The Best Music The 80's Has To Offer! My Life (Updated 2/7/13)

Hello,

Oh boy do I have a lot of thoughts about the Lakers, the 49ers and many other things. However today I feel like posing a bunch of my favorite 80's songs. My playlist today first was Olivia Newton-John and then it moved to Tears For Fears. My drive music of late has been the non-80's "Pretty Hate Machine". I've posted the best of the 80's kind of posts before, but I want to do another one. I hope you enjoy it, I know I'll enjoy making it. Let the memories begin.

If some of these songs are from the late 70's or early 90's, forgive me.

The great thing about 80's music is that it's the same decade for both Guns N' Roses, Terence Trent D'Arby, Neneh Cherry and A Flock of Seagulls. The music was so electic. All genres of music were represented well on MTV and other places. The 80's was a time of a musical renaissance, sadly music has deteriorated since then. Music sadly has degraded to the mostly mediocre mix we have now.

I'm also feeling a bit nostalgic so I'll be attaching some personal thoughts to some of these songs. I'm trying to keep this in a mostly chronological order.

High School:

A song that reminds me of my first high school stomp, Missing Persons "Words":



This song reminds me my first job, working as a bagger at Safeways. 18 months where I finally began to grow up. My eyes were opened by a lot of things while working in downtown Salt Lake. This song was really big at the time and it was always on the radio. One of the best songs ever written, Prince's "When Doves Cry" (I'm not sure how long this video will stay on youtube.com though):



I graduated high school and for some reason decided to go to school to Ricks College. It's now called BYU-I and is in Rexburg, Idaho. It's one of the coldest places I've ever been. Looking back now I've no idea why I decided to go there. However although I was miserable and homesick, it was what I needed to do in order to leave the nest for two years. These are songs that remind me of my time at Ricks, all songs weren't released necessarily during my time there.

At the school's bookstore I was looking through their music and I was surprised to come across "British Steel"for sale. "United" has always been my favorite Judas Priest song:



Playing tennis before or after the cold hit a jeep drove by with the radio blaring. It was a Loverboy song, it was either:



or this extremely cheesy video:



I first heard this song on a boring weekday afternoon and didn't quite know what to think:



These were three of the biggest songs before I went on my LDS mission summer 1986-summer 1988 (which btw was one of the best things I've ever done.)



David Lee Roth's "Just Like Paradise":



With backing vocals from Bryan Adams, this is Glass Tiger.



I got home July 1988, in August 1988 I started working at Dicks Market in Centerville, Utah. I ended up working there for 17.5 years. My 80's ended with me working at Dicks, living at home and looking for my future wife. Thinking about it now, both my job and marriage lasted about 17 years.

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Great Songs: In Case You Missed Them, "Cigarettes and Truckstops" etc (Updated 2/13/13)

Hello,

When I listen to music on iTunes, 95% of the time I listen to music on shuffle. One advantage of that is that I hear songs that I'd never hear any other way. Through shuffle I discovered one of those great songs last night.  Lindi Ortega's "Cigarettes and Truckstops":



I'm not a smoker and think that smoking is one of the most vile things in the world. However I love the imagery of "Three Cigarettes In An Ashtray":



Van Halen's "You and Your Blues":



And just because it's one of my favorite songs of all-time, I cannot tell you how much I love this song. Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam's "All Cried Out":



I love the singer's voice. Three Days Grace "Break":



Tift Merritt's "Mixtape":



"Smash" Season Two starts up tonight, just in case the omnipresent ads missed you. I liked "Smash" for about the first two-thirds of Season 1, but then got tired of it. They have some great songs, I'm not sure if I'm going to watch Season Two or not. Tonight's premiere is two hours. Of course I'd watch this over the hideously lame "American Idol". The amazing and gorgeous Katharine McPhee, showing that she's just not a pretty face. "Brand New Key":



I'm sure you've heard this song already, but this is such an amazing song. Miranda Lambert's "Over You":



This is Sufjan Stevens "Casimir Pulaski Day":



Five Iron Frenzy's "It Was A Dark and Stormy Night":



Elefant's "Uh Oh Hello":



