Tuesday, February 26, 2013

#637: Biggest impacts

Over at Circle of Fits, Seano & his friends have posted & started taking responses 2 a list of the 100 Most Influential Albums Ever -- a tough list 2 argue with, even if I haven't heard summa the newer (last 30 years) or British entries. Most of the albums on the list will come as no surprise, if you're a big music fan. They're all titles you probably know well.
But it got me thinking....
I don't much care about which albums have had the biggest influence on The World, but I can tell you off the top of my head which albums have had the biggest impact on ME. & basically it's the same old list, you'll find no big surprises here. But if you haven't tried some of these, you should. You might be very pleasantly surprised....
For almost all of them, I can remember where I was & what I was doing when I 1st heard them. They mark the years for me. In more-or-less descending order....

Moody Blues -- The Present, To Our Children's Children's Children, A Question of Balance, Long Distance Voyager, Days of Future Passed, Seventh Sojourn.
Beatles -- Abbey Road, White Album, 1962-1966, 1967-1970.
Beach Boys -- Pet Sounds, SMiLE.
Who -- Who's Next, Thirty Years of Maximum R&B best-of, Quadrophenia.
Yes -- Yessongs, Going for the One.
King Crimson -- Young Person's Guide best-of, The Great Deceiver/Live 1973-74.
Gryphon -- Red Queen to Gryphon Three, Treason.
Nick Drake -- Bryter Layter.
Pretenders -- 1st.
Providence -- Ever Sense the Dawn.
Boston -- 1st, Third Stage, Don't Look Back.
Genesis -- A Trick of the Tale, ...And Then There Were Three....
Renaissance -- Live at Carnegie Hall.
Illusion -- Out of the Mist.
Happy the Man -- Crafty Hands.
Al Stewart -- Modern Times, Year of the Cat.
Go-Go's -- Talk Show, Beauty and the Beat.
Bangles -- Different Light, All Over the Place.
Group 87 -- 1st.
Caravan -- For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night, Canterbury Tales best-of, Blind Dog at St. Dunstans'.
Camel -- Nude, The Snow Goose, Breathless, Rain Dances, The Single Factor (side 2).
Clannad -- Macalla, Pastpresent best-of.
Justin Hayward and John Lodge -- Blue Jays.
Fleetwood Mac -- Mirage, Tusk, Rumours, The Chain best-of.
Kansas -- Leftoverture.
Queen -- A Night at the Opera.
U.K. -- 1st.
Fairport Convention -- Fairport Chronicles best-of.
Phil Spector -- Wall of Sound/Greatest Hits.
Gentle Giant -- Pretensious best-of, Free Hand.
Split Enz -- Waiata, History Never Repeats best-of.
Shoes -- Present Tense.
Neil Diamond -- Greatest Hits/Classics: The Early Years/The Bang Years.
Rush -- Chronicles best-of, Moving Pictures.
Kate Bush -- The Kick Inside, Never for Ever, Lionheart.
Pink Floyd -- The Wall, Wish You Were Here, Echoes best-of, Dark Side of the Moon, Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
Strawbs -- Story in Music best-of (Italian import).
Amazing Blondel -- Fantasia Lindum.
Nektar -- Thru the Ears best-of.
Sky -- Sky2.
Suzanne Vega -- 1st.
Grace Slick -- Dreams.
Wings -- Venus and Mars.
Sally Oldfield -- Water Bearer.
Hawkwind -- Hall of the Mountain Grill.
Led Zeppelin -- IV, In Through the Out Door.
Elton John -- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
Jethro Tull -- Songs From the Wood, Stormwatch, Minstrel in the Gallery (side 2).
Journey -- Infinity, Escape.
Cars -- Heartbeat City, 1st.
Jefferson Starship -- Freedom at Point Zero.
The Jam -- Setting Sons.
Jefferson Airplane -- The Worst of.
Bread -- Best of Volume 1.
Hollies -- Romany.
Wigwam -- Nuclear Nightclub.
Janis Ian -- Between the Lines.
Cyndi Lauper -- She's So Unusual.
Blue Oyster Cult -- Agents of Fortune.
Mike Oldfield -- Tubular Bells, Ommadawn, Incantations.
Rare Earth -- One World.
Lobo -- Introducing.
Partridge Family -- 1st, Sound Magazine.

