What is obscure? I guess that would be any thing that you might not be familiar with. For instance I've heard The Knack's "My Sharona" many times, and it has been in movies etc, but it might be obscure to you. Even some songs on here by big named artists are obscure to me. To paraphrase I guess obscurity is in the ear of the beholder.
35) Samantha Sang "Emotion":
36) Freda Payne "Band of Gold":
37) Maureen McGovern "The Morning After":
38) Jethro Tull "Bungle In The Jungle":
39) The Hues Corporation "Rock The Boat":
40) Paul Davis "I Go Crazy":
41) Chi Coltrane "Thunder and Lightning":
42) Tommy James "Draggin' The Line":
43) Sammi Smith "Help Me Make It Through The Night":
This topic randomly came to me while I was at lunch today. I was wondering which songs I was buying or discovering about three, two or one year ago this time. Well you do need to fear, here's the answer to that question. These songs might have been released several years ago or just before the day in question. As always there's always good music out there, you just might have to dig for it.
Songs discovered/ rediscovered/ bought about three years ago:
These are songs about places and locations, even if the title has nothing to do with the place mentioned. Real places as well as literary or fantasy places.
35) Paul Simon "Graceland":
36) The Beach Boys "California Girls":
37) Billy Joel featuring Tony Bennett "New York State of Mind":
38) The Mamas and Papas "California Dreamin":
39) Dionne Warwick "Do You Know The Way To San Jose":
40) Gladys Knight and the Pips "Midnight Train To Georgia":
41) Led Zeppelin "Going To California":
I had completely forgotten about this song. 42) Diesel "Sausalito Summer Nights":
43) Glen Campbell "By The Time I Get To Phoenix":
44) ZZ Top "La Grange":
45) Crosby, Stills and Nash"Woodstock":
46) The Animals "The House of the Rising Sun":
47) Albert Hammond "It Never Rains In Southern California":
"Daisy Jones and the Six" TV series starts on May 3rd and it looks like all 10 episodes will be available by March 24th. It will be on amazon Prime. I enjoyed the book, but wasn't overwhelmed by it. I started reading the book again tonight and am enjoying it again. The music I've heard so far has been pretty good. Here's the trailer:
1) "Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)":
2) "Regret Me":
3) "Thunderstorms":
These are some of the other classic 70s song that would fit in fine with a "Daisy Jones and the Six" soundtrack.
4) The Beatles"The Long and Winding Road":
5) Joni Mitchell "Big Yellow Taxi":
6) Patti Smith "Because The Night":
This seems to be the kind of song that Daisy Jones and the Six would write or sing, it fits right in with "Regret Me". 7) Fleetwood Mac "The Chain":
8) Fleetwood Mac "You Make Loving Fun":
9) The Rolling Stones "Brown Sugar":
10) Scott McKenzie "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)":
11) Blondie "One Way or Another":
This song fits that 70s feel. 12) Harry Styles "Sign of The Times":
13) The Animals "House of Rising Sun":
14) Jefferson Airplane "White Rabbit":
15) The Zombies "Time of the Season":
16) "Gimme Shelter":
17) Dusty Springfield "Son of a Preacher Man":
18) The Mamas and the Papas "California Dreamin'":
19) Lakeside "Something About That Woman":
If Daisy Jones and The Six had survived I could see them go through a funk phase.
Looking back four years on her last tour I believe and preparing for her Ticketmaster breaking next tour I would like to publish this second part of the blog.
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.
13) "All Too Well":
14) "Blank Space":
15) "Dress":
16) "Bad Blood"/ "Should've Said No":
17) "Should've Said No":
18) "Don't Blame Me":
19) "Long Live" (featuring Paula Fernandes):
20) "New Year's Day":
One of my favorite of her most recent songs. 21) "Getaway Car":
I started this blog series 9.5 years ago. I've decided to go back and finish them. A lot of the videos have expired and there have been other changes.
I broke my Mega 80's music blog into many different categories, I won't change my original Mega 80's music blog though. I enjoy making these kind of blogs and I hope you enjoy them too. As always I welcome all comments, both negative and positive. All you have to do is to leave a comment on any post and I see it almost immediately. I also take requests, although they may not make it on to the blog.
