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)
“Hot Sex” isn’t one of the more thoughtfully constructed Tribe songs. The track didn’t even make it to an official Tribe album-it appeared on the soundtrack to the 1992 Eddie Murphy/Halle Berry flick Boomerang (without even appearing in the movie! I wonder what that was about!) The song’s somewhat tossed-off nature, though, is what I… Read More “Hot Sex” by A Tribe Called Quest (1992)
It’s hard to write anything not tainted by current events, so even when thinking of such a beautifully carefree song as “Hot Fun In The Summertime”, I have to wonder… are we even going to have a summer this year? At least for three minutes, I can close my eyes and escape into the joy… Read More “Hot Fun In The Summertime” by Sly & The Family Stone (1969)
Simplicity and wordplay are the keys to this song being as good as it is. “Hopeless” is a neo-soul journey-person summit, of sorts. The song was written by Van Hunt, a musician who, despite possessing googobs of talent. was maybe a little too far left for the mainstream. It was performed by Dionne Farris, who… Read More “Hopeless” by Dionne Farris (1997)
The timing of these last two posts is purely coincidental. How was I to know that in the month since I wrote about New Edition’s “Home Again” that I’d be laid up in the apartment for four weeks and that Bill Withers would pass away? Alas, here we are, and my first two posts of… Read More “Hope She’ll Be Happier” by Bill Withers (1971)
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)
“Home Again” exists in a weird musical space. To this day, you don’t hear many songs by men, about the platonic relationships between men. Men expressing feelings towards other men (unless they are related by blood or are sexual in nature) is still pretty taboo–so taboo that I even started a podcast talking about it… Read More “Home Again” by New Edition (1996)
A lot of CDs got dropped on my desk in 2004. Once I remember distinctly is Carencro, the major-label debut from singer/songwriter/guitarist Marc Broussard. I looked at the album cover, saw a not-unattractive dude that kinda resembled Josh Hartnett in Varsity Blues, and thought that he might be a John Mayer knockoff. While there were… Read More “Home” by Marc Broussard (2004)
Five Star Jamz 