Category Archives: Music

Still one of my favorite songs, from one of my favorite bands: As a sax player who was in jazz band in high school, Glenn Miller was my first musical love. And let me tell you, the sax part for … Continue reading →

A classic of the 80s, from a pre-bald Phil Collins: Collins gets a lot of guff for hist stylized, very-80s albums, but I thought “Face Value” and “Hello, I Must Be Going!” were great. I loved his re-take on Genesis’ … Continue reading →

The Cowboy Junkies take on Hank Williams: I love the ethereal quality of Margo Timmins’ voice. Her singing just floats over the music. Not everyone can make that work, but she does. And for the opposite end of the vocal … Continue reading →

A classic and a standard, performed by Bobby Darin: The version I have is from the soundtrack to the movie Swingers, and I feel like Darin enunciates differently in that one. I can’t find a video for that, however, so … Continue reading →

Here’s national treasure Pete Seeger, with an introduction by John Mellencamp: The recording I have of this comes from a Smithsonian collection, with Seeger leading and being backed up by a church choir, with him doing it singalong style, as … Continue reading →

Lyle Lovett sings one of his best songs in a stunningly beautiful concert hall while sitting next to John Hiatt and Joe Ely swoon. Gorgeous, and the verse about Tonto telling the Lone Ranger to kiss his ass gets me … Continue reading →

The all-time disco and karaoke classic, by Gloria Gaynor: How do I know this is a classic? It came up on the car player, and Olivia made me repeat it because she liked it. That’s how I know. Such a … Continue reading →

Feel the 70s goodness with the Raspberries: Somewhat forgotten 70s goodness, I suppose. I got that song from a collection CD, and I can’t say I’d ever heard it before. Not even from a K-Tel commercial. I may not have … Continue reading →

A song made for the voice of John Fogerty, with Creedence Clearwater Revival: Easily one of the most iconic voices in rock and roll. How can we make this any more enjoyable? By hearing Pete Townshend sing it at the … Continue reading →

From the prolific and often covered Nick Lowe: That song will either elicit a conspiratory laugh by people enjoying a private joke, or it’s an exercise in passive aggression by someone who needs to get over an ex-girlfriend. All depends … Continue reading →

Back to the Ike and Tina songbook: It’s always interesting listening to these songs and thinking about what their relationship was like. It doesn’t detract from the music because you can’t do that when Tina Turner is singing, but it … Continue reading →

Here’s an awesome live version of Marvin Gaye doing one of his signature tunes: What an amazing voice. What a tragedy his death was. Here’s Creedence Clearwater Revival with their almost-as-iconic version: Once again I can say, what a voice. … Continue reading →