvis Costello stopping his band early in a record company requested song to play his immortal “Radio Radio” instead, Patti Smith screaming “Jesus Christ died for our sins but not mine!” before going into “Gloria” early Easter morning 1976, Fear’s Halloween 1981 full-on punk onslaught that included onstage slam-dancing and got the whole performance cut away from live or Rage Against the Machine’s 1996 performance when they unfurled an upside down American flag on national TV only to get their second song cut.

So, buckle your seat belts! And, away we go!

18 October 1975: Simon & Garfunkel reunion – “The Boxer,” “Scarborough Fair” and “My Little Town”. Paul Simon almost seems like a cast member on SNL. He was the host on the second show ever and did a reunion set with his old partner Art Garfunkel.

17 April 1976: Patti Smith Group – “Gloria”. There’s something better in the music world than what’s on the radio, and this was when I found out.

30 October 1976: The Band – “Life Is a Carnival,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Stage Fright” and “Georgia on My Mind”. The Band was the greatest band ever, and they played on SNL!

20 November 1976: George Harrison & Paul Simon – “Here Comes the Sun” and “Homeward Bound”. Everyone forgets this because Simon was hosting and did his monologue in a turkey costume. But, Harrison’s first comeback was special due to this duet.

12 November 1977: Ray Charles – “I Can See Clearly Now,” “What’d I Say” and “Oh, What a Beautiful World”. This man was truly a genius!

12 December 1977: Elvis Costello & the Attractions – “Radio Radio”. Instead of Sex Pistols, who were battling visa issues, SNL got Costello when he was arguably the most pissed off man in music. So, instead of playing “Less Than Zero,” as his record company wanted, he stopped the band and made SNL history with this rousing version of a song “biting the hand that feeds them.”

18 February 1978: Billy Joel – “Only the Good Die Young”. Before that night, Joel was a struggling singer/songwriter. After that night, he became BILLY JOEL, future Rock & Rock Hall of Famer.

14 October 1978: Devo – “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”. This disjointed, robotic cover of the Stones’ classic changed my generation forever. Every nerd like me had five new heroes after that night.

10 February 1979: Talking Heads – “Take Me to the River”. Another real game-changer in my musical tastes.

10 November 1979: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – “Don’t Do Me Like That” and “Refugee”. The night I became a HUGE Tom Petty fan.

18 December 1979: David Bowie – “The Man Who Sold the World,” “TVC15” and “Boys Keep Swinging”. Three songs, three mind-blowing performances. One in a blow-up outfit, one in a dress and one with Bowie’s head superimposed on a dancing puppet’s body. I knew the Eighties were going to be cool!

14 February 1981: The Funky 4+1 – “That’s the Joint”. Ground zero of the rap explosion thanks to host Debbie Harry’s request.

21 February 1981: Prince – “Partyup”. This was Prince telling us that a whole new thing was happening, but we just didn’t realize it.

31 October 1981: Fear – “Beef Baloney” and “New York’s Alright If You Like Saxophone”. SNL proved once and for all that they had the most guts when booking talent. They get thumbs down from me for breaking to commercial when the mayhem just started getting good.

25 September 1982: Queen – “Under Pressure”. Sure, Bowie didn’t perform with the band, but they proved that night they were still a force to be reckoned with.

9 October 1982: The Clash – “Straight to Hell” and “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”. Any time The Clash were on TV, it was a MUST SEE night.

8 October 1983: John Cougar Mellencamp – “Pink Houses” and “Crumblin’ Down”. Our favorite Hoosier finally made the big time!

5 May 1984: Spinal Tap – “Christmas with the Devil” and “Big Bottom”. Are they a real band or not? Who cares!

2 February 1985: Tina Turner – “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” “Private Dancer” and “Better Be Good to Me”. Turner capped off her phenomenal comeback year with this performance, showing all of us her full musical range from R&B vixen, to moody sultriness to the Queen of Rock and Roll.

18 January 1986: The Replacements – “Bastards of Young” and “Kiss Me on the Bus”. Yes, The Mats were hit and miss. Yes, they were drunk. Yes, they dropped the third “f-bomb” on air in the show’s history. But, man, they were so cool that night.

18 October 1986: Run-DMC – “Walk This Way” and “Hit It, Run”. This was the game-changer because when Malcolm-Jamal Warner announced Run-DMC and the guys tore it up, rap was now a financial boom in addition to a musical force.

24 November 1986: Paul Simon & Ladysmith Black Mambazo – “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes”. This was the night Weekend Vampire got their career. Paul Simon CAN do anything!

24 October 1987: LL Cool J – “Go Cut Creator Go”. The Funky 4+1 knocked down the doors. Run-DMC showed there was no denying rap. And LL said, “Rap is here to stay!”

15 October 1988: The Sugarcubes – “Birthday”. Hello world! There IS rock music in Iceland, and Björk is their lead singer.

30 September 1989: Neil Young – “Rockin’ in the Free World”. Just when you want to write off Young, he comes back stronger than ever to change the world in more ways than you can count.

27 October 1990: Mariah Carey – “Visions of Love”. Carey was just three years out of high school, when she showed all of us that she was next in line behind Whitney Houston on the Gen X diva scale. And, Mariah looked like she was on her way back from shopping at the mall the way she was dressed.

1 December 1990: Faith No More – “Epic”. Rap and Metal?!?! Who knew that someone other than Run-DMC could concoct the Reece’s Cup of the rock world!

