Friday, April 29, 2016

Rolling My Eyes: Classic Rock Magazine's Laughable "The Real 100 Greatest Albums of The 70s" (Updated April 30th, 2016)

Hello,

Here's Classic Rock's laughable Top Real 10 Greatest Albums of the 70s. They had 3 rules compiling this list 1) One album per band- really? Lame! 2) Don't pick the most famous album. Well they're the most famous for a reason! 3) Justify- sorry with those first two lame rules there's no way you can justify it.

10) Queen's "News Of The World": No, just no. The Queen purists will probably hate me, but oh well, but my favorite Queen CD is 1980's "The Game".

9) Sex Pistols "Spunk": Along with The Ramones a very overrated band.

8) Rush's "A Farewell To Kings" "Closer To The Heart" is a good song.

7) Rolling Stones "Some Girls" Yes, this is the best CD on the list.

6) Pink Floyd's "Meddle" Seriously, this is nowhere even close in quality to "The Wall" or "Dark Side of The Moon".

5) David Bowie's "Station to Station": When Bowie died earlier this year I worked through all of his CDs. I'd read this was an amazing CD. The only way is it amazing is it's amazingly boring. Obviously not even in the same league as "Ziggy Stardust".

4) Led Zeppelin's "Live On Blueberry Hill" Um, since there's no way to listen to this CD. My three favorite Zep 70's CDs are "3", "4" (aka the greatest CD ever) and "Houses of the Holy".

Well it looks like there's a way to listen to this CD, I haven't had a chance yet:


3) The Who's "Quadrophenia" I listened to this today, meh. I'll take "Who's Next" please.

2) Black Sabbath "Sabotage": Putting this CD at #2 is sabotaging this list.

1) AC/DC "Powerade" Not even AC/DC's best 1970's CD. Their 3 best 70's CDs are "Highway To Hell", "High Voltage" and "Dirty Deed Done Dirt Cheap". I listened to "High Voltage" again today, now there's solid. Their reputation is all their songs sound alike, but this CD has a much more varied sound.

I'm compiling a top 20 70s CD list now, some of the artists on it with multiple CDs include Zep, Pink Floyd, ELO (yes, really), Steely Dan, AC/DC, and The Rolling Stones. And single CDs by bands like The Cars, Fleetwood Mac, Boston, Cheap Trick, The Knack, The Clash, Van Halen, Meat Loaf, Styx, Supertramp and Carole King. Also the soundtracks to "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease". And as I do I'm sure I'll discover a few others along the way.

CDs for consideration, from the below CDs so far, 1979 was a great year for music.

1) The Bee Gees 1979 CD "Spirits Have Flown". Highlights include the amazing "Tragedy", "Too Much Heaven", "Love You Inside" and "Spirits (Having Flown)".

2) The Cars self-titled 1979 CD. Excellent songs from this CD are "Good Times Roll", "My Best Friends Girl", "Just What I Needed", "You're All I Got Tonight", "Bye Bye Love" and "Moving In Stereo". "Moving In Stereo" is a lesser known song, but just as good as the other hits on this CD.

3) Fleetwood Mac's self-titled 1975 CD. This CD has 5 standout songs: "Monday Morning", "Rhiannon", "Over My Head", "Say You Love Me" and "Landslide".

4) Fleetwood Mac "Rumors"- a CD I've written about multiple times already.

5) Carole King's 1971 classic "Tapestry". Highlights include "I Feel The Earth Move", "So Far Away", "It's Too Late", "You've Got A Friend", "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", the absolutely beautiful "Tapestry", "Out In The Cold" and"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman".

6) The Scorpions 1979 CD "Lovedrive". It's best songs are "Loving You Sunday Morning", "Another Piece of Meat", "Coast To Coast" (which is an instrumental), "Can't Get Enough", "Lovedrive" and "Holiday".

7) Steely Dan's debut 1972 CD "Can't Buy A Thrill". Highlights include "Do It Again", "Dirty Work", "Only A Fool Would Say That", "Reelin' In The Years", "Fire In The Hole" and "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again".

8) Steely Dan's 1977 CD "Aja". Highlights include "Black Cow", "Aja", "Deacon Blues", "Peg", "Home At Last" and "Josie". Although even "I Got The News" is a decent song. The only thing holding this CD back is that it only has 7 songs, although it's nearly 40 minutes of pretty good music.

9) Neil Young's "Harvest", his 1972 classic. Highlights include "Out On The Weekend", "Harvest", "Old Man", "Heart of Gold", "Alabama" and "The Needle and The Damage Done".

themusicaddict

Thursday, April 28, 2016

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands Part 20a: # 77 Phil Collins: "No Jacket Required"

Hello,

Phil Collins is the 77th Greatest 80's musician for both his work solo, as well as with Genesis. This is the first of two Phil Collins blogs, this first blog focuses on his best CD, "No Jacket Required". Phil Collins was born Phillip David Charles Collins. He was born and raised on January 30th, 1951 in West London. Along with his work with Genesis, he has released 8 solos CD. Those CDs range from 1981's "Face Value" to 2010's "Going Back". I've read several different things about whether he's going to release music or not. I have 43 Phil Collins songs on my iTunes.

