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

1320 Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - Graveyard Train From: Bayou Country, Year: 1969 Here's a awesome Blues for a my pick today from the incomparable band: Creedence Clearwater Revival. This is such a nice track to just turn on, sit back, and listen. Hear Graveyard Train on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Sethian - Blood Calling My song pick two years ago today: Azteca - You Can't Take The Funk Out Of Me My song pick three years ago today: Bryan Adams - Run To You +

1319 Stuart Hamm - Black Ice From: Kings of Sleep, Year: 1989 I had no idea what song I was choosing today, but for some reason I just plugged in Stu Hamm's Kings of Sleep album and was greeted by this, the first track on the album. As with much of the music on the album, this one was inspired by William Gibson Cyberpunk novels; those from the Sprawl Trilogy in particular. For those who have never read or are not acquainted with his work, in his novels Black ICE was one of the types of I ntrusion C ountermeasures E lectronics; this one would chase a hacker back to his computer to destroy it and to potentially kill him. The closest real-world example of what this fictional program is would be a Firewall. Anyway, that's probably enough nerd jargon for today. This song features, as you would expect from one of the greatest bassists alive today, a kick-arse bass line. I absolutely love Buzzy Feiten's guitar work throughout this song; he lays down a splendid lead that complem...

1318 Queensrÿche - Fear City Slide From: Operation: Mind Crime II, Year: 2006 I've been heavily enjoying Queensrÿche's Operation: Mindcrime II album lately; this is one of many tracks that I absolutely love off of the album. This concept album is a continuation of the story begun on their '88 Operation: Mindcrime album. I can just imagine what the music critics were like when they first heard about this album: a concept album from a Progressive Metal band? They must've went completely apoplectic. Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Dream Theater - Light Fuse and Get Away My song pick two years ago today: The Doors - Ghost Song My song pick three years ago today: Badfinger - Day After Day +

1317 Buffalo Springfield - Mr. Soul From: Buffalo Springfield Again, Year: 1967 I've had this track running through my mind most of the morning and it feels like a good pick for today. This song written by Neil Young is one of the band's bigger hits and has become somewhat of an iconic track. Here is a clip with the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode My song pick two years ago today: J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers - Last Kiss My song pick three years ago today: Queensrÿche - Anybody Listening? +

1316 David Bowie - Life on Mars? From: Hunky Dory, Year: 1971 Closing out an extremely busy Sunday tonight; I believe that I put about 300 miles on my car today. I don't even want to think about how much today cost me in fuel with how vulgarly priced petrol is right now. Anyway, enough of that; on to my pick. I've had this song in mind to pick off and on for what seems like ages now. However, last night after watching a re-run of the television program that took it's name from this song's title it got fresh in my mind again. This is one of the many great tracks off of the Hunky Dory album, which is one of my favourites from David Bowie's catalogue. Hear Life on Mars? on YouTube. Watch the music video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Lorenzo Barcelata - El Cascabel My song pick two years ago today: Jethro Tull - Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die My song pick three years ago today: The Platters - Twilight Time +

1315 Hawkwind - Mirror of Illusion From: Hawkwind, Year: 1970 I'm in the mood for some Hawkwind today, so I'm adding one of their songs to my list; this is the song that closes out their debut album. I totally love how new and raw their sound is on this record. Hear Mirror of Illusion on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven - Melancholy Blues My song pick two years ago today: Lynyrd Skynyrd - That Smell My song pick three years ago today: Pink Floyd - Brain Damage/Eclipse +

1314 Ed Bogas & Merl Saunders - The Riot From: Fritz the Cat Soundtrack, Year: 1972 Getting another Funky Friday pick in today with this instrumental piece. Over the last little bit I've been doing a little research into all of the projects composer/musician Ed Bogas has been in; I knew that he worked on quite a few movie and television soundtracks over the years. Anyway, this was one of his earlier soundtrack recordings that came from the satirical and rather vulgar adult cartoon: Fritz the Cat . As many probably know, or maybe don't know, Ed Bogas would later do the music for another, and much more popular, cartoon cat: Garfield . The soundtrack for Fritz the Cat is simply an excellent collection of music for anyone who likes: Soul, Funk, R&B, or related genres. I was somewhat surprised when I was able to find some of the songs on YouTube. Hear the studio recording with album cover on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: J. S. Bach - Prelude and F...