13 April 1991: R.E.M. – “Shiny Happy People”. With a little help from The B-52’s Kate Pearson.

14 January 1992: Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Territorial Pissings”. There’s a new sheriff in town, and the name’s Nirvana!

11 April 1992: Pearl Jam – “Alive” and “Porch”. Now, grunge IS here to stay. At least for another two years.

13 October 1992: Sinead O’Connor – “War”. Perhaps, the most infamous performance in which O’Connor rips up a photo of Pope John Paul II after her a capella version of the Bob Marley song.

19 November 1994: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – “You Don’t Know How It Feels” and “Honey Bee”. Original drummer Stan Lynch had left the band, so Tom called up the not-yet-ubiquitous Dave Grohl to fill in and history was made.

13 April 1996: Rage Against the Machine – “Bulls on Parade”. The most incendiary band of the Nineties provoked not only NBC but the country by placing an upside down American flag on their speakers. Boy, do we need this band more than ever now!

6 December 1997: Metallica – “Fuel” and “The Memory Remains”. It took SNL ten years to get Metallica in Studio 8, but when they finally got there it was magical.

14 October 2000: Radiohead – “Idioteque”. Was singer Thom Yorke actually having a seizure during this performance? Who cares! It was so rock and roll!

19 May 2001: Weezer – “Hash Pipe” and “Island in the Sun”. My boys were like “Weezer’s on SNL!” It was their Clash moment. Still, they were fantastic! Weezer, that is!

2 March 2002: Outkast – “Hey Ya!” and “Ms. Jackson”. My favorite rap duo of all-time conquered SNL and became the biggest rap group in the process.

19 October 2002: The White Stripes – “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground”. Finally, garage/punk rock was back!

20 November 2004: U2 – “Vertigo,” “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own” and “I Will Follow”. The biggest band in the world came, they saw and they kicked our ass!

15 September 2012: Frank Ocean – “Pyramids”. This man came on like gangbusters. And while guest guitarist John Mayer was ripping a hot solo, Ocean played a video game on an arcade set.

18 May 2013: Kanye West – “Black Skinhead”. Anyone else remember when Kanye was cool and not crazy? Man, I miss those days!

28 September 2013: Arcade Fire – “Afterlife”. I really thought Arcade Fire was going to be the Millennials’ U2 on this night.

29 March 2014: Sam Smith – “Stay with Me”. Before the show, I was “WTF?!?! Who is Sam Smith?” After this first song, I was like “This guy is the new Boy George!” That’s a huge compliment from me!

18 May 2014: St. Vincent – “Birth in Reverse”. While she was killing it, I kept thinking that I finally found my new Talking Heads!

1 November 2014: Prince & Third Eye Girl – “Clouds,” “Plectrum Electrum,” “Marz” and “Another Love”. The Purple One has had four classic performances on SNL, but this one was the most poignant of them all.

15 November 2014: Kendrick Lamar – “I” and “Pay for It”. The best Millennial rapper kills showed the world just why he is who he is.

17 January 2015: Sia – “Elastic Heart”. Sia showed that she was an ARTIST.

30 January 2015: D’Angelo & the Vanguard – “Really Love”. D’Angelo had been quiet for 15 LONG years when he came back and blew us away. Then, he retreated into the mist again.

19 December 2015: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band – “Meet Me in the City,” “The Tie That Binds” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”. It’s The Boss, ’nuff said!

5 May 2018: Childish Gambino – “This Is America”. The musical alter-ego of the brilliant Donald Glover just destroyed this song that night. It’s no wonder this song got a Grammy.

It was the Summer of 1983, and I was working as a waiter/bus boy at a small resort in Southern Wisconsin when I first heard R.E.M. The band had just released their first full-length album on I.R.S. Records, and the local alternative radio station was playing “Radio Free Europe,” when I was bitten with the bug. Immediately, I recognized that R.E.M. was going to join U2 as the bands of my generation, even if few others had. Within that one song, I heard all the important rock milestones of my generation: the jangling guitars of folk rock by artists such as The Byrds, the muddy sounds of the Velvet Underground, the eschewing of all things that seem to be of the moment like the great punk bands that emerged during the years of 1975 through 1977, and an arty nod within the obtuseness of the lyrics much like the beat writers many of us were rediscovering in college. Plus, you could hear other points-of-references important to people our age: bubblegum music over Woodstock musicians, a love of AM radio of the early Seventies and a disdain for arena rock and irony, truckloads of irony like Late Night with David Letterman.

So, as the Eighties progressed, both U2 and R.E.M. rose to prominence within the music world. As we all know by now, U2 put their collective foot down on an international scale during a primo performance during Live Aid, one that was so significant that it took Queen’s performance of a lifetime to cast a shadow over U2’s. But, by 1987, U2 delivered upon their promise when The Joshua Tree propelled them to the mantle of the greatest band in the world. Still, 1987 was significant for R.E.M. as well because that was the year in which they were finally establishing themselves as a commercial force with their brilliant album Document, their first Top 10 single “The One I Love” and their immortal sensory-overload induced song of eternity “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”

Slowly, R.E.M. arose from the Athens, Georgia, music scene into the lexicon of the mainstream without nary a compromise. And the three subsequent studio albums launched them into the stratosphere alongside U2. Now, those two bands WERE the bands of a generation. It was into this strange land of musical acceptance and world domination that R.E.M. found itself. During it’s first decade as a band, they grew increasingly insular with their lyrics and musical motifs. And, if you ever got to witness R.E.M. in concert, you knew that no matter how beautiful these increasingly acoustic albums were, they did not truly represent the band while onstage. Au contraire, R.E.M. was reared in the punk era, and the immediacy of their concerts sat in complete contrast to their plaintive albums. Plus, the very musical landscape they created was now becoming the whole voice of a generation as Grunge and Lollapalooza brought the whole underground scene to the masses. In other words, the music world was loud, so how was our heroes going to react?

