Here are some other great songs from Damone. It's unlikely Damone will have a comeback as an original member has died and their amazing singer, Noelle LeBlanc, is now with another band. But I would love to see new music and a tour from Damone. Of course I'm glad that I even discovered Damone at all, a great band with great songs. Let's start with some live Damone first:
From 2003's "From The Attic":
"Your Girlfriends":
"Feel Bad Vibe":
"On My Mind":
"Frustrated Unnoticed":
"Carwash Romance":
"You and I":
"Up To You":
From 2008's "Roll The Dice", this is probably my favorite Damone CD. Most of the great songs on this CD are on the blog immediately preceding this blog. My favorite songs on "Roll The Dice" include "Serial Killer", "Dressed Up Like A Millionaire", "Obvious Things", "Better Than You Let On" and the G N' R cover "You Could Be Mine".
"When It Ends":
"Talk of the Town":
This is their CD they released in 2006. "Out Here All Night" is a pretty good CD. Especially the song they took the album's name from "Out Here All Night".:
When two bands have a similar sound, both are fronted by amazing female singers and both rock- why does one band break out and one doesn't? Why is one band in the studio working on their fifth CD and Damone hasn't been active since 2008? Is it because Paramore has better songs? They have more popular songs, but I wouldn't necessarily say they are better. Is it because Hayley Williams is a better singer than Noelle LeBlanc? Again I wouldn't say that's the case, in fact I think they sound a bit alike. They are amazing singers.
The only two major differences I can see is that Paramore might have had a few more breaks and that Paramore may have worked harder. The breaks and working harder shows up in touring. Paramore has done a lot of touring in their years. While they were touring with No Doubt and Fall Out Boy, and opening a couple of concerts for Green Day, Damone was touring with the Wildhearts. Who?
(Thanks to Wikipedia for the above band member information.)
It's doubtful that Damone will ever hit the heights that they so deserved, but it would be good if they could get some notoriety. This is my attempt to get them that. Here are a few of Damone's many great songs. Thanks to all of those who've made the videos for Damone's excellent songs so that I can share them here. Although they have a lot of great original songs, I love their covers. They did a great job with both Guns N' Roses' "You Could Be Mine" and Billy Squier's "Everybody Wants You".
The only song I knew of theirs up to a week ago, "Out Here All Night":
Next up on the 80's countdown is Styx, this is the first part of a two part blog. This blog covers albums from 1975's "Equinox"- which is when the band started to having notable songs. They did release "Lady" in 1973. I know hard core Styx fans may disagree, but that's their only notable song until "Equinox". Besides "Lady" and "Equinox", this blog also covers 1976's "Crystal Ball", 1977's "Grand Illusion" and 1978's "Pieces of Eight.
The band at the time of "Equinox" was John Curulewski, guitar, vocals and synth, James Young, guitar and vocals, Dennis DeYoung, keyboards and vocals, Chuck Panozzo, bass and vocals, and John Panozzo, drums and vocals. After this record was recorded Curulewski left the band, a decision the probably kicks himself for everyday. Styx added Tommy Shaw to take over for him and as they say the rest is history. Shaw is still touring with Styx now.
I'm getting near the top of my countdown, we are down to the top 30. All these songs have 40 listens and are tied for 22nd place for most played songs on my iTunes (myTunes?) This blog is a good example of all the great genres of music I've loved in my life. From oldies to pop to the King of Pop to country. I take full credit/blame for all the songs on this specific blog entry. That is except for the Justin Bieber version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". That's leftover from when my daughter shared my iTunes and she is had full Bieber fever. It was a two year process, but thankfully she has fully recovered. My daughter now has similar taste in music that I do. I like twenty one pilots a lot more than the Bieber. Again I realize no one cares about this countdown, but this is just another way to share the music that I love. As always enjoy.
Justin Bieber's "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" (Previous countdown: 12th place, 38 listens):
Now here's a truly great song, Faith Hill's "This Kiss" (Previous countdown: 67th place, 29 listens):
Do you want to make a hit TV show? Well don't do what the folks behind "American Gothic" have done. They might have made the dumbest show on TV since "The Mob Doctor". At least "American Gothic" has a better title, but that's the smartest thing about this brain dead show. This show has no soul, no heart and worst of all no sense-of-humor. I don't think it's coincidental that there's only about 3 actors you recognize from other shows. Not a lot of acting prowess is shown in the first episode.
If you watch "American Gothic", be prepared to go to cliche city. Let's count the cliches: The Hawthornes are an allegedly well bred Boston family. The kind that hold themselves above common people as they think they are better than other people. But like everyone else they have their own secrets, including secrets that are outrageously unbelievable.
