Category: Music

One of my absolute favorite songs from the early 70’s. This is not your basic bubble gum, assembly line pop hit, but actually an intelligent and well crafted song with a complex bridge. I wore a few record needles out on this 45!

In my music readings, I stumbled onto a new band called Muse. I often use the AllMusic.com site to read a band’s bio and look at their discography. While doing this for Muse, I stumbled onto perhaps the most creative album review I’ve ever read. This review also contains a most fantastic, run-on sentence. I’ll be adding this CD to my collection soon: Muse – Origin of Symmetry

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Musicians who lost their mothers at an early age:

John Lennon
Bono
Sinead O’conner
Madonna
Tom Petty
Jimmi Hendrix
John Lennon
Aretha Franklin
… and the list goes on. As I recently heard in the Tom Petty film “Running Down A Dream”, this may be the untold story of Rock and Roll.

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By far, my favorite (and I think, the best) song of 2004 is Landed by Ben Folds. Now when traveling by air, songs of choice are in the following order: 1. Leaving On A Jet Plane by Peter Paul & Mary, 2. Jet Airliner by Steve Miller Band, 3. Landed by Ben Folds. And here’s Landed:

Growing up listening to 70’s and 80’s music, I’m often amazed at how many song lyrics my brain has indexed. Although my wife and kids have never complained (to me anyway), I’m sure I drive my family crazy singing along to song after song. I’ve long been guilty of taking anything in any conversation, shuffling it through the songs in my brain, and if there is even the slightest of matches, segueing it to a song lyric. Just typing this makes me annoyed at myself!

There are two 70’s songs that I have wondered about for many years. I am certain that I have heard two different versions of:

“Dream Weaver” by Gary Wright
“Lady” by Styx

What’s unique about these differences is just one word in each song (in italics below):

“I’ve just closed my eyes again”
vs
“I have just closed my eyes again”

“Touch me and my troubles all fade”
vs
“Just touch me and my troubles all fade”

I’ve always thought that because Styx had a nasty breakup that “Lady” was re-recorded by one of the jilted parties for financial purposes. I just discovered that Styx actually re-recorded “Lady” when they reunited in 1995 (only to split again not long after this). I’m not sure I understand why you’d re-record a classic song like that. I’m equally confused by re-recording it and changing just one word. Was this intentional?

I still can’t help but think about how Tommy Shaw has referred to Styx’s “First Time” (a sappy Dennis DeYoung ballad he was able to get on Styx’s fine Cornerstone album) basically as the beginning of the end for the band. A good song perhaps for Andy Gibb – I have to side with Tommy on this since it was just hard to hear “First Time” after the hard rocking “Renegade” or “Miss America”. At the same time, in 1979 at the age of 14, I didn’t mind it being non-rocking since I recall getting to couple skate at the roller rink to “First Time” with a popular girl named Betsy from a rival school. I was the king of the world for 4 minutes and 24 seconds! Later, I remember finding out she didn’t kiss very well.

As for 1976’s classic Dream Weaver, I’m convinced I’ve heard two versions with the one-word difference mentioned above. I’ve not been able to find out why. By the way, speaking of the Dream Weaver album, one of my favorite 70’s songs is also on the Weaver disc: “My Love Is Alive”. I loved it in the 80’s too when Chaka Khan covered it and made it into an awesome, thumping 80’s night club mix.

If anyone knows anything about the alternate versions of these songs, I would love to hear it! Maybe Gary Wright will read this and chime in.

For my music pals, here are the two beloved versions of “My Love Is Alive”:

Gary Wright
Chaka Khan

Check out the live performance of “My Love Is Alive” on the Midnight Special below. This is quite a discovery since it’s an amazing display of keytar skill and I’m betting Will Ferrell took cowbell lessons from Gary’s background singer! Man, she is really playing that cowbell.

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Listening to: Kansas – Carry On Wayward Son

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Listening to: Kansas – The Pinnacle

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Listening to: Jon Anderson – Hurry Home (Song From The Pleiades)

A connoisseur of sound, I recently read a review of the new Bose Companion desktop speaker system and picked them up at Best Buy. In my office, I was using a 6 speaker system with the left, front, center plus the subwoofer and two additional left and rights behind me in the traditional “surround box”.

The Bose Companion system is just 3 speakers total. One left, one right, and a subwoofer. The sound from these 3 speakers is remarkably better than with my other 6 speaker system! So, thank you, thank you, thank you Bose for an incredible product that will bring me daily joy!

I got a kick out of the “thank you” page on Bose.com which appears after you register your speakers online. Check out the yellow highlight below:

How lucky am I to be SO valued to Bose that I’m eligible for mail communication. Alert the media! Woohoo!!!

I have to go now since I’m headed out to sit by the mailbox and await some mail communication.

While out of the country this week, I have started reading Neil Peart’s “Traveling Music: The Soundtrack to My Life & Times“.

Rush’s genius drummer offers up some very interesting musical recommendations from Sinatra to Linkin Park and I’ve decided to collect some CDs based on his recommendations. Then, like my former year-long exploration into 60’s British Invasion music (that was fantastic!), I’m looking forward to broadening my musical horizons further this year.

A quote from Ralph Ellison used by Peart on the power of music as a part of life really struck a chord with me:

“Perhaps in the swift change of American society in which the meanings of one’s origins are so quickly lost, one of the chief values of living with music lies in its power to give us an orientation in time. In doing so, it gives significance to all those indefinable aspects of experience which nevertheless help to make us what we are. In the swift whirl of time, music is a constant, reminding us of what we were and of that toward which we aspire. Art thou troubled? Music will not only calm, it will ennoble thee.”

I’ll be blogging about the musical journey this year and hope to get some dialog going here.

Excellent song about the teenage phenomenon of cutting:

Let’s hope this is the final “Final Countdown” …..