...As I get older, it's getting harder to "impress" me, or even 4 me 2 find new music that I actually LIKE. The last 2 albums I remember being completely knocked-out by were Fleet Foxes' 1st & Jordin Sparks' 1st.... I was especially impressed last year with Love's FOREVER CHANGES -- the good parts R really great, but I wish I'd heard it years earlier....
...Is this list a bit wimpy when it comes 2 REAL LOUD rock&roll? Well then, it is. I'm a well-known wimp from WAY back....
...This list may B added-2 at any time due 2 my failing memory.
Your thoughts...?

Saturday, February 23, 2013

#636: Look Through Any Window

Privacy issues have taken up a lot of Seattle-area TV-newstime & newspaper space recently, some pretty intresting stories:
The Seattle Police Department has backed away from a plan to deploy unmanned police drones around the city, following lotsa public outcry & Mayor Mike McGinn's subsequent order 2 drop the plan.
But the city has also installed a number of surveillance cameras around Elliott Bay, allegedly to keep the Port Of Seattle safe from terrorists. The cameras are scheduled to be switched-on within the next 6 weeks. & tho the cameras R intended 2 B pointed at the bay, it seems they can also be used 2 conduct surveillance on ordinary people going thru their daily routines along the waterfront.
The American Civil Liberties Union has expressed some concern about the federally-funded drones & cameras -- asking why the SPD would consider putting up drones without getting public input about the plan 1st, & about why the city would potentially B conducting surveillance on people who R doing nothing wrong....
Paranoia?
It's true that the port/ferry/cruise-ship-docking area adjacent 2 downtown Seattle is basically wide open. & it's true that a terrorist was caught & convicted of trying 2 smuggle explosives thru the nearby Port Angeles US port-of-entry a few years back.
But is there a perceived threat to the Port Of Seattle?
Or is this just a chance 2 put the latest technology 2 use 2 surveil the public 4 no really good reason?
Maybe I've been listening-2 2 much late-nite talk radio recently, but concerns about privacy issues & the government R popping up more&more often lately.
& sometimes it gets pretty close 2 home.
When I'm at home, looking 4 wi-fi signals I can catch a ride on so I can post silly stuff here, 1 of the wi-fi systems I'm NOT allowed on2 (because it's secured) is registered 2 "Surveillance Van 004." Not sure where that van is, but with the World's Smallest Laptop's abilities, I havta assume that van is parked somewhere within a coupla blocks of my house.
Not sure why anybody would B doing surveilling in the outskirts of a town as small as Port Orchard -- unless they're watching out 4 drug deals ... & there's no evidence of that.
But apparently somebody's out there....
Paranoia?
Would you like having a drone hovering over your backyard while you're busy doin' nothin', breaking no laws, just being yourself?
How about a camera?
...Be Seeing You!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

#635: Money-making secrets of the Illuminati -- Revealed!

So, if you're going out for dinner you might want to know in advance what kind of sounds the restaurant's muzak system will be playing -- it might make the difference between a great dinner & indigestion, if you're a big enuf music fan.
So, if you're gonna be around the Bremerton/Port Orchard, Wash., area anytime soon, here's what a few local restaurants will be playing while you try to eat. Can't speak for the rest of the country, of course, but this research is To Be Continued....