The tag line "The family you'd least suspect is the one with all the suspects." That gives you an idea of just how dumb this show is.
Patriarch Mitch Hawthorne (Jamey Sheridan- hey there's the creepo vice-president from the much better "Homeland".) is the seemingly above reproach businessman. But boy does he have a whopper of a secret to hide. But is it his secret or his wife's secret? Is one of them really the Silver Bells killer? The killings had ended about 14 years previously. The Hawthornes are into the concrete business and one of their bridges suffers a collapse. When that collapse is investigated a belt is found from possibly the Silver Bells killer.
Madeline Hawthorne is the matriarch that's not afraid to get her hands dirty to protect- we're not sure what she's protecting. Is she protecting herself or her family?
Cam Hawthorne, the son with a drug problem. He and his wife/ ex-wife- I'm not sure which- are really bad for each other, which obviously means they can't stay away from each other. Neither one is surprised that their kid is a bit of a freak.
Tessa Ross (Megan Ketch- I've seen her before but couldn't remember what it was in.) seems to be about the only Hawthorne kid that has an ounce of common sense. She and Cam are the ones that find the clue that makes them think their Dad, or maybe loner brother, might be the Seven Bells Killer. Tessa is married to a cop, but not only a cop a detective. And you'll never guess which case he's investigating! Oh I'm kidding, of course you will.
Garrett Hawthorne, the loner son who has left the family's embrace, for- wait for it- 14 years has reluctantly come back after father Mitch suffers the heart attack. Of course he knows something about his Dad and the Silver Bells killer.
And this show has a lot of cliches to cover, so of course the Hawthornes have a lot of kids. What cliche are we missing? Oh yeah, one of the Hawthornes is running for political office. That would be Alison Hawthorne- Price. Of course a Hawthorne is running for office. When Alison finds out about the Silver Bells Killer clues, she wants to wait until after the campaign to let people know. What could go wrong? We quickly get the sense that her husband is more a selling point than actual husband. And since this is a modern day show, she seems to be having an affair. And of course it's a lesbian affair.
This show has certainly checked all the cliche boxes.
With all of that being said I thought I still might watch some of the other episodes, you know for unintentional comedy reasons. But then I realized this show was one of the slowest, most boring hours of TV ever. I'm not sure how I survived the first hour. I've used intentionally bad puns as they fit in with the stupidity of this show.
Have I whet your appetite yet? The second episode is Wednesday, June 29th. Make sure you have something better to do. That is unless you want to learn how not to make a good show. "American Gothic" is a criminally bad TV show.
If you want to watch a good police show, watch the much better "Longmire", "Motive", "Blue Bloods" or "Law & Order: SVU".
Popular music has a lot of mindless lyrics. One doesn't need to be a genius to figure out those lyrics. Just assume the song is about sex and you'll probably be right about 50% of the time. But most of us aren't looking through enlightenment from popular music. We just want to rock, to feel something, to have a good time, to create a mood and a million other reasons. What sets a mood- no matter the mood one is looking for- better than music? That's a rhetorical question.
Anyway while most lyrics are inane, every once-in-a-while a song breaks through with the clutter. It might be a smart thought or universal truth. Here are some of those songs and the lyric(s) that's a bit smarter than it's fellow lyrics. Or maybe more insightful, more thought provoking or more outside the box.
Starting off with the song that inspired this blog, John Parr's "St. Elmo's Fire (A Man In Motion)":
"You can break the boy in me, but you can't break the man."
Smashing Pumpkins "Bullet With Butterfly Wings":
It's the sad truth: "Despite all my rage, I'm still just a rat in a cage."
U2's "One" is one of the smartest pop songs ever. It's chock full of amazing lyrics.
I'm combining some of the lyrics so the blog won't be as long.
Did I disappoint you, Or leave a bad taste in your mouth
You act like you never had love, And you want me to go without
Did I ask too much, More than a lot
You gave me nothing, Now it's all I got
Love is a temple, Love a higher law
Love is a temple, Love the higher law
You ask me to enter, But then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on, To what you got
When all you got is hurt
Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" (A song about Pink Floyd's first singer Syd Barrett.)
How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year
Running over the same old ground
What have we found
The same old fears
Wish you were here.
Pink Floyd's "Learning To Fly":
Into the distance, a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction is holding me fast
How can I escape this irrestible grasp?