I wasn't a big Phil Collins growing up in the 80's, but I've begun to like him more and more over the years. Maybe part of it is because as Collins is, I'm a divorced person. His lyrics make a lot more sense to me now, especially "How many times can I say I'm sorry?". Whatever you feel about him, he's not as bad as this mention from "Sing Street" (at 1:33):

"No Jacket Required" was released in 1985.

From Wikipedia.org: " The album is named after an incident at The Pump Room restaurant in Chicago Illinois. Phil (entering the restaurant with former Led Zeppelin lead vocalist, Robert Plant) was denied admittance because he did not meet the restaurant's dress code of "jacket required" for dinner, while Robert was allowed in. Phil was wearing a jacket, and argued about it. The Maître d' argued that the jacket was not "proper". Collins said in an interview with Playboy that he was, at that point, never so mad in his life. After the incident, the singer often appeared on shows such as Late Night with David Letterman and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, denouncing the restaurant and telling his story. The management of the restaurant later sent him a complementary sport coat and an apology letter, stating that he could come to the restaurant wearing whatever he wanted.(Thanks to Wikipedia)

1) "Sussudio":


2) "Only You and I Know":


3) "I Don't Wanna Know":


4) "One More Night":


5) "Don't Lose My Number":


6) "Who Said I Would":


7) "Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore":


8) "Inside Out":


9) "Take Me Home":


10) "We Said Hello Goodbye":


I'm not a fan of "Long Long Way To Go", the 11th song from this CD.

themusicaddict

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

themusicaddict's Just Some of the Great Musicians We've Lost in 2016 (Updated December 25th, 2016)

Hello,

In order of their death as I'll keep this blog updated as we go throughout the year- I'd be glad to not add any more musicians to this list though.

Natalie Cole died December 31, 2015. That's close enough for the terms of this blog.


David Bowie died January 10th, 2016, he died just two days after both his birthday and the release of his last CD "Blackstar". This is perhaps his most famous and beloved CD "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars":


Glenn Frey died January 18th, 2016. Obviously he did a lot of great work with The Eagles, but when I think of Glenn Frey, this is the first song I think of. "The One That You Love":


Paul Kantner died January 28th, 2016. Kantner co-founded Jefferson Airplane. I read the tribute to him by Rolling Stone. Kantner was big into science fiction and he was heavily influenced by it. One of his favorite books was "Stranger In A Strange Land". His fascination with that book look up the book.

"Somebody To Love":


"White Rabbit":


Also dying on the same day as Kantner was Signe Toly Anderson, she sang on Jefferson Airplane's first CD "Jefferson Airplane Takes Off". She sang the lead vocals on "Chauffeur Blues". When she decided to leave the band, she was replaced by Grace Slick.


Maurice White, singer and founder of Earth, Wind and Fire, died on February 4th, 2016. I've never heard White's name mentioned as a great singer, but he's actually a great singer.

If "September" doesn't make you want to get up and dance then I hope they bury you soon:


"Boogie Wonderland":


Although not as a famous musician in her own right, Vanity will always be linked with Prince due to their work on "Purple Rain". I find it interesting that they die in the same year- both at relatively young ages. She was also engaged to Nikki Sixx at one time? I bet those two had some interesting conversations. Vanity died on February 15th, 2016.

"Under The Influence":


"Nasty Girl":


Keith Emerson died on March 10th, 2016. Emerson, Lake & Palmer were founded in 1970.


Merle Haggard, Country music legend, died on April 6th, 2016.

Just an amazing song, "If We Make It Through December":


"Mama Tried":


Prince died on April 21st, 2016. Of all the singers that have died this year, this is the one that hurts the most. A great singer, a brilliant guitarist and an amazing songwriter. Granted he wasn't the best actor and the movie "Purple Rain" hasn't aged well. However the "Purple Rain" soundtrack is the best soundtrack ever. Some of the greatest music ever recorded- every song is a winner. I could probably write a list of his 100 best songs and even the 100th song would be amazing. A lot of his obscure songs are also amazing.

Bruce Springsteen paying tribute to Prince with "Purple Rain":


I have no idea how long this song will stay on the blog as Prince didn't like his music on YouTube, but here goes, "Cream":



"Baby, I'm A Star":



"I Would Die 4 U":




Who's next? I don't want to jinx anyone by mentioning their name, but a lot of great musicians are getting quite old or have been battling illnesses for a long time. Then of course there are all the amazing musicians that have survived despite all the abuse they've done to their bodies. It wouldn't be surprising if a couple of those die soon. Then of course there's always the unexpected deaths that completely surprise us- still feeling the loss of the the great Prince.

