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

From: Everything is Beautiful ; Year: 1970; Genre: Soft Rock/Pop/Gospel " There is none so blind As he who will not see We must not close our minds We must let our thoughts be free For every hour that passes by You know the world gets a little bit older It's time to realize that people lies In the eyes of the beholder "    Hear Everything is Beautiful on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Lou Rawls - I'm Satisfied     My song pick 2 years ago today: Blondie - Maria   My song pick 3 years ago today: Crash Test Dummies (feat. Ellen Reid) - The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead   My song pick 4 years ago today: Heart - Lost Angel   My song pick 5 years ago today: Steeleye Span - Harvest   My song pick 6 years ago today: Fat Larry's Band - Act Like You Know My song pick 7 years ago today: Laura Branigan - Deep in the Dark My song pick 8 years ago today: Bay City Rollers - I Only Want to Be With You My song pick 9 yea...

From: Reach Out Of The Darkness ; Year: 1968; Genre: Pop/Folk Don't know why, but felt like picking this rather "groovy" late 1960s track today from the husband and wife duo Friend & Lover. It is kind of interesting the dichotomy of the joyous and upbeat nature of this and other songs from this time period contrasted with all of the societal upheaval, violence, and death surrounding this time. Sadly, both Jim and Cathy post passed away a few years ago, but they did leave a lasting legacy. Also, comedic songster Ray Stevens played keyboards and arranged the strings on this track. Some may be "too cool" to listen to this one, but they are missing out, but the chorus definitely will earworm you something terrible.   Hear Reach Out Of The Darkness on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Queensrÿche - I Remember Now/Anarchy X   My song pick 2 years ago today: Steeleye Span - Bach Goes To Limerick   My song pick 3 years ago today: Funk Factory - ...

From: It Only Hurts When I Laugh/The Rockin' Teenage Mummies ; Year: 1965; Genre: Rock 'n Roll/Comedy I really do not believe there are many out there with such an extensive catalogue of original novelty comedy songs than Ray Stevens; he sure did write a lot of classics over the years. This one was the B-Side of a single release that, whilst is original, it contains a lot of musical ideas from his other songs of the time. If you are at all familiar with his hits from this time, you'll surely pick up on them.   Hear The Rockin' Teenage Mummies on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: The Hollies - Carrie Anne   My song pick 2 years ago today: Europe - Stormwind   My song pick 3 years ago today: Dazz Band - Let It All Blow   My song pick 4 years ago today: Faith No More - Epic   My song pick 5 years ago today: Stevie Wonder - Too Shy To Say My song pick 6 years ago today: The Postal Service - Brand New Colony My song pick 7 years ago ...

From: Boogity Boogity ; Year: 1974; Genre: Comedy Had this one on my mind; this classic is quite a funny song about a man who runs without clothing, terrorizing a couple with his antics. One of the best aspects of the song is how many quotable one-liners are in it. Hear The Streak on YouTube. My song pick 1 year ago today: Faith No More - Sunny Side Up My song pick 2 years ago today: Parliament - Do That Stuff My song pick 3 years ago today: Primus - Eyes of the Squirrel My song pick 4 years ago today: Jethro Tull - A Gift or Roses My song pick 5 years ago today: Paris - Starcage My song pick 6 years ago today: Soundgarden - Big Dumb Sex My song pick 7 years ago today: King Crimson - Cirkus, Including: Entry of the Chameleons My song pick 8 years ago today: The Rolling Stones - As Tears Go By My song pick 9 years ago today: Blink-182 - Adam's Song My song pick 10 years ago today: Pink Floyd - Us And Them My song pick 11 years ago today: Edgar Win...

1406 Ray Stevens - I Need Your Help Barry Manilow From: The Feeling's Not Right Again , Year: 1979 Genre: Comedy/Pop I can't remember the last time I'd heard it, but I happened to hear this song last night and it gave me a good laugh. Musically it is written in the style similar to that of Barry Manilow's hit: I Write The Songs . The lyrics are quite a lot of fun; it plays on the aspects of loneliness and sadness found in a lot of Barry Manilow's music. I absolutely love the second half of the second verse that is essentially made up of titles of Barry Manilow songs. Hear a recording of I Need Your Help Barry Manilow on YouTube. Watch a live performance of the song on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Who - Rael (1 and 2) My song pick two years ago today: The Clifford Brown & Max Roach Quintet - Joy Spring My song pick three years ago today: Eric Burdon & the Animals - San Franciscan Nights +

1028 Ray Stevens - Mr. Businessman For some reason this track has been running through my mind most of the day; I though it would make an excellent late Sunday pick. I remember hearing this one a lot when I was younger, but I haven't heard in a while. When most think of Ray Stevens they probably remember his silly songs, however he did have some with a serious tone; this is one of them. In this rather poppy tune he berates an unnamed businessman, or rather the lifestyle of the men of that ilk. Here is a fan video with the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Elton John - Tiny Dancer My song pick two years ago today: Queen - A Kind of Magic +

After picking a couple of downer songs I figured that I needed something lighthearted. Ray Stevens is one of the more interesting comedy/novelty singer/songwriters in my book. One of the best aspects of his music is that he doesn't take himself too seriously. He looks like he should be trying to peddling something on a late-night infomercial, but his music and lyrical writing is awesome. I have noted that is seems as if his popularity surges and wanes in 10 to 15 year cycles in pop culture, of course this isn't true of his hardcore fans. There are too many songs that he wrote that I have fond memories of that I will probably at sometime add to my list as well. This is comedic genius in music at its best. Here is the music video on YouTube. +