Erasure is Andy Bell and Vince Clarke. As this series of blogs deals mostly with 80's era music of these bands, I considered Erasure's music from 1986's "Wonderland" through 1991's "Chorus". I briefly considered including 1994's "I Say, I Say, I Say", but decided that's too far out of the 80's. Also the fact that it's not very good didn't help either.
If one were to only buy two non-Greatest Hits Erasure CDs I suggest you go with "Wonderland" and "The Innocents". Those two CDs contribute 20 of the 33 songs on this blog. As seems to always happen when I'm working on blogs for a band, I think to myself I can't believe how many good songs they have. But yes Erasure really has that many great songs. I listen to each CD and assign each song that will be included on my blog a rating from 3 to 5, with 5 being the best. Of these 33 songs, I rated 14 of them a 5 star song.
Special thanks to Ballantine Books, Random House LLC and NetGalley.com for letting me read this book free for only a review.
I just barely finished reading "The City of Mirrors" a few minutes ago and I give it a thumbs up. It's a pretty good book, but didn't quite reach it's potential. Overall I really enjoyed the book, it serves as a great final novel in "The Passage" Trilogy. I didn't want "Mirrors" to end and am feeling very sad that it has. Honestly it made me want to go back and reread "The Passage", how would I react when I know the end? I did reread the first few pages and immediately fell back into the story and wanted to continue reading.
A couple of minor quibbles, I didn't like the fate of Alicia. Without saying too much, I can't believe that was the end of her story. This isn't a complaint, near the very end of the book we meet Miles. It seemed an odd ending until we find out the woman he meets. She's at both the beginning and the ending of this fantastic trilogy. And honestly that's only right, it's also very moving. It's sad to me that I'm letting all of these old friends go now.
Things I liked about "The City of Mirrors", Amy and all the other great characters, the book is not easy to predict, I liked the story, I loved the virals, loved following all these great characters over about 2000 pages, I enjoyed the ending.
I would recommend this book to anyone that likes great fiction. Also anyone that likes vampire fiction- but not the Edward or Jacob kind. I liked the "Twilight" books, but the movies are nearly unwatchable. I look forward to when Cronin's novels are made into movies.
On the scale from 1 to 10, I give this book a 9. Thanks Justin Cronin for this masterful trilogy.
First of all Merry Christmas to you all. I love Christmas Day and the fact that we celebrate the birth of our Savior. Although it's highly unlikely he was actually born on December 25th. But the date he was born doesn't matter, it only matters that he was born.
I'll get to those 80's Country Classics soon, but first some of my favorite Christmas songs. Merry Christmas everyone!!!
Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas":
Carrie Underwood's "Do You Hear What I Hear":
This song captures the sadness and disappointment some of us have around Christmastime. I especially love the lonely sax solo at the end of the song. It Also happens to be an amazing song. Dan Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne":
Elvis "Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me":
I'm hoping that none of you received chunks of coal today. John Anderson's "I'm An Old Chunk of Coal":
Part 1 of this blog was about Nile Rodgers and all the amazing music he had a hand in creating. This second blog is dedicated to some of the best songs by the other inductees. Again this is a pretty good class. Tupac is also included in this class.
While Miss Baez had an interesting career, the most interesting thing about her for me is her relationship with the Mac Daddy Steve Jobs. Despite their 14 year age difference they became lovers. The relationship fizzled when Jobs wanted kids, but Baez did not. From my very limited research it seems they remained friendly until Jobs' too early death.
Joan Baez
"Diamonds and Rust":
"Forever Young":
"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down":
My three favorite bands growing up were Blondie, Cheap Trick and ELO, ELO is coming up on my Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands- very soon in fact.
"Twilight":
"Hold On Tight":
"Last Train To London":
"Xanadu" (featuring the absolutely stunning Olivia Newton-John) :
Another one of my favorite bands growing up. I loved seeing Journey on their "Escape" tour in Salt Lake City. They didn't mail it in that night, they came out and played one hell of a show. And they've had good singers since Steve Perry left, but there's only one Steve Perry! And yes, Journey is coming up on my Top 106 Greatest 80's artists.
