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Happy Memorial Day to all, especially those current troops out there in addition to those veterans of the US military. I am the first male in my family to have never been a military man, but I have very close relatives and friends who have been recently fighting for the freedoms that I take for granted on a daily basis. Personally, I’d love to take war away and make everyone play in a basketball tournament to settle things that way, but I’m a crazy progressive.

Back in the Eighties, those of us who were coming of age during that decade were beginning to see bands that were racially-integrated, bands composed of Mexican-Americans, rock bands consisting of African-Americans, funk/rap bands whose members were white and even all-female bands. Music was beginning to be up for grabs by everyone! Finally, we were witnessing democracy in rock music, and it was better for it.

And, even though female rock stars like Pat Benatar, the leaders of Heart, The Go-Go’s, Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Bangles, among many others were popping up everywhere and were taking hold of their musical futures. Still, they ALL ran into misogynistic views of their roles within rock music. But, thankfully for all of the women who followed in their footsteps, these women preserved.

Now, as a person who grew up buying and listening to tons of music, I was drawn to the music of The Go-Go’s and Bangles. Many of us rock-aficionados, once we got beyond the beauty of these women (sorry, ladies, I’m a male), it was time to decide which group was “better”. In one corner, you have a pop-punk band with roots directly in the L.A. punk scene. And, in the other corner, you will find a band with their roots in L.A.’s Paisley Underground, whose influences ran the gamut from The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds to the folk-rock of The Byrds and the Mamas & Papas to the rock world of Todd Rundgren. But, regardless of the two bands’ roots, their music made me feel good and happy with strong melodies, muscular guitars, wonderful harmonies (especially Bangles) and spot-on songwriting. While listening to their albums, I was hearing wonderful musicians. Their gender played no role, though, sorry ladies, I will always be a Sussana Hoffs or Jane Wiedlin man myself – I like their vocals and songwriting, but I am a sucker for a brunette. I digress.

Now that Heart and Joan Jett have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, it’s time to take stock of the two greatest all-female bands of the 1980s. First off, Pat Benatar should be inducted soon, since those first two acts knocked down part of the sexism wall, and Pat obliterated what was left of that wall. And, she was followed by The Go-Go’s and Bangles in quick succession.

The Go-Go’s made their biggest noise when their debut album, Beauty and the Beat, hit the #1 spot on Billboard‘s Top 200 Album Chart in early 1982. They followed that album with two commercially disappointing albums. But, that debut was a motherlode of terrific pop punk songs. Their first single, “Our Lips Are Sealed”, peaked at #20, while their follow-up single, “We Got the Beat”, became the band’s first Top 10 album, as the song peaked at #2.

The Go-Go’s had one more Top 10 album and song each, both of which peaked at #8 on their respective charts. The album was Vacation, while the song was “Vacation”. Then, two years later, after inner-band turmoil and drug and alcohol abuse led to a lackluster swansong album to the Eighties, Talk Show, released in 1984. By that time, the band’s magic was used up, although they did get a #11 hit with “Head over Heels”.

While The Go-Go’s were imploding in 1984, Bangles were releasing their brilliant power pop classic of a debut album called All Over the Place. Although the critics sang the praise of this album, the singles that were released did not catch on with the public, which I will NEVER understand. But, it was the band’s sophomore album that people loved, 1986’s Different Light. Their first single was the Prince-penned “Maniac Monday”, which peaked at #2. But, it was the third song, the novelty hit “Walk like an Egyptian” that caught on with the public by not just going to #1 in 1986, but actually being the number one song of 1986.

In 1987, while the ladies were recording their third about, the band donated a cover version of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Hazy Shade of Winter”, which was much more muscular than the original version. That song showed EVERY strength of the Bangles: muscular musicianship, beautiful harmonies and a sense of each member’s individual personality. This song can be found on the Less Than Zero soundtrack.

Unfortunately, band inner turmoil was beginning to unravel the band. It wasn’t so much drugs and alcohol but the other usual excuse: the fixation of the media on one member over all the rest. Still, in 1988, Bangles released their final album of the 1980s titled Everything. The first single was a strong power pop song, “In Your Room”, which peaked at #5.

But, this time it was the second single that struck gold with the public. People everywhere were falling in love with the Beatlesque “Eternal Flame”. The beautiful ballad that was rooted directly in The Beatles’ album Rubber Soul, with its sophisticated music, along with their unparalleled four-part harmony, the song touched teens everywhere at that spring’s prom song of the year. Personally, I attended a middle school talent show at my wife’s school back in 1988, and I got to watch FIVE different quartets of girls sing that song. When I realized the middle schoolers were crying themselves to sleep after a bad break-up, I figured the group’s days may be numbered. Unfortunately, I was correct.

Both bands would made periodic reunions throughout the Nineties. Then, early in the new century, both band reunited to record new music and tour. Though, the Bangles have recorded more new albums than The Go-Go’s, both bands have seen their bassists from their heydays leave the band.

I can honestly state that I love both bands, though I do tend to go back to my Bangles music more often. Still, be truthful. You loved these bands back during their salad days. Don’t brush them off as bubblegum music, because they both were way more sophisticated than that. These women were every bit the innovator that Elvis Presley or The Beatles or James Brown were. Now, let’s show them the musical respect they all deserve. They were much more that one-dimensional pretty faces. These were top-notch musicians and gifted songwriters, as they continue to write hit songs for newer artists. See what I mean?

Last year, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame did a cowardly thing by inducting Chic’s Nile Rodgers using the “Musical Excellence” pathway. In doing so, the voting board found a way to ignore Chic. That whole argument aside, I have a much better candidate for induction via Musical Excellence.

