Down The Road

Here are Today's 10 Tunes folks (with a very special bonus just cause I wanted to listen to it).....

(Click here to listen to clips of these songs)

1.  America - Neil Diamond 3:27 (Capitol Records)  Ah, America.  Home of such inalienable rights as freedom of speech. Also home of civil lawsuits and pro-bono attorneys who are not afraid to stand up for the little guy when they feel these basic, inalienable rights are being compromised or stifled.  Ain't America grand, folks?  Ok, climbing down off the soapbox. Red Robot, put down the flag and spin this suckah!  I love the drama of this song...the strong bass line and drums, the dark violins and Neil Diamond's voice!!  So very cool!! Loving the key changes, naturally! And of course, the message of what makes this country so great.  People traveling so far to the home of a new and a shining place.  Freedom's light burning warm. Sweet land of LIBERTY!

2.  Stand - R.E.M. 3:10 (Warner Brothers Records)  Love the calliope sound in the beginning.  This song always makes me happy! At this particular juncture of my life I need to heed the advice Michael Stipe is giving me here.  I need to stand firmly in the place that I am and turn my head and look in a new direction.  HEY CHANGE!!!  YAY!!!! And ANOTHER ONE!!!  Such great memories with this song. Reminds me of DJing in a little bar in the Ridge and of course, Harold!  Folks, you should see RR!  He is doing the choreography from the video. Jumping and turning!  If he could sweat, I would need to get him a tiny little towel right now.

3.  Lost In The Shadows (The Lost Boys) - Lou Gramm 4:46 (Atlantic Records) Whilst RR catches his robotic breath I will just say, I LOVE THIS SONG, I LOVE THIS MOVIE and I LOVE ANNETTE!  This movie and Dirty Dancing will forever be tied to my gorgeous Annette!  Ok, hit it RR. OH MAN!  Playing air drums here! "Say a little prayer tonight!  Lost In The Shadows! Say a little prayer tonight! Lost in the loneliness!"  Hair dancing and chair dancing here!

4.  You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon 4:39 (Warner Brothers Records)  This is one of my Mom's favorite songs and videos.  Remember Chevy Chase lip-synching this while Paul Simon played various instruments behind him?  Good stuff.  Paul Simon wrote this after a trip to South Africa that was still being pulled apart by Apartheid.  He used muscians from South Africa which gave this song such an amazing sound!  I love how the lyric progresses as the song goes on.  This little man that is soft in the middle goes from worrying about himself to looking outside of himself and experiencing all that is going on around him.  Such a happy song!!!  I have always had a secret theory as to who AL is.  I think it may be a nod to the same Al that is in "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime" "Say don't you remember, they called me Al?/it was Al all the time."  I have no idea who Betty is though.

5.  Now And Forever (You And Me) - Anne Murray 4:07 (Capitol Records) Oh wow.  I forgot how much I loved this song!!!  This song has a definite Starship sound to it and was produced by the incomparable David Foster. Such a great sound and lyric and when you add Anne Murray to the mix, makes it a perfect song!  It even has a key change folks!!  Just such a happy song about the that magical feeling one experiences at the beginning of a relationship.  I have a dim recollection of it!

6.  Naughty Naughty - John Parr 3:36 (Atlantic Records)  Hair dancing again folks and playing air guitar and singing back-ups!!  "Tatatatatease me"  Love the keyboard work in here and those whacky sound effects!!!!  A great hard-driving song!!  Play that one again RR!  Please?  oye!

7.  Video Killed The Radio Star - Buggles  (Island Records)  Ahh, the first video ever played on MTV.  Remember when MTV used to stand for Music Television and they actually played music videos?  Good times.  Freakin' LOVE this song!!!  "ew-wa-ooh" Such a tragically true tale!!! "ew-wa-ooh" I guess this song could now be re-written as a lament to the loss of music on MTV, couldn't it? "ew-wa-ooh" We could call it, "Self-Importance Killed The Video Station"  "ew-wa-ooh"  I always mix this one with "Pop Muzik".  "ew-wa-ooh"

8.  Owner Of A Lonely Heart - YES 3:50 (Atco Records)  Before RR spins this one I just want to say this is one of the most perfect songs ever and would be included in my list of 100 Coolest Songs of All-Time!  Let er rip RR. (He just gave me a dirty look. He hates when I say that!)  Oh crap.  It's over and I forgot to type!  HA!  I don't even know where to start.  This whole song is it's own hook!  Everything about it is catchy and you can't help but mimic it when you hear it.  "Owner of a Loneyl Heart {mmmuch better than the} Owner of a broken heart". The drums and synths are outstanding but man o man, that guitar solo!!!!  And the way the horns match the brassiness of his voice....stupendous!!!

9.  A Different Corner - George Michael 3:57 (Columbia Records)  This is one of those deeply personal, magical comfort songs.  You know how people have their comfort foods?  Well, I have comfort music.  I have been known to turn down the lights and just play this one over and over (as evidenced by the cue burn in the beginning of the record)!  There is a dedication on the 45 sleeve that simply says "This record is dedicated to a memory"  Ditto! "Take me back in time/maybe I can forget/turn a Different Corner/and we never would have met"  followed by the most heartbreakingly honest line, "would you care?"!

10.  Somewhere Down The Road - Barry Manilow 3:46 (Arista Records)  Speaking of comfort music....you probably don't know this about me but I love Bar.....oh, yeh, I guess I have mentioned that once or twice, huh?  Sorry.  "We had the right love at the wrong time"  I haven't listened to the studio version of this song in many years and I forgot how beautifully it is arranged and produced. ie.  perfectly placed key change (natch), the regal trumpets toward the end, the subtle "ahhhhhs" in the background and the fact that he sings the line, "maybe We've Only Just Begun".  Then there is that lyric.  It is one of the most gorgeous sentiments.  Someone that loves someone so much they can let them go because he knows in his heart, they will meet again.....they belong together.  Genious! (By the way Barry still sings this once in awhile at his shows but he sings it acapella.

11.  (I Used To Be A) Brooklyn Dodger - Laurie Beechman 4:02 (Epic Records)  This is the B side of a single that Laurie released in 1984 called "After The Fall". While I do love "After The Fall", "Brooklyn Dodger" is what I really had a hankerin' for today and I wanted to share it with you.  This song was written by and originally performed by Dion (of "and the Belmonts" fame) and is one of my favorite songs.  Laurie was a one of a kind performer with an outrageous voice, a heart as big as the mountains and a very good friend. (click on her name to visit the website I created dedicated to her life and talent)  I felt it was ok for me to use the B side as Laurie herself told me about the single, "It was a case of the B side being better than the A side".  This is a song about looking back at the nutty impetuousity (well, it's a word now RR.  shuttup)  of youth you were and looking at where you are now.  Favorite line "but if I had my leather jacket/I swear, I'd give it all another try"!  Listen to the vocal work Laurie is doing in the background!!!  Love the violin solo and the drums that bring her back in toward the end!  Perfect.

Sorry I missed yesterday.  I will more than likely do a second post today, maybe even with a special guest.
I know I say this alot but....tell someone you love them today!  Maybe I'll see you later!