Well, they took a page out of U2’s playbook. If you remember well, U2 was at the very same crossroads in 1990. So, they tore up their sound and did a David Bowie-like turnabout by releasing a pair of albums that took something of a dadaist approach to their sound. They created more claustrophobic music with obtuse lyrics, and the move was very successful.

R.E.M. are well-known record bin divers, not unlike myself. So, it was not the least bit surprising that they knew the musical landscape that was in shape around them. But, instead of reaching out toward Bowie, as U2 did, our heroes made a sidestep toward the trashier side of Glam Rock and tried to make a record dripping of sex. Now, sex within a bookish band like R.E.M. is going to be warped all over the place, since they cannot be pigeonholed. What came out was extremely jarring and unsettling, and the band called the album Monster. Of course, the album’s sales blew out of the gates, but all I kept hearing from the bandwagon crowd was how R.E.M. no longer sounded like the pastorally elegant Automatic for the People. The band triumphantly toured the world to sold-out gigs, all the while running into one medical emergency after another along the way. Drummer Bill Berry had a nearly-tragic aneurysm while onstage in Europe, bassist Mike Mills had emergency surgery to remove an intestinal adhesion and singer Michael Stipe had emergency surgery for a hernia.

Yet, and this may be an urban legend, Monster has been purported to be the CD most often sold to second hand music stores. So, why is that? And, why is everyone making a bigger deal out of this album being re-released this month for its 25th anniversary? Simply put, this album is much better now than it was ever perceived to be in its time. You see, R.E.M. may have unwittingly rung in the whole stupid MTV Unplugged movement of the day with their Top 5 performance on the fledgling program a few years earlier. When the band decides to be in the studio exactly what they are onstage, the public was sonically taken aback. Then, throw in the abrasiveness of some songs, even though Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails were doing similar sonic sounds, the fair weather R.E.M. fans of the past two albums were not ready for Monster, and quite honestly, neither were the music scribes of the day. But, the true R.E.M. fans from the beginning knew this WAS the band’s original identity.

First, the lyrics were still cryptic but now taken from a third person’s point of view and not Stipe’s. Next, guitarist Peter Buck put down his acoustic and Rickenbacker guitars, along with his mandolin, and rediscovered his guitar hero stances. Finally, the crack rhythm section of Berry and Mills played as if they were attempting to be heard over a Sonic Youth or Nirvana concert of the day, setting the stage to be heard all over stadiums throughout that upcoming tour. This was an alternative amalgamation of arena rock and punk rock, not unlike many of the songs on that aforementioned Document album, which seemed to be predicting the whole grunge era.

Let me just say that Monster is much better than the reviewers of the day ever gave it credit. No, it’s not the masterpiece of their earlier albums, nor is it their Achtung Baby. But, if you judge it for what it is, I like to make a parallel of it to Prince’s vastly underrated Around the World in a Day or Bruce Springsteen’s Tunnel of Love, a moment where an artist realizes that he/she/they can no longer be constrained by their past and their success. If they are to grow, then they must be willing to jettison the bandwagon fans who believe artists that won’t “play the hits” are self-absorbed, and stretch their musical vision into new territories. The so-called betrayal is not to the pop radio fans at all, because the true fans will stick around.

Unfortunately, this is the last true classic album R.E.M. will deliver, though I will anxiously await each album’s 25th anniversary re-release just to do my own re-evaluation. The band’s next album ended up being the last recorded with Berry as he will choose a simpler life of farming. Their next album, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, will be recorded during soundchecks on the Monster tour, making it somewhat disjointed and hurried.

On a personal note, my wife and I attended the local stop of the Monster tour. I had seen them on the Document tour with some friends from work, a point of contention with my wife who remains a huge R.E.M. fan to this day. But, when we saw them, our older son Graham, a ten-year-old at the time, thought he should have been allowed to go to the concert. Maybe now that he is a father, he will realize how important it is for his parents to get away from their kids no matter how much they love them? Anyway, to this day, he says that we owe him a R.E.M. concert, if they ever regroup. Remember, this is the child who entertained the college kids at the local yogurt store in Oxford, Ohio, by singing R.E.M.’s version of “Superman” when he was just 27 months old. Then, my younger son learned from me that the guitar on “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” was recorded backwards, just like The Beatles did first. As a matter of fact, I told them that tidbit so often that #2 would answer “The Beatles!” immediately when the solo came on, and he was six years old at the time. Needless to say, the whole family is huge R.E.M. fans.

I gotta tell you, there is going to be a huge battle between my boys for the rights to my R.E.M. collection. And, they want me to decide while I am alive! This is a no-win situation!