Following the death of Prince it was a pretty quiet year in the terms of death for major music icons, that is until Christmas Day. When the answer to who's next was George Michael. A former member of Wham, a tremendous solo artist who exploded with "Faith" and a man that also had a few magnificent duets. I'll be writing more extensively about Michael when I write his Top 106 80's musicians ever.  But for the terms of this specific blog, here are a few of his best songs. Rest in peace George and thanks for all the great music. Since he died on Christmas Day, I'll start with "Last Christmas":


My all-time favorite George Michael song, "Careless Whisper":


With the amazing Aretha Franklin, "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me":


"Monkey":


"One More Try":


"Freedom":


Thanks to Wikipedia, Rolling Stone, Google and my own faulty memory for compiling this list.

themusicaddict

Monday, April 25, 2016

themusicaddict's 14 Best 80's Songs of Starship (Finished April 26th, 2016)

Hello,

Starship isn't in my Top 106 Greatest 80's band. Honestly if I considered them, it wasn't for long. However Starship is coming to a local concert hall and I'm seriously going to see them. Now the band is called Starship featuring Mickey Thomas. He's the only original member left from the incarnation that formed in 1984. A woman by the name of Stephanie Calvert is handling Grace Slick's vocals now. Thanks to my friends at Google Play, I've been listening to pretty much all their songs. From my listening I have created a Top of their songs. This countdown only applies to the songs that have been released since their formation in 1984. In other words, Jefferson Starship of Jefferson Airplane songs won't be on this countdown.

The current members of Starship are Thomas and Calvert, vocals, Phil Bennett, keyboards, Darrell Verdusco, drums, Jeff Adams, bass and John Roth, guitar.

14) "Fooled Around And Fell In Love":


Cheesy 80's video warning. No cliche was harmed in the making of this video. 13) "Set The Night To Music":


12) "Tomorrow Doesn't Matter Tonight/ Layin' It On The Line":


11) "I'll Be There":


10) "Love Among The Cannibals":


9) "We Dream In Color":


8) "Desperate Heart":


7) "Wild Again":


6) "It's Not Enough":


5) "Rock Myself To Sleep":


4) "Sara":


3) "It's Not Over (Til It's Over)":


2) "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now":


1) "We Built This City":


themusicaddict

Sunday, April 24, 2016

themusicaddict's Top 106 80's Bands Part 21a: # 76 Rush : The 11 Best Songs From Their First 3 80's CDs

Hello,

I realize that I have skipped my number 77 Greatest 80's musician, but I will get back to him soon- that's a hint! Not a very good hint, but still. The reason I'm skipping him for now is because I'm in the mood for some Rush. Rush seems to be one of those bands that you either love or loathe, which is something the band acknowledges. I don't fall in either one of those camps. I'm not a huge Rush fan but I do love a lot of their songs. I love a lot of their songs.

Rush The three main members of Rush over the years are Geddy Lee, vocals, Neil Peart, drummer and lyricist, and Alex Lifeson, guitars and vocals. Rush was formed in August, 1968. Peart replaced original drummer John Rutsey in July, 1974. Peart has also written some of rock's most enduring lyrics. Rush has released 20 CDs over the years from 1974's self-titled CD to 2012 "Clockwork Angels". I have 105 Rush songs on my iTunes. (Thanks to Wikipedia.org for the biographical info.)

1980's "Permanent Waves" was released in 1980 and has 6 songs.
"Spirit of Radio" (with a "Paint It Black" tag):


"Freewill":


"Jacob's Ladder":


"Natural Science":


1981's "Moving Pictures" was released in 1981 and has 7 songs:
"Tom Sawyer":


"Red Barchetta":


"YYZ":


"Limelight":


1982's "Signals" was released in 1982 and has 8 songs:
"Subdivisions":


"The Analog Kid":


"New World Man":


themusicaddict

Thursday, April 21, 2016

My Review of Justin Cronin's "The Twelve" (Finished, Updated May 4th, 2016) (Spoilers Galore)

Hello,

This is the last update to this blog. The next time I write about "The Twelve", it will be the actual final review.

There are a ton of spoilers in this review, please only proceed if you've read the first two books in "The Passage" trilogy. This is through page 501 of the the softcover edition of "The Twelve", only 63 pages to go. The title of the book refers to the people who were infected with a virus that was suppose to help create super soldiers, which it did in a certain way. I'm so glad I'm reading this before reading "City of Mirrors". "Mirrors" the third book in this trilogy is due May 24th. I'm looking forward to reading it.

If this blog looks completely haphazard and not even close to completion, that's because that's the case. I like to use my blog to keep notes in for when I write the actual blog. I already have most of the writing done and just need to do a few tweaks. This blog was suppose to remain in draft mode, but I accidentally published it.

"The Twelve" is the second book in "The Passage" trilogy. The third book in the trilogy "City of Mirrors" will be released this year. I'll be reading "Mirrors" for NetGalley.com as well as the publisher. So I wanted to be better prepared so I'm reading "The Twelve" before tackling "City of Mirrors". Some of the following descriptions are my own, some are from Wikipedia- you can tell which is which by font.

The story jumps from decade to decade, but yet the same characters stay mostly the same. I get that some of them are virals and can live for a long time.

Was Ignacio a human underling for Martinez the viral? What did he mean when Ignacio said "he left us" about Martinez? I know now, the remaining 11 virals are heading to the Homeland.

