Stevie Wonder - I Wish

"Rob. Top 5 musical crimes perpetrated by Stevie Wonder in the 80s and 90s. Go. Sub-question: is it in fact unfair to criticize a formerly great artist for his latter day sins... is it better to burn out or fade away?"

Rolling Stones - Happy

Keith Richards' compositions always kicked ass. He was a hell of a player before he died.

The Beatles - Everybody's Got Something to Hide, Except for Me and My Monkey

How could I go this long without a Beatles song? Shame. This one's a little-known rocker from the White Album.

Wake Up Song: Boston - Feelin Satisfied

I have long maintained that bands named for places are bloated dinosaurs and have a sad tendency to suck. See: Chicago, America, Europe, Kansas, Asia. Boston is certainly no exception, though they have the gift of riff. This song actually completely sucks, except for the hook at the chorus, which is actually awesome (fast forward to 0:53 to hear it). But it's a wake up song, so I'm obligated to post it.

Cover Songs Worth Examining: Stevie Ray Vaughan - Voodoo Chile

God, there are times I really miss Stevie Ray. I hesitate to call this a "cover," since it's a nearly note-for-note rendition, but man, that dude could play.

Joe Walsh - Walk Away

Audio only. Apologies if I got this wrong and should have labeled this as the James Gang. Joe Walsh wrote some devastating hooks in the 70s, and this will definitely not be the last time he's featured here.

Cover Songs Worth Examining: Spiderbait - Black Betty

OH GEEZUS HELL YEAH THIS VERSION OF BLACK BETTY THUNDERS AND ROARS. IT'S SO DAMN LOUD I HAVE TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN READ IT. TAKES THE RAM JAM VERSION OF THE SONG, SHREDS IT INTO LITTLE PIECES AND STUFFS IT DOWN YOUR EAR CANAL SO HARD THAT YOUR SINUSES ARE STILL CLOGGED THREE DAYS LATER.

The original, for comparison's sake:

Cover Songs Worth Examining: Kula Shaker - Hush

Kula Shaker put this one out a few years ago, a reexamining of one of Deep Purple's finer works. I have to say, I think I prefer the cover version, it has more of an attacking, relentless feel to it. For comparison's sake, here's the original (audio only):

George Harrison - What is Life

Audio only. Of all the Beatles' solo careers, George Harrison's is the most overlooked. The man could write a hook.

Wake Up Song: MC5 - Kick Out the Jams

Forgive the afros and bell bottoms. They know not what they do. Straight up hard driving rock and roll from the Woodstock era. Forgive, also, the local Detroit TV show breaking in before the end. But this is the best version of the song I could find on YouTube.

Every now and then I'm happy with a song I wake up to. This is one of those times.

Wake Up Song: Gary Wright - Love is Alive

Gary Wright is much better known for the song Dreamweaver, of course, and the picture on this video (the album cover) sure looks like a guy who would sing that song. but not this one. A retooled version of this, with better guitar work, would be pretty epic.

As with the Ratt song from a couple of days ago, I have no idea why this song is in my head this morning.

Explaining the Radio Station References

A couple of folks have asked me about the WAVA, WHFS references in the labels under every post. Growing up in DC in the 80s, you had a choice of radio stations that clearly defined who you were in the social strata of West Springfield High School.

Q107 was the top 40 radio station. Sure, others came around later on, but their "Top 10 at 10" was a show that you were not allowed to miss if you wanted to hear what the hot girls were listening to.

WHFS was the "alternative" station. far and away the coolest station around, even if you didn't really understand what the music was about. Lots of the bookish girls I had crushes on listened to this station, and even if I didn't understand it, at least they played lots of REM and pre-Joshua Tree U2.

WAVA was the AOR station that was DC101's younger, brattier brother. It also eventually went Top 40 (and later became a Christian station), but for a few short years, it was the station to hear all the hard stuff that was too gritty for DC101 and had better reception than 98Rock out of Baltimore. If you watched Beavis and Butthead, Todd would listen to WAVA. West Springfield had a hell of a lot of Todds.

WCXR was the Classic Rock station that came along in about 1985 or so. I actually worked there for a couple of years between my first and second attempt at college. Classic Rock was a new format at the time, and was the most eye-opening format ever for me. Up to that point the only place you could hear the Beatles was on Oldies stations, and you never heard Jimi Hendrix, the Stones, or CCR on the radio until it came along. everyone loved it, and it was a unifying presence in high school.

So if you're confused about the kind of music you think you'd like, keep this in mind and click on the appropriate label on the right to find stuff you think you might like.

RESPEK