William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

1168 Andrew Gold - Spooky, Scary Skeletons Needed an appropriate pick with this being Halloween and all; this rather cute little song immediately came to mind. This track hails from Andrew Gold's '96 novelty album: Halloween Howls . This song actually has a bit of a Beatlesque sound to it, which goes along quite nice with the comedic nature of the song. Watch a fan video with Spooky Scary Skeletons on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Rammstein - Mein Teil My song pick two years ago today: Rush - Witch Hunt My song pick three years ago today: Jethro Tull - Witches Promise +

1167 Van Halen - Unchained Feeling like listening to some Van Halen today; this is one of my favourites from the David Lee Roth era of the band. I have always loved the straight-up Rock feel of this track; definitely one to get the blood moving. Hear Unchained on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns and Money My song pick two years ago today: Jackson Browne - Doctor My Eyes My song pick three years ago today: Johann Sebastian Bach - BWV 565 - Toccata and Fugue in D-Minor +

1166 The Sons of the Pioneers - Cool Water Off and on this last week this one has been running through my mind. As with most of The Sons of the Pioneers' music this song is in the "Singing Cowboy" style of older Country music; they also feature one of the best five-part vocal harmonies. I have a lot of memories of this song growing up, especially with my Grandfather singing it; he would, however, often change "Water" in the lyrics to "Coors," or "Beer." I believe that he would sometimes do that just to irritate my Grandmother, but it was all in good fun. Hear Cool Water on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Norman Greenbaum - Spirit in the Sky My song pick two years ago today: Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) - Here is the News My song pick three years ago today: Faith No More - From Out of Nowhere +

1165 Miles Davis - So What My friend and I were going over some of Miles Davis' music yesterday, of course music from Miles' legendary Kind of Blue album took up most of the time. We were mostly going over his use of modes and improvisation in the album's music; in this song he employs the Dorian mode . What I love about this song in particular is while it's an amazing piece of music to listen to it's quite unobtrusive as well. Hear So What on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Ray Charles - I Can't Stop Loving You My song pick two years ago today: J.S. Bach - BWV 659 - Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland My song pick three years ago today: Billy Thorpe - Children of the Sun +

1164 The Guess Who - Hand Me Down World I have no song in mind to pick today. I actually like days like this a lot; I have nothing ready in my mind to say/write about. Well, a bit of The Guess Who's music has been running through my mind and since I haven't chosen a Guess Who track in a while, why not? This track comes off of their album Share the Land , which was their first one not to feature the guitar work of Randy Bachman; that even goes all the way back to before The Guess Who was known as "Chad Allan & The Reflections." They actually hired two guitarists to replace him; Gregg Leskiw and Kurt Winter. He later returned to the band in 1983, but by then the band was without Burton Cummings and still didn't have that magic for me. Being a huge Randy Bachman fan I have usually put their music without him on a lower tier in my mind. This track was one of a few from The Guess Who that Randy Bachman did not play on that I still like and even consider it...

1163 Sethian - Nothing Is True The Progressive Metal sounds of Sethian have been running through my mind quite a bit since yesterday. I usually try not to pick two songs from the same band back-to-back let alone from the same album, but when they have only released one album you cannot help it. I really wish that they would make another record, but that is one of the main problems with a band that is essentially a side project for various musicians from different bands; not everybody has the time to dedicate to the project at the same time. Oh well, I guess I will have to settle with their album Into the Silence and the awesomeness within for the time being. Hear Nothing Is True on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Steely Dan - Charlie Freak My song pick two year ago today: Van Halen - Summer Nights My song pick three years ago today: Apocalyptica (featuring Nina Hagen) - Seemann +

1162 Sethian - Epitaph Been listening to Sethian's album Into the Silence this morning; this is one of the highlights for me off of the album. Tapio Wilska's vocals are excellent as always along with the awesome musicianship. This track is a rather fast-paced piece of Progressive Metal with somewhat of a mournful feel to it. Hear Epitaph on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Marcus Miller - Frankenstein My song pick two years ago today: Jackyl - The Lumberjack My song pick three years ago today: Blackmore's Night - Rainbow Blues +