I liked approximately the first 80% of "The Passage", then it got a little much. I generally liked this book as well. Cronin's cast of characters sometimes is hard to keep track of, but he has a very user friendly writing style. I start reading, I get sucked in and find it hard to put the book down. I have hour lunches at work and it's hard to put down the book when it's time to go back to work.

Amy Harper Bellafonte
aka "The Girl From Nowhere". Amy is the daughter of Bill Reynolds and Jeanette Bellafonte. Her mother abandons her at a convent, where she forms a bond with one of the nuns, Sister Lacey Antoinette Kudoto. Amy is quickly targeted as a test subject by the secret government program known as Project Noah, and is subsequently kidnapped by Bradford Wolgast and Philip Doyle, but they eventually decide to turn themselves in to save her. However, Richards manages to kidnap all three of them and Amy is given the final, refined version of the virus.

Amy is guided to meet Wolgast and he promises here they'll be together again soon. Although over 100 years old Amy has what feels like menstrual pains. She's glad to see old friend Peter Jaxon. But she discusses with Greer that there's changes going on, but no one seems to know what's going on. She has control over the virals, because of their shared, because they've all had the virus?

Group 1 on Danny's bus.:

Danny's Momma died after the crap hit the fan, she just couldn't go on.

Mr. Purvis, Danny's nice and encouaging teacher.

Kittridge, The Last stand in Denver, got a porsche to escape, but ruined the car in the escape. He's the group leader. Marine, had a prosthetic on his left leg, right below the knee.
Bernard Kittridge[edit]
Ex-military officer with one missing leg who was famous as Last Stand in Denver based on videos he posted online as he killed virals with a sniper rifle in his fortified high rise. After the power fails he escapes and meets up with two teenagers and a mentally challenged school bus driver. He helps them and some others escape to a refugee center in Iowa. He develops a romantic attachment to one of the teens, April Donadio. When the center is overrun by virals, he and April's brother, Tim are killed. It is implied that he and April are ancestors of Alicia Donadio.

Danny bus driver- not 100% there but a good person, stopped and picked up April, 17 years old, and her little brother Tim. The world had gone to hell. Thankfully those three ran into Kittridge and they ran into another group of people that had been lucky to stay alive.

April- 17 year old, Kittridge considered her an "old soul" April was named after the T.S. Eliot poem "The Wasteland". Kittridge was April's first sexual partner before the virals wiped them out- or at least it seems that way.

Tim, April's little brother.

Jamal, obnoxious big mouth kid,

Pastor Don

Linda Robinson and Boy Jr. Joe Robinson

Wood

Mrs. Bellamy

Fred and Lucy Wilkes, first couple in tent, who disappeared suddenly.

Porchecki leader of the army convoy that escorted Kittridge's group to Iowa.

Group 2:
Lawrence Grey, child molester, traveling with Lila, a doctor. They were picked up by a helicopter. Zero is communicating with him and he can communicate with the virals. He is a viral, but seems to be trying to deny it. He was able to escape from the humans that held him. He was later recaptured and became the source for Guilder and his men. They fed off Grey and were able to stay young for about 100 years.

Lila saw one of the virals in action before the outbreak and somehow escaped. That traumatized her so much that she's not allowing herself to remember it. She's not sure if she's married to Brad Wolgast or

Wolgast, took care of Amy, married to Lila for awhile and then they divorced.

Bradford Wolgast

FBI agent whose job is to procure people, mostly death row inmates, to be used as experimental subjects by the Government and/or Military agents experimenting with the virus (possibly United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), the Homeland Security Agency, or the National Security Agency (NSA). Eventually rescues Amy and flees to an abandoned summer camp in Oregon, where they wait out the end of the world. When a nuclear bomb explodes within range of Wolgast and Amy, Wolgast is believed to have died from the fallout. He is, however, shown to be a viral at the end of the book, as he embraces Amy when she calls for him to come to her. Alicia observes this from the wall, she keeps the meeting a secret to protect Amy. Wolgast is revealed to be a viral under the chain of virals leading from Carter. However, he remains primarily loyal to Amy and is able to act independently even against Carter's wishes. At the climax of the book, he masquerades as Carter to appear at a gathering of the other 10 survivors of the twelve and kill them (and himself) with a bomb.

Group 3:
Guilder has terminal disease, killed his father who basically had been abandoned in an old folks home following the outbreak. Fell in a love with a prostitute, who rejected him.

The main antagonist of The Twelve. Guilder is the Deputy Director of the Department of Special Weapons, the government agency that oversaw Project Noah. A lonely and isolated man, Guilder is dying of Lou Gehrig's Disease and desperately hopes to use Lear's research to save his life. Following the outbreak, he succeeds in using Lawrence Grey's infected blood to prolong his life. He creates the 'Homeland', a dictatorship that uses slave labour and is rife with corruption. He keeps Grey locked up as a living 'source' for his continued survival and manipulates Lila Kyle into being his weapon due to her unique ability to control the Virals.

Virals

Project Noah, the experiment that started the whole mess.

