Diving yet again into my Last.fm artists lists to pull out some musical gems I’ve not posted before.
Bachman Turner Overdrive – Looking Out For #1
While BTO is perhaps best known for their rockin’ tunes like Roll On Down the Highway and Takin’ Care of Business, they knew how to slow down the music and chill. Here’s one of their jazzy little numbers.
Kimbra – Come Into My Head
I often feel a bit insane, whatever that truly means. You wouldn’t want to see what’s inside my head, beyond the glimpses afforded you by my creative efforts. I don’t think I’ll take Kimbra’s invite to come inside her head, either. Her music and videos, including this one, give me enough of a glimpse into her psyche for me to recognize her as something of a kindred spirit. 🙂
Three Dog Night – Shambala
For a while back in the day, Three Dog Night had the #1 song in the US. You could hear the refrain, Jeremiah was a bullfrog, coming from many a car radio. But this rocking band had many other hits, too, and my favorite felt so welcoming and inclusive.
Dragonette – Body 2 Body
Do not adjust your screen. My kid put me onto Dragonette years ago, and I’ve been following them since. When I look at Martina Sorbara, the lead singer for Dragonette, I don’t expect the tone of voice that comes from her mouth. But I like it.
Jim Croce – Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels)
Jim Croce released a lot of songs I really like. Workin’ at the Car Wash Blues is one of my favorites. I’ve never worked at a car wash, but I’ve worked jobs where you feel like you’re not doing what you ought to be doing, so I can relate. Another favorite is about trying to reconnect with someone who doesn’t want to reconnect, and I’ve been there, too.
Aaliyah – U Got Nerve
Aaliyah was ahead of her time, helping to redefine the conventions of R&B and hip hop. Her music is as vibrant today as it was when she was still alive.
It is only by coincidence that I’ve posted consecutive songs by singers who died in airplane takeoff crashes, but, yeah, I noticed.
Ohio Players – Skin Tight
Going way back to my younger days once more…. Love Rollercoaster is one of my favorite songs of all time, but it still gets a lot of airplay even today, so I thought I’d post a favorite tune from Ohio Players that I don’t hear much on the radio stations these days. I love the funky style of the Ohio Players in songs like the one I’m posting here, the title track from their fifth studio album. The covers of albums they released were often provocative, some more so than the cover for Skin Tight, imagine that.
Lady Gaga – Beautiful, Dirty Rich
I’m not beautiful or dirty rich, but sometimes I listen to songs that help me fantasize about… I dunno… things that could never be but are still fun to think about. Can you believe it was 15 years ago (as I write this) that Lady Gaga first came on the music scene? In some respects, it doesn’t feel like it has been that long, and yet in other ways, it seems Lady Gaga has been a mainstay of pop music for ages.
Todd Rundgren – Bang the Drum All Day
When I was a youngster growing up on the farm, I could relate to this song, but not because I wanted to bang on the drum all day. I wanted to read books, play games, and listen to music all day. My dad did not appreciate the sentiment. He referred to rock ‘n’ roll music as “devil music,” and didn’t want me playing it. One time, he made me so upset, I dashed my portable radio on the ground and broke it. I think he felt bad about driving me to that point, because afterward he changed his attitude about my listening habits. I, of course, bought another portable radio after that, because I couldn’t stop feeding the addiction. Yes, it was very much an addiction back then, more so than today, but I’d not be happy without music in my life today, either.
ZZ Ward – The Deep
Female blues rock vocalists akin to Janis Joplin don’t come along every day. ZZ Ward has a different energy than Janis Joplin did, but fits the blues rock genre just fine.
Alice Cooper – No More Mr. Nice Guy
One of my early vinyl albums was Billion Dollar Babies by Alice Cooper. The distinctive cover didn’t show elaborate images, but rather looked like green snakeskin. I’ve been an Alice Cooper fan for so long, and it’s sad to say that my fandom was the cause of hearing problems for both myself and my wife. To celebrate my birthday a few years back, I got tickets for two to a local Alice Cooper concert. It was an experience, but even though we both stuffed cotton in our ears during the concert, we ended up with tinnitus afterward. It was really bad for a while, and we were thinking we’d never be rid of it… which we aren’t fully, but we have learned to deal with it much better than when it first happened. It’s just that the venue was so small compared to Alice’s sound…. I’m betting we weren’t the only people who came away from that concert with some degree of hearing issues. We don’t go to live concerts anymore now, which is regrettable, but we can’t run the risk of causing the tinnitus to flare up again.
Cher Lloyd – Want You Back
My wife knows I like the kind of music she calls “girlie pop.” She doesn’t care for it, but doesn’t try to change my tastes, either, for which I’m grateful. I don’t know why I like these catchy tunes so much, when others of my age, gender, and hillbilly background are not as likely to.
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Free Bird
As a poor boy growing up on a farm, I didn’t have the opportunity to go to many live concerts while in my teens or early twenties. I wish I could have. In my later years, a lot of bands from my youth figured out they could make money by touring and appealing to their fans from those early days. So I did finally get to attend a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert, though at that point the band members weren’t all the same as back in the day. Still, I enjoyed the Lynyrd Skynyrd concert I went to in my 60s, especially as it was held outside, which meant the sound wasn’t trapped and permeating my eardrums like it did in an indoor venue.
Jennifer Love Hewitt – Can I Go Now
I’m such a Jennifer Love Hewitt fan. I loved watching her in Ghost Whisperer and the I Know What You Did Last Summer movie and its sequel, along with a few other shows of hers. I also love her music, for which she isn’t as well known. Her voice has a bluesy quality that I adore. I owned three of her studio albums on CDs, and didn’t own the fourth because I never realized she had released a studio album before 1995. She’s done a few songs since her 2002 album, BareNaked, and I’ve listened to those, too, over streaming services. Just to make it clear how much I enjoy Jennifer’s music, at the time of this writing, she’s ranked as my #34 most-played artist on my Last.fm profile, which has been tracking my plays since 2007.
Kool & the Gang – Let’s Party
Some old folks just don’t know when to quit. Hey, I’m one of ’em. As long as you’re livin’ and breathin’ and can still do what you love, then it’s on you to do it and keep doin’ it for as long as you can. Kool & the Gang hit the air waves during the disco era, and they’re still bringin’ the funk… with some help from a younger generation, and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.
Miranda Lambert – Kerosene
I gotta have a country song in this mix. Miranda Lambert isn’t as old as a bunch of the artists posted on this page, but she’s been around a bit and has released ten studio albums in her time. The video below takes us back to around the time it all started for her.
Grand Funk Railroad – Shinin’ On
The quintessential American band, one of whose top hits was a song about them being an American band, Grand Funk Railroad is more rock to me than funk, but it is just a name, eh.
Charli XCX – Good Ones
Adding more “girlie music” to the mix…. When someone says they “always let the good ones go,” you have to wonder what they did with the bad ones. It sorta seems the bad ones went, too, but maybe that’s not something one would mind much. 🙂
Johnny Mathis – I’m Stone in Love with You
Let’s throw a crooner in here to end Mike’s Music Mix post #4. Johnny Mathis is my favorite crooner.
And that’s a wrap for this week’s music mix. Hope you enjoyed it and will come back for more.