International House of Pancakes, East Bremerton -- Too much new stuff, but 1 song stopped me in mid-bite: Dwight Twilley Band's "I'm on Fire," which I hadn't heard since about 1976. Also Chic's "I Want Your Love," which I also hadn't heard in awhile. Music's at just the right volume, tho again there was 2 much stuff from the past decade. + we had the place 2 Rselves at 8:30pm & the food was good & cheap. Grade: A-.
Shari's, East Bremerton -- Decent mostly-upbeat '60s/'70s hits, played not-quite-loud-enuf, not too much overplayed crap -- the big minus they earned for playing "Desperado" is more than outweighed by the + they get for Heart's "Love Alive." Other songs: The Chain, Wild Night, Levon, For What it's Worth, Loves Me Like a Rock, Poor Poor Pitiful Me. You can also overhear intresting conversations from nearby booths. Overheard from the young couple in the booth next to ours: "California's REALLY tough on smokers." Ha, welcome to Washington, kids -- you ain't seen nothin' yet. B+.
Family Pancake House, East Bremerton -- Mostly '70s pop & R&B hits by Nilsson, Cat Stevens, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, The Stylistics. Sounds good. Decent food, too. B+.
Shari's, Port Orchard -- Mostly obscure '50s & '60s rock&roll, R&B and pop hits that will keep your head spinning. Everything from Little Richard (doing WHAT? Couldn't place it) to "Along Comes Mary." Should be LOUDER. B+.
Shari's, Silverdale -- '70s hits played TOO LOW. The big minus they got 4 playing Dr. Hook's "Only Sixteen" & Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" was more than counterbalanced by big +'s 4 "The Only Living Boy in New York" & "Morning Has Broken." Food was great, service was solid. B+.
Family Pancake House, Bremerton -- Everything from '50s rock&roll to current rock & country, played a little bit too low. Too much alternative rock. B-.
Denny's, Bremerton -- '80s hits by the likes of Blondie, The Clash, Split Enz, Wang Chung, Duran Duran, Thomas Dolby, Tommy Tutone, The Knack (ugh), Squeeze(?), etc., played so low that they R mostly buried by the heavy-metal radio sounds coming out of the kitchen. The atmosphere & the employees R usually pretty great. The food is sometimes pretty good too. But still, musically speaking, C+.
Spiro's, Silverdale -- Too much low-key current stuff, with 1 suprise: Florence + the Machine's raucous "Dog Days Are Over." Music played 2 softly, tho the view's nice & the pizza & lasagna were Xcellent. C+.

Friday, February 15, 2013

#634: The Work continues/Valentine's Nite Special!

Music Therapy with the humans continues. Since it was Valentine's Nite, we tried 2 play mostly Really Gloppy Broken-Hearted Love Songs with mainly women vocalists -- but that plan didn't last long, & the rock&roll took over. The playlist included:

Bangles -- Dover Beach, Everything I Wanted, Be With You, Going Down to Liverpool.
Fleetwood Mac -- Why?, Silver Springs, Green Manalishi.
Mary-Chapin Carpenter -- Passionate Kisses.
Doobie Brothers -- Neal's Fandango.
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles -- Tears of a Clown.
Marvin Gaye -- What's Goin' On?, I Heard it Through the Grapevine.
Gladys Knight & the Pips -- I Heard it Through the Grapevine.
David Ruffin -- My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me).
Temptations -- Ball of Confusion, I Can't Get Next to You, Papa Was a Rollin' Stone.
Four Tops -- Reach Out I'll Be There.
Jackson 5 -- I Want You Back.
Supremes -- Up the Ladder to the Roof.
Spinners -- I'll be Around, I'm Coming Home.
Sly and the Family Stone -- Thank You Falletinme be Mice Elf Agin.
Kansas -- Miracles Out of Nowhere, Questions of My Childhood, Cheyenne Anthem.
XTC -- Senses Working Overtime, Ball and Chain, No Thugs in our House.
Five Man Electrical Band -- Absolutely Right.