Remember if for some reason you can't watch a video on this blog, please enjoy it on Youtube.com, MTV.com or wherever else you can. It would be a shame not to enjoy the greatest music of all-time. The inspiration for these blogs comes from Spotify 80's radio, SongPop game on Facebook, Youtube, my iPod and my own faulty memory.
This next 80's music category is baby making music. These sort of songs are all over the place. Some are sweet and romantic, other songs talk in metaphor ("Sledgehammer") and some leave no doubt what the song is about. To a certain extent I tried to organize the songs on this blog into particular groups.
How many of us have thought to tell our boss "to take this job and shove it"? How many of us feel like Brooks and Dunn "Hard Workin' Man" or Rush's "Working Man" are songs that we can really relate to. How many of us start working for the weekend as soon as the work week starts? I currently have a job that's not great, thank goodness we aren't stuck with shit jobs for decades.
18) Portugal. The Man "Work All Day":
Okay this one is a stretch but I love this song. 19) twenty one pilots "Stressed Out":
20) Harry Chapin "Cats In The Cradle":
21) Billy Joel "Piano Man":
22) Jim Croce "Operator":
23) Tennessee Ernie Ford "Sixteen Tons":
24) Johnny Cash "John Henry's Hammer":
Was this during his John Cougar Mellencamp or just John Mellencamp stage? I can't remember. Anyway this is such a great song 25) "Rain On The Scarecrow":
26) The Marvelettes "Please Mr. Postman":
27) The Seven Dwarfs "Heigh Ho":
This song applies to a woman, but it could just as easily apply to a job. 28) Steely Dan "Dirty Work":
About two years ago I started working on a series of blogs about the best duets. Currently I'm in between jobs so I have a lot of time on my hands. I literally have spent about 6 hours of time working on the next several blogs in this series. I'm a bit obsessive when I get in a groove. Again I'd love to blog as my job, but unfortunately that's not going to happen. On this series of blogs I have forced myself to break out of my normal series of songs. I've done a lot of research for these blogs. I hope you enjoy these blogs as much as I enjoy making them.
52) Maddie and Tae "Girl In A Country Song":
53) Lady A "Need You Now":
54) Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter "You and Tequila":
55) Peter Cetera and Crystal Bernard "(I Wanna Take) Forever Tonight":
56) U2 and B.B. King "When Love Comes To Town":
57) Frank Sinatra and Anita Baker "Witchcraft":
58) Frank Sinatra and Linda Ronstadt "Moonlight in Vermont":
59) Frank Sinatra and Patti Labelle "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered":
60) Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb "Guilty":
61) Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb "What Kind of Fool":
62) Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion "Tell Him":
63) Peter Cetera and Cher "After All":
Three Linda Ronstadt duets:
64) With James Ingram "Somewhere Out There":
65) With Aaron Neville "Don't Know Much":
66) With Aaron Neville "All My Life":
67) Clint Black and Wynonna Judd "A Bad Goodbye":
68) Barry Gibb and Barbra Streisand "Woman In Love":
It's fine that people don't like Disco music, not everyone is going to like the same thing. However Disco music has some of the best songs, best dance music, most entertaining music ever. How can you not like a genre that features The Bee Gees, Donna Summer, "I Will Survive", "I Love The Nightlife", Kool and the Gang, The Village People (yes, I'm aware they're a bit over the top), Earth, Wind and Fire, "Funky Town", "Kung Fu Fighting", Chic, Kool and the Gang and many others.Even The Rolling Stones, Kiss, Stevie Wonder and so many other bands dipped their foot into Disco. Please stop dismissing one of the most fun musical genres ever!!
