As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

#25 What's So Good About Goodbye -- The Miracles (1962)



This one was a favorite of Weasel, back in the heyday of WHFS. It’s not one of Smokey Robinson’s better-known songs, but is certainly one of his best. (Fellow Miracle Marv Tarplin does the Duane Eddy-style guitar.) The bridge is classic Smokey:

“How can goodbye be good
To a lover who really cares
And another thing I would like to clarify
Is how can farewell be fair.”

 

#26 Someone Is Standing Outside -- Patti Austin (1988)



Jimmy Webb was one of the hottest songwriters of the late 1960s, with hits for the Fifth Dimension (“Up, Up And Away”), Richard Harris (“MacArthur Park”), Glen Campbell (“By The Time I Get To Phoenix”, “Wichita Lineman”, “Galveston”), and others. This one was recorded by Thelma Houston (no relation to Whitney) and a few other folks around that same time, but Patti Austin really made it her own as part of her fine The Real Me album in 1988, where it actually manages to outshine her excellent versions of better-known classics such as “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” and “Cry Me A River.”

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Shuffle #28 (September 14, 2014)


I Want To Be Wanted – Brenda Lee
The Boxer – Simon & Garfunkel
Pancho & Lefty – Emmylou Harris
Sunshine Of Your Love – Cream
Particle Man – They Might Be Giants
Long Promised Road – The Beach Boys
In The Midnight Hour – Wilson Pickett
Heavy Love – David Ruffin
I Get A Kick Out Of You – Frank Sinatra