Alicia Donadio

Nicknamed "Lish," Alicia is a tough and sometimes reckless woman who was raised by the Colonel after the events of Dark Night made her an orphan. She has an incredible aptitude for combat with a history of taking out 3 virals at once. When Amy arrives at the colony, Alicia jumps over the wall to retrieve her and bring her to safety amid a group of bloodthirsty virals; she is later persecuted for this seeming act of bravery, as her actions result in the death of Teacher, a revered member of the colony. After this, she travels with the Apostles. Alicia is in love with Peter and his feelings are mutual, although neither recognizes this explicitly until she joins the Second Expeditionary. When she is fatally wounded in the battle with Babcock's Many, Peter infects her with the virus, which makes her abnormally strong and fast, although she is unable to communicate with the virals as Amy can.
Peter and Alicia were always leaving each other. Peter was being cycled back to relative safety in Kerrville (The Oil Road). Although they ran into some trouble on their trip. Caleb Jaxon is his 5 year old nephew.

while Alicia had been promoted to captain and was going to an area, Kearney, where there were a lot of virals. When Alicia got to Kearney, it had been wiped out. The only survivor was a horse, who she named Soldier. They quickly bonded as they were glad to see each other.

Michael Fisher is an oil rigger, big dude, in a very intense relationship with Lore. Long time friend of Peter. Nicknamed The Circuit.

Michael's sister, Sara, is the one that killed Babcock. Sara delivered Hollis Wilson's baby under less than ideal circumstances and was told the baby died. She's being held captive in The Homeland in Iowa, a camp ran by Guilder.

Lucius Greer had the Madam President, Peter Jaxon and come and visit him in jail. Greer had been in jail for almost 5 years for abandoning his command to follow Amy up the mountain to face Babcock. Amy helps Greer escape to go on a mission that the reader has no idea about.

themusicaddict's Top 106 80's Bands Part 19b: # 78 John Mellencamp : His 31 Best 80s Songs Part 2 (Finished April 22nd, 2016)

Hello,

I'm writing this today with a heavy heart- a little over a hour the news broke that Prince died. I loved Prince, he was an amazing musician, singer and songwriter. On my Top 106 Greatest 80's bands, he's very high on the list. That's all I'm going to say. I would probably post a blog highlighting some of his best songs, however he doesn't allow his music on YouTube. Perhaps the only good news of Prince dying is that possibly his music will be allowed on YouTube. I've been listening to both of his "HITNRUN" CDs today, he was still writing and releasing great music. He's behind two of the best soundtracks of all-time. His soundtracks to "Purple Rain" and the first "Batman" movie are both very amazing.

R.I.P. Prince Rogers Nelson!

Now on to John Mellencamp, a great singer and songwriter in his own right. Long live John Mellencamp! My first blog for him is about his first 3 CDs he released in the 80s. This blog is about the last 3 CDs he released in the 80s, "Rain On The Scarecrow", "Lonesome Jubilee" and "Big Daddy".

My favorite CD of Mellencamps is his 1985 CD "Rain On The Scarecrow". Eight of the thirty-one songs for these two blogs come from that CD. "Scarecrow" was originally released with 12 songs. When the CD's were remastered in 2005, an acoustic version of "Small Town" was added.

"Rain On The Scarecrow":


Well there's ninety-seven crosses planted in the courthouse yard
Ninety-seven families who lost ninety-seven farms
I think about my grandpa and my neighbors and my name
And some nights I feel like dyin' Like that scarecrow in the rain
(Thanks to azlyrics.com.)

"Rain On The Scarecrow" (Live):



"Small Town":



"Lonely Ol' Night":



"Rumbleseat":



"R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A. (A Salute To 60's Rock)":



"Minutes To Memories":



"The Kind of Fella I Am":



"Between a Laugh And a Tear":


1987's "Lonesome Jubilee" was released in 1987. It originally had 10 songs when it was released. On the 2005 reissue, the completely unnecessary "Blues From The Front Porch" was added. Let's be honest the reissues were to make money for probably mainly the record company. The couple bonus tracks worth buying you should be able to buy the song only on any online music store.

"Paper In Fire":



"Check It Out":



"Cherry Bomb":



"Hard Times For An Honest Man":



Mellencamp's last CD of the 80s was the underwhelming "Big Daddy". It was released in 1989 with 12 songs. The 2005 reissue featured an acoustic version of one of his less than great songs, "Jackie Brown":

"Pop Singer":



"To Live":



"Martha Say":



themusicaddict

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

themusicaddict's Top 106 80's Bands Part 19a: # 78 John Mellencamp : His 31 Best 80s Songs Part 1 (Finished April 21st, 2016)

Hello,

I've fleshed out this blog and will finish the Tom Petty blog later. I'm not doing a countdown for this blog, instead I'm going to post my 31 favorite John Mellencamp 80's songs. The man once known as Cougar released 6 CDs as Mellencamp in the 80s'- I'm pretending that "The Kid Inside" wasn't ever released. I have 103 John Mellencamp songs on my iTunes.