I remember back when I was just a little bit cool, like in college, when the music of my youth was new and exciting, that I kept hearing about some very cool songs being released on the B-side, or the side of a 7-inch 45 rpm slice of vinyl with the A-side being the song traditionally played on the radio. Kids today have no idea about this kind of thing, which is a shame. From the beginning of the 7-inch record, there have always been gems placed on the B-side of a hit record. Some of those B-sides became hits in their own rights, such as The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” (B-side of “Hello Goodbye”), “Come Together (“Something”), among others. Sometimes, DJs often turned a record over and made a hit out of the B-side, as in the cases of the Doobie Brothers’ number one hit “Black Water,” and Kiss’ “Beth.”

As the punk/new wave era got going, more and more special B-sides were being released instead of cuts from an album. This practice was used to bolster sales of the single. In the meantime, artists were beginning to place new unreleased material on these B-sides. And when the Eighties rolled in, many of the B-sides became nearly as famous as their A-side counterparts. Suddenly, Gen X was caught up in a B-side frenzy, as these songs were often heard as much on the radio as the hit song.

Then, at the height of the MTV revolution, artists began to make the single an artistic statement in its own right. In 1982, Marshall Crenshaw backed up “Someday, Someway” with his most brilliant statement “You’re My Favorite Waste of Time.” Prince followed suit by starting his huge Eighties run by putting some of his finest music on the B-sides of his singles in a way that complimented the supposed hit. By the time the summer of 1983 rolled around, everyone was putting special songs out as B-sides. The Pretenders had “My City Was Gone,” then The Police dropped the immortal “Murder by Numbers,” and we were off to the races, as it seemed as though everyone was jumping onto the bandwagon. Disparate artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Madonna and XTC were joining the ranks of the B-side craze.

Unfortunately, every great trend must come to an end. The single was slowly phased out as the CD rose to prominence, although we did get some brilliant non-album hits by the likes of Coolio, Weezer and Pearl Jam. But, this whole B-side faded somewhat during the advent of mp3s, though some artists continue to release some special tunes as electronic “B-sides.” But, since I’m an old geezer, I will stick to my wheelhouse of the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties. The pre-Seventies stuff is mostly foreign to me outside of the Beatles and Stones, while I lived these three decades.

With all of that said, allow me to list for you 50 of my favorite B-sides of the Gen X era, Seventies, Eighties and Nineties.

1. Billy Joel – “Elvis Presley Boulevard” (“Allentown,” 1982)
2. Bruce Springsteen – “Janey Don’t You Lose Heart” (“I’m Going Down,” 1985)
3. Bruce Springsteen – “Jersey Girl (live)” (“Cover Me,” 1984)
4. Bruce Springsteen – “Johnny Bye Bye” (“I’m on Fire,” 1984)
5. Bruce Springsteen – “Pink Cadillac” (“Dancing in the Dark,” 1984). This one was a radio hit in its own right.
6. Bruce Springsteen – “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (live)” (“My Hometown,” 1985). My favorite Christmas song to this day.
7. Bruce Springsteen – “Shut Out the Lights” (“Born in the U.S.A.,” 1984)
8. Bruce Springsteen – “Stand on It” (“Glory Days,” 1985)
9. Chicago – “Colour My World” (“Beginnings,” 1971)
10. Coolio – “Gangsta’s Paradise” (“Too Hot,” 1995). That’s right! It’s life began as a B-side.
11. Depeche Mode – “Route 66” (“Behind the Wheel,” 1988)
12. Fleetwood Mac – “Silver Springs” (“Go Your Own Way,” 1977). Can you believe this song was left off Rumours? On the other hand, which song on that album would it replace?
13. Green Day – “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” (“Brain Stew,” 1996). Of course, this song was re-recorded for the Nimrod album.
14. John Cougar Mellencamp – “Under the Boardwalk” (“R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.,” 1985)
15. John Fogerty – “Centerfield” (“Old Man Down the Road,” 1985). Technically, this was on Fogerty’s 1985 comeback album, but few remember the A-side.
16. KC & the Sunshine Band – “Boogie Shoes” (“Shake Your Booty,” 1976). That’s right! This disco gem’s life began as a B-side.
17. KISS – “Beth” (“Detroit Rock City,” 1976). Everyone’s favorite slow dance number who were in middle school when this song was released.
18. Led Zeppelin – “Hey Hey What Can I Do” (“The Immigrant Song,” 1970). How did this song never make a Zeppelin album?
19. Madonna – “Into the Groove” (“Angel,” 1985). If “Into the Groove” had been released as an A-side, it would have become a HUGE hit.
20. Marshall Crenshaw – “You’re My Favorite Waste of Time” (“Someday, Someway,” 1982). I simply love this song.
21. Nirvana – “Aneurysm” (“Smells like Teen Spirit,” 1991)
22. Paul McCartney – “Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)” (“Coming Up,” 1980). This is a case of the B-side being WAY better than the studio version. That’s why radio played it to death in 1980.
23. Paul McCartney & Wings – “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five” (“Band on the Run,” 1974)
24. Pearl Jam – “Yellow Ledbetter” (“Jeremy,” 1992). Who wasn’t blown away by this gem?
25. Prince – “17 Days” (“When Doves Cry,” 1984)
26. Prince – “Gotta Stop (Messin’ About)” (“Let’s Work,” 1982)
27. Prince – “Horny Toad” (“Delirious,” 1983)
28. Prince – “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?” (“1999,” 1982)
29. Prince – “I Love U in Me” (“The Arms of Orion,” 1989)
30. Prince – “Irresistible Bitch” (“Let’s Pretend We’re Married,” 1983)
31. Prince – “La, La, La, He, He, Hee” (“Sign o’ the Times,” 1987)
32. Prince – “Love or Money” (“Kiss,” 1986)
33. Prince – “Rock and Roll Is Alive! (And It Lives in Minneapolis)” (“Gold,” 1995)
34. Prince – “Scarlet Pussy” (“I Wish U Heaven,” 1988)
35. Prince – “Shockadelica” (“If I Was Your Girlfriend,” 1987). Yes, Prince copped this title from former Time guitarist Jesse Johnson’s excellent album. Yet, it is a brilliant mixture of psychedelia, funk and rock.
36. Prince & the Revolution – “Alexa de Paris” (“Mountains,” 1986)
37. Prince & the Revolution – “Another Lonely Christmas” (“I Would Die 4 U,” 1984)
38. Prince & the Revolution – “Erotic City” (“Let’s Go Crazy,” 1984). Sheila E. says they were singing “funk” not the f-word. I guess she gets the final word.
39. Prince & the Revolution – “Hello” (“Pop Life,” 1985)
40. Prince & the Revolution – “She’s Always in My Hair” (“Raspberry Beret,” 1985)
41. R.E.M. – “Last Date” (“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” 1987)
42. Talking Heads – “Get Wild – Wild Gravity” (“Burning Down the House,” 1983)
43. The Police – “Murder by Numbers” (“Every Breath You Take,” 1983). Sometimes, I would much rather hear this side than the other one, that’s how good it is!
44. The Pretenders – “2000 Miles” (“Middle of the Road,” 1983)
45. The Pretenders – “My City Was Gone” (“Back on the Chain Gang,” 1982). Remember the days before Rush Limbaugh and his fat ass copping this song for his stupid radio show? This song was so exciting as a back-up to The Pretenders’ biggest hit.
46. The Smiths – “How Soon Is Now?” (“William, It Was Really Nothing,” 1984). This actually started as a B-side because some label idiot thought it didn’t sound enough like The Smiths! This is the band’s calling card to greatness.
47. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – “Heartbreakers’ Beach Party” (“You Got Lucky,” 1982). Wanna hear Petty and his mates at their most relaxed and fun? This is the place.
48. U2 – “The Sweetest Thing” (“Where the Streets Have No Name,” 1987). Long before U2 released this one as a hit in the late-Nineties, it was relegated to a B-side during The Joshua Tree era. Like with “Silver Springs,” where would have this song fit on that perfect album?
49. Weezer – “Holiday” (“Undone (The Sweater Song),” 1994)
50. XTC – “Dear God” (“Grass,” 1986). Once again, another example of the B-side getting flipped to become the hit. Then, XTC’s classic Skylarking had to be reprinted with this song added to it. And the album actually improved with its inclusion!