I have no idea why Bruce Springsteen's "Wrecking Ball" didn't receive more attention, it's full of great rock songs. Here's a few, starting with "Wrecking Ball":



I love when completely unaware I stumble across a song that's this great. I had this CD in my car and I had become tired of the other CDs in my car, so I listened to "Wrecking Ball". When this song came on I fell in love. I've added the song to my iPod and listened to it in my car several times. This song kicks some serious butt and I love the lyrics, "Death To My Hometown":



Selected "Death To My Hometown" lyrics:

No cannonballs did fly
No rifles cut us down
No bombs fell from the sky
No blood soaked the ground
No powder flash blinded the eye
No deafening thunder sounded
But just as sure as the hand of god
They brought death to my hometown
They brought death to my hometown

No shells ripped the evening sky
No cities burning down
No armies stormed the shores for which we’d die
No dictators were crowned
High off on a quiet night
I never heard a sound
The marauders raided in the dark and brought death to my hometown, boys
Death to my hometown

"Shackled and Drawn":



A couple recent free iTunes songs, both of these songs are great. Matt Hires "Restless Heart":



The Virginmary's "Just A Ride":



A song that's a few years older, but that's still great. This is Project Jenny/ Project's Jan's (with Fujiya and Miyagi's) "Pins & Needles":



themusicaddict

Catharsis Songs

Hello,

Dealing with the frustrations of life, I need some catharsis. Enjoy!

Along with Five Iron Frenzy, one of my new favorite bands is EarlyRise. If you are interested in helping break this band, go to Kickstarter.com and make a pledge. This is "Black and White":



Yes they also sound a lot like Paramore and Evanescence to me, but I love female based rock bands. The more the merrier:



One of the best songs ever for catharsis from one of my favorite bands at this time, Mumford and Sons. This is "Little Lion Man":



Warning: This song will probably offend more people than it won't. However this might be one of the all-time greatest catharsis songs. Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name":



Sometimes you have that moment where you realize why you are glad why you got a divorce. Daughtry's "Over You":



I could use any of the songs from Nine Inch Nails amazing "Pretty Hate Machine", pretty much every song on that CD is a catharsis song. I'll just use a couple: "Head Like A Hole":



If you notice a theme, it's not completely unintentional. "Ringfinger":



Do you ever hear a song and it reminds you of someone so perfectly? This song does that for me:



Linkin Park "In The End":



Linkin Park's "One Step Closer":



Papa Roach "Last Resort":



Drowning Pool "Bodies":



The Smashing Pumpkins "Bullet With Butterfly Wings":



Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walking":



Montgomery Gentry's "Hillbilly Shoes":



Sinead O'Connor's "The Emperor's New Clothes":



Another great song of catharsis by Sinead O'Connor, indeed a song that speaks so eloquently about divorce. "The Last Day of Our Acquaintance":



Easily one of the most gorgeous women working in the entertainment industry today. Carrie Underwood "Before He Cheats":



themusicaddict

"The Americans", Kickstarter" Five Iron Frenzy, Early Rise

Hello,

With a lot of anticipation I watched the first episode of "The Americans" last week. I'd read the article on grantland.com about it being the best new show since "Homeland", which quite simply is one of the best shows literally ever. (And unlike Ryan King on "Go On", I do know the definition of literally and know how to use it correctly.) Since it shows "live" at 11:00pm in the Salt Lake Valley I recorded it to watch Thursday night. So after a long work week I got home and all ready to watch it. I've written often how much I love Comcast, especially their On Demand. I love that I can fast forward through the commercials and stop if I need to do something else and pick up later etc.

However lately Comcast and On Demand have been having some problems. There have been glitches on the screen during shows. Glitches is the best word I can think of. Anyway these glitches usually last a few seconds and only occur for a brief time and are nothing more than a minor annoyance. I recorded the debut episode of "The Americans" the glitches have been much worse. They encapsulate the whole screen and can last for 2 or 3 minutes. It essentially made the show unwatchable.

So far I've only seen the first 2/3rds of "The Americans" and it was okay. However I won't be giving a full preview of "The Americans" until I see the full episode. Hmm, maybe I can watch it on-line. I checked my recorded copy of "The Americans" last night. Sadly the glitches were still showing. Also as of last night the show isn't On Demand. It's probably not a good thing when someone compares your show to "Homeland". That's a standard that almost no one can live up to.