1161 The Scorpions - Big City Nights Had this track running through my mind most of the day, as usual I took it as a sign that I needed to make it my pick today. A nice piece of 80's Metal for a lazy Sunday. Hear Big City Nights on YouTube. Watch a music video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Graham Central Station - Earthquake My song pick two years ago today: John Denver - Season Suite - Fall My song pick three years ago today: Kyu Sakamoto - Sukiyaki (Ue o Muite Aruko) +

1160 Steeleye Span - Lovely on the Water I felt like some Steeleye Span today; this song hails from their second album: Please to See the King . As with much of the music in their catalogue, this is a traditional Folk song arranged in their signature British Electric Folk/Rock sound. There is an interesting factoid about Steeleye Span at this point; they had no drummer. What is odd is that you really don't miss the drums in their music, which is probably due to the nature of the music and other instruments taking up the slack. Hear Lovely on the Water on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Crosby, Stills & Nash - Just a Song Before I Go My song pick two years ago today: Robert Mitchum - Ballad of Thunder Road My song pick three years ago today: Blue Öyster Cult - Harvest Moon +

1159 Hot Chocolate - Brother Louie I've had this song run through my mind off and on for about a week now; I figured it would be a nice addition to my list. Most would probably better remember the cover of this track by Stories, which can be found here on YouTube . However, I have always been a little fonder of the lesser-known original by Hot Chocolate. While the more famous cover is more palatable for the average listener, I love the more soulful feel and the overall edginess of the original. With the track already being about the trials and tribulations of an interracial couple subject matter wise, the charged spoken sections in the original version are probably one of the main reasons it didn't get as much play or notoriety; an awesome song never the less. Hear Brother Louie on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Rammstein - Frühling in Paris My song pick two years ago today: Jethro Tull - A Small Cigar My song pick three years ago today: Ian Ander...

1158 Dizzy Gillespie - Manteca I noticed that today would have been Dizzy Gillespie's 93rd birthday; I was in the mood for some Jazz today anyway, so here is an awesome piece where he fused Afro-Cuban influences into his form of Bop. Dizzy has always been one of my favourite Jazz musicians; my dad exposed me to his music early on. I can still remember watching him play live on the television; I am still amazed by the sheer velocity he could play at. Hear Manteca on YouTube. Watch part one of Manteca from the Dizzy and Friends concert from Havana '85; featuring Arturo Sandoval on YouTube. Watch part two of Manteca from the Dizzy and Friends concert from Havana '85; featuring Arturo Sandoval on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Iron Maiden - Sun and Steel My song pick two years ago today: Deep Purple - Knocking At Your Back Door My song pick three years ago today: Slade - Cum On Feel The Noize +

1157 Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out I found yet another track which I thought I had already chosen, oh well. For music from new acts from the last 10 years or so the Indie scene has been one of the bright spots for me musically. I cannot count the times that I have heard this track, but its been everywhere for about the last six years. Watch the music video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Return to Forever - Vulcan Worlds My song pick two years ago today: Victor Wooten - Me and My Bass Guitar My song pick three years ago today: Pink Floyd - Welcome to the Machine +

1156 British Whale (Justin Hawkins) - This Town Ain't Big Enough For the Both of Us I've heard this song being played quite a bit on The BBC and other British television/media available here in America. It is a cover originally recorded by the Sparks, which can be found here on YouTube . British Whale is a solo project by Justin Hawkins: singer for the band The Darkness. Watch the music video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Donald MacLeod - Field of Gold My song pick two years ago today: John Lennon (The Plastic Ono Band) - Hold On My song pick three years ago today: John Denver - Looking for Space +

1155 Exile - Kiss You All Over With it being my birthday today I decided I should look up the song that was Billboard's number one hit on that day; dang, there was a lot of Disco at #1 that year! This song from the band Exile apparently held the spot for four weeks and was knocked off the top spot by Nick Gilder's Hot Child in the City , which can be found here on YouTube . Anyway, while I probably have heard this song played at some point, I actually never consciously heard this track before. It's fairly straight up Pop/Rock song with a Disco rhythm; i.e. late 70's mainstream. The Band, Exile, is from Richmond, Kentucky and have actually continued to record and perform up through the mid 90's when they broke up; they have apparently reformed since. Just to warn, this track does have a tendency to "earworm" quite easily. Watch the music video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Rush - Show Don't Tell My song pick two years ago tod...