This artist was something of a wunderkind in Philadelphia in the late-Sixties. He was known for his songwriting skills in his original band, arguably helping birth power pop as well as helping my Philly known for soul, and in his case, blue-eyed soul. Next, because he was becoming something of a studio rat, he was hired to engineer The Band’s Stage Fright album. Beginning in the early-1970s, this man began down a path as a solo artist, continuing with power pop, blue-eyed soul, AOR, progressive rock and even electronic music. At the same time as his rise as a solo artist, he became a highly in-demand producer, producing Grand Funk, Meat Loaf, XTC, New York Dolls, Cheap Trick, even Indy’s own Roadmaster’s debut album. Then, in the lat-Seventies, he formed a group of equal minded players in a group run as a democracy.

By now, most of you know I am talking about Todd Rundgren. Now hold on all of you Cars fans. Sure, that little project might have been a slight misstep, yet I still maintain it may have gotten more people to learn about how great the Cars are due to Rundgren. In Rundgren’s solo work and his work with Nazz and Utopia, Rundgren has kept striving forward in his music. Additionally, he initiated work in the video realm, being one of the first to produce music videos, even at one time filing work with the FCC for a 24-hour-a-day music video channel. Finally, he became a leading figure in rock music to begin utilizing computers in his music during the 1980s.

But, as any Rundgren fan will tell you, it all comes back to his music, that unique blend of pop, rock, blue-eyed soul, power pop, whatever way he wants to move. He made power pop possible with Nazz. He showed his versatility as a solo artist, and with Utopia, he had the band that could move from progressive rock (their first couple of albums), to AOR (Adventures in Utopia), through a Beatles pastiche (Deface the Music), early-80s protest (Swing to the Right) to pure power pop (Utopia). But, Todd Rundgren will always be known for his 1972 tour-de-force double-album Something/Anything?. So, let’s take a look at My Top 20 Todd Rundgren Songs.

20. “Fahrenheit 451” – Utopia (Swing to the Right, 1982)

19. “You Cried Wold” – Todd Rundgren (Hermit of Mink Hollow, 1978)

18. “Love Is the Answer” – Utopia (Oops! Wrong Planet, 1977). Ended up as a Top 10 hit for England Dan & John Ford Coley.

17. “Lysistrata” – Utopia (Swing to the Right, 1982)

16. “Time Heals” – Todd Rundgren (Healing, 1981)

15. “Libertine” (Utopia, 1982). This was a radio hit back in the day on AOR radio stations. Not bad for a power pop song!

14. “I Just Want to Touch You” – Utopia (Deface the Music, 1980). This song with slightly warped lyrics really does sound like a Beatles’ gem. If only this album had come out before The Rutles had done such a fabulous job skewering the Beatles’ myth.

13. “Feets Don’t Fail Me Now” – Utopia (Utopia, 1982). This was a video hit on MTV. How can you beat a power pop song with a video depicting the guys in the band as caterpillars. I just love Rundgren’s warped sense of humor.

12. “That Could Have Been Me” – Todd Rundgren featuring Robyn (White Knight, 2017). Yep, you saw that right. Runt collaborated with a pop singer, making a brilliant pop song. I haven’t listened to this album all the way through yet, but I have high hopes because Rundgren collaborates with many artists, such as Daryl Hall and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan fame.

11. “Bang the Drum All Day” – Todd Rundgren (The Ever-Popular Tortured Artist Effect, 1983). Okay, I pushed this one down the list because it’s nearly the only Rundgren song ever played on Indy radio.

10. “Could I Just Tell You” – Todd Rundgren (Something/Anything?, 1972). Pop perfection.

9. “The Very Last Time” – Utopia (Adventures in Utopia, 1980). How was this pop song NOT a Top 40 hit? It’s just beyond me.

8. “Be Nice to Me” – Todd Rundgren (Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, 1971). What a beautiful ballad about heartbreak. No one does these types of ballads better than Todd.

7. “Set Me Free” – Utopia (Adventures in Utopia, 1980). This pop song actually landed in the Top 30. If the band had released a similar album instead of the brilliant but misunderstood Swing to the Right album.

6. “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference” – Todd Rundgren (Something/Anything?, 1972). I just love this album!

5. “I Saw the Light” – Todd Rundgren (Something/Anything?, 1972). Power pop heaven!

4. “Open My Eyes” – Nazz (Nazz, 1968). Rundgren must love this power pop song because he plays it live to this day.

3. “Can We Still Be Friends” – Todd Rundgren (Hermit of Mink Hollow, 1978). This one pulls my heartstrings every time I hear the song to this day.

2. “Hello It’s Me” – Todd Rundgren (Something/Anything?, 1972). I think most people incorrectly believe this is Runt’s true sound. Like I said, he does these types of ballads well, but he’s a rocker at heart.

1. “We Gotta Get You a Woman” – Todd Rundgren (Runt, 1970). THIS is the song that I believe best represents Rundgren musically AND lyrically. And, the little lyrical twist at the end of the song is absolutely brilliant.

I believe if twenty of us made this list, we’d have at least 12 different number ones. Now, it’s time for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to elect Todd Rundgren. And the world would be a step closer to being corrected.

As you all know by now, I am a huge fan of power pop music. And my love of the genre seems to continue to grow the deeper I dig into this form of rock music. Now, my older son, loves to say that power pop is punk rock without the danger, and he might me onto something. I do love melody, maybe not what is currently pawned off as melody on Ryan Seacrest’s all-day radio programs. No, I am talking about the melody of the early Beach Boys and The Beatles, but I still love a loud guitarist whose solos mainly follow the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ definition: “Don’t bore us, Get to the chorus.”

Next, you mix those two parameters in a Shake’n’Bake bag and, whammy!, you get the basis of power pop music. But, why was there ever a need for power pop to begin with? I have got to admit that I spent the past couple of weeks attempting to determine this.

