Although I’ve
never been a Deadhead, I’ve always liked a number of the band’s songs (“Truckin’”,
“Uncle John’s Band”, “Hell In A Bucket”, among others). For me, “Shakedown
Street” is to the Dead what “Nighttime In The Switching Yard” is to Warren
Zevon: probably not their greatest work from an artistic standpoint, but with
hooks and a beat that refuse to leave your brain. (Not that you would want them
to.)
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
#184 Rock With You – Michael Jackson (1979)
The one
where Michael absolutely nails one of the best songs by the late, great Rod Temperton. The Off The Wall album
produced three other great singles; while it lacks the record sales and
cultural significance of Thriller, it
represents a Jackson who has reached a high level of musical maturity, before
starting to show signs of the naked ambition that led to his “King of Pop”
self-anointment and ultimately contributed to his downfall.
#183 Ask The Lonely – The Four Tops (1965)
In its
mid-60s heyday, Motown Records was almost as famous for its songwriters (Smokey
Robinson, Norman Whitfield / Barrett Strong, Holland-Dozier-Holland) as for its
groups and solo performers. This record, one of the best ballads of its time,
was written by William “Mickey” Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter. Although not
nearly as well-known as these big names, the two of them did collaborate on a
number of other Motown tracks, such as “Wild One”, “My Baby Loves Me”, “You’ve
Been In Love Too Long”, and “Dancing In The Street” – all by Martha and the
Vandellas – in addition to quite a bit of production work. Stevenson also
showed his versatility by co-writing “Devil with a Blue Dress On” with Shorty
Long; Long’s original version on Motown disappeared without a trace, but it
became a big hit for Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels and still remains a
staple of Bruce Springsteen’s live “Detroit Medley”.
#182 I'll Walk Away – James Hunter (2006)
I’ve sung
the praises of James Hunter and his band many times, so I won’t repeat myself
here. This ballad, with a wonderfully understated accompaniment, tells the tale
of a man who pledges to make a graceful exit when (not if) his lady finally has
had enough of him. It’s the best track on his People Gonna Talk album, which is saying a lot. (He actually
released an earlier version of the song on Believe
What I Say about a decade earlier, but the later arrangement is
considerably better.)
#181 Since I Fell for You – Lenny Welch (1963)
Lenny Welch,
to the extent that he’s remembered at all, was primarily known as a ballad
singer; he had his one big hit with this unexpectedly soulful version of a
big-band standard from the 1940s. I don’t know where he got the idea to revive
it, but we can certainly be glad that he did.
Monday, April 16, 2018
April 15, 2018 – Rockies 6, Nats 5 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 25,462
Duration: 3:14
Weather: 52 degrees, Rain
Wind: 12 MPH In From Right
Umpires: HP: Jerry Meals. 1B: Ben May. 2B: Ron Kulpa. 3B: Gabe Morales.
Back to miserable weather, and a weird and miserable finish to the Nats’
3-7 home stand.
Game notes – Nats drew 10 walks, but stranded 8 and went 0-8 with
runners in scoring position … 2 of their runs came on solo homers (Harper in
the 1st, Wieters in the 6th) … with the bases loaded via
walks and 2 out in the bottom of the 5th, Rockies catcher Chris
Iannetta missed a pitch to Ryan Zimmerman and then threw the ball past the
Rockies’ pitcher, allowing 2 runs to score … in the 8th, after
Wieters inexplicably (and unsuccessfully) attempted to steal second, Taylor
doubled with 2 outs, easily stole 3rd, and scored on a wild pitch …
Strasburg retired the first 11 batters before serving up a homer to Charlie
Blackmon … after Washington’s 2-run fifth, Colorado took the lead on Blackmon’s
2-run, 2-out double, followed by a Gonzalez single … they got solo HRs in the 8th
(LeMahieu off Kelley) and 9th (former Nat Ian Desmond off Doolittle)
for the final margin
Other – after great weather Friday and Saturday, Sunday felt even
colder and windier than predicted and announced … spent most of my day in the
elevator lounge out of the cold, wind, and off-and-on rain, watching the game
on the video screen … did go down to our seats for the bottom of the 5th,
6th, and 7th … good traffic both ways, as we successfully
navigated a new path from the GW Parkway to the 14th Street Bridge
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