1154 Jim Croce - Photographs and Memories Seemed like a nice day for some Jim Croce; I noticed that I had not chosen this track yet. I used to listen to this song on the greatest hits album of this song's namesake whilst I was working; it always made for some excellent background music. This track was always one of my favourites from his catalogue, I love the way the chorus contrasts verses. Hear Photographs and Memories on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) - Turn To Stone My song pick two years ago today: Sniff'n the Tears - Driver's Seat My song pick three years ago today: Styx - Lady +

1153 The Steve Miller Band - Living in the U.S.A. I guess that if I keep ignoring my song blog today I won't have a pick today. Anyway, I have been hearing this track on the radio and other sources of media for the last couple of days, plus I like a lot of The Steve Miller Band's material; including this song. This was one of their earlier hits, I believe it was from their second album and should be immediately recognizable to most anyone who follows Rock/Classic Rock. I thought for sure that the harmonica in the song was played by Norton Buffalo , but I guess I was wrong; apparently it was Steve Miller himself who deserves the credit. Norton Buffalo did play on their later Book of Dreams album as well as on live performances. Also, as far as I know Sailor was the last Steve Miller Band album to feature Boz Scaggs . Hear Living in the U.S.A. on MySpace Video. My song pick a year ago today: Three Dog Night - Shambala My song pick two years ago today: Diesel -...

1152 Don Williams - If Hollywood Don't Need You For some reason last night this song kept running through my mind, in all actuality this track is one of the songs that is always just below the surface and doesn't take a lot to trigger it in my mind. This is probably due to my mom playing Don William's Yellow Moon album quite a lot whilst I was growing up; it has to be one of her favourite albums. Although, she played a lot of other records as well. It seems as if I have always been surrounded by music of all kinds throughout my life; probably the reason why my tastes are somewhat eclectic. Anyway, this is quite a pretty song both musically and lyrically; it is written as one side of a telephone call to a lover who has gone off to in search of her dreams. Hear If Hollywood Don't Need You on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Cream - Strange Brew My song pick two years ago today: A-ha - The Living Daylights My Song pick three years ago today: Proc...

1151 Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story I'm a bit under the weather this morning, so I am making kind of a quick pick. I guess I'll finally get around to picking this track; I have been meaning to choose it for about a month now. I have always been a fan of Rod Stewart's earlier work in the Rock genre. Hear Every Picture Tells a Story on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Louis Armstrong - Red Sails in the Sunset My song pick two years ago today: Jim Croce - Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy) My song pick three years ago today: Savatage - The Wake of Magellan +

1150 Jethro Tull - Aqualung I really have no idea why I am choosing this track today, it just hit me to pick it. Anyway, this is probably the one song by the band that most anyone has heard at one time or another; when you hear those first six note riff you should immediately identify it. I have never been too fond of this ode to a homeless man who is possibly a pedophile, but it is a good track never the less, just not even close to my favourite from the band. Some probably don't know this, but the lyrics of Aqualung was written by Ian Anderson's first wife Jenny Franks; she supposedly was inspired by seeing a homeless man. Using the term " Aqualung " to name this unknown homeless man comes from the watery sound he apparently made while coughing due to illness. From what I have read they almost got in trouble using the term " Aqualung " due to Aqua-lung being copyrighted by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan; it was used as the name for the SCUB...