The common belief is that the rock & roll era started in 1954 when Bill Haley & His Comets hit Number One with “Rock Around the Clock”. Other artists began to see commercial success, such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, to quickly name a few artists. A short time later, the Everly Brothers dropped their brotherly harmonies on these new fans of this new music. They were followed by arguably the first person to follow the power pop formula was a Texan by the name of Buddy Holly.

Now, rock & roll continued to go and develop until 1965. In 1965, The Beatles released a musically and sonically mature album, Rubber Soul. That album pushed Brian Wilson to create the Beach Boys’ masterpiece Pet Sounds. The final episode that stopped rock & roll and turned it all into rock music was Bob Dylan leaving his folk roots behind by plugging in for his 1965 tour, inventing this folk rock thing, which signaled the end of superficial lyrics and declared that this music be taken seriously.

As 1966 rolled around, The Beatles responded with the even more sophisticated Revolver. A band of blues and jazz virtuosos formed rock’s first power trio Cream, who introduced the idea of extended solos and song arrangements. Now, everything was up for grabs.

Finally, to put the last nail in rock & roll’s coffin, occurred in 1967. First, it was The Beatles’ releasing Sgt. Pepper LP. Then, the Jimi Hendrix Experience took Cream’s power trio template to new aural heights. And the San Francisco bands began pushing the boundaries by playing extended jams instead of songs. After a few years of all of this serious instrument play dominating rock music, a small group of musicians wanted to bring back the fun of the music that sounded as though it came from the early Beatles, only adding a loud, punchy guitar like you could hear other English bands like The Kinks and The Who. And, all of a sudden, artists such as Badfinger, Raspberries and Todd Rundgren carried this banner into the Seventies. Mostly, these artists experienced some hit songs, but not the big hit careers many critics had predicted for them.

However against the grain these power pop artist moving, they were influencing budding musicians to follow in their footsteps. And the strange thing is, no matter how little money was made by these artists, more and more musicians were jumping into the power pop sweepstakes, through the golden age of the late 1970s/early 1980s, the anti-grunge power pop bands of the ’90s and well into the 21st century.

So, power pop is a viable road to cult status. Maybe a few of my favorite power pop artists, such as Big Star (a HUGE cult band now), Raspberries (had a couple of hits in the early 70s) and The Knack (it wasn’t their fault that The Clash called the band “phony Beatlemania”, since they could ROCK!). I will attempt to introduce the genre to you.

Hi everyone! It’s been a month and between recuperation from my surgery, which is going well, and a constant battle with my internet provider, which does not really provide internet service, this has been a somewhat lazy month. Hopefully, by the end of the year, I will have a need provider since the new rural competition is currently laying their fiber optics cable in our isolate neighborhood. Things are looking up on that front.

Since you are reading this, I take it you are a fairly rabid music fan. It is not enough for us to be able to name songs we hear on the radio, we dive into the topic on a deeper level. Many of us grew up drawing the faces of KISS on our school notebooks or our favorite group’s logo. Then, we discovered rock music magazines like Creem or Circus in the Seventies, finally graduating to Rolling Stone, who not only covered music but politics and other cultural milestones. Then, some of us began to buy not only biographies of various artists we also purchased rock music reference books. Some of us were known by our friends to know the statistics of various records and albums like we would memorize the stats on the backs of baseball cards.

But, what is it that initially draws us into a song? For me, a great song will elicit emotion from me. There has to be a yin and yang dichotomy in play in a great song in order to accomplish this emotional response in me. For example, I love Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run”. Superficially, you might believe it has to do with my being a former runner, but that has nothing to do with it. The lyrics are about the universal teenager’s feeling of wanting to break free of their parents’ grip and be recognized as adults. The whole time, the music’s rhythm is pulsating in a manner that enhances one’s need to move on. The whole song becomes a push/pull between the need to become an adult and that safety afforded by staying with our patents. The music builds and builds with the lyrics moving in the same direction until everything stops at the crescendo. Then, after a short pause, The Boss counts “1! 2! 3! 4!”, and the floodgates burst forth, releasing not just our emotions but convincing us as well that we CAN become adults, no matter how bland our lives will be, it is time for us to begin the next generation of humanity.

So, while “Born to Run” tends to be life-affirming in my mind, other songs can push some of our other emotional buttons as well. All of us have songs that are still associated with the break-up with the significant other that was not really our match, but damn it! We sure loved being in love. While there are a host of emotions that songs can touch in us.

Take as an example, Sir Elton John’s beautiful good-bye to a brother named “Daniel”. I loved that song. I still have the original 7-inch record. Being a little precocious when I was young, I always using the lyrics to reflect as to what my feelings would be if I were to ever loose my younger brother. It would be devastating. Then, a couple of years later, I read that the song was written as an anti-Vietnam song, about the death of a dear friend, or “brother”, of the writer (the incomparable Bernie Taupin) during the War. A verse which explains this was dropped from the song in order to make the song more universal.

For a couple of years in the mid-Sixties, my dad was the head boys varsity basketball coach at a tiny school, which no longer exists. Anyway, Dad went on to become something of a community icon after being a principal for nearly 30 years at my old elementary school. But, when he coached, he had a talented team. Every team should have a guy who is willing to do the small stuff on the court, known as the dirty work. He had a young man who personified this role called John. John was my hero. I sat next to him on the bleachers during practice, rebounded for him during shooting drills, etc. I idolized all of the players on Dad’s team, but John was special to me. Unfortunately, he was killed in Vietnam in the early-Seventies. My parents, and the whole community were devastated. Unfortunately, I did not get to go to the funeral. But, I do have the song “Daniel” that has become my way of showing respect to a young man with some much potential that never got the chance to fully develop it.

