Before John Mellencamp began taking himself a mite too seriously, he was just a fun rocker guy who hit on a massive earworm with summer ’82’s “Hurts So Good”. “Hurts” broke him wide open, catapulting its parent album American Fool to the top of the album charts and peaking at #2 on Billboard’s Top 100.… Read More “Hurts So Good” by John Cougar (Mellencamp) (1982)
Trent Reznor’s tortured, angry persona got old for me pretty quick for a couple of reasons. One; a performative aspect began to creep into it after Nine Inch Nails achieved massive mainstream success, and two; the bloat of 1997’s The Fragile was a major turn-off. It just seemed like too much to get through). With… Read More “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails (1994)
“Hungry Like The Wolf” was the first time many of us in America heard of Duran Duran. Perhaps more importantly, “Hungry Like The Wolf” marked the first time many Americans saw Duran Duran. And while there was certainly a contingent of people who saw the Fab Five as major eye candy (like my cousin Antoinette… Read More “Hungry Like The Wolf” by Duran Duran (1982)
The inclusion of “Hungry Heart” on this list gave me a little bit of internal tumult. By adding it, was I trying to puff up my Springsteen bona fides? Or my rock bona fides? Was my intention to include it based on the nostalgia of it being the first Springsteen song I was aware of?… Read More “Hungry Heart” by Bruce Springsteen (1980)
I don’t know if you’ve ever lost a friend to suicide. I’ve lost several; off the top of my head I can count four in the last seven years. And in at least one of those cases, I feel as though there’s something I could’ve done to save them, or something that I did do… Read More “How To Save A Life” by The Fray (2005)
I have to start by saying that I find Morrissey an absolutely reprehensible human being. That said, he has a way with words that occasionally taps into great sentiment. And the main hook of “How Soon Is Now?” (“I am human and I need to be loved…”) is one of the great lyrics in rock… Read More “How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths (1984)
Squeeze’s Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook are a songwriting duo on par with…yes, I was gonna write Lennon and McCartney. While I can’t say I totally believe that (I mean, we are talking John and Paul here), they have written some incredibly tuneful songs in their day. “Hourglass” was their biggest U.S. hit (although other… Read More “Hourglass” by Squeeze (1987)
Don Henley and co. don’t allow their music on YouTube, first of all, so the video I post will be of Rene & Angela’s “yacht soul” cover of “Hotel California”, which I discovered last year on the Beyond Yacht Rock podcast and I enjoy very much. Besides, you’ve most likely heard the O.G. “Hotel California”… Read More “Hotel California” by Eagles (1976)
Here are two songs that split the difference between rock and disco. The Stones’ “Hot Stuff” is a showcase for some smoking guitar by Keith Richards. I must admit I haven’t paid much attention to Keef as a guitarist, but he is smoking here. There’s also some fantastic interplay between the rhythm section of Bill… Read More “Hot Stuff” by The Rolling Stones (1976)/”Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer (1979)
So; as I write this, I am closing in on one full month homebound due to the quarantine. This is the longest I’ve been stuck in one place since…well, since ever. It’s a weird feeling, to state the obvious. What makes it weirder is that I live alone. No roommate. No family members. No significant… Read More “Home Life” by John Mayer (2003)
Five Star Jamz 