1149 Boston - More Than a Feeling As with many of my recent picks this has been running through my mind; mostly for the last 15 or so hours; it is one of the first songs I ever learned how to play on any instrument. While being a mostly straight-ahead rocker musically, I have always found this song, (as with most of their material), to be extremely deep lyrically and thus one of the main draws for me. From what I have heard, this track was somewhat inspired by The Left Banke's song Don't Walk Away Renée . Hear More Than a Feeling on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: David Bowie - Suffragette City My song pick two years ago today: Slade - Mama Weer All Crazee Now My song pick three years ago today: Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) - Prologue - Twilight +

1148 What Made Milwaukee Famous - Selling Yourself Short Had WMMF on the brain this morning, so I am adding another one of their tunes to my list. This is one of their more prominent tracks from their debut album Trying To Never Catch Up . It's nice catchy tune; perfect for my mood today. Watch the music video on YouTube. Watch a live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Jethro Tull - Left Right My song pick two years ago today: Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes My song pick three years ago today: Eisbrecher - Ohne Dich +

1147 Mason Williams - Classical Gas Recently I was given an old classical guitar which belonged to late grandfather; basically it was just a neck and sound chamber. However, I happened to have a junk acoustic guitar to cannibalize the needed parts from. Some hours of work and a purchase of $7.00 worth of nylon strings and it's a fully playable instrument again. The only thing I really have to do is make a proper nut for the guitar out of some bone and a few adjustments here and there to finish it. Anyway, ever since I have been playing with the guitar this track has been incessantly running through my mind; it seemed like an excellent pick. Most everybody with access to media has probably heard this beautiful modern classical song at one time or another. Hear Classical Gas with only guitar on YouTube. Hear the full orchestral version on YouTube. Watch a television performance of the song on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Alexi Murdoch - Breathe My song pick two years ago...

1146 Rammstein - Donaukinder Over the last little bit this song has been running through my mind ever since I first heard about the recent environmental catastrophe in Hungary , which is threatening the river Danube. Actually this track was written about an eerily similar incident ten years ago at Baia Mare, Romania . Some have said that it was the worst environmental disaster in Europe since Chernobyl. Donaukinder , (Danube's Children), is a bonus track off of their recent album Liebe Ist Für Alle Da . After seeing the images from this recent event it is almost surreal to listen to this song and to realize it was not written about it. From reading the comments on the YouTube videos of this song it would seem that I am not the only Rammstein fan to make a connection either. Hear Donaukinder on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: U2 - Pride (In the Name of Love) My song pick two years ago today: The Charlie Daniels Band - Uneasy Rider My song pick three years ago today: Meg...

1145 Puhdys - He John I had a couple of other songs in mind for my pick today, but when I was greeted by Google's main page announcing that tomorrow would have been John Lennon's '70th birthday I immediately had a change of mind. I, of course, figured I should pick a song from the pen of John Lennon, then this ballad to the late musician just popped into my mind. This track is one of Puhdys bigger hits this side of what was the Iron Curtain. Apparently the members of the band were greatly influenced by Lennon; this song was written in reaction to his death. The lyrics are very personal and written to John Lennon personally as if in a letter; at times with just how personal this song is it almost feels like an intrusion to listen to it, however, it is quite a beautiful song and a shame not to. Hear He John on YouTube. Watch a television performance of the song circa '81 on MyVideo.de. Watch a live performance from a few years ago on YouTube. My song pick...

1144 U2 - Mysterious Ways I felt like listening to some U2 this morning. Whilst out and about yesterday I heard this track on the radio, I figured it would make a nice pick. Achtung Baby is really their last album that I truly like, not to say that they haven't released anything good since. While they have released quite a few songs that I like since, it's just maybe a few songs off each album that I personally like. Contrast that with say War or The Joshua Tree ; those albums are permeated with excellent music and I usually play them through without skipping a track. I really wish many bands would go back to the concept of making records the masterpiece rather than just one or two hit singles and then just fill the rest of it up with ill-conceived filler. Watch the music video to Mysterious Ways on Youtube. My song pick a year ago today: Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son + My song pick two years ago today: The Who - Behind Blue Eyes + My song pick three years ago ...