1313 Guided by Voices - Everybody Thinks I’m a Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking) From: Half Smiles of the Decomposed, Year: 2004 This is a song that Arthur chose a bit ago that I came to like it, so I'm adding it to my list. The song is a rather well-arranged, mellow and melodic track with some excellent vocals. It's a shame I hadn't heard much about this band in the past, but that's what makes these song a day blogs so nice: being exposed to new music. Hear the studio version of the song on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Gorō Yamaguchi - Tsuru No Sugomori (Crane's Nest) My song pick two years ago today: M83 - Don't Save Us From The Flames My song pick three years ago today: Heart - Dreamboat Annie +

1312 Rammstein - Feuerräder From: Engel Single (Fan Edition), Year: 1994 I've had this song incessantly running through my mind most of the morning. I cannot believe that I haven't picked a Rammstein song in well over a month now; that's way too long. The only place this somewhat rare demo was released that I'm aware of was on the fan edition of the Engel Single and is an excellent piece of early Rammstein. Hear Feuerräder on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Igor Stravinsky - Rite of Spring - Sacrificial Dance My song pick two years ago today: KISS - Detroit Rock City My song pick three years ago today: Johann Sebastian Bach - BWV 645 - Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme +

1311 The Darkness - Is It Just Me From: One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back, Year: 2005 I picked a song from The Darkness a bit ago in which I wrote about how nice it would be if the band reunited. Well, about ten days later it actually happened. After finding out about it and their subsequent new album in the works I thought I should pick another one of their songs. Hear Is It Just Me on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Blind Willie Johnson - Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground My song pick two years ago today: Devo - Come Back Jonee My song pick three years ago today: Weather Report - A Remark You Made +

1310 Queensrÿche - Roads to Madness From: The Warning, Year: 1984 I'm going with some Prog/Metal from Queensrÿche this morning to start another week, this one hails from their second album. Nothing like 10 minutes of technical music to get ones' sleep-deprived mind moving in the morning. An excellent song from an excellent band. Hear Roads to Madness on YouTube. Watch a live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Jethro Tull - Roll Yer Own My song pick two years ago today: Naturally 7 - Wall of Sound My song pick three years ago today: Nightwish - Bye Bye Beautiful +

1309 Pee Wee King and his Golden West Cowboys - The Ghost and Honest Joe From: Pee Wee King and his Golden West Cowboys, Year: 1953 The other day I stumbled upon the title to this old song and was able to find a version of it on YouTube. I remember back when I was quite young my grandfather played this song to me, my siblings, and cousins; it was quite a lot of fun. This track, which was written by Redd Stewart, who was the brother of the band's vocalist, tells the tale of an encounter with a ghost a man named Honest Joe has; it is mostly Bluegrass with some Gypsy Jazz thrown in. I really liked Grandpa's rendition when he changed the final line in the song to: "My head told me to stand back there , but my feet told me to run." Hear The Ghost and Honest Joe on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Jerry Reed - Amos Moses My song pick two years ago today: Santana - All The Love In The Universe My song pick three years ago today: The Who - My Gen...