Can't keep my eyes from the circling sky
Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I
Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)":
From one of the greatest CDs ever of any genre, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill":
"Don't be a hard rock, when you really are a gem."
Simon and Garfunkel "The Sounds of Silence":
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said "The words of the prophets
Are written on subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence"
Rush's "Limelight":
Living in a fisheye lens
Caught in the camera eye
I have no heart to lie
I can't pretend a stranger
Is a long-awaited friend.
Jimmy Buffet's "Margaritaville":
For some of us it takes longer to come to this realization.
"Some people claim that there's a woman to blame,
But I know, it's my own damn fault.
Yes, and some people claim that's there's a woman to blame
And I know it's my own damn fault."
Don McLean's "American Pie"
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
When I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
This has now moved to 118 songs as this countdown blog remains live. When I hear a song on this countdown that listen updates the countdown. But with so many things going on in my life I've decided to lock down this countdown now. Eventually I'll go back and update all the previous blogs in this series. Anyway these are the songs that are tied for 31st place.
The Band Perry "If I Die Young" (Previous blog: 12th place, 38 listens):
Boston recorded their self-titled debut from late 1975 to spring 1976. "Boston" was released on August 25th, 1976 to a world that didn't know what was coming. Only one of the all-time greatest CDs led off by the triple shot of "More Than A Feeling", "Peace Of Mind" and "Foreplay/Long Time". All 8 songs on this CD are somewhere between pretty damn good and amazing. Boston went on to sell about a bazillion copies of their debut CD. Okay so really it's "only" 17 million copies. Boston is currently touring their country celebrating their 40th anniversary. With Brad Delp dead I'm not sure how good they would be any more. That all depends on the singer that Tom Scholz has for his own band. (Thanks to Wikipedia.org for much of the information in this blog.)
I have 32 Boston songs on my iTunes. Although they have relatively few songs, they do have some of the most iconic songs through the history of rock music. Per 2006 remaster liner notes (copied and pasted from Wikipedia)
Fran Sheehan – bass guitar on "Foreplay" and "Let Me Take You Home Tonight"
"Boston":
1) "More Than A Feeling" (1979 with Brad Delp):
"More Than A Feeling" (2008 Post Brad Delp), the comments about this video are brutal. This is why I have no desire to see the current incarnation of Boston.:
And the absolutely best version of "More Than A Feeling":
This live version sounds more like the studio recording, but it's live. 2) "Peace of Mind":
For some reason I thought he had a lot more famous songs than he actually has. He would definitely not be this high if I had realized that. I only have 8 of his songs on my iTunes.
The best songs of the Money Man!
This song was so hot. At the start of the song it was a Top 20 hit, by the end of the song it had moved into the Top Ten!! Without a doubt, this is my favorite Eddie Money song. "Take Me Home Tonight" (featuring Roni Spector):
Here's Skid Row's complete second CD "Slave To The Grind". Remember "you can't be the king of the world if you're a slave to the grind". The band consisted of the same members as on their debut CD. From Wikipedia: "Slave to the Grind is the first heavy metal album to chart at number one on the Billboard 200 in the Nielsen SoundScan era, selling 134,000 copies in its opening week. The album was certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1998 for shipping two million copies in the United States." This CD was preceded by N.W.A. and followed by Van Halen as #1 CDs in the summer of 1991.
I remember one of the reviews about this CD said something like Skid Row had been "eating glass" while making this CD. That describes their harder edged second CD perfectly. These are the best songs from that CD, but first here's the entire CD:
Now here's the best songs from "Slave To The Grind":
"Monkey Business":
"Slave To The Grind":
"The Threat":
"Quicksand Jesus":
"Psycho Love":
"Livin' On A Chain Gang":
"Creepshow":
"In A Darkened Room":
Guns N' Roses and Skid Row jamming together:
"You say it's rainin', but you're pissing down my back". "Riot Act":
Just as a warning I was a big hair metal fan back in the 80s- so this is just one of several heavy metal/hard rock/hair metal bands on this countdown. In fact rock bands reach as high as #5 on my 80's band countdown.
For some reason I thought that Skid Row was much more of an 80's band, I'd forgotten that Skid Row didn't release their first CD, "Skid Row", until 1989. Although if you want to be technical, they did form in 1986. Their second CD, "Slave To The Grind" was released in 1991 and they haven't done much since then. Their 2003 CD "Thickskin" isn't terrible- how's that for an endorsement? Likely Skid Row would be much lower on this list if I'd been more aware of when their first CD was released. But at this point, it is what it is. This blog is dedicated to all the youth gone wild!