If you love all kinds of weather, then move to Indiana. For Chrissakes! It’s prematurely cold here. Yesterday, the temperature dropped twenty-some degrees in a couple of hours, froze the rain water on the streets and caused a couple inches of snow to fall on us. WTF!!! This stuff is two months early! Still, on an artistic note, this quick weather change has played right into my blog because I have been working on all artists but Coldplay.

I know! Coldplay! Lately, they have become something of my dirty little secret. Remember, I am a children of the “Do It Yourself” music world of the late-Seventies and early-Eighties, so how does Coldplay, a band that I once described as U2-lite, Radiohead-normal become a band for whose latest album I am actually somewhat excited about hearing? I mean, I have purchased several of their albums, only to sell them back after six months. Am I so desperate for a new U2 album, or any new album by a rock group, that I would settle for the strawberry Frosty of the rock world? Heavens! Have I allowed my musical standards to be lowered this much?

Hell, I really don’t know? But, what I do know is that Coldplay’s newest song, “Orphans,” is a nice little pop/rock song that has burrowed its way into my brain, and I cannot shake it out! It’s like the song has triggered some flashback chemical in my brain fooling into thinking this is 1982, and I’m hearing Joe Jackson’s “Stepping Out” again convincing me that I HAVE to purchase this upcoming album. The only difference is that I had developed a running relationship with Joe Jackson back then, and I’ve only had a passing relationship with Coldplay. I know it’s NOT the hype, because I have not read Rolling Stone in months, allowing my subscription to end due to apathy. And, for the past five years, I have become ambivalent toward Pitchfork and the other millennial-driven music sites (C’mon kids! Kanye has lost his mojo! It happens to all the greats, except Prince and Tom Petty.).

So, what has happened to me? I’m a grandfather now! I shouldn’t be getting all giddy about a song now. But, for some reason, “Orphans” caught me off guard. I know! I know! It’s not The Clash, The Police nor even the second coming of “Der Kommissar.” But, this damn song has gotten me excited about hearing an album like no other since my older son was still living under our roof (He’s basically been a guest here since 2003).

So, I pulled out the old iPod (remember those?), and plugged into it to listen to Coldplay. Yes, I still have an iPod and, get this, rarely stream anything! And, I still buy the occasional CD, but I have been sticking to vinyl lately. But, as I said, I have gotten rid of all of my Coldplay from my physical collection. So, am I going to be disappointed again? Who knows?!?!