So much emotion can be packed into a song. I don’t care if you find solace in Frank Sinatra’s music or Slayer’s. The commonality is that we ALL find refuge in a song. And, just because I prefer power pop of Jellyfish to my son’s hip hop is immaterial. We still share the experience.

Hey guys! I’m taking some time off for yet another back surgery. This will be my 7th or 8th procedure done on my back. Unfortunately I will have back spasms for a few days that will be worse than I normally experience. I will be working on an idea for the month of May to honor my home state’s biggest event: the Indianapolis 500. So, to paraphrase the words of Ron Burgundy, “Stay sexy everybody!”

I guess I should be listening to the Rolling Stones’ 1989 semi-hit “Mixed Emotions” today because that is what I feeling today. On one hand, tomorrow is the 10th annual Record Store Day, which, as I have stated before, has been a source of great memories that I have shared with my two sons. Tomorrow, my younger son and I will be on a mission from God to find those special releases that are being made available for tomorrow only to put in our music collections.

Since my older son lives with his beautiful wife in another state, he will covering the day on his own. But, believe it or not, this is a highly coordinated event for the three of us. There are very specific things for which we are on the hunt, that one of our stores we frequent will have what we are looking for. This is especially true because, in the words of my older son, this year’s releases is a target-rich environment.

So, the day will be very interesting to see how the Keller men fare. Without tipping my hat too much about the most desired music on my list, I will just say that many of these releases involve a “Fab Four”, but not necessarily THE Fab Four…or does it? Regardless, I am most looking forward to the interactions that I will have with my boys, one in the person and the other electronically. Tomorrow is the Keller version of D-Day. Maybe, we should call it “K-Day”.

Now, did I mention today is all about mixed emotions. After describing the positive fun to which I am looking forward, today’s date represents the one-year anniversary of the death of my favorite artist, Prince. Many things have been said about this man, both in honorarium and salacious. And, probably Prince deserved both types of descriptions.

If you have been a Prince fan for any length of time, you will know that he was battling with the coming to grips with his good and evil sides. Listen to his lyrics, especially in the early days. Sometimes, misguidedly I will admit, he equated love and sex, all the while they were two different things that are best served when the former comes before the latter. But, many of us made that mistake. The difference is that Prince attempted to exorcise his demons through music when he might have been better served to have seen a mental health professional.

His internal drive to create music, no, uh, how about transcendent music was derived from his horrible childhood. Basically, he was rejected by both of his parents and was forced to live with relatives and friends until music paid the bills to be on his own. In retrospect, it was obvious the man was lonely. According to many of the posthumous articles and documentaries about Prince, his closest friends and associates all said the same thing: Prince was lonely and a prisoner within his own success, as symbolized by his Paisley Park complex.

Still, Prince created some of the greatest music ever dropped upon the world. He was our Mozart. Even some of his “worst” material would be considered brilliant if it were part of another artist’s catalog. Prince will always be known for “Purple Rain”, but how can you forget many of his other hits? “Alphabet Street” may be his most perfect song. “Little Red Corvette” and “1999” broke him to the public. “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy” will forever be associated as masterpieces.

But, a true artist’s depth is realized in the deeper pieces of his art. I think Prince’s greatest ROCK song is “Endorphinmachine”, a cut from his 1994 album The Gold Experience. While you’re at it, check out the songs that he never put on his albums that he either released as B-sides to his singles in the Eighties or cuts that remained unreleased until he put them on various compilation albums like The Hits/The B-Sides (1993), Crystal Ball (the triple album of cuts from “The Vault”, released in 1997) and The Vault…Old Friends for Sale (1999). Many of you who grew up in the Eighties will remember “Erotic City”, the radio hit Prince had cut with Sheila E. There is also the controversial “Shockadelica”, a great song whose title was taken from The Time’s former guitarist Jesse Johnson’s title of his 1986 album. And, there are many other of these songs that are worth hearing.

The most intriguing thing about Prince is that he once claimed that he wrote one song a day. If that is the case, then the infamous Vault is full of music. Statistically speaking, there could be several hits or even shelved albums that could finally see the light of day. Or, was Prince the best editor and curator of his own music? Who knows the answer, but we may begin to hear some of this stuff in the very near future.

Now, as a sufferer of chronic pain, like Prince had been reported to be, his plight hits close to home with me. I have been treated for chronic pain for over ten years now and never once have felt a need to take more medication. I don’t know why. Is it because the years of dealing with the “pain” endured while running long distances? Or am I blessed (or cursed) with a high pain tolerance? Or did I get mental health help immediately after this pain went chronic? Or is it a combination? Who knows? But, a pharmacist friend of mine claims that people who get addicted have more going on mentally than I do. What we do know is that Prince overdosed and was living a very lonely life, which can be a very lethal combination as we have seen over the years.

Regardless of the circumstances of Prince’s death, the main thing is we lost a brilliant artist, perhaps the greatest of a generation, maybe even a millennium. Yes, it’s been a year. Yet, yesterday, as a thunderstorm was approaching where I live, the sky took on a purplish hue, reminding me that Prince is gone. Fortunately, I have much of his music to enjoy for the rest of my lifetime.

Raise a glass of juice, or in my case Mountain Dew (Sorry Prince!). Let’s toast to His Purple Majesty!

Nile Rodgers is FINALLY in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I am still upset that his CHIC, along with his long-time partner, the late Bernard Edwards, remains blocked out of the Hall since, for some reason, people still harbor some resentment toward disco being a part of “rock & roll”. If you want to get technical, rock & roll ended around the time The Beatles released Rubber Soul. Then again, it probably ended before that, but who cares? The point is that if you aren’t Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, etc., then you haven’t been playing rock ‘n’ roll.

