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6741. Neil Sedaka - Bad Blood

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From: The Hungry Years ; Year: 1975; Genre: Rock  Found out that Neil Sedaka passed away yesterday. I was surprised to see that he was 86 years old; thought he was younger. I've never really been a huge fan of his more noted hits from the late 1950s through the 1960s, which consisted of sugary teenage love songs mostly. He was also a prolific songwriter, penning quite a few hits for other artists over the years as well. However, wot I remember most was his resurgence in popularity during the middle into late 1970s, which is when I was quite young and my Mom and Dad always seemed to have the radio on; his music of that time period got a lot of airplay. Anyway, I thought it would be a great idea to choose another one of his hits from that time that I remember so well. He certainly could write a killer hook, and he did a great job surrounding himself with some amazing talent in the form of Elton John's backing vocals, Steve Cropper on guitar, and Leland Sklar on bass amongst many ...
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6740. The Rhythm Machine - The Kick (Part 1 & 2)

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From: The Kick/Beautiful Day ; Year: 2006 (1972); Genre: Soul/Funk Really felt like hearing something from The Rhythm Machine for this final Friday of the month. I am not 100% sure the original year this track was released; about 20 years ago it was put out as a single in Germany, but as far as I can find, it seems to have been first released in 1972. Wotever the case, it is an incredible piece of funky soul from an amazing band that sadly did not make a lot of music outside of a single studio album and two or three singles.   Hear The Kick (Part 1 & 2) on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Genesis - Get 'Em Out by Friday     My song pick 2 years ago today: Eric Clapton - Behind the Mask   My song pick 3 years ago today: Exile - Heart & Soul   My song pick 4 years ago today: U2 - 40 (How Long)   My song pick 5 years ago today: Phil Collins - I Don't Care Anymore   My song pick 6 years ago today: The Flying Bur...
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6739. Bruce Springsteen - Cover Me

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From: Born in the U.S.A. ; Year: 1984; Genre: Rock Here is one that I've been meaning to pick for a while now; finally getting around to it. Cover Me is one of the earlier hits off of this landmark album, which, truthfully, plays more like a "Greatest Hits" record than a normal mainstream rock disc. Heck, It'd probably be quick and easier to name the non-hit songs from the album, but even at that they probably get a bunch of play on the radio, streaming, in stores, jukeboxes, etc as well. Without a doubt people one or two-hundred or more years from now will still be listening to it; and much of "The Boss'" others as well. Anyway, this one was originally written by Bruce for Donna Summer, however, his management decided that it would be a big hit if he recorded it himself, and they were right I suppose. Every time I put this one on I am taken aback by Max Weinberg's drumming, which is amazing normally anyway, but in my opinion he doesn't get the ...
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6738. The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - A Little Class & A Little Trash

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From: Hot Heat And Sweet Groove ; Year: 1968; Genre: Soul/Funk Was really enjoying some music from Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band this morning and decided that I should choose another one of their songs. Kinda strange, but while I absolutely love their music, I never really looked into the specifics of the band. I discovered, to my amazement, that this band has gone through a few name changes and thus, makes "connecting the dots" so to speak, a little more challenging. Charles Wright was originally in a number of Doo-Wop groups early on, but this band apparently started out as "Charles Wright and the Wright Sounds," which began in 1962; around '66 and '67 they seemingly went by the name "The Soul Runners." At some point in '67 to '68 they became this incarnation that recorded today's pick and album and by 1970 became the most successful incarnation that was the verbose "Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd ...
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6737. Rush - Crossroads

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From: Feedback ; Year: 2004; Genre: Blues Rock/Hard Rock I cannot even begin to count the amount of times I have said "I thought for sure I picked this song already" or something similar, but I am stating that once again and probably will many more times.... Had this album of cover songs from Rush on my mind and had another track in mind, however, when I noticed this one was not chosen as of yet, I jumped at it. This is of course a cover of pure piece of Americana music as deep into the very soul of it as it gets. Originally written and recorded by the great musical titan Robert Johnson back in the 1930s and played, recorded, inspired and loved by Bluesmen, Blueswomen, and every musician who plays music even slightly related to that foundational genre. Rush's cover though, is a direct cover of the classic hard blues rock rendition by Cream. Whilst it is a great cover and the musicianship and overall ability is out-of-this-world by Peart, Lifeson, and Lee, in my personal ...
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6735/36. Jeff Wayne, Richard Burton, Chris Thompson - The Red Weed (Parts 1 + 2)

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From: Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds ; Year: 1978; Genre: Progressive Rock/Space Rock Had this album on my mind last night once again; thought I'd go with another one, or in this case two from this epic retelling of the H.G. Wells classic set to music. The Red Weed  is split into two parts and actually "sandwiches" another track: The Spirit of Man . The second part is especially cool in that you get to hear the late-great Phil Lynott as the character Parsons Nathaniel, which is pure awesomeness! The music and the dialogue work absolutely perfect together to keep the listener engaged.   Hear The Red Weed (Part 1)  on YouTube.   Hear The Red Weed (Part 2) on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Explorers Club - Impact 4 – Time Enough     My song pick 2 years ago today: Marcus Miller - Keep 'Em Running   My song pick 3 years ago today: Iain Matthews - Darkness, Darkness   My song pick 4 years ago tod...
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6734. The Moody Blues - Dawn: Dawn is a Feeling

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From: Days of Future Passed ; Year: 1967; Genre: Progressive Rock/Symphonic Rock Whilst driving around this morning I had this song come on and it has stuck in my brain ever since, which is certainly not expected from genres such as from this record. I believe that I have stated before that the 'Moodies were my "gateway drug" into all music progressive and I've never wavered in my love of the band. It is kind of superficial to say with all of the amazing and beautiful songs on the record, but this is one of the prettiest, especially with the orchestral accompaniment, which I believe was actually Mike Pinder overdubbing all of the "instruments" played on the Mellotron , but there was a proper orchestra on the record as well, mostly in the interludes. Pinder's Mellotron was one of the main cornerstones for the band's emerging sound and those contributions really show why Days of Future Passed and their subsequent songs are such landmarks in studio reco...
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