Feedback: A coupla guys recognized "Green Manalishi"  -- & thot it was PERFECTLY appropriate 4 Valentine's Day!
...1st time I've played music at work in WEEKS, & it really worked. 1 thing about those old Motown hits -- they will definitely keep you moving.
More soon!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

#633: What it is

Getting a little frustrated here. Mainly because I'm pretty bored with just about everything, both musically & bookishly. It's been awhile since anything has really JOLTED me -- possibly since my buddy Crabby sent me a copy of Cromagnon's disturbing CAVE ROCK.
I'd welcome a break from the same-old same-old, from those widely-accepted classic hits we all grew up on. I'd love a POSITIVE jolt of new music. But, if you're gonna make recommendations, PLEASE, nothing as jolting as CAVE ROCK, OK...?
I have a stack of barely-touched CD's in the house that I've been hauling to work every nite 4 weeks, but it just seemed like 2 much work 2 put them on -- & once I did, they mostly failed 2 keep me motivated. (DID make some woeful new discoveries 4 another post about Really Bad Prog, however -- that 1 will B Coming Soon....)
Fell back on the almost-always-reliable Motivational Stuff -- & then failed 2 put that on the CD player, either. Not sure what's wrong with me -- might B that it's Winter & only just barely showing signs of Spring coming, that I was sick 4 a week, that the Old Reliables might finally B running out of charm & oomph 4 me.
Which doesn't mean I don't still think they'd work wonders 4 you, if you've never heard them.
Here's the thing -- I can post lists of great music I think you should check out, but I can't force you 2 go find them -- all I can do is post the info & hope 4 feedback.
I also can't -- at least so far -- seem 2 tell you specifically why I think this stuff is great or overlooked, why it might help hold your world together in the way it's helped me for so many years. I can sorta dance around it, but.... A list isn't the same thing as hearing something. & you can't really DESCRIBE music, only its effects -- you can only play it & listen. Anything more would be The Thing Itself.
Which doesn't mean I'm not gonna TRY....
& none of this Xplains my theory that the world might be a better, happier place if more people listened 2 Caravan or Gryphon or Happy the Man or Group 87 or Nick Drake. I don't know if those folks would work 4 everybody. I just know they work 4 me.
But getting at the essence of WHY they work ... well, it's been awhile since I've even TRIED that.
I can tell you that, 4 me, something is "great" or "brilliant," but that doesn't even describe the territory. I can tell you that my world would be a lesser place without...
...Caravan's gorgeous vocals, unique bubbly keyboard textures, big-band-style swing & dramatic instrumental sweep, great pop songwriting, & silly obsession with fat women.
...Happy the Man's beautiful interweaving washes of keyboard, sax, flute & guitar, & their disconnected high-tech lyrical outlook.
...Illusion's gorgeous, timeless rural-England placidity.
...The Moody Blues' perfect pop songwriting, gorgeous vocal blend, & the siren wail of the mellotron.
...Nick Drake's smoky voice, beautiful folk melodies, & his melancholy.
...Gryphon's wind-up-toy-horn sound.
...Sandy Denny's haunted voice.
...Yes's cosmic vision, & their freshness & enthusiasm in their younger days.
...ELP's confidence & bombast.
...Renaissance's gorgeous classically-influenced keyboard melodies, their poetic lyrics, & even their stuck-up prissiness at times.
...King Crimson's stunning, overwhelming presence & mood -- & their icy intelligence.
...The Beatles' insane enthusiasm up through about 1966.
...Bob Dylan's screechy, whiny voice, & his at-times hilarious lyrics. If he hadn't become a folk singer, he coulda been a stand-up comic.
...Fleetwood Mac's gorgeous, lighter-than-air group vocals in their later years ("Brown Eyes," "You Make Loving Fun"), their brave off-the-wall experiments ("Murrow Turning Over in His Grave," TUSK), & their pop hooks that grab hold & won't let go -- even if you don't wanna B sucked-in ("Dreams," "Don't Stop").
...Group 87's beautiful, life-affirming musical themes & their mix of sax, keybs & guitar.
...Gentle Giant's intricacy & cleverness, their Gregorian-chant group vocals ... & not forgetting some excellent forceful songs, no matter how tricky & obscure they get.
...Camel's gorgeous guitar & keyboard textures.
...The Beach Boys' gorgeous group vocals of course -- & Brian Wilson's firm grasp of fantasy -- whether it's an affluent Southern California suburbia (classic early-'60s hits) or a cosmic American Wild West (SMiLE).
...Genesis's gorgeous middle-period British fantasies (TRICK OF THE TAIL to -- roughly -- THREE SIDES LIVE).
...Wigwam's whimsy, & subdued power (NUCLEAR NIGHTCLUB).
...Phil Spector's perfect teen melodramas ("I Wonder," "The Best Part of Breakin' Up," "Baby I Love You," "Be My Baby," "You've Lost That Loving Feeling," "River Deep, Mountain High," "There's No Other Like My Baby," "Christmas -- Baby Please Come Home," etc).
...Jefferson Airplane/Starship's science-fiction vocal chorales (FREEDOM AT POINT ZERO, "All Nite Long," "Save Your Love," "Crown of Creation," "Good Shepherd," "Mexico," etc).
...Elton John's insane enthusiasm, & the tons of potential hits he threw away ("Love Lies Bleeding," "Gray Seal," "Ballad of Danny Bailey," "(Gotta Get a) Meal Ticket," "Teacher I Need You," "Elderberry Wine," "Have Mercy on the Criminal," "Grimsby," "Ego," etc).
...& many more I can't even remember right now....