So, instead of worrying about the future, let’s stick with the past, particularly Coldplay’s past. You know what? They could release one helluva greatest hits compilation! And, their music is fairly diverse now. I love how they have grown from the sullen band of “Yellow” in the beginning to an artistic entity that dabbles in pop/rock-based music where they incorporate flourishes of current musical trends, much as U2 experimented with during the Nineties. And, while Coldplay does appeal to a more watered-down version of my taste of rock music, they are growing and taking music into some interesting places here in the 21st century. Therefore, I AM interested in seeing if this upcoming album will be a new-level vision, or just another Coldplay album. After going back through their catalogue, Coldplay does seem to be reaching for a new plateau. Maybe this new album will be the culmination of this search.

With that said, here is my Top 25 list for Coldplay, perhaps the best rock band of this generation, warts and all.

25. “Christmas Lights” (single, 2010)

24. “Violet Hill” (Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, 2008)

23. “Sparks” (Parachutes, 2000)

22. “Hurts like Heaven” (Mylo Xyloto, 2011)

21. “God Put a Smile upon Your Face” (A Rush of Blood to the Head, 2002)

20. “Everyday Life” (Everyday Life, 2019)

19. “Life in Technicolor II” (Prospekt’s March, 2008)

18. “In My Place” (A Rush of Blood to the Head, 2002)

17. “A Sky Full of Stars” (Ghost Stories, 2014)

16. “Miracles (Someone Special) (featuring Big Sean)” (Kaleidoscope, 2015)

15. “A Head Full of Dreams” (A Head Full of Dreams, 2015)

14. “Princess of China (featuring Rihanna)” (Mylo Xyloto, 2011)

13. “Something Just like This (The Chainsmokers & Coldplay)” (Memories…Do Not Open, 2017)

12. “Lost+ (featuring Jay-Z)” (Prospekt’s March, 2008)

11. “Charlie Brown” (Mylo Xyloto, 2011)

10. “Yellow” (Parachutes, 2000). This song has always been a very “floaty” song that is something of an anthemic ballad. Everything about it says I should make fun of it, yet I seem to fall for its sincerity every time.

9. “Speed of Sound” (X & Y, 2005). The best song on the band’s much maligned third album. It is the perfect follow-up to the band’s terrific “Clocks” with the similar piano-driven melody.

8. “Don’t Panic” (Parachutes, 2000). Personally, I love this song more than the big hit “Yellow,” even though both songs harvest the very same emotional plot in the field.

7. “Paradise” (Mylo Xyloto, 2011). Coldplay throws everything in the mix in order to make this song sound bigger, and I feel like they succeed. From the string opening to the hip hop beat to the club thud of the bass to Chris Martin’s vocals, it just works.

6. “Orphans” (Everyday Life, 2019). From the moment Coldplay started playing this song on Saturday Night Live a week and a half ago, I was mesmerized. I can’t wait to see how this ages in my mind. But, right now, I think it’s pretty hot!

5. “Adventure of a Lifetime” (A Head Full of Dreams, 2015). I gotta say right here, that even though this is more of a danceable pop/rock song, the guitar is straight U2. Usually, when I hear a band go in that direction with their guitar, like most Contemporary Christian bands, I just cringe. But, Coldplay makes it an enjoyable texture in this rock club song.

4. “The Scientist” (A Rush of Blood to the Head, 2002). It’s a toss-up for me as to which song on this album I like better. Personally, I enjoy the lyrics in this one more, being a scientist and all.

3. “Clocks” (A Rush of Blood to the Head, 2002). I think this was the bigger radio hit from this album. I remember just loving the use of the piano as something of rhythm instrument.

2. “Viva La Vida” (Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, 2008). What is it about this song that I love? Simply put, everything. It is near perfection. And, the song just gets better the louder I play it. Is it an anthem? I’d say so!

1. “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall” (Mylo Xyloto, 2011). Damn it! I KNOW I should just hate this song, but I absolutely love it! This IS an anthem of the first order. I really don’t know if Coldplay could ever top it. I simply love how this song begins loud and soars from there. This is what rock music is all about. If I were still coaching, my teams would be hearing this damn song once a week.

There you have it! That’s my lesson on Coldplay. To quote Jack Nicholson’s Joker, “I don’t know if it’s art, but I like it!”

Ever since I first saw her on American Bandstand, I have had a special place set aside for Madonna. Hey, people! I’m a full-blooded male! I remember discussing with my other friends in a bar in the Summer of 1984 about the musical merits of Madonna, and one of my buddies told me I was only hearing her with my groin. And I replied, “No kidding!” Then again, I did love the way she flirted with the camera, much like The Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs would. But, as the years past, Madonna’s artistic stock continued to rise. Now, she is an icon on the level of Cher. And, they are admired for their strength of womanhood and artistic vision with an innate ability to adapt. Hell, we all praise David Bowie for this as a man, why aren’t these two woman beloved in the same manner?

Madonna had me at “Holiday.” That song broke around the time I turned 21 and could legally enter the two dance clubs in Muncie. And, no song, other than those by Prince, Michael Jackson or Rick James could jam a dance floor like Madonna did at the end of 1983 and beyond. Her beats, along with a brilliant use of a high hat that had been neglected by musicians after the disco days, brought dancing to Gen X. Suddenly, girls were dressing like her everywhere. Then, just as the younger kids caught up, many of my peers left her behind, unless they were females or gay. To that crowd, Madonna ruled. And, once again finding myself swimming upstream, I remained a ardent Madonna fan. I continue to this day to anxiously await her new releases, just to see what current sounds she is co-opting. And, even though Lady Gaga has taken Madonna’s place within the hearts of the Millennials, Madonna remains my favorite dance artist.

