#200 Over & Done – Ryan Shaw (2007)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0QTR5dNTr0

 

Yes, this 3-year blog project, which I originally thought I would both start and end in 2016, is finally Over And Done. (No, it’s not a coincidence I saved this song for the end.) I’ve said plenty about Ryan Shaw elsewhere, so I won’t repeat it here. Suffice it to say that, if there really are parallel universes, this song was almost certainly a big hit in at least 90% of them.

 

Stay tuned – I plan to start my next musical effort next month, and (somewhat) confidently expect to finish it by the end of 2019. Happy New Year to all!

#199 The White Collar Holler – Stan Rogers (1979)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsDkmVo2fg4

 

As far as I know, neither well-known Canadian folkie Stan Rogers nor his lesser-known colleague Nigel Russell (who wrote the song) ever spent a day wearing a white collar, much less working in IT. Nevertheless, this ode to office-based professionals really hits the spot, so much so that I made a point of playing it for the attendees at my Westat retirement party.

#198 Queen Of My Soul – Average White Band (1976)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVYbDhyoc8Q

 

Music, sweet music

You're the queen of my soul

 

Certainly a sentiment near and dear to my own heart.

 

AWB notched only two big hits: the #1 near-instrumental “Pick Up The Pieces” and the #10 follow-up “Cut The Cake”. (“Queen Of My Soul” topped out at #40.) Despite their modest commercial success, however, they maintain a loyal following, put on a great live show, and are well worth checking out, even if you find “Cut The Cake” to be really annoying.

#197 Giving Up On Love – Jerry Butler (1964)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDmdc6WNHCk

 

Jerry Butler is one of my all-time favorite singers, and the only reason he hasn’t appeared on this list earlier is that I couldn’t make up my mind about which of his many classics to go with. I can’t put it much better than the words that “pghpookie” posted to accompany this video:

 

“Soft, cool soul from the 'Iceman' Jerry Butler. Released in 1964, and included on the 'Need To Belong' album, this is one of Jerry's most overlooked ballads. It's short, sweet, and to the point. It's also beautiful. What a great interpreter of songs and one of our finest balladeers.”

#196 Where Or When – Dion & The Belmonts (1960)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfTZRpCUXc0

 

Doo-wop groups often recorded versions of songs from my parents’ day (often referred to as the “Great American Songbook”). Some of these were, shall we say, radically re-invented – see, for instance, the deconstruction of the Rodgers and Hart classic “Blue Moon” by the Marcels. Dion and crew, however, do a lovely, beautifully-harmonized rendition of this ballad, also written by Rodgers and Hart.

 

#195 My Ever-Changing Moods – The Style Council (1984)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQPPQZ95xTk

 

Shortly after disbanding The Jam, Paul Weller founded the Style Council, which had much more of a blue-eyed soul vibe while continuing with socially-conscious lyrics in much of its material. Like its predecessor, the band racked up numerous hits in England, but it also managed to have some modest success in the U.S., getting as high as #29 with this one and reaching #76 with follow-up release “You’re The Best Thing”.

#194 That’s Entertainment – The Jam (1981)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-H0uIH5HHQ

 

British “mod revival/punk rock” band The Jam was huge at home, but got limited airplay in the States and failed to dent the Hot 100 even once. At some point when the BMG Music Club still existed, I picked up their greatest-hits collection, based on two of their songs I had heard and liked: this one, and “A Town Called Malice”, which was featured prominently in the movie version of Billy Elliot. Quite frankly, none of the 17 other British hits on the CD did much for me, but these two still hold up. Both are catchy, but the largely acoustic “That’s Entertainment” has more coherent (as well as more intelligible) lyrics.

#193 Sideways Walkin’ Dog – Zachary Smith & The Dixie Power Trio (2007)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIkPuiPU-U

 

Zachary Smith & The Dixie Power Trio is a wonderful Virginia-based band that, sadly, doesn’t get up to the Rockville area nearly as often as it used to. While probably best known for their zydeco (the album that this track starts off is entitled Zydeco Dog), their music also includes a mix of “Cajun, New Orleans jazz, funk, street parade, and rock”. “Sideways Walkin’ Dog” is 5:43 worth of funk-flavored jazz, and has been picked up as a favorite of a number of high school jazz bands.