1308 Steve Winwood - The Finer Things From: Back in the High Life, Year: 1986 I'm getting used to new blog software, so I apologize for any errors that might occur in advance. Okay then, on to my song pick today. I've had some of Steve Winwood's music running through my mind off and on over the last little bit and I'm finally getting around to picking one of them today. I actually had another one of his songs in mind, but unfortunately it didn't have a video available on YouTube or other services, so I picked this equally awesome song instead. It's a nice, rather upbeat tune for a Saturday. Watch the music video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Tarja Turunen - I Walk Alone My song pick two years ago today: Link Wray - Rumble My song pick three years ago today: The Carter Family - Wildwood Flower

1307 Bill Evans Trio - Waltz for Debbie From: Waltz for Debbie, Year: 1961 I've been in a mood for some Jazz today and decided on picking this beautiful piece from Bill Evans Trio. While this song is mostly Cool Jazz you can hear a bit of classical music mixed in with it on this track. Hear Waltz for Debbie on YouTube. Watch a live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Box Tops - The Letter My song pick two years ago today: Azteca - Mazatlan My song pick three years ago today: Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - Have You Ever Seen the Rain? +

1306 Black 47 - Green Suede Shoes From: Green Suede Shoes, Year: 1996 Being St. Patrick's Day and all I thought I should make a song pick that's at least somewhat fitting. This is the title track off of their '96 release; I absolutely love all of the different styles and genres of music present in this song. They do an excellent job mixing Rock, Traditional Irish Music, Punk, and Hip Hop among others to make their distinctive sound. Watch the music video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Savatage - St. Patricks My song pick two years ago today: Mose Allison - Your Mind is on Vacation My song pick three years ago today: Thin Lizzy - Whiskey in the Jar +

1305 Bass Extremes - Mocha Soca From: Just Add Water, Year: 2001 For some reason I felt like listening to Victor Wooten this morning; I decided to put on Bass Extremes' Just add Water album. This is, of course, the project undertaken by bassists Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey; this album features drummer Dennis Chambers and this track in particular also features bassist John Patitucci. I love how they can create a new and excellent sound just using bass guitars and still make it palatable for even a casual listener. Hear Mocha Soca on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Rush - Fly By Night My song pick two years ago today: Jon Hendricks - I'll Bet You Thought I'd Never Find You My song pick three years ago today: Tom Petty - Free Fallin' +

1304 The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five From: Time Out, Year: 1959 Yesterday I found out that Dave Brubeck Quartet drummer Joe Morello passed away and I figured it would be a good time to add one of their tracks to my list; this is probably one of the most popular tracks which he played on. This album: Time Out is mostly known for the songs with odd time signatures, which gave it a lot of distinction; this song in particular employs a 5/4 time signature. While I've never been a huge fan of Cool Jazz, I've always had an appreciation for Dave Brubeck's work, which this is a shining example of. Hear Take Five on YouTube. Watch a television performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Rammstein - Ich Tu Dir Weh My song pick two years ago today: Damn Yankees - Coming of Age My song pick three years ago today: Bread - Mother Freedom +

1303 Queen - Bijou From: Innuendo, Year: 1991 Queen's Innuendo album is steadily becoming one of my favourites; to me it almost embodies and covers all of what is awesome about their music. This track is essentially a beautiful and blazing Brian May guitar solo that is only interrupted in the middle eight by Freddy Mercury's singing; the title of the song is quite fitting. Hear Bijou on YouTube. Here is a live performance circa '08 on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Asia - Heat of the Moment My song pick two years ago today: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Aeroplane My song pick three years ago today: Joni Mitchell - Coyote +

1302 Jethro Tull - Wond'ring Aloud From: Aqualung, Year: 1971 Today I'm wrapping up my theme week of picking songs from dormant or dead song a day blogs. This one hails from Kubrick Kid's Song of the Day blog ; it is another song a day blog that I just ran into one day, but hasn't made a new entry since July 19th of last year. As anybody who has read even a bit of my blog probably knows how big of a 'Tull fan I am. This is one of the only other blogs to post a song from Jethro Tull, it was picked on the 14th of December of 2009 ; I believe that Arthur is the only other blogger to pick a 'Tull song at this time . Anyway, this is one of the nice acoustic pieces that usually gets lost amongst the heavier tracks on what is Jethro Tull's most popular album; quite a beautiful love song. Hear Wond'ring Aloud on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Joe Walsh (The Eagles) - In The City My song pick two years ago today: Pearls Before Swine - (Oh Dear) Miss ...

