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.)

Monday, January 13, 2025

Favorite Music of 2024

Since Top 40 radio this past year was dominated by female artists, it’s no surprise that my first list below is as well.

 

Songs (Top 40 division)

 

1.      Feather – Sabrina Carpenter

2.      Die With A Smile – Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars

3.      Water – Tyla 

4.      BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish

5.      Made For Me – Muni Long

6.      Saturn – Sza

7.      Paint The Town Red – Doja Cat

8.      Strangers – Kenya Grace

9.      The Door – Teddy Swims

10.   Calling After Me – Wallows

11.   Stick Season – Noah Kahan

12.   I Remember Everything – Zach Bryan (feat. Kacey Musgraves)

13.   Training Season – Dua Lipa

14.   Used To Be Young – Miley Cyrus

15.   Standing Next To You – Jung Kook & Usher

 

Songs (AAA division)

 

1.      Wondering Why – Red Clay Strays

2.      Dance With A Stranger – Lake Street Dive

3.      Live For You – Thee Sacred Souls

4.      So Glad You Made It – Fantastic Cat

5.      Solitary Road – Charley Crockett

6.      Northern Attitude – Noah Kahan

7.      Cardinal – Kacey Musgraves

8.      Peaceful Place – Leon Bridges

9.      My Love Mine All Mine – Mitski

10.   Empty Trainload Of Sky – Gillian Welch/David Rawlings

11.   A Fragile Thing – The Cure

12.   Bells And Whistles – Bright Eyes

13.   Don’t Forget Me – Maggie Rogers

14.   Burial Ground – Decemberists

15.   Ice Cream (Pay Phone) – Black Pumas

 

Albums

 

1.      Now That’s What I Call Fantastic Cat

2.      A Philly Special Christmas Party – The Philly Specials

3.      Lake Street Dive – Good Together (#1 mvyradio top 25)

4.      Dawes – Oh Brother

5.      Richard Thompson – Ship To Shore

Saturday, January 11, 2025

Hell swallows the city of angels

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/01/08/wildfires-los-angeles-disaster-la/

 

There is certainly nothing funny about this Rick Reilly column, but it’s well worth reading nonetheless, especially since he has a home in Los Angeles County (Hermosa Beach). The penultimate paragraph is especially affecting:

 

A writer thinks back on his 45 years spent in Los Angeles, off and on. He remembers the L.A. riots, the Northridge earthquake, the massive Mendocino fire, all of them paling compared with this. He’s never seen annihilation like this. These fires burn from the beach to the mountains, from Pasadena to the Palisades, from the Malibu trailers to Pasadena mansions. Some fully immolate in the time it takes to say the Lord’s Prayer.

Thursday, January 9, 2025

Waymo rocks!

This Rick Reilly column is waymo funny than most of the articles that I post. (Sorry.)

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/01/07/waymo-driverless-taxi/