Since singer Sebastian Bach left the band, Skid Row has gone through a few lead singers. Although not quite as many as Journey, where even Steve Perry himself briefly reunited with Journey and sang again. Skid Row at the recording of "Skid Row" was Bach, Rachel Bolan, bassist, Scotti Hill, guitars, Dave Sabo, guitars, and on drums Rob Affuso.
This song still packs a mighty punch 27 years later. "Youth Gone Wild":
"That child blew a child away." "18 And Life":
"I Remember You":
A song about pistols and rifles, right? "Big Guns":
As with previous iTunes countdown blogs, they have live updating. That means if new songs get to the 34 listen threshold that they'll be included. That's why originally I started out with 115 songs on this countdown and now it's up to 117 songs. Also if a song already is on this list, and gets another listen, it will move up accordingly. Obviously that's a pain, but not something that will stop the updating. I'll update the previously written blogs as I have time. These are the 9 songs that are tied for 44th place, all songs have 37 listens on my iTunes.
Obviously one of my favs from Arcade Fire "Sprawl 2 (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" (Previous countdown: 17th place with 36 listens):
Daughtry "Outta My Head" (Debut):
I bet you haven't heard this song for awhile: Del Amitri's "Roll To Me" (Debut):
This song has moved up due to another listen. Lady Antebellum's "Just A Kiss" (Debut):
John Michael Montgomery's "Be My Baby" (Debut):
LMFAO "Party Rock Anthem" (Previous countdown: 15th place with 37 listens):
From the Broadway play "Chess". Murray Head's "One Night In Bangkok" (Debut):
I'm not going to justify this song, it's a great song. As I always say I'm a sucker for a great pop song. 'N Sync's "It's Gonna Be Me" (Debut):
Recently I've listened to a lot of music that I either haven't heard before or haven't heard in a long time. I'm breaking this down into two blogs. First up these great songs that I've recently discovered.
American Pearl "Automatic":
The Exies "Calm and Collapsed":
Sahara Hotnights "Too Cold For You":
I really, really love these two songs. A*Teens "Firefly":
A*Teens "Hi and Goodbye":
Jennifer Nettles "Chaser":
Cyndi Lauper "Give It Up":
I love Brian Fallon's voice, he recently released his first solo CD. He used to be with Gaslight Anthem, here's "Get Hurt":
Expose "Give Me All Your Love":
A threeplay by Sia, I'm really loving her "This Is Acting"
We have many decisions to make in life. At several points in our life we have to decide between striving to improve (change) or giving up and trying to be satisfied with our lot in life (chains). I'm at one of those points in my life with jobs. I just never seem to be able to find a job that's a fit. I've decided to strive on and move forward, but giving up would be so easy. And of course if we don't change and don't try to improve, are we putting ourselves in chains? If you're at one of those points in your life, keep on fighting. Never give up, never let the chains win. Although it is a bit disconcerting to see how many more songs there are about chains than change. Songs about chains are never about happiness and neither are some of the songs about change. Change isn't always good, but so many times it's necessary. And not to get too bs philosophical, but many times we don't change we will remain in chains. Now songs about chains and/or change.
A song about change: Bob Dylan "Blowin' In The Wind":
"A Change Is Gonna Come":
Michael Jackson "Man In The Mirror":
Change usually is for the best, even when it is incredibly painful. Believe me I've been there. It wasn't fun, but it was the right thing to do. Olivia Newton-John "Changes":
I think I might have written a similar blog previously. I thought a bunch of songs would be easy to come up with, but I struggled to do so. Thanks to theblot.com and buzzfeed.com/lukelewis for giving me more song titles. As always, enjoy!
Reba McEntire "Is There Life Out There" (starring Huey Lewis):
One of the most beautiful songs ever, "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted":
The transcendent Whitney Houston, so sad her demons won the battle. Not only what becomes of the broken hearted but "Where Do Broken Hearts Go":
But that leads to the questions, again the amazing Miss Houston, "Didn't We Almost Have It All":
"How Will I Know":
While we are asking questions about that most mysterious of topics, love, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers want to know "Why Do Fools Fall In Love":
But what us men really want to know and The Smiths so eloquently ask "How Soon Is Now":
And what Paula Cole and the women want to know is "Where Have All The Cowboys Gone":
I'm looking forward to seeing the amazing Joan Osborne in concert in a few weeks, I hope she sings "Who Divided":
Not only how did you get into my house, but the Who also want to know "Who Are You", no really who are you (who who)?:
Pet Shop Boys "What Have I Done To Deserve This":
One of the truly under appreciated and best songs of the 80s. Joe Jackson "Is She Really Going Out With Him":
This song truly rocks! The Eurythmics "Would I Lie To You":
As I was listening to songs from Huey Lewis and the News, I wondered if they are the ultimate 80's summer band. Their songs evoke so much of what makes summer great- their songs are fun, upbeat, full of energy and makes whatever one is doing even more fun. The fact that the song "The Power of Love" and the movie "Back To The Future" fit so well together is no coincidence. Both are perfect for summer time. Huey Lewis and the News have so many other songs that fit so well with summer also.