In the October 1st, 2012 issue of Time there's an article about a website called Kickstarter. Basically the idea is that a bunch of people make small donations to something they believe in. Then there's the hope that the project will become big. There are usually some very cool dividends involved for those who participate in the so called crowd funding. Each Kickstarter project only lasts about 30 days.

Anyway I'm always on the lookout for the next big thing music wise. Previously researching Megan Joy I stumbled across the fact that she had a Kickstarter project. Her project was successfully funded on Augusts 31st, 2011. For those of you who don't remember, Megan Joy finished 8th on "American Idol" a few years ago. Not only is she one of the most beautiful women to ever appear on "AI", she also has a fantastic voice. She's also a fellow Salt Lake City resident, one of the thousands of the beautiful women in Salt Lake Valley.

I thought to myself maybe I can find a great band on Kickstarter and maybe even send a little tax refund money their way. As I was checking out Kickstarter I stumbled across the band Middle Class Mischief, eh they are pretty generic screamo music.

I've often thought there are a lot of great bands out there, it's just a matter of finding them. The record companies mostly give us crap, so true music lovers have to seek out the great music on our own.

However the next band I found on Kickstarter is Five Iron Frenzy, a band I like much better. They are a ska/rock band that has a very Mighty Mighty Bosstonesish sound. Their Kickstarter project to record a new album was successfully funded on Jan 21st, 2012. This Kickstarter project was so that they could record a new CD. They were asking for a total of $30,000 and ended up receiving $207,980. Their project was funded 693%.

It seems Five Iron Frenzy is a band that has been around a long time, but I've never heard of. If I seem someone who's completely clueless about this band, you know why. Thankfully a lot of these bands have their music on youtube.com and Spotify, one can get a sense of what their musical identity is.

This is Five Iron Frenzy's Kickstarter concert from Denver, Colorado:



From what I can tell, they are still working on the album they used Kickstarter funds to make. This is the first song from said album, "It Was A Dark and Stormy Night": (I love this song!)



This is one of my other favorites of their songs, "Oh Canada":



A band that may be worth investing your hard earned money in is a band called Early Rise. Their project is currently seeking funding at Kickstarter. Currently with 20 days to go in this funding cycle,  they are 61% funded. So far they've had $9191 pledged of the $15,000 they need to record their new album. They hope to release said new album December, 2013.

This is their song "Wasteland":



"Become Mad":



themusicaddict

Lakers Are Done!, Super Bowl Thoughts and Pick

Hello,

I'd like to dedicate the following song to the Lakers and all their delusional fans. It's so cute you guys think this Lakers team is still going to make the playoffs. Seriously in what universe does it make sense for Ron "The Brick" Arrest to have as many shots as Kobe Bryant? Arrest shot 10 3 pointers? Other than seeing the Lakers lose, Lakers haters are happiest when they see Arrest is about to shoot. Dwight Howard is going to play through his injury, did he mean for that to sound like a threat? Does anyone have more whiny faces than the Big Stiffy (Pau Gasol). Gasol is so slow that tortoises are saying to themselves, "Damn the Big Stiffy is slow". Does it make me a bad person that I love to watch the Lakers lose so much?



Good news California: While the Lakers will continue to struggle this season, the 49ers will be bringing home the Super Bowl to California on Sunday. Here are some random Super Bowl thoughts:

1) Obviously Randy Moss isn't the greatest wide receiver of all-time. That title would probably go to another 49er, Jerry Rice.

2) Two weeks between the Conference Championships and the Super Bowl is way too long. The media run out of things to talk about. With such an extended break we have stories like Chris Culliver's idiotic anti gay remarks. Stop putting a microphone in the faces of these unknown players. And to make anti gay comments in San Francisco, how dumb is Culliver? This is Culliver's 15 minutes of fame and he can go away now.

3a) I think it would be hilarious if Alex Smith had to be called upon to rescue the 49ers in the Super Bowl. No I'm not hoping that Colin Kaepernick gets hurt or is ineffective, I'd just love to see fellow Ute  Smith come in and rescue the 49ers.