What many forget, or refuse to acknowledge, is that Madonna changed everything for a female artist. Yes, The Runaways, Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Pat Benatar and The Go-Go’s all paved the way for her, but it was Madonna who challenged all the stereotypes of a female musical artist. She was strong, intelligent and in control of her sexuality. She brought a certain male toughness to her image that women before her were afraid to, or discouraged from, exerting. Like she said on Bandstand during that infamous interview with Dick Clark, “I want to rule the world.” And, I would say she did from 1984 through the turn of the century. Now, with nothing more to prove, she can be something of a mother to all the aspiring artists, male or female, wishing to follow her footsteps. Besides Gaga, Madonna has beget Lizzo, Britney, Christina, Gwen, Mika, and countless other artists currently on the scene.

On a personal note, I still have a Madonna picture disc of her first album hanging on a wall in my music room, right next to my Purple Rain picture disc, signifying that fateful year when both Prince and Madonna caused a seismic shift in the musical lives of Gen X. So, a day after paying homage to George Michael, let’s give it up for Madonna with my 40 favorite songs of hers.

40. “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” (Evita, 1996)

39. “Medellín (with Maluma)” (Madame X, 2019)

38. “Drowned World/Substitute for Love” (Ray of Light, 1998)

37. “Deeper and Deeper” (Erotica, 1992)

36. “American Pie” (single, 2000)

35. “Rain” (Erotica, 1992)

34. “I’ll Remember” (With Honors, 1994)

33. “Rescue Me” (The Immaculate Collection, 1990)

32. “True Blue” (True Blue, 1986)

31. “Oh Father” (Like a Prayer, 1989)

30. “Angel” (Like a Virgin, 1984)

29. “Cherish” (Like a Prayer, 1989)

28. “Secret” (Bedtime Stories, 1994)

27. “Give Me All Your Luvin’ (featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.)” (MDNA, 2012)

26. “Bitch I’m Madonna” (Rebel Heart, 2014)

25. “Open Your Heart” (True Blue, 1986)

24. “Burning Up” (Madonna, 1983)

23. “Frozen” (Ray of Light, 1998)

22. “Erotica” (Erotica, 1992)

21. “Material Girl” (Like a Virgin, 1984)

20. “Justify My Love” (The Immaculate Collection, 1990)

19. “Papa Don’t Preach” (True Blue, 1986)

18. “Holiday” (Madonna, 1983)

17. “Lucky Star” (Madonna, 1983)

16. “Santa Baby” (A Very Special Christmas, 1987)

15. “Hung Up” (Confessions on a Dance Floor, 2005)

14. “4 Minutes (featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland)” (Hard Candy, 2008)

13. “Take a Bow” (Bedtime Stories, 1994)

12. “This Used to Be My Playground” (A League of Their Own, 1992)

11. “Crazy for You” (Vision Quest, 1985)

10. “Beautiful Stranger” (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, 1999). Madonna has created some absolute classics for various movies, but few are as strong as this single from the second Austin Powers film. This was the perfect segue from Ray of Light to Music.

8. “Like a Virgin” (Like a Virgin, 1984). The impact of this song at the time is totally has been dissipated over the years, but let’s just generally say that girls rarely opened up about their sexuality before this song. Then, there was her performance of the song on the first MTV Video Music Awards that totally made this song a cultural milestone.

7. “Live to Tell” (True Blue, 1986). Just when critics were saying that Madonna couldn’t sing, she releases this ballad and literally blows us all away. Bottom line: question Madonna at your own peril.

6. “Express Yourself” (Like a Prayer, 1989). The song would be the best song on most other artists’ albums, but it was only the second best song on undoubtedly her best album. It’s so killer that 20 years later Lady Gaga stole it and made a soundalike hit of her own.

5. “Borderline” (Madonna, 1983). Okay, this one is more nostalgia than anything for me, but it reminds me of meeting my wife.

4. “Vogue” (I’m Breathless, 1990). Of course Madonna popularizes dance crazes in the gay clubs! Would we have it any other way?

3. “Music” (Music, 2000). This song represents Madonna at her finest, most confident flexing her musical prowess upon an unsuspecting world.

2. “Like a Prayer” (Like a Prayer, 1989). THE Madonna musical statement! ‘Nuff said.

1. “Into the Groove” (Desperately Seeking Susan, 1984). Can you imagine just how big this song would have been if it had (1) been initially included on Like a Virgin and (2) been released as a single in the U.S.? This is her “Billie Jean,” “Born to Run” and “Little Red Corvette” all rolled into one surefire pop/dance gem. And it still hogged up all kinds of radio play back in the day.

I cannot believe that it’s been nearly three years since we lost George Michael. It was a tragic loss for the people who loved great pop music based upon the soul of our youth. And, from everything that I have read about the man, he did wonderful things for others, making the loss not solely about the music world but for humanity in general.