#192 We'll Sing In The Sunshine – Gale Garnett (1964)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZeRVUUxV_k

 

We'll sing in the sunshine

Then I'll be on my way

 

Gale Garnett both wrote and recorded this classic, which won the 1964 Grammy for Best Folk Recording. Just a year after Little Peggy March topped the charts with “I Will Follow Him”, this one stands with Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me” as an early anthem of female empowerment. (More importantly, they're both great songs.)

#191 Hole In The Wall – The Packers (1965)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeBy12LN4Y4

 

This is one of those instrumentals that stuck in my head ever since I first heard it. The overall sound is very similar to the live version of “The In-Crowd” by the Ramsey Lewis Trio earlier that same year. Although the Packers were apparently an actual band that recorded two albums, it’s worth noting that this one was co-written by three of the members of Booker T. & The MG’s, two of whom also play on the recording.

#190 I Wanna Be With You – The Raspberries (1973)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mFUYm5QFUE

 

I originally planned to start this entry by remarking that this song should surely be in the “Power Pop Hall of Fame”, should such a thing exist. Oddly enough, such a thing DOES exist, albeit only online. Like its more famous counterpart, it contains artists (22 if I counted correctly) rather than songs, but the Raspberries are in fact there, along with other personal favorites such as the Smithereens and Teenage Fanclub. (No Marshall Crenshaw, unfortunately.) The Raspberries didn’t stay around very long, although Eric Carmen went on to a successful solo career, but "Go All the Way", "Let's Pretend", and "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)” are also more than worth hearing. It’s really the guitar riff that kicks off the song and is repeated thereafter that, for me, elevates “I Wanna Be with You” above the rest.

 

#189 Ain't It Fun – Paramore (2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izx9ADLjgbM

 

Hayley Williams and Paramore have certainly come a long way from “Misery Business” to this one, although the song’s lyrics aren’t exactly as upbeat as the positive title and bouncy music would suggest. I definitely agree with one critic’s suggestion that this recording is a perfect accompaniment for high school graduation ceremonies. I also think that the line “Don’t go crying to your mama” would be a great chant for the student sections at college basketball games to direct at visiting team coaches whining about personal foul calls.

#188 Cry Like A Baby – The Box Tops (1968)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlRvP89EoDo

 

The Box Tops are best-known for their debut single “The Letter”, which hit #1 in 1967. (Although I like the concise 1:58 original, I prefer Joe Cocker’s raucous and much longer 1970 remake.) Although the band’s material was not always the greatest, “Cry Like A Baby” is a blue-eyed soul classic, co-written by Spooner Oldham (who also played keyboards on the recording) and the great Dan Penn, whose body of work also includes another one of my all-time favorites. Singer Alex Chilton, who went on to become an indie-rock cult favorite after the Box Tops disbanded and inspired a musical tribute by the Replacements, throws in a sly reference near the end to “You Left The Water Running”, another great (but little-known) tune co-written by Penn.

#187 It Makes No Difference – The Band (1975)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAtO-qtZxRY

 

Robbie Robertson doesn’t get nearly enough credit as a songwriter, and this is one of his best. Rick Danko nails the lead vocal on what one critic has called “one of the most devastatingly beautiful heartbreakers in rock and roll history”.

#186 Should I Cry – The Concords (1964)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeuYKk7kbtU

 

Absolutely fantastic up-tempo doo-wop, every bit as good as the Del Vikings’ “Come Go With Me”. The former hit the top 10 in 1957, while this one, like “Morse Code Of Love” and “Rainy Day Bells”, had the misfortune to come out after doo-wop’s popularity had peaked. Life is like that sometimes.

 

#185 Shakedown Street – Grateful Dead (1978)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lCMUkqpI7o

 

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.)

#184 Rock With You – Michael Jackson (1979)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X-Mrc2l1d0

 

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)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-P95D-7HIk

 

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)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGQd8M5t4Ao

 

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)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7xrQY_FLM4

 

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.