John Mellencamp, aka John Cougar Mellencamp, was born October 7th, 1951. The current and the longest tenured member of his bands. The current members of his band are Mike Wanchic, guitar and vocals, Andy York, guitars and vocals, Troye Kinnett, accordion and keyboards, Miriam Sturm, violin, John Gunnell, bass and Dane Clark, drums and vocals.

The three longest tenured former members of his band are Larry Crane, 15 years and played guitars and helped on vocals, Kenny Aronoff, 16 years, on drums and Pat Peterson, 25 years, on vocals.

Mellencamp has released 22 CDs over the years, with a couple of them reissued to capitalize on his early 80's popularity. He released 6 CDs in the 80s, including his best CD 1985's "Rain On The Scarecrow". Along with working on his own music, he has also worked with Stephen King on "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County".

He's one of the founders of Farm Aid and has participated in many. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. (Thanks to Wikipedia.org.)

1980's "Nothin' Matters And What If It Did" had 12 songs, "Latest Game" was added as a bonus song on the 2005 reissue.

"Ain't Even Done With That Night":


"This Time":



"Tonight":



"Cheap Shot":



"Latest Game":



1982's "American Fool": has 10 songs. In the 2005 reissue the song "American Fool" was the reissue bonus track.

"Hurts So Good":


"Jack and Diane":


"Hand To Hold On To":


1983's "Uh Huh" originally had 9 songs, the bonus track added in 2005 was an acoustic version of "Pink Houses".

"Crumblin' Down":


"Pink Houses":


"Authority Song":


"Play Guitar":


themusicaddict

Monday, April 18, 2016

themusicaddict's Top 106 80's Bands Part 18: # 79 Tom Petty: Both With The Heartbreakers and Solo (Updated April 22nd, 2016)

Hello,

This blog features music by Tom Petty, both with the Heartbreakers and solo. However I won't have any thing for you Mudcrutch fans. Sorry. Thomas Earl Petty was born October 20th, 1950. He was born in Gainesville, Florida. According to Wikipedia meeting Elvis Presley at age 10 inspired him to chase the rock dream. Along with the Heartbreakers, he has recorded music with the lovely Stevie Nicks and The Traveling Wilburys. Petty had 4 CDs with the Heartbreakers, a solo CD and one CD with the Wilburys in the 80s. I have songs from many of the bands/musicians he has performed with.

I also like to feature the musicians in all bands referenced. The core group of the Heartbreakers: Petty of course, Mike Campbell, multi-instrumentalist, Howie Epstein, bass and vocals, Benmont Tench, bass and vocals, Stan Lynch, drums and percussion.

For the Traveling Wilburys- you may have heard of some of these people- George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Petty.

For some of the musicians I have included in my countdown I only have a handful of songs for on my iTunes. However for Petty I have 100 songs. So for the easiest task for me this blog will feature the 17 most played songs that Tom Petty participated in.

17) Traveling Wilburys' "Last Night":


16) Traveling Wilburys' "End Of The Line":


15) "King's Highway" (with the Heartbreakers):


14) "I Won't Back Down" (with the Heartbreakers):


13) "A Mind With A Heart of It's Own" (Yes, his middle name is Earl.):


12) "Alright For Now":


If this was a countdown of my favorite Petty songs, this song would be much higher. I love this song! 11) "Free Fallin'":


10) "Free Girl Now" (with the Heartbreakers):


9) "Louisiana Rain" (with the Heartbreakers):


8) "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (with Stevie Nicks):


7) "Have Love Will Travel":


6) "Don't Come Around Here No More" (with the Heartbreakers):


5) "Even The Losers" (with the Heartbreakers):


4) "The Waiting" (with the Heartbreakers)":


3) "Echo" (with the Heartbreakers):


2) "Don't Do Me Like That" (with the Heartbreakers):


1) "Refugee" (with the Heartbreakers)":


themusicaddict

Sunday, April 17, 2016

themusicaddict's Top 106 80's Bands Part 17: # 80 .38 Special : Their 17 Best Songs (Finished April 17th, 2016)

Hello,

.38 Special was formed in 1974 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was formed by neighborhood friends Don Barnes and Donnie Van Zant. Van Zant was forced to retire from the group in 2013 by health issues. The current members include founding member Don Barnes, vocals and many instruments, Danny Chauncey, guitar and vocals, Bobby Capps, keyboards and vocals, Gary Moffatt, percussion and drums, and Barry Dunaway, bass and vocals.

There have been several different members over the years, these are the most longstanding members no longer with the band. Donnie Van Zant, vocals and guitar, Jeff Carlisi, guitar, Jack Grondin, drums & percussion, Steve Brookins, drums and percussion, Larry Junstrom, bass and guitar and Carol Bristow, backing vocals.