52) Amii Stewart "Knock On Wood":
53) The Dazz Band "Let It Whip":
54) The Trammps "Disco Inferno":
55) Yvonne Elliman "If I Can't Have You":
56) Lou Rawls "You'll Never Find Another Love of Mine":
57) Donna Summer "MacArthur Park":
58) Ohio Players "Fire":
59) The Weather Girls "It's Raining Men":
60) The Spinners "Working My Way Back To You":
61) The Spinners "Cupid/ I've Loved You For A Long Time":
62) The Whispers "It's A Love Thing":
63) Michael Jackson "Working Day and Night":
64) Silver Convention "Fly Robin Fly":
65) Earth, Wind and Fire "Fantasy":
66) George McCrae "Rock Your Baby":
67) Alicia Bridges "I Love The Nightlife":
68) Donna Summer and Brooklyn Dreams "Heaven Knows":
It's fine that people don't like Disco music, not everyone is going to like the same thing. However Disco music has some of the best songs, best dance music, most entertaining music ever. How can you not like a genre that features The Bee Gees, Donna Summer, "I Will Survive", "I Love The Nightlife", Kool and the Gang, The Village People (yes, I'm aware they're a bit over the top), Earth, Wind and Fire, "Funky Town", "Kung Fu Fighting", Chic, Kool and the Gang and many others.Even The Rolling Stones, Kiss, Stevie Wonder and so many other bands dipped their foot into Disco. Please stop dismissing one of the most fun musical genres ever!!
69) Earth, Wind and Fire "September":
70) The Bee Gee "Too Much Heaven":
71) Blondie "Heart Of Glass":
72) The Village People "In The Navy":
73) Kool and the Gang "Jungle Boogie":
74) Earth, Wind and Fire "Shining Star":
75) Chic "Dance Dance":
76) Donna Summer "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)":
77) Donna Summer "Dim All The Lights":
78) The Village People "Macho Man":
79) Bonnie Pointer "Heaven Must Have Sent You":
80) The S.O.S. Band "Take Your Time (Do It Right)":
81) Donna Summer "Sunset People":
82) Peaches and Herb "Reunited":
83) Patrick Hernandez "Born To Be Alive":
84) Andrea True Connection "More More More":
85) Thelma Houston "Don't Leave Me This Way":
86) The Real Me "You To Me Are Everything":
87) The Jacksons "Blame It On The Boogie":
88) Hot Chocolate "You Sexy Thing":
89) Jean Knight "Mr. Big Stuff":
90) Earth, Wind and Fire "Got To Get You Into My Life":
91) Labelle "Lady Marmalade
Kool and the Gang
Diana Ross and Michael Jackson "Ease On Down The Road":
) Walter Murphy "Fifth of Beethoven":
95) KC and the Sunshine Band "Shake, Shake, Shake":
96) Heatwave "Groove Line":
97) The Bee Gees "More Than A Woman":
98) KC and The Sunshine Band "I'm Your Boogie Man":
How many of us have thought to tell our boss "to take this job and shove it"? How many of us feel like Brooks and Dunn "Hard Workin' Man" or Rush's "Working Man" are songs that we can really relate to. How many of us start working for the weekend as soon as the work week starts? I currently have a job that's not great, thank goodness we aren't stuck with shit jobs for decades.
1) Genesis "Just A Job To Do":
You knew this song was coming, sung by the ironically named Mr. Paycheck. 2) Johnny Paycheck "Take This Job And Shove It":
3) Eddie Cochran "Summertime Blues":
4) The Offspring "Why Don't You Get A Job":
5) The Silhouettes "Get A Job":
5) Huey Lewis and the News "Working For A Living":
6) Dire Straits "Money For Nothing":
7) Bachman Turner Overdrive "Taking Care of Business":
8) Loverboy "Working For The Weekend":
9) Dolly Parton "9 To 5":
10) Lee Dorsey "Working In A Coal Mine":
11) Styx "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)":
12) Alabama "40 Hour Week":
13) The Vogues "5 O'Clock World":
14) The Beatles "Paperback Writer":
15) Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band "Working On The Highway":
16) Sheena Easton "Morning Train (9 to 5)":
17) Tommy James and the Shondells "Draggin The Line":
I started this blog almost three years ago, well today I decided to finish it. I'm taking advantage of all of my in-between job time.
Some of these lyrics wouldn't stand out on the blank page, but the lyrics take on a whole new meaning in the context of the songs. It's the lyrics, the music and the singer working all together that take a song to that next level.