So, what have we been listening to? I don’t know. But, in the words of Billy Joel, “Hot funk, cool punk, even if it’s old junk, it’s still rock and roll to me.” There you have it! CHIC is ever bit the part of rock and roll as is Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan, Parliament/Funkadelic, Ramones, Madonna, Metallica, The Temptations and all the other members of the Hall of Fame are. So, Hall of Fame voters, just put CHIC in as a band and show this great band some respect.

But, right now, I will get off of my soapbox, and praise the man Nile Rodgers. If you go back to look at the man’s production, you will be amazed by the diversity of the artist with whom Rodgers has worked. Here is a brief list: Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, David Bowie, INXS, Madonna, Jeff Beck, Debbie Harry, Duran Duran, The Vaughan Brothers (Stevie Ray & Jimmie), just to list a few. Lately, the big-time creators of dance music have been turning to Mr. Rodgers in order to give their modern disco songs a little touch of his unparalleled guitar work. Dance artists such as Avicii, Disclosure and Daft Punk have all benefited from some hot licks from Nile’s guitar.

Today, I give to you my Top 20 Favorite Songs Either Played on or Produced by Nile Rodgers.

20. “Lay Me Down” – Avicii Featuring Adam Lambert & Nile Rodgers (2013). This song would just a boring old EDM song with a special guest vocalist until that unmistakable scratched rhythm guitar comes in to make the song transcendent.

19. “The Wild Boys” – Duran Duran (1984). Nile said in his autobiography that of all the artists he worked with, Duran Duran was the group with whom he was tightest. With Rodgers, the Duranies became the Splendid Six. Oh, and this song is one of the band’s better songs.

18. “Pressure Off” – Duran Duran featuring Janelle Monáe and Nile Rodgers (2015). The last Duran Duran album is outstanding. And this song brings “The Beatles of the Eighties” into the new millennium with an updated sound in the way only Nile Rodgers could do.

17. “Telepathy” – Christina Aguilera featuring Christina Aguilera (2016). Finally, someone could make Aguilera sound like the proper diva she always could be. And, who brought it out of her? Rodgers, of course.

16. “Roam” – The B-52’s (1989). By 1989, The B-52’s were hurting. They had lost their trademark guitarist, the songwriting visionary of the group, to complications due to AIDS. So, drummer Keith Strickland took up the guitar, and the band hired Rodgers to help them regain the “fun” in their sound. Well, as this song proves, The B-52’s were back.

15. “Material Girl” – Madonna (1984). That’s right! Nile Rodgers helped Madonna come up with her signature song.

14. “Backfired” – Debbie Harry (1981). Yes, this song “backfired” on the charts, but Rodgers and Harry had created a new rock-dance hybrid for the new decade.

13. “Upside Down” – Diana Ross (1980). The album from which this song comes, diana, is essentially a CHIC song only with Miss Ross’ vocals. Never in Diana Ross’ long, esteemed career had she sounded so confident and sassy as she did on this song, as well as the rest of the album. This song held the #1 spot for four weeks.

12. “Route 66 (The Nile Rodgers Mix)” – Depeche Mode (1988). Everyone’s favorite doom-and-gloom synth band recorded this rock and roll standard, while Nile’s mix gave the band a much needed levity. This version can be found on the Earth Girls Are Easy soundtrack, a silly movie that could have only been made in the Eighties.

11. “Tick Tock” – The Vaughan Brothers (1990). When guitar virtuosos, brothers Jimmie (of the Fabulous Thunderbirds) and Stevie Ray, decided to record an album together, they turned to another guitarist to produce them. So, they turned to Rodgers, who pulled the soulful side out of them.

10. “People Get Ready” – Jeff Beck with Rod Stewart (1985). Take that classic Curtis Mayfield song, let Jeff Beck work his six-string magic, and add a bit of Nile Rodgers magic, and you’ve got a great tune. Then, entice former Jeff Beck Group vocalist to rediscover his inner soul man, and you’ve produced a classic song. Sure, it’s not as great as the original version by the Impressions, but they came pretty close.

9. “Original Sin” – INXS (1984). Nile Rodgers helped this Australian, former new wave band discover its funk side. Once this band did, they became the purveyors of the funk-rock Eighties sound.

8. “The Reflex” – Duran Duran (1984). Rodgers took a flat-sounding new wave song and injected some life into it via the funk. Once the Duranies discovered what funk really was, they became the band they always aspired to be: a band that sounded as though the Sex Pistols and CHIC came together to play.

7. “Get Lucky” – Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers (2013). Daft Punk is one of the better forward-sounding bands that look backward for their inspiration. And, when they wanted to really dip back into the Seventies disco sound, they called in Rodgers to put his guitar on the track, and history was made.

6. “Like a Virgin” – Madonna (1984). Madonna always dreamed of recording with Nile Rodgers, and she achieved her dream on her fantastic sophomore album. And, this song was a massive jump forward from her debut album.

5. “Let’s Dance” – David Bowie (1983). Rodgers has always stated that Roxy Music and David Bowie were major influences on him. So, imagine his excitement when Bowie approached him to help Bowie find pop chart success while building on the experimental nature of his Berlin albums. This was the last album in which Bowie found major chart success.

4. “We Are Family” – Sister Sledge (1979). Sister Sledge had been another R&B band that had been floundering a bit when the CHIC Organization hooked up with the ladies and helped them find their disco voice with this song. Sure, other songs off this album were hits, but this one transcended pop culture when the 1979 World Series champions Pittsburgh Pirates had adopted the song as their team song. This song must be played at every class reunion and wedding reception.

3. “I’m Coming Out” – Diana Ross (1980). I love the way this song begins, with that iconic drum bit. Then Diana sings those lyrics which have multiple meanings on different levels. Those are the kind of lyrics that the CHIC Organization aspired to.

