Super Song Sunday

Happy Sunday folks!  Dinner last night was a whopping success.  My Dad even cleaned his plate bare, TWICE!  In fact, the dishes looked as clean at the end of the meal as they did before I served the food!  I consider that quite an honor! Got everything cleaned up, put out some new "picky" food and then my best bud Scott came over. I have not laughed so much in such a long time. (Oh that poor Sierra Mist bottle.  A moment of silence for our fallen brother) You have no idea how lucky I am that I have such great friends.  We can laugh and cry together, they listen as much as they talk and everytime they leave I feel like the luckiest guy in the world!  Thank you!

We are heading right into the music today!! The song I am most excited about is, aptly, the last one (completely by chance) but they are all great songs.  Here they are, Today's 10 Tunes......

(Click here to listen to clips from these songs)

1. The Never Ending Story - Limahl 3:32 (EMI America) Limahl!  Limahl, Limahl, Limahl.....I wonder if his hair is still those colors!  Anyway, he was the front-man for the group Kajagoogoo and broke away to record this GREAT Giorgio Moroder song for the movie of the same name!  Cueing it up folks....here it comes............I've never quite understood the long slow fade in on this song. It's almost like we walked in on the middle of the song.   "turn around/look at what you seeeee-hee-eee-eee-yeee-eee"  "The Never Ending Storeee-hee-eeee-eeee-yeee-eeeee"  While that is a great hook for an already great song, it just makes me think that the lyricist couldn't come up with more words and just told them to drag out the ends of the last word in each phrase!  Giorogio Moroder in the sound booth to Limahl and the chic singing with him, "No, No. NO!  Longer.  More eeeeeees! Damnit!"      Love that song!

2.  That's What I Think - Cyndi Lauper 4:17 (Epic Records) I know we have covered this already but....I just love Cyndi.  Such a fun, funky song!  (The scratches that you hear in this are courtesy of Cyndi, not me) Excuse me, must chair dance and sing (oh that poor fat guy downstairs)! This may well be my favorite Cyndi Cyngle.  She manages to combine a strong social message into a song about a loving relationship while keeping the party going. "Sometimes I think, things are overwhelming, sometimes I think, I don't know what I'd do, But I forget the world and everything around me, That's What I Think When I Think About You!" I love that throughout the song there is a Recorder Flute line. Remember having to learn how to play the Recorder in grammar school.  Aldo Bruschi, accordion in hand, taught me how to play mine. Steven just recently brought me a gift.  It was Aldo Bruschi's 4th allbum!  Yes, that's right folks, I said FOURTH album entitled "Requestfully Yours"! Oh, one last thought about this song, I love the way it ends. Cyndi sings "That's What I Think when I think about" then the music stops and she sings the last word, "You!"  Very cool.

3.  What Have They Done To My Song Ma - Melanie 4:02 (Buddah Records) Yes folks, she's baaaaack.  Nary a rollerskate in sight this time.  Just one of my all-time favorite songs in tow.  Speaking of the accordion....I wonder if that is Aldo playing.  Ok, so this time around, Mel is pissed.  Well, not so much pissed as disheartened because someone done something to one of her songs that, best I can tell, they used it like a piece of chicken in a bag full of Shake-N-Bake!  She is so disheartened in fact, that she, as one does in such situations, breaks out with a whole verse in French.  Come on, tell me you've never done THAT!  Oh wait, she is now thoroughly pissed by the end of the song.  (Stepping away, talking about summen else cause I'm ascared of her right now)  Favorite line in this song?  "Look what they done to my brain, Ma/look what they done to my brain/well they picked it like a chicken bone and I think I'm half insane, Ma" Her poor mother.  I mean, I am sure she wants to help her daughter, but there is only so much a parent can do, right?  I know it sounds like I am making fun of this song, but I REALLY love it and I love her voice as well as the lyrics!

4.  Teach Me Tonight - DeCastro Sisters 2:55 (Collectables Records) Here's one I bought for my Mom and Dad.  My Dad has it on 78 but, now I was able to play it when I DJed and I could use it on mixed tapes.  When my Mom and Dad were courting, they danced to this song.  In fact, they would dance to this in the basment of Nan's house when they had some of the neighborhood kids over.  I love this song, not just because it is a darn good song but because of the memories it invokes when my parents listen to it. I close my eyes and I can seem them as teenagers dancing much as I have had the pleasure of seeing them do today!

(click to enbiggen)

5.  Montego Bay - Bobby Bloom 2:53 (L&R Records/MGM Records) Oh I love that whistle in the beginng of this song!  I was so upset and jealous and angry about that when I was kid. Why, you ask?  Because I coud not whistle.  I would try and try and I would get so mad.  Then Aunt Bobbie busted out this single and taught me, patiently, how to whistle.  The irony here was that I don't think she could whistle either. (Have I mentioned that she is my favorite person on the planet?) Still not the best whistler, but man, do I love hearing this song and remembering that! (I believe this was her single) This is such a cool, happy, fun song. I am chair dancing and trying to whistle.  Bobby Bloom has a GREAT soulful voice.  "Come sing me Montego Bay!" "...like how cool the rum is from the silver tray, I thirst to be thirsty in Montego Bay!"  Who knew he sang about rum in there? "Dance in the streets!"  Love that in the fade, so cool!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrccccccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  Gear shift.