3b) I'll also be keeping an eye on former BYU stud tight end Dennis Pitta. I hope he has a good game in the Ravens loss.

4) The last I heard the over/under on the Super Bowl is 47.5 points. If it was me, I would take the over. Yes, both teams have tremendous defenses. But I think the 49ers could break out and score a lot of points. There have already been a lot of high scoring playoff games so far. The NFC Championship had more points than 47.5 while the AFC Championship had fewer points.

5) Despite new allegations that Ray Lewis is a P.E.D. user, he denies that he is. A line from "Les Mis" comes to mind, "you'd expect that from a con". Lewis has been a great player in the NFL and he'll be missed. However what won't be missed is his celebration routine that draw attention to himself.

6) I hope that Colin Kaepernick scores a lot of touchdowns, however I hope we don't have to see that stupid Kaepernicking celebration. One of the worst celebration routines, as bad as Tebowing and Aaron Rogers lame championship belt routine. I miss the Ickey Shuffle, that showed some thought and was entertaining.

7) Beyonce as the Super Bowl half-time entertainment? That will be a good time to go to the bathroom and check e-mail.

Finally my Super Bowl pick. I predict the 49ers will go 6-0 in this Super Bowl. I predict the 49ers will score about 30 points and win by about 14 points. To be more specific, San Francisco wins 32-18. After cheering for the Cowboys for so many years and them being a disappointment every damn year I've adopted the 49ers as one of my teams. I got sick of following such a mediocre franchise as the Cowboys and wanted a playoff team to cheer for. I'm so excited for this Super Bowl. Thanks 49ers for giving me a team to care about this Super Bowl.

Meanwhile as the 49ers prosper, the Cowboys continue to flounder.

DeMarcus Ware says the Cowboys championship window is closing. Um DeMarcus when did it open? If you can't even make the playoffs, how are you going to win a Super Bowl? This is the kind of delusional thoughts that pass as thinking in Dallas. I'm also sad to say that it's going to be a long time, and probably the death of Jerry Jones, until the Cowboys reach the Super Bowl again. Jones winning those 3 Super Bowls in the early part of his ownership was the worst thing that could have happened to the Cowboys. Although the success had very little to do with him, he thought he was the mastermind and that his way was right. Cowboys fans have been paying for his delusions ever since.

themusicaddict

"The Following" Is Good. It's Also Incredibly Freaky!

Hello,

Due to a busy work schedule I wasn't able to watch the second episode of "The Following" until last night. I have to admit I wasn't very impressed with the pilot. It was so unpromising that I almost didn't watch the second episode. However I decided to give "The Following" another chance and I'm glad that I did. Last night's episode "Chapter Two" was a hour of very compelling television.

James Purefoy plays Dr. Joe Carroll, serial killer and leader of the following, a bit too well. Kevin Bacon plays Ryan Hardy, he was the FBI agent that captured Carroll in 2003. Shortly after the Carroll's capture Hardy went on disability and left the FBI. When Carroll escapes prison in 2013, Hardy is called back in to help track down Carroll. Carroll didn't appreciate being captured by Hardy and has recruited the so-called following in an elaborate scheme to exact revenge on Agent Hardy.

Also playing into this storyline is the lovely Natalie Zea, who plays Joe's ex-wife Claire. Following the Carroll's divorce being finalized, Claire and Hardy had a two month relationship. The Carroll's also had a son together Joey. Through the first two episodes of this show Joey is being used as a pawn in a very dangerous game between Joe and Ryan. This is a game that Joe only wants to play.

The lovely Miss Zea:

Some thoughts after the first two episodes:

Carroll's following, or cult, is very scary. The idea that a complete psychotic can have control over seemingly rational people is scary. Carroll is basing the following's belief system on the works of Edgar Allen Poe. Poe was sort of a freaky looking dude, which only adds to spooky factor of this show. 

I predict that someone close to the investigation is part of Carroll's following, but who is it? What did that very knowing glance exchanged between Carroll and Agent Parker mean? She's an expert on cults, just how much inside knowledge does she have about Carroll and his cult? Also what was Hardy doing his about 10 years away from the FBI? He wouldn't be a suspect at all due to his past capture of Carroll. But how was he able to capture Carroll in the first place? Is Hardy part of Carroll's following?