Even Huey Lewis and the News album titles evoke summer, "Fore", "Sports" and "Hard At Play".
Obviously the Beach Boys are probably the ultimate summer band of all-time. It's doubtful that the Huey Lewis and the News are the ultimate's 80's summer band. But off the top of my head I can't think of any one more fitting- although I'm sure a few bands will come to my head.
"The Power of Love":
Just hearing this song again and remembering how much I love it. "Do You Believe In Love" (Well do ya?):
"Back In Time":
"Heart and Soul":
Although summer is a great time, most of us are still "Workin' For A Livin'":
Even the sad songs don't sound that sad, "If This Is It":
"It's Alright":
"Hip To Be Square":
"Stuck With You":
"Doing It All For My Baby":
"Jacob's Ladder":
"Bad Is Bad":
Two songs from their self-titled 1980 CD, which is much better than you'd expect. That's despite it doesn't have any hits on it. "Some of My Lies Are True (Sooner or Later)":
Songs tied for 52nd place, all these songs have 36 listens on my iTunes:
One of the best songs of the last several years, The Arctic Monkeys "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" (Debut):
Blake Shelton's "Ol' Red" (Previous countdown: 36 listens, tied for 17th place. As you can see it hasn't received a listen in the last year. That's not a reflection on that song. That's because over the last 18 months I've been focusing on listening to songs on my iTunes that were the longest ago played):
Chromeo "Don't Turn The Lights On" (Debut):
Daughtry's "Over You" (Debut):
Def Leppard's "Don't Shoot Shotgun" (Debut):
Eric Church "Springsteen" (Debut):
The Four Seasons "Sherry" (Debut):
Journey "Raised On Radio" (Debut):
Even after all these years I still love The Knack, this is "My Sharona" (Previous countdown: 28 listens, tied for 96th place. This song had 8 listens in the last year. Why? Because it was on my iPod.)
Led Zeppelin (BBC Version) "What Is and What Never Should Be" (Debut):
New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" (Debut):
R.E.M. "Orange Crush" (Debut):
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Suck This Kiss" (Debut):
Redlight King "Underground" (Previous countdown: 30 listens, tied for 55th place.)
My NBA Final prediction, Golden State in 5. Although I would love to see a sweep by the Warriors. After one game so far so good. GSW won Game 1, game 2 is Sunday night. (July 11th update: boy I missed on that, but with Kevin Durrant the Warriors will return to be NBA Champions next season. And as a Jazz fan also, I hope next year they reach the playoffs and start getting ready for the future. The "rebuilding" project has gone on more than long enough.)
R.I.P. Muhammad Ali
Arcade Fire "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" (Debut):
Band of Skulls "Hollywood Bowl" (Debut):
Bell X1 "Eve, The Apple Of My Eye" (Previous countdown: 32 listens, tied for 37th place.:
Billy Joel's "The Downeaster "Alexa" (Previous countdown: 35 listens, tied for 20th place):
Duran Duran "Rio" (Debut):
The Eagles "Desperado" (Previous countdown: 35 listens, tied for 20th place):
Only 565 views? Their entire debut CD is great! Gratitude's "Sadie" (Debut):
One of the funktastiest songs ever: James Brown "Living In America" (Debut):
Jeremy Fisher "Snowflakes" (Previous countdown: 33 listens, tied for 30th place):
Led Zeppelin "Good Times, Bad Times":
Lionel Richie "All Night (All Night Long)" (Previous countdown: 34 listens, tied for 25th place):
I know that it was the Smiths that originally recorded this song, but it's a version by their former leader that has had 35 listens on my iPod. Morrissey "Big Mouth Strikes Again" (Debut):
Poison "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" (Previous countdown: 34 listens, tied for 25th place):
It's amazing how much more of his videos are available on YouTube since his death. Still I'd rather have Prince alive. Prince "Baby, I'm A Star" (Debut):
Paul Revere and the Raiders "Indian Reservation" (Previous countdown: 35 listens, tied for 20th place):
