Top 25 Songs of Summer

This is a list of my Top 25 Songs for Summer. Twenty-five isn't nearly enough to cover much ground, but we'll at least get a start. The songs on this list are tied to strong vibes and emotions that awaken my mind and heart to summer. As a smell can trigger powerful memories, these songs are tied to specific places, times, and activities of summers throughout my life.

#1-4 are all part of Michael Stanley's Weekend Kickoff on 98.5 WNCX. Every Friday at 5pm Michael Stanley plays the same four tunes in a row, officially starting the weekend in Cleveland. I live in Cincinnati now, and so I have the songs in my iPod and I play them on Friday whenever I'm in the car.

#1 Born to Run -- Bruce Springsteen (1975) -- this is the song that got me hooked on Springsteen. This is probably not an uncommon story.

#2 This Beat Goes On -- The Kings (1980) -- it's a shame that no one knows who this band is. This song and #3 are written to play one after the other. And they rock ass!!

#3 Switchin' to Glide -- The Kings (1980)

#4 Bang the Drum All Day -- Todd Rundgren (1983) -- Did you know that Todd Rundgren played guitar and produced Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf?



The rest of the list reflects some (but not all) of the songs that remind me of summer. You'll note that there are no Beatles, Creedence, Led Zeppelin, U2 or Beach Boys on this list. The Beach Boys and Creedence both are their own genres of summer music. This list reflects the songs that are tied to some of earliest and strongest memories of summer, stretching from my youth into my college years.

#5 Baba O'Riley -- The Who (1971) - Is this the best Who song?

#6 Walk of Life -- Dire Straits (1985) - The organ hook at the beginning grabs me every time.

#7 The Boys of Summer (1984) -- Don Henley - His best song by himself (1984). I dated a girl with brown skin that shined in the sun.

#8 Summer of '69 -- Brian Adams (1983) -- the classic summer rock song for me and my friends.

#9 Jack & Diane -- John Cougar (1982) -- How many people have you seen play air guitar to the repeated acoustic line in this song?

#10 A Kind of Magic -- Queen (1986) -- Freddie Mercury died when I was a senior in high school. Queen was having a huge resurgence at that time because of the movie Wayne's World, which introduced "Bohemian Rhapsody" to a whole new generation. I bought the tape Classic Queen on a date with my girlfriend near the end of my senior year. "A Kind of Magic" was the first track. I played that tape 'til it broke.

#11 My Best Friend's Girl -- The Cars (1978) -- I'm a Cars fan mainly because I had two older brothers who blasted this fabulous music from their attic bedroom when I was a little, little kid.

#12 All Along the Watchtower -- Jimi Hendrix (1968) -- Try to sit back and listen to this like you're hearing it for the first time.

#13 Let's Go Crazy -- Prince (1984) -- Sorry Jimi, Prince's guitar is a shade better than yours (especially here), and he didn't kill himself.

#14 Won't Get Fooled Again -- The Who (1971) -- Is the Who possibly better than the Beatles? or U2?

#15 Burn On -- Randy Newman (1972) -- Even though this song is about the Cuyahoga River catching on fire (which is a great source of shame for Clevelanders), I love it. It's from the great film Major League.

#16 My Town -- Michael Stanley Band (1983) -- the all-time Cleveland fight song. I love this song.

#17 Love Stinks -- J. Geils Band (1980) -- A great anti-relationship song. My brother had this album.

#18 NightSwimming -- R.E.M. (1992) -- On my first date with my wife (July 1994), we went swimming late at night at my friend Bobby's pond. It was like we acted out this song. I remember thinking about it in my head when it was happening.

#19a Centerfield -- John Fogerty (1985) -- John Fogerty's great song about playing baseball. The music video is a great montage of black and white baseball reels.

#19b Heat of the Moment -- Asia (1982) -- after listening to this song again it's not that great. But it still takes me back to summers growing up.

#20 Bat out Of Hell -- Meatloaf (1977) -- 10 minutes of awesome, gushing, over the top, noir rock 'n roll.

#21 Hungry Heart -- Bruce Springsteen (1980) -- There are ten potential Springsteen songs that are on my summer list. His music more than anyone's makes me want to mow my grass, crack open a High Life and stretch out in lawn chair. Awesome!