.38 Special is still active, but had the majority of their success in the 80s. They released 3 albums in the 70s, 5 albums in the 80s and have released 5 albums since then. As always this blog will focus on their 80's output, but I'm including music from the band's existence. I love their "2011 Live CD ".38 Special Live From Texas". The band is in peak form, everyone gets recognition and it's amazing song after amazing song. Although the CD is only 70 minutes long and would have been enhanced by full versions of "Back to Paradise", "Somebody Like You", "Teacher Teacher" (one of my favs), "Rough Housin'", "Stone Cold Believer", "Like No Other Night" and "Second Chance". Of course that might have been done to get all the music on one CD. (Thanks to Wikipedia.org for the biographical info, as always all opinions are mine and mine alone. Again I welcome all comments- both agreements and disagreements. )

Before I wrote this blog I only had 14 .38 Special songs on my iTunes. After listening to all their 80's CDs I've added a live version of "Undercover Lover", "Second Chance" and "Somebody Like You" to my iTunes. For the next musician on my list I have 100 songs, it's a bit strange how that works out.

17) "Rock and Roll Strategy":


16) "See Me In Your Eyes":


15) "Undercover Lover":


14) "Stone Cold Believer":


13) "Back To Paradise":


12) "Twentieth Century Fox":


11) "Second Chance":



10) "Somebody Like You":



9) "Fantasy Girl":



8) "Wild Eyed Southern Boys":



7) "Like No Other Night":



6) "If I'd Been The One":



5) "Teacher, Teacher":



4) "Back Where You Belong":



3) "Caught Up In You":



2) "Hold On Loosely":



1) "Rockin' Into The Night":



themusicaddict

Friday, April 15, 2016

Why The Best Decade For Music is the 80s: Exhibit 4,333,082

Hello,

This is inspired by (alright stolen) from the March 4th, 2016 Entertainment Weekly. The original chart was posted by Billboard Magazine. This 1986 Top Ten is such a great example of the amazing music of the 80s. I love all the different genres represented here. We have rock, pop, old school soul, new wave and the mysterious sensual music of Sade. About the only thing we are missing is the great rap and some hair metal. But by my count, there are about 5 different genres represented in this Top 10. This wasn't a one time thing- this happened throughout the 80s. You could turn on the radio and hear a Prince song, followed by Europe and then followed by Tears For Fears. The 80's may be over, but long live the 80's.

Here's the Top Ten songs from the first week of March, 1986:

#10) Like many great 70's bands Heart had a bit of a comeback in the 80s. Heart has a lot of good songs in the 80s. This isn't one of my favorites, but a perfectly decent song.


#9) The 80s had some great ballads, and those great ballads weren't in just one genre. Even the hair metal had great ballads- they were called power ballads. For instance Warrant's "Heaven" and my personal favorite power ballad was Poison's "Every Rose Has It's Thorn". But for terms of this blog at #9 is Atlantic Starr's "Secret Lovers":


#8) What do you do when your regular band Genesis isn't recording? Well you go out on your own, this is Mike Rutherfood's side project. Besides this song Mike and the Mechanics had hits with "All I Need Is A Miracle" and "The Living Years". Mike and the Mechanics "Silent Running":


#7 One of the many one hit wonders scattered across the 80s was The Dream Academy. Sugarland has done a pretty great version of this song as well. The Dream Academy's "Life In A Northern Town":


Here's Sugarland's version of this amazing song. Jennifer Nettles has one of the prettiest voices in current music.:


#6) There were a lot of great Billys in the 80's- Joel and Idol are probably the two most famous- but Billy Ocean was also great. I don't think he ever got the love he deserved. This song brings me back to a simpler time. No internet, no constant cell phone annoyance, watching MTV all afternoon and when any thing seemed possible. "When The Going Gets Tough (The Jewel of the Nile Theme)":


Ironically my favorite Billy Ocean song isn't even a "Billy Ocean" song. My favorite song that he does is the Beatles "The Long and Winding Road":


#5) I love me some Sade, as EW points out who knows how many babies were conceived to her music. Even here in 2011 she was still gorgeous and still had that gorgeous voice. Sade's "The Sweetest Taboo":


4) This song is still in heavy rotation on my iPod. The 80s were an era with the great music of Prince and The Time, it was great for Godfather of Funk to make a comeback with this funk classic. James Brown's "Living In America":


3) Okay maybe the video is a bit cheesy, what 80's video isn't, but this is still a great song. What started out as Jefferson Airplane eventually became this radio friendly band. Starship's "Sara":


2) Has there ever been a better voice ever, it's so sad she died so young. Not only a great voice, but an absolutely beautiful woman. I may or may not have had a crush on her back in the day. Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know": The original:


EW also talks about an amazing a cappella version she sings of this, here it is:


I love this song and this is my favorite Whitney Houston performance, "The Greatest Love Of All":


1) Mr. Mister's "Kyrie":



My favorite Mr. Mister song is one of the most beautiful songs of all-time: "Broken Wings":


themusicaddict

Thursday, April 14, 2016

themusicaddict's Top 106 80's Bands Part 16: # 81 The Bangles: Their 17 Best Songs

Hello,

My #81 Greatest 80's band is the Bangles. I know what many of you are thinking, how in the heck could you put the Bangles over the Red Hot Chili Peppers? For one the thing the Chili Peppers didn't hit their stride until 1991's "Blood Sugar Sex Magick". The Bangles only had 3 CDs in the 80s, but all 3 were solid. They peaked with 1988's "Everything". Although without a doubt the Chili Peppers are a much better live band.

