PERSONAL FAVORITES FROM '07

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Making a ‘best of’ list for 2007 is a frustrating affair, and ultimately pointless. Looking back at a few of my previous lists provides the reason. There are always a few choices that make no sense to me, and just as bad is all of the truly great music that I didn’t get to hear until much later. I’m sure that this year is no exception. Each year, there are thousands of new releases, and although I listen to music like some some people breathe air, there just isn’t enough time in the day to hear everything that might interest me…or even to listen more than once to things that impress me. That is the sad part of being a ‘critic’. The good part is that you are exposed to a load of things that otherwise would have disappeared into the ether.
Taking all of this into consideration, here is my list, for you take with a grain of salt. It is personal, rather than populist, so some of it may be new to you. I did it this way in the hope that I will look at this list next year and find that I’m still listening to most of the music of the music on this list…but it won’t matter anyway, because by then I’ll be compelled to make another list for ’08. I’ll worry about that then and I’ll stop worrying about this list as of now, because I really enjoy listening to every one of these picks.
Here they are, my personal Top 12 of 2007;
Song Album Artist
12) Slideshow –Release the Stars - Rufus Wainwright
11) The Picture – The Search – Son Volt
10) Up On Crutches – Everybody – The Sea and Cake
9) Death of the Party – Blues and Boogie Shoes – The Keene Brothers
8) Pretty Not Bad – Bad Football – The Takeovers
7) The End of the End – Memory Almost Full – Paul McCartney
6) Still Want to Be Your Baby (Take Me As I Am) – The Scene of the Crime – Bettye Lavette w/ the Drive-By Truckers
5) Fake Empire – Boxer – The National
4) I Can’t Take It No More – John Fogerty
3) Magic – Magic – Bruce Springsteen
2) Shake It Off – Sky Blue Sky – Wilco
1) Bodysnatchers – In Rainbows - Radiohead

CHRISTMASTIME IS HERE...

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Wishing everyone a happy holiday season,
From Tom, Heidy and Mike

LOOKING BACK AT '07 - REVIEWING THE REVIEWER, PART 1

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It’s that time of year again when we look back and ask ourselves, “Did all of that really happen?” From a musical perspective, though, question just as often is “What happened?” Like most recent years, 2007 has been a very mixed bag, consisting of a few great releases, a few awful releases, and a truckload of not-so-bad releases.
Since you are reading this on our website, then I can presume that you are aware that we review a small percentage of new releases whenever they strike our fancy (or raise our ire). This year, we figured it might be fun to “review the reviewer” so for the next few shows, I’m going to read excerpts from a few of the reviews I’ve written in ’07, and see what Mike and Heidy have to say about it. Naturally, we’ll also be playing a few tracks from each release discussed. Hope you enjoy this.
CD’s discussed in today’s program include;
1) James Taylor – One Man band
2) Johnny Cash – The Great Lost Performance
3) Cake – B-Sides and Rarities
4) Elvis Costello & the Attractions - The Best of the 1st Ten Years
5) Elvis Costello & the Attractions – Rock and Roll Music

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 134h – THE BEACH BOYS’ LATER YEARS

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Depending on your perspective, it could be considered either funny or sad to refer to this show as “The Beach Boys’ Later Years.” A simple look at the timeline explains why. It took us a full seven shows to cover one decade of recordings, and today we attempt to summarize the last 35 years, in one show. It is true that the number of quality recordings gradually slowed down to a paltry rate, but there was still enough going on to keep the band in the public eye. For better or worse,, the Beach Boys spent most of the past 3 ½ decades as “America’s Band,” which is to say, an oldies act. There have been a few bright moments – and plenty of weird ones, too – and we cover as mnay high points as we can fit into today’s program. Here’s our list of songs;
1) All This Is That
2) Sail On, Sailor
3) California Saga/ California
4) Rock and Roll Music
5) Johnny Carson
6) Solar System
7) The Night Was So Young
8) Beach Boys Medley
9) H.E.L.P. Is on the Way
10) Kokomo
11) Love and Mercy – Brian Wilson
12) Child Is Father to the Man - Brian Wilson
13) Surf’s Up - Brian Wilson

THE WINTER OF '67

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If you’ve been listening to American Hit Radio, then you know that we’ve been spending a great deal of time and energy focusing on music from 1967, and for good reason. 1967 was a banner year for popular music, and it’s been fun celebrating the 40th anniversary by playing some of the most interesting songs from that era. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end (the same holds true for bad things, too, thank goodness), and we will soon be expending our energy on ’58, ’68, ’78, and ’88. That will be fine, too, but meanwhile, let’s enjoy this show, which focuses on a few of the best singles ever released.
Songs featured in today’s show include
1) Daydream Believer – The Monkees
2) I Heard It Through the Grapevine – Gladys Knight & the Pips
3) I Second That Emotion – Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
4) (The Lights Went Out In) Massachusetts – The Bee Gees
5) By the Time I Get to Phoenix – Glen Campbell
6) An Open Letter to My Teenage Son – Victor Lundberg (as a ‘bad hit’)
7) Tell Mama – Etta James
8) Different Drum – Linda Ronstadt
9) If I Could Build My Whole World Around You – M. Gaye & T. Terrell
10) Chain of Fools – Aretha Franklin
11) Hello Goodbye – The Beatles