#22 Life's Been Good -- Joe Walsh (1978) -- My brothers had this album. I thought the James Gang was a bunch of cowboys back then.

#23 The End of the Innocence -- Don Henley (1989) -- This was more my college years. My friend Matt owned this CD and we listened to it incessantly. On Spring Break in 1993 I learned all the lyrics to this song by heart.

#24 Freebird -- Lynyrd Skynyrd (1974) -- I used to listen to this one over and over driving around after toking. Once again, college years.

#25 Maggot Brain -- Funkadelic (1971) -- Every Saturday night on WNCX they closed out their Saturday Night request show at midnight with Maggot Brain. It's a 10 min. acid guitar solo in E. Sweet.

5 Alternates -- in case you don't like any of the first 25.

Alt. #1 American Girl -- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1977)

Alt. #2 Heartache Tonight -- Eagles (1979)

Alt. #3 He Can't love You -- Michael Stanley Band (1980)

Alt. #4 Paradise By the Dashboard Light -- Meatloaf (1977)

Alt. #5 Time Warp/Sweet Transvestite -- Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

More Later . . . 

No Line on the Horizon - A Review

"Crap. Are you kidding me?"

That was my response to my friend Artie's comment that the new U2 sounded like Coldplay. He'd pre-ordered No Line on the Horizon on iTunes and gotten a sneak peak at the title track.

I felt like I would vomit.

But alas, it turns out that my friend had seriously misguided me. It's not Coldplay (thank God). No Line on the Horizon took me a bit by surprise, but so far I've liked it more each time I listen to it, which is a good sign.

Let me start by going back to 1991. U2 redefined their sound with the release of Achtung Baby, which contains six unparalleled tracks that have since become part of the sonic fabric of rock 'n roll. Their song "One" is one of the most important songs written in the last 35 years. After setting the bar beyond anyone's reach with The Joshua Tree, instead of retreating into safety by trying to replicate Joshua Tree, they broke new ground by using bold new guitar effects, more complex rhythms and darker lyrics. The result was the best rock album of the '90s.

Now it's 2009 and U2 has enjoyed 8 uninterrupted years of global success and popularity. Their two most recent albums, All That You Can't Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, are practically perfect. U2 symbolizes all that is cool and good. Does any other band have their own iPod? Does any other band appear on David Letterman more than one night? Enough said. . .

This is why No Line on the Horizon will endure, and probably will become one of their most important works. Their amazing popularity and influence have given them complete autonomy when creating a new album. Once again, instead of retreating into safety and putting out the same old crap album after album (see Creed, Nickelback, Coldplay, Creed, the Rolling Stones, or Creed), they've once again forged ahead into the new.

On No Line, they make us wait (almost gleefully) for a hard-edged rock tune. "Get On Your Boots" is the only balls out rock song, and it doesn't appear until track six. That along with Stand Up Comedy are the only obvious singles on the album.

Some of my favorite moments on No Line are:

1. Get On Your Boots: Superfun and classic U2

2. My favorite track: Unknown Caller (track 4). Great group vocals

3. White as Snow: U2 arranges a traditional advent hymn. It sounds mysteriously like the soundtrack from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Ennio Morricone's timeless western sound.

4. Bono's best vocals ever: Moment of Surrender, "I tie myself wire!!"

5. Freddie Mercury has reincarnated! Throughout the album are fantastic, elaborate harmonies both vocally and with Edge's E-bow.

6. Their relaxed and patient approach throughout. Most of the songs have an extended intro and thoughtful interludes that give you time to think and take in their art. Selah. Cedars of Lebanon closes the album and gives you a snapshot of their maturity and growth as musicians and artists.

It seems like U2 is purposefully enjoying their place in rock 'n roll. Never once have they come across as trying too hard or being over the hill. They have relevance and cool firmly in their grasp. They know they're still making great music and also seem to recognize how fortunate they are. Their team of producers (Eno and Lanois) has done what George Martin did for the Beatles: helped create timeless music that still will have cultural traction fifty years from now. Have fun listening to it. It will grow on you more and more.

More later. . .

The Miracle of Scrubs

I love Scrubs.

The last three TV shows my wife and I began to follow and like were cancelled within two years. The West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Boston Legal. Scrubs was actually taken off the air for about a year while it transitioned to ABC from NBC. So it's like it's back from the dead.

A Miracle!