2. “Good Times” – CHIC (1979). Did you really think that I would leave this song off my list? Not only it was a huge hit on the Pop, Dance and R&B charts, it was the sampled basis for “Rapper’s Delight”. Not only that, but this song influenced Queen’s bassist John Deacon to write the similar-sounding “Another One Bites the Dust”.

1. “Le Freak” – CHIC (1978). This was CHIC’s biggest hit. It was the song of the moment, as well as the song predicting the future. It did not take much of a stride from “Le Freak” to the sound of The Power Station (a Bernard Edwards’ production) and much of the sound of the Eighties.

I will continue to periodically yell in this blog to anyone who will listen that the whole band CHIC deserves to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Here is my opinion of why this man was just inducted on his own for Musical Excellence.

 

The few times successful rock artists have recorded new music under a completely different identity have always been enjoyable to me. Take, for example, back in the late-Eighties when Jeff Lynne was producing George Harrison’s successful comeback album Cloud Nine. When Harrison’s label wanted release a single, Harrison decided he wanted to record a single with some friends. So, in addition to Jeff Lynne, the mastermind behind ELO, Harrison asked his long-time buddy, Bob Dylan, to participate. Lynne, in turn, invited Tom Petty, for whom Lynne was also producing an album. Then, Petty invited rock ‘n’ roll icon Roy Orbison, because Petty and Orbison had been writing songs for Orbison’s major comeback album, to the Harrison’s session. And, thus, the Traveling Wilburys were born. After the group recorded this “one-off” B-side called “Hard to Handle”, the record company loved that sound so much they asked those guy superstars if they wouldn’t mind making a whole album with songs written by each member. Today, that very album, entitled Volume 1, is considered something of an Eighties classic. Unfortunately, Orbison’s untimely death put a damper on the band’s sophomore release that subsequently ended their career.

Another example happened in 1987, when XTC was coming off their greatest studio album called Skylarking in 1986. The album, produced by the indomitable Todd Rundgren, was an homage to the Beatles’ Sgt. Peppers album. But, it got the band’s creative juices flowing, and the band began listening to Sixties psychedelic music, such as early, Syd Barrett-led Pink Floyd and the like. This whole immersion into those Sixties psychedelic nuggets influenced XTC to create an album with a whole new sound. They understood that the album could not be an XTC album, so in walks a whole “new” band called The Dukes of Stratosphear, and their album is known as Psonic Psunspot. The album sounds nothing like an XTC album, yet the album is a thing of beauty.

Now, fast-forward to 2007. Green Day was coming off their most successful album American Idiot. The band had expanded the sound of punk rock by taking the sound and expanding it into the concept album that we now embrace an a modern day classic, American Idiot. So, Green Day was under pressure to create an appropriate follow-up. As the band were writing, the guys were struggling. So, according to folklore, Billie Joel Armstrong, Green Days erstwhile lead singer, guitarist and chief songwriter, was suffering from a bout of writer’s black. So, he began listening to assorted song-length to album-length rock operas, as he was attempting to take that previous concept album all the way to a full-fledged rock opera. So, Armstrong dove head first into The Who’s “A Quick One While He’s Away”, in addition to Tommy and Quadrophenia, as well as other iconic rock opera such as the Pretty Thing’s S.F. Sorrow, The Kinks’ mid-period output, and through such classics as Jesus Christ Superstar and Hüsker Dü’s classic Zen Arcade, to name-drop but a few that were used for inspiration.

But, in the middle of all of this research, the band began to blow off some musical steam, by writing and recording fun songs that sounded as if they were written by some great songs that sounded as if they were lost nuggets from the Sixties garage punk era. As the songs began to take shape, the musicians decided that these songs needed to be heard. But, instead of releasing this music as a Green Day album, the assembled  group of musician friend created pseudonyms and created a new band that they christened as the Foxboro Hot Tubs. Armstrong was now know as Reverend Strychnine Twitch, while some of the others did the same. And, in the Spring of 2008, the Foxboro Hot Tubs released their debut album, Stop, Drop and Roll, to generally enthusiastic reviews.

Personally, I had NEVER heard Green Day sound like they so much fun. Although the album was not a huge financial success, I would call it an artistic success. To me, the band had rediscovered how much fun they can have creating music. With songs such as the title song, “Mother Mary” and “Ruby Room”, Foxboro Hot Tubs were showing off their strengths lie not only in the punk world, but also in the world of Sixties garage rock. And, in doing this album, they also were nodding toward the influence of power pop icons Cheap Trick.

It has been nearly a decade Green Day released this album as their alter-ego, the Foxboro Hot Tubs. And, even though they released one of their finest albums, Revolution Radio, last year, I feel that occasionally working as the Foxboro Hot Tubs only focuses the main group on their influences as they push their pop-punk sound toward new ground with each new Green Day release. The boys have discovered a brilliant method for them to get their ya-yas all the while getting their groove back to bring the world the punk vision they have not just inherited but taken.

Green Day, I love you guys! But, when you find yourselves in a musical rut, instead of fighting or reverting back to self-destructive behaviors, just bring back Foxboro Hot Tubs instead. It is a much more creatively satisfying way to reignite everything that is great about Green Day.

 

I am a big fan of Todd Rundgren. To me, Rundgren is a rock and roll renaissance man. He got his start at the end of the 1960s as the leading visionary of a Philly blue-eyed soul/power pop band, Nazz. Even within this young, inexperienced band, Rundgren was writing songs, producing the band, singing and playing lead guitar and even engineering the album. All of this experience allowed Rundgren to get engineering jobs, even working on albums by esteemed artists such as The Band. Additionally, Todd was getting jobs to produce other artists. Over the years, Rundgren has produced diverse artists such as Daryl Hall & John Oates, Grand Funk, the New York Dolls, The Psychedelic Furs, XTC and Meat Loaf, to name just a few.