"Wheel In The Sky":
"Stone In Love":
"Anyway You Want It":
With Greg Rolie on lead vocals. "Just The Same Way":
There's only one band that I like more than Pearl Jam and that's the mighty Zep.
On April 7th, 2017 a deep and very diverse class will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The group includes Pearl Jam, Journey, Yes, Joan Baez, ELO and Nile Rodgers. Of these the least known, but possibly most talented, is Nile Rodgers. Rodgers either wrote, played on, produced or helped shape in some way all these amazing songs. Quite simply Nile Rodgers is a genius.
I don't know that I'll have time to finish the blog tonight, but here are twelve great songs that Niles Rodgers had a hand in creating.
My least favorite of these 12 songs, I just wanted to show that Rodgers is still a vital music maker. Daft Punk "Get Lucky":
The Nile Rodgers/ Duran Duran songs:
"Notorious":
"The Reflex":
"Pressure Off":
Madonna "Like A Virgin":
INXS "Original Sin":
Thompson Twins "Lay Your Hands On Me":
The B-52's "Love Shack":
"Upside Down":
Sister Sledge "We Are Family":
Chic, Rodgers was a member of this band. "Le Freak":
With it being the Christmas season, and a new "Star Wars" movie coming out (Go see "Rogue One") and not having enough time to listen to as much music as I would like I've hit a roadblock on my Top 106 Greatest 80's artists. My last band on that countdown that I've published a blog for is the Rolling Stones at #49. Musicians coming up soon include the thing at the end of a pencil, a vital organ, The Boss, The Thin White Duke, The Acid Queen and poisonous arachnids.
With a few extra days coming up hopefully I can listen to all the 80's era CDs of these upcoming bands and then I'll be able to resume my countdown. On my Top 106 countdown there's only one country band, there should have been more. However I already spent enough time on my 80's countdown, so I just went with that. Thus my next couple of blogs are going to be some of the best country songs of the 80's. In no way is this to be considered a comprehensive list, there are just too many great country songs.
Many of these songs have been on my blogs multiple times previously- to paraphrase Alabama "you can't keep a good song down".
George Jones "He Stopped Loving Her Today" (1980):
Keith Whitley "When You Say Nothing At All" (1988):
Keith Whitley "I'm No Stranger To The Rain" (1988):
Willie Nelson "Always On My Mind" (1982):
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "Fishin' In The Dark" (1987):
Teri Gibbs "Somebody's Knockin" (1981):
Mel McDaniel "Louisiana Saturday Night" (1980):
George Strait "You Look So Good In Love" (1983):
George Strait's "The Chair" (1985):
Clint Black "Killin' Time" (1989):
Clint Black "Better Man" (1989):
Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard "Pancho and Lefty" (1983):
It's been announced that Skillet is coming to concert in Salt Lake City on February 24th, 2017. Cool, I hope that I'm able to go see it, as they are a band on my bucket list. I especially love the vocal interplay of the male and female singers, John Cooper and Jen Ledger. Ledger is also the drummer, the only other female drummer I've seen is the ladies who drummed for The Donnas. The band is filled out by lead guitarist Seth Morrison and Korey Cooper. Cooper is a multi-instrumentalist and wife of John.
Unless I'm spectacularly inspired this will be my last Disco blog for awhile, I promise.
I know I had this on my first "The Get Down" blog, but I wanted to hear this song again. It's just such a great song and I would so love to go to Funky Town. And let's just pretend the Pseudo Echo version never happened. Lipps Inc. "Funky Town":
Maxine Nightingale "Right Back Where We Started From":
The Trammps "Disco Inferno":
Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music":
A Taste Of Honey "Boogie Oogie Oogie":
A Taste of Honey isn't a one hit wonder, they also had a massive hit with one of the best ballads of all-time. "Sukiyaki":
If you are looking for music by Donna Summer, I've included 8 of the Disco Queen's greatest hits in my previous blog.