Also the scariest thing about this whole idea is that literally anyone could be part of the following. That means you literally can't trust anyone. That's part of the reason that I jumped about 7 times while watching this episode. 

I'm not sure why Agent Hardy told Joe that his patsy, Jordy Raines, was still alive. Joe feeds on information. Now that he knows that Raines is still alive, he can have one of his cult kill Raines. Hardy should have kept that information from Joe, they could have interrogated Raines in peace. Also he would have been safer.

After the show was over it took me about a hour to come down from the freakiness of this show. 

One of the things that heightens the freak factor is the music. Here are a few of the creepier selections. These aren't the kind of songs you want to hear when checking under your bed 6 times looking for a serial killer. 

Sepultara's "Angel:

The Deftones "Change (In The House of Flies):

Band of Skulls is one of the best bands that have come out the last few years. Their song "Close To Nowhere" served as the background music for Ryan and Claire's first kiss:

Then I'll never forgive Marilyn Manson from perverting this great 80's song, but I have to admit that this does fit in too well in with the ambience of "The Following". I purposefully put the lyric video here, so you don't have to look at the freak himself.

Here's Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart's original, they were known as the Eurythmics:

Do I recommend that you watch this show, most definitely. If all the episodes are as good as "Chapter Two", then this will be a great show. However it may not be the best thing to watch the show by yourself. This would be the kind of show you want to watch with a cuddle partner. Also due to how freaky this show is I would reccommend that you not watch it if you have a similar heart condition to Hardy. 

One of my favorite movies growing up was the original "Footloose", I'm glad to see Kevin Bacon back in the public eye once again.

Also at grantland.com Andy Greenwald wrote up a very glowing review of fx's "The Americans".  He called it the best new show since "Homeland", which is the best new show I've seen in the last several years. (Dear Showtime, I'm waiting patiently for Season 2 of "Homeland" to go on sale.) Anyway "The Americans" makes it's debut tonight. Due to Greenwald's recommendation I'll be watching "The Americans" tonight. Or I'll record it and watch Lakers-Suns. Hmm.

themusicaddict

Are These The 7 Greatest Novels Ever?

Hello,

I've noticed my blog gets a little more traffic than usual when I write about books. So the following is my list of possibly the best five novels ever, followed by a brief thought. This is in no particular order. If you haven't read all these books, you definitely need too.

1) "Jurassic Park"- Michael Crichton Although the movie was decent, it came nowhere to the greatness of the book.

2) "Horns"- Joe Hill This book has a very sweet love story, but you must read all the way to the end.

3) "The Art of Racing In The Rain"- Garth Stein Words can't describe how great this book is. Literally the story of how one should live their life, no matter the consequences. And the book is narrated by a dog.

4) "A Prayer For Owen Meany"- John Irving Owen Meany is a hero, but not your typical hero.

5) "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"- Junot Diaz This literally could be the best book ever. I loved this book in so many ways. Diaz's constant talk of sex got old pretty quick though. But this is one of those books that shows great writing is still occurring.

6) "My Antonia"- Willa Cather. A book that I only would have read because I was assigned it in a class for school. It's also a book that took me by complete surprise. Quite simply one of the best books I've ever read. A true delight in every way possible. Thanks to my great teacher at the University of Utah for introducing the class to this amazing book.

7)  "The Garden of Last Days"- Andre Dubus Who knew a novel about a stripper, a 9/11 terrorist and white trash Floridian could be so amazing? This is a book not to be missed!

Honorable mention books:

8) A commenter on this blog shared their love for "Ender's Game". While I did very much enjoy "Ender's Game", I've decided it doesn't belong in the 6 greatest books of all-time. But it definitely is worthy of classic novel honorable mention.

"Ender's Game"- Orson Scott Card This definitely is a great book and the movie adaptation is coming soon to your local theatre. One of the things that push this book into the classic area is the amazing ending. That was a great ending.

9) "Snow Falling On Cedars"- David Guterson

I'm sure this list will be expanding as I remember some of the amazing books I've read in my life.

What are some books that you absolutely loved?

themusicaddict