Yet, Rundgren was also songwriter and band leader. After Nazz’ third album fizzled, Todd embarked on a solo career, that got off to a pretty fast beginning. By the time he released his third album, Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren was on the fast track to superstardom. That’s when Rundgren began to vacillate between an experimental artist and a commercial star. This jumping back and forth led him to start a group that would consist of members who were songwriters and virtuosos on their instruments. That band, named Utopia, started as a progressive rock band. But, eventually, all of the members of that band started to move toward a power pop band after beginning as a prog band. As the 1980s began, Utopia became the best outlet for Todd’s musical vision.

While Todd’s solo career stayed within the blue-eyed soul bandwidth at the time, Utopia became something of a musical playground. In 1980, Utopia released their biggest-selling album called Adventures in Utopia. But, since this is Todd Rundgren we are talking about following up success with a left-hand turn. In this case Utopia followed up that album with a Beatles pastiche, Deface the Music. That album is full of songs that could have been found on any Beatles album. Then, in 1982, Utopia, sensing a huge political change that was sweeping over the country, released the brilliant album title Swing to the Right, which was the band’s liberal warning to the general population about turning its back on the progressive programs of the New Deal and the Great Society. Ironically, this album’s topic continue to ring true to the day.

As Utopia started down the power pop path, Todd began to release me blue-eyed soul music to the masses. By the end of the 80s, Utopia broke up, leaving Rundgren to follow his creative muse, which went in many different directions. He was one of the first people to envision an MTV-type TV channel years before MTV ever joined the world of cable television. Additionally, Rundgren worked on computer music, much like an updated version of Kraftwerk or Can. Finally, he pushed the production lessons he learned over the years by creating an album that was totally done a cappella with his own voice. The result was interesting, but it was not commercial in the least bit. After taking it easy in the 90s, Rundgren has released several albums in the 21st century. The sounds have run the gamut from his blue-eyed soul sound, power pop and arena rock to prog rock, EDM, blues and pop music with various guest vocalists (this is his upcoming album, White Knights, which is due to be released next month).

So, today, here are my Top 15 Favorite Todd Rundgren songs, be it solo, with Nazz or as an equal part of Utopia.

15. “One World” – Utopia (1982, Swing to the Right). Well, Rundgren talks about a concept that will never be seen in a world of conservatism.

14. “Crybaby” – Utopia (1984, Oblivion). Todd proves that he still knows how to do great power pop.

13. “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” – Utopia (1982, Utopia). On this double album, Utopia proved that they were the masters of nearly every musical genre. This song proves Todd is still in touch with love of the Beatles.

12. “Love Is the Answer” – Utopia (1977, Oops! Wrong Planet). Rundgren hoped this was the song that would break Utopia into the Top 10. The song did have Top 10 power, but not for Utopia. It was a version by England Dan & John Ford Coley.

11. “I Just Want to Touch You” – Utopia (1980, Deface the Music). Here is the flip-side of “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, topping all the power poppers who began making noises on the scene.

10. “That Could Have Been Me (featuring Robyn)” – Todd Rundgren (2017, White Knight). Yes, this song has just been released, but it’s a beauty. If the rest of the album is half as good as this song, Todd may have another hit album.

9. “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” – Todd Rundgren (1972, Something/Anything?). The first of three classic songs from Rundgren’s masterpiece LP. This is a terrific slice of Philadelphia blue-eyed soul.

8. “I Saw the Light” – Todd Rundgren (1972, Something/Anything?). Something/Anything? is a classic album, one of the greatest ever released, and Todd shows his power pop muscles on this song.

7. “The Very Last Time” – Utopia (1980, Adventures in Utopia). What a great arena rock song! This band is so underrated.

6. “Bang the Drum All Day” – Todd Rundgren (1983, The Ever-Popular Tortured Artist Effect). Thanks to this song, Todd Rundgren can be heard in nearly every stadium and arena in the US, if not the world. It’s one heck of a celebration song.

5. “Open My Eyes” – Nazz (1968, Nazz). The first hit that Rundgren ever wrote, he continues to play this song on tour. When I saw him in 2009, Todd and band played the whole album Arena live that night but opened the show with this song.

4. “Set Me Free” – Utopia (1980, Adventures in Utopia). This just might be Rundgren’s finest vocals ever recorded. And he set them over a great arena rock song. For whatever reason, neither solo Todd nor Utopia ever went in this musical direction again. Go figure!

3. “Hello It’s Me” – Todd Rundgren (1972, Something/Anything?). Yes, this is the first Rundgren song I remember ever hearing. It is a beautiful version of this song that was originally released on Nazz’ first album. It may very well be his most popular song he has ever recorded.

2. “Can We Still Be Friends” – Todd Rundgren (1978, Hermit of Mink Hollow). Back when I first heard this song, I honestly thought it was going to be HUGE. But, in 1978, blue-eyed soul wasn’t what people wanted to hear. At the time, they only wanted boom and bombast.

1. “We Gotta Get You a Woman” – Todd Rundgren (1970, Runt). This is a beautiful slice of power pop with a touch of soul that only a Philadelphia artist like Rundgren, or Hall & Oates, could make. I love the way the singer sings about finding his friend LeRoy a woman, and then turning the lyrics in the last verse at the very end of the song by saying after getting Leroy, “we gotta get me one too.” Perfection!

As a Todd Rundgren fan, I could have thrown in 15 to 20 more songs. But, in an effort to show some self-control, I kept my list to 15 strong songs. Let me know what favorite songs of yours that I left off my list.