There are very few musicians I think of when I think of Disco. When I think of country twenty names jump to mind. When I think of rock fifty names jump to mind. But when I think of Disco I think of Donna Summer, The Bee Gees, Earth, Wind and Fire and then quite a few one hit wonders. Sure there's The Village People and Chic, but I don't know if those artists would have broke out if it wasn't for Disco. Disco music didn't lead to long careers. The Bee Gees were big stars before Disco hit and then faded away. Then they caught the Disco wave and surged forward again.
First up a selection of songs from Earth Wind & Fire:
"Boogie Wonderland":
"September":
"Let's Groove":
"Gratitude":
"Shining Star":
The Bee Gees:
"Stayin' Alive":
"Night Fever":
"Jive Talkin'":
"You Should Be Dancing":
"Nights On Broadway":
"More Than A Woman":
"Tragedy":
Chic:
"Good Times":
"Le Freak":
"Dance Dance Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah)":
And the song I thought was by Chic, the S.O.S.'s "Take Your Time (Do It Right)":
As the title indicates this blog entry is inspired by the new Netflix show "The Get Down". This blog will feature mostly disco. Although rap was breaking out in the late 70's, I couldn't find many amazing rap songs from that period. I spent some time looking for them too. After "Devil's Gun" are the best 5 rap songs from the late 70's era that I could find.
This is a great song I had never heard until episode 1 of "The Get Down":
C.J. & Co's "Devil's Gun":
Sugarhill Gang "Rapper's Delight":
Newcleus "Jam On It":
Divine Sounds "What People Do For Money":
Sugarhill Gang "Apache (Jump On It)":
Fatback Band "(Are You Ready) Do The Bus Stop":
In my not so humble opinion, this is the absolute best rap song ever created. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five "White Lines":
The Dazz Band "Let It Whip":
This song actually was one of the first song that brought rap into the mainstream, Blondie's "Rapture":
My favorite song growing up, Blondie's "Heart of Glass":
Lipps Inc. "Funky Town":
All of these amazing songs are by Miss Donna Summer, R.I.P. Queen:
Thanks to Inkshares, Inc. and Net Galley, here's my review of Sobin's "The Last Machine In the Solar System".
First of all this isn't a book, it's more of a longer short story. It's only took me about a hour to read. The book has essentially two characters, Nikolia Ohngren and Jonathan. Nikolia is a genius and inventor. He has created the human like Jonathan, which is a very sophisticated computer. Jonathan "is both a scientist and machine." Nikolia wanted a machine that would outlive him and would record the end of humanity. Nikolia could see the eventual downfall of mankind.
This extended short story covers billions of years. It starts on Earth as the people of our planet is destroying our home. Nikolia and Jonathan then are among those that are able to eventually move to Mars, where survivors from Earth have moved. Eventually Earth is no longer hospitable, the human race eventually moves to Mars. But the history you don't learn from you are doomed to repeat and eventually Mars is no longer habitable.
How is "The Last Machine In The Solar System"? I enjoyed it, but it feels so slight. It's equivelent to getting ready to eat a big meal, only to realize that the food isn't what you expected. The food is tasty, but not filling. As soon as I was finished I wanted to continue eating/reading something a bit more substantial. This extended short story feels incomplete. It would have been better served as a serial or in a sci-fi anthology.
Again I enjoyed the book, but it's short length left me wanting.
With this book not being released until April, the author should use the next month or two to expand and flesh this book out. He should turn it into a more substantial meal.
The price for this book on amazon is $9.99, that's too pricey for a short story.
This is my review of Kevin T. Johns "M School". Due to previous reviews on amazon.com, Kevin contacted me via e-mail requesting that I read his book. He provided a free copy and all he asked was my honest review of his book.
Who is Lilith Delaney and what is M School? Lilith Delaney is a seemingly normal high school student. The more we get to know her, we quickly realize how abnormal she is. Lilith is like most of us. The feelings and emotions that most of us have to attach us one to the other are attributes that Lilith doesn't have. To her people aren't people, they are a means to an end. Lilith isn't completely unfeeling, she just doesn't feel an attachment to people.