More later . . .

Sledding Vol. 2

We visited my parent house recently

All Good Things Must Come To An End . . .

This weekend we took our Christmas tree down. In our house, the Christmas tree goes up the weekend after Thanksgiving, and comes down New Year's Day. I can say with confidence that this is officially and predictably one of my least favorite days of the year. There are many reasons for this:

1 - The tree itself. For about 4 weeks the tree, once decorated, brings light and joy into our house and is a reminder of very good things. It's pungent fragrance bombards your senses. The tree is the centerpiece of our Christmas celebration. Each year we go through the same revered family ritual of bringing out old, cherished ornaments while carefully choosing new ornaments that will join the pantheon. Each ornament has a story and a specific meaning to us, and we're very stingy about new ornaments going up. If they lack the beauty and character of what we already have they don't stand a chance. The tree is the focal point of tremendous sentiment and nostalgia.

By the time the tree comes down on New Year's Day it's deadness hangs off the boughs like Marley's chains. The needles explode off the branches as you remove the strings of lights, which come off with far less care than they went up. Then you're faced with the important task of deciding if the current light strands will make it for another Christmas. If you choose to keep a strand that is unknowingly close to death, it might burn out on next year's tree after it's already been decorated. This presents a frustrating and time-consuming situation, so it's best to just pitch any strands older than one Christmas. After the lights come off, the tree will end up being thrown out the front door into the yard, with a grunt and perhaps a curse. Merry Christmas!! I'm sure it's amusing for my neighbors to see me burst out of my front door wielding a dead Douglas fir over my head. The needles and sap eventually get cleaned up, but it seems like every year I'm vacuuming at midnight.

2 - The music is over. Growing up my parents didn't play music much. My mom was a Kenny Rogers fan, but the Gambler came out rarely. But on Thanksgiving Day an unending flow of Christmas music poured out from the Realistic phonograph my parents owned. It was an autofeed record player, and it would stack 10-12 records on the post. Whenever the records finished rotating through, someone would flip the stack over and start it again. Among many of our favorites there was Jackie Gleason, Robert Shaw Chorale, Perry Como, Nat King Cole, Vince Guiraldi, Brenda Lee, Glen Campbell, Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby and of course Christmas Magic by Frad Waring and his Pennsylvanians. I've collected almost all that old music on CD or iTunes and it now resides my iPod. In our house now, the Christmas music starts when we hop into the van to make the 7 hr. trip to Grandma's in Jamestown, NY. From that moment Christmas music is played non-stop until the day the Tree comes down when it will go dormant once again until next Thanksgiving.

3 - The movies and decorations go back in the box. Each year we buy one Christmas movie to add to our collection. So far we have It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street (the original), A Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story, Polar Express, Christmas Vacation, Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, & Veggie Tales Christmas. This year we added The Preacher's Wife and The Bishop's Wife. Of course the more we add the more difficult it becomes to watch all of them, so we have to choose a select few. I still want to add The Santa Claus, Scrooged, Muppet Christmas Carol, Holiday Inn, White Christmas, Home Alone and Grumpy Old Men. Being committed to only buying one Christmas movie per year means it will be several years before our desired collection is complete.

4 - Goodbye to the lovely traditions. Let me list some of them, a lot of which have to do with food: making peanut brittle, sour cream twist cookies, chocolate buckeyes, egg nog w/brandy, Kara's decorated cutout cookies, nuts in the shell, mushroom sandwhiches, cheese and sweet dry sausage. Not to mention all the seasonal Christmas and Winter beer that abounds during that time. No wonder my digestion gets disrupted and my clothes don't fit anymore.

5 - Back to school. I've lived my entire life within the bounds of the academic calender. I currently work with college students and my daughter is in the first grade. So New Year's Day still means that school is right around the corner. It also means the end of college football until the fall, and that's a real bummer. So we go to bed New Year's night & every trace of our month-long Christmas celebration is gone. Within a day or two we're back at school and our minds are filled with the things of the New Year. It's still that way now.

So we look forward to another wonderful Christmas in 10 1/2 months time. I wonder what new ornaments we'll find for next year's tree, or what new beer I'll discover when the new winter seasonals are released in the fall. Who knows? Maybe none of us will be around for another Christmas.

Maybe Jesus' second advent will take place before then.

More later . . .