Back in 1977, I was a member of the KISS Army. I don’t remember my rank, but I was only in it for that year. And, although I did not totally lose interest in KISS, just the Army. My musical tastes began to develop, and KISS was sliding down my “Favorite Rock Artists List” that I have kept in my head ever since.

Still, I have never completely let go of KISS. They still maintain a special place in my heart. Alive! and Destroyer are still two of my all-time favorite albums. I mean, rock doesn’t sound much more raw that what KISS played on those two albums.

Let’s face it, KISS is the perfect rock band/corporation. Potentially, this band could maintain an infinitely long career as long as the musicians continue to wear the make-up. This idea has to have passed through Gene Simmons’ mind a time or two. Unlike Beatlemania, in which we can ALWAYS tell we a new person takes over the place of a member of the Fab Four, ideally, we will NEVER know when Paul or Gene retires, because there will always be an endless stream of “Starchilds” and “Demons” to carry on the flame. And as far as new albums are concerned, do we really care about that? Oh sure, so the Magnificent Masked Marauders could release an album of new material once a decade just to pique interest in the band for yet another barnstorming tour, which will replenish the coffers and keep the machine moving.

In reality, KISS have released 24 studio albums, although they are known as a live phenomenon. I have left out their half-a-dozen live albums, even though those albums have been widely accepted as being “doctored” in the studio, with mistakes taken out and the crowd noise enhanced to make a more immediate-sounding album(s).

So, today, I am going to rank all of those KISS studio albums, including those made during the “make-up-less Eighties”, which over all was a fairly stagnant time for the band. So, here we go, My KISS Albums Ranked for your pleasure.

24. Peter Criss (1978). Sorry, but this album is just awful. Now, we all know why “Beth” was the drummer’s finest moment in songwriting.

23. Crazy Nights (1987). I will NEVER understand why KISS felt they had to sound like a hair metal band, when all of those bands were trying to catch-up with KISS!

22. Hot in the Shade (1989). Another one of those “let’s be a hair metal band” albums instead of a KISS album. It has SYNTHS on it!

21. Carnival of Souls (1997). Now, KISS really HAD forgotten their sound. This is their GRUNGE album. No kidding! KISS and Grunge? Please!

20. Dynasty (1979). Considered to be their “disco” album, even though only “I Was Made for Loving You” was a disco song. Still, there weren’t very many good songs left on that album.

19. Animalize (1984). Paul made a decent album here while Gene was off trying to find acting jobs. Needless to say, the whole thing doesn’t sound cohesive

18. Psycho Circus (1997). This was the “reunion comeback” album, since the original line-up was finally back together and IN THEIR MAKE-UP!!! Too bad that no one spent any time trying to write some good songs.

17. Asylum (1985). When in doubt, make your band sound like what’s popular at the moment you record this one. So KISS now sound like a band trying to sound like KISS. In other words, this is their first hair metal album.

16. Gene Simmons (1978). So, Gene grabs a bunch of stars to help him make his first solo album, and it sounds like an unfocused mess. I have no idea what he was trying to do.

15. Paul Stanley (1978). Of the four solo albums, this one was most like a KISS album. But, what makes a great KISS album: the interplay between the four musicians and the changing of vocalists on songs and even within songs. Still, not too bad.

14. Music from ‘The Elder’ (1981). So, KISS started the 1980s as a band undergoing an identity crisis. The music climate was changing, so KISS tried to make a concept album as a soundtrack to a movie that NEVER was made. Initially, this album was slagged unmercifully; whereas, now the album doesn’t sound too bad. This is a very underrated album.

13. Unmasked (1980). NO! KISS did NOT stop wearing their make-up on this album. No, that idea is still a couple of years away. This is the album that time has forgotten.

12. Monster (2012). This is the most recently released KISS album, and it sounds pretty good.

11. Lick It Up (1983). At the moment, it seemed like a fantastic publicity bonanza. It is a great KISS album without the mystique of the make-up. Maybe, the band is going to be okay after all. Unfortunately, history tells us a different story.

10. Revenge (1992). Finally, the band got back to the good-time rock & roll they had always been revered for, making their finest album since the early-1980s.

9. Sonic Boom (2009). So, Paul reconvene the touring band (Gene, drummer Eric Singer and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer) to make their first album together. Paul set the tone for song quality, pushing Gene to rediscover his songwriting talent. Surprisingly, KISS released one of their finest albums.

8. Hotter Than Hell (1974). For a sophomore release, this is high quality. But, for a KISS album, this was the weakest of their original 1970s albums.

7. Dressed to Kill (1975). Although the album cover photo is on the stupid side, the music inside is classic. This album has the first version of the all-time classic “Rock and Roll All Night.” How can you beat that?

6. Ace Frehley (1978). Easily the best of the solo album, Ace’s material choices were focused and inspired. And, “New York Groove” was just the icing on the cake.

5. Rock and Roll Over (1976). After the one-two punch of Alive! and Destroyer, KISS came storming back with this album, yet another KISS classic.

4. KISS (1974). This killer debut album has only gotten more impressive to me over the years. This album is full of songs that remain part of the band’s concert repertoire.

3. Love Gun (1977). This was the band’s heaviest album released up to that point. The best part of the album was the “pop” gun that was included in the album. It was so annoying that the neighbors banned me from bringing it over to have a “battle” with their son.

2. Creatures of the Night (1982). Traditionally, people believe that KISS did not record a single good album in the 80s. Well, this one is THE exception! It IS a treasure of an album.

1. Destroyer (1976). Really?!?! Was there EVER any doubt which album would be #1??? This is THE perfect KISS album. From the radio report at the beginning to the untitled last song, this album is the concept album the band wishes they had made with ‘The Elder’ in 1981.

There you go! That’s how my KISS albums roll. Let’s hear what you think!