6.  She Blinded Me With Science - Thomas Dolby 5:09 (Capitol Records) This song is all synths and drum machines and it is so freakin' good!  You KNOW I am chair dancing to this one! Thomas Dolby is a genious.  Loving his voice..."Scie-eye-eye-eye-ence" "She blinded MEE with Sciyunce" "There she goes again! she's tidying up and I can't find anything!  All my tubes and wires and careful notes!" There are so many incredibly fun things going on in this song, I just don't know where to start! Aw hell, go hit the play button!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrcccccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Gear shift, again.

7.  Boot Scootin' Boogie - Brooks & Dunn 3:16 (Arista Records) Here's one I bought for my Mom for line dancing practice.  Truth be told, I loved these songs too.  I was a bartender at a club called Low Places where my Mom dances every Thursday. She is quite the little dancer, although she will tell you she is not good. She is amazing! For awhile there, my Dad was going with her and they would do most of the couples dances together.  (Even I learned a few so I could dance with her) Oh man, this is such a fun song! Love their voices and hearing real instruments and amazing musicians jamming and having a blast was the best part of that job.  I had some really fun times there!  (Nice the way time erases the bad memories, isn't it!)

Last gear shift, I promise.  Everybody's necks ok out there?

8.  Ewok Celebration - Meco 3:23 (Arista Records) Annette, this one is for you! ROFLMAO  Oh man, this is too funny!  Raggae Ewoks!  "manamanamana" This is too funny!  I forgot about the rap in the middle!!  "Daboo-daboo Darth Vader" I got nothin'!  Can't stop laughing.  Make it stop.  My stomach hurts. Tears rolling down my face.  I am sorry, but ya know when something just hits you "funny" and you can't stop laughing?  Me!  Right Now!  Nnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeexxxxxxxxxxxxxxttttttttttttttt......

9.  Don't Bring Me Down - Electric Light Orchestra 4:08 (Jet Records) Ahhhh!  Ok, breathing again! Steven?  Are you listening?  This is one of his favorites! That smashing, crashing beginning!!!!!  Love it! "Don't Bring Me Down Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuce!"  Their harmonies were always flawless!  The combination of Jeff Lynne's vocals, the synths and the hand claps!!  Perfect! It is just a fun hard hitting song that brings back soooo many memories.  This was the year before Xanadu, the movie that THEY claim ruined their career.  This song has a lot of the same elements they used in their songs for the movie.  Um, fellas, maybe you just ran out of steam?  Blaming Xanadu!  Really!   (shaking my head in disapproval)  Tsk tsk tsk. By the way, this song always reminds me of Bill McFarland, a good friend of Steven's (and mine a little bit) and a GREAT DJ! I think about him alot while I am doing this. He taught me how to cue up a record.

here it is folks....one of my all-time favorites!

10.  Last Song - Edward Bear 3:15 (Capitol Records) First of all, being the huge fan of W-T-P that I am, I loved this song first because of his name, "which was the name that hung above the door to the house in which he lived"...Edward Bear (in which Pooh, the bear, lived.  Don't know if  Edward Bear, the singer, had a plaque with his name on it over his door or not) I love this song.  It just makes me so happy! This is another song that got the LPR treatment, many, many times.   "Did you know I'd go to sleep and leave the lights on? Hoping you'd come by and know that I was home, still awake. But two years go by..." Oh man, gotta step back and analyze this! Eddie!  Eddie, Eddie, Eddie!  Sit down, dude, we gotta talk.  First of all, I think it is great that you loved this chic so much that you left your lights on, every freakin' night, HOPING that she might possibly happen to walk by to see if you were still awake.  But, man, what did that do to your electric bill?  (Not to mention your self-esteem) And did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe she did come by on the night that you had fallen asleep from the vodka induced coma you put yourself in?  Eddie?  EDDIE?  Where ya going bud?  Oh well, ya try to help some people.  Meh...Moving on.....This poor bastard is almost threatening this woman, who has obviously moved WAY on, with one more song about his undying devotion. I think we can all figure out where he went wrong, can't we? (And you know that she did everything she could to avoid walking down his block, right?)  If only he had met Melanie and her rollerskates. Bygones! I still love this song. (on second thought, maybe he did have a plaque with his name on it over his door.  Not so much for himself but, again, just in case his lady-love walked by, so she would know he still lived there?)

WOW  Another really fun night and another 3 hours that went by in the blink of an eye.  Such a diverse group of songs but they all have one magical thing in common, the memories of the places and faces that go with them.  Well, I am going to go and heat up the leftovers from yesterday.  Go call or text someone and make plans to get together with them. Go make some new memories and make sure you have the music playing!  Have a great night.  See ya tomorrow!