Boomer Top 5

Top 5 groups with a # in their name

1.     Four Tops

2.     Four Seasons

3.     Three Dog Night

4.     Aztec Two-Step

5.     Five Stairsteps

Some of you may be wondering who Aztec Two Step is/are. They got huge FM airplay in the Northeast in the 70’s and the duo is still together, going strong 40 years later in places from small coffeehouses to BB King’s in NY. Their eponymous debut album is one of the note-for-note, word-for-word, song-for-song perfect albums of our time. Really.

 

We just love the Four Tops, for their hits and their later surprises, like a cover of Don’t Walk Away, Renee. The Four Seasons were also terrific, and Jersey Boy is going strong on Broadway. Three Dog Night? A few songs got overplayed, but man could they sing, and their Out in The Country is an endorphin-laden song for me; sublime and peaceful.

Top 5 lines we like to sing along with!

1.     “…tin roof….rusty….” – Love Shack, B-52’s

2.     “…Jean and Joan and who knows who…” – Evil Ways, Santana

3.     “…it’s a gas, gas, gas.” – Jumpin’ Jack Flash, The Stones

4.     “..and my heart goes boom boom boom….” – Solsbury Hill, Peter Gabriel - see the youtube of Gabriel in concert...riding a bike!

5.     “…oh wee… werewolves of London.” – Warren Zevon

by the time you get to Woodstock

So, yes, the Woodstock anniversary is over a month away, and no I wasn’t there, and as you know, it didn’t actually take place in Woodstock, BUT, nonetheless, here is a link to a wonderful Woodstock site with a book list PLUS some fun articles and posters from the day. 

And yes, there are new books coming out, notably Taking Woodstock from Square One and The Road to Woodstock from Ecco. (See more book news at Backlist Book of the Day.)

So, yes, the Woodstock anniversary is over a month away, and no I wasn’t there, and as you know, it didn’t actually take place in Woodstock, BUT, nonetheless, here is a link to a wonderful Woodstock site with a book list PLUS some fun articles and posters from the day. 

And yes, there are new books coming out, notably Taking Woodstock from Square One and The Road to Woodstock from Ecco. (See more book news at Backlist Book of the Day.)

Looking for a list of songs with longest held notes

All I have so far is Bill Withers' AMAZING held notes in Lovin' It. What a great song...and we love Bill.

25th anniversary of The Groove Tube this year!

Groove Tube, a riot of a movie, predated SNL by a year and launched Chevy Chase.  I still remember it most for the opening segment featuring Curtis Mayfield's incredible Moving On Up. I just ordered a DVD and am watching it this weekend. I must've seen this 100x in college, playing as it did every night all the time at the Other Side Coffeeshop at SUNY Stony Brook.

Top 5 songs with a cowbell

1.     Don’t Fear the Reaper, Blue Oyster Cult (We hate this song, but it is THE iconic cowbell song)

2.     Honky Tonk Woman, The Stones

3.     Time Has Come Today, The Chambers Brothers (one of the great songs of all time, for many reasons)

4.     Low Rider, War (pre-Eric Burden, and wonderful before and after him)

5.     Rock Lobster, B-52’s

 

Honorable mention: Workin’ for the Weekend, Loverboy

 

Thanks to Will Farrell and Christopher Walken, the cowbell is now a symbol of rock’s occasional silliness, but what with overdubbing, multi-tracking and synthesizing, it is nice to know a simple agrarian tool can transform the energy of a song.

Top 5 songs about hair or w/a key hair reference

1.     Hair,  cast of Hair

2.     Signs, Five Man Electrical Band (see note below)

3.     Turn the Page, Bob Seger

4.     Almost Cut My Hair, CSN&Y (well, David Crosby mostly)

5. Scarlet Begonias, The Dead

Honorable mention: Sister Golden Hair, America; that San Francisco flowers in your hair song..sigh.

 

 

And I just heard Tesla’s cover of Signs; wonderful. 2 readers recommended a Rush song, but I meant 'good' songs! Hah.