Is there a place for these kind of people to go to find their own kind? Why yes there are, there's a place called Murder School, shorted to M School. I know your wondering, just what is Murder School? Murder is an acronym for Munitions, Undercover, Recognizance, Defense, Engagement and Retaliation. And what do people learn at this school? Well if you don't know yet, read the previous sentence.
I'm glad to say that I can give this book a very positive review. It starts out a bit slow, but at about the halfway point the book turns on the jets. It heads to an exciting ending, although the ending is a bit clunky. It's definitely not an predictable ending and there are plenty of surprises to be had.
Would I recommend this book to friends and family? The answer is yes and no. This book isn't for everyone. I also think the female teenager heroine thing has been a bit overplayed. However Lilith is one of a kind of character. Although she may not want be the friendliest person in the world, she definitely sucks you in. I wanted to see her expand out of her shell, I wanted her to become a better person as she went through her M School training. I wanted that so much for her. Well you'll have to read this book to find out.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give this book a 8.5. Again, but it's not a book for everyone. If you like action, revenge, spy craft this just might be the book for you. If you want to read this book, it's available at amazon.com for only $2.99. Add it to your collection and let me and the author know what you think.
I, as well as I'm sure hundreds of others, say you can find whatever you want on the internet and amazon. I was looking for a website that had a list of 80's movies/television shows with hit songs by one hit artists. It took some work, but I finally stumbled on the website onehitwondercenter.com. Thanks to them and all the other websites I researched. I've taken a few liberties. Some of the below musicians aren't traditional one hit wonders, some are big stars that sang a one off duet and other various combinations. Also some bands are well known bands that only had one official hit, but had a lot of great songs that didn't chart. And I'll be honest some songs weren't even hits, they are great songs.
Teena Marie "Lead Me On" (from "Top Gun"):
Riggs "Heartbeat" (from "Heavy Metal"):
Okay he may have been a little known 70's/ 80's country rock band called the Eagles. Do you remember them? But as a solo artist, this is Don Felder's best song. "Heavy Metal (Takin' A Ride)" (from "Heavy Metal"):
The next four kinda sorta one hit wonders are all from "Valley Girl"- these songs were taken from the the two "Valley Girl" soundtracks.
One of the greatest songs ever Modern English "I Melt With You":
Felony "The Fanatic":
Total Coelo "I Eat Cannibals":
The Jam "Town Called Malice":
The Belle Stars "Iko Iko" (from "Rainman"):
These two songs are from "Vision Quest":
Red Rider "Lunatic Fringe":
He sang both with Black Sabbath, had a very successful solo career and sang with many other bands. But he never had an official hit, but this is just a damn good song. Dio's "Hungry For Heaven":
These three songs are from "Dirty Dancing", the music is a lot better than the movie.
I'm trying to forget what the Black Eyed Peas did to this song. Bill Medley was a Righteous Brother and Jennifer Warnes had another big hit with Joe Cocker (see part 2). Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes "I've Had (The Time Of My Life)":
He sang with the Raspberries and had another hit with the excellent "Make Me Lose Control". Eric Carmen "Hungry Eyes":
Patrick Swayze "She's Like The Wind" (featuring Wendy Fraser):
Now let's do the TV songs
Mike Post "Hill Street Blues" Theme:
That sax solo kills me every time!! Billy Vera and the Beaters "At This Moment" ("Family Ties"):
As I have done with every other musician to this point I go through every one of their 80's era CDs and listen to each song. Sometimes these rankings surprise even me.