...I plan 2 keep bashing away at this, trying 2 get closer 2 why this is an obsession that I HAVE 2 keep writing about -- but in the meantime, it would B nice 2 hear from some of you out there about whether any of the music I've recommended has worked 4 you -- or even if it hasn't....
'Til next time....

Friday, February 8, 2013

#632: Scrambling for $$$

Good Ghod, it's HUGE! It's a MONSTER! Well, it took MONTHS, but I FINALLY got thru a re-read of Hunter S. Thompson's FEAR AND LOATHING IN AMERICA (2000), 730 pages of his letters from the mid-'60s thru the mid-'70s.
Should note up-front that this massive book is NOT on the same level as FEAR AND LOATHING ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL '72, FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, HELL'S ANGELS, THE GREAT SHARK HUNT, or whatever your personal fave HST work is. It's more about what went on behind-the-scenes while those books were written & after they were published, & how those books changed Thompson's life.
& what we mostly see here -- especially in the 1st 1/2 of the book -- is HST scrambling for $$$, or trying 2 nail-down details about $$$: How much is he going to get paid for writing a piece or a book? Will the publisher cover his "research" expenses? How much will it cost to buy his house near Aspen & the land around it? How much does he owe someone? How much can he lend? Will the charge-card companies hold off for another month? Will his publisher reimburse him 4 Xpenses so the charge-card companies won't come break his legs? Etc.
What is clear here is that the picture of HST as a loudmouthed recluse devouring his earnings thru massive intake of alcohol & drugz is pretty wrong. Thompson didn't earn much $$$ at least up until he started speaking on college campuses in the mid-'70s. Up until then he's still worried about whether American Express or Carte Blanche will cut him off.
He worries about resurrecting a novel he wrote in the early '60s (THE RUM DIARY) -- just so he can get the $$$. He agonizes 4 YEARS about a massive book on "The Death of the American Dream," which never appears -- tho he gets 2 keep the advance from Random House & the book SORT OF appears much later -- as the GREAT SHARK HUNT best-of.
He wonders where the $$$ went from HELL'S ANGELS, whether Ballantine Books delivered all the paperback copies down a sewer somewhere. Several times he refers to FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS as "a commercial failure." He begs Random House & Ballantine sevral times 4 accounting figures, & many of his letters end with the phrase "Please send the check."
Doesn't mean there isn't some good stuff here. The letters that were obviously written 4 fun R hilarious -- & when Thompson gets angry at someone, look out. THOSE letters will make you laff out loud.
There is a vicious & hilarious series of letters 2 a lowlife TV-station-mgr in Colorado who keeps pre-empting HST's favorite morning news show ... & a startling sequence of letters showing the love-hate relationship HST had with ROLLING STONE editor/publisher Jann Wenner -- especially the letters HST sent after Wenner sent him 2 Vietnam 2 cover the fall of Saigon in '75 ... then cancelled HST's expenses, medical coverage & life insurance. These letters will NOT make you laff. & yet, Thompson kept writing 4 Wenner 4 a couple more years....
Complaints? Well, it's way too long, of course. & many of the letters in the 1972 section already appeared in CAMPAIGN TRAIL, as memos from the road, updates from HST 2 Wenner on how things were going. Oh, & the book has the most useless & redundant footnotes I've ever encountered -- some1 thinks the readers R idiots. Or at least have no long-term memory.
I 1st read F&L/AM about a decade ago, right after it came out in paperback, & I got practically nothing out of it. This time around it was worth it -- but it takes TIME 2 get in2: it took me about 4 MONTHS 2 get thru, with MANY interruptions. Worth reading, but mostly as a peek behind-the-scenes. If you're already a big HST fan, make sure you read CAMPAIGN TRAIL, GREAT SHARK HUNT, HELL'S ANGELS and LAS VEGAS 1st....
1nce I regain my strength, I'm hoping 2 attack HST's 1st volume of letters from the mid-'50s 2 mid-'60s, THE PROUD HIGHWAY. Yeezus, 660 pgs. Don't wait up....