1143 The Moontrekkers - Night of the Vampire Trying to get a seasonal mood going with this neat instrumental from the early '60s that could be described as spooky surfer music. This one of the tracks produced by the legendary producer and original Space Rocker Joe Meek. A while ago I watched a documentary on Joe Meek; it was interesting seeing all the weird contraptions he made to get the sounds he wanted on different artists' records. One of my favourites was the "bass drum" that was nothing more than a microphone wrapped in tape and a blanket pounded on the bathroom floor or his use of his toilet flushing to emulate the sound of a rocket launch on his hit Telstar . From what I understand musicians and producers spend countless hours and dollars trying to re-create the sound of the "bass drum" he made. Hear Night of the Vampire on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Maddy Prior - Cold Flame My song pick two years ago today: Savatage - Foll...

1142 Coleman Hawkins - Stardust Coleman Hawkins, also known as "Hawk" or "Bean," is one of my favourite, if not my favourite, saxophonist(s) of all time. He is essentially to the tenor saxophone what Louis Armstrong is to the coronet/trumpet. While he didn't normally play with as much velocity as saxophonists such as Charlie Parker, each note he played had so much beauty, purpose, and intensity. Hear a recording of Stardust featuring Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Bon Jovi - Someday I'll Be Saturday Night My song pick two years ago today: Styx - The Grand Illusion My song pick three years ago today: Neil Young - After The Gold Rush +

1141 Al Di Meola - Suite – Golden Dawn Over the weekend I happened upon a couple of yard sales, one of which had a huge record collection for sale with them going for 50¢ a piece. I ended up getting a slew of Jazz records including the album which this track hails from: Al Di Meola's Land of the Midnight Sun ; some others of note that I procured were Rahsaan Roland Kirk's Blacknuss and Ron Carter's All Blues albums. When reading the liner notes on this album the musicians list almost reads like the who's who of the mid '70s Jazz Fusion scene. On this track it features, of course, Al Di Meola on guitar, Alphonse Mouzon on Drums, Mingo Lewis on Percussion, Barry Miles on Keyboards, and "bass deity" Jaco Pastorius on bass. The Suite's three parts are: Morning Fire, Calmer of the Tempests, From Ocean to the Clouds ; it is about 10 minutes of pure musical bliss. If you like Prog/Rock you probably will like this track; some the Rock aspects of Jazz ...

1140 Sammy Davis Jr. - Mr. Bojangles Been having this song run through my mind for the past few days; Sammy Davis Jr.'s rendition is one of my favourite versions of this often recorded track. It was originally written and recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker in the late 1960s. Many people have believe that this song was written about the famous Dancer/Entertainer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, but from what I understand this is not the case. Apparently Jerry Jeff Walker was put in jail for public drunkenness with a bunch of others. One of the men in the jail cell gave a name of "Mr. Bojangles" to hide his true name; the song essentially is a chronicle of some of the interactions and events that happened in the jail cell with "Mr. Bojangles." Watch a television performance of the song on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: John Denver - Blues My Naughty My song pick two years ago today: Rush - Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres My song pick three ...

1139 Lee Michaels - Do You Know What I Mean? Making a late/quick pick this evening; I heard this song whilst on the road and figured it would be an excellent one for today. Hear Do You Know What I Mean? on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Who - The Ox My song pick two years ago today: Rush - Cygnus X-1 My song pick three years ago today: Joni Mitchell - Amelia +

1138 Earth, Wind & Fire - Lets Groove I absolutely cannot believe that I am 1137 songs into my little adventure and no Earth, Wind & Fire has graced my list yet. They are one of the bands whose music has always been around me since I can remember; in fact Verdine White's bass playing was one of the reasons I chose to learn the bass guitar in the first place. Anyway, this is one of their more iconic tracks and probably immediately identifiable to almost anyone alive today, an excellent Funky Friday pick. Watch the music video on YouTube. Watch a live performance circa '90 on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd - Samba Triste + My song pick two years ago today: The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary + My song pick three years ago today: April Wine - Roller +