10) "Vox Humana":
9) "Whenever I Call You "Friend" (featuring Stevie Nicks):
8) "Forever":
7) "Heart To Heart" (performing with Michael McDonald):
This is one of my all-time favorite songs from one of my favorite 80's movies, I'm surprised this song isn't a bit higher on this countdown. 6) "Footloose":
"The Hamilton Mixtape" was released on December 2nd, 2016. As you've probably figured out it's musicians and Jimmy Fallon covering songs from Lin Manuel- Miranda's amazing "Hamilton" Broadway Play. It has 23 songs and only 8 of the songs qualify as the best of. Some of the songs are better, some are worse and some are the same. One of the worst is Jimmy Fallon, for some reason someone let him "sing" "You'll Be Back". That's one of the best, most fun songs from "Hamilton". Fallon'ss version isn't the worst ever, but it's nowhere close to as good as the original version. This is the much better original by Johnathan Groff, "You'll Be Back":
The songs below are better or just as good as the originals, with a special shout out to Miss Kelly Clarkson's amazing cover.
Sadly this is the best version available on YouTube at this time. 1) Sia "Satisfied" (featuring Miguel and Queen Latifah):
2) The Roots "My Shot" (featuring Busta Rhymes, Joell Ortiz & Nate Ruess):
3) Usher "Wait For It":
4) Regina Spektor "Dear Theodosia" (featuring Ben Folds):
5) Kelly Clarkson's amazing "It's Quiet Uptown" (Live) :
6) K'naam, Snow Tha Product, Riz Mc, Residente "Immigrants (We Get The Job Done)":
"Fractured" is book 2 in the Will Trent series, it was released in 2008. I wrote my review for the first book in the series, 2006's "Triptych" on November 9th, 2016. The next book in the series is the 2009 novel "Undone".
Book 2 continues the story of Will Trent, GBI agent, dyslexic and brilliant investigator. This time Trent is called into a case where one teenage girl is murdered and one teenage girl is kidnapped. The dead teenager is Kayla Alexander, who originally was mistaken for Emma Campano, the missing teen.
Trent is paired with Faith Mitchell, a woman that loathes him for good reason. He investigated her mother, who was a crooked cop. After some initial distrust, they find a way to work together. Mitchell quickly realizes Trent is a fair person and just wants to find the truth. She also figures out that he has trouble with reading. By the end of the book they work so well together that they become partners and will continue to work together in future installments. Trent continues is on again, off again relationship with Angie Polaski. Other than comfort I'm not sure what either one of them gets out of the relationship. I think those two need to break up and thank goodness Angie isn't pregnant.
Other familiar characters are back for book 2, people like Amanda Wagner, Hamish Patel and Charlie Reed. Also this book introduces Victor Martinez, who it seems may be a love interest for Faith Mitchell going forward.
After two books is the Will Trent series an absolutely amazing, can't put down book series. I would say no. But it does have a lot going for it. I like the characters, especially the very driven to find the truth Will Trent. I love Faith Mitchell and hopefully they would eventually get together, although they would have to resolve major roadblocks for that to happen. But Victor Martinez seems like a good guy.
Would I recommend "Fractured", yes I would. One thing about series is that the reader usually knows the major characters already from the previous books. That way the author can just dig into the story without explaining who everyone is. I would give this book a solid B, I already have Book 3 checked out from the library. That book being "Undone", this was my first experience with Will Trent. I read about 100 pages before realizing it was a later book in a series. Then I went back and read the first two books in the series. When I first was reading "Undone" I had a very difficult time putting it down.
Although I plan on reading "Undone" soon, that doesn't mean that's the next book I'll read. I'm also considering Pether Matthiessen's "The Snow Leopard", Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Windup Girl" and Jay McInerney's "Bright Lights, Big City". There's just not enough time to read all the great lit that has been written.
Actually that title is a bit of a misnomer, pretty much every song on this CD is great. Like Metallica's recent CD, this is a very good CD. It's good to see older bands still kicking butt after so many years performing together. I give "Revolution Radio" a B+. Check it out.
Jeff Matika – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2009–present) (Thanks to Wikipedia.org)
Green Day is touring. They have a show in L.A. on December 11th and then take a holidays break. Then they are a European tour starting January 10th in Italy and will tour Europe until February 8th. Then they take another break before coming home to the USA, where they'll play a few dates. There are no shows set for Salt Lake City as of yet.
Here are some of the several great songs from "Revolution Radio":