Top 5 best group name changes

1.     The Quarrymen to The Beatles

2.     Hour Glass to the Allman Brothers

3.     Chicago Transit Authority to just Chicago

4.     Crosby Stills and Nash to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (well, they sort of had to, right?)

5.     Little Rascals to just The Rascals (maybe the most underrated pop group of the Sixties)

Top 5 worst group name changes

Just one: Jefferson Airplane to Jefferson Starship…ugh.

Ok ok, so the Allmans show up again. And the Beatles could’ve been called the Bugs and done just as well.

Another bias of ours shows up early on: The Rascals. If you doubt their influence, just find Steve Van Zandt’s Hall of Fame induction speech for them; you will cry. Seriously. More on them to come.

And Grace Slick. Why Starship? Ok, money. Still, We Built This City on Rock and Roll, bad as it is, doesn’t make our “Lunge to Change the Station List” top 5 but almost. But ah, good old Airplane, not Starship, will be a frequent visitor here.

Top 5 worst pop hits

As judged by how fast one lunges to change the station in the car.

1.     MacArthur’s Park, Richard Harris (we are speechless)

2.     Dust in the Wind, Kansas (though, we have to admit, it has grown on us of late; pretty heavy song, dudes)

3.     Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen (sorry all you Wayne and Garth lovers; we love Queen otherwise, as you will see)

4.     Philadelphia Freedom, Elton John (yes, yes, it’s about Billie Jean King, who we love, but this song is just dreadful)

5.     Tonight’s the Night, Rod Stewart (we hope you have never played this for seduction purposes)

 

  Honorable mention: We Built This City on Rock and Roll, Jefferson Crapship; every bubble gum song from those dark 70’s days

 

Let’s be blunt: These songs suck. And there are many more, but this is likely a highly personal list, highly dependent on your likes and dislikes.

 

Anachronistically, this list also depends on that quaint thing known as the car radio. Who still listens? Well, we do, and while it often sucks, being at the mercy of commercials and a diminishing spectrum, we still find that the serendipity of coming across either an oldie we haven’t heard in years or discovering someone new is worth it all. Take a break from the same ol’ iPod menu you’ve made and push those buttons in the car. It’s 95% crap and 5% discovery … and it’s worth it. (We wouldn’t have found the incredible Chuck Prophet without WFUV, and we are forever grateful. Ditto the old-guys-take-the-day moments associated with hearing Robert Plant and Alison Krause on XM way before their Grammies.)

 

As for those Brits, Rod and Elton, you made some GREAT songs, but you almost made the sucky list twice, with If You Think I’m Sexy and Candle in the Wind, respectively, but we love you otherwise.

Top 5 songs about money

1.     Money, Pink Floyd

2.     For the Love of Money, O’Jays

3.     Money (That’s What I Want), Barrett Strong

4.     Money for Nothing, Dire Straits

5.     Loan Me a Dime, Boz Scaggs

Honorable mention: She Works Hard for the Money, Donna Summer; Take the Money and Run, Steve Miller; Can’t Buy me Love, Beatles; Money, from Cabaret; Money Honey, the Platters; First I Look at the Purse, Contours/J. Geils; Funky Dollar Bill, Parliament; Blue Money, Van Morrison

 

We could work in the Allman Brothers again, for the paycheck on Friday thing, but we have to chill for at least a few pages. No, this is Pink Floyd’s moment, cash register sound and all, which was kind of unnecessary. The song carries the full self-flagellative power of our love/hate with the almighty dollar. It’s Floyd, with the helicopter sounds, phone calls, kids singing and all, and we love it.

 

The O’Jays, with songs written by Hall of Famers’ Gamble & Huff, had their healthy issues with corporate life. Their Backstabbers is another classic, with advice about those who do not wish us well, for monetary or romantic reasons.

Oh Barrett Strong, you had Motown’s first hit with Money, which the Beatles covered later. And you co-wrote some of the BEST songs of all time: Grapevine, War, Smiling Faces, Papa Was a Rolling Stone, and more. Thank you, good sir.

And Boz, we love you, man. Your time with the Steve Miller Band and even, yes, your disco phase. We’re sure your pals hated you for Lowdown and Lido, but screw ‘em. Good songs. And Loan Me a Dime is just fantastic, 13 minutes of blues heaven, with guitar by – uh oh, here they are again -  Duane Allman.

After I did my list I looked around online for others; here's a great top 35 money song list.