#631: Future Playlist 5

Here's another suggested-back-up playlist 4 radio, most of them folkies 4 some odd reason....

Joni Mitchell -- Raised on Robbery, Coyote.
Dan Fogelberg -- As the Raven Flies, Someone's Been Telling You Stories, There's a Place in the World for a Gambler, Tell Me to My Face, Phoenix, Along the Road, Wishing on the Moon, Heart Hotels, Nexus, The Innocent Age, The Reach, In the Passage, Stolen Moments, The Lion's Share, Times Like These.
Arlo Guthrie -- Presidential Rag, Coming into Los Angeles, Motorcycle (Significance of the Pickle) Song, The Story of Reuben Clamzo and His Strange Daughter in the Key of E, Alice's Restaurant Massacree.
Neil Young -- The Loner, Cortez the Killer (live), Cinnamon Girl (live).
Rare Bird -- Birdman, Epic Forest.
Ringo Starr -- Early 1970.
Happy the Man -- Wind-Up Doll Day Wind, Service With a Smile, Open Book, Morning Sun, Ibby it Is, Steaming Pipes, On Time as a Helix of Precious Laughs.
Peter, Paul and Mary -- Day is Done, Man Come into Egypt, A'Soulin', Settle Down, This Land is Your Land, The Wonderful Toy.
Fairport Convention -- Tale in Hard Time, Come All Ye, I'll Keep it with Mine, Million Dollar Bash, Meet on the Ledge, Chelsea Morning, Mr. Lacey, Stranger to Himself.
Sandy Denny -- Listen Listen, The Simple Joys of Brotherhood.
Donovan -- Season of the Witch, Life Goes On.
Nick Drake -- Hazey Jane II, At the Chime of a City Clock, One of These Things First, Hazey Jane I, Northern Sky, Fly, Sunday, Pink Moon, Things Behind the Sun, From the Morning, Cello Song.
Bob Dylan -- One of Us Must Know, Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat, Tangled Up in Blue.
Steeleye Span -- Allison Gross, All Around My Hat, One Misty Moisty Morning, Fighting for Strangers.
Group 87 -- One Night Away from Day, Future of the City, Magnificent Clockworks, The Bedouin, While the City Sleeps, Moving Sidewalks.
Supertramp -- School, Dreamer, If Everyone was Listening, Crime of the Century, Babajii, From Now On, Fool's Overture, Gone Hollywood, Just Another Nervous Wreck, Child of Vision.
Rickie Lee Jones -- On Sunday Afternoons in 1963, We Belong Together, Living it Up.
Norah Jones -- Shoot the Moon, The Long Day is Over.
Left Banke -- She May Call You Up Tonight, Desiree, I've Got Something on My Mind.
U.K. -- In the Dead of Night suite, Time to Kill, Mental Medication, Nevermore, Nothing to Lose, Rendezvous 6:02.
.38 Special -- Chain Lightning.
Procol Harum -- Shine on Brightly, Wreck of the Hesperus, A Salty Dog, Homburg, In Held T'was in I (live), In the Autumn of My Madness/Look to Your Soul/Grand Finale (live).
Jim Croce -- It Doesn't Have to be That Way, Lover's Cross.
Sky -- Where Opposites Meet, Vivaldi, Scipio, Toccata, Fifo, Adagio, Scherzo, Watching the Aeroplanes, Connecting Rooms, Meheeco.