This song describes my last job way too well. 34) The Police "Synchronicity 2":
Another working day has ended
Only the rush hour hell to face
Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes
Contestants in a suicidal race
Daddy grips the wheel and stares alone into the distance
He knows that something somewhere has to break
He sees the family home now looming in his headlights
The pain upstairs that makes his eyeballs ache
35) Frank Sinatra "New York, New York":
I want to wake up in a city
That never sleeps
And find I'm king of the hill
Top of the heap
These small town blues
They are melting away
I'll make a brand new start of it
In old New York
Both the song and the video are incredibly sweet. I especially love the line about "seasons out of time". I don't know that I know what that means, but still think it's very beautiful. This song rips out my heart.
36) Terry Jacks "Seasons In The Sun":
Goodbye my friend, it's hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky
Now that the spring is in the air
Pretty girls are everywhere
Think of me and I'll be there
We had joy, we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the hills that we climbed
Were just seasons out of time
37) Cat Stevens "Peace Train"
'Cause out on the edge of darkness There rides a peace train Oh, peace train take this country Come take me home again
38) Cat Stevens "Morning Has Broken":
Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world
Sweet the rains new fall, sunlit from Heaven
Like the first dewfall on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass
39) U2 "With Or Without You":
See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
I'll wait for you
Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I'll wait without you
The lyrics quoted are not the most profound lyrics, but that's my favorite part of the song. Again a lot of a great song is how the lyrics, music and singer blend together.
40) Peter Gabriel "Sledgehammer": I get it right, I kicked the habit (kicked the habit, kicked the habit) Shed my skin (shed my skin) This is the new stuff (this is the new stuff) I go dancing in (we go dancing in) Oh, won't you show for me? (Show for me) I will show for you (show for you) Please, show for me (show for me) Huh, I will show for you Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I do mean you (show for me)
41) Bruce Springsteen "I'm On Fire":
Sometimes it's like someone took a knife, baby
Edgy and dull and cut a six-inch valley
Through the middle of my soul
At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet
And a freight train running through the
Middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire
42) The Rolling Stone "Gimme Shelter":
Ooh, a storm is threatening
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Ooh yeah I'm gonna fade away
War, children
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
43) Oasis "Wonderwall":
And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that
I would like to say to you, but I don't know how
Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall
44) Billy Joel "The Stranger":
Well, we all fall in love But we disregard the danger Though we share so many secrets There are some we never tell Why were you so surprised That you never saw the stranger? Did you ever let your lover see The stranger in yourself?
Willie Nelson singing this song shouldn't work so well. It feels like the song and Willie were made for each other. 45) Willie Nelson "Always On My Mind":
Tell me
Tell me that your sweet love hasn't died
And give me
Give me one more chance to keep you satisfied
I'll keep you satisfied
Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
"Forgetting you, but not the time" is so poignant. Dedicated to all those that miss their exes or let "the one" get away. 46) Green Day "Whatsername":
And in the darkest night
If my memory serves me right
I'll never turn back time
Forgetting you, but not the time
47) Keith Whitley "When You Say Nothing At All":
The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me
A touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall
Now you say it best when you say nothing at all
All day long I can hear people talking out loud
But when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd
Old Mr. Webster could never define
What's being said between your heart and mine
48) Simon and Garfunkel "The Sound of Silence":
And in the naked light, I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never shared
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
49) Blink-182 "Adam's Song":
I never thought I'd die alone Another six months, I'll be unknown Give all my things to all my friends You'll never step foot in my room again You'll close it off, board it up Remember the time that I spilled the cup Of apple juice in the hall Please tell Mom this is not her fault
"Don't put your blame on me".
50) Rag'n'Bone Man "Human":
Maybe I'm foolish Maybe I'm blind Thinking I can see through this And see what's behind Got no way to prove it So maybe I'm blind But I'm only human after all I'm only human after all Don't put your blame on me Don't put your blame on me
51) The Smiths "How Soon Is Now":
When you say it's going to happen now Well, when exactly do you mean? See, I've already waited too long And all my hope is gone
From "Rent" soundtrack. 52) "Seasons of Love":
Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments, oh dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter in strife
In five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes
