I wrote the first part of this blog back on December 6th of last year, that was just a general overview of the music of Duran Duran. In fact I haven't even finished that blog. This is Part 2 and when I will actually be the Duran Duran (or as some used to call them Duran squared) countdown blogs. Their countdown blogs were really boosted by their 1993 comeback CD "Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)". Twelve of that CDs songs qualified for these countdown blogs. "Notorious", "Big Thing" and "Liberty" were all pretty average CDs. Although their first three CDs "Duran Duran", "Rio" and "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" had plenty of great tracks. Duran Duran was one of those bands that was really helped by being on MTV. It's hard to believe they used to have music on MTV. Duran Duran and MTV both were partially responsible for the other's success.
The best songs of the 80s- as determined by me- rolls on. This blog features classic songs by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, The Jets, Duran Duran and Peter Cetera.
559) T'Pau "Heart and Soul":
560) Kool and the Gang "Get Down On It":
Three classics from Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam 561) "I Wonder If I Take You Home":
562) Lost In Emotion":
563) "All Cried Out":
564) The Jets "Crush On You":
565) The Jets "Rocket 2 U":
566) The Jets "Make It Real":
567) The Jets "You Got It All":
568) Peter Cetera and Amy Grant "Next Time I Fall":
I love reading almost as much as I love music, but reading is harder to find time for. But it was a slow day at work and I had time to kill. I pulled out my Kindle and finished reading this book. This review is of the book by Ian McEwan, not the movie based on the book. However this is a trailer for the movie, which looks to be incredibly faithful to the book:
"On Chesil Beach" is a book about a newly married couple who struggle to consummate their marriage. Although there are several characters in this book, it's the newly married couple at the heart of the book and story. We learn quite a bit about Edward Mayhew and Florence Ponting. The book deals with the effects of and what lead up to their struggle with intimacy. The trailer above is a solid summation of the story.
Both Edward and Florence are very likable people, there isn't a question of taking sides. We are cheering for them as a couple, working together and overcoming any obstacle. I have to admit I was quite surprised by the effects of their intimacy struggle and what happened as a result of that. I love being surprised and not being able to predict how a story ends. I think that's a sign of a good author. I also liked the way McEwan handled this sensitive subject. He let the story develop slowly, but not too slowly. The pace of the story matched the love lives of the young couple at the center of the story.
Two things about this book that really work in it's favor. It's a quick and enjoyable read and it's also a story that you think about the rest of the day. I usually like to read longer books so that I can get lost in the story. However a quick and satisfying read is also very enjoyable.
Ian McEwan is one of my all-time favorite authors. I absolutely loved "Atonement" and quite liked "Saturday" as well. "On Chesil Beach" is the third of his books I've read. So how was the book, well it was pretty good. It's not quite to the level of "Atonement", but it's only a small percentage of books that matches that classic.
Yes I liked the book. Would I recommend the book, why yes I would. For those of you who may be squeamish about the storyline, don't worry. The actual attempt at intimacy is only a small part of the entire story. That's basically the jumping off point for the rest of the story.
I definitely recommend this book, it's a very high quality book. It's not a perfect book, but it's very good. I would give it a B grade.
In Entertainment Weekly they had an article about Taylor Swift's first night of her "Reputation" tour. I was impressed that it was a 24 song set, that's a pretty generous setlist. I've always considered myself a pretty big Taylor Swift fan, but I realized how many of her songs I don't know. This is a celebration of her first tour stop on her Reputation tour and a chance to remind me of all of her songs. The lady is crazy talented.
Upcoming: I'll be doing countdown blogs for the 106ish Greatest 80's era bands blog for Meat Loaf. I wanted to write about "Bat Out of Hell 2" as a refresher and because I love that CD.
Meat Loaf really broke onto the scene with 1977's "Bat Out of Hell". This CD has 7 songs and all of them are great. A few of these songs are classics, for instance "Bat Out Of Hell", "You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)", "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" and "Paradise By The Dashboard Light":
After one of the best 70's CDs ever Meat Loaf went into a musical funk. There might have been as many amazing songs on that first CD than his next 4 CDs combined. 1981's "Dead Ringer" had his duet with Cher "Dead Ringer For Love", but not much else:
1983's "Midnight At The Lost and Found" had the title song and not much else. However "Midnight" is one of my all-time favorite Meat Loaf songs. Next up was the Greatest Hits CD "Hits Out of Hell", nearly half of which was from "Bat Out of Hell". That was followed by 1984's "Bad Attitude" which had the solid "Modern Girl" on it, but not much else. Are you noticing a trend here? Then 1986's "Blind Before I Stop" might be the nadir of this era for Meat Loaf. Next there was 1987's live CD "Live At Wembley", which still was relying on "Bat Out Of Hell".
I enjoyed the original "Bat Out of Hell", but didn't pay a lot of attention to Meat Loaf until I heard the lead single off of "Bat Out of Hell 2". Of course that song is "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)":
I remember listening to that song in my car on my way to my girlfriend's house -the woman I would eventually marry and then divorce- and I was jamming out to that amazing song. It's a bit of a bittersweet song for me for that reason. but I still think it's an amazing song. It's one of those songs that's best played loud.
But that's not the only great song on the CD, this CD is 75 minutes of kick ass rock and roll. Not every song is a classic, but so many of the songs are pretty great.
2) "Life Is A Lemon and I Want My Money Back":
3) "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through":
4) "It Just Won't Quit":
5) "Out of the Frying Pan (And Into The Fire)":
6) "Objects In The Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are":
7) "Wasted Youth" (Monologue By Jim Steinman)":
8) "Everything Louder Than Everything Else":
9) "Good Girls Go The Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)":
These are a selection of some of the most uplifting, inspiring and motivational songs ever. I wanted to post songs this morning that would lift my spirits as it is the Sabbath.
USA for Africa "We Are The World":
Whitney Houston "One Moment In Time":
Miss Houston "The Greatest Love of All":
Michael Jackson "Man In Mirror":
Not uplifting so much as we need to do what we can for ourselves, especially in the era of Trump. Michael Jackson "They Don't Care About Us":
Nothing is more inspirational than wanting to be with a beautiful woman. Michael again
"The Way You Make Me Feel":
Rachel Platten "Fight Song":
Christina Aguilera "Fighter":
Peter Gabriel featuring Kate Bush "Don't Give Up":
Phil Collins "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)":
Van Halen "Right Now":
Bob Marley and the Wailers "Get Up Stand Up":
Deniece Williams "Let's Hear It For The Boy":
Enigma "Return To Innocence":
Bon Jovi "It's My Life":
Ben E King "Stand By Me":
Carrie Underwood "So Small":
It's also one of the corniest songs of all time. Bobby McFerrin "Don't Worry Be Happy":
I'm trying to progress on these Top 106 greatest 80's blogs. As of now Night Ranger is unranked, but will be ranked once I finish this countdown. One thing that helped Night Ranger is that I saw them in concert last summer. They were fantastic, it was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. When I do finish the countdown, I'm going to revise the countdown. I will then rank the Top ? bands in order and be done with this series of the blogs. I hope to be done in the next year or so. Those likely are famous last words.
The Interrupters are coming to Salt Lake City on April 6th, 2019. I'm seriously considering going and talking to a friend about going with me. I like the Interrupters, but sometimes their music starts to sound the same. I want to check out how they are live, thus this blog.
1) "A Friend Like Me":
2) "By My Side":
3) "She's Kerosene":
4) "Take Back The Power":
5) "She Got Arrested":
6) "Gave You Everything":
7) "This Is The New Sound":
8) "Title Holder":
9) "Good Things":
10) "Sound System" (Operation Ivy cover):
11) "Haven't Seen The Last of Me":
12) "Broken World":
13) "Babylon":
14) "Easy On You":
15) "Leap of Faith":
16) "Divide Us":
17) "On A Turntable":
18) "Got Each Other":
"I got my sister Carol, she wears my old apparel". 19) "Family":
A bonus live video, Amy and the dudes performing "Be My Baby":
I'm taking these songs from the website: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/Wlliam_of_Baskerville/my_top_50_synth_pop_songs_/
A lot of these songs I have never heard before, I'm going to post a selection of those songs. Thanks to William_of_Baskerville!!! I want to clarify that I took this list from Willam_of_Baskerville. Thanks to him for this excellent list, all praise goes to him.
A Flock of Seagulls "Wishing (If I Had A Photograph of You)":
I don't need to hear this song again. John Foxx "Underpass":
Not as cool of a song as it's title. Sparks "The Number One Song In Heaven":
Depeche Mode "Precious":
Goldfrapp "Strict Machine":
The Human League "Love Action (I Believe In Love)":
Crystal Castles "Not In Love":
Talk Talk "Such A Shame":
M83 "Kim & Jessie":
Pet Shop Boys featuring Dusty Springfield "What Have I Done To Deserve This?":
Updated February 26th, only two more days until I'll see these guys in concert with Muse. I'm so excited.
I just got home from a too long day at work and I checked my e-mail. I found out the opening act for the upcoming Muse concert is Walk The Moon. I am incredibly excited about that choice. I quite liked Walk The Moon's 2012 self-titled CD. I especially love the two songs "Anna Sun" and "I Can Lift A Car". Now with Walk The Moon opening and Muse the headliner it should be a great concert.
From Walk The Moon's last concert, here is their setlist:
1) "Lisa Baby":
2) "Different Colors":
3) "One Foot":
4) "All These Things That I've Done" (cover of the Killers song):
5) "Shut Up And Dance":
6) "Kamikaze":
7) "Headphones":
8) "Avalanche":
9) "Tightrope":
10) "Anna Sun":
Other selected good to great Walk The Moon songs:
Walk The Moon's new single, no word yet on when their new CD will be released. 11) "Timebomb":
12) "Jenny":
13) "Work This Body":
14) "Portugal":
15) "Shiver Shiver":
From the "Iron Man 3" soundtrack. 16) "Big Bad Wolves":