The Bangles and their girl group sound seems like they could fit also in the 50s, 60s and 70s. The Bangles have recorded 5 original CDs, the most recent being 2011's "Sweetheart of The Sun". I have 16 Bangles songs on my iTunes.

Their main lineup over the years has been Susanna Hoffs, vocals and guitars, Vicki Peterson, vocals and guitars, Debbi Peterson, drums and vocals, and Michael Steel, bassist. Annette Zilinskas was The Bangles original bassist. Here's a hastily put together Top 17 Bangles songs.

17) "Where Were You When I Needed You":


16) "Tell Me":


This is a very cool song and I love that it doesn't sound like any of their other songs. 15) "Following":


14) "In A Different Light":


13) "Hero Takes A Fall":


I hadn't heard this song until today, it's on "The Essential Bangles". 12) What I Meant To Say":


11) "Going Down To Liverpool" (Wow that's completely random, a Leonard Nimoy sighting! Random but cool.):


Hey look this video was back when MTV was relevant, that was a long time ago though. 10) "Walking Down Your Street":


9) "Crash and Burn":


8) "I'll Set You Free":



7) "If She Knew What She Wants":



6) "In Your Room":



5) "Eternal Flame" (sadly an abrupt ending):



4) "Walk Like An Egyptian":



3) "Manic Monday":



2) "Be With You":



1) "Hazy Shade of Winter":


themusicaddict

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

themusicaddict's Top 106 80's Bands Part 15b: # 82 Red Hot Chili Peppers: The Best of "Blood Sugar Sex Magick" (Finished April 13th, 2016)

Hello,

Then of course their best CD by a long shot is 1991's "Blood Sugar Sex Magick", it has 19 songs. An incredible 12 of those songs are outstanding. Easily one of the best CDs of the 90s.
"The Power Of Equality":



"Breaking The Girl":



"Funky Monks":



"Suck My Kiss":



"I Could Have Lied":



"Righteous and Wicked":



"Give It Away":



"Blood Sugar Sex Magick":



"Under The Bridge":



A perfectly good version of this song, but do you think many people other any thing else besides her boobs. She should let the focus be on her talent, not her body. Jess Greenburg:



Jess put on a shirt, "Wanted Dead Or Alive":



"The Greeting Song":



"Sir Psycho Sexy":



Their cover of one of many Jimi Hendrix classics. "Castles Made of Sand":



themusicaddic

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

themusicaddict's Top 106 80's Bands Part 15a: # 82 Red Hot Chili Peppers (Finished April 13th, 2016)

Hello,

I cheated a bit here as I've included the Red Hot Chili Peppers 1991 CD "Blood Sugar Sex Magick" in tabulating where they'd be in my countdown. (My best of BSSM is my next blog.) If not for that CD, they wouldn't have even qualified for my 80's bands honorable mentions. Their first 4 CDs were less than great, the best songs combined together might be able to make a decent CD. Fortunately for them, and us, bands had more time and more records to establish themselves back in the day. I realize that all band's songs sound alike to some extent, but RHCP seems to epitomize this trend more than other bands- they share that trait with bands like ZZ Top and Fall Out Boy. For the most part, their first 3 CDs are interchangeable- similar sounding songs with few highlights. I have 51 RHCP songs on my iTunes but the only non-Greatest Hits CDs I have is "One Hot Minute" and "Blood Sugar Sex Magick"- which has so many of their greatest hits on it.

I admit that I'm not the Chili Peppers biggest fan- they have some great songs. However I don't think they are as quite as good as they think they are. And from reading a bit of Anthony Kiedis' memoir "Scar Tissue", it just doesn't seem like he's that smart. He's the very definition of Id. But they've had several great songs over the years. From the below clips it seems they're great in concert. They have a lot of energy and a tip of my hat to Kiedis for all the lyrics he has to remember. As it has happened so many times, I've become a much bigger fan of this band while writing a blog about them.

It's hard to judge how good a band is live from a video, but I'm going to try it. This is the Peppers at Slane Castle in 2003:



According to setlist.fm, my thanks to them, this is RHCP's setlist for Slane Castle:

Setlist

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The Red Hot Chili Peppers released their debut CD in 1984, the CD is self-titled and has 16 songs.
"Buckle Down":



I bet they cringe whenever they see this clip, but I was quite amused by it. Flea gave as good as he got from Alan Thicke. "Get Up and Jump":



In 1985 they released "Freaky Styley", which has 18 songs. This CD showed a bit more maturity and better songs.
"Nevermind":



"Catholic School Girls Rule" (that song should just be good for the title alone):



"Sex Rap":



"Millionaires Against Hunger":


1987's "Uplift Mofo Party Plan" was pretty much more of the same as their previous CD. Again this CD gives no indication they were going to release one of the best 90's CDs just 4 years later. This CD has 12 songs.

1989's "Mother's Milk" was their first CD that actually had some "hits"- including two of their best all time songs. However the rest of the songs is little more than more sound-alike filler.
"Higher Ground":



"Knock Me Down":



"Taste The Pain":


themusicaddict

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