Like most Americans, I discovered George Michael through the simplistic pop of Wham!, especially during the Fall of 1984 when “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” was released. At the time, I was still riding a huge crest of Motown-inspired pop music from the likes of Spandau Ballet, The Style Council, Elvis Costello’s “Every Day I Write the Book,” Culture Club and so many others from the Second British Invasion. But, that song somehow knocked me for a loop. Everything about it just screams at me to hate it, yet I still loved it. And, when the album Make It Big dropped, I found myself switching constantly from Hall & Oates’ Big Bam Boom and this Wham! album. I guess it just goes to show you that when talented songwriters bow at the alter of Motown, great things will continually be created. That may be exactly what I am missing from today’s music which emphasizes the beat over the melody. George Michael made the two co-exist in splendor.

I will not go into how I performed “Wake Me Up…” in an Air Band contest at Ball State, but I did. Our group from my fraternity did it, and I suppose the performance did live up to the hokie-ness of the song, which is cool. Thank God smartphones did not exist back then!

I feel like George Michael has become something of a forgotten man. It seems that people have forgotten that he was every bit as big as Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna and Bruce Springsteen during that 1985 to 1990 stretch. Good Lord, you could not escape his videos on MTV nor his songs on the radio. He was everywhere. Yet, he aspired to be considered an artist more than a hit machine. And, he, much like Prince, fought hard for that right, although it cost him dearly on the charts at the height of his popularity. Still, I challenge you to listen to his music critically and tell me it was any less intricate as Prince or less exciting than Michael Jackson. Hardly! The man was a tunesmith on the level of Smokey Robinson or Stevie Wonder. So, someone, explain to me why this man and his music is not as recognized as any of those listed? And, furthermore, why has he yet to be nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? Hopefully, after Whitney Houston gets in, George will become the next Eighties pop icon to get further review.

With that said, I present to you 30 songs that I feel best represents George Michael’s towering talents both as a songwriter and a talent.

30. “Wham Rap” – Wham! (Fantastic, 1983)

29. “Spinning the Wheel” (Older, 1996)

28. “Monkey” (Faith, 1987)

27. “The Edge of Heaven” – Wham! (Music from the Edge of Heaven, 1986)

26. “Where Did Your Heart Go?” – Wham! (Music from the Edge of Heaven, 1986)

25. “I’m Your Man” – Wham! (Music from the Edge of Heaven, 1986)

24. “Outside” (Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael, 1998)

23. “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” – Aretha Franklin & George Michael (Aretha, 1987)

22. “Kissing a Fool” (Faith, 1987)

21. “Jesus to a Child” (Older, 1996)

20. “I Can’t Make You Love Me” (Older, 1996)

19. “As (featuring Mary J. Blige)” (Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael, 1998)

18. “Heal the Pain (featuring Paul McCartney)” (Twenty Five, 2006)

17. “One More Try” (Faith, 1987)

16. “Last Christmas” (single, 1984)

15. “Freedom!” – Wham! (Make It Big, 1984)

14. “Everything She Wants” (Make It Big, 1984)

13. “Killer/Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” (Five Live EP, 1993)

12. “Praying for Time” (Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1, 1990)

11. “Careless Whisper” – Wham! featuring George Michael (Make It Big, 1984)

10. “Too Funky” (Red Hot + Dance, 1992). George Michael was only this funky on a few songs, but this one is the topper. This non-album gem can now be found on his Twenty Five compilation.

9. “Fastlove” (Older, 1996). Michael took a brilliant sample for Patrice Rushen’s 1982 hit “Forget Me Nots” and took it to an unimagined higher place.

8. “Somebody to Love” – George Michael with Queen (Five Live EP, 1993). When I watched this performance on TV during the Freddie Mercury Memorial concert at Wembley, I was literally blown away. No offense to Adam Lambert, who does a yeoman’s job, but no one else came closer to Freddie’s charisma and talent than Michael. That moment changed everything for me.

7. “I Want Your Sex” (Faith, 1987). Few remember just how groundbreaking this song was at the time. Nowadays, songs are played on the radio in stupid edits. Yet, a song about monogamy was vilified by conservatives throughout the world who were offended about relationships being carnal in nature. This was one brave move by George to make this is first solo single.

6. “Faith” (Faith, 1987). The number one record of the year was basically a Bo Diddley rock song dressed up for the Eighties. And, it was brilliant, even the the video did make a star out of Michael’s butt.

5. “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” – Wham! (Make It Big, 1984). That’s right! I really do hold this song in high regard, without an ounce of irony or sarcasm.

4. “A Different Corner” – Wham! featuring George Michael (Music from the Edge of Heaven, 1986). This heartbreaking song was the first indication to me that Michael struggled with mental illness. There’s just something about it that screamed to me that this physically beautiful man with gifts from the gods had demons haunting him that were much more than sexuality. This song does not get enough credit for its brilliance.

3. “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” – George Michael and Elton John (Duets, 1991). What can I say? Michael’s performance pushed Elton to quit coasting and to dig deeper in himself. This is just a moment in which both men are pushing each other further and further into the context of the song.

2. “Father Figure” (Faith, 1987). I love the sexiness of this song, even though I know that Michael was explaining his struggle with his sexuality. How he was able to make heterosexuals believe its was a sex song for them is beyond me. It simply screams lovemaking.

1. “Freedom! ’90” (Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1, 1990). If anything, this song emphasizes Michael’s confidence in his talent and his sexuality. There’s no more playing around, he’s going to take control of his career and his life and make this whole thing his. And this song is his mea culpa.