More coming whenever I think of more....

Sunday, February 3, 2013

#630: Future Playlist 4

Here's some more good non-hit stuff you really should check-out B4 Corporate Radio homogenizes your brain 2 the point where you can't grasp this stuff anymore....
...& BTW, I'm updating those previous "Future Playlists" as I think of more stuff I forgot about B4. Hey, it's A Work In Progress....
In MY Universe, this is the kinda stuff that'd get played on the radio Every Day.... Something for everyone....

Police -- On Any Other Day, Does Everyone Stare?, Can't Stand Losing You, Omegaman, Secret Journey, Darkness.
My Chemical Romance -- Teenagers (scare the living shit out of me).
Heart -- Soul of the Sea, Mistral Wind, Rockin' Heaven Down, Sweet Darlin' (live), Love Alive.
Tom Petty -- Even the Losers.
Boston -- Hitch a Ride, It's Easy, Used to Bad News, My Destination, Hollyann.
Byrds -- John Riley, Chestnut Mare, Wasn't Born to Follow, Ballad of Easy Rider, I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better.
Bruce -- Rosalita.
Lynyrd Skynyrd -- Tuesday's Gone.
Outlaws -- I Can't Stop Loving You, Devil's Road.
Poco -- Here We Go Again, A Good Feeling to Know, And Settlin' Down, Crazy Eyes, Get in the Wind, Believe Me.
Steve Winwood -- Still in the Game, Spanish Dancer, Night Train, Dust.
Allman Brothers -- Jessica.
Barclay James Harvest -- Hymn, Spirit on the Water, Poor Man's Moody Blues, Play to the World, The Song They Love to Sing, Ring of Changes.
Gentle Giant -- Funny Ways (live), Raconteur Troubadour, Pentegruel's Nativity, The Advent of Panurge, Peel the Paint, Think of Me With Kindness, The Power and the Glory, Proclamation, Cogs in Cogs, His Last Voyage, Time to Kill, Talybont, Free Hand.
Jimi Hendrix -- The Wind Cries Mary.
Joan Jett -- Nag, Be Straight, Victim of Circumstance, Everyone Knows.
Deep Purple -- Kentucky Woman, Highway Star.
Lighthouse -- Hey Pretty Lady.
Creedence Clearwater Revival -- Wrote a Song for Everyone, Long as I Can See the Light.
Aerosmith -- Seasons of Wither.
Eric Clapton -- Let it Rain, Let it Grow, Bell Bottom Blues, Another Ticket.
CSNY -- Carry On, Deja Vu, Wooden Ships.
Jefferson Airplane -- Good Shepherd, Mexico, Volunteers, We Can Be Together, Crown of Creation.
Jefferson Starship -- All Nite Long, Lightning Rose, Things to Come, Awakening, Just the Same, Fading Lady Light, Freedom at Point Zero, Save Your Love.
Styx -- Suite Madame Blue.
Golden Earring -- Save Your Skin, Need Her.
Elton John -- Teacher I Need You, Elderberry Wine, Have Mercy on the Criminal, Ego, Step into Christmas, Tiny Dancer, Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, Gray Seal, All the Girls Love Alice, Ballad of Danny Bailey, Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock and Roll), Harmony, Roy Rogers, Social Disease, Grimsby, Sick City, (Gotta Get a) Meal Ticket.
John Cougar Mellencamp -- I Need a Lover.
Jethro Tull -- Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day, The Third Hoorah, Baker Street Muse, One White Duck/Nothing at All, The Mouse Police Never Sleeps, Dun Ringill, Dark Ages, Songs from the Wood, The Whistler, Ring Out Solstice Bells, Fire at Midnight, Back to the Family, Life's a Long Song, One Brown Mouse, A Passion Play (edit #8), Thick as a Brick (edit #1).