1301 Styx - Renegade From: Pieces of Eight, Year: 1978 On to day six of my theme week of picking songs from dormant or dead song a day blogs; this one comes off of Britt's Song of the Day blog . Britt was a reader of my blog that decided to start a song a day blog of her own; while this one didn't go past 36 song picks, it was still a pretty good one while up and running; this one was Britt's 8th overall pick. I've always been a fan of Styx's music, especially their material from this period. What I've found very interesting is that they are one of those bands that can be technical musically and for the most part still gain fanfare from the mainstream. Hear Renegade on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Jaggerz - The Rapper My song pick two years ago today: Sha Na Na - Blue Moon My song pick three years ago today: The Moody Blues - Your Wildest Dreams +

1300 Stevie Wonder - Superstition From; Talking Book, Year: 1972 This is day five of my week picking songs from dormant or dead song a day blogs; this one comes from Pat's Queasy Listening/Song of the Day blog . Every now and then I do a "Funky Friday" pick, (picking songs from the Funk or related genre on Fridays), which I borrowed from Max ; originally Max got the idea from Pat. Anyway, I figured it would be fitting to make one of his "Funky Friday" picks my Friday pick on this theme week; he picked this song on the 27th of March, 2009 . Hear Superstition on YouTube. Watch a live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Soul To Squeeze My song pick two years ago today: Electric Light Orchestra - Fire On High My song pick three years ago today: The Polyphonic Spree - It's The Sun +

1299 Steve Vai - Little Green Men This is day four of my theme week of picking songs from dormant or dead song a day blogs. This song comes from one of my favourite song a day blogs that I follow: Woordenaar's song blog, which is titled: " Altijd weer hetzelfde liedje . " By no means do I consider Woordenaar's blog a dead one, but goes through periods of dormancy. The last pick he made was the 14th of September of last year, and I'm definitely hoping for more posts soon. Anyway, there were quite a few songs in his archive that I would like to pick, however today this Steve Vai song, which Woordenaar picked at #309 , seemed excellent for the day as well. This is one of Steve Vai's songs that oozes of Frank Zappa's influence on him; the lyrics are pure genius and are well arranged with the music. There is so much I love about this track. Hear Little Green Men on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Fairport Convention - Maddy Groves My song pick two ye...

1298 L'Arc~en~Ciel - Spirit Dreams Inside Continuing my week of picking songs from dormant or dead song a day blogs with pick #3; this one comes off of Niveous' 10kdays blog . It's one of the oldest song a day blogs associated with the Song Fight community and is one of the blogs that went the furthest before stopping, (at 1070 total songs picked); his last pick was a little over a year ago on the 7th of February, 2010. His blog was one of the ones that I followed pretty close mostly because of variety of music he posted, plus he was one of the only other bloggers to post J-Rock/J-Pop music, which leads me to the song that I'm picking from his archives today. This was his 397th pick and was part of a J-Rock A-Z theme. Most Otaku will immediately recognize this band's name from a few animés in which they played opening/ending music, which is, I have to admit, from where I discovered them as well. However, L'Arc~en~Ciel is quite a successful band outside ...

1297 Vangelis - Blade Runner (End Titles) Dies ist Tag zwei of my theme week of picking songs from dormant or dead song a day blogs. This pick comes from The Heuristics Inc. or Bill's song a day blog ; it was pick #251 , posted on the 9th of July, 2007; (that would be a couple of months prior to me starting my own song a day blog.) His was one of the ones that took the shape of a "Top 10,000 favourite songs" blog. However, his blog was starting to wind down at the time I was really getting into it, so I never really had a chance to follow it whilst it was going. Anyway, as I've stated many times on this blog, I'm a huge fan of Phillip K. Dick's novels and the films and music that have been inspired by his work. A few people probably don't know this, but Blade Runner was originally a novel written by Phillip K. Dick except it was titled: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? This part of the soundtrack from the pen of Vangelis is self-evident as to where...

