It’s been roughly a week since I posted the second of Mike’s Music Mix posts, and I’ve got a hankering to post part 3, once again raiding my Last.fm artists lists for a few more of my favs, in the hopes a visitor or two to this site will give some or all of the posted tracks a listen.
Taylor Swift – Red
In my younger days, The Beatles were big. These days, it’s Taylor Swift. Female singers have come a long way, and it’s about time they arrived. I’ve been listening to Taylor’s music for some years now. She’s evolved over that time, but she feels timeless to me, too. I’m sure she’ll age someday, but probably not until after I’m long gone.
Chicago – Old Days
The band Chicago released so many, many albums, it would have been hard to keep track of them, except they titled them with their group name and a roman numeral. This song is from Chicago VIII. No video for this one, so feel free to close your eyes, sit back, and relax as you listen. If you’re too young to have any memories of old days, well, enjoy the musical composition, because these guys knew how to compose a song.
Britney Spears – I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll
Before Taylor Swift, there was Britney Spears. Britney maybe wasn’t quite as big a star in her day as Taylor is now, but Britney certainly got attention. I never owned a Britney Spears album on vinyl, but I did own the CD version of her eponymous album, Britney. I’d listen to it on a portable CD player at work while I wrote software for the US Department of Defense. One of my coworkers asked if he could borrow the CD “for a brief time.” He wanted to “look at the cover.” I was afraid I wouldn’t get it back, so I said no. I’d been burned before on loaning out my copy of Elric of Melnibone to a “friend” who never returned it, and I wasn’t going to allow myself to go through that kind of torture again, not even when the prize was a Britney Spears CD.
Steely Dan – Everything Must Go
Steely Dan is well known for songs like Do It Again, Reeling In the Years, and other songs from the 70s. I love many of those songs. I was excited when they started releasing new albums after a twenty-year hiatus, including the album Everything Must Go. Here’s the title track from that album. I love the saxophone parts, perhaps mainly because I used to try to play the saxophone in high school band.
Garbage – Only Happy When It Rains
The early 90s were a tough time for me, and when Garbage came on the scene in 1995, their song Only Happy When It Rains struck a chord with me after a long period of depression that I hadn’t fully conquered. I wasn’t suicidal anymore, but I would often feel the misery pouring down on me. So I felt a connection to the band, especially to the lead singer, Shirley Manson, a connection made even stronger by the fact that their videos were so weird… like I typically felt then and still often do now.
Johnny Cash – Rusty Cage
I’ve listened to so many Johnny Cash songs over the years, some of which are clear classics from his early days, like A Boy Named Sue and Folsom Prison Blues. But the man never stopped making music until death put an end to him, and I appreciate many of his later songs as much as those classics from the early days. His remakes of songs by the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Simon and Garfunkel took me pleasantly by surprise. I adore his rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water, sung with Fiona Apple. Then there’s this bold remake of a Soundgarden tune. I love it.
machineheart – Do You Love
I don’t know what is wrong with America. I mean, yeah, I like listening to songs by Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Katherine McPhee, and Jordin Sparks. But many of my favorite female artists from American Idol – when I used to watch it – were let go from the show before making the top five: Siobahn Magnus, Leslie Hunt, Sarah Mather (now Sarah Lake), and Lindsey Cardinale, to name a few. But top on my list of female contestants from American Idol is Stevie Scott. She has the voice of an angel. She can sing anything, and it will pierce my heart. Here she is as lead singer of the band machineheart. In a later music mix, I’ll include a song from The Yves, her current band.
Soundgarden – Jesus Christ Pose
When I decided I’d include a song by Soundgarden in this music mix, I admit I was tempted to use their version of Rusty Cage, so as to compare it to the Johnny Cash version of the song. But you can do the comparison yourself if you want. For my choice of song by Soundgarden for this mix, I’m using a tune that probably means different things to different people. Some people might be easily offended by it, but I’m not one of them. If you can’t imagine any good coming from a grunge song with a religious tie-in, then feel free to skip on down the list.
Hey Violet – Problems
I listen to a number of all-girl bands, including the all-girl band Cherri Bomb. Sadly, Cherri Bomb disbanded. But one of the singers from the group, Rena Lovelis, with her drummer sister, Nia Lovelis, joined a few other people to form Hey Violet. The members of Hey Violet aren’t all female, but that’s okay. I love Rena’s voice, and that keeps me listening to her music. Hey Violet was my second most-played artist in 2022. As long as they keep releasing music, I’ll keep listening, even if they are only releasing one song at a time… they’ve released no new full-length albums since their first one, From the Outside, was released in 2017. It’s all good. They released a new single about a month ago, but for this music mix I’m grabbing a favorite from a couple years back. I’m amused by the lyrics and how Rena delivers them.
This video doesn’t show Nia on the drums, unfortunately. I enjoy watching Nia when she does make appearances in the music videos. She’s quirky, and I like quirky, but she also knows how to work those drums, which is more evident in some other Hey Violet videos. Maybe you should check out their channel on YouTube…. 🙂
The O’Jays – Back Stabbers
When I was young, growing up on the farm, I had to walk a quarter of a mile to where my grandparents lived if I wanted to watch TV. My grandma liked for me to spend time at her house, and was all too happy to let me watch the TV after school until I had to go home to do my chores. Sometimes I’d make the trek back to my grandparents’ house after dinner, so I could watch shows during prime time. I don’t remember exactly what time of day or what days of the week Soul Train was on, but I watched it every chance I got.
Maybe I saw this song performed on TV back then. I can’t remember who all I saw on the show. But certain songs from The O’Jays have remained favorites of mine over the years. Love Train is classic. Survival is another favorite. And then there’s the song about people you thought you could trust, but who then put a knife in your back. I’ve had people in my life like that.
Some people have behaved towards me as though I’ve offended them, while I have no idea why. There haven’t been many times I’ve ever intentionally tried to harm or slight anyone. That’s just not who I am. I do have a different sense of humor than the average American, so maybe I said something I thought was funny, but it wasn’t taken that way. I don’t know. Still, when you’re the target of a backstab or believe you have been, it doesn’t matter how intentional it was… it hurts.
Halestorm – Freak Like Me
I first took notice of Halestorm when I caught the video for Love Bites (So Do I) on YouTube. Wow. That Lzzy Hale can belt it out, and looks good doing it. I signed up on the Halestorm mailing list, and believe I’m still on it. Every so often I get emails from them, mostly about their touring schedule, merch they’re selling, or new releases. Sometimes they’ve sent private links to special message videos, which I found to be very cool.
I’ve said before, somewhere, maybe in a YouTube comment, that Arejay Hale is possibly the best drummer ever. Look, the guy started drumming when he was three. He’s had practice, but more than that, he’s a natural.
The B-52’s – Deadbeat Club
You may know The B-52’s for songs like Love Shack and Rock Lobster, but they’ve done many more than that. They’ve released studio albums in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s, and live albums in the 2010s. Love Shack is my favorite song by The B-52’s (as many of their other fans might also say), but here I decided to post a video I hadn’t seen before, although I’ve of course heard the song many times. I enjoyed watching Kate Pierson move in this video.
Did you know that Kate Pierson joined the Japanese female vocalist Yuki Isoya and a few other musicians in a band called NiNa? They catered more to a Japanese audience. They weren’t deadbeats. 🙂
That’s enough for this edition of Mike’s Music Mix. Come back next time for part 4. Happy holidays!