Rolling Stones -- Street Fighting Man, Worried About You.
Monkees -- Sweet Young Thing, Papa Gene's Blues, Gonna Buy Me a Dog, Take a Giant Step, Your Auntie Grizelda, The Door into Summer, Love is Only Sleeping, Sunny Girlfriend, No Time, Shades of Gray, Daily Nightly, What Am I Doin' Hangin' Round?, Porpoise Song, As We Go Along, Randy Scouse Git (Alternate Title), Listen to the Band, Tapioca Tundra, I'll Be Back Up on My Feet.
Buffalo Springfield -- Mr. Soul, Bluebird, Rock and Roll Woman, On the Way Home, Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing, Broken Arrow, Go and Say Goodbye.
Foreigner -- Do What You Like, Rev on the Red Line, Blinded by Science.
AC/DC -- Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.
Be-Bop Deluxe -- Sleep That Burns, Crying to the Sky, Maid in Heaven.
Porcupine Tree -- The Sound of Muzak.
Mike McGear -- Leave It.
Kracker -- Because of You (The Sun Don't Set).
America -- Sandman, Don't Cross the River, Only in Your Heart.
Osmonds -- Think, Catch Me Baby, Most of All, Motown Special.
INXS -- Don't Change, This Time, Mystify, Bitter Tears, The Gift.
Blue Oyster Cult -- ETI, Revenge of Vera Gemini, Morning Final, Debbie Denise, Astronomy (IMAGINOS version), I Love the Night.
Bachman Turner Overdrive -- Blue Collar, Tramp.
Enya -- Storms in Africa.
ELO -- The Way Life's Meant to Be, Summer and Lightning, It's Over, Across the Border, Yours Truly 2095, 10538 Overture (live).
Pat Metheny -- San Lorenzo, New Chatauqua, The Search, Ozark, As Falls Wichita So Falls Wichita Falls, Praise, The First Circle.
Lyle Mays -- Ascent.
Aaron Copland -- El Salon Mexico, Hoedown, Buckaroo Holiday, Corral Nocturne, Saturday Night Waltz, Simple Gifts.
Tarney Spencer Band -- No Time to Lose, Live Again, Won'tcha Tell Me, Run for Your Life.
Lindisfarne -- Lady Eleanor, Road to Kingdom Come, Clear White Light, Turn a Deaf Ear, Winter's Song.
Tears for Fears -- The Working Hour, Broken, Mother's Talk.
Bowie -- Suffragette City, TVC15, DJ.
Mott the Hoople -- All the Way from Memphis, Honaloochie Boogie, Violence.
Spooky Tooth -- Feelin' Bad.
Stevie Nicks -- Think About It, Outside the Rain.
Lindsey Buckingham -- Holiday Road.
Buckingham/Nicks -- Without a Leg to Stand On, Crying in the Night, Crystal, Long Distance Winner.
Andy Pratt -- Pistol Packin' Melody.
U2 -- I Will Follow, Twilight, Into the Heart, Out of Control, The Electric Co., Gloria.
Rod Stewart -- Handbags and Gladrags.
The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver -- Arms of Mary, You've Got Me Anyway.
Al Stewart -- Lord Grenville, Flying Sorcery, Broadway Hotel, One Stage Before, Almost Lucy, Valentina Way, Rocks in the Ocean, Running Man, Carol, Apple Cider Reconstitution, The Dark and Rolling Sea, Modern Times, Roads to Moscow, Terminal Eyes, Nostradamus, The World Comes to Riyadh (live), Mondo Sinistro, Red Toupee.
Cyndi Lauper -- When You Were Mine, Money Changes Everything.
Spider -- Shady Lady, Crossfire, Everything is Alright.

...More soon!