1296 Modest Mouse - Float On Theme week time! This theme? Picking songs that I like from others' dead or dormant song a day blogs. Being almost 1300 song picks into this journey, I thought it would be nice to pay tribute to some of the other blogs that have went silent over the last few years and perhaps anyone who goes there can be introduced to some incredible music along the way as well. Should be a very fun week! Anyway, I ran into this blog which is simply titled: " Song of the Day" around 1 to 2 years ago and have been following it ever since, however since the 3rd of June last year no more picks have been made. This song was picked on the 29th of September, 2009 ; I've actually almost picked this song myself a few times in the past, but for various reasons it never got around to it. Watch the music video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Eric Burdon & The Animals - When I Was Young My song pick two years ago today: Stevie Nicks - Edge of Sevente...

1295 Duran Duran - Lonely In Your Nightmare Another late Sunday pick again. Same story as usual an all: heard this song at some point during the day and decided to pick it. This track is a rather beautiful gem nestled amongst the many hits on this grand, epic, legendary, and monumental album. (I can't think of any other adjectives without opening my thesaurus at this time). Hear Lonely In Your Nightmare on YouTube. Watch the music video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Jethro Tull - Dogs in the Midwinter My song pick two years ago today: John Denver - Season Suite: Late Winter, Early Spring (When Everybody Goes To Mexico) My song pick three years ago today: César Antonovich Cui - Orientale +

1294 The Darkness - Hazel Eyes I noticed that I haven't chosen any songs from The Darkness yet. This song is one of my favourites from the band; it hails from what would become the band's "swan song" album: One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back . I'm hoping eventually that there will be a reunion. Hear Hazel Eyes on YouTube. Watch a live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The O'Jays - Back Stabbers My song pick two years ago today: Tarja Turunen - Enough My song pick three years ago today: Modest Petrovitch Mussorgsky - Night on Bald Mountain +

1293 Larry Graham & Graham Central Station - The Jam Making a Funky Friday pick this morning with this one from the funkmaster Larry Graham and his band of renown; I've always liked this 8-minute long Funk opus. Hear The Jam on YouTube. Watch a live performance of the song circa '97. My song pick a year ago today: Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli (Quintette du Hot Club de France) - La Mer (Beyond The Sea) My song pick two years ago today: Harold Faltermeyer & Steve Stevens - Top Gun Anthem My song pick three years ago today: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Flight of the Bumblebee +

1292 Blue Öyster Cult - Flaming Telepaths I've had Blue Öyster Cult on my mind throughout this morning and I thought that one of their songs would be excellent for today's pick as well. This is one of my favourites off their Secret Treaties album; an amazing song off an amazing album. Hear Flaming Telepaths on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: AC/DC - Carry Me Home My song pick two years ago today: The Eagles - Get Over It My song pick three years ago today: Mily Balakirev - Islamey: an Oriental Fantasy +

1291 Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO) - Life Still Goes On (I'm Lonely) For some reason yesterday whilst working this song started running through my mind; it's probably been over 12 years since I last heard it. This is the only song on the album written by C.F. Turner and one of two to feature him on lead vocals. I've always found this album to be kind of a let down after their five previous, which all contained very memorable songs. While this album wasn't their best, it still has a few rough hidden gems on it, this being one of the best in my opinion. Hear Life Still Goes On (I'm Lonely) on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Nirvana - In Bloom My song pick two years ago today: Static X - I'm With Stupid My song pick three years ago today: Ian Anderson - Eurology +

1290 Muse - Resistance Over the last few years I've been getting more and more into Muse. I find their music very intriguing; it's nice to hear new music that is outside the mainstream. This is one of my favourites off of their newest album. Watch the music video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Jethro Tull - From A Deadbeat To An Old Greaser + My song pick two years ago today: Fleetwood Mac - Oh Well + My song pick three years ago today